HTC confirms layoffs as it combines VR and smartphone divisions

It’s been an interesting few months for HTC. Google bought the team responsible for Pixel phones last year for $1.1 billion. The president of HTC’s smartphone operations just resigned, claiming a “personal career plan” for the move. Now, the remaining US workforce is facing layoffs. As first reported by Digital Trends this week, HTC has confirmed that it will combine its smartphone and VR divisions, resulting in employee reductions.

Digital Trends‘ sources report that between a few dozen to around 100 employees have been let go. The company told Engadget that it was still very committed to the smartphone business. “We have recently brought our smartphone and VR businesses under common leadership in each region,” a company spokes person said. “Today we announced a restructure in North America for the HTC Smartphone business that will centralize the reporting structure within the region. In doing so, there have been some employee reductions to align the businesses and empower the teams to share more resources.”

Via: The Verge, Digital Trends

1Password now lets you see if your password has been leaked

If you have a 1Password membership, you can now check to see if your passwords have been compromised by data breaches and leaked on the internet. It’s just a proof of concept feature for now, but 1Password says that in future releases, it will be added to Watchtower within 1Password apps. The feature is an integration of Troy Hunt’s Pwned Passwords service that includes over 500 million leaked passwords.

To use the proof of concept feature now, sign into your account on 1Password.com and click Open Vault. Click on an item in the vault, then Shift-Control-Option-C or Shift+Ctrl+Alt+C depending on your operating system. That unlocks the proof of concept and allows you to click the “Check Password” button next to your password. You can see in the video below what happens next. If your password matches one in Pwned Passwords, 1Password will let you know. If it doesn’t, 1Password will tell that you’re all good. We want to note that if your password matches one in the database, it doesn’t necessarily mean it was part of a data breach. Someone else could’ve been using your same password, but in either case, you should change it.

The good thing about this feature is that it doesn’t compromise the password you’re checking on by sending it out to Pwned Passwords or to 1Password. When checking a password, 1Password hashes it and sends only part of that hash to Pwned Passwords. Any password hashes with the same first few characters as yours are sent to 1Password and are then compared to your full hash locally.

You can read more about Pwned Passwords here.

Source: AgileBits

Dropbox’s IPO filing reveals 500M users but a $1 billion deficit

In a move reminiscent of Snap’s IPO journey, Bloomberg sources claimed last month that Dropbox had quietly filed to become a public company. Suspicious hires last year had tipped their hand, and we waited to see what would happen for a company valued over $10 billion a few years ago. Today, Dropbox’s IPO filing surfaced, and while we still don’t know what day its stock will hit the market, their documentation pulls back a bit of the veil on the company’s situation as it gears up to go public.

BREAKING: Dropbox files for IPO. https://t.co/jn8limUSe7

— CNBC Now (@CNBCnow) February 23, 2018

Per the filing itself, Dropbox has over 500 million registered users but only 11 million of those are paying subscribers. Some might sign up multiple times for multiple accounts, so the number of unique users is certainly lower. Ultimately, the company admits in the document, “a majority of our registered users may never convert to a paid subscription to our platform.”

Converting existing users to the paid tier is at the top of the company’s list, but the filing admits that their revenue growth rate has declined and could keep slowing. The filing noted the company ended 2017 with a $1 billion deficit, though its rate of net losses had decreased from nearly $326 million in 2015 to almost $112 million in 2017. As the filing summarizes: “We have a history of net losses, we anticipate increasing expenses in the future, and we may not be able to achieve or maintain profitability.”

While any IPO points out risk factors and worst-case scenarios to hedge expectations, it’s interesting that the company is going public but not necessarily in a position of financial success. And hopefully for Dropbox, it won’t follow Snap’s example, which had an IPO a year ago that was speculated to value the company $25 billion, but suffered a downslide of low earnings it’s only now recovering from.

Via: CNBC

Source: SEC

Apple’s AirPower wireless charging mat could launch in March

Apple may be close to launching another one of the numerous products it teased last year. Sources talking to both MacOtakara and the Apple Post have claimed that the company’s AirPower wireless charging mat should ship sometime in late March, about half a year after its September premiere. This would reportedly include the wireless charging case for AirPods, too. You might have to buy the case directly from Apple if you’re upgrading an existing pair of earbuds, but multiple stores would sell a version of the AirPods with the wireless charging case included.

It’s not clear why Apple needed the extra time to ready the AirPower mat, but it might have something to do with the Apple Watch. Although at least a few Qi chargers will top up an Apple Watch, the wristwear wasn’t really designed for it — according to MacOtakara, the AirPower Mat has to use a “special wave” to detect the watch. Combine that with the mat’s signature (though not completely unique) multi-device charging and it’s decidedly more complex than a typical Qi pad.

These are rumors, so you won’t want to plan your shopping trips around them. It makes sense that Apple would want to deliver AirPower before the end of its current fiscal quarter, though. And let’s face it, 6 months is a long time to wait for a wireless charging mat — it’s hard to imagine people being patient for much longer.

Via: VentureBeat

Source: MacOtakara

YouTube finally notices Infowars is peddling dangerous conspiracies

Earlier this week, YouTube took down a video from one of Infowars’ channels. It was one of many videos out there claiming that students of Marjory Stoneman Douglas High School are not in fact students and school shooting survivors, but are instead paid “crisis actors.” The video, which was titled “David Hogg Can’t Remember His lines In TV Interview,” was removed by YouTube from the Alex Jones Channel on Wednesday and the platform said it violated its policies against harassment. CNN now reports that this qualifies as one strike against the Infowars channel and if it gets two more within a three-month period, the channel will be terminated.

YouTube’s policies on harassment and cyberbullying say, “In cases where harassment crosses the line into a malicious attack, it can be reported and the content will be removed.” And a YouTube spokesperson told CNN, “Last summer we updated the application of our harassment policy to include hoax videos that target the victims of these tragedies. Any video flagged to us that violates this policy is reviewed and then removed.”

When you violate YouTube’s Community Guidelines, the offending content is taken down and you’re issued a strike. YouTube considers its first strike a warning and nothing much happens apart from an explanatory email and your video being taken down. However, a second strike within three months will get creators a two-week suspension from posting new content whereas a third leads to termination of the account.

YouTube had to remove a separate David Hogg-focused conspiracy theory video earlier this week. It became the number one trending video before it was taken down.

Infowars and Alex Jones, who runs the site, often push wild, dangerous and offensive conspiracy theories including PizzaGate and claims that the Sandy Hook Elementary School shooting was fake. It may seem surprising that Infowars has only one strike against it currently, but maybe that won’t be the case for long. CNN says it asked YouTube about three other Infowars videos that also push conspiracies like its David Hogg video did. A YouTube spokesperson said that the policy team would be reviewing them.

Via: CNN

MacRumors Giveaway: Win a Seaboard Block From ROLI

For this week’s giveaway, we’ve teamed up with ROLI to offer MacRumors readers a chance to win a Seaboard Block, a portable keyboard for creating music using touch and shape.

ROLI, for those unfamiliar with the brand, makes a fun series of “Blocks” that are used for creating music and are suitable for both beginners and professionals.

Designed to replace a traditional keyboard, the Seaboard Block has a soft, pressure sensitive surface so you can make music in a unique, tactile way using taps, swipes, and other gestures.

ROLI says its Seaboard Block supports five dimensions of touch (strike, glide, slide, press, and lift) and offers a 24 keywave, two octave playing surface. It is wireless and small enough to be portable, so you can take it anywhere you go and make music wherever you are.

The Seaboard Block, priced at $299, can be used on its own, or it can be paired with the other ROLI Blocks like the Lightpad Block M, the Live Block, and the Loop Block. ROLI sells a Songmaker Kit that includes the Seaboard Block, the Lightpad M, and the Loop Block, all of which pair well together.

ROLI includes a suite of music making software for desktop and mobile devices with all of its products, and the Seaboard Block includes more than 200 free sounds for you to work with, along with options to purchase soundpacks from artists like Steve Aoki and RZA. With the Noise app for iOS, for example, you can start playing and experimenting with sound as soon as you download it and connect the Seaboard Block.

The Seaboard Block is designed for musicians of all skill levels, and for beginners, ROLI this week announced a new “Start Making It” initiative to inspire music creators in 2018. As part of this effort, ROLI is sharing advice from seasoned music makers along with tutorials, guides, and more through the ROLI Learning Hub.

Through April 12, ROLI is also including a free one-month subscription to Melodics with all Seaboard Block purchases, with Melodics offering a range of keyboard and finger drumming lessons.

We’ve teamed up with ROLI to give one MacRumors reader a free Seaboard Block. To enter to win, use the Rafflecopter widget below and enter an email address. Email addresses will be used solely for contact purposes to reach winners and send prizes. You can earn additional entries by subscribing to our weekly newsletter, subscribing to our YouTube channel, following us on Twitter, or visiting the MacRumors Facebook page.

Due to the complexities of international laws regarding giveaways, only U.S. residents who are 18 years or older and Canadian residents (excluding Quebec) who have reached the age of majority in their province or territory are eligible to enter. To offer feedback or get more information on the giveaway restrictions, please refer to our Site Feedback section, as that is where discussion of the rules will be redirected.

a Rafflecopter giveawayThe contest will run from today (February 23) at 11:00 a.m. Pacific Time through 11:00 a.m. Pacific Time on March 2. The winner will be chosen randomly on March 2 and will be contacted by email. The winner will have 48 hours to respond and provide a shipping address before a new winner is chosen.

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Deals: T-Mobile Launches iPhone/Apple Watch S3 Offer, Belkin Debuts Weekend Sale, and More

T-Mobile’s iPhone and Apple Watch offers, announced on Wednesday, have now launched on the carrier’s website today. The iPhone deal nets you a $200 rebate when purchasing the iPhone X, 8, 8 Plus, 7, or 7 Plus on an Equipment Installment Plan, received through a prepaid MasterCard card that you’ll get in the mail about eight weeks after the order date. Check out our original blog post for more information, and head to T-Mobile’s store to browse the available iPhones under the sale.

T-Mobile also shared new information on its Apple Watch deal, which lets you purchase one Apple Watch Series 3 device on an Equipment Installment Plan, with an Apple DIGITS plan on the same line, and get another one for 50 percent off (up to $215). The Apple Watch rebate amount isn’t received through a MasterCard like the iPhone offer, but instead via 24 monthly bill credits, which typically begin on your second bill cycle.

Note: MacRumors is an affiliate partner with some of these vendors. When you click a link and make a purchase, we may receive a small payment, which helps us keep the site running.

The company said that it’s requiring new devices to use its Apple DIGITS wearable plan “specifically because it’s the right plan for Apple Watch Series 3,” which lets your phone number work on any compatible LTE-enabled smartwatch. The company listed a few of the Apple Watch Series 3 models you can get with the offer, along with the monthly costs and full prices, which you can see below. Head to T-Mobile’s Q&A page for more information.

Apple Watch S3 38mm ALM: $0 down and $16.67/mo. x 24, full price $399.99.
Apple Watch S3 38mm SS: $167.99 down and $18/mo. x 24, full price $599.99.
Apple Watch S3 Nike+ 38mm ALM: $0 down and $16.67/mo. x 24, full price $399.99.
Apple Watch S3 42mm ALM: $0 down and $17.92/mo. x 24, full price $429.99.
Apple Watch S3 42mm SS : $217.99 down and $18/mo. x 24, full price $649.99.
Apple Watch S3 Nike+ 42mm ALM: $0 down and $17.92/mo. x 24, full price $429.99.

There are a few other notable discounts going on today and heading into the weekend, including a new sitewide sale over at Belkin. The accessory maker today debuted a trio of savings that will let you save $10 on orders of $50 and over, $25 on orders of $100 and over, and $50 on orders of $150 and over, with no promotional code required.

There are a handful of exclusions in the sale, including Belkin’s Boost Up Qi Charger for iPhone, a few USB/Thunderbolt docks, a USB car charger, the QODE Ultime Lite Keyboard Case for iPad, and all Belkin routers, Wemo and NetCam products. Otherwise, compatible products will see the discount applied automatically upon checkout, and you have until Sunday, February 25 at 11:59 p.m. PT to place your order.

Costco members can also get a pair of AirPods for $139.99 today, down from their regular price of $159.99. The members only sale includes free shipping and is expected to last for a limited time only.

At Amazon, you can save up to 40 percent on iXpand’s flash drive with combination Lightning connector and USB 3.0, allowing you to easily transfer data from an iPhone/iPad to a Mac or other computer. A collection of iOttie’s iPhone compatible car mounts have also been marked down at Amazon, with the savings — up to 47 percent off — lasting until Monday, February 26.

Lastly, as part of its Daily Deals today Best Buy has select models of the 12-inch MacBook refresh from last year marked down by $250. There are two models on sale in all colors: Intel Core M3, 8GB RAM, 256GB Flash Storage for $1,049.99, down from $1,299.99; and Intel Core i5, 8GB RAM, 512GB Flash Storage for $1,349.99, down from $1,599.99. That’s some of the best prices for these models online, with retailers like B&H Photo pricing the same MacBooks at $1,219.99 and $1,519.99, respectively.

Head over to our Deals Roundup for even more sales info, including DirecTV Now’s ongoing offer for the 32GB Apple TV 4K.

Related Roundup: Apple Deals
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Watch NASA test fire a giant rocket engine for its mighty Space Launch System

When most rocket engines fire up, they’re going places. But not the RS-25.

NASA this week anchored its RS-25 booster engine — one of four for its Space Launch System (SLS) rocket — firmly to the ground for a spectacular test that powered it to a 113-percent thrust level for a full 50 seconds. This was its highest level to date following several similar test fires.

Footage captured from cameras placed around the test site at Stennis Space Center in Mississippi show the engine’s awesome power as it fills the surrounding area with a mass of condensing water vapor and enough noise to wake the neighbors.

The RS-25 engines were used in the space shuttle program that ended in 2011, and have been modified to supply the added power needed for the larger, heavier SLS rocket. It’s one of the most heavily tested large rocket engines ever, according to NASA, with more than 3,000 starts and more than a million seconds of total ground test and flight firing time.

Four RS-25 engines will provide a combined two million pounds of thrust for the first SLS launch, expected in 2019, but with a pair of additional solid rocket boosters this increases to a phenomenal 8 million pounds. To give that some context, SpaceX’s Falcon Heavy boosters generated around 5 million pounds of thrust when it launched earlier this month.

The SLS will be the most powerful rocket in the world when it goes into operation, beating the Saturn V that took astronauts to the moon before the rocket was retired in 1973.

NASA’s SLS Exploration Mission-1 (EM-1), planned for next year, will serve as the maiden flight for the new rocket and deploy an uncrewed Orion spacecraft in low-Earth orbit to test out the performance of the integrated system.

“As the SLS evolves, it will provide an unprecedented lift capability … to enable missions even farther into our solar system,” NASA said.

Looking further ahead, the EM-2 flight, scheduled for 2022 if everything goes to plan, will for the first time carry a crew of astronauts aboard Orion. The mission could include a trip around the moon lasting up to three weeks and involve delivery of parts for a new space station to aid deep space exploration.

Editors’ Recommendations

• SpaceX just fired its most powerful rocket ever. Next stop, a Tesla in space
• Hours before launch, SpaceX posts Falcon Heavy animation with Bowie soundtrack
• Elon Musk’s Tesla Roadster is ready for its long journey to Mars
• SpaceX is blazing a trail to Mars, one milestone at a time
• SpaceX launches both a reused rocket and capsule in successful ISS cargo mission

Did I do that? Intel is going to make a killing fixing its own Meltdown

Intel CEO, Brian Krzanich (Ethan Miller/Getty Images)

(in)Secure is a weekly column that dives into the rapidly escalating topic of cybersecurity.

Intel dropped the ball on Meltdown and Spectre. Or it might be more accurate to say Intel saw the ball, caught it, and then buried it under some shrubs hoping you wouldn’t notice. For everyday customers, that’s a problem without an easy solution. Now, it’s poised to profit off of its decision to sell critically flawed products to an unwitting populace.

Quick recap

If you’re unfamiliar, Meltdown and Spectre are exploits which affect your computer’s processor. They’re two different, but related, exploits which take advantage of ‘speculative execution’ an optimization method used on essentially every computer processor manufactured in the last 20 years. Yes, that means almost every processor sold in the last two decades is vulnerable to these exploits — including the one in your smartphone, the one in your desktop, and the one in that old student laptop you used in college.

It’s a big deal. The Meltdown and Spectre exploits were discovered in early 2017, and they were first disclosed to Intel, AMD, and ARM on June 1, 2017 by Google Project Zero researcher Jann Horn. Following the disclosure, each company started reaching out to its corporate customers and notifying them of the vulnerabilities. Everyone was scrambling to both find a fix and to keep it secret, because as long as the vulnerabilities remained private they were less dangerous to the public. That meant more time to find a fix.

The vulnerabilities weren’t disclosed to the public until January 3, 2018, though there were some rumors swirling a bit earlier than that because of all the sneaky security patches flying around.

To sell or not to sell

Why does that mean Intel dropped the ball? Simple. This timeline means Intel — and to be fair, AMD and ARM — spent around seven months of 2017 marketing, advertising, and selling products they knew to be critically flawed. They also knew that the only way to fix these products meant cutting down their performance.

If you bought a processor, desktop, or laptop in the last year it is now slower than it was when you bought it because of these security patches. That means it’s not living up to its promised performance, and Intel, AMD, and ARM know that. They knew it last year with every device they sold.

Cashing out

Every Intel processor currently humming away in a personal computer, enterprise server, or government workstation is slower and less secure than these upcoming Intel processors, these processors designed to overcome a huge security flaw. With one hand Intel sold products it knew were flawed, and with the other started making a product that would mitigate those flaws.

Intel spent around seven months marketing, advertising, and selling products it knew to be critically flawed.

That’s like buying a car, finding out the locks don’t work, and that the only fix is cutting your fuel efficiency by as much as 31 percent. Oh, and then discovering the guy who sold you the car knew and didn’t tell you. But don’t worry, he’s got a brand-new model that fixes all those problems for one low, low price.

These upcoming processors could very likely be Intel’s best-selling products to date, they’ll not only be faster than their predecessors, but they’ll be more secure. Intel stands to make potentially billions of dollars off of a fix to a problem it helped create.

Naturally, not everyone with an affected processor is going to run out and buy a new one, but you know who will? Enterprise customers, government agencies, anyone for whom security is not optional. Upgrades are no longer going to be a matter of speed for these customers, but security.

Intel

How many computers are currently in use by the U.S. State Department, or Department of Defense? The U.S. alone has dozens of agencies which will see these upgrading to these new processors as a matter of national security. Add on to that the number of similar agencies which exist in every other country in the world and you can start to get some idea of what kind of windfall Intel stands to gain. And if Intel is the first company to roll out chips with hardware-level fixes to Meltdown and Spectre without any performance loss? This year’s market share losses could very well be reversed, and that’s not good news for AMD or ARM.

Speaking of which

Is it fair to pick on Intel when AMD and ARM also continued to sell products they knew were flawed? That’s a good point, AMD and ARM both continued to sell products they knew were flawed after they were told about the exploits. There are a couple key differences which make Intel a fair target over its smaller competitors.

It’s disappointing that these companies are poised to make a killing off of a problem they helped perpetuate.

Intel’s handling of Meltdown and Spectre has been troubling — as the number of lawsuits currently pending against the microprocessor giant can attest. First, we have the issue we’ve already harped on quite a bit, Intel continued to sell processors it knew were flawed, but there’s more.

Intel didn’t disclose the Meltdown and Spectre exploits to customers in the U.S. government, like the National Security Agency or Department of Homeland Security. Both of these agencies found out about Meltdown and Spectre the same way you and I did, through news reports on or after January 3, 2018. Granted neither AMD nor ARM reached out to government agencies either, so they’re almost as culpable here. Almost. How many of those government desktops, laptops, and servers are running AMD processors? Precious few. Intel’s share of the CPU market is around 80 percent, AMD is closer to 20 percent.

AMD, ARM, and Intel may not have reached out to government agencies but you know who Intel did inform of the exploits though? A handful of private companies, including Lenovo and Alibaba which are based in China. Geopolitical concerns aside, failing to warn government agencies — not just U.S. government agencies — of a potentially catastrophic security exploit is problematic at best, especially when your company represents nearly 80 percent of the CPU market.

Jake-No nuance to my answer. No lawyerly caveats. NSA did not know about these flaws, nor did they exploit them. I don’t put my good name on the line lightly. I understand you are disinclined to believe, 1/2.

— Rob Joyce (@RobJoyce45) January 13, 2018

Another brow-raising facet of Intel’s Meltdown and Spectre response, Intel CEO Brian Krzanich initiated an unusually large stock sale after learning of the exploits in June. He claims the sales were pre-scheduled and unrelated, but Bloomberg’s reporting on the matter suggests that may not be the case. Krzanich changed his automated stock-sale habits in 2017, and sold a much larger share of his Intel stock than he had in past years.

What can we do?

The disclosure that new processors are on their way, insulated against the exploits, should be good news but it feels wrong. AMD and ARM have yet to announce whether or not their upcoming processors will feature hardware-level fixes to the Meltdown and Spectre exploits, but they likely will in the next year or so, if not this year.

It’s disappointing that these companies are poised to make a killing off of a problem they helped perpetuate. You almost want to vote with your wallet right? Well, it’s hard to take your money elsewhere when these companies are the only game in town.

Editors’ Recommendations

• Intel’s 9th-generation ‘Ice Lake’ CPUs will have fixes for Meltdown, Spectre
• Intel warned Chinese tech firms of security flaws before telling U.S. government
• Qualcomm is working on patches to address Meltdown and Spectre flaws
• Apple protects MacOS Sierra, El Capitan from Meltdown, lists Google bugs
• Intel starts rolling out new Spectre firmware fixes, Skylake goes first

You should buy the Dell XPS 13 — just not with the 4K display

Matt Smith/Digital Trends

The new Dell XPS 13, like the old model, is a fantastic laptop. It’s small, yet quick. Portable, yet versatile. And it still looks fantastic. The 13-inch laptop category remains incredibly competitive — but, once again, the XPS 13 has come out on top.

But wait! Before you open your wallet to buy the best version you can, there’s something you should know. The most expensive XPS 13 isn’t the best.

The problem is the display. The top-tier model has upgraded from the old, awkward 3,200 x 1,800 panel to a new 4K screen that’s more competitive with other laptops in its category. Sounds great, right? Yet in our testing, the 4K version scored behind the 1080p model in color accuracy and contrast. The upgraded screen looks sharper, but colors don’t appear as vibrant, and images have less depth.

Then there’s battery life. The 1080p model endured for 13 and a half hours in our video loop test, while the 4K version lasted three hours less. That’s a big difference. It likely doesn’t help that the 4K model we reviewed had a more powerful, and more power-hungry, Core i7 processor.

Despite those disadvantages, you must pay for the privilege of owning a 4K screen. Adding it to one of the less expensive configurations tacks an incredible $400 on the price. Yet, as we’ve just shown, all you receive for the money is a higher display resolution. The screen is actually inferior in some regards — and will chew through the XPS 13’s battery far quicker.

That’s not $400 well spent, is it?

Dell doesn’t struggle with the problem of 4K alone. Other laptops we’ve tested have had similar issues if upgraded to 4K. We’re sure that some buyers do crave the added resolution, falling into the old trap of assuming more is better. In fact, it would’ve been stupid for Dell not to include it as an option. Many competitors offer it, so Dell would’ve looked behind the times if it were missing. This is the trend.

The fact an option is offered doesn’t mean you have to check the box, however — and in the case, it’s smart to show restraint. We reviewed the $1,199 and $1,899 version of the XPS 13 side-by-side, and our verdict was clear: The less expensive model was better. You can even opt for the Core i7 processor while retaining the 1080p screen if you really need the extra performance.

Shop smart. Save money. Leave the 4K display at the factory.

Editors’ Recommendations

• Dell XPS 13 2-in-1 review
• Dell XPS 13 vs. MacBook Pro 13
• Dell XPS 13 Review
• Asus ZenBook 13 vs. Dell XPS 13
• Dell XPS 13 vs. Asus ZenBook 13: Two thin and light 13-inch notebooks face off