Best Buy 2-Day Sale: Save on 12-Inch MacBook, 5th Gen iPad, iPad Pro, and More

Best Buy today launched a new 2-day sale, offering discounts on the 12-inch MacBook, 5th generation iPad, 10.5-inch iPad Pro, and iPhone X, 8, and 8 Plus. For the 2017 MacBook models on sale, Best Buy’s prices this weekend are coming in around $100-$150 cheaper than B&H Photo and Adorama, while last year’s 9.7-inch iPad is between $30-$50 cheaper than rival retailers in the new sale.

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

As with most of Best Buy’s Mac sales, students and parents of students can save an extra $50 on the 12-inch MacBooks this weekend, amounting to savings of $250. If you’re interested in any of the items on sale, be sure to place your order by Saturday, April 14 at 11:59 p.m. CT, when the discounts will expire.

12-inch MacBook – Save $200

• 1.2 GHz, 8GB RAM, 256GB SSD (Rose Gold, Gold, Space Gray, Silver) – $1,099.99, down from $1,299.99 / $1,049.99 with Student Deals
• 1.3 GHz, 8GB RAM, 512GB SSD (Rose Gold, Gold, Space Gray, Silver) – $1,399.99, down from $1,599.99 / $1,349.99 with Student Deals

5th Generation iPad – Save $80

• 32GB with Wi-Fi (Gold, Space Gray, Silver) – $249.99, down from $329.99
• 128GB with Wi-Fi (Gold, Space Gray, Silver) – $349.99, down from $429.99

10.5-inch iPad Pro – Save $50 or $100

• 64GB with Wi-Fi (Rose Gold, Gold, Space Gray, Silver) – $599.99, down from $649.99
• 256GB with Wi-Fi (Rose Gold, Gold, Space Gray, Silver) – $749.99, down from $799.99
• 512GB with Wi-Fi (Rose Gold, Gold, Space Gray, Silver) – $899.99, down from $999.99

iPhone

• Save up to $200 when you buy and activate an iPhone X, 8, or 8 Plus on a monthly installment plan

Other Sales

• LifeProof Cases for iPhone 7 and 7 Plus – Save up to $70 / as low as $19.99
• Beats Studio2 Wireless Headphones (Titanium) – $199.99, down from an original price of $379.99
• Insignia 4.8A 4-Port USB Charger Outlet – $14.99, down from $34.99
• Sphero – Save 40-55 percent on select toys / as low as $79.99 for BB-9E
• Nanoleaf Aurora Rhythm Smarter Kit – $209.99, down from $229.99

In addition to the 2-day sale, Best Buy is still offering savings of up to $200 off the 2017 MacBook Air from earlier this week. To check out this offer and more, head over to our full Deals Roundup.

Related Roundup: Apple DealsTag: Best Buy
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Cryptojacking is the new ransomware. Is that a good thing?

Making money from mining cryptocurrencies isn’t just something that people do with their own hardware, malware authors have also been creating malicious software to have other people do the hard work them – and we don’t mean cloud mining. While this represents a new fad in the realm of malware authorship though, it may not be around in this guise for long.

“Cryptojacking is outpacing ransomware reports by a factor of 1 to 100, and these numbers will continue to increase …”

In our history of malware feature, we looked at how malware tends to come in waves. While the latest and most dangerous in recent memory has been ransomware, it’s been pushed far from the top spot of common attacks in recent months by the advent of cryptominers, which look to force infected systems to mine cryptocurrency directly. While it may have been riding high recently though, like the value of cryptocurrencies themselves, it’s a malware type that already seems to be on the decline.

Digital Trends spoke with some prominent digital security experts to find out what this means for the near future of malware and what they think cryptomining malware might look like in the months and years to come.

No crowned king lasts forever

“Since cybercriminals are always financially motivated, cryptojacking is yet another method for them to generate revenue,” said Liviu Arsene, senior E-Threat analyst at BitDefender. “Currently, it’s outpacing ransomware reports by a factor of 1 to 100, and these numbers will continue to increase for as long a virtual currencies remain popular and the market demands it.”

These stats were backed up by MalwareByte’s quarterly malware report. It noted that cryptomining had become one of the most common malware in recent months. It suggested that it had increased by as much as 4,000 percent in the consumer sector over the last quarter. It was also growing in the business space, with a 27 percent increase in overall detections during last quarter.

That increase made it the second most common digital infection. MalwareBytes noted over the past three months, falling only just behind adware. In comparison, ransomware, which has been a major threat for the past few years, saw a notable decline in the consumer space, falling by 35 percent.

Part of that could be to do with the more sophisticated targeting of ransomware at businesses and larger enterprises, but it may also be that the top producers of the ransomware software have been halted in their tracks.

“I wish there were miners everywhere, that [it was] all we had to deal with.”

“There was a big arrest last year, that was likely the creators of cerber, the biggest ransomware family at the time,” MalwareBytes head of malware intelligence, Adam Kujawa told us. “If that was the case, it makes sense that that particular malware family would drop off. After that we’ve seen a couple of new families, but nothing that’s being distributed at the same sort of level.”

Since that happened, Kujawa noted that MalwareBytes had seen a general drop off in ransomware distribution and that this was indicative of the marketplace shifting direction.

Profile of a new predator

Although old standouts like adware and spyware are still more prevalent than cryptojacking, the new kid has quickly become one of the most common threats seen. Malware authors will take a freely available cryptocurrency miner that is aimed at consumer usage and modify it so that it runs silently on a system, making it harder to detect and therefore giving it longer to generate income for the author before it’s discovered. The malware is then usually distributed alongside some other form of malware like an exploit kit which allows it to be installed in the first place.

But even if you don’t download a malicious file or click a dodgy link, websites themselves can force your machine into the crypto mines, like the extremely prevalent CoinHive incident from earlier this year.

A Coinhive javascript program injected into a web page’s code

“Browser-based cryptojacking is becoming very popular amongst cybercriminals, especially when end users are concerned,” explained BitDefender’s Arsene. “Deploy it within legitimate and high-traffic websites after they’re breached their security, it has immediate return-on-investment as each visitor will mine cryptocurrency for as long as the script-based miner remains on the server.”

Cryptomining has a few unique features too, compared to other commercial malware solutions. For starters, it’s almost platform agnostic, with infections cropping up on Macs and Android devices, as well as Windows PCs. Kujawa told Digital Trends that as many as 1,000 new Mac-targeted cryptominers had appeared in the past three months alone.

So, what’s the problem?

If cryptomining isn’t particular smart or targeted then, is it something we need to be too concerned about? If a victim’s computer runs slow while they’re on an infected website, rather than having their files encrypted or identity stolen, would it not be better for everyone if malware authors focused on that kind of attack than more traditional ones?

“The fact that the victim is running cryptocurrency mining software is the least of their problems.”

“The spread of cryptominers is no where near the ‘everybody panic’ state [like] when encrypting ransomware first came out,” Kujawa said. “I wish there were miners everywhere, that that’s all we had to deal with, and no ransomware or information thieves.”

BitDefender’s Arsene agreed, to a point, suggesting that on the surface cryptojacking was relatively benign. However, as much as this sort of malware might be less of a threat than other types, that doesn’t mean it doesn’t have potential to damage — or mask more serious threats.

A bitcoin mining farm NurPhoto/Getty Images

One such threat facing businesses is a loss of productivity, as MalwareBytes’ CSO and CIO, Justin Dolly, explained. If left unchecked, cryptominers also have the potential to cause damage to hardware. As MalwareBytes found when one of its malware-trap systems was infected with a number of miners.

“After the cryptomining craze [last year] one of our systems had its graphics card fried, because of how many miners were being loaded up in analysis of this system,” Kujawa said. “[They] would rev up the GPU cycles and CPU and just kill it, so we had to replace the graphics cards.”

Perhaps the biggest risk with cryptomining though, is that it can be used in tandem with other types of malware. Imagine a ransomware attack  the user is scrambling to figure out how to decrypt their files, their PC is mining away and earning the attackers even more money.

“This will likely fuel the need to create mining rigs made of large botnets.”

“If a victim has been compromised using an unpatched vulnerability or via a fileless attack, the fact that the victim is running  cryptocurrency mining software is the least of their problems,” said BitDefender’s Arsene. “Technically, the attacker could have deployed any payload – ranging from keylogging malware to data exfiltration malware.”

Even if cryptomining malware doesn’t bring with it a whole host of other problems too, there’s always the chance that it will not be detected for months or even years in the case of some systems.

How long is the wave going to last?

Cryptomining might be more dangerous than it appears, but like all other types of malware, it is likely to have its heyday. Indeed, as cryptocurrency values have fallen since the end of 2017, the instances of cryptojacking have been falling too. While the overall numbers might be higher than last quarter, they are lower than their peak, as Malwarebytes’ latest malware report shows.

Bitdefender Senior Analyst, Liviu Arsene. Bitdefender

“Cryptojacking is definitely here to stay,” BitDefender’s Arsene said. “These numbers will continue to increase for as long as virtual currencies remain popular and the market demands it.”

Another interesting wrinkle he raised was that as the difficulty of mining of various cryptocurrencies increases, it could be much more lucrative to get others to do the hard work for you.

“Since mining for cryptocurrency will become increasingly more expensive to mine using someone’s own private hardware, this will likely fuel the need to create mining rigs comprised of large botnets, hence fueling the cryptojacking threat,” he said.

That’s something that MalwareBytes sees as having a lot of potential too. Especially when you consider some of the enormous IoT driven botnets we’ve seen in recent years. But ultimately that all depends on whether it’s actually worth it to keep investing in that avenue of malware authorship.

If anything, it’s easier for digital security companies when a new trend is breaking. They know what they need to focus on in the immediate future. But now that cryptominers may have peaked, the experts are unsure of what to expect next.

“This is an anomalous time right now, and that’s the scariest part,” Kujawa said. “The scary part is not knowing where the criminals will go when cryptocurrencies no longer interest them.”

Editors’ Recommendations

• Millions of Android users are at risk from ‘drive-by’ cryptomining
• From pranks to nuclear sabotage, this is the history of malware
• The best free antivirus for Mac
• The best keyboards for Android will have you texting faster than a 13-year-old
• Windows Defender thwarts major malware attack directed mostly at Russian users

Google code offers hints that Android Messages is coming to a desktop near you

While we previously knew that Google was working on turning its Android Messages app into a true iMessage competitor to take on Apple’s iPhone, we now have more details on how that will work. Google will soon allow Android Messages users to send and receive text messages from a computer using a web browser.

Source code within the Android Messages app show that texting from a PC or Mac requires users to navigate to the messages.android.com portal, which is not yet live, to link their phone, according to XDA-Developers.

Once users navigate to the site, they’ll be presented with a QR code that can be scanned on the phone for pairing. A Google account is required, and users will be able to seamlessly send and receive messages, switching off between their phones and desktop. This is similar to how Apple allows iMessage to work between an iPhone, iPad, and a Mac. Being able to use a desktop keyboard will hopefully allow you to type faster and more accurately, eliminating those embarrassing autocorrect mistakes.

The setup process to link the Android Messages app on your phone to your computer is similar to how Google Allo for web currently works. Given that there will be a lot of overlap between Messages and Allo, it’s unclear if Google intends on phasing out the latter. Google also supports Hangouts and Google Voice as its other messaging platforms.

While the service is expected to work with traditional text (SMS) messages and picture and video messages (MMS), it will also support the Rich Communication Services (RCS) protocol. Google is positioning RCS as the successor to today’s text message since it comes with more advanced features, such as the ability to show read receipts, see typing indicators, and send larger image and video files, up to 10MB in size. It’s Android Messages RCS support that gave away hints of a desktop client, according to Android Authority

All modern web browsers are supported, and you’ll be able to switch between your phone and your PC to send and receive messages. Given that the source code is there, it’s just a matter of time before Google makes this feature official.

A messaging client on the desktop will allow Google to tie the Android experience into other computing platforms. While Mac and Windows users will be able to use their laptops and desktops to message on a larger screen, the new messaging capabilities would integrate nicely with Android tablets and Google’s Chrome OS products, including new Chrome OS-based tablets.

While there are existing third-party solutions, like Pushbullet, that allow users to send messages from their computers, a native solution from Google promises to be more seamless. PC manufacturers, such as HP and Dell, are also building clients on some of their laptops to allow business users to easily send a message from their PCs using a paired Android or iPhone.

Editors’ Recommendations

• You may soon be able to text from your laptop with Android Messages for web
• Is Google working on an iMessage competitor?
• Google introduces Allo’s Smart Replies on Android Messages
• How to send a text message from a computer
• More than 40 companies working on new generation of text messaging

Everything you need to know about Firefox Reality browser, the VR future of the internet

New ways to browse.

Anyone who’s browsed the internet in VR understands that new ideas are needed to keep it fresh. Simply moving the 2D windows into our headsets creates something functional, but it’s nowhere near optimal. Mozilla hasn’t been sitting back, creating the likes of WebVR, a browser add-on that transforms it into a VR platform for Gear VR, Daydream, Cardboard, and the PC-based VR systems.

Now, with Firefox Reality, a browser designed from the start for standalone VR headsets like Oculus Go and HTC Vive Focus is on the way.

What’s new with Firefox Reality browser?

Mozilla released a news brief April 3, 2018 announcing Firefox Reality, a “new web browser designed from the ground up for stand-alone virtual and augmented reality headsets.”

The news brief includes information about upcoming updates and what we can expect from the team behind this new browser. According to Mozilla, these update include:

• Details of the design process, from paper sketches to headset prototyping
• Sneak peeks of Firefox Reality running on a variety of pre-release headsets
• New capabilities for artists, designers, and developers of immersive experiences
• Integration of Servo, along with experimental extensions to the WebGL graphics APIs
• An experimental computer-vision pipeline using WebAssembly
• Device, gesture, and voice-interaction features

How can I use Firefox Reality?

A video showing an early build of Firefox Reality.

There are still no official releases of Firefox Reality. However, developer build source code for a number of VR headsets, including Daydream, Gear VR, Oculus Go, and Vive Focus can be found on GitHub. It’s still a relatively barebones experience, but it is definitely in a working state.

Why is Firefox Reality necessary?

How people access the internet is always changing, and Mozilla wants to be at the front line of development for new browsing solutions. 2D and 3D content need to coexist, and solutions for currently awkward features, like something as simple as typing, need to be implemented to keep people engaged.

Firefox Reality is a browser that works across multiple VR and AR platforms without losing speed ― check out Mozilla’s Quantum updates ― and it’s meant to be as future-proof as possible. Like the standard Firefox, this is an open-source project. That means there’s less friction when a VR or AR headset developer wants to add it to their creation, and it also means better transparency in a time when we really don’t know where our data is going.

What will Firefox Reality eventually look like?

An early look at Firefox Reality.

It’s tough to say at this stage what Firefox Reality will end up looking like, but expect a platform that resembles in some way a classic browser, but with the ability to easily transition between VR and AR experiences.

I think the main goal here is to deliver those experiences in a timely manner, in the casual way many of us currently absorb content from our phones and PCs. As it stands now, many quality VR and AR experiences take some time to set up, but with Firefox Reality it’s expected that you’ll be able to jump quickly into one thing and be on to the next without hardly noticing.

When can I start using Firefox Reality?

This project is in its infancy, and there’s no word yet on any sort of official release for Firefox Reality.

You can test out Firefox Reality now by visiting the GitHub page that contains developer builds for Gear VR, Oculus Go, Vive Focus, and more. There are also versions for Daydream and standard Android phones, though these are for testing only.

See Firefox Reality at GitHub

More resources

• Oculus Go: Everything you need to know!
• HTC Vive’s Focus VR headset is super cool, but you can’t have one
• How to use WebVR in Firefox with HTC Vive or Oculus Rift

What screen protector should you use for the Galaxy S9?

Tempered glass is the way to go.

As pretty as the Galaxy S9 and S9+ may be, there’s no denying the two phones will quickly show signs of wear and tear if you use them without any form of protection. The all-glass front and back make the S9 prone to cracks and scratches, and along with a trusty case, a screen protector will go a long way in ensuring its good looks remain for months and months to come.

One of our forum users recently said that they were having touch sensitivity issues with the tempered glass screen protector they’re currently using on their S9+, and a lot of folks were quick to rush in with recommendations of other protectors they should try using.

Here are a few of the suggestions.

legin111
04-11-2018 08:11 PM

“

Hands down go with the Whitestone dome glass protector. You’ll never use another, it’s available on Amazon. It’s a little more expensive then the others but well worth it. You can look up reviews, they are all over YouTube. The work with a lot of cases as well

Reply

KP8819
04-11-2018 11:38 PM

“

Whitestone Dome glass, as mentioned above, is what I use & works great. Feels like original screen. No touch sensitivity issues & compatible with every case I’ve used(Otterbox, Bodygaurdz, Spigen).
Bodyguardz just released their full adhesive curved tempered glass too.

Reply

rjack22
04-12-2018 06:17 AM

“

I am using amFilm tempered glass protector and I am very happy with it. Very easy to install and I have had no problems with it. I did enable touch sensitivity setting. Best of all it is not expensive. About $10-12. Lifetime warranty too!

Reply

tadpoles
04-12-2018 06:22 AM

“

I’m using the Body Guardz and am very happy with them. No touch issues and installation is easy (unlike White Dome). …so there’s an alternative.

Reply

Whether you’re currently rocking a Whitestone, amFilm, or something else entirely, we’d love to know – What screen protector are you using on your Galaxy S9/S9+?

Join the conversation in the forums!

Samsung Galaxy S9 and S9+

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• Galaxy S9 vs. Galaxy S8: Should you upgrade?
• Join our Galaxy S9 forums

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The LG G7 launch needs to be perfect, but LG has a dismal track record

LG doesn’t need an absolute hit, but it does need to dramatically limit its mistakes.

2017 was a big year of improvement for LG, even though it didn’t translate into massively improved sales. After the dreadful G5 and extremely niche V20 in 2016, it rebounded to make the very good and severely under-appreciated G6 and V30. They were both good phones that were not only huge improvements over their predecessors but also just solid offerings compared to the rest of the market.

The problem, as ever, was getting absolutely steamrolled by the launch of the Samsung’s latest phones — in this case, the Galaxy S8, S8+ and Note 8. Everything LG did with its G6 launch was utterly flatted by the Galaxy S8, and then the same fate befell the V30 launching just a week after the Galaxy Note 8.

With the upcoming LG G7 ThinQ (henceforth referred to as just “LG G7,” for my sanity), LG has the opportunity to launch its phone comfortably in its own little bubble. The Galaxy S9 hype has slowed; the Huawei P20 is out the door; we don’t have any concrete info on the HTC U12 launch. The OnePlus 6 launch is likely to be the only thing within a couple weeks of LG’s announcement on May 2.

With those structural obstacles out of the way, LG has a good window to launch its latest flagship. Now it just needs to execute on its own launch to keep this from being a repeat of 2017.

If the LG G6 and V30 were any indications, the G7 will be a good phone. LG’s hardware has improved a lot in the last generation. The company has generally stayed away from gimmicks and kept a full feature set. We expect the phone will have top-notch specs, a good display (perhaps using new MLCD+ technology) and a focus on audio quality. LG has always had a good camera story, and I’m not worried about that continuing this year. The software continues to be a weak point, but not a deal breaker, and I can only hope LG manages to improve in that respect.

So yes, the phone should be good. It may even be great. But I’m not worried about the phone itself as a product — I’m worried about how LG can dramatically reduce or eliminate its launch struggles, and give the G7 a chance in the market.

1) Tighten up the launch timeline

First and foremost, LG must get the launch timing right. It was confident enough to announce weeks ahead of time that the G7 will be announced on May 2. Now, how long will we have to wait after that for it to actually be in stores?

The LG G6 was announced on February 26, and didn’t launch in the U.S. until April 7, over five weeks later. The LG V30 launched on August 31, and took a month to hit U.S. stores — September 28. The LG G7 has to do better here. We need to see pre-orders almost immediately after the announcement, and a retail launch within a couple weeks, for LG to reasonably expect people to ride the hype of its launch into early sales.

2) The price has to be right

None of the rest of this matters much if LG doesn’t get the pricing right on the G7 — and that means, unfortunately for LG, undercutting the competition a bit. LG pretty quickly realized after the Galaxy S8 launch that it’d need to drop the price of the G6 to start competing in a lower price bracket. It didn’t take long before the G6 could be had for $499, and that’s where it stayed throughout most of the year. The V30, on the other hand, has kept a high price in the range of $750-850 even as the new Galaxy S9 and S9+ are on the scene and eating its lunch.

When it comes to the G7, it’s going to be imperative for LG to be priced more like the Galaxy S9, about $720, rather than the Galaxy S9+ at $850. I’m sure the G7 will be a fine phone, but people aren’t clamoring for a new LG flagship in the same way they are a Samsung one — and one way to get people in the door is to just be downright cheaper with the same type of experience. $699 is only $20 less than the Galaxy S9, but having that price start with $6__ sure would be great for LG.

3) Stop with the variants

It’s already difficult enough for LG to garner public attention to its phone launches, and then it goes on and makes them even more confusing by releasing different regional variants and special editions in the weeks and months after. Phones with different hardware features and internal specs just confuse people, and it’s not a good look. With the LG G7, I’d love to see LG contain itself solely to the original launch device and perhaps some other color options. No LG G7+ or LG G7S or any of that nonsense — just release the phone, making it the same (within reason) around the world, and don’t let the pressure of carriers around the world dictate exclusive versions.

Part of this frustration with different variants is also rooted in pricing. The G6 and V30 had (and in many cases still have) widely different prices between carriers and regions. Today you can buy a V30 from AT&T for $749 but the same phone is $840 from Verizon — and Sprint has the 128GB LG V30+ for $949. It’s all confusing, and even though customers don’t really cross-shop between carriers much they do know when they feel like they’re getting a bad deal.

We’ll see how LG plans to do this all when it announces the phone on May 2. Centering the launch around an event in New York City gives me hope that LG is taking things seriously — now we just need to see the execution.

The Morning After: NTSB’s tiff with Tesla

Hey, good morning! You look fabulous.

Morning! Fortnite is back, and we’ve spent some time with a very special iPhone 8 Plus. It’s RED. And then there’s Vizio’s 2018 TV lineup.

Guess what color.Taking a deep look at Apple’s Product RED iPhone 8 Plus

Since the special edition iPod Nano in 2006, Apple’s continued to sell Product RED versions of its products to raise funds for the fight against AIDS. And here’s the iPhone 8 and 8 Plus in stores today. Chris Velazco ogled, and indeed, it’s red. A really nice, deep red.

Its CEO cut a plea deal with federal and state prosecutors.Backpage.com pleaded guilty to human trafficking

The Justice Department revealed Backpage CEO Carl Ferrer pleaded guilty to federal charges of money laundering before the site was seized on April 6th. The business entered a guilty plea in Texas to a charge of human trafficking. Ferrer is now facing up to five years in prison and is cooperating in the prosecution of site co-founders Michael Lacey and James Larkin.

Good luck telling the difference on that $80 Crosley you bought at Target.Apparently high-definition vinyl is coming next year

Austria-based Rebeat Innovation has begun the work to bring vinyl into the 21st century. Of course, that involves lasers. Specifically, converting analog audio information into a digital 3D topographic map of the music, and then etching that into a platter with light. According to Pitchfork, this process will result in around 40 percent longer playing times per side, 30 percent more amplitude and will offer better sound quality overall.

Twin Galaxies proved his performances weren’t recorded on arcade hardware.Billy ‘King of Kong’ Mitchell’s ‘Donkey Kong’ scores were a lie

It’s over. Billy Mitchell has had his long-contested Donkey Kong high scores stripped from the Twin Galaxies leaderboards and the organization has notified Guinness World Records of its decision. More than that, all of his records have been removed from the forums, and he’s banned from TG’s competitive leaderboards wholesale.

For $5 a month, the service doesn’t get you everything, but it gets you a lot.ESPN+ is the sports-streaming cord-cutters have been waiting for

After months of rumors and speculation about what it would look like or how much it would cost, ESPN’s standalone streaming service finally launched yesterday. It’s called ESPN+ and it’s priced at $5 a month, which will get you both live and on-demand content. The first thing you should know about ESPN+ is that it isn’t meant to replace the traditional ESPN network but is designed to complement it.

There might be too many great TVs to choose from.The real star of Vizio’s 2018 TV lineup is value

If you’re in the market for a 4K TV this year, Vizio’s latest lineup is filled with several compelling options. First, there’s the new P-series Quantum, which is Vizio’s brightest and most feature-packed TV ever. But the rest of the company’s P- and M-series sets are also cheaper and better equipped than before. In short, this could be your 4K TV upgrade.

Light leaking and excessive noise distract a bit from the excellent picture quality.BenQ HT2550 4K projector review: great value, but not perfect

BenQ’s HT2550 is one of the first inexpensive projectors on the market to put a true 4K image on the screen. With a 4K source, the image is noticeably sharper than 1080p source material, though not every viewer might appreciate that. It offers HDR10 with accurate colors, provided you do some minor tweaking first. The biggest downside is light leaking around the edge of the image and, occasionally, excessive noise. Contrast and brightness aren’t as good as some of its rivals, but the HT2550 has sharper 4K than both of those models.

A “critical failure with one of [the] account service databases” took the game offline.‘Fortnite’ is back online after a day-long blackout

Recent gaming hit Fortnite is finally playable again across all platforms after a server outage and emergency update took it offline for almost a day. According to a Reddit post by a company employee, a “critical failure with one of [the] account service databases” made the login and matchmaking systems unstable. To make up for the delay, Epic is giving Battle Royale players a free Back Bling gift this weekend and a pack of Battle Stars next week; those who still load up the game’s original Save The World mode will also get some in-game freebies.

It’ll be months — if not years — before Facebook fixes some core issues.Facebook can’t move fast to fix the things it broke

Facebook’s old motto was “move fast and break things,” a sort of hacker rallying cry that put product evolution over basically everything else. Realizing that the demands placed on a massive, publicly traded company required a new outlook, Facebook officially changed that motto to “move fast with stable infrastructure” in mid-2014. For all the changes, however, the company’s endless drive for growth continued. After watching Facebook CEO Mark Zuckerberg get grilled by committees from both chambers of Congress over the past two days, it seems that Facebook can’t move fast enough.

But wait, there’s more…

• Can Facebook really apply the EU’s data-privacy rules worldwide?
• Hyperloop TT begins construction of its first test track
• Tesla ends formal agreement to cooperate with NTSB on Model X crash
• Amazon celebrates its Ring acquisition with $100 smart doorbells
• How to actually get work done on an iPad
• White Castle serves up plant-based meat with the Impossible Slider
• GTA IV will lose some of its in-game music over licensing issues

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Police across the US are buying an affordable iPhone cracker

More and more authorities in the US are getting access to an affordable device that can unlock iPhones, according to Motherboard. The publication’s investigation has revealed that a number of local and regional police forces, including Maryland’s and Indiana’s, have either already bought or are thinking of buying a new piece of iPhone-cracking technology called GrayKey. It reportedly works even on phones running iOS 11, Apple’s latest mobile platform, and even if authorities are using it on an iPhone X. Motherboard says the State Department already has one of its own, while the Secret Service and the Drug Enforcement Administration are planning to buy some.

Based on an earlier report by Malwarebytes, GrayKey is a small box that can unlock two iPhones at a time. (See the two connectors in the image of the device below?) It was developed by Atlanta company Grayshift, which is run by long-time US intelligence agency contractors and a former Apple security engineer, according to Forbes. To use GrayKey, all cops need to do is connect a phone to it for two minutes. They simply have to wait a bit after it’s unplugged to see a black screen pop up with the passcode — how long they’d have to wait depends on how complex the passcode/passphrase is.

[Image credit: Malwarebytes]

But more than being easy to use, it’s incredibly affordable for what it can do. If you’ll recall, the feds paid Israeli company Cellebrite $900,000 to crack open the San Bernardino shooter’s iPhone after Apple repeatedly refused to do it for them. Currently, Cellebrite unlocks phones for at least $5,000 each, but even that amount is comparably enormous to how much cops have to spend for every GrayKey unlock.

There are two GrayKey variants available: one will set government agencies back $15,000, while the other will cost them $30,000. They can use the more expensive of the two to unlock as many iPhones as they want. The cheaper version has a limit of 300 devices, but even that isn’t so bad when you do the math — that’s only $50 per device.

FBI chief Christopher Wray called encryption a “major public safety issue” when he revealed that the bureau couldn’t get to the evidence stored in 7,775 devices it failed to access the previous year. It’s unclear whether they already ran the iPhones in that pile through a GrayKey, but (short of telling tech giants to add a backdoor to their devices) he urged companies to work with the government in creating a way to access phones owned by suspects.

So, why are authorities still calling for a backdoor when devices like GrayKey already exist? As Motherboard points out, phone-cracking devices exploit security holes, which Apple, Google and other phonemakers can patch up anytime. A backdoor would ensure they can access data whatever the device is and even if it’s running the latest mobile OS.

Source: Motherboard

Firefox for iOS Updated With Automatic Tracking Protection and New iPad Features

Mozilla has updated Firefox for iOS with some notable changes, including new iPad features and default tracking protection in both regular and private browsing sessions.

The additional privacy measure means users get automatic ad and content blocking when browsing unless they opt out, while those who want to selectively deploy Tracking Protection need only tap the menu button and slide the feature’s toggle.

On the iPad front, Mozilla has added the ability to re-order multiple open tabs to prioritize them. To do so, long-press a specific tab and drag it into the desired position. Meanwhile, in Split View, it’s now possible to share and open links by dragging and dropping them to and from Firefox to any application, whether they’re in an email or a tweet.

Firefox has also implemented new keyboard shortcuts for standard navigation, as well as several improvements for easier tab tray navigation, like Command-Option-Tab to get to and from the all tabs view. Users seeking more details on the full range of keyboard shortcuts available in Firefox can check Mozilla’s online guide.

Firefox for iOS is a free download for iPhone and iPad available on the App Store. [Direct Link]

Tags: Firefox for iOS, Mozilla
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Russia Bans Access to Telegram Encrypted Messenger Service

A Russian law court has ordered that access to the Telegram encrypted messaging service should be blocked, according to Russian news agencies on Friday (via Reuters).

The development follows last week’s news that Russia’s media regulator had filed legal proceedings to block the app in the country because the company refused to enable state security services to access users’ messages.

The Telegram platform allows people to communicate with each other using end-to-end encryption, meaning no-one – not even Telegram – has access to messages sent between users.

The app has over 200 million users globally. They include Kremlin staff, who use Telegram to coordinate conference calls with Vladimir Putin’s spokesman. Many government officials also use the messenger app to communicate with media, according to Reuters.

When Reuters asked a person in the Russian government on how they would operate without access to Telegram, the person, who asked not be identified due to the sensitivity of the issue, replied by sending a screenshot of his mobile phone with an open VPN app.

Telegram becomes the second global network after LinkedIn to be blocked in Russia. In 2016, a court found LinkedIn guilty of violating a law that requires companies holding Russian citizens’ data to store it on servers within Russia.

Note: Due to the political nature of the discussion regarding this topic, the discussion thread is located in our Politics, Religion, Social Issues forum. All forum members and site visitors are welcome to read and follow the thread, but posting is limited to forum members with at least 100 posts.

Tags: security, Russia, privacy, Encryption, Telegram
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