News written by James Delahunty (October, 2019)

Avast has detailed how it prevented a suspected supply chain attack on the popular CCleaner software product.

CCleaner had been targeted in such an attack in 2017 and led to Piriform unknowingly distributing malware with the installer for the better part of a month. Attackers had successfully breached the development environment and made malicious modifications before distribution.

Avast has confirmed that it has prevented a similar incident from occurring. It has detailed "Abiss" in a blog post; a suspected supply chain attack on the CCleaner product. The most important detail is that the attempt was unsuccessful and no users of the product were exposed to malware as a result.

The clues that something was amiss started with a false positive in the form of a MS ATA alert of a malicious replication of directory services from an internal IP belonged to Avast's VPN address range. Further analysis found the attacker was attempting to gain access to the network through the VPN as early as May 14, 2019.

The user, whose credentials were apparently compromised and associated with the IP, did not have domain admin privileges. However, the attacker managed to gain domain admin privileges through a successful privilege investigation.

Blizzard has spoken publicly on this week's controversial decision to suspend a pro gamer and withhold his prize after a Hearthstone tournament.

Pro gamer Ng Wai Chung, better known as Blitzchung was banned for a year earlier this week. He had voices support for the Hong Kong protesters in an interview after the tournament, while wearing a gas mask. "Liberate Hong Kong, revolution of our age," he said.

Following this decision, a boycott of Blizzard trended on social media and fans tried to delete their accounts in solidarity. J. Allen Brack, Prsident of Blizzard Entertainment, published an open letter to fans about the incident.

"Over the weekend, blitzchung used his segment to make a statement about the situation in Hong Kong--in violation of rules he acknowledged and understood, and this is why we took action," Brack writes.

"The official broadcast needs to be about the tournament and to be a place where all are welcome. In support of that, we want to keep the official channels focused on the game."

Brack also stressed that the specific views expressed by Blitzchung were not a factor in the decisions made, adding that Blizzard's relations in China has no influence on them. However, over the past few days Blizzard has received criticism and complaints from players, casters, esports fans, and employees and Brack acknowledges that the company reacted too quickly and that its process wasn't adequate.

Facebook's digital currency Libra has suffered another blow ahead of its launch as all of the payment processors backing it have pulled their support.

The decision of several companies comes after PayPal decided to drop out of the Libra Association, the group that will develop and maintain Libra. It has now been followed by MasterCard, Visa, Stripe, Ebay and Mercado Pago. "Visa has decided not to join the Libra Association at this time," the company said in a statement.

"We will continue to evaluate and our ultimate decision will be determined by a number of factors, including the Association's ability to fully satisfy all requisite regulatory expectations."

Co-creator of Libra, David Marcus took to Twitter to respond to the news.

I would caution against reading the fate of Libra into this update. Of course, it's not great news in the short term, but in a way it's liberating. Stay tuned for more very soon. Change of this magnitude is hard. You know you're on to something when so much pressure builds up.

-- David Marcus (@davidmarcus) October 11, 2019

Questions about latency arose as soon as Google announced its cloud gaming service Stadia, but Google is apparently aiming for 'negative latency' with the service.

Latency concerns are entirely understandable. It is one thing when the input from controllers travels over a wire to a PC or console, or short range wireless connection. It is an entirely different thing when the input from the controller or other devices has to travel across the Internet, and the result has to be streamed back to you. Latency seems almost inevitable.

Significant latency and lag could seriously hurt Google's platform when it launches in November. However, the company has been working on it and Majd Bakar, VP of Engineering at Stadia, has even invoked 'negative latency'.

This is a peculiar term since it conjures up thoughts of an input command being received and the result being streamed back to you before you even sent the input. However, it is likely a term that hints at how things work at the back-end. There are suggestions that what Bakar means is that the Google system will predict input controls and constantly render frames ahead of time, and then quickly determine which predictions were correct and send the appropriate frames.

An iTunes update has fixed a vulnerability in an iTunes service that a particular strain of ransomware was using to hide itself from anti-virus software.

The ransomware - identified as BitPaymer - was found to be exploiting a zero-day bug in the Bonjour update component that runs in the background in Windows. This service is installed when iTunes is installed in Windows and actually remains on the system even when iTunes is uninstalled later on.

Specifically, the ransomware exploited an "unquoted service path" vulnerability in Bonjour which let the ransomware hijack its execution path. This would launch the ransomware and would also fly under the radar of many antivirus utilities.

Apple has since updated the flawed Bonjour component which you can update by installing the latest version of iTunes. You can get iTunes for Windows 32-bit from here, or you can get iTunes for Windows 64-bit from here.

Remember, even if you uninstalled iTunes before, the Bonjour component remains and will be unpatched unless you install the latest iTunes. If you want to get rid of Bonjour it should be listed with all other programs in "Programs & Features" in the Control Panel in Windows.

Subscribers of YouTube TV services can gift special two week free trials to their friends and families for a limited time period.

YouTube has sent out emails to customers of its YouTube TV service. In the e-mails are codes that subscribers can send to their friends and families to redeem a special two week free trial of the service. Usually, new users to YouTube TV only get a five day free trial of the service, so if you know any YouTube TV subscribers now would be a good time to nag them to send on the code.

"So, we're giving you a special two week extended free trial code to share with friends and family who might like to try YouTube TV for the first time," the e-mail reads.

"After all, whether they're entertainment lovers or sports fans, with 70+ channels and unlimited DVR space, there's something for pretty much everyone, right?"

YouTube sets no specific limit on the number of times a code can be redeemed but reserves the right to impose its own cap. Presumably this would happen if a subscriber decides to post the code somewhere publicly for anyone to redeem. There is also a time limit on this offer.

Codes must be redeemed by October 16, 2019.

(via 9to5google.com)

Google's cloud gaming platform Stadia is rapidly approaching its launch and it has been confirmed that all titles available can stream in 4k at 60fps.

This even includes the older titles that will be included in the initial Stadia line-up, as Google hopes to enter the gaming world with a bang in November. Furthermore, the 4K streams coming from Stadia will be locked at 60fps, even if the original game was designed for 30fps. This has been confirmed by VP and general manager at Google, leading the Stadia product.

Yes, all games at launch support 4K. We designed Stadia to enable 4K/60 (with appropriate TV and bandwidth). We want all games to play 4K/60 but sometimes for artistic reasons a game is 4K/30 so Stadia always streams at 4K/60 via 2x encode.

-- Phil Harrison (@MrPhilHarrison) October 9, 2019

Apple chief executive Tim Cook defended the company's controversial decision to remove an app used by Hong Kong protesters from the App Store.

In an e-mail sent to employees and seen and confirmed by the Reuters News Agency, Apple CEO Tim Cook addressed the decision of the Cupertino firm to remove HKMap from the App Store. HKMap is an app that tracks protests and police activity with crowdsourced information in Hong Kong, where pro-democracy protesters have been active for several weeks.

According to the e-mail, Cook argues that while the information in the app is on its own benign, Apple had credible information that the app was being used for targeted violence.

He cited information from Hong Kong police and Apple users in the region in writing that the app was being used to "target individual officers for violence and to victimize individuals and property where no police are present."

"This use put the app in violation of Hong Kong law," Cook wrote.

Amazon Music can now be enjoyed by subscribers on their Apple TV 4K or Apple TV HD devices running tvOS 12.0 or newer.

Spotify became available on Apple TV devices earlier this week and has not been followed in support on the living room set-top-box by rival Amazon Music. The Amazon Music app is now available from the App Store for Apple TV, providing access to a wide range of global playlists like Pop Culture and Rap Rotation.

"We believe that listeners should be able to stream music simply and easily on any device they choose," said Karolina Joynathsing, director of business development for Amazon Music.

"With that in mind, our aim has been to bring listeners more ways to enjoy their favorite music. We're thrilled to bring the Amazon Music app to Apple TV customers across the globe."

Listeners can browse and search for music from their favorite artists, access all purchased and imported music available in their 'My Music' library, and follow along with scrolling lyrics to their favorite music within the app (if that particular song is supported).

It is available from today in Australia, Brazil, Canada, France, Germany, India, Italy, Japan, Mexico, New Zealand, Spain, United Kingdom, and the United States.

An attempted attack on a synagogue in Germany was livestreamed on Twitch and watched by 2,200 users before it was removed from the service.

Police say a 27 year old man was acting alone when he killed two people in the German city of Halle on Wednesday. The man had livestreamed the incident on Twitch as he spouted antisemitic comments and began shooting at a synagogue in the city around noon. Two people were shot dead nearby after the attacker failed to enter the synagogue.

Twitch confirmed that he had livestreamed his attack on its platform and that five people had tuned in during the stream. However, around 2,200 viewed the horrific footage before it was detected and removed from Twitch.

It was not promoted in Twitch's recommended feed. Instead, Twitch's own investigation suggested that people were sharing the video in messaging services before it was detected. It remained online for around 30 minutes after the incident occurred in Germany.

"Any act of violence is taken extremely seriously. We worked with urgency to remove this content and will permanently suspend any accounts found to be posting or reposting content of this abhorrent act," Twitch said. It has also shared a hash of the video with others so that it will be detected very quickly if it is uploaded elsewhere.

NASA administrator Jim Bridenstine is visiting the SpaceX headquarters in the suburbs of Los Angeles today and will hold a joint press conference with CEO Elon Musk.

This visit comes after the pair seemed to trade jabs following SpaceX' recent public update on the progress of its ambitious Starship project. Before Musk could enthusiastically show off their rapid progress on Starship to journalists and space travel enthusiasts, Bridenstine took to Twitter and seemed to aim criticism at SpaceX for the delays in their Crew Dragon program.

Both SpaceX and Boeing are currently working on their crew launch vehicles - Crew Dragon for SpaceX and Starliner for Boeing - and both of them have run into significant technical issues and delays. Bridenstine seemed to be displeased that SpaceX was holding a public demonstration of the Starship progress when Crew Dragon was still lagging behind.

My statement on @SpaceX's announcement tomorrow: pic.twitter.com/C67MhSeNsa

-- Jim Bridenstine (@JimBridenstine) September 27, 2019

Apple has once against changed its mind on an application used by protesters in Hong Kong, following criticism from a Chinese publication linked to the communist party.

HKMap is an application that provides information on ongoing pro-democracy protests in Hong Kong, as well as documenting police activity in the region during this troubled period of time. Apple has previously decided not to list the HKMap app on its App Store but had reversed the decision only days ago.

In the meantime, China Daily - a publication owned and operated by the communist party in China - had slammed Apple's decision to allow HKMap to be listed on the App Store. It accused the Cupertino-based iPhone maker of enabling rioters to commit acts of violence by simply allowing the HKMap app to be downloaded at all.

Apple has significant operations in China where much of its gadgets are assembled, and China Daily made sure to remind Apple that it needs to think of the consequences of its decisions.

The developers behind HKMap completely reject the claim that the app aids criminal activity, saying they are not based on evidence. They go on to point out that other apps like Waze continue to be offered on the App Store. Furthermore, social networking apps like Facebook do not get delisted when criminals use the platform for nefarious activities.

A man has received a suspended prison sentence and has been fined for copyright infringement related to ebook piracy activity.

The 26-year-old Danish man has been handed a 20 day suspended sentence and received a fine for admitting to illegally selling pirated copies of textbooks through a buy-and-sell outlet in the country. The case initiated with an investigator working for Rettighedsalliancen (Rights Alliance) using Den Blå Avis (The Blue Newspaper) - Denmark's largest buy and sell outlet - to purchase a PDF copy of a textbook.

He paid through MobilePay and then received the illicit PDF copy of the textbook from a Google Drive link and then contacted the police in the country to make a complaint.

As a result, the Copenhagen based man was charged with selling 228 copies of textbooks without permission. The textbooks sold for prices ranging from $12.50 to $88.00. The prosecution sought a custodial sentence for copyright infringement.

Judge Poul Bisgaard-Frantzen at the Court of Fredericksberg instead found it appropriate to impose a 20 day suspended sentence on the accused, as well as ordering the confiscation of 27,640 kroner (just over $4,000) obtained through the activity.

After disappointing its investors when it missed its sales targets by the end of 2018, Nintendo has good news to share about the performance of the Switch console and its software sales.

Launched in 2017, the Nintendo Switch console has now sold more than 10 million units in Europe alone. A big factor in that sales milestone is the launch in September of the Nintendo Switch Lite. Overall, sales of the Switch are up more than 30 percent this year compared to the same period of 2018, and up more than 40 percent over 2017.

In the calendar year of 2019, the Japanese games maker predicts it will sell around 18 million Switch units. At the end of 2018, the total global figure for the device stood at over 32 million units.

In addition to its positive hardware sales news, Nintendo also revealed that it nine first party titles have amassed more than a million sales a piece in Europe alone. Those titles are:

• Mario Kart 8 Deluxe
• Super Mario Odyssey
• The Legend of Zelda: Breath of the Wild
• Pokémon: Let's Go, Pikachu! and Pokémon: Let's Go, Eevee!
• Super Smash Bros. Ultimate
• Splatoon 2
• Super Mario Party
• New Super Mario Bros U Deluxe
• 1-2-Switch

The October update for Xbox One consoles is rolling out this week and it addresses quite a range of features on the console.

For starters, Xbox One is included in Microsoft's push for parents to more easily control the time their children can spend gaming and using apps. Parents can now set usage limits at the app or game level. So if a parent sets an hour limit per day for a game, that limit applies to every device so that switching devices won't let kids cheat on their time limits. Once parents make a setting at a game or app level, it applies to all Microsoft devices in the home that are configured.

Microsoft has also improved the Mixer experience in Xbox One. Players will no longer need to navigate to another app for Mixer streams as the October update integrates it right into the Xbox One dashboard, making it much easier and faster to find and watch a stream you want.

For user experience, several feature changes and improvements have been made. When an item on a player's Wish List gets a price discount, for example, then the user will receive a notification. The update also makes it possible for Xbox Game Pass subscribers to recommend titles to a friend via a message, or to your whole community through your activity feed or share to a club.

Many homes now have multiple media and entertainment devices spread throughout, and Google wants to make it easy to switch the device you are listening to music or watching YouTube videos on.

With updates rolling out, users of Google Home products like Chromecast, Google Home Mini, Nest Hub Max, and others will be able to easily switch music, podcasts, and YouTube videos around devices. That can be achieved either by speaking out voice commands, using the Google Home app on a smartphone, or a touchscreen on a Nest smart display.

If music playing on a device in the kitchen like the Google Home Mini, a voice command of "Hey Google, move the music to the living room speaker" will transfer the stream to the living room device.

Alternatively, if using the Google Home app, one has to tap the cast button to see all the devices in the home, and then choose one to move the streaming audio to.

YouTube videos are also supported for quick switching. Either a voice command or the cast control on the screen of the Nest Hub Max can move YouTube videos to a Chromecast-connected TV. If you have more than one Google Home and Nest smart speaker or display, you can set up a speaker group in the Home App.

Call of Duty Mobile leaves Fortnite, PUBG, and Mario Kart Tour in its wake in a wildly successful week starting on its October 1 launch day.

According to Sensor Tower, Call of Duty Mobile racked up more than 100 million downloads around the world in its first week of availability. This beats the previous record set by Mario Kart Tour, which clocked up 90 million downloads in its first week.

On the surface it dramatically outperformed both Fortnite and PUBG, which accumulated 22.5 million downloads, and 28 million downloads, respectively, in their first weeks. However, it is noteworthy that Fortnite was initially only available on the iOS platform, and PUBG rolled out more slowly by region.

Call of Duty Mobile had a wider roll-out, though it has not launched in China despite being developed by Tencent's TiMi Studio in Shenzhen.

Sensor Tower finds that Call of Duty Mobile saw 56.9 million downloads for iOS devices and 45.3 million downloads for their Android competitors. Its best performing territory is the United States with 17.3 million downloads, followed by India (13.7 million), and Brazil (7.1 million).

The ability for Spotify users to control the music app through Siri on Apple devices has not softened Spotify's criticism of Apple.

The Swedish streaming pioneer has been running its "Time to Play Fair" campaign against what it alleges are unfair business practices from Apple for a while. This week, Spotify users on Apple platforms gained the ability to control their music using Siri commands, which is a nice boost. It hasn't softened Spotify's attitude toward Apple however.

In fact, Spotify went to the trouble of modifying an animated video criticizing Apple's business practices and alleged abuses of its position. Previously, the video had scalded Apple for not allowing users to control Spotify with Siri but now acknowledges that Apple device owners finally have this ability but not to use it as their default player.

The rest of the video deals with the existing complaints Spotify has against Apple, including the so called "30 percent Apple tax" and how Apple's red tape keeps Spotify from offering promotions and features.

You may have seen most of this video before. If not, here is the modified version updated this week by Spotify.

A popular Android app used for IPTV service on devices has disappeared from the Play Store, and not for the first time.

IPTV Smarters is one of the more popular IPTV player solutions for Android devices like smartphones, tablets, TV boxes and smart televisions. It can be used with third party IPTV services and provided a good user experience through its GUI and Electronic Programming Guide and other features.

However, it has disappeared from Google's Play Store and not for the first time. According to the developer of the application, the removal is due to a false complaint.

"It's normal [to receive such complaints] and [it has] happened three times so far. We had it sorted out last time and this time. We have executed the same procedure with the help of our lawyers," Amanpreet Singh, told TorrentFreak. Singh did not reveal the source of the false complaint.

"As it's just a video player, that's why it will be back very soon," he added.

IPTV Smarters is only a software application itself. It does not provide any IPTV streams as is, and instead has to be used with another service. The developer does not endorse its use by any third party provider that violates Intellectual Property laws.

Sony's PlayStation 4 (PS4) console software updates to version 7.00 this week and brings some notable improvements for user experience.

The first thing to mention is that Remote Play is now supported on Android 5.0 (or newer) devices. All you have to do is get the Remote Play app from the Play Store. On iPhones and iPads, Remote Play can now also display the controller at all times or lock the screen orientation if the user deems either necessary.

Additionally, a DualShock 4 controller can be used for Remote Play on Android, iPhone, iPad, and Mac using Bluetooth. For that functionality you require Android 10, iOS 13, iPadOD 13 or macOS Catalina.

The software update also improves the Party experience on PlayStation 4. Once updated, the maximum number of Party users is doubled from 8 to 16, while the audio quality is also of higher quality. Connectivity issues should also be alleviated due to back-end changes made by Sony to its network infrastructure.

Accessibility is also improved for the Party feature with the inclusion of Chat Transcription. This is initially available in the United States and only in the English language. Party voice chats can be converted to text and will display on the PS4 second screen app on your smartphone or other mobile device. Furthermore, it supports speech to text so users can speak aloud and have their speech transcribed to text and sent to other Party participants.

Epic Games has settled a lawsuit with a 14 year old boy who sold cheats for Fortnite online, and demonstrated them in videos.

The boy is identified only as CBV in court documents. He was targeted by Epic Games for copyright infringement as he made cheats available for sale through an online forum. On his YouTube channel he demonstrated how the hacks work and linked his more than 14,000 subscribers to where they were made available.

Epic Games maintained that the cheats and their marketing was unfair and unlawful, and that they altered the copyrighted work of Epic and effectively resulted in a new version of the game. The dev also claimed that while CBV claimed he would cheat for fun and entertainment, and not to steal from those who work hard for what they do, he still benefited financially from the activity.

Game developers and publishers have been cracking down on cheats and on modding of games and those who sell them, as they can create a skewed experience for other players and also provides incentive for others to cheat as well.

Epic Games may face a class action lawsuit in Canada that alleges the gamemaker deliberately made Fortnite as addictive as possible and did not disclose the health risks of the game.

Sony has confirmed that its next-generation PlayStation 5 will launch for the holiday season next year, and also confirmed more details about the system.

The first thing to note is that the next-generation in the console series is in fact called PlayStation 5. It will launch in time for Holiday 2020, according to Jim Ryan, President & CEO, Sony Interactive Entertainment. Some other details were also spilled by Ryan today, including a big change to the controller for the PS5 console.

Ryan says that the company wanted to re-imagine how the sense of touch can add to the immersion of video games. To that end, the new PS5 controller will scrap the long-lasting "rumble" technology in the DualShock line, and replace it with haptic feedback. This means that there is a wider range of feedback from the controller, so that "crashing into a wall in a race car feels much different than making a tackle on the football field."

Another change to the PS5 controller is the incorporation of adaptive triggers. This has been incorporated into the L2 and R2 triggers on the controller and will enable developers to "program the resistance of the triggers so that you feel the tactile sensation of drawing a bow and arrow or accelerating an off-road vehicle through rocky terrain."

Sony has announced that Facebook integration is no longer supported on the PlayStation 4 system. So what does that mean for users?

From today, Facebook integration has been scrapped on the PS4 console. This means that players will no longer be able to record and then upload their gameplay clips to the social network for their friends to see. Trophy unlock activity also can no longer be shared with Facebook friends. Friend finder is also out, which was a feature that used your Facebook account information to help you find friends on Sony's network.

So all share options (screenshots, videos, music, trophy details, links, broadcasts, etc.) can no longer be shared from your PS4 console to your Facebook account and friends. Profile pictures imported from Facebook will no longer be used either, so if you imported your profile picture from Facebook you will have to set up a new one.

The support page for the change does not give any reason why Sony has abruptly ended support for Facebook integration. However, Kotaku did reach out to Facebook and it seems that the social network is hoping to restore the integration soon.

A one-of-a-kind 'Nintendo PlayStation' console - a relic of a rocky and ultimately doomed partnership between Sony and Nintendo - is up for sale.

In the 1980s, Sony and Nintendo were collaborating on games console hardware. Nintendo had partnered with Sony to produce a CD-ROM add-on that could be used for the standard SNES console. It would use a format called Super Disc with the rights retained by Sony in agreement with Nintendo. Along with the add-on for the SNES, Sony was developing its own Play Station system, which was a hybrid containing the standard cartridge port for Nintendo games and the CD-ROM drive for games on Super Disc.

Trouble started however when Nintendo realized that Sony had an upper hand in software licensing as it retained control of Super Disc, and the Japanese gaming giant then approached Philips seeking a more favorable agreement over a partnership. As a result, the 1991 consumer electronics show saw both the introduction of the hybrid Play Station system from Sony, and the surprise announcement of a new partnership between Nintendo and Philips (which Sony had no prior warning about).

Despite trying to repair their issues over the next couple of years, Nintendo and Sony ultimately went separate ways with Sony deciding to focus on a new console for the next generation of gaming which we now know as the original PlayStation. During the negotiations as many as 300 prototypes were reportedly developed of Sony / Nintendo console hardware.

A legal firm is seeking a class action lawsuit against Epic Games because its popular Fortnite game is too addictive.

Calex Légal is representing the parents of two children in arguing that Fortnite is designed to be addictive, and that Epic Games did not warn customers about the dangers. The firm, based in Montreal, is seeking authorization for a class-action lawsuit and inviting parents concerned about their children's dependence on the video game to come forward.

"We dug into it and we realized there was a strong case for it," said Alessandra Esposito Chartrand, a Calex Légal attorney, reports the CBC.

The suit cites a decision made by the Quebec Superior Court in 2015 that determined tobacco companies had not warned customers about the dangers of smoking their product. This duty to inform is what Calex Légal is focusing on. Furthermore, Chartrand claims that the game is actually made purposely to be as addictive as possible.

"Epic Games, when they created Fortnite, for years and years, hired psychologists -- they really dug into the human brain and they really made the effort to make it as addictive as possible," she said. "They knowingly put on the market a very, very addictive game which was also geared toward youth."

The creators of South Park have 'apologized' to China after the show is reportedly banned in the country and it's exactly what you expect.

It has been reported that South Park is banned on the Chinese Internet, after last week's episode "Band in China". The episode follows dimwit Randy Marsh - father of Stan, a geologist, the voice of pop sensation Lorde, and the entrepreneur behind Tegridy Weed - on a journey to China to find more customers for his product. His visit instead gets Randy sent to a work camp where he has to speak praise of the communist party.

At the same time, Randy's son Stan is trying to film a biopic for his several-weeks-old death metal band Crimson Dawn, but finds out that he has to censor topics ranging from Winnie the Pooh to the Dalai Lama in order to appease Chinese censors and make money in the country.

The episode even shows a Chinese censor in military uniform erasing things that Stan writes down, or erasing things he types on his laptop.

Apparently, the Chinese authorities didn't see the humor in the episode and reports are that South Park is now banned on the Chinese Internet. Matt Stone and Trey Parker responded to the news in a fashion we've come to expect over the years from the minds behind South Park. While it clearly makes fun of the Chinese reaction to the episode, it also takes aim at the NBA.

While the release of the OnePlus 7T is coming soon, there are already leaks regarding the OnePlus 8 series.

CashKaro and OnLeaks have published renders of the upcoming OnePlus 8 smartphone based on schematics from a source within the company. The leak shows that the OnePlus 8 will trade in the notch of the OnePlus 7T, and the pop-up selfie camera of the OnePlus 7 Pro, for a punch-hole cam in the 6.5-inch curved display itself. OnePlus 8 will be the first OnePlus non-Pro smartphone to feature a curved display.

Like the OnePlus 7T and 7 Pro, OnePlus 8 will feature three camera lenses on the back.

The bottom speaker also appears to have a smoother edge than previous OnePlus series. The overall dimensions of the smartphone are estimated at 160.2 x 72.9 x 8.1mm (9.3mm when including the bump for the rear camera lenses).

Another big detail in the leak is the support for wireless charging. OnePlus has put effort into fast charging with some of its previous models. The OnePlus 7T comes (and 7 Pro) come with a 30W (5V/6A) charger for speedy charging. However, with competitors offering wireless charging it was an expected step for OnePlus to make.

Microsoft has revealed an attempt to identify and target e-mail accounts related to the U.S. 2020 Presidential Elections by a group with suspected links to Tehran.

Tom Burt, Corporate Vice President, Customer Security & Trust at Microsoft, revealed in an article that a group he identified as Phosphorus had targeted accounts linked to an election campaign for the U.S. 2020 Presidential Election. Microsoft believes that the attack originates from Iran and is linked to the Iranian government.

During August and September, Microsoft observed more than 2,700 attempts to identify consumer e-mail accounts belonging to specific Microsoft customers. 241 of these accounts were later directly attacked and four were compromised. Microsoft would only say that the targeted accounts are associated with a U.S. presidential campaign, current and former U.S. government officials, journalists covering global politics and prominent Iranians living outside Iran.

However, sources told the Reuters news agency that U.S. President Donald Trump's re-election campaign was specifically targeted, but the operation was unsuccessful. Responding to the report, Tim Murtaugh of the Trump campaign said it has no indication that any of its campaign infrastructure being targeted.

Apple has announced that it will repair some iPhone 6s and iPhone 6s Plus handsets for free as they may become unusable due to a component failure.

The Cupertino giant did not specify what component is leading to the failure of some iPhone 6s series handsets to power on, but it did say that the issue is limited to units manufactured between October 2018 and August 2019. It established a homepage for its free service program where users can check if their handset is eligible for a free repair.

If you have an iPhone 6s or iPhone 6s Plus that suddenly won't power on then it might be caused by this component issue. To find out, visit the repair page and enter the serial number of your model and it will inform you whether or not it is eligible for a free repair.

Affected iPhone 6s models can be repaired at any Apple Authorized Service Provider, an Apple Retail Store, through Apple Support's mail-in service. Owners who previously paid to have an iPhone 6s repaired that would have been eligible for free repair can contact Apple for a refund.

The program covers affected iPhone 6s and iPhone 6s Plus devices for 2 years after the first retail sale of the unit.

It should be noted that Apple may restrict or limit repair to the original country or region of purchase, which might complicate things if the handset was imported from a foreign source.

PayPal has dropped out of the Libra Association, the first financial backer to leave the group backing the Libra digital currency.

Facebook's ambitions to launch a digital currency that can be used worldwide for payments have hit constant roadblocks. PayPal has continued to this shaky start by dropping out of the Libra Association, the organization that would oversee the development and deployment of Libra and associated products.

"PayPal has made the decision to forgo further participation in the Libra Association at this time and to continue to focus on advancing our existing mission and business priorities as we strive to democratize access to financial services for underserved populations," PayPal said in a statement.

"We remain supportive of Libra's aspirations and look forward to continued dialogue on ways to work together in the future. Facebook has been a longstanding and valued strategic partner to PayPal, and we will continue to partner with and support Facebook in various capacities."

Libra has also been subjected to probes and attacks from politicians and bureaucrats the world-round, who see Libra and other digital currencies as a threat to the financial system. Facebook's chequered history on its handling of user data is another commonly cited reason for opposing the proposed digital currency.

A mother is warning about the dangers of social media 'challenges' after her 12 year old son is badly burned doing the so called 'Fire Challenge'.

Viral challenges are far from new. For years, people have essentially performed silly or stupid stunts on video and posted it online. We all remember the ALS challenge phenomenon that prompted millions of people to dump cold water over their heads and then challenge others to do the same.

Well, how about you set yourself on fire? Incredibly, a small number of people seem to have done this. It was reported this week that a 12 year old Michigan boy had suffered second degree burns after his friend set him on fire. Amazingly, the goal was to post the video of this "challenge" online.

The boy spent four days in hospital after his friend sprayed him with nail polish remover and then lit him up. His mother, Tabitha, has warned about the dangers of social media challenges.

"I just want everybody to know that these challenges, or whatever they're watching on YouTube, is not worth risking your life," she said, reports NBC News.

Rockstar Games has provided details about the release of Red Dead Redemption 2 for PC, including that it will be a Google Stadia launch title.

Red Dead Redemption 2 is available for PC platforms from November 5, with pre-orders available from the new recently launched Rockstar Games Launcher from October 9. The PC version of the first in the Red Dead Redemption series to launch on the platforms comes with some new content and bonuses as well.

Red Dead Redemption 2 for PC features a range of graphical and technical enhancements for increased immersion along with new Bounty Hunting Missions, Gang Hideouts, Weapons and more.

Red Dead Redemption 2 for PC also includes free access to the shared living world of Red Dead Online featuring all previously released improvements and the latest content updates for the complete online experience including Frontier Pursuits and the specialist Roles of Bounty Hunter, Trader and Collector for players to progress through and earn unique rewards.

For those who choose to pre-order from October 9 to October 22 on Rockstar Games Launcher, Rockstar will also throw two free games. You can choose your two free games from Grand Theft Auto III, Grand Theft Auto: Vice City, Grand Theft Auto: San Andrea, Bully: Scholarship Edition, L.A. Noire: The Complete Edition, and Max Payne 3: The Complete Edition.

Samsung says that its expensive Galaxy Fold can handle up to 200,000 folds during its lifetime before it can be expected to break due to wear and tear. Can it?

CNET put it to the test with a device built by SquareTrade. The device folded and unfolded the Samsung device for hours until it failed. It clocked up a reported 119,380 folds - which were achieved in around 14 hours - before the screen and hinge were damaged from the folding and unfolding.

Of course, the test doesn't really reflect real-world use of a Galaxy Fold as owners who have coughed up so much money are unlikely to carelessly fold and unfold the device for hours nonstop.

Samsung says that 200,000 folds accounts for around 100 folds per day for five years. Whether or not the CNET / SquareTrade test can cast doubts on that is up to you to determine once you check out the CNET video.

Be warned, it was live-streamed for almost twelve hours.

EA Sports confirms that a bug exposed some personal information of some players signing up for FIFA 20 Global Series.

In a bizarre incident, some players who were trying to sign up for the new FIFA 20 Global Series saw that the registration form was already pre-loaded with information of other people. Some popular live-streamers reportedly had their personal information exposed due to the registration bug.

EA Sports acknowledged the bug and estimated that around 1,600 people had been directly affected by it. Exposed information included e-mail addresses and date of birth. It has since identified the cause of the issue and has patched it up.

"Player privacy and security are of the utmost importance to us, and we deeply apologize that our players encountered this issue today," EA Sports said in a statement.

It has been reported that Disney has blacklisted Netflix ads across multiple of its properties as it prepares to jump into the streaming deep end.

Disney is soon to make quite the splash with Disney+, its video streaming service that will go head to head with the big boys including Netflix, Amazon, and others. According to the Wall Street Journal, Disney had informed employees earlier this year that it would not accept any advertisements across its services for any rival streaming services.

In the meantime, it has reportedly come to a compromise with every streaming service except for one pretty significant rival: Netflix. The WSJ reports that Netflix ads are not permitted across Disney's TV networks ahead of the launch of Disney+.

Disney+ was launched in the Netherlands on September 12, and will be launched in the United States and Canada on November 12, followed by Australia and New Zealand on November 19. It focuses on film and television content (incudling original programming) from its properties, including Disney, Pixar, Marvel, Star Wars, National Geographic, and 20th Century Fox.

A study showed that people now type out text on their mobile devices almost as fast as they can with a conventional keyboard on a PC.

After years of social media interaction, people type almost as fast now on mobile devices as they do using a traditional keyboard on a PC. A study co-wrote by ETH Zurich, Cambridge University, and Aalto University in Finland gathered data from more than 37,000 people who participated in speed typing tests on smartphones and PCs.

The fastest typist on a phone maxed out at around 85 words per minute (wpm). Keyboards can enable type speeds up to 100wpm. Most people hit between 35wpm and 65wpm on devices, while those aged between 10 and 19 years old tended to be around 10wpm faster than older participants in the study.

"Such a large amount of experience transfers to the development of typing skill and explains why young people, who spend more time with social media, communicating with each other, are picking up higher speeds," said Dr Anna Feit, researcher at ETH Zurich.

Another interesting detail is how type speed on mobile devices is helped by auto-correct, but hindered by predictive services. It seemed that participants used up noticeable time overall making sure a predicted word is correct, whereas auto-correct eliminated the need for a few thumb taps regularly enough to make a positive difference.