Month: February 2023
Best Credit Cards for Shopping on Amazon in February 2023 – CNET
These credit cards offer rewards and financing for Amazon purchases — and sometimes even an Amazon gift card.
These credit cards offer rewards and financing for Amazon purchases — and sometimes even an Amazon gift card.
Disney’s live-action film Peter Pan & Wendy starts streaming in April
Image: Disney
Disney’s latest live-action adaptation will be streaming later this spring. The company revealed today that Peter Pan & Wendy, billed as a “reimagining” of the 1953 animated film and the original play, will premiere on April 28th. It won’t be hitting theaters, however, and instead will be streaming exclusively on Disney Plus.
The news came alongside the first full trailer for the film, which stars Alexander Molony as Peter, Ever Anderson as Wendy, and Jude Law as Captain Hook. The movie is directed by David Lowery, who was behind the 2016 adaptation of Pete’s Dragon and the fantasy film The Green Knight from 2021. “We wanted to invigorate our retelling with emotional sincerity, an open heart, and a grand yearning for adventure,” Lowery said in a statement. “Hundreds of incredible artists spent many years bringing this film to the screen; I’m excited for audiences to see their work, to go on this ride, and to rediscover an evergreen tale from a new perspective.”
Peter Pan & Wendy is part of a growing (and decidedly uneven) lineup of live-action adaptations from Disney, including Robert Zemeckis’ take on Pinocchio from last year.
Image: Disney
Disney’s latest live-action adaptation will be streaming later this spring. The company revealed today that Peter Pan & Wendy, billed as a “reimagining” of the 1953 animated film and the original play, will premiere on April 28th. It won’t be hitting theaters, however, and instead will be streaming exclusively on Disney Plus.
The news came alongside the first full trailer for the film, which stars Alexander Molony as Peter, Ever Anderson as Wendy, and Jude Law as Captain Hook. The movie is directed by David Lowery, who was behind the 2016 adaptation of Pete’s Dragon and the fantasy film The Green Knight from 2021. “We wanted to invigorate our retelling with emotional sincerity, an open heart, and a grand yearning for adventure,” Lowery said in a statement. “Hundreds of incredible artists spent many years bringing this film to the screen; I’m excited for audiences to see their work, to go on this ride, and to rediscover an evergreen tale from a new perspective.”
Peter Pan & Wendy is part of a growing (and decidedly uneven) lineup of live-action adaptations from Disney, including Robert Zemeckis’ take on Pinocchio from last year.
PSVR 2’s No Man’s Sky is an immersive but overwhelming trip to space
Screenshot by Jay Peters / Jay Peters
More than six and a half years after No Man’s Sky was first released, I took my first trip into the game last week, wearing the brand-new PlayStation VR2 headset. It’s probably not the only way I’d choose to play the game, but about three hours in, it’s a mind-bending and overwhelming experience.
No Man’s Sky got optional full virtual reality support back in 2019, letting players navigate its huge procedurally generated universe in PC VR and the original PlayStation VR. But the VR mode got an overhaul last week with the new Fractal update and the launch of the PSVR 2, where it’s one of Sony’s big-name launch titles alongside games like Gran Turismo 7 and Resident Evil Village. No Man’s Sky adds support for things like the new Sense controllers and features like face rumble alongside the PlayStation 5’s general graphical upgrades, and it felt like time to finally check the game out.
No Man’s Sky is all about exploration. You’re dropped onto a planet where you have to collect resources to survive and build bases, and with a hovercraft or starship, you can drive around planets or fly through space. On a flat screen, the game has fairly typical first-person shooter menus and controls. In VR, things are very different. You move by teleporting from place to place. You access menus by selecting items on wrist-mounted computers. And perhaps most obviously, you move by looking around with your actual head — an experience that, in space, is incredible.
Piloting a spaceship in VR — actually gazing up at the nearby stars through the cockpit — is awe-inspiring. On my first trip to orbit, I looked to my right and saw an absolutely massive planet with Saturn-like rings that made my jaw drop. It’s all like something out of a sci-fi dream. Yes, you can look around the cockpit when you’re not in VR, but there’s just something special about doing it while immersed in a headset. It’s practically a cliche at this point to say that VR makes you feel “really there,” but that doesn’t make it any less fun.
Screenshot by Jay Peters / The Verge
I desperately want to visit this ringed planet.
Space combat in VR was thrilling, too. On one planet I visited, I accidentally angered a robotic drone, and a fleet of Sentinel bots and ships approached me. I took to the skies to fight my attackers, and in the air, my ship automatically chased opponents when I held down the X button. I’m not a capable enough pilot to track enemies in the air with the game’s flying controls in VR, which put a joystick in one hand and a thruster in the other, but with this autopilot feature, I could channel my inner Luke Skywalker and track enemies with ease.
Driving a hovercraft on an alien world filled me with glee, too. I loved trundling over hills, watching landscapes roll by. But operating the vehicle isn’t quite as easy as the spaceship, and it’s indicative of some broader issues with the game’s controls.
The actual driving system is creative: you turn by squeezing the grips of the Sense controllers like you’re grabbing a real steering yoke and then turn your hands to yank it left or right. But holding the Sense grips requires enough effort that my middle fingers started getting tired, and frustratingly, the game would occasionally lose track of my controller, meaning I’d have to regrab the wheel again. I also didn’t find the wrist-bound screens very intuitive for other tasks, as they seemed needlessly complex.
Inside or outside VR, No Man’s Sky drops you in a strange and sometimes hostile world. On my first run, I started on a planet with a toxic atmosphere and had to make a mad dash for the safety of a cave. This can get doubly disorienting when you’re figuring out the controls of a whole new interface. I was already used to things like teleportation from other VR games, but it could be much more challenging for first-time headset users.
But again, it was thrilling to explore the cave in VR. I had a better sense of the twists and turns of the cavern, and I loved looking around to get a better view of the geology and local fauna growing all around. However, I wish the graphics were a little bit better; the environments looked a little blurry to me, perhaps due to the game’s age, which ruined the immersion just a bit.
I abandoned that run pretty quickly, as I didn’t like being stuck in the cave. I started the game in a more guided “Expedition,” with clearer missions and rewards. And after getting dropped on a lush, green, and thankfully, clean-aired planet, I built myself a basic home by placing the tiles and roof with my virtual hands. I pulled together the resources for that hovercraft and really felt my adventure begin.
If I keep going in No Man’s Sky, I’ll probably do a mix of VR and non-VR playtime. Outside of the ship, the game’s non-VR controls feel drastically more intuitive to me. The next time I need to spend extensive time on a planet, I think I’ll opt for my TV and a controller. If I felt like I was going to play the game for hours on end, I probably wouldn’t do all of that time wearing the PSVR 2. If I already had a PC VR headset or a PSVR, I don’t think I’d upgrade to PSVR 2 just for No Man’s Sky; PSVR 2 features like face rumble are nice, but not must-haves.
But as soon as I’m in a spaceship, I know I’m going to opt for the headset so that I can relive the feeling of actually being a space pilot. For me, a total newcomer who has heard a lot about No Man’s Sky but never actually played it, I can’t stop thinking about my first brushes with space. I know that I’ve only scratched the surface of the vast possibilities in No Man’s Sky and I can’t wait to get back in the pilot’s seat.
Screenshot by Jay Peters / Jay Peters
More than six and a half years after No Man’s Sky was first released, I took my first trip into the game last week, wearing the brand-new PlayStation VR2 headset. It’s probably not the only way I’d choose to play the game, but about three hours in, it’s a mind-bending and overwhelming experience.
No Man’s Sky got optional full virtual reality support back in 2019, letting players navigate its huge procedurally generated universe in PC VR and the original PlayStation VR. But the VR mode got an overhaul last week with the new Fractal update and the launch of the PSVR 2, where it’s one of Sony’s big-name launch titles alongside games like Gran Turismo 7 and Resident Evil Village. No Man’s Sky adds support for things like the new Sense controllers and features like face rumble alongside the PlayStation 5’s general graphical upgrades, and it felt like time to finally check the game out.
No Man’s Sky is all about exploration. You’re dropped onto a planet where you have to collect resources to survive and build bases, and with a hovercraft or starship, you can drive around planets or fly through space. On a flat screen, the game has fairly typical first-person shooter menus and controls. In VR, things are very different. You move by teleporting from place to place. You access menus by selecting items on wrist-mounted computers. And perhaps most obviously, you move by looking around with your actual head — an experience that, in space, is incredible.
Piloting a spaceship in VR — actually gazing up at the nearby stars through the cockpit — is awe-inspiring. On my first trip to orbit, I looked to my right and saw an absolutely massive planet with Saturn-like rings that made my jaw drop. It’s all like something out of a sci-fi dream. Yes, you can look around the cockpit when you’re not in VR, but there’s just something special about doing it while immersed in a headset. It’s practically a cliche at this point to say that VR makes you feel “really there,” but that doesn’t make it any less fun.
Screenshot by Jay Peters / The Verge
I desperately want to visit this ringed planet.
Space combat in VR was thrilling, too. On one planet I visited, I accidentally angered a robotic drone, and a fleet of Sentinel bots and ships approached me. I took to the skies to fight my attackers, and in the air, my ship automatically chased opponents when I held down the X button. I’m not a capable enough pilot to track enemies in the air with the game’s flying controls in VR, which put a joystick in one hand and a thruster in the other, but with this autopilot feature, I could channel my inner Luke Skywalker and track enemies with ease.
Driving a hovercraft on an alien world filled me with glee, too. I loved trundling over hills, watching landscapes roll by. But operating the vehicle isn’t quite as easy as the spaceship, and it’s indicative of some broader issues with the game’s controls.
The actual driving system is creative: you turn by squeezing the grips of the Sense controllers like you’re grabbing a real steering yoke and then turn your hands to yank it left or right. But holding the Sense grips requires enough effort that my middle fingers started getting tired, and frustratingly, the game would occasionally lose track of my controller, meaning I’d have to regrab the wheel again. I also didn’t find the wrist-bound screens very intuitive for other tasks, as they seemed needlessly complex.
Inside or outside VR, No Man’s Sky drops you in a strange and sometimes hostile world. On my first run, I started on a planet with a toxic atmosphere and had to make a mad dash for the safety of a cave. This can get doubly disorienting when you’re figuring out the controls of a whole new interface. I was already used to things like teleportation from other VR games, but it could be much more challenging for first-time headset users.
But again, it was thrilling to explore the cave in VR. I had a better sense of the twists and turns of the cavern, and I loved looking around to get a better view of the geology and local fauna growing all around. However, I wish the graphics were a little bit better; the environments looked a little blurry to me, perhaps due to the game’s age, which ruined the immersion just a bit.
I abandoned that run pretty quickly, as I didn’t like being stuck in the cave. I started the game in a more guided “Expedition,” with clearer missions and rewards. And after getting dropped on a lush, green, and thankfully, clean-aired planet, I built myself a basic home by placing the tiles and roof with my virtual hands. I pulled together the resources for that hovercraft and really felt my adventure begin.
If I keep going in No Man’s Sky, I’ll probably do a mix of VR and non-VR playtime. Outside of the ship, the game’s non-VR controls feel drastically more intuitive to me. The next time I need to spend extensive time on a planet, I think I’ll opt for my TV and a controller. If I felt like I was going to play the game for hours on end, I probably wouldn’t do all of that time wearing the PSVR 2. If I already had a PC VR headset or a PSVR, I don’t think I’d upgrade to PSVR 2 just for No Man’s Sky; PSVR 2 features like face rumble are nice, but not must-haves.
But as soon as I’m in a spaceship, I know I’m going to opt for the headset so that I can relive the feeling of actually being a space pilot. For me, a total newcomer who has heard a lot about No Man’s Sky but never actually played it, I can’t stop thinking about my first brushes with space. I know that I’ve only scratched the surface of the vast possibilities in No Man’s Sky and I can’t wait to get back in the pilot’s seat.
LG’s 2023 OLED TVs arrive in late March starting at $1,299
LG has detailed pricing of its 2023 OLED TVs just as they’re about to ship. The flagship G3 and mainstream C3 (pictured) models are now set to arrive in late March, with pre-orders available on March 6th. The C3 starts at $1,299 for a relatively compact 42-inch set, and scales up to $5,299 for the giant 83-inch version. The G3 begins at $2,499 for a 55-inch panel and climbs to $6,499 for the 83-inch edition.
The entry B3 series won’t be ready until April. It starts at $1,699 for a 55-inch TV and tops out at $3,299 for a 77-inch set. LG is promising pricing for the wireless M3 and transparent OLED T “at a later date.”
As we mentioned in January, the G3 receives the most upgrades this year. It delivers up to a 70 percent brighter picture through a booster feature, and its new zero-gap design helps with wall mounting. It also boasts a a9 Gen 6 processor with improved image rendering and audio processing, including support for harmonizing the built-in speakers’ output with recent LG soundbars.
The C3 shares the benefits of the a9 Gen 6 chip, but it’s otherwise a modest upgrade over last year’s C2. However, it may represent a better value than the B3, particularly at the middle “sweet spot” sizes. The $2,499 65-inch C3 costs just $100 more than a B3 equivalent with a worse processor (the a7 Gen 6) — you might as well spend the slight premium for a set that will last longer.
Whether or not LG’s roster fares well against the Samsung S95C isn’t clear. Samsung’s set is slightly brighter than LG’s latest and offers a gaming-friendly 144Hz refresh rate. Only the 77-inch S95C is available at the moment, though, and LG has both Dolby Vision HDR support (Samsung is still sticking to HDR10+) as well as a wider variety of sizes and performance tiers.This article originally appeared on Engadget at https://www.engadget.com/lgs-2023-oled-tvs-arrive-in-late-march-starting-at-1299-175513466.html?src=rss
LG has detailed pricing of its 2023 OLED TVs just as they’re about to ship. The flagship G3 and mainstream C3 (pictured) models are now set to arrive in late March, with pre-orders available on March 6th. The C3 starts at $1,299 for a relatively compact 42-inch set, and scales up to $5,299 for the giant 83-inch version. The G3 begins at $2,499 for a 55-inch panel and climbs to $6,499 for the 83-inch edition.
The entry B3 series won’t be ready until April. It starts at $1,699 for a 55-inch TV and tops out at $3,299 for a 77-inch set. LG is promising pricing for the wireless M3 and transparent OLED T “at a later date.”
As we mentioned in January, the G3 receives the most upgrades this year. It delivers up to a 70 percent brighter picture through a booster feature, and its new zero-gap design helps with wall mounting. It also boasts a a9 Gen 6 processor with improved image rendering and audio processing, including support for harmonizing the built-in speakers’ output with recent LG soundbars.
The C3 shares the benefits of the a9 Gen 6 chip, but it’s otherwise a modest upgrade over last year’s C2. However, it may represent a better value than the B3, particularly at the middle “sweet spot” sizes. The $2,499 65-inch C3 costs just $100 more than a B3 equivalent with a worse processor (the a7 Gen 6) — you might as well spend the slight premium for a set that will last longer.
Whether or not LG’s roster fares well against the Samsung S95C isn’t clear. Samsung’s set is slightly brighter than LG’s latest and offers a gaming-friendly 144Hz refresh rate. Only the 77-inch S95C is available at the moment, though, and LG has both Dolby Vision HDR support (Samsung is still sticking to HDR10+) as well as a wider variety of sizes and performance tiers.
This article originally appeared on Engadget at https://www.engadget.com/lgs-2023-oled-tvs-arrive-in-late-march-starting-at-1299-175513466.html?src=rss
Honor Women’s History Month With These Impactful Movies and TV Shows – CNET
Celebrate the stories of strong women, from a Supreme Court justice and a soul singer whose names you know to a Ugandan chess champ you’ve probably never heard of.
Celebrate the stories of strong women, from a Supreme Court justice and a soul singer whose names you know to a Ugandan chess champ you’ve probably never heard of.
The first headphones with MQA’s next-gen hi-res audio are coming, but not this year
New wireless tech is said to be better quality and more scalable than anything so far, and this headphones collaboration is its first hint at reality.
We’ve written a lot about the huge potential for SCL6, the new wireless audio format also known as MQAir, but bemoaned the lack of support for the adaptive hi-res wireless audio format. That looks set to change however, with news that the codec’s developer MQA has announced a partnership that promises a new set of next-gen hi-res headphones.
The team-up is with NAD sister-brand PSB Speakers and hearable app developer Sonical, with a press release boldly declaring that the partnership “will define a new category of high-resolution audio headphones”. The catch is that they’re scheduled to launch in the first half of 2024. Still, these headphones sound ‘next-gen’ in more ways than one.
First announced by MQA in 2022, SCL6 aims to deliver higher quality audio files when streaming to Wi-Fi and Bluetooth devices, with sound that can scale from the lower end of Bluetooth transmission up to huge-bandwidth lossless files, and promises to lose less detail at all levels than other transmission tech.
Acting as a ‘bridge’ (according to MQA) between the resolution of the file you’re streaming and how much of it can actually make it to your ears, SCL6 is compatible with any file type, be it PCM, MQA, FLAC or WAV audio formats up to 384kHz, and able to send them over Bluetooth, Ultra-Wideband (UWB) and Wi-Fi streaming connections.
Set to be released under PSB branding, the new headphones will be designed from the ground up to make use of the format. The new cans will meanwhile utilize Sonical’s new ear computing platform CosmOS, which is able to run on powerful, yet low wattage, processing cores.
CosmOS was launched last year by the US company and has been heralded as the next evolution of headphones, allowing users to install and use third-party apps on their cans in the same way they can on their phones.
The PSB headphones will also feature an Antennaware Ultra-wideband (UWB) antenna to allow the higher data rates needed for SCL6 streaming as well as extremely low latency, while also counteracting body blocking which can sometimes hamper wireless wearable devices.
Announcing the move, Gordon Simmonds, President and CEO of Lenbrook Industries, PSB Speakers’ parent company, said: “Our use of the CosmOS platform to make the world’s first software defined wireless headset, and the inclusion of MQA’s adaptive wireless codec helps set a new benchmark for a high resolution, mobile high-fidelity product”.
There’s currently no indication as to when the headphones will be released or an expected price point, but stay tuned to Tech Radar for full details as and when we receive them.
Analysis: New cans offer a glimpse of a hi-res audio future
It’s taken a while, but today’s news from MQA does at last point to some firm plans for some hardware supporting the SCL6 format.
While it may not be a household name consumer audio company, PSB Speakers is very much a respected brand within the hi-fi community and we’ve plenty of confidence its capable of designing a set of cans to properly showcase the high-res audio format and compete with the best wireless headphones around. The inclusion of support for the CosmOS platform certainly opens up a world of audiophile possibilities, the likes of which we’ve probably never seen before on a humble set of headphones.
Our big hope, however, is that the eventual release PSB headphones will trigger more widespread support for the near-lossless codec, offering up a world of higher audio fidelity for more people to enjoy. Of course, the best music streaming services will have to support it too for it to get widespread use, but that’s a battle for another day.
This Insect Pees at High Speed Using a ‘Butt Flicker’ and Superpropulsion – CNET
The glassy-winged sharpshooter has a decidedly low-brow superpower.
The glassy-winged sharpshooter has a decidedly low-brow superpower.
A first look at Tecno’s Phantom V Fold, a surprisingly affordable foldable phone
Tecno, a relatively unknown mobile brand on our side of the world, surprised us with a pop-out portrait lens on its Phantom X2 Pro flagship phone back in December. For its MWC event today, the Chinese company brought us the Phantom V Fold, which happens to be the first horizontally-folding phone to be powered by MediaTek’s Dimensity 9000+ processor (hello, Oppo Find N2 Flip!), rather than something from Qualcomm. This usually means a lower entry barrier, which is always a good thing.
Like Honor’s Magic VS and Xiaomi’s Mix Fold 2, the Phantom V Fold has opted for a body that’s wider than Samsung’s counterparts — just not as wide as Oppo’s. Tecno’s “virtually crease-free” foldable screen comes in at 7.85 inches with a 2,296 x 2,000 resolution, and on the other side, you’re greeted by a 6.42-inch 2,550 x 1,080 sub-screen. Both AMOLED panels feature a refresh rate of up to 120Hz. As far as durability goes, the claim here is that “the device is capable of 200,000 folds,” which matches that of Samsung’s Galaxy Z Fold 4, though that’s just half of what the Chinese competition has achieved lately.
Richard Lai/EngadgetThe Phantom V Fold comes with a complete set of cameras, too. On the rear side, there’s a 50-megapixel main camera, a 50-megapixel telephoto camera (2x optical zoom) and a 13-megapixel ultra-wide camera. These are surrounded by an eco-friendly back cover — in black or white — composed of recycled plastics. Then you get two punch-hole selfie cameras: a 16-megapixel one on the foldable screen, and a 32-megapixel version on the outer screen. The latter is fine for video calls on that smaller screen, but you’d probably want to unfold the phone and use the main camera instead for better selfies.
Tecno didn’t cheap out on the battery here, either. The Phantom V Fold packs a 5,000mAh battery with 45W fast charge. This reaches 40-percent charge in 15 minutes, or 100-percent charge in 55 minutes. That’s a tad slower than the Chinese competition, but it still beats the Galaxy Z Fold 4 — assuming you don’t mind missing out on wireless charging.
Richard Lai/EngadgetOn the software side, the Phantom V Fold runs on Tecno’s HiOS 13 Fold based on Android 13. The company claimed that it’s customized the folding experience on its device for the top 1,000 most downloaded apps globally, and 90 percent of which have also been optimized for split-screen and multi-window modes.
So how much more affordable is the Phantom V Fold? Well, not bad. The base model with 12GB of LPDDR5X RAM and 256GB of UFS 3.1 storage costs $1,099, whereas the 512GB variant is asking for $1,222. These are very competitive when compared to Samsung and even Honor outside of China, though prices will vary across countries — namely India, in this case, followed by various African and Latin American countries where Tecno is usually active in.
This article originally appeared on Engadget at https://www.engadget.com/tecno-phantom-v-fold-pricing-availability-mwc-2023-174526995.html?src=rss
Tecno, a relatively unknown mobile brand on our side of the world, surprised us with a pop-out portrait lens on its Phantom X2 Pro flagship phone back in December. For its MWC event today, the Chinese company brought us the Phantom V Fold, which happens to be the first horizontally-folding phone to be powered by MediaTek’s Dimensity 9000+ processor (hello, Oppo Find N2 Flip!), rather than something from Qualcomm. This usually means a lower entry barrier, which is always a good thing.
Like Honor’s Magic VS and Xiaomi’s Mix Fold 2, the Phantom V Fold has opted for a body that’s wider than Samsung’s counterparts — just not as wide as Oppo’s. Tecno’s “virtually crease-free” foldable screen comes in at 7.85 inches with a 2,296 x 2,000 resolution, and on the other side, you’re greeted by a 6.42-inch 2,550 x 1,080 sub-screen. Both AMOLED panels feature a refresh rate of up to 120Hz. As far as durability goes, the claim here is that “the device is capable of 200,000 folds,” which matches that of Samsung’s Galaxy Z Fold 4, though that’s just half of what the Chinese competition has achieved lately.
The Phantom V Fold comes with a complete set of cameras, too. On the rear side, there’s a 50-megapixel main camera, a 50-megapixel telephoto camera (2x optical zoom) and a 13-megapixel ultra-wide camera. These are surrounded by an eco-friendly back cover — in black or white — composed of recycled plastics. Then you get two punch-hole selfie cameras: a 16-megapixel one on the foldable screen, and a 32-megapixel version on the outer screen. The latter is fine for video calls on that smaller screen, but you’d probably want to unfold the phone and use the main camera instead for better selfies.
Tecno didn’t cheap out on the battery here, either. The Phantom V Fold packs a 5,000mAh battery with 45W fast charge. This reaches 40-percent charge in 15 minutes, or 100-percent charge in 55 minutes. That’s a tad slower than the Chinese competition, but it still beats the Galaxy Z Fold 4 — assuming you don’t mind missing out on wireless charging.
On the software side, the Phantom V Fold runs on Tecno’s HiOS 13 Fold based on Android 13. The company claimed that it’s customized the folding experience on its device for the top 1,000 most downloaded apps globally, and 90 percent of which have also been optimized for split-screen and multi-window modes.
So how much more affordable is the Phantom V Fold? Well, not bad. The base model with 12GB of LPDDR5X RAM and 256GB of UFS 3.1 storage costs $1,099, whereas the 512GB variant is asking for $1,222. These are very competitive when compared to Samsung and even Honor outside of China, though prices will vary across countries — namely India, in this case, followed by various African and Latin American countries where Tecno is usually active in.
This article originally appeared on Engadget at https://www.engadget.com/tecno-phantom-v-fold-pricing-availability-mwc-2023-174526995.html?src=rss
Dish CEO says data was stolen in cyberattack that’s kept systems down for days
Illustration: Alex Castro / The Verge
Dish has told employees that it’s “investigating a cybersecurity incident” and that it’s “aware that certain data was extracted” from its IT systems as a result of this incident, according to an internal email sent by CEO Erik Carlson and obtained by The Verge. This comes on the fifth day of an internal outage that’s taken down some of the company’s internal networks, customer support systems, and websites such as boostinfinite.com and dish.com.
The email doesn’t contain any details about whether the data was Dish internal information or customer data, though it does say that “it’s possible the investigation will reveal that the extracted data includes personal information.” The extent of the leak may not be fully known yet, as the email, sent on Tuesday morning, says the company’s “working around the clock to understand the issue and restore affected systems as quickly as possible” and that it has “limited information at this time.”
Dish hasn’t publicly shared much information about the incident since Friday afternoon, when Carlson mentioned it on an earnings call, and it has not responded to multiple requests for comment from The Verge. MarketWatch reported Tuesday morning that Dish had confirmed the cyberattack via a securities filing. The filing notes that the company only learned about the data exfiltration on Monday and that it’s working with “third-party experts and advisors.”
The outage has had an impact on both customers and employees alike. Dish subscribers, as well as Boost Infinite and Boost Mobile users, haven’t been able to contact customer support to do things like activate new equipment, cancel their service, or even make a payment in some instances. Dish currently has a skeleton version of its main website that directs users looking for support to an FAQ page and some basic troubleshooting steps.
One Dish employee told The Verge that management expects them to work overtime to clear through the support backlog when the systems come back online. They also said that teams have to be on standby, as they’re expected to start taking calls within an hour of the systems being restored. “I’ll be honest, I’m not looking forward to it,” they said.
Several employees have told The Verge that they’re being paid during the outage despite not being able to work, though that’s not necessarily the case for everyone. One source who works for a regional service provider contracted to install Dish systems said that management was “trying to find a way to pay us for this unpaid time off” but that it wasn’t a sure thing. “I hope Dish does something about that, because many of us are paycheck to paycheck and can’t afford this time off,” they said.
“I wish they’d give more light on the situation.”
Some employees have noted that the company has been slow to share updates and information, even internally. “I wish they’d give more light on the situation,” said one person, while another said that their manager’s method of communicating with one-line daily updates was “so bizarre.” (Some Dish workers are unable to access their emails due to the VPN being down and are relying on communication from site management.) The latter employee said the first definitive thing they’d heard about a cyberattack was when I asked them about Carlson’s email and they found a story by CNBC.
There currently doesn’t appear to be any ETA on when Dish’s systems will be back up and running, either from the company itself or in internal communications. Some employees report being given estimates, but they don’t appear to be based on official company policy.
Illustration: Alex Castro / The Verge
Dish has told employees that it’s “investigating a cybersecurity incident” and that it’s “aware that certain data was extracted” from its IT systems as a result of this incident, according to an internal email sent by CEO Erik Carlson and obtained by The Verge. This comes on the fifth day of an internal outage that’s taken down some of the company’s internal networks, customer support systems, and websites such as boostinfinite.com and dish.com.
The email doesn’t contain any details about whether the data was Dish internal information or customer data, though it does say that “it’s possible the investigation will reveal that the extracted data includes personal information.” The extent of the leak may not be fully known yet, as the email, sent on Tuesday morning, says the company’s “working around the clock to understand the issue and restore affected systems as quickly as possible” and that it has “limited information at this time.”
Dish hasn’t publicly shared much information about the incident since Friday afternoon, when Carlson mentioned it on an earnings call, and it has not responded to multiple requests for comment from The Verge. MarketWatch reported Tuesday morning that Dish had confirmed the cyberattack via a securities filing. The filing notes that the company only learned about the data exfiltration on Monday and that it’s working with “third-party experts and advisors.”
The outage has had an impact on both customers and employees alike. Dish subscribers, as well as Boost Infinite and Boost Mobile users, haven’t been able to contact customer support to do things like activate new equipment, cancel their service, or even make a payment in some instances. Dish currently has a skeleton version of its main website that directs users looking for support to an FAQ page and some basic troubleshooting steps.
One Dish employee told The Verge that management expects them to work overtime to clear through the support backlog when the systems come back online. They also said that teams have to be on standby, as they’re expected to start taking calls within an hour of the systems being restored. “I’ll be honest, I’m not looking forward to it,” they said.
Several employees have told The Verge that they’re being paid during the outage despite not being able to work, though that’s not necessarily the case for everyone. One source who works for a regional service provider contracted to install Dish systems said that management was “trying to find a way to pay us for this unpaid time off” but that it wasn’t a sure thing. “I hope Dish does something about that, because many of us are paycheck to paycheck and can’t afford this time off,” they said.
Some employees have noted that the company has been slow to share updates and information, even internally. “I wish they’d give more light on the situation,” said one person, while another said that their manager’s method of communicating with one-line daily updates was “so bizarre.” (Some Dish workers are unable to access their emails due to the VPN being down and are relying on communication from site management.) The latter employee said the first definitive thing they’d heard about a cyberattack was when I asked them about Carlson’s email and they found a story by CNBC.
There currently doesn’t appear to be any ETA on when Dish’s systems will be back up and running, either from the company itself or in internal communications. Some employees report being given estimates, but they don’t appear to be based on official company policy.