Month: August 2024
A year later, Lenovo’s Legion Go is getting its own official dock and controller wedge
The Lenovo Legion Go from its most distinctive angle. | Photo by Sean Hollister / The Verge
It’s not clear if Lenovo’s Legion Go handheld gaming PC was a success after its initial rough start last fall and its middling experience by the time I reviewed it this spring — but Lenovo is pushing forward. Not only is it planning a successor, possibly a smaller seven-inch one, but it’s also just revealed an array of new accessories for the console.
Images: Lenovo
The Legion Go’s new dock, joystick caps, carry case, and “charging connector” gamepad wedge.
The Legion Go will get its own official $65 USB-C dock this August — and in October, a full year after launch, you’ll be able to buy a $50 wedge-shaped “Charging Connector” that lets you turn its two detachable controllers into a single gamepad, keep them charged with a 10.55 watt-hour internal battery, and plug in a single USB-C cable to charge them both at once.
In November, Lenovo will add a $10 set of swappable joystick tops and joystick caps for those controllers in an intriguing array of shapes, sizes, and colors, and in December, it’ll also add a $30 zippered carry case with a new zippered pocket for accessories and extra room to fit its power adapter inside.
A little context on all of these:
The Legion Go already came with a beefy zippered carry case, but it only fits the console; this one must be truly massive to house all that stuff.
With only a single (4K60) HDMI video output, the dock isn’t all that special — but many existing docks aren’t good fits for the beefy Legion Go, and this one does offer 100W USB-C PD input, an extra USB-C accessory port which isn’t all that common, plus two USB-A and gigabit ethernet.
The Legion Go came with pull-off detachable joystick tops from the get-go, and I’ve sometimes accidentally pulled one off when pulling it out of a bag; these could be good replacements for lost ones as well.
The charging connector wedge isn’t entirely a new idea: Nintendo offers one for the Switch (sans battery) and a few of OneXPlayer’s portable PCs have one that also gives them a wireless radio, as OneXPlayer’s detachable pads don’t have their own.
The Lenovo Legion Go from its most distinctive angle. | Photo by Sean Hollister / The Verge
It’s not clear if Lenovo’s Legion Go handheld gaming PC was a success after its initial rough start last fall and its middling experience by the time I reviewed it this spring — but Lenovo is pushing forward. Not only is it planning a successor, possibly a smaller seven-inch one, but it’s also just revealed an array of new accessories for the console.
Images: Lenovo
The Legion Go’s new dock, joystick caps, carry case, and “charging connector” gamepad wedge.
The Legion Go will get its own official $65 USB-C dock this August — and in October, a full year after launch, you’ll be able to buy a $50 wedge-shaped “Charging Connector” that lets you turn its two detachable controllers into a single gamepad, keep them charged with a 10.55 watt-hour internal battery, and plug in a single USB-C cable to charge them both at once.
In November, Lenovo will add a $10 set of swappable joystick tops and joystick caps for those controllers in an intriguing array of shapes, sizes, and colors, and in December, it’ll also add a $30 zippered carry case with a new zippered pocket for accessories and extra room to fit its power adapter inside.
A little context on all of these:
The Legion Go already came with a beefy zippered carry case, but it only fits the console; this one must be truly massive to house all that stuff.
With only a single (4K60) HDMI video output, the dock isn’t all that special — but many existing docks aren’t good fits for the beefy Legion Go, and this one does offer 100W USB-C PD input, an extra USB-C accessory port which isn’t all that common, plus two USB-A and gigabit ethernet.
The Legion Go came with pull-off detachable joystick tops from the get-go, and I’ve sometimes accidentally pulled one off when pulling it out of a bag; these could be good replacements for lost ones as well.
The charging connector wedge isn’t entirely a new idea: Nintendo offers one for the Switch (sans battery) and a few of OneXPlayer’s portable PCs have one that also gives them a wireless radio, as OneXPlayer’s detachable pads don’t have their own.
Defense startup Ares Industries emerges from stealth with funding led by Y Combinator
Ares Industries, a defense startup founded by a Navy combat veteran, has secured new funding led by Y Combinator to develop a fresh class of anti-ship cruise missiles designed to integrate seamlessly with existing launch systems. This marks the first
The post Defense startup Ares Industries emerges from stealth with funding led by Y Combinator first appeared on Tech Startups.
Ares Industries, a defense startup founded by a Navy combat veteran, has secured new funding led by Y Combinator to develop a fresh class of anti-ship cruise missiles designed to integrate seamlessly with existing launch systems. This marks the first […]
The post Defense startup Ares Industries emerges from stealth with funding led by Y Combinator first appeared on Tech Startups.
Uber hit with $324 million EU fine for improper data transfer
Illustration by Alex Castro / The Verge
Uber is facing a fine of 290 million euros ($347 million USD) after improperly transferring driver data from the EU to the US in one of the largest penalties levied under the European Union’s General Data Protection Regulation (GDPR) since its inception.
The fine was imposed by the Dutch Data Protection Authority (DPA), which accused Uber of failing to “properly safeguard” European drivers’ personal data while transferring it to the United States. Uber has since ceased the practice, DPA added.
“Uber did not meet the requirements of the GDPR to ensure the level of protection to the data with regard to transfers to the US,” the regulator said in a statement. “That is very serious.”
“That is very serious.”
The DPA started investigating the data transfer after 170 French Uber drivers complained to a human rights organization, which passed it along to the French DPA. Uber’s European headquarters is in the Netherlands, which allowed that country’s DPA to lead the investigation.
Uber was found to have retained “sensitive data” from drivers on US-based servers in violation of the GDPR. The data included account details and taxi licenses, as well as location data, photos, payment details, identity documents, and in some cases, even criminal and medical data of drivers, the DPA said. Uber moved the data without the use of transfer tools, without which the protection of the data was insufficient, the group added.
The General Data Protection Regulation is a rule passed by the European Union in 2016, setting new rules for how companies manage and share personal data. Since then, EU regulators have used the regulation to send a message to giant tech companies: data privacy is sacrosanct, and failure to abide by the rules will result in record-breaking fines.
The largest fine of $1.3 billion (€1.2 billion) was handed to Meta in 2023 for a similar violation. The Facebook parent company was accused of transferring data on EU citizens to the US without sufficient protections. Other companies facing large fines include TikTok, WhatsApp (which is owned by Meta), and Clearview AI.
A spokesperson for Uber did not immediately respond to a request for comment, but in a statement to Reuters, the company said it planned to appeal the decision.
Illustration by Alex Castro / The Verge
Uber is facing a fine of 290 million euros ($347 million USD) after improperly transferring driver data from the EU to the US in one of the largest penalties levied under the European Union’s General Data Protection Regulation (GDPR) since its inception.
The fine was imposed by the Dutch Data Protection Authority (DPA), which accused Uber of failing to “properly safeguard” European drivers’ personal data while transferring it to the United States. Uber has since ceased the practice, DPA added.
“Uber did not meet the requirements of the GDPR to ensure the level of protection to the data with regard to transfers to the US,” the regulator said in a statement. “That is very serious.”
The DPA started investigating the data transfer after 170 French Uber drivers complained to a human rights organization, which passed it along to the French DPA. Uber’s European headquarters is in the Netherlands, which allowed that country’s DPA to lead the investigation.
Uber was found to have retained “sensitive data” from drivers on US-based servers in violation of the GDPR. The data included account details and taxi licenses, as well as location data, photos, payment details, identity documents, and in some cases, even criminal and medical data of drivers, the DPA said. Uber moved the data without the use of transfer tools, without which the protection of the data was insufficient, the group added.
The General Data Protection Regulation is a rule passed by the European Union in 2016, setting new rules for how companies manage and share personal data. Since then, EU regulators have used the regulation to send a message to giant tech companies: data privacy is sacrosanct, and failure to abide by the rules will result in record-breaking fines.
The largest fine of $1.3 billion (€1.2 billion) was handed to Meta in 2023 for a similar violation. The Facebook parent company was accused of transferring data on EU citizens to the US without sufficient protections. Other companies facing large fines include TikTok, WhatsApp (which is owned by Meta), and Clearview AI.
A spokesperson for Uber did not immediately respond to a request for comment, but in a statement to Reuters, the company said it planned to appeal the decision.
The FBI is apparently not great at keeping its own memory systems secure
The FBI has been criticized for the way it handles storage and destruction of data hardware.
The FBI has “significant weaknesses” in how it handles storage devices for digital media, as well as how it disposes of the media containing sensitive or classified information, a new report has claimed.
Findings from the Department of Justice’s Office of the Inspector General (OIG) say the FBI does not have adequate policies and procedures, or controls, to account for electronic storage media extracted from larger devices and thumb drives.
Furthermore, it does not label its electronic storage media with the appropriate NSI classification, or SBU levels.
New FBI directive
The law enforcement agency did not dispute the findings, and has instead promised to do better.
“Our audit found that the FBI is not properly securing classified NSI or SBU information and is neither marking all electronic storage media as required, nor accounting for this media consistent with FBI internal policies and Department of Justice (DOJ) guidance,” the report states. “The lack of accountability of this electronic storage media is compounded by inadequate internal physical access and security controls at the Facility, potentially placing these media at risk of loss or theft without the possibility of detection.”
Ultimately, the FBI needs to improve the internal physical access and security controls in relevant areas at the facility, the document claims.
In the audit, the OIG suggested the FBI revises its procedures to make sure all electronic storage media containing sensitive or classified information are appropriately accounted for, tracked, timely sanitized, and destroyed, to implement controls to make sure electronic storage media are properly marked with the right NSI classification level markings, and to overall strengthen its control and practice.
The FBI acknowledged the findings, BleepingComputer added, and said it was currently building a new directive, called “Physical Control and Destruction of Classified and Sensitive Electronic Devices and Material Policy Directive,” which should address these issues.
Via BleepingComputer
More from TechRadar Pro
FBI is probing alleged hack on US presidential campaignsHere’s a list of the best firewall software around todayThese are the best endpoint security tools right now
The iPhone 16 Pro might fix the one reason I switched to the iPhone 15 Pro Max
Rumors point to better zoom across both Pro models.
We’re just weeks away from what is expected to be a bundle of exciting new iPhone 16 smartphones and, if the rumors hold true, I may be able to make a switch.
I’m not talking about switching from Android to iOS. As a smartphone reviewer, I’m in the habit of carrying multiple phones of all stripes at once. But only one phone gets my personal number and is my primary device.
For the better part of a year, that’s been an iPhone 15 Pro Max. Carrying a 6.7-inch handset is a big deal for me. While I appreciate that giant Super Retina XDR display, I’ve always thought it was too large for my day-to-day.
Up until last year’s iPhone 15 lineup, there was no compelling reason for me to choose a Pro Max version over a Pro. They were essentially the same device aside from screen size (some extra pixels, but not a higher resolution) and a larger battery. The latter was usually a wash, though, because a larger screen eats battery life more quickly, so battery life on Pro and Pro Max models usually ended up close to the same.
With the 6.3-inch iPhone 15 Pro and iPhone 15 Pro Max, Apple chose to include the tetraprism technology in only its largest and most expensive phone, the iPhone 15 Pro Max. Tetraprism technology is a bit like the periscope technology Samsung used to put 10X optical zoom in the Samsung Galaxy S23 Ultra. However, tetraprism doesn’t combine a prism with that much distance to the sensor. Instead, it bounces light from the lens back and forth through a prism, adding virtual distance, and increasing the optical zoom before it reaches the sensor. In the case of the iPhone 15 Pro Max, that means 5X optical zoom.
(Image credit: Future / Lance Ulanoff)
Size matters
As an amateur photographer, I believe in optical zoom. Digital zoom is fun and sometimes useful but for clarity and visual truth, you go with optical. When paired with a decent 12MP or higher sensor and powerful computational image processing, strong optical zoom on a smartphone camera can produce impressive results: photos that will, unlike digital and AI-enhanced zoom, hold up to some scrutiny.
I’d been spoiled by Samsung’s 10X zoom, despite Samsung pairing it with a somewhat middling sensor. Subsequent Ultras reduced the optical zoom power to 5X but boosted the sensor size significantly, which means a lot more detail and the ability to pluck out objects in the distance as if you have a larger zoom.
In any case, when you have 10X optical zoom, it’s hard to go back to 3X. So I switched to the iPhone 15 Pro Max. The larger and heavier (221 grams versus the 15 Pro’s 187g) device did take some getting used to – it just barely fits in most jean pockets – but I adjusted.
(Image credit: Future / Lance Ulanoff)
An easier choice
As we approach the expected September 10 iPhone 16 line launch date, I realize I may have a new choice to make.
Recent rumors point to Apple taking the LG Inoteck Tetraprism lens first used on the iPhone 15 Pro Max and putting it in both the iPhone 16 Pro Max and the iPhone 16 Pro. There’s no indication that Apple will up the optical distance beyond 5X, but if it combines that with a 48MP sensor using pixel binning (meaning 4 pixels combined for each one on the final photo) it could have enough resolution to act like a 10X optical zoom.
Naturally, the addition of a more powerful zoom on the iPhone 16 Pro means that it should have parity with the iPhone 16 Pro Max on every feature except for screen size and battery. In that case, the choice may be simple: I switch back to the smaller phone and give my pocket a rest.
On the other hand, what if the iPhone 16 Pro Max is super thin? … and I do love that larger screen …
You might also like
iPhone 16: the latest rumors and leaksiPhone 16 Pro camera predictions: every expected camera on the …Apple iPhone 16 preorder deals: when they’ll likely arrive and what …This could be the date when Apple launches the iPhone 16, iOS 18 …Major iPhone 16 leak hints at the camera upgrades to expect next …
Apple’s AirPods Max are back on sale for $399
Apple might be best known for its in-ear AirPods when it comes to sound, but headphone lovers also have the AirPods Max to consider. These headphones provide a solid option for anyone who wants to stay in the Apple family without worrying about losing a tiny earbud. The biggest issue is that they are costly. But, right now, Apple’s AirPods Max are 27 percent off, dropping to $399 from $549. The $150 discount is only $4 more than their Prime Day all-time low and is available in every color.
The Apple AirPods Max came on the scene in 2020 as the company’s first foray into headphones and have remained the sole option since. We gave the headphones an 84 in our review thanks to a lot of features we did like and some things we were unimpressed by. We liked the AirPods Max’s active noise cancellation abilities and easy-to-use buttons — such as when switching from ANC to transparency mode. The headphones also provide a balanced sound and have 20 hours of charge when ANC and spatial audio are enabled.
As we said, the biggest issue with these headphones is arguably the price, but this sale helps quite a bit. Other aspects we were less than impressed with include their 385-gram weight — though the wider headband balances it out. Plus, the earphones just aren’t that comfortable, as the rings are noticeable after only a few minutes of wear.
Follow @EngadgetDeals on Twitter and subscribe to the Engadget Deals newsletter for the latest tech deals and buying advice.This article originally appeared on Engadget at https://www.engadget.com/deals/apples-airpods-max-are-back-on-sale-for-399-131059119.html?src=rss
Apple might be best known for its in-ear AirPods when it comes to sound, but headphone lovers also have the AirPods Max to consider. These headphones provide a solid option for anyone who wants to stay in the Apple family without worrying about losing a tiny earbud. The biggest issue is that they are costly. But, right now, Apple’s AirPods Max are 27 percent off, dropping to $399 from $549. The $150 discount is only $4 more than their Prime Day all-time low and is available in every color.
The Apple AirPods Max came on the scene in 2020 as the company’s first foray into headphones and have remained the sole option since. We gave the headphones an 84 in our review thanks to a lot of features we did like and some things we were unimpressed by. We liked the AirPods Max’s active noise cancellation abilities and easy-to-use buttons — such as when switching from ANC to transparency mode. The headphones also provide a balanced sound and have 20 hours of charge when ANC and spatial audio are enabled.
As we said, the biggest issue with these headphones is arguably the price, but this sale helps quite a bit. Other aspects we were less than impressed with include their 385-gram weight — though the wider headband balances it out. Plus, the earphones just aren’t that comfortable, as the rings are noticeable after only a few minutes of wear.
Follow @EngadgetDeals on Twitter and subscribe to the Engadget Deals newsletter for the latest tech deals and buying advice.
This article originally appeared on Engadget at https://www.engadget.com/deals/apples-airpods-max-are-back-on-sale-for-399-131059119.html?src=rss