Month: August 2024
CrowdStrike unhappy with “shady commentary” from competitors after outage
Botched update leads to claims of “ambulance chasing” by competitors.
Enlarge / Shares in SentinelOne and Palo Alto Networks have risen since July’s IT outage while CrowdStrike has shed almost a quarter of its market value. (credit: Getty Images)
CrowdStrike’s president hit out at “shady” efforts by its cyber security rivals to scare its customers and steal market share in the month since its botched software update sparked a global IT outage.
Michael Sentonas told the Financial Times that attempts by competitors to use the July 19 disruption to promote their own products were “misguided.”
After criticism from rivals including SentinelOne and Trellix, the CrowdStrike executive said no vendor could “technically” guarantee that their own software would never cause a similar incident.
Lego’s Super Mario: Mario Kart sets will cross the finish line early next year
Six Super Mario: Mario Kart themed Lego sets will debut on January 1st, 2025. | Image: Lego
After teasing the next expansion of its Super Mario line back in March, today Lego announced the first six Mario Kart sets that will release just after the holidays on January 1st, 2025.
Lego’s Mario Kart collection includes new buildable versions of characters like Yoshi, Donkey Kong, and Toad; baby versions of Mario, Luigi, and Princess Peach; and several kart designs, from motorcycles to flying pirate ships.
There are also green and red shells that can be actually fired from the karts. The new sets are compatible with existing interactive Lego Super Mario figures, with Mario, Luigi, and Princess Peach playing sound effects like horns or the squeal of a drifting kart’s tires from the Mario Kart games.
The Mario Kart collection includes a 133-piece blue Yoshi on a Yoshi-themed motorcycle, a 174-piece version of Mario’s iconic red kart with Toad in pit crew attire, a 387-piece Donkey Kong at the wheel of a barrel, a 321-piece baby Mario and Luigi battling to pop each other’s balloons, a 390-piece version of Toad’s garage, and a 823-piece grand prix that comes with a starting gate and three karts.
Pricing ranges from $14.99 for the Yoshi Bike set, the smallest of the six, to $79.99 for the Baby Peach and Grand Prix Set which comes with four buildable characters, including baby Peach. Collectors probably won’t want to make any new year’s resolutions about being fiscally responsible starting on January 1st.
Six Super Mario: Mario Kart themed Lego sets will debut on January 1st, 2025. | Image: Lego
After teasing the next expansion of its Super Mario line back in March, today Lego announced the first six Mario Kart sets that will release just after the holidays on January 1st, 2025.
Lego’s Mario Kart collection includes new buildable versions of characters like Yoshi, Donkey Kong, and Toad; baby versions of Mario, Luigi, and Princess Peach; and several kart designs, from motorcycles to flying pirate ships.
There are also green and red shells that can be actually fired from the karts. The new sets are compatible with existing interactive Lego Super Mario figures, with Mario, Luigi, and Princess Peach playing sound effects like horns or the squeal of a drifting kart’s tires from the Mario Kart games.
The Mario Kart collection includes a 133-piece blue Yoshi on a Yoshi-themed motorcycle, a 174-piece version of Mario’s iconic red kart with Toad in pit crew attire, a 387-piece Donkey Kong at the wheel of a barrel, a 321-piece baby Mario and Luigi battling to pop each other’s balloons, a 390-piece version of Toad’s garage, and a 823-piece grand prix that comes with a starting gate and three karts.
Pricing ranges from $14.99 for the Yoshi Bike set, the smallest of the six, to $79.99 for the Baby Peach and Grand Prix Set which comes with four buildable characters, including baby Peach. Collectors probably won’t want to make any new year’s resolutions about being fiscally responsible starting on January 1st.
Google Cloud wants to help unify all your secuirty structures to boost protection
Google uses the concept of convergence to strengthen cybersecurity for customers and partners globally.
Google has unveiled a series of enteprise-focused security features designed to enhance protection through the power of “convergence” – the integration of physical and cybersecurity measures into an all-encompassing solution.
In the announcement at its annual Google Cloud Security Summit, the company made it clear that the unification of security features, AI and frontline threat intelligence will help create a more proactive and streamlined approach.
The company also acknowledged customers team up with other providers, adding collaboration will ultimately strengthen businesses’ security postures.
Google Cloud goes all-in on convergence-based cybersecurity
Among the new announcements was the introduction of Mandiant Custom Threat Hunt, a service designed to help companies uncover past and ongoing threat activities, which Google says will be helpful for those implementing new technologies as well as companies going through mergers or acquisitions and those targeted directly or indirectly through an incident like a breach.
The Security Command Center, now available as a preview, also saw significant updates, including the introduction of a tool to surface toxic combinations, where multiple security issues combined create an unacceptable risk.
Another highlight was an update to the Chrome Enterprise Premium browser, which now offers updated security features like data watermarking, URL filtering and enhanced security insights, all available with a new pay-as-you-go pricing model.
More broadly, Google announced a series of updates and new tools for identity and access management, network and data security, and regulated cloud. Some are generally available, and others are rolling out in preview following the event.
Sunil Potti, VP and GM for Google Cloud Security, commented on the company’s commitment to convergence: “To truly elevate security, we believe in the power of simplicity. Instead of adding new, siloed products to address specific threats, we need to reduce the number of moving parts.”
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Texas judge blocks the FTC from enforcing its ban on noncompete agreements
The Federal Trade Commission’s (FTC) efforts to ban noncompete agreements has been blocked by a federal judge in Texas. According to The Washington Post, US District Judge Ada Brown has determined that the agency doesn’t have the authority to enforce the rule, which was supposed to take effect on September 4. She reportedly wrote in her decision that the FTC only looked at “inconsistent and flawed empirical evidence” and didn’t consider evidence in support of noncompetes. “The role of an administrative agency is to do as told by Congress, not to do what the agency thinks it should do,” she added.
FTC Chair Lina M. Khan explained that “noncompete clauses keep wages low, suppress new ideas, and rob the American economy of dynamism” when the agency voted 3-2 in favor of the ban. Noncompete agreements are widely used in the tech industry, and preventing companies from adding them to contracts would mean that workers will be able to freely move to a new job or start a business in the same field. The two Republican commissioners in the FTC, Melissa Holyoak and Andrew Ferguson, voted against the ban and also said that the agency “overstepped the boundaries of its power.”
In July, Brown temporarily blocked the rule’s enforcement to assess the lawsuit filed by Dallas tax services firm Ryan LLC mere hours after the FTC announced the ban. The US Chamber of Commerce and other groups of American businesses eventually joined the tax firm in challenging the new rule on noncompete clauses.
“We are disappointed by Judge Brown’s decision and will keep fighting to stop noncompetes that restrict the economic liberty of hardworking Americans, hamper economic growth, limit innovation, and depress wages,” FTC spokesperson Victoria Graham told The Post. “We are seriously considering a potential appeal, and today’s decision does not prevent the FTC from addressing noncompetes through case-by-case enforcement actions.”
A federal judge in Florida also blocked the rule last week, though only for the lawsuit’s plaintiffs. Meanwhile, another judge in Pennsylvania ruled last month that the agency has the authority to enforce the ban in a separate case filed by a tree-care company in the state. All three cases could still be appealed and could even make their way to the Supreme Court. This article originally appeared on Engadget at https://www.engadget.com/general/texas-judge-blocks-the-ftc-from-enforcing-its-ban-on-noncompete-agreements-133059676.html?src=rss
The Federal Trade Commission’s (FTC) efforts to ban noncompete agreements has been blocked by a federal judge in Texas. According to The Washington Post, US District Judge Ada Brown has determined that the agency doesn’t have the authority to enforce the rule, which was supposed to take effect on September 4. She reportedly wrote in her decision that the FTC only looked at “inconsistent and flawed empirical evidence” and didn’t consider evidence in support of noncompetes. “The role of an administrative agency is to do as told by Congress, not to do what the agency thinks it should do,” she added.
FTC Chair Lina M. Khan explained that “noncompete clauses keep wages low, suppress new ideas, and rob the American economy of dynamism” when the agency voted 3-2 in favor of the ban. Noncompete agreements are widely used in the tech industry, and preventing companies from adding them to contracts would mean that workers will be able to freely move to a new job or start a business in the same field. The two Republican commissioners in the FTC, Melissa Holyoak and Andrew Ferguson, voted against the ban and also said that the agency “overstepped the boundaries of its power.”
In July, Brown temporarily blocked the rule’s enforcement to assess the lawsuit filed by Dallas tax services firm Ryan LLC mere hours after the FTC announced the ban. The US Chamber of Commerce and other groups of American businesses eventually joined the tax firm in challenging the new rule on noncompete clauses.
“We are disappointed by Judge Brown’s decision and will keep fighting to stop noncompetes that restrict the economic liberty of hardworking Americans, hamper economic growth, limit innovation, and depress wages,” FTC spokesperson Victoria Graham told The Post. “We are seriously considering a potential appeal, and today’s decision does not prevent the FTC from addressing noncompetes through case-by-case enforcement actions.”
A federal judge in Florida also blocked the rule last week, though only for the lawsuit’s plaintiffs. Meanwhile, another judge in Pennsylvania ruled last month that the agency has the authority to enforce the ban in a separate case filed by a tree-care company in the state. All three cases could still be appealed and could even make their way to the Supreme Court.
This article originally appeared on Engadget at https://www.engadget.com/general/texas-judge-blocks-the-ftc-from-enforcing-its-ban-on-noncompete-agreements-133059676.html?src=rss
NHS flies blood packs by drone beyond the line of sight in UK first
In a UK first, drones have successfully delivered blood packs, flying beyond the visual line of sight, where the pilot can no longer see them as they travel. The flights were part of a joint trial between the NHS and healthcare logistics startup Apian. Its aim was to test the viability of blood samples following drone transport. To do this, the research team sent 10 identical blood packs between Northumbria Healthcare NHS Foundation Trust’s Wansbeck Hospital and Alnwick Infirmary, and back again. Five of them travelled via drone over a 68km journey in a total of 61 minutes. The other…This story continues at The Next Web
In a UK first, drones have successfully delivered blood packs, flying beyond the visual line of sight, where the pilot can no longer see them as they travel. The flights were part of a joint trial between the NHS and healthcare logistics startup Apian. Its aim was to test the viability of blood samples following drone transport. To do this, the research team sent 10 identical blood packs between Northumbria Healthcare NHS Foundation Trust’s Wansbeck Hospital and Alnwick Infirmary, and back again. Five of them travelled via drone over a 68km journey in a total of 61 minutes. The other…
This story continues at The Next Web
Paramount Plus plans are 50 percent off ahead of the 2024 NFL season
Illustration by Alex Castro / The Verge
Paramount Plus recently raised its prices, and sadly, it’s too late to lock in a subscription at the previous rate. Luckily, in honor of the NFL season opener on September 5th, new and returning subscribers can get 50 percent off an annual subscription to Paramount Plus Essential and Paramount Plus with Showtime through September 6th.
When you do the math, the current discount drops the price of an annual Essential plan to $29.99 (from $59.99), which is like paying $2.50 a month instead of its new monthly rate of $7.99. The same promo drops a year of the ad-free Paramount Plus with Showtime plan down to $59.99 (from $119.99), meaning you’ll essentially be paying $5 monthly instead of the plan’s new monthly rate of $12.99.
Both plans let you livestream select NFL games and grant you access to 24/7 live news with CBS News, UEFA Champions League matches, and — of course — the entire Paramount Plus library. That means you’ll have plenty of movies and TV shows to keep you entertained after the game, including Tales of the Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtles, Star Trek: Picard, Mayor of Kingstown, Yellowstone spinoffs like 1883 and 1923, and Top Gun: Maverick.
The main difference between the two membership tiers is that the pricier Paramount Plus plan also includes Showtime programming (and fewer ads). That means you can also watch Showtime originals like Dexter, Billions, and Yellowjackets as well as movies like Everything Everywhere All At Once, Talk To Me, and Past Lives. You can also download content to your mobile device for offline viewing, which isn’t possible with a base subscription.
Some additional ways to save today
The Sonos Roam 2 is on sale at its all-time low price of $143 ($36 off) at Amazon, Best Buy, and directly from Sonos. The sequel to the original Sonos Roam offers a few welcome upgrades, the most important of which is a dedicated button for Bluetooth pairing. The portable smart speaker is also much easier to use out of the box, as Sonos no longer requires that you set it up with the Sonos app on your home Wi-Fi network before using Bluetooth. Read our hands-on impressions.
The standalone Blink Mini 2 is currently on sale at Amazon, Best Buy, and Target for $29.99 ($10 off) — its second-best price to date — or with a weather-resistant adapter at Amazon for $39.98 ($10 off). The 1080p security camera is an excellent upgrade over its predecessor, with a wider field of view, USB-C support, and better image quality. It also features IP65 weatherproofing, so you can use it to keep tabs on your packages outdoors when combined with the aforementioned weather adapter. Read our review.
You can buy the Google Nest Audio at Best Buy, The Home Depot, and Kohl’s for $49.99 ($50 off), which is one of its lowest prices to date. Although the speaker is nearly four years old, it still manages to deliver robust, clear sound — particularly when paired with a second Nest Audio in stereo mode. You can also still use it to carry out a range of tasks via Google Assistant, allowing you to control a bevy of smart home devices, set alarms, and play music with a simple voice command. Read our review.
Illustration by Alex Castro / The Verge
Paramount Plus recently raised its prices, and sadly, it’s too late to lock in a subscription at the previous rate. Luckily, in honor of the NFL season opener on September 5th, new and returning subscribers can get 50 percent off an annual subscription to Paramount Plus Essential and Paramount Plus with Showtime through September 6th.
When you do the math, the current discount drops the price of an annual Essential plan to $29.99 (from $59.99), which is like paying $2.50 a month instead of its new monthly rate of $7.99. The same promo drops a year of the ad-free Paramount Plus with Showtime plan down to $59.99 (from $119.99), meaning you’ll essentially be paying $5 monthly instead of the plan’s new monthly rate of $12.99.
Both plans let you livestream select NFL games and grant you access to 24/7 live news with CBS News, UEFA Champions League matches, and — of course — the entire Paramount Plus library. That means you’ll have plenty of movies and TV shows to keep you entertained after the game, including Tales of the Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtles, Star Trek: Picard, Mayor of Kingstown, Yellowstone spinoffs like 1883 and 1923, and Top Gun: Maverick.
The main difference between the two membership tiers is that the pricier Paramount Plus plan also includes Showtime programming (and fewer ads). That means you can also watch Showtime originals like Dexter, Billions, and Yellowjackets as well as movies like Everything Everywhere All At Once, Talk To Me, and Past Lives. You can also download content to your mobile device for offline viewing, which isn’t possible with a base subscription.
Some additional ways to save today
The Sonos Roam 2 is on sale at its all-time low price of $143 ($36 off) at Amazon, Best Buy, and directly from Sonos. The sequel to the original Sonos Roam offers a few welcome upgrades, the most important of which is a dedicated button for Bluetooth pairing. The portable smart speaker is also much easier to use out of the box, as Sonos no longer requires that you set it up with the Sonos app on your home Wi-Fi network before using Bluetooth. Read our hands-on impressions.
The standalone Blink Mini 2 is currently on sale at Amazon, Best Buy, and Target for $29.99 ($10 off) — its second-best price to date — or with a weather-resistant adapter at Amazon for $39.98 ($10 off). The 1080p security camera is an excellent upgrade over its predecessor, with a wider field of view, USB-C support, and better image quality. It also features IP65 weatherproofing, so you can use it to keep tabs on your packages outdoors when combined with the aforementioned weather adapter. Read our review.
You can buy the Google Nest Audio at Best Buy, The Home Depot, and Kohl’s for $49.99 ($50 off), which is one of its lowest prices to date. Although the speaker is nearly four years old, it still manages to deliver robust, clear sound — particularly when paired with a second Nest Audio in stereo mode. You can also still use it to carry out a range of tasks via Google Assistant, allowing you to control a bevy of smart home devices, set alarms, and play music with a simple voice command. Read our review.
Ford cancels its electric three-row SUV and delays futuristic electric truck
Illustration by Alex Castro / The Verge
Ford is canceling its electric three-row SUV and delaying the launch of a new electric pickup truck until 2027. The Expedition-like SUV had already been delayed to 2027; with its cancellation, the company will now pivot to making new gas and hybrid-powered three-row SUVs.
Ford now says it won’t release any new electric vehicles until it can ensure profitability on the models within the first year of launch and prioritize a new commercial EV van that will begin production in Ohio in 2026.
Ford has struggled to bring its spending on EV production in line with the revenue brought in by its vehicle lineup, which includes the Mustang Mach-E, F-150 Lightning, and E-Transit van. The company reported a $1.3 billion loss for its Model e EV division in the first quarter of 2024 and a $1.1 billion loss in the second quarter.
Meanwhile, EV sales growth across the industry has slowed down, and automakers of all stripes are reining in expectations about the shift to electric vehicles.
The automaker is reducing capital spending on EVs to 30 percent, down from the previous 40 percent. The canceled electric SUV could potentially cost Ford $1.5 billion in expenses and a special non-cash charge of $400 million.
Ford was also reportedly working on a more affordable EV in one of the automaker’s skunkworks labs, which is still on track. The first vehicle will be a midsize electric truck, not a compact one that had previously been rumored. Ford is also looking to add hybrid powertrain options to its upcoming next-generation Super Duty pickup trucks, similar to the company’s hybrid F-150.
Meanwhile, the expected successor to the F-150 Lightning, known as the T3 truck, will now go into production in late 2027 instead of 2025. According to Ford, “the truck will offer features and experiences never seen on any Ford truck, including upgraded bi-directional charging capability and advanced aerodynamics.”
Illustration by Alex Castro / The Verge
Ford is canceling its electric three-row SUV and delaying the launch of a new electric pickup truck until 2027. The Expedition-like SUV had already been delayed to 2027; with its cancellation, the company will now pivot to making new gas and hybrid-powered three-row SUVs.
Ford now says it won’t release any new electric vehicles until it can ensure profitability on the models within the first year of launch and prioritize a new commercial EV van that will begin production in Ohio in 2026.
Ford has struggled to bring its spending on EV production in line with the revenue brought in by its vehicle lineup, which includes the Mustang Mach-E, F-150 Lightning, and E-Transit van. The company reported a $1.3 billion loss for its Model e EV division in the first quarter of 2024 and a $1.1 billion loss in the second quarter.
Meanwhile, EV sales growth across the industry has slowed down, and automakers of all stripes are reining in expectations about the shift to electric vehicles.
The automaker is reducing capital spending on EVs to 30 percent, down from the previous 40 percent. The canceled electric SUV could potentially cost Ford $1.5 billion in expenses and a special non-cash charge of $400 million.
Ford was also reportedly working on a more affordable EV in one of the automaker’s skunkworks labs, which is still on track. The first vehicle will be a midsize electric truck, not a compact one that had previously been rumored. Ford is also looking to add hybrid powertrain options to its upcoming next-generation Super Duty pickup trucks, similar to the company’s hybrid F-150.
Meanwhile, the expected successor to the F-150 Lightning, known as the T3 truck, will now go into production in late 2027 instead of 2025. According to Ford, “the truck will offer features and experiences never seen on any Ford truck, including upgraded bi-directional charging capability and advanced aerodynamics.”