Technology

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• Microsoft announces new AI model Phi-4
• It's available to developers and researchers now
• Performs well at math tasks despite its small scale

Microsoft has announced a brand new AI model called Phi-4, which is a small language model (SLM) in contrast to the large language models (LLM), that chatbots like ChatGPT and Copilot use. As well as being lightweight, Phi-4 excels at complex reasoning which makes it perfect for math and language processing.

Microsoft has released a set of benchmarks showing Phi-4 outperforming even large language models like Gemini Pro 1.5 on math competition problems.

(Image credit: Microsoft)

(Image credit: Microsoft) Breakthroughs in post-training

Small language models, like ChatGPT-4o mini, Gemini 2.0 Flash, and Claude 3.5 Haiku tend to be faster and cheaper to run compared to large language models,. However, their performance has increased dramatically with recent versions.

For Microsoft, these improvements were made possibly through breakthroughs in training Phi-4 on high-quality synthetic data sets and post-training innovations. Since the bottleneck for improving AI ability has always been the vast amount of processing power and data required for the training (sometimes called the ‘pre-training data wall’), AI companies have instead been looking at ways to improve the post-training development to improve performance.

Phi-4 is currently available on Azure AI Foundry, a platform for developers to build generative AI applications. So, while Phi-4 is available under a Microsoft research license agreement, you can’t simply start chatting with it, as you would with Copilot or ChatGPT. Instead, we'll have to wait and see what people produce with it in the future.

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• The rise in LOLbins used in attacks this year has been significant
• Most common ones used include RDP, PowerShell, cmd.exe, and net.exe
• Sophos has shared mitigation tips for anyone affected

The rise in the abuse of Microsoft’s LOLbins (Living Off the Land binaries) in the first half of 2024 has been nothing short of alarming, a new report from Sophos has claimed.

The Sophos 2024 Active Adversary Report, which analyzes cases handled by its Incident Response (IR) and Managed Detection and Response (MDR) teams, says that in H1 of this year, hackers used 187 LOLbins in their attacks, a 51% increase compared to 2023. In 2021, the team observed exactly 100 LOLbins used.

Living Off the Land Binaries are legitimate executables and scripts native to operating systems, often pre-installed, that attackers abuse to perform malicious actions while evading detection. They are trusted tools, such as PowerShell or cmd.exe, making their activity harder to distinguish from normal administrative tasks.

RPD rules the landscape

Sophos says commonly abused LOLbins this year included RDP, PowerShell, cmd.exe, and net.exe, with RDP alone implicated in nearly 89% of cases. This didn’t come as much of a surprise for the researchers, too: “For the most part the names in the figure above are no surprise to regular readers of the Active Adversary Report – RDP rules the landscape, with cmd.exe, PowerShell, and net.exe making their usual strong showing,” they said.

Furthermore, binaries usually used for discovery or enumeration seem to be most prevalent, as of the top 29 LOLbins, 16 served such a purpose. Microsoft’s tools are being increasingly leveraged due to their legitimacy, signed status, and ubiquity within operating systems, it was said.

To mitigate the abuse of Microsoft LOLBins, organizations should adopt a multi-layered security approach, Sophos concludes.

This includes a number of things, from restricting access to commonly abused tools, to monitoring and logging the use of the binaries. Furthermore, they should implement endpoint detection and response solutions (EDR), and disable unused LOLbins. Finally, regularly applying software updates and educating employees on recognizing phishing and social engineering attacks can further reduce risks, they said.

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• Qualcomm talks 6G innovations beyond speed, integrating AI and IoT
• 6G promises enhanced coverage, and efficiency
• AI-native design will optimize networks and enable new use cases

The transition from 5G to 6G is set to redefine the wireless landscape, offering advancements that go far beyond speed and connectivity.

Qualcomm, a key player in wireless innovation, is building on its 5G legacy to explore the possibilities of 6G, which is expected to integrate artificial intelligence, advanced IoT applications, and seamless connectivity between terrestrial and non-terrestrial networks.

Targeted for deployment in the 2030s, 6G promises to unlock new opportunities across industries and address the growing demands of an increasingly connected world.

In an exclusive interview with TechRadar Pro, John Smee, Global Head of Wireless Research at Qualcomm, discussed the future of 6G, outlining how the company is looking to build upon the advancements of 5G and 5G Advanced.

He also highlighted Qualcomm's role in contributing to the research and development of the technology, explaining that 6G will not only enhance key performance indicators like coverage, capacity, and efficiency but also enable transformative use cases such as digital twins and edge computing.

What are the key technological advancements in 5G that are paving the way for 6G development?

There are quite a few key advancements in 5G and 5G Advanced that are paving the way for 6G. Here are just a few examples:

• Air interface foundation: we believe 6G will build on the OFDM foundation, with a focus on improving coverage, spectral efficiency, and capacity in both legacy FDD and TDD bands as well as new spectrum.
• MIMO/duplex evolution: 6G Giga-MIMO will enable new upper midband spectrum (6-15 GHz) delivering additional wide-area capacity and reusing the existing 3.5 GHz macro cell sites and backhaul. Evolution to full duplex can deliver better coverage and flexibility to meet growing data demand.
• Wireless AI: 5G Advanced kickstarted the era of AI in wireless, improving network/device performance and efficiency. AI will be an integral part of the 6G system design, with AI-native protocols across multiple layers of the stack.
• Wireless sensing: the 5G-Advanced study of integrate sensing and communication (ISAC) can complement positioning to make the wireless network more efficient and open new business opportunities for the ecosystem.
• Integrated TN/NTN: 5G introduced 5G non-terrestrial networking (NTN) by enabling satellites to deliver global coverage leveraging the cellular standard and modem implementations. 6G is expected to build on this foundation to support a seamless interworking of terrestrial networks and NTN.

How do you see the transition from 5G to 6G impacting businesses, and are there specific industries that will benefit the most?

The transition from 5G to 6G is expected to significantly enhance wireless connectivity improving fundamental KPI’s for coverage, capacity, and performance while enabling new services like AI, sensing, and digital twins. 6G will be designed to meet the increasing data transfer needs of connected AI-powered devices. Targeting 2030 deployment, 6G can efficiently enable intelligent computing everywhere creating new opportunities for value creation at the edge. Industries such as healthcare, manufacturing, transportation, and education will continue their transformations to leverage connected AI and the enhanced capabilities of 6G.

Can you explain the role of AI, and specifically Generative AI, in enhancing 5G networks and its potential impact on 6G?

AI is poised to significantly enhance 5G and 6G system performance, operational efficiency, and user experiences, as well as unlock new use cases at scale. For instance, by leveraging AI for network optimization, predictive analytics, and automated configuration, these networks can achieve greater efficiency, reliability, and security. Generative AI can simulate various network scenarios and create synthetic data to train machine learning models, ensuring robust network performance even in complex environments. These technologies enable advanced applications like real-time edge computing, personalized services, and seamless integration with a wide range of devices. Generative AI will also often be implemented on the device and as applications expand this will increase the 5G and 6G communications data demand on uplink and downlink.

AI native is intended to make the system perform better by either replacing functional blocks with AI implementations, or allowing AI to better manage the protocol, network node, device, etc. so that it can adapt more flexibly to support a larger variety of enterprise and consumer experiences. The AI native paradigm can give more implementation flexibility and bring more innovation and differentiation to the devices and networks.

AI native can be in at least the two following forms:

• Replacing existing functionality with AI – e.g., there are a number of use cases in 3GPP (beam management, CSI feedback, positioning, mobility) that are being studied to see if there is a better solution with AI. One aspect of AI native is to include more of these features across layers, protocols and network/device for improved performance with AI. Especially relevant is work in 3GPP and ORAN to improve network automation with AI and the associated use cases. Cross node AI is also a potential example of this where the function is replaced by AI at the network and device.
• Enable AI as a part of the protocol behavior – to change the actual protocols to be defined to be AI friendly so that the protocol can adapt to the combination of radio, device and application state to determine how best to serve the traffic. This changes how the function operates to incorporate AI.

What are the expected benefits of 6G over 5G in terms of speed, latency, and connectivity?

6G will not just be designed to achieve higher speed and lower latency, but it will also focus on bringing significant efficiency enhancements to capacity, coverage, energy consumption, and deployment cost. Additionally, 6G will focus on enabling faster deployment of new services and growing the surface area of operator opportunities. The focus will be driven by use cases to create new value for the broader wireless ecosystem and society.

How will 6G technology influence the development of IoT and generative AI technologies?

6G will bring an integrated design for eMBB and IoT with shared objectives of enhanced connectivity, extended coverage, added functionalities such as positioning and sensing that allow the devices to interact more effectively with their environment, and add more use cases of IoT. Ambient IoT, which will operate without batteries using energy harvesting techniques, will help proliferate low cost IoT sensors and further integrate the physical and digital worlds. Networks and devices will support real-time AI processing and decision-making at the edge, creating value for IoT applications independent of centralized cloud systems.

How is Qualcomm contributing to the research and development of 6G technology?

Qualcomm has a storied heritage in wireless technology, including groundbreaking innovations in 5G technologies. We are building on a strong foundation to advance connectivity across all technologies including 5G Advanced, 6G, Wi-Fi, Bluetooth and more. We are leading the ecosystem in technology research and development, working closely with industry technology leaders such as mobile operators, OEMs, and academia to bring future innovations to life.

How do you envision the future of mobile communication evolving with the advent of 6G?

The future of mobile communication with the advent of 6G is envisioned as a continuum that builds upon the advancements of 5G, focusing on integrating AI into networks and devices. 6G aims to enhance the efficiency and economics of existing and new use cases in the 2030s, such as multi-device plans, fixed wireless services, AR glasses, self-driving cars and elderly-care service robots. The evolution will also involve integrated sensing and communication, enabling new solutions like digital twins and RF sensing. Additionally, 6G will leverage existing infrastructure to provide cost-effective upgrades in existing spectrum on uplink performance and edge data processing, as well as add significant capacity in new spectrum.

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• The Yoto Mini children's speaker is being recalled again due to a fire risk
• The speaker was initially deemed a fire risk back in April
• Parents should take the speaker away from children and stop using it
• You should contact Yoto for a free battery replacement kit even if you've already received the smart cable from the April 2024 recall

Another day, another overheating audio product – only for this particular speaker designed for children, it's second time unlucky.

The Yoto Mini speaker hasn't had a good year. More than 250,000 of them were recalled back in April owing to overheating batteries – at least, the cable was recalled and replaced. And it seems that wasn't enough.

The overheating issue cited is the same on both occasions – both the most recent product recall and the April recall issued by the US Consumer Product Safety Commission (CPSC) state: "the speaker’s lithium-ion battery can overheat and catch fire, posing burn and fire hazards to consumers".

This time, the CPSC's report directs owners to "immediately stop using the recalled speakers, take them away from children and contact Yoto to receive a free battery replacement kit. Consumers should request the battery replacement kit even if they already received the smart cable in the April 2024 recall."

Owners are also asked to dispose of those old lithium-ion batteries in accordance with local and state regulations, not in the trash.

Too hot to handle – apply for a Yoto Mini battery replacement kit now

The latest December 11 report states that Yoto has now received a total of nine reports from U.S. consumers (up from seven in April) and three from a UK consumer of the speaker "overheating or melting", although thankfully, no injuries have been reported.

According to the CPSC's missive, about 251,165 Yoto Mini units were sold (in addition, about 18,932 were sold in Canada) between November 2021 and April 2024. The speakers are intended for children ages three to 12, are operated by use of Yoto cards and are designed to play audiobooks, music, radio and podcasts. They were available from November 2021 through April 2024 and cost about $70, with the SKU number PRPLXX00860. Again, if you have one, be sure to stop using it, and request a free battery replacement kit from Yoto.

Yoto has issued a statement telling customers "Please be assured this does not mean you have to send your Yoto Mini (2021-2023) back. Instead, the Battery Replacement Kit uses the same battery as in Yoto Mini (2024 Edition) and will restore your Yoto Mini with a brand new battery.… Yoto Mini (2024 edition) is not affected by this issue as it contains a battery from a different supplier."

The news comes just days after Anker recalled nearly 80,000 Bluetooth speakers due to potentially hazardous overheating batteries – and the two incidents are not isolated cases. On November 20, Audio-Technica had to alert buyers that some batches of its affordable 2024 earbuds had an overheating case and on November 28, Belkin also issued a recall notice for its BoostCharge Pro (model number BPD005) power bank.

One thing's for sure: whoever can invent and deliver to the mass-market a safer and more planet-friendly portable power alternative to lithium-ion batteries – ideally one that doesn't require as much surface space as the otherwise-great Powerfoyle – will do very well indeed.

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• Fallout won Best Adaptation at The Game Awards 2024
• Arcane fans feel 'robbed' that the hit animated series didn't win
• Both shows have been huge successes and are enjoyable to watch even if you're a newcomer to the video game franchises

Arcane fans have taken to social media to express their disappointment about the outcome of one of today's winners at The Game Awards 2024, following the announcement that Amazon's Fallout TV show was crowned 'Best Adaptation'.

Arcane, one of the best Netflix shows, brings to life the League of Legends universe through the use of striking animated visuals and explosive action. Meanwhile, one of the best Prime Video shows, Fallout, "brings one of gaming’s most iconic series to life with a highly satisfying blend of source material devotion and narrative originality", as Tom Power wrote in TechRadar's Fallout season 1 review.

Don't get me wrong Fallout was good but over Arcane?????? I am literally just confused. Arcane is literally one of the best series ever my god what the hell. It's rated so high all across the board how does that happen https://t.co/XCfIr2p5mrDecember 13, 2024

The point is, though, that both video game adaptations are terrific watches, but what they do have in common is the fact that they aren't just catered to fans of the video games. No matter if you're an avid fan or a newcomer to the franchise, both shows will both wow you (much like The Last of Us did for me).

However, this hasn't stopped fans flocking to social media to express their views over Fallout winning the award over Arcane, with one user even feeling "robbed" at the defeat.

BEST ADAPTATION FALLOUT??? ARCANE DIDN'T WIN BEST ADAPTATION???WHY????WE WERE SO SO ROBBED HERE #TheGameAwards pic.twitter.com/WN8BTjgbCzDecember 13, 2024

Although Arcane season 2 missed out this time, the animated series hasn't gone without its fair share of awards. Not only did it win 'Best Adaptation' at The Game Awards in 2022, it won four Emmy Awards, including the Primetime Emmy Award for Outstanding Animated Program and became the first streaming series to win the award.

HOW THE HELL DID FALLOUT BEAT ARCANE FOR BEST GAME ADAPTATION AIN’T NO WAYDecember 13, 2024

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• Astro Bot wins Game of the Year at The Game Awards 2024
• The PS5 platformer also took home four other major awards
• Astro Bot was in competition with some of the year's biggest titles, like Metaphor: ReFantazio and Final Fantasy 7 Rebirth

Astro Bot has won Game of the Year at The Game Awards 2024.

The annual awards ceremony celebrated its 10th anniversary last night, and close out the show Baldur's Gate 3 director Swen Vincke, who won last year's Game of the Year award, took to the stage to announce this year's winner.

Astro Bot competed in the category with some of this year's biggest titles, including Metaphor Re: Fantazio, Final Fantasy 7: Rebirth, Balatro, and Black Myth: Wukong, making the winner difficult to predict for some.

Elden Ring: Shadow of the Erdtree was also among the nominees, making it the first downloadable content (DLC) to be featured in the category.

Team Asobi's PlayStation 5 platformer was also nominated in multiple other categories and also took home three more major awards, including Best Action/Adventure, beating the likes of Silent Hill 2 and Prince of Persia: The Lost Crown, Best Game Direction, and Best Family Game.

In TechRadar Gaming's review, George Yang called the game "an engrossing and joyful platformer" and one of the best games of 2024.

"Astro Bot combines engrossing platforming mechanics across masterfully designed levels that are filled with fun obstacles and collectibles," Yang wrote. "It stands up to gaming’s biggest giants like Mario and Sonic as a result and is a joyous Game of the Year contender."

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• Security researchers found a way to exfiltrate sensitive data through FileProvider
• The bug abuses the framework's elevated privileges
• Apple patch address issue with improved validation of symbolic links

Apple has patched a hole in iOS and macOS which could have been abused to steal sensitive data from victims.

Cybersecurity researchers from Jamf Threat Labs recently discovered, and reported, a vulnerability in FileProvider, a framework in macOS and iOS that enables apps to manage and access files stored on remote servers or locally.

Tracked as CVE-2024-44131, and carrying a severity score of 5.3, the vulnerability stems from the framework’s elevated privileges, which can be abused to move files, and even upload them to a remote server under the attackers’ control.

Manipulating symlinks

The vulnerability bypasses Apple’s Transparency, Consent, and Control (TCC) framework, often described as a “critical security protection” mechanism for Apple devices.

"This TCC bypass allows unauthorized access to files and folders, Health data, the microphone or camera, and more without alerting users," Jamf said. "This undermines user trust in the security of iOS devices and exposes personal data to risk."

In theory, if a threat actor could get a malicious app running in an Apple device, it could intercept user action that moves, or copies files within the FIles app, and send them to a place under their control.

"Specifically, when a user moves or copies files or directories using Files.app within a directory accessible by a malicious app running in the background, the attacker can manipulate symlinks to deceive the Files app," Jamf added. "The new symlink attack method first copies an innocent file, providing a detectable signal to a malicious process that the copying has started. Then, a symlink is inserted after the copying process is already underway, effectively bypassing the symlink check."

Apple fixed the bug in iOS 18, iPadOS 18, and macOS Sequoia 15, with improved validation of symbolic links (symlinks), and advised users to apply the patch as soon as possible.

Via The Hacker News

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• Apple has promised that the first CarPlay 2 vehicles will launch in 2024
• With just a couple of weeks to go, that deadline might be missed
• CarPlay 2 is a major overhaul, but we’ve only seen renderings so far

If you cast your mind back to Apple’s Worldwide Developers Conference (WWDC) in 2022, you might remember the company announcing that a new version of CarPlay would soon be arriving with new dashboards and features for connected cars. Well, over two years later, we’re still waiting – and Apple doesn’t have long to meet its own CarPlay 2 target.

That’s because, as noted by MacRumors, Apple’s website continues to maintain that the first vehicles bearing CarPlay 2 will arrive “in 2024.” But with under three weeks left until the end of the year, there’s not a lot of time left before that deadline passes.

CarPlay 2 is expected to bring “content for all the driver’s screens including the instrument cluster,” Apple says. Unlike the first generation of CarPlay, the new version will be able to take over more or less the entire dashboard inside your vehicle, providing relevant, customizable data in a unified interface.

Unfortunately, there’s been virtually no movement on this since Apple announced CarPlay 2 in June 2022. Sure, we’ve had a few concepts, renderings and discussions since then, but nothing more concrete than that.

With the deadline looming, we’re starting to wonder if Apple has some last-minute news (which isn't unprecedented for CarPlay) or if this is one target it just can’t hit.

Not long left

(Image credit: Apple)

You may recall that we’ve actually been here before. Last year, Apple promised that the first models equipped with the next generation of CarPlay would be previewed before the end of 2023. Well, the clock ticked and ticked until Porsche and Aston Martin finally delivered a few dashboard concepts on December 20, just barely squeaking in ahead of 2024.

But we’re not being promised renderings this time. Apple’s website claims that the “first models” will launch before the end of 2024, and that sure sounds like it’s talking about purchasable, drivable cars. There’s not long left for these vehicles to make an appearance, and it's now looking highly unlikely.

CarPlay has encountered something of a bumpy road over the last year or two, with major manufacturers like GM pulling out and the likes of Rivian saying they won’t use it in the first place.

Still, Apple boasts that over 800 car models work with CarPlay, and the system isn’t going away any time soon. But it needs to get its skates on if it’s going to arrive before the end of the year.

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Samsung and Google have finally announced Project Moohan, their long-awaited XR headset collaboration, and I’m cautiously optimistic that Meta might finally be facing a true challenger to its XR throne, if only because I’m a little tired of recommending whatever the latest Quest VR headset is as the best option for people to buy – they’re awesome, but some variety would be nice.

However, I’m concerned that the two companies might already be making the same blunders as Apple has with its Apple Vision Pro. I’m not talking about price – at least not yet, because we don’t know how much Moohan will cost (a word of advice, Samsung: it had better cost less than $1,000) – but rather I'm looking at a factor that’s just as important: software.

I test a lot of VR headsets, and my main issue with every non-Meta device is its software. When it comes to standalone headset experiences the Quest’s offering is second to none thanks to its massive library, which offers variety and is well stocked with exclusives you can’t get anywhere else.

Project Moohan will reportedly boast a massive suite of Android apps of its own at launch, but much like the Apple Vision Pro these will be ports of existing phone and tablet apps. Yes, interacting with them in VR would bring novelty; however the Vision Pro has proven that novelty alone is not enough to shift units and make a device feel like a worthwhile alternative to our phones, tablets, and laptops.

(Image credit: Future)

What we really need are bonafide Moohan exclusives; I’m talking Google's and Samsung’s rivals to the likes of Batman: Arkham Shadow. By releasing Moohan’s developer kit now the companies are at least giving app creators a head start, so they can hopefully have some awesome exclusives ready for launch day, which at the moment the companies have suggested will be some time in 2025.

That said, Apple gave developers an early development kit too, and it proved not to be enough. A lack of time was certainly a factor – software development doesn’t happen overnight, and less than 12 months' notice has clearly proven insufficient in the case of the Vision Pro.

Financial risk plays a part too. Developing an app isn’t cheap, and developing it for an unproven system carries more risk than normal – you can’t accurately judge what your expected revenue will be if you have no idea how many people will own the system. As we've seen, the way Meta has found to get around this chicken-and-egg situation is by having its Reality Labs division throw money at VR and MR software studios in exchange for exclusive access to their creations on Quest.

Yes, there’s a fiscal recklessness to Meta’s Reality Labs gambit – that division of its company is hemorrhaging cash at a scale that even the most dodgy ‘disruptive’ Silicon Valley startups could only dream of – but it’s paying off.

Given what the Quest 3, Quest 3S, and Ray-Ban Meta smart glasses are capable of, it's impossible to look at a rival in their respective categories – XR or AI wearables – and recommend anything else. So Google and Samsung might want to throw their collective wallet around if they’d like to achieve the results Meta has.

Gemini in VR, so what? (Image credit: Google) You can’t just say “AI” and call it a day

Google and Samsung’s gambit instead seems to be the promise of AI functionality facilitated by Gemini. However, simply announcing that "Gemini will see what you see and hear what you hear," and refusing to elaborate isn’t giving developers – or us – much to go on.

Meta AI exists on Quest and it isn’t exciting, so forgive me if I think the prospect of Gemini on Moohan sounds as thrilling as watching paint dry.

If Gemini offered some tangible potential use cases that Google and Samsung were talking about – an example I frequently point to is a chatbot which could generate virtual objects you can interact with that are based on your prompts – I’d maybe be less skeptical. But simply saying Moohan has AI and calling it a day won’t cut the mustard.

Smart AR glasses are coming, too but no timeline has been set (Image credit: Google)

If, though, we're talking about the AR glasses we’ve been promised by Samsung and Google, that’s a whole different ball game. A personal assistant who can share your experiences to help inform its responses – such as to give real-time advice like what groceries to pick up for a meal or how to get to a destination on time based on crowds and delays, or give on the fly details about a landmark you’re passing – that’s actually useful. But an in-the-home headset having those same capabilities isn’t all that useful.

To that end there’s a question as to whether Samsung and Google – much like Apple – even want to make a headset. I don’t believe headsets are on their way out – much like how phones and laptops coexist, I believe AR glasses and XR headsets will stand side-by-side – but it does seem like Google and Samsung’s expertise would lend itself to the more on-the-go AR glasses.

This chimes with what the two companies have told us about their headset and glasses so far, and it's the AR glasses that I’m most excited about trying, with Moohan, despite launching first, feeling like a less interesting afterthought.

With so many unknowns around Moohan I'll reserve judgment for now – but Google and Samsung will need to tread carefully, otherwise their Vision Pro competitor might turn out to be a Vision Pro clone in all the wrong ways.

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