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The DJI Air 3S has been almost fully revealed in several leaks over the past few months, including a recent unboxing video – yet some new rumors have managed to unearth some intriguing new details about the mid-range drone.  

Alongside what appear to be official specs sheets, reliable DJI commentator @JasperEllens has revealed an image of a new DJI RC Track controller, which will apparently let you the drone follow you around without the need for the usual remote.

The concept isn't a new one in drones – Skydio, which quit consumer drones in August 2023, long offered its own Beacon handheld accessory for its drones to obediently track you during bike rides and more. But the accessory would be a first for DJI, whose drones typically rely on a bulkier remote control for so-called 'follow me' functionality.

Exclusive leak: What if, your #Air3S does not need a traditional remote? What if you could just use a tracking beacon to control and let the drone follow you. It will be called #DJIRCTrack. More details later. Cheers pic.twitter.com/JiXx8HOn5xOctober 8, 2024

If the leak is accurate, it could make the DJI Air 3S a more tempting drone for solo videographers. 

Previous leaks have suggested that the drone will be a relatively modest upgrade on the DJI Air 3, with the main boost being the inclusion of a larger 1-inch sensor on its main camera (joined by the same 1/1.3-inch sensor as before for its telephoto camera).

But if DJI's little beacon is initially exclusive to the Air 3S, that could make it a more tempting upgrade – and push it higher in our list of the best drones you can buy. A recently leaked teaser shared by Quadro_News suggests we'll see the DJI Air 3S fully announced soon on October 15, so there isn't long to wait.

DJI Air 3S – what else is new?

Here you go, for all you #specification lovers: some #DJIAIR3S specs leaked. And an extra fun fact for the upgraders: the AIR3 batteries will fit aswell. More pictures coming. Cheers pic.twitter.com/1ldv5roXLcOctober 8, 2024

According to the leaked specs above, the DJI Air 3S could offer four more improvements on the current Air 3, which landed in July 2023.

One is the apparent inclusion of Lidar tech to improve the accuracy of the drone's obstacle sensing in low-light, which could save you from expensive tree incidents. It seems that the Air 3S could also come with a lot more internal storage: 42GB compared to only 8GB on the Air 3.

The leaked specs also suggest an expanded ISO range is on the cards, which should theoretically boost low-light performance for videos and still. The Air 3S is also expected to gain improved slow-motion modes, including 4K/120p and 1080p/240p, for some dramatic cut scenes.

Otherwise, it looks like the drone's weight, flight time (around 45 minutes), horizontal flying speeds and image resolution (12MP on both cameras) will be largely the same as before. But that new beacon accessory, plus some notable spec bumps, could make it a strong alternative to the DJI Mini 4 Pro for travelers who want to shoot aerial videos and stills.

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Researchers found that two individuals of a type of comb jelly can fuse and become one with a shared nervous system and digestive system — which has implications for animal regeneration and immune systems.

Given how prevalent it is, you might be forgiven for thinking that everything is in the cloud today. But according to the latest research from the Cloud Industry Forum (CIF), the average amount of IT infrastructure hosted in the cloud by any one company is currently hovering around 50%. In fact, only 7% of organizations currently have more than 80% of their infrastructure in the cloud – but at the other end of the spectrum, only 8% of businesses have less than 20% of their IT in the cloud.

In short, the cloud is mature, but nowhere near universal.

And when it comes to future adoption, almost half (42%) of businesses have a ‘cloud first’ policy, with 55% taking a hybrid approach. Only a small number of organizations (2%) currently keep IT on-premises wherever possible, so there’s ample evidence that cloud is well and truly a proven technology today.

Furthermore, many organizations are now using more than one cloud, fitting the cloud to the workload, rather than the other way around. We’ll look at what this means a bit later, but first, let’s look at some of the common benefits and challenges of migrating from on-premises to cloud.

Cloud’s mature era: The benefits

The main benefits of cloud are well-understood. According to CIF, IT professionals adopt cloud to improve agility (32%), increase ease of scaling (29%) and gain cost savings (29%). One of cloud’s main benefits is that it can be tested, spun up and turned off at the drop of a hat, allowing organizations to only use the resources they need, when they need them.

Furthermore, a whopping 81% of organizations believe that cloud makes their IT estate either significantly or slightly more mature than using purely on-premises infrastructure. This is largely for two reasons: firstly, most cloud providers offer security at scale. They invest in the greatest and most resilient security with both physical and digital security constantly being tested and evolved. Secondly, although a larger IT estate means a higher number of endpoints to secure, it also means a more dispersed estate, so any one outage is less likely to have a great impact.

However, migrating to the cloud is a difficult journey. In fact, half of IT decision-makers say that migration was more complex than expected. Let’s look at some of these challenges.

The challenges of moving to cloud

The ease of moving to cloud is a bit like moving house: it depends what you're moving. Leaving home to move into your first house is a lot easier than moving a family of four after a decade in the same place. That said, there are a number of pitfalls common to most migrations.

Firstly, moving to the cloud takes a significant amount of due diligence, which makes choice of technology partner important. Evaluating the most suitable workloads and applications to migrate to cloud, taking into account technology lifecycles and organizational needs, is a complex and difficult piece of work.

Companies also need to consider the likes of resilience, backup and disaster recovery, as well as network, cybersecurity, and automation requirements - all in advance of even choosing a cloud provider. With the complexity of cloud migration, many end-user IT teams come to realize that there’s rarely a single cloud that will cover all their needs.

There's also the longer-term work to consider – for example, setting the vision and strategy, governance, establishing the roadmap, managing adoption – including training and feedback – as well as auditing success and looking at the renewal process later on.

Handling this complexity is probably one of the most difficult parts of moving to cloud. Every organization has a different technology estate with its own restrictions, policies and stakeholder preferences. Beyond this, businesses in more regulated sectors like healthcare or the public sector will have guidance and due process about cloud usage, including what can be stored or processed where and by whom. This makes the initial preparation and profiling of the business doubly crucial.

And as we've said, cloud can often make an organisation more secure, but it’s important to be aware of the security nuance of outsourced servers. For example, using bare metal will allow an organisation complete control over security options, but also the responsibility for doing so. On the other hand, public cloud often has parts of the security pre-set by the vendor, which can mean less power, but also less responsibility.

Finally, without meaning to compound the issue, most organizations today use more than one cloud.

The multi-cloud era

According to our own research, 80% of UK organizations either use more than one cloud today or are exploring or transitioning to a multi-cloud environment – and 95% of businesses believe that their use of multi-cloud will either stay the same or increase over the next five years.

In many ways, this makes a lot of sense. Different clouds suit different purposes and workloads. However, as with cloud migration, there are a few common areas to look out for when choosing your next cloud – particularly if you have multi-cloud in mind:

- Price: Your cloud needs to provide the right performance at the right price – but beware of vendors offering high initial discounts. These can creep down as the years go by, leaving you with a lot of infrastructure in a cloud environment which is becoming more and more expensive.

- Security: Know your data. If your data needs to be in a SecNumCloud environment, for example, find a provider which has operated one for years.

- Interoperability: If you’re running connected multi-clouds, they need to operate well with each other. If possible, look at testimonials from other users who are doing similar things to you before you move, and consider using open-source technologies to ease this and any future moves.

- Geographic reach: If all goes well, will your project expand to other regions in future, and if so, does your chosen cloud provider offer these regions? - Availability: When does your project need to start, and how soon can your chosen provider actually deploy the kit? If there’s going to be a lag, that’ll delay the project.

AI

No article today would be complete without a mention of AI. Specifically, it’s worth noting that sometimes your ‘primary’ cloud provider might not also offer cost-effective GPUs, so if anything, AI is fueling the growth of multi-cloud. Again, the decision about choosing a provider for AI workloads is nuanced: for model training, high-spec GPUs are usually needed, but because the data isn’t actually in production, latency isn’t an issue – so you can deploy anywhere. However, during production, latency (and therefore location) will become more important, but you can usually use lower-spec GPUs after the intensive model training is done.

Once a cloud migration is successfully completed and the pitfalls navigated, the journey is rarely over. However, this can be a very good thing: moving to cloud can help organizations to later explore the benefits of cloud native technologies. AI, machine learning and harnessing the power of big data can offer significant potential to a newly cloud-native organization – so if stakeholders aren’t excited by the simple migration to cloud, it’s worth looking two steps ahead and thinking about the future just around the corner.

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This article was produced as part of TechRadarPro's Expert Insights channel where we feature the best and brightest minds in the technology industry today. The views expressed here are those of the author and are not necessarily those of TechRadarPro or Future plc. If you are interested in contributing find out more here: https://www.techradar.com/news/submit-your-story-to-techradar-pro

The concept of Virtual Private Networks (VPNs) dates back to the 1990s. Over the decades, as online services and activities expanded, VPNs became increasingly popular. By 2020, the COVID-19 pandemic had drastically accelerated digital transformation, making remote work the norm, and VPNs evolved into essential tools for secure remote access.

VPNs fall short

Yet, VPNs are not without their limitations. While they effectively encrypt internet traffic and mask IP addresses, they are limited in their ability to address several modern cyber threats. Recent research from Keeper highlights that phishing and malware are becoming more prevalent attack methods. In the same report, 40% of survey respondents reported experiencing insider threats, where attacks originate from employees. VPNs are not a comprehensive solution for all online security, despite some organizations operating as if they were.

High-profile breaches and cyber attacks further illustrate the inadequacies of VPNs. For example, on May 24, 2024, Check Point reported attempted breaches on VPN networks, with attackers targeting remote access VPN devices to gain unauthorized access. Similarly, a breach at Nissan that exposed the personal information of over 53,000 employees involved exploiting an external VPN, exfiltrating data from local network shares, shutting down certain non-production systems and demanding a ransom.

Beyond these security concerns, VPNs also present operational challenges. Their complexity, high maintenance costs and potential latency issues can undermine productivity and operational efficiency.

The rise of enterprise browsers

Given these limitations, what alternatives exist for enhancing web security? Over the past few years, enterprise browsers have emerged as a sophisticated alternative, offering a more controlled and managed browsing environment. These specialized browsers surpass VPNs with capabilities such as controlled access to web applications, robust user activity management and advanced tools designed to prevent data breaches.

However, the adoption of enterprise browsers can introduce its own set of challenges. The integration of new technologies may disrupt workflows and create user friction, potentially complicating the transition and impacting overall productivity. When these integrations aren’t simple and easy, adoption rates will be low, leaving organizations vulnerable and exposed.

Remote browser isolation: A better approach

For many organizations, particularly those with constrained resources, Remote Browser Isolation presents an advantageous alternative. Remote Browser Isolation solutions isolate web browsing sessions from end-user devices by hosting them in a secure, remote location. This approach addresses several key needs:

Secure access without a VPN: Facilitates secure access to web resources without relying on VPNs, safeguarding against threats from non-hardened sites.

Zero-knowledge security: Provides full control over network communications between the user's device and the target websites and applications.

Recorded web sessions: Enables comprehensive compliance and auditing through session recording and monitoring, without exposing the full operating system.

Controlled web browsing: Allows access to a curated list of URLs within a secure environment, with precise control over allowed websites.

Secure and simplified web browsing: Enhances security while mitigating risks associated with compromised devices.

Password autofill: Automates the entry of login credentials in isolated sessions, eliminating the need to transmit sensitive information to the user's device.

Addressing third-party contractors

In today’s interconnected business environment, third-party contractors often require access to internal systems and data. VPNs, while providing a secure tunnel, can still expose the network to risks if the contractor's device is compromised. They also provide broad access to systems without the ability to limit what users can access. Remote Browser Isolation contains the browsing activity of third-party contractors in a remote environment and allows you to have full control of what they can access, thus ensuring that any potential threats are also contained and cannot reach the internal network. This not only enhances security but also simplifies compliance with data protection regulations by providing detailed session recordings and activity logs.

Other various use cases

Remote Browser Isolation can be particularly effective across a range of web applications:

Operational Technology (OT) systems: Protects industrial control systems from cyber threats by isolating their web interfaces.

Administrative panels: Secures management interfaces of websites and internal systems.

Routers and firewall UIs: Shields network device management interfaces from unauthorized access.

Cloud applications: Safeguards access to cloud-based services and platforms.

Internal hosted applications: Protects custom web applications hosted within the organization.

Support tools: Ensures secure access to IT and customer support tools.

Social media sites: Manages shared access and controls posting capabilities without having to share credentials.

The future of secure web browsing

Remote Browser Isolation offers a sophisticated solution for organizations seeking to blend the strengths of both VPNs and enterprise browsers while mitigating their limitations. By leveraging Remote Browser Isolation, organizations can secure internal web-based applications, cloud apps and Bring Your Own Device (BYOD) environments, effectively prevent data exfiltration and manage browsing sessions with comprehensive oversight.

As the digital threat landscape continues to evolve, Remote Browser Isolation is rapidly becoming the preferred choice for organizations aiming to enhance security and streamline management.

We've featured the best business VPN.

This article was produced as part of TechRadarPro's Expert Insights channel where we feature the best and brightest minds in the technology industry today. The views expressed here are those of the author and are not necessarily those of TechRadarPro or Future plc. If you are interested in contributing find out more here: https://www.techradar.com/news/submit-your-story-to-techradar-pro

ADT has confirmed suffering a cyberattack in which crooks stole sensitive information from its systems.

In an 8-K form filed with the US Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC), the American home security systems provider said it “recently became aware” of unauthorized activity on its network.

The subsequent investigation confirmed that a threat actor managed to access the company’s infrastructure using compromised credentials obtained through a third-party business partner. The company did not say which business partner was compromised - TechRadar Pro has reached out to ADT with further questions.

Ransomware or no ransomware

Before being kicked out, the hackers managed to exfiltrate some information from ADT’s servers, the company confirmed. This includes encrypted data associated with employee user accounts. Customer information, including information regarding their security systems, have not been compromised, ADT confirmed.

To contain the incident, ADT ousted the attacker, and brought in a third-party cybersecurity firm to assist with the investigation and forensic analysis. It also notified the third party of the breach at its infrastructure, and called in law enforcement. It confirmed that its containment measures resulted in “some disruptions” to its IT network, but did not specify further.

This is not the first time ADT has had to put out a cybersecurity fire, as it suffered a similar incident in June 2024 that saw threat actors access customer order details, as well as “limited” customer information that included people’s email addresses, phone numbers, and postal addresses.

At the time, the company said there was no evidence any further customer information such as credit card details or banking information was affected, and that the company's home security systems are also safe. The data was later leaked on the notorious Breached forums by a poster named "netnsher", who claimed to have access to a database containing over 30,812 records, including 30,400 unique emails.

Via BleepingComputer

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Lawsuits filed by more than a dozen state attorneys general argue that TikTok knowingly exacerbates the youth mental health crisis and places profits over child safety.

(Image credit: Damian Dovarganes/AP)

Fall is prime pressure cooker season, but some food should never go in the Instant Pot. Here are a few to avoid.

Panasonic has officially launched the world's smallest and lightest zoom lens with autofocus for full-frame cameras – the Lumix S 18-40mm F4.5-6.3 – and it's an ideal pairing with its Lumix S9 mirrorless camera, for which Panasonic has also released a big firmware update, available from October 9.

With those two moves, Panasonic has made big strides in improving its polarizing Lumix S9 for content creators, a camera that we labeled "small, simple, powerful, flawed" in our Lumix S9 in-depth review. With firmware version 1.1 installed, the S9 could be realizing its potential as one of the best YouTube cameras, with the option to remove recording time limits, improved compatibility with the Lumix Lab app that now includes remote shooting, plus handy frame markers to show what's in your shot for up to three aspect ratios simultaneously.

Alongside the new lens and firmware update, Panasonic has announced a 'Smokey White' colorway for the Lumix S9 (see below) for the same list price as other colors ($1,499 / £1,499), as well as a low-cost variation of the Lumix S5, the Lumix S5D. Let's unpack the key bits you need to know about all these releases.

(Image credit: Panasonice) New lens and new firmware – a new experience?

When I reviewed the Lumix S9, I felt that Panasonic had missed a trick by creating a mirrorless camera with interchangeable lenses, rather than a fixed-lens compact camera with a large sensor, like the Leica Q3 or Fujifilm X100VI. That's because with no obvious L-mount lenses in the Lumix S-series to complement the tiny S9, the camera's compact form felt rather redundant. Panasonic hopes to remedy that with the new 18-40mm lens, which is the world's smallest and lightest autofocus zoom lens for full-frame cameras.

The 18-40mm, which costs $499 / £499, weighs just 0.34lb / 155g and measures just 40.9mm in length when retracted. And despite its tiny proportions, the lens packs a decent array of features, including a wider than average 18mm perspective that's ideal for video creators, weather resistance, focus breathing suppression, plus decent close focusing capabilities – just 0.15m / 0.49ft.

However, the maximum aperture of the lens could be enough to put off serious creatives who want the creamy shallow depth of field that a compact prime lens with a wider maximum aperture could deliver – for example, there are many small and cheap f/2.8 aperture prime lenses kicking around already, while the aforementioned Leica and Fujifilm cameras have even faster built-in lenses.

Panasonic also launched the Lumix S5D. It's identical to the Lumix S5 launched in 2020 and also excellent value. The key update bestowed to the S5D is it's now DJI LiDAR ready, meaning you can pair it with DJI's LiDAR range finder module and pro RS-series gimbals for precise focusing. (Image credit: Panasonic)

If I was looking to buy the Lumix S9, which has some amazing video features such as 6K open gate recording and Real-Time LUTs, I'd still be hoping that a compact and wide aperture lens is also on the horizon.

That said, Panasonic has addressed many of the Lumix S9's cons with a decent firmware update. No longer is there a tight cap on video record times, while the addition of more subject detection autofocus modes is welcome, and the inclusion of remote shooting in the Lumix Lab app feels like an obvious win. Before the update, Panasonic's app and camera functionality felt too limited to really resonate with young content creators.

Panasonic should be commended for improving its Lumix S9 through a decent firmware update and a complementary compact lens. It's an excellent value video camera that with these improvements makes more sense for its intended users.

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As of Tuesday morning, Hurricane Milton was just over 500 miles southwest of Tampa, Fla, and expected to make landfall late Wednesday night.

A new report from the United Nations Office on Drugs and Crime has revealed crime syndicates in Southeast Asia are increasingly using technologies such as deepfakes, malware, and generative AI in their operations to trick victims.

Analysis of the threat landscape by the UN warned criminals have adapted to technological advances - with an estimated loss of between $18 billion and $37 billion from scams targeting people in East and SouthEast Asia in 2023.

This included an over 600% increase in mentions of deepfake related content in the first half of 2024, with the Philippines, Vietnam, and Japan all suffering over 2500% increases between 2022 and 2023.

Crime-as-a-service

Specifically, the UN report claims criminals have been using AI generated content for social engineering and fraud schemes, alongside ‘deceptive recruitment campaigns’ - which encourage victims to accept ‘jobs’ that are fronts for human trafficking schemes.

“The integration of generative artificial intelligence by transnational criminal groups involved in cyber-enabled fraud is a complex and alarming trend observed in Southeast Asia, and one that represents a powerful force multiplier for criminal activities,” said John Wojcik, UNODC Regional Analyst.

“These developments have not only expanded the scope and efficiency of cyber-enabled fraud and cybercrime; they have also lowered the barriers to entry for criminal networks that previously lacked the technical skills to exploit more sophisticated and profitable methods.” he said.

The spread of AI-enbaled crime is a global issue, with deepfake, ransomware, and cryptocurrency scams all on the rise in recent years. Criminals around the world have been taking advantage of the new ways to exploit vulnerable people, especially using technologies few are trained to spot.

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Govee's popular smart lights are slashed down to incredibly affordable prices this Prime Day. Don't miss out, they're selling quick!

Working from home doesn’t always mean working from home, and this portable monitor could help you make the most of the hybrid lifestyle.

We’ve found this fantastic monitor deal in Amazon October Prime Day, which could help bring the luxury of the two-screen method to your local coffee shop, train journey, or just a different spot around the house.

Prime Day is making staying within your budget easy, without sacrificing on quality. The ARZOPA 15.6” FHD 1080P Portable Monitor is currently selling at just $59.98 down from $129.99, with a saving of almost $70 - this one will fly off the shelves.

ARZOPA Portible 15.6" Monitor: was $129.99 now $59.98 at Amazon
If you need a slim, lightweight, monitor for your on the go work, we've found the perfect choice! The ARZOPA Portable Monitor has plenty of connection options so you can stay online on the go.

View Deal

Compatibility, color, and comfort

The ARZOPA boasts a stunning 1080P, FHD, IPS, and anti-glare display, with a 60Hz resolution for a rich color, bringing your pictures and videos to life. The 15.6” display gives you plenty of screen space whilst being lightweight enough to easily bring on the go.

Coming in at just 1.7lbs, the monitor is slim and compact, allowing you plenty of space for all your other devices.

Staying connected is easier than ever with the ARZOPA, with three connectors; two USB-C and one mini HDMI ensuring a seamless experience for all your devices. The monitor is compatible with any laptop, or with PC, Switch, Phone, Xbox, and more.

The adjustable protective case means your monitor is safe and sturdy, and the USB-C and mini HDMI included mean you’re all set to dive right in.

The ARZOPA portable monitor is on sale until the 10th of October, so make sure you grab it while you can.

Intel’s Arrow Lake desktop CPUs are almost with us, going by rumors, and the prevalence of leaks backs up this notion – with a few fresh pieces of spillage joining the recent flood, one of which will cause some concern.

Much of this comes in the form of leaked presentation slides purportedly from Intel (from press briefings that are supposedly underway), and it’s the gaming-related material that’ll doubtless cause a stir. As always with all this, let’s be cautious – as with any leak (though this one appears genuine enough).

pic.twitter.com/9DuJZ6IjGlOctober 8, 2024

This first slide, shared on X by leaker @wxnod, shows that the flagship for Arrow Lake, the Core Ultra 9 285K, is actually going to be slightly slower than the current  Core i9-14900K flagship when it comes to running PC games.

The difference is marginal – an average of 264 frames per second (fps) for the 14900K versus 261 fps for the 285K, which is nothing you’d ever notice – but the point is that you’d expect a marked uplift (or at least some increase) with a new generation of silicon from Intel.

There is an upside here, though, namely that the Core Ultra 9 285K delivers that same performance using a good deal less power – 447W versus 527W for the Raptor Lake Refresh flagship, so that’s about 15% more power-efficient (this is the total power usage for the PC, we should note – so the figure for just the chips will show a bigger generational leap than this, too).

In another slide, Intel further demonstrates that the Core Ultra 9 285K chugs a good deal less power than the Raptor Lake Refresh flagship, with consumption dropping by up to 165W compared to the 14900K, with gaming frame rates roughly even (there’s some give and take, and the Arrow Lake CPU is faster in some games, slower in others).

More gaming comparisons are provided with the Core Ultra 9 285K stacked up against the Ryzen 7950X3D, the current top-end of 3D V-Cache processors from AMD. This is a roughly even battle, but the 7950X3D wins out slightly, although the Arrow Lake flagship certainly comes out on top with the productivity benchmarks.

Elsewhere, @wxnod posts a comparison with the Ryzen 9950X, AMD’s current flagship CPU, which again is a fairly even match with the Arrow Lake flagship across a bunch of games (though the 9950X again edges the victory overall – bear in mind, too, that these are benchmarks Intel has picked out).

ARL-S IPC (vs 13/14th)P Core +9%E Core +32% pic.twitter.com/B0EjnIEWBUOctober 8, 2024

A further post on X, from another regular leaker, HXL, shows a slide for Arrow Lake’s overall IPC gain (Instructions per Clock – in other words, the measure of the performance boost imparted by the change in chip architecture with the next-gen CPUs).

This slide shows that Arrow Lake’s performance cores are 9% faster than Intel’s current processors for IPC, and the efficiency cores get a huge 32% leap.

Yet another slide from @wxnod shares a comparison of productivity benchmarks, alongside 3DMark, and in the latter the Core Ultra 9 285K is 11% faster than the 14900K. It’s also around 5% to 8% quicker than the current flagship in those productivity scores (including Cinebench and Geekbench), with AMD’s 9950X roughly trading blows with the 285K (though the Ryzen CPU is a fair bit slower in 3DMark).

Finally, we’ve also been treated to a Passmark benchmark on X – possibly from an engineering sample of the 285K – that shows the Arrow Lake flagship is 11% faster than the Core i9-14900K for single-core performance (assuming it’s genuine).

(Image credit: ShutterStock) Analysis: A tricky time ahead for Intel?

There’s a lot to digest here, but the real-world gaming benchmarks are a worry – and are already causing controversy across various online forums as you might imagine. For Intel to fail to achieve any performance gain in gaming – and indeed a slight slip compared to the 14900K overall – is a pretty shabby showing.

We’ve got to again state that we can’t jump to any conclusions until we know these slides are genuine, but it’s not a good look for Intel if they are. Particularly as the Core Ultra 9 285K is appreciably slower in a few games in the various battles shown versus the 14900K, and also high-end AMD processors. (Note, too, that some of the benchmarks use Intel’s APO to boost them up, six out of 14 of them in one comparison – and this isn’t a very widely supported tech yet).

So, what’s going on here? Part of why we’re seeing some of these more disappointing results could be wrapped up in the relatively modest IPC gain for Arrow Lake’s performance cores (9%), coupled with slower clock speeds here versus 14th-gen chips (the lack of hyper-threading for Arrow Lake is also a drag factor, but not really for gaming, though).

Given these factors, some of these results are perhaps not surprising – and the trade-off is that Arrow Lake is a good deal more power-efficient than Intel’s current CPUs. But then Intel really had to do better on that front, as the company was heading into a dead-end with the jack-up-the-power path taken by Raptor Lake and its refresh (the latter failed to impress with its gains, too, by and large).

The other positives for Arrow Lake are that productivity gains certainly look robust, and the efficiency cores are definitely being brought more into play (which will help with those games that leverage APO, too). And with Intel taking big strides with efficiency in Lunar Lake – these are some excellent new laptop chips – there’s clear evidence of Team Blue’s new focus on driving lower power consumption across its CPUs.

The downsides for gamers could be a bitter pill to swallow, though – although we’ll have to wait until we perform our own testing before we get carried away here. It’s difficult to see how Arrow Lake is going to fare well against AMD in the realm of PC gaming, though, when the Ryzen 9800X3D could be imminent, bringing a major uplift to the table for Team Red (and offering better all-round general performance away from games, too, if the most recent rumor is right).

This could be a very tricky time for Intel. We’ve yet to see Arrow Lake pricing, of course – the final part of the equation – but Team Blue may have to think of pitching price tags more competitively than it usually might, even given the lackluster reception for new Ryzen 9000 CPUs. Especially when we take into account the cloud currently cast over Intel silicon due to the instability debacle with 14th-gen and 13th-gen processors. (Arrow Lake isn’t affected by those voltage woes, mind, but this whole painful affair is still going to stick very much in the minds of the component buying public, we’re betting).

Via VideoCardz [1, 2], TweakTown

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Uber chose the Science Museum in London to launch the 2024 installment of its annual climate event, Go-Get Zero, which has highlighted the firm’s commitment to electrifying its fleet – including some new ways to tempt you into riding its EVs. 

Alongside affirmation of its autonomous ride-hailing projects, which include Waymo and its recent tie-in with Hyundai, Uber’s CEO Dara Khosrowshahi explained that despite the global slowing of EV adoption, the company’s drivers were adopting electric vehicles five-times faster than the average motorist.

Four years ago, when Uber first set its lofty climate targets and introduced Uber Green, there were just 10,000 EV drivers on the platform. There are now 182,000 globally and there have been more than half a billion zero emissions trips in Europe alone.

However, the company says there is still much work today and sees itself as a key player in mass EV adoption in general, citing that many EV owners had their first interaction with an electric vehicle via an Uber ride.

Uber Green, which is the platform’s section reserved exclusive for drivers of electric and hybrid vehicles, will become electric-only from today in more than 40 markets around the world, including France, Australia and the major cities in the USA.

To entice Uber users to "go green", the company has made a number of changes to its app that both encourage and incentivize both riders and drivers to choose the electric option.

(Image credit: Uber )

1. EV Preference

Uber wants to take the decision-making process out of either plumping for the closer but more emissions-heavy UberX and the slightly further away Uber Green ride – seeing as the two now cost largely the same.

You'll be able to toggle an EV Preference setting that will automatically match with an EV anytime one is nearby.

If the difference between Green and UberX is only a couple of minutes, the app will automatically opt for the EV alternative. However, if the software deems the wait is too long, it will select the closest UberX instead.

2. You could ride in a Lotus or a Rivian

Part-publicity stunt and part-brand tie-in, Uber has announced its EV Pop-ups program, which will see a number of 'premium EVs' scattered across key cities, available at certain times for users to select and costing a similar amount to Uber Black SUV trips.

In London, Uber has partnered with Lotus and app users will be able to select a new Lotus Eletre as their premium EV ride. In LA, Miami and Dallas, that sleek EV of choice will be Rivian’s R1 electric SUV. But it's only available between October 14 and 21, so get in fast.

There is no word on the number of models riding around each city at any given moment, nor is there a figure on the likelihood of snaring one. But that’s all part of the fun, isn't it?

3. Real-time CO2 savings

The Uber app will undergo a number of small design changes that could make selecting the Uber Green option a little bit more exciting. The timeline as you wait for a car to arrive will look like a pice of ivy, complete with bursting shoots, for example, while there are a number of new animations that celebrate the fact a user has chosen the green option.

But more importantly, users will soon be able to see how much CO2 they have saved during and after a journey is complete. This figure adds up over time and will display on the home screen, while CO2 savings made by using Uber's many eBikes, scooters and even ride-sharing programs will all count.

During the GO-GET Zero event, Sachin Kansal, product manager and bonafide Uber driver, announced that the rider in London who clocks up the highest emissions saving from now until the end of November will get free Uber rides for ten years.

4. There will be many more Uber Green cars available

Alongside rewarding Uber riders, the company says it's making it a lot easier for its drivers to make the switch to EV. It has developed an AI assistant within the driver’s area of its app that will answer myriad questions surrounding EV ownership.

If speaking to a robot isn’t good enough, the company will also pair hesitant buyers up with one of its many 'EV Mentors' – or those Uber drivers that have been driving electric for years.

Naturally, there will also be plenty of subsidies and incentives, such as big discounts on the purchase of new EVs, a huge reduction in the cost of using the public charging network, help with installing chargers at home – including 1,000 free home chargers for UK drivers thanks a tie-in with Octopus energy.

5. BYD will be the Uber car of choice in the UK and Europe

The company stated that it is partnering with BYD to help it speed up the number of 'more affordable' electric vehicles it can offers its drivers, and therefore speed up the rate at which Uber Green expands over time.

That said, the company didn’t go into detail about partnership opportunities in the USA, as presumably BYD would be very much off the cards there, seeing as the US government has imposed huge import taxes on Chinese-made EVs and will potentially impose an outright ban on a anything sporting Chinese technology.

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American Water Works Company, the largest public water and wastewater utility company in the United States, has confirmed suffering a cyberattack which forced it to shut down parts of its infrastructure.

In an 8-K form filed with the US Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC), the company said it detected, “unauthorized activity within its computer networks and systems” on October 3 2024.

It determined this activity was a “cybersecurity incident” which triggered its incident response protocols, resulting in the company bringing in third-party cybersecurity experts to investigate, notifying the appropriate law enforcement, and shutting some systems down to contain the damage.

Ransomware or no ransomware

“The Company has taken and will continue to take steps to protect its systems and data, including disconnecting or deactivating certain of its systems,” American Water Works said in the 8-K form, without specifying what was disconnected, or how long it plans to keep the systems offline.

The company noted none of its water or wastewater facilities or operations were negatively impacted by the incident, and that it doesn’t expect the attack to have a material impact, although this may change as the investigation is still ongoing.

Usually, when a company shuts down parts of its network, it’s due to a ransomware attack. However, American Water did not confirm it just yet: “In an effort to protect our customers’ data and to prevent any further harm to our environment, we disconnected or deactivated certain systems,” Ruben Rodriguez, a spokesperson for American Water, said in a statement.

“There will be no late charges for customers while these systems are unavailable,” Rodriguez concluded, without specifying the nature of the attack, adding, “our dedicated team of professionals are working around the clock to investigate the nature and scope of the incident."

American Water provides regulated and market-based drinking water, wastewater services, and related services to residential, commercial, and industrial customers. Its services are essential for millions of Americans, playing a vital role in public health and safety.

Via TechCrunch

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Developer Bethesda Game Studios has teamed up with Laced Records to bring the Starfield soundtrack to vinyl. Pre-orders are upcoming now for both a 6LP box set and a double LP.

Both releases are available in standard and limited editions. The limited edition version of the 6LP box set is exclusive to the Laced Records website. It features 66 specially mastered tracks on six silver and white galaxy-effect heavyweight discs. The set features special box artwork by Bethesda Game Studios and comes packaged with an art print and logo sticker.

The standard edition is the same, though uses traditional black discs and will be available via third-party retailers. The 6-disc box set will cost $130 / £110.

The limited edition double LP will feature 20 core tracks on blue and white discs. It will also be exclusive to the Laced Records website, with a standard version containing traditional black discs available at other retailers. This will cost $38 / £36, potentially making it a good option for those who want a physical way to enjoy some of the Starfield soundtrack without committing to the pricier box set.

Both the 6-disc box set and double LP are expected to ship in March 2025. You can browse the full track list for both releases below.

6LP box set

Disc 1 (Side A)

• Into the Starfield (Main Theme)
• Planetrise
• First Flight
• New Atlantis
• The Sol System
• Go Steady, Go Safe

Disc 1 (Side B)

• Peaks and Valleys
• Triumvirate
• Field of Vision
• Starlight Far from Home
• Exploration I - Home Planets

Disc 2 (Side A)

• The Mountain Builders
• The Red Land
• Ancient Forces
• Constellations
• Navigator Corps

Disc 2 (Side B)

• The Last Explorers
• Within the Walls
• Long Shadows
• A Home Among the Stars
• Exploration II - The Hills and the Mountains

Disc 3 (Side A)

• Death and Crimson
• The Rock
• The New Old Frontier
• The Safety of the Citizens
• Freestar
• Moonbase

Disc 3 (Side B)

• The World Machine
• Deep Time
• Akila City
• Field Agent
• Hardness Scales
• Exploration III - Explorers Club

Disc 4 (Side A)

• Stars and Sacrifice
• Heliosphere
• Core Sample
• Chamber
• Tenacity of Life

Disc 4 (Side B)

• Cydonia
• Wrecked Tech
• In Silent Orbit
• Tectonics
• Snowball
• Exploration IV - Vulcanism

Disc 5 (Side A)

• Weapons to Bear
• Supra et Ultra
• Abandoned
• Decay Heat
• Roughneck High-Tech
• Exploration V - Evergreen

Disc 5 (Side B)

• Sublevels
• The Eye
• Under a Distant Sun
• Echo Marker
• Exploration VI - Strange Sands

Disc 6 (Side A)

• Side A
• Understory
• Badlanders
• Canopy
• Neon
• Exploration VII - The Ice Lands

Disc 6 (Side B)

• Aurora
• Deep Freeze
• You Make Your Cut, You Get Your Cut
• Exploration VIII - The Far Reaches
• Nobody's Home
• A Home in the Galaxy

Double LP

Disc 1 (Side A)

• Into the Starfield (Main Theme)
• First Flight
• The Sol System
• New Atlantis
• The World Machine

Disc 1 (Side B)

• Death and Crimson
• Ancient Forces
• Constellations
• The New Old Frontier
• Starlight Far from Home

Disc 2 (Side A)

• The Last Explorers
• Field of Vision
• Cydonia
• Badlanders
• Aurora

Disc 2 (Side B)

• Decay Heat
• Under a Distant Sun
• Tenacity of Life
• Deep Freeze
• A Home in the Galaxy

Starfield is available now for PC, Xbox Series X, and Xbox Series S.

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It used to be fairly easy to spot AI images - everybody had six fingers and an extra limb or two, but as AI evolves it’s getting harder and harder to spot the difference between real art and AI. Worse still, AI is being trained on artists' work without their permission and without them being compensated.

Creatives aren’t necessarily opposed to AI – many can see the benefits of using AI tools, especially when it comes to automating mundane tasks – but there are real concerns that AI is stealing people’s artwork, learning from it, then regurgitating knock-off copies in an artist’s style. In an effort to protect artists' work, Adobe is launching a new, free, web app designed to protect artists online.

We talked to Andy Parsons, Senior Director and Head of the Adobe Content Authenticity Initiative about its new Content Credentials scheme. “Transparency is the most important foundational concept to provide an objective shared sense of what’s fact, what’s real, who gets credit for things,” said Parsons. “We’ve been working on developing an open source code, open standards that will be ratified by the International Standard Organization. Fingers crossed, that will happen this year or next year.”

Adobe’s answer is to attach Content Credentials to images so that you can see at a glance how they were created and by whom. The way Adobe wants you to think about Content Credentials is like a nutrition label on your groceries, showing you where the food came from. “We think the same is true and very necessary for digital content where we want the judgment about where something came from, whether to trust it or not, whether it is a photograph or not a photograph, to be really in the hands of the consumer”, explained Parsons.

Content Credentials being applied to images in a batch. (Image credit: Adobe) The new CR icon

To show an image has Content Credentials a little CR icon appears over the image and can be clicked on. At the moment the CR icon requires a Google Chrome extension to be visible, but once clicked on you get a whole range of information about the providence of the image. Adobe has high hopes for the widespread adoption of the technology. “We think this could become as ubiquitous as a copyright symbol”, explains Parsons.

When it comes to protecting artists’ work online from being crawled by AI bots and used to train AI models, Adobe thinks its solution can come to the rescue there as well. You can indicate in Content Credentials if you don’t want your artwork to be used in training AI models. Obviously that’s going to depend on how scrupulous the AI companies are and if they respect the wishes of the content creators, but Adobe has got many of the big names to sign up to its plan.

“We are working hard to get this adopted by the biggest names in AI. We’re not necessarily seeing any resistance, but there is a sense that some will wait for legislation. Others will go ahead and say ‘Yeah, you know this is a reasonable thing that creators want and we’d like to provide it’. So, I think we’ll see broad adoption and it will take us some time but we are working with [...] specific folks like Spawning, the world's largest opt-out registry. Whenever spawning encounters this setting, when people opt-out, it will add that to its registry. So we’re excited about that. We know some social media sites don’t show content credentials in a visible way yet so we’re bridging that gap with our extension for Chrome.”

The Adobe-led Content Authenticity Initiative has 3,700 members including Microsoft, Amazon, Google, NVIDIA, OpenAI, and more who are putting Content Credentials to work in their products. Notably the list includes about 90% of the cameras market, including Sony, Leica, and Fuji, with several cameras coming to market this year that have Content Credentials built into the device. Social media apps like Facebook, Instagram, Threads, TikTok, LinkedIn, and YouTube will also be embracing its Content Credentials.

The Chrome extension for viewing Content Credentials. (Image credit: Adobe) Coming in beta

Adobe’s solution is open source and works independently of its Creative Suite applications, so it can be applied to any image, for free. From today you’ll be able to sign up to be notified when the beta is available. We expect it to go live between December and February. Access to a free beta version of the Content Authority extension for Google Chrome is available today.

With Content Authenticity you can apply Content Credentials in batch to your images, audio, and video, and once it’s been added, it can’t be removed. Parsons describes it as “durable”. We did wonder if there would be an arms race between people like Adobe working to add Content Credentials and hackers trying to remove them, “This is always a concern, but this is a very strong countermeasure against copyright theft and the ability to be recognized through your work”, he replied.

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