Yeah, I’m fine? Why are you asking? So, the AirPods Max battery. One of the biggest discussion points around Apple’s upcoming over-ear headphones is price. They’re selling for $550, which is roughly $250 more than many comparable headphones, like the Bose QuietComfort 35 II ($270), the Sony WH-1000XM4 ($280), or the Sennheiser Momentum 3 ($350). There have been some interesting takes on why the AirPods Max will cost this much, but I’m more intrigued about the value you get from spending so much on gear....

YouTube channel Front Page Tech has purportedly gotten a hold of an unreleased render of the Pixel 5 XL. The YouTuber says he has corroborated the authenticity of the image with at least two sources, one of whom he considers “extremely trustworthy.” Here’s what it looks like: [Read: Hey Google, why the hell doesn’t the Pixel 4’s camera app have a pro mode?] According to Front Page Tech, this is one of three Pixel prototypes Google is working on, so there’s a chance the design will never see the light of day....

In a previous draft of a paper on AI, the European Commission had proposed introducing a five-year moratorium on the technology. But in a new draft seen by the Financial Times, that suggestion has been dropped. “The early draft floated the idea of a full ban, which is very popular among civil rights campaigners worried about abuse,” a person with direct knowledge of the discussions told the FT. “But the security community is against the ban because they think it’s a good tool....

By: Colin Lecher and Leon Yin Even as rioters were storming the United States Capitol one year ago, the seeds of two different narratives of Jan. 6 were already forming on social media. In one, seen by Facebook users who voted for Joe Biden and covered by mainstream news outlets like The New York Times, a mob spurred by President Trump was incensed at what they falsely believed to be a stolen election, striking at the heart of the nation in a failed insurrection....

What’s great I got the top-end 12GB RAM/256GB storage option to try out in Aquamarine Green. In the US, it’ll set you back by $749 (Rs. 54,940). It’s a fair bit cheaper in India at just Rs. 45,999 ($627), where it’s cheaper than a bunch of other handsets that feature the powerful Snapdragon 865 chip, like the Oppo Find X2 and the Xiaomi Mi 10 5G. The 8T snags you a lot for your money, including a fantastic 120Hz display that’s plenty bright and vivid, top-of-the-line internals for snappy performance, and a versatile and capable camera system....

In OnePlus’ own words: I mean, I get it’s supposed to be an inspirational ad, but the curving gaps between screens don’t really look like they’d be much fun for playing. Not to mention I’d bet that backing track was definitely not recorded on the OnePlus piano. Those screens aren’t pressure-sensitive, so there would be none of those lovely dynamics. But hey, it’s pretty sweet to see people gathering around this weird musical contraption, and I suppose it isn’t every day you see a digital piano with 136 to 204 gigs of RAM and 4,352 gigs of storage....

By now, we know quite a few details about the company’s upcoming mid-range phone. Last month, the Chinese smartphone maker confirmed that the phone will be available only in India and Europe. [Read: Everything we know about the OnePlus Nord] OnePlus has also revealed some of the specifications of the phone, such as dual front cameras — 32-megapixel and 8-megapixel — and Qualcomm Snapdragon 765G processor. You can read all we know about the device here....

The company posted a short teaser video on its India and UK Twitter accounts showing some kind of odd contraption that’s to be announced on March 3. It’s definitely not a phone: — OnePlus India (@OnePlus_IN) February 28, 2020 Then founder and CEO Pete Lau posted a couple of cryptic hints. The announcement has something to do with ‘snow’ and 5G. — Pete Lau (@PeteLau) March 2, 2020 In the teaser video post, OnePlus embedded an apparently related tweet from mid-February that stated the company is working on a ‘special project’ that is neither a phone nor a ‘commercial product....

According to security firm Comparitech, the software giant left an Elasticsearch server unsecured that was accessible on the web without any password or authentication required. The leak, which was discovered on October 19, was plugged by Adobe immediately after it was alerted of its existence. “Late last week, Adobe became aware of a vulnerability related to work on one of our prototype environments. We promptly shut down the misconfigured environment, addressing the vulnerability,” the company said....

According to cybersecurity company vpnMentor, the database was brought to its attention via Helen Foster, a partner at Davis Wright Tremain, who shared the findings exclusively with TNW. PayMyTab — an at-table payment system — is a mobile app and device that enables diners to settle their checks using their secure EMV chip-enabled credit card. It also enables guests to split the bill and pay it, tip included, directly from their own phones....

Today, Oppo’s sub-brand, Realme, said it’s launching a new line of phones called Narzo in India. While the company hasn’t given out details about what you should expect from this new line of phones, 91mobiles noted that this is the company’s ploy to take on Xiaomi sub-brand spin-offs such as Redmi and Poco. It’s likely that the company will launch sub-$250 phones to compete in the budget segment — because that’s where the meat’s at in the Indian smartphone market....

So when I find one I can get behind, I make an effort to find out more. Give me a hackathon that works on real-world problems and offers great benefits to participants. Even better, if it’s participants are actually industry professionals. Ordnance Survey (OS) is the national mapping agency for Great Britain. They recently hosted a two-day OS Map and Hack event in Southampton, UK, to work on ways to enhance EV infrastructure....

Welcome to the latest edition of Pardon The Intrusion, TNW’s bi-weekly newsletter in which we explore the wild world of security. Bitcoin scammers struck gold on Wednesday by hijacking several high-profile verified Twitter accounts in what’s easily the most catastrophic security breach to hit the platform. Among the hacked accounts were President Barack Obama, Joe Biden, Elon Musk, Jeff Bezos, Bill Gates, corporate handles of Apple and Uber corporate accounts, and a number of popular crypto exchanges....

The odds are that you’ve never plunked a shot into the waters of the Swilcan Burn while playing the historic and world-famous St. Andrew’s Links in Scotland. Or that you’ve braved the uphill climbs and treacherous elevated greens of the stunning Spyglass course in Pebble Beach, Calif. But as a golfer, wouldn’t it be cool to really feel like you’ve tackled the world’s most famous (or infamous) courses? And wouldn’t it be even better if the experience didn’t cost you the thousands it would take to reach, then play those courses reserved only for the rich and famous?...

This news comes from cybersecurity research firm Checkpoint, which published a blog post exposing the flaw. When this was originally pointed out several years ago, companies found a way to stop what was at the time a bulb-hopping attack. Checkpoint says that, while this fix was deployed at the time, the basic vulnerability in the Hue bulb is still there, and can still be used for mischief. [Read: You’re going to want this latest version of Firefox, trust us] To make this work, a hacker would have to take control of one bulb, then fiddle with its color and brightness enough to make the owner think something was wrong with it....

Painters paint. Sculptors sculpt. But graphic artists? In the business of design, most of those digital wizards don’t have the luxury of specializing. They need to have a thorough understanding of all the tools at their disposal to handle any project that might come their way. With the package of training in The Complete 2020 Learn to Design Certification Bundle ($39, over 90 percent off from TNW Deals), a designer will have a full understanding of all the most popular software and graphic approaches to make any project come to life....

The chipmaker said that QC 5 will be available on devices with Snapdragon 865, Snapdragon 865+, and future high-end chipsets. The standard will support chargers with a power rating of more than 100W. [Read: Graphic novels are the ideal medium to get through these troubled times] Xiaomi has already committed to launching devices with QC 5. Zhang Lei, Mi Phone vice president and hardware R&D general manager at the company, said more Xioami users will be able to enjoy high-speed charging experiences with Qualcomm’s new tech: The company says this new solution is up to 4 times faster and 10 degrees cooler than the previous generation....

But still, tech advances often cost us something too. Like the visceral, tactile joy of creating and preserving an actual physical photograph. If you were a kid of the 70s and 80s, the Polaroid instant camera undoubtedly holds a place in your heart. Now, you can revisit that magic — or experience it for the first time — with this retro-cool Polaroid OneStep 2 Camera and Photobox storage for $20 off, just $99....

More troubling, just 148 dapps launched in Q3 of this year. That’s less than the monthly average of the first half of 2019 (when 164 new ones were deployed every month). Still, over half of those transactions were related to cryptocurrency gambling, reports dapp explorer Dapp.com with its latest quarterly analysis. The one shining light, however, is the rising popularity of decentralized finance (DeFi) dapps — particularly those that run on Ethereum....

Stitcher said that while people are publishing more podcasts, the average episode length is now 2.4 minutes shorter, as compared to an average episode in 2013. The report has some interesting tidbits about genres (true crime being the #1), formats, listening habits, and age group of listeners. I wish the study covered the topic of podfasters — people who listen to podcasts at more than 1x speed.This allows them to cover more episodes and show in a short amount of time....