Android-Verbreitung: 100 Prozent aller Android-Geräte sind veraltet

Seit knapp einem Monat gibt es mit Oreo eine neue Android-Hauptversion, die aber nur für vereinzelte Geräte zur Verfügung steht. Wie so oft nach dem Erscheinen neuer Android-Hauptversionen dauert es auch bei Oreo noch, bis es eine nennenswerte Verbreitung erfährt. (Android, Google)

Seit knapp einem Monat gibt es mit Oreo eine neue Android-Hauptversion, die aber nur für vereinzelte Geräte zur Verfügung steht. Wie so oft nach dem Erscheinen neuer Android-Hauptversionen dauert es auch bei Oreo noch, bis es eine nennenswerte Verbreitung erfährt. (Android, Google)

Chelsea Manning, newly-freed from military prison, speaks in San Francisco

“I didn’t sign up to be a role model, I’m just a street kid and a coder.”

Enlarge / Chelsea Manning (right), spoke on September 12 at the Noisebridge hackerspace in San Francisco with the organization's co-founder, Mitch Altman (left). (credit: Cyrus Farivar)

SAN FRANCISCO—Speaking at the Noisebridge hackerspace Tuesday evening, Chelsea Manning implored a crowd of makers, nerds, and developers to be ethical coders.

"As a coder, I know that you can build a system and it works, but you’re thinking about the immediate result, you’re not thinking about that this particular code could be misused, or it could be used in a different manner," she said, as part of a conversation with Noisebridge co-founder Mitch Altman.

Altman began the conversation by asking about artificial intelligence, and underscoring some of the risks in that field.

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A look inside the new Steve Jobs Theater at Apple’s spaceship campus

The theater is exactly as Jobs would’ve wanted it—a striking work of design.

Enlarge / If you don't want to take the elevator, two identical stairwells are positioned symmetrically in the space.

Today's iPhone X unveiling event was held in the new Steve Jobs Theater at Apple's new Cupertino campus. It is a very Apple space that fits its namesake perfectly.

While the interior of the theater itself is not strikingly innovative from a design, architectural, or functional standpoint, the waiting area above it is a unique space. Journalists and Apple employees were asked to wait in this circular room before descending into the theater.

As with many of Apple's designs, it manages somehow to be both minimalist and bombastic. Its pretenses may turn off Apple's detractors while pleasing its fans. Ars took a handful of photos showing a space that is, for lack of a better term, peak Apple.

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Apple Watch Series 3 hands-on: LTE could be the watershed moment

The Apple Watch Series 3 is similar to the Series 2, but it works sans phone.

Enlarge / The new Apple Watch looks the same as its predecessor; the new internals are what counts.

The Apple Watch Series 3 looks, acts, and feels almost exactly the same as the Series 2 with a key difference—LTE wireless connectivity, whether your iPhone is nearby or not. We tested the Series 3 on-site at Apple’s unveiling event, including trying just a few of the new features.

If you liked the previous model, you’ll like the Series 3. If you didn’t, there’s not much different besides LTE. But maybe LTE is what’s been holding you back—it is for a lot of people. So let’s get into it.

How LTE works on the watch

The Series 3 watch still uses your iPhone’s connection when the phone is nearby, but as soon as you move away from the phone, the Series 3 LTE seamlessly kicks in. We weren’t able to test this at the event; all the Watches on display were flying solo, sans phones.

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Hands on with the iPhone X: OLED and HDR outshine everything else

The iPhone X is about the screen and face scanning. The former is the stand-out.

Enlarge / The iPhone X’s screen fully covers the front of the device — almost. (credit: Samuel Axon)

Apple’s iPhone X has the best phone display I have yet seen, and it strikes the perfect balance between phone size and display size—at least for me. When I handled the device at the Apple event at the Steve Jobs Theater in Cupertino today, I was convinced by that display alone.

But the iPhone X is just as much about its new facial recognition technology as it is about the display. It was here that I had more nuanced, or even mixed, feelings while using the device. Once again, the way you interface with your phone has changed—and, at best, it’s roughly as efficient to use as it used to be with some adjustment. At worst, it’s a little less elegant.

But, as Apple always does, let’s start with the design.

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Face ID on the iPhone X is probably going to suck

Awkward ergonomics means Face ID will never be faster than a fingerprint sensor.

Enlarge / This right here. This gesture. Doing this 80 times a day sucks. (credit: Apple)

The all-new iPhone X is out, and it's packed with technology. But one thing it's not packed with is a fingerprint sensor. Like many phones in 2017, the iPhone X goes for a nearly all-screen design, which means there's no more room for a front Touch ID sensor. Rather than locate a fingerprint sensor on the back, like many phones have done, Apple chose to do away with Touch ID entirely. Instead, the X is relying only on the new "Face ID" facial recognition feature for biometric security.

Face ID on the iPhone X uses a "TrueDepth" camera setup, which blasts your face with more than 30,000 infrared dots and scans your face in 3D. Apple says this can "recognize you in an instant" and log you into your phone.

None of that matters. Face ID is still going to suck.

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Apple’s new phones are playing catch up, but that’s a good thing

Apple’s phones have a reputation for featuring some of the fastest mobile processors around, some of the best smartphone cameras, and sturdy construction. The original iPhone was also the first major smartphone to feature a finger-friendly capacitive touchscreen that changed the way we interact with phones. But for the past few years, Apple’s been playing […]

Apple’s new phones are playing catch up, but that’s a good thing is a post from: Liliputing

Apple’s phones have a reputation for featuring some of the fastest mobile processors around, some of the best smartphone cameras, and sturdy construction. The original iPhone was also the first major smartphone to feature a finger-friendly capacitive touchscreen that changed the way we interact with phones. But for the past few years, Apple’s been playing […]

Apple’s new phones are playing catch up, but that’s a good thing is a post from: Liliputing

Lucasfilm delays release of Star Wars Episode IX after director change

The announcement comes hours after naming J.J. Abrams the film’s new director.

Enlarge (credit: Lucasfilm)

Lucasfilm has announced a new release date for Star Wars: Episode IX. Previously scheduled to come out in May 2019, the film will now release on December 20, 2019, just in time for Christmas.

The announcement isn't a surprise. It comes a week after Lucasfilm fired Colin Trevorrow as director and hours after Lucasfilm announced that he will be replaced by JJ Abrams, director of the 2015 film Star Wars: Episode VII—The Force Awakens.

There have also been rumors this year that the film needed to be re-written. One reason for that was the death of Carrie Fisher, who played Princess and then General Leia, last December. She was slated to play a significant role in Episode IX, and she may still appear in the film using pre-shot footage. But her character will obviously play a less significant role as a result of her death.

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Windows 0-day is exploited to install creepy Finspy malware (again)

Microsoft patches flaw after researchers report it was used by undisclosed country.

Enlarge / The WSDL parser, where the zero-day was located. (credit: FireEye)

On Tuesday, Microsoft patched a previously unknown vulnerability that researchers say was actively exploited by an undisclosed nation to install surveillance malware on one or more vulnerable computers.

The exploit, according to a blog post published Tuesday by security firm FireEye, was embedded in a Microsoft Word document. Once opened, the document exploited a zero-day vulnerability in Microsoft's .Net framework. The exploit caused the targeted computer to install Finspy (sometimes "FinSpy"), a family of surveillance software that its controversial developer, UK-based Gamma Group, sells to governments throughout the world. Tuesday's blog post said the document might have been used to infect an unnamed "Russian speaker." The vulnerability, indexed as CVE-2017-8759, comes five months after FireEye disclosed a different zero-day being used to distribute Finspy.

"These exposures demonstrate the significant resources available to 'lawful intercept' companies and their customers," FireEye researchers wrote. "Furthermore, Finspy has been sold to multiple clients, suggesting the vulnerability was being used against other targets."

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Trailer for Downsizing is weird, smart, and totally unexpected

Humans develop the technology to shrink themselves, with satirical economic consequences.

Here's the first trailer for Downsizing, directed by indie mastermind Alexander Payne (Election, The Descendants).

I love burning apocalypses as much as the next person, but sometimes the explodey blockbuster formula makes you forget how mind-bending and screwed up science fiction can really be. That's why Alexander Payne's new flick Downsizing, about people trying to save money by shrinking themselves, is a welcome respite from the usual.

Payne has won Oscars twice for his screenplays—first for Sideways and then The Descendants—and Downsizing will be his first foray into science fiction. His movies have always been oddball stories tinged with a bit of the surreal, usually focusing on regular guys who get in way over their heads in outlandish situations.

That's definitely the pattern in Downsizing, in which Matt Damon puts on his best friendly dork persona as Paul (it fits him nicely). He's married to Audrey (Kirsten Wiig), and they both appear to be struggling with the stress of their jobs and making ends meet. That's when they find out about a bizarre new technology, developed by scientists in Norway, that can permanently shrink people down to the size of Barbie dolls. The idea is to live more sustainably on the planet, but it also turns out that everything is cheaper when you shrink. In the trailer, we see Paul and Audrey meeting with some kind of financial adviser, who explains that their savings will be worth millions in the downsized community.

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