Month: September 2020

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  A visualization shows how the expansion storage-card slots into the back of the Xbox Series X. [credit: Microsoft / Eurogamer ]

Back in March, we warned you that the proprietary NVMe storage expansions used in the Xbox Series X (and now the Xbox Series S) could be quite a bit pricier than more traditional storage options. Today, we got apparent confirmation of that fact as Microsoft and Best Buy have listed Seagate's "Game Drive for Xbox Series X and Series S" as a $220 pre-order ahead of its launch Nov. 10.

For comparison, Seagate's own 1TB external USB 3.0 hard drives are listed on Best Buy for just $57.49. A 1TB external solid state drive from Seagate will run you $160, still 27-percent cheaper than the NVMe Game Drive.

The Seagate Game Drive is cheaper than a comparable microSD card, though; Best Buy is asking $299 for a 1TB SanDisk card compatible with the likes of the Nintendo Switch.

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  A visualization shows how the expansion storage-card slots into the back of the Xbox Series X. [credit: Microsoft / Eurogamer ]

Back in March, we warned you that the proprietary NVMe storage expansions used in the Xbox Series X (and now the Xbox Series S) could be quite a bit pricier than more traditional storage options. Today, we got apparent confirmation of that fact as Microsoft and Best Buy have listed Seagate's "Game Drive for Xbox Series X and Series S" as a $220 pre-order ahead of its launch Nov. 10.

For comparison, Seagate's own 1TB external USB 3.0 hard drives are listed on Best Buy for just $57.49. A 1TB external solid state drive from Seagate will run you $160, still 27-percent cheaper than the NVMe Game Drive.

The Seagate Game Drive is cheaper than a comparable microSD card, though; Best Buy is asking $299 for a 1TB SanDisk card compatible with the likes of the Nintendo Switch.

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  Tap the layer menu in the top right and press "COVID-19 info." [credit: Google ]

Google Maps is getting a COVID-19 overlay, meaning soon you'll be able to see pandemic data as easily as you can view satellite or traffic data.

Once the rollout hits your device, you'll be able to press the "layer" button and switch to a "COVID-19" view that will re-color the map. Google says the overlay is a "seven-day average of new COVID cases per 100,000 people for the area of the map you’re looking at." Users will also get an arrow indicating if the numbers are trending up or down. Here's the color code:

• Gray: Less than 1 case
• Yellow: 1-10 cases
• Orange: 10-20 cases
• Dark orange: 20-30 cases
• Red: 30-40 cases
• Dark red: 40+ cases

Google says the information comes from "multiple authoritative sources, including Johns Hopkins, the New York Times, and Wikipedia." I wouldn't quite call Wikipedia an "authoritative source," but Google notes that "these sources get data from public health organizations like the World Health Organization, government health ministries, along with state and local health agencies and hospitals."

Enlarge / A bloody pig mask allegedly mailed to cyberstalking victims by then-eBay employees. (credit: FBI)

Four former eBay employees are expected to plead guilty to charges that they led a cyberstalking campaign against an online newsletter's editor and publisher. In June, federal officials announced charges and said the harassment campaign "included sending the couple anonymous, threatening messages, disturbing deliveries—including a box of live cockroaches, a funeral wreath, and a bloody pig [Halloween] mask—and conducting covert surveillance of the victims."

The four people who are scheduled to plead guilty are Stephanie Popp, eBay's former senior manager of global intelligence; Stephanie Stockwell, former manager of eBay's Global Intelligence Center (GIC); Veronica Zea, a former eBay contractor who worked as an intelligence analyst in the GIC; and Brian Gilbert, a former senior manager of special operations for eBay's Global Security Team.

A hearing for a "waiver of indictment and plea to information" is scheduled for October 8, according to an entry in the court docket yesterday. The upcoming guilty pleas were also announced on Twitter by the US Attorney's office in Massachusetts. The case is in US District Court for the District of Massachusetts.