Month: September 2024

Enlarge / iPads running iPadOS 18. (credit: Apple)

Apple has temporarily paused the rollout of the iPadOS 18 update for M4 iPad Pros. The company has stopped signing the update for these iPads, meaning it will no longer be offered to users when they check, and Apple's servers won't activate the update if it's installed some other way.

Apple confirmed to Ars that it had "temporarily removed" the update in order to "resolve an issue that is impacting a small number of devices."

The update has supposedly been "bricking" devices for some M4 iPad Pro users; anecdotal reports from Reddit and MacRumors forum users suggest that some users have installed the update without issue, and others have ended up with unresponsive devices. Apple is apparently offering hardware replacements to users who have been affected, which points to a pretty serious bug—usually devices can be put into recovery (or DFU) mode as a last resort in the event of a botched software update.

Enlarge (credit: Getty Images | Ronald Martinez)

AT&T agreed to pay a $13 million fine because it gave customer bill information to a vendor in order to create personalized videos, then allegedly failed to ensure that the vendor destroyed the data when it was no longer needed. In addition to the fine, AT&T agreed to stricter controls on sharing data with vendors in a consent decree announced today by the Federal Communications Commission.

In January 2023, years after the data was supposed to be destroyed, the vendor suffered a breach "when threat actors accessed the vendor's cloud environment and ultimately exfiltrated AT&T customer information," the FCC said. Information related to 8.9 million AT&T wireless customers was exposed.

Phone companies are required by law to protect customer information, and AT&T should not have merely relied on third-party firms' assurances that they destroyed data when it was no longer needed, the FCC said.

Enlarge / Theory 1 is Lotus' vision for the future of its cars. (credit: Lotus)

Earlier today, Lotus Cars revealed its idea of an "intelligent performance vehicle." The wedge-shaped concept, called Theory 1, is meant to be Lotus' new design manifesto for all its future cars and combines some eye-popping technical specs along with an adaptive driving experience that uses haptics and binaural sound to enhance driver feedback.

"With Theory 1, we’ve built on everything Lotus has achieved so far in its 76-year history, to push the boundaries for what it means to drive a performance vehicle. We want to demonstrate that you don’t need to compromise—with both digital and analog capabilities working harmoniously in the future car. In doing this, we are able to bring drivers the best possible immersive driving experience with raw emotion, functionality and connectivity, at the core," said Ben Payne, vice president of design at Lotus Group.

In profile, the Theory 1 has more than a little resemblance to the Lamborghini Huracan, although that impression starts to fade as you see the car from other angles. The doors are something entirely new. Forget butterflies, dihedrals, or even gull wings; here, they open in reverse, allowing the occupants to step right into the car. The new design also allows the doors to open even in the tightest of parking spaces.