Obi-Wan Kenobi shifts premiere date, will air first two episodes at once

Star Ewan McGregor makes announcement via video posted to Twitter, YouTube.

Incoming transmission from Obi-Wan Kenobi... Actor Ewan McGregor has some important news.

Disney+ originally picked an auspicious date for the premiere of its new Star Wars series, Obi-Wan Kenobi: Wednesday, May 25, the same date that Star Wars Episode IV: A New Hope was released in 1977 (back when it was known simply as Star Wars). That film celebrates its 45th anniversary this year. But the streaming platform announced today—via a video featuring star Ewan McGregor—that it is shifting that premiere date to Friday, May 27, right before Memorial Day weekend.

We might have to wait a couple of extra days, but at least Disney+ will simultaneously release the first two episodes. As Deadline Hollywood pointed out, May 27 is also the premiere date for the fourth season of Stranger Things (Part 1), so our holiday weekend viewing is pretty much sorted.

We first learned in August 2019 that the rumors were true about a Star Wars spinoff series featuring Obi-Wan Kenobi. That's also when we learned that Ewan McGregor, who played Obi-Wan in the Star Wars prequels, would reprise the role. The actor made a surprise appearance at the tail end of a showcase presentation at D23 Expo 2019, Disney's annual fan extravaganza. Then came the big news that his co-star Hayden Christensen would return as Anakin Skywalker/Darth Vader. Lucasfilm President Kathleen Kennedy called it "the rematch of the century" at the December 2020 Disney Investors Day.

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Samsung introduces a self-repair program for select phones and tablets

Repairing a cracked screen, broken charging port, or other components of a smartphone or tablet can be an expensive, time-consuming, and generally inconvenient proposition, especially if it means going without a phone while you wait for somebody else to perform the repairs. While some folks are comfortable performing their own repairs at home, finding genuine […]

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Repairing a cracked screen, broken charging port, or other components of a smartphone or tablet can be an expensive, time-consuming, and generally inconvenient proposition, especially if it means going without a phone while you wait for somebody else to perform the repairs.

While some folks are comfortable performing their own repairs at home, finding genuine parts and helpful guides can also be a pain. But this summer Samsung will make things a bit easier… for owners of some recent high-end Samsung phones and tablets.

Samsung Galaxy S21

The company is launching a new Self-Repair Program that will allow you to get:

  • replacement parts
  • repair tools
  • step-by-step visual repair guides

Samsung says it’s partnered with iFixit for the program, which will be be available for Samsung Galaxy S20 and S21 series smartphones and Galaxy Tab S7+ tablets starting this summer.

At launch, you’ll be able to get self-repair parts and guides for displays, glass back panels, and charging ports. But eventually Samsung plans to roll out support for additional devices and parts.

There’s no word yet on how much replacement parts will cost, but since Samsung appears to be focused initially on flagship products, I wouldn’t necessarily expect them to be cheap. At least you won’t have to pay for labor though.

As part of the program, Samsung will also provide users with resources to return broken parts to the company for “responsible recycling.”

 

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Dell’s new business laptops cram Intel Alder lake into compact designs

Dell is refreshing its business laptop lineup with several new Latitude notebooks and Precision mobile workstations that the company calls the “world’s smallest” in their class. While that’s probably up for debate, there’s no question that the new Dell Latitude 9430, Latitude 7330 Ultralight, and Precision 5470 pack a lot of horsepower into compact bodies. Dell Latitude 9430 […]

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Dell is refreshing its business laptop lineup with several new Latitude notebooks and Precision mobile workstations that the company calls the “world’s smallest” in their class.

While that’s probably up for debate, there’s no question that the new Dell Latitude 9430Latitude 7330 Ultralight, and Precision 5470 pack a lot of horsepower into compact bodies.

Dell Latitude 9430

This 13 inch notebook has a 16:10 screen with 1920 x 1200 and 2560 x 1600 pixel display panel options, optional support for 4G LTE or 5G modems, an FHD IR webcam, up to 32GB of RAM, 1TB of solid state storage, and up to a 12th-gen Intel Core i7 vPro U-series 15-watt processor.

All of that’s packed into a computer that measures 12.2″ x 8.5″ x 0.3″ (at its thinnest point), and which has a starting weight of 2.8 pounds. There’s also a 2-in-1 convertible model with a 360 degree hinge and a 3.2 pound starting weight.

Despite the slim bezels around the display, Dell found the space for a full HD IR camera with support for face recognition. There’s also optional support for a fingerprint reader.

The laptop also has a decent set of ports including two Thunderbolt 4 ports and full-sized ports including HDMI 2.0, USB 3.2 Type-A, and a headset jack.

The Dell Latitude 9430 will be available in April for $2245 and up.

Dell Latitude 7330 Ultralight

Coming in April for $1899 and up, this 2.13 pound notebook sports a 13.3 inch, 1920 x 1080 pixel display, support for up to a 12th-gen Intel Core i7 U-series 15-watt processor, 32GB of RAM, and Dell will offer configurations with up to 1TB of solid state storage.

Measuring 12.1″ x 7.9″ x 0.7″, the laptop has room for full-sized ports including an HDMI 2.0 port, and a USB 3.2 Type-A port as well as two Thunderbolt 4 ports and a headset jack.

One area where this laptop probably won’t shine? Battery life, at least if you want the lightest possible version, as the starting weight is for a model with a 41 Wh battery, although Dell also offers a slightly heavier version with a 58 Wh battery.

Wireless capabilities include WiFi 6E, Bluetooth 5.2, and optional support for 4G LTE.

Dell Precision 5470

Unlike the new thin and light Latitude laptops mentioned above, which have 15-watt U-series processors, the Dell Precision 5470 is positioned as a mobile workstation-class computer and it has the hardware to match, including support for up to an Intel Core i9-12900HK vPro 45-watt Alder Lake-H processor and NVIDIA RTX A1000 discrete graphics.

But it’s still a surprisingly compact notebook: the Precision 5470 measures just 12.2″ x 8.3″ x 0.7″ and has a starting weight of less than 3.3 pounds for a model with a 72 Wh battery.

Dell will offer 14 inch, 1920 x 1200 pixel and 2560 x 1600 pixel display options, up to 64GB of LPDDR5-5200 memory, and up to 1TB of solid state storage.

One more area where this laptop differs from the Latitude series is ports: it has four full-function Thunderbolt 4 ports and a 3.5mm audio jack, but no distinct USB-A or HDMI ports.

The Dell Precision 5470 will be available in April, with pricing to be announced closer to launch.

Dell is also launching a bunch of other new laptops in April, including additional members of the Latitude 3000, 5000, and 7000 families and new Precision 55700 and 5770 models with larger screens. You can find more details in Dell’s press release.

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Researchers used a decommissioned satellite to broadcast hacker TV

What happens when an old satellite is no longer in use but can still broadcast?

Researchers used a decommissioned satellite to broadcast hacker TV

Enlarge (credit: Darryl Fonseka | Getty Images)

Independent researchers and the United States military have become increasingly focused on orbiting satellites' potential security vulnerabilities in recent years. These devices, which are built primarily with durability, reliability, and longevity in mind, were largely never intended to be ultra-secure. But at the ShmooCon security conference in Washington, DC, on Friday, embedded device security researcher Karl Koscher raised questions about a different phase of a satellite's life cycle: What happens when an old satellite is being decommissioned and transitioning to a “graveyard orbit”?

Koscher and his colleagues received permission last year to access and broadcast from a Canadian satellite known as Anik F1R, launched to support Canadian broadcasters in 2005 and designed for 15 years of use. The satellite's coverage extends below the US southern border and out to Hawaii and the easternmost part of Russia. The satellite will move to its graveyard orbit soon, and nearly all other services that use it have already migrated to a new satellite. But while the researchers could still talk to the satellite using special access to an uplink license and transponder slot lease, Koscher had the opportunity to take over and broadcast to the Northern Hemisphere.

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Meta can’t buy TikTok, so it hired GOP operatives to run a smear campaign

Consultants placed op-eds, pushed local news to run stories maligning TikTok.

Meta can’t buy TikTok, so it hired GOP operatives to run a smear campaign

Enlarge (credit: Jakub Porzycki/NurPhoto)

If you can’t beat ’em, smear ’em.

That appears to be Facebook’s approach when it comes to countering the threat from TikTok, according to a new report in The Washington Post. Meta, Facebook’s parent company, has hired Targeted Victory, a large Republican consulting firm, to place stories in op-eds in local newspapers and on local TV newscasts around the US, according to the report.

TikTok poses perhaps the most existential challenge to Meta and Facebook yet. The video-based social media platform has gained users at a swift pace, and it’s especially popular among younger users, a demographic that Facebook and Meta’s other platforms have struggled with in recent years.

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Anzeige: Netzwerktechnolgien und -konzepte berherrschen

Einen umfassenden Überblick über Netzwerktechnologien und -konzepte für alle Admins und IT-Sicherheitsbeauftragten bietet der Fünf-Tage-Workshop der Golem Akademie. (Golem Akademie, WLAN)

Einen umfassenden Überblick über Netzwerktechnologien und -konzepte für alle Admins und IT-Sicherheitsbeauftragten bietet der Fünf-Tage-Workshop der Golem Akademie. (Golem Akademie, WLAN)

DIY: Bastler baut Game-Boy-Hackintosh

Das von einem Bastler gebaute Handheld läuft mit MacOS und ist für Game-Boy-Spiele gedacht. Es lässt sich aber auch als Desktop-Rechner verwenden. (Hackintosh, Mac OS X)

Das von einem Bastler gebaute Handheld läuft mit MacOS und ist für Game-Boy-Spiele gedacht. Es lässt sich aber auch als Desktop-Rechner verwenden. (Hackintosh, Mac OS X)

Oneplus 10 Pro im Test: Oneplus peppt das 9 Pro auf

Beim Oneplus 10 Pro liegt der Fokus stark auf der Kamera und dem neuen Design – es gibt aber auch Gemeinsamkeiten mit dem Vorgängermodell. Ein Test von Tobias Költzsch (Oneplus, Smartphone)

Beim Oneplus 10 Pro liegt der Fokus stark auf der Kamera und dem neuen Design - es gibt aber auch Gemeinsamkeiten mit dem Vorgängermodell. Ein Test von Tobias Költzsch (Oneplus, Smartphone)