On today's TechLinked, we differentiate ourselves from Nintendo by not killing what you love
and instead giving you more of it. RIP eShop
Apple's highest ranking executives were given a sneak peek of the company's new headset
last week according to Apple's soothsayer Mark Gurmostradamus.
This group, called the Top 100, have been attending similar events for the headset every
year since 2018. They called these events Fight Club Demos, which is a reference to the discrete nature
of the meeting and somehow doesn't involve a group that literally calls themselves the
Top 100 battling for Tim Cook's amusement.
The Gurm mentioned that many at Apple are questioning the headset's design, saying the
device will cost upwards of $3,000, will have no killer app, and was uncomfortable for some
testers to wear, among other complaints. Gurman suggests the company expects an Apple Watch-like outcome, where a product is niche
at launch, but in a few years becomes the one piece of tech your mom can reliably use.
Maybe this hope is why Tim Cook is pushing ahead to launch the headset this year despite
concerns from the product's own designers.
What do they know anyway? They couldn't even fight their way into the Top 100.
The French government, also known as Le Government French, has decided to officially ban fun for
all its employees by not allowing them to have recreational apps on government devices.
And what is surely the biggest thing to happen in the country right now?
Apps like Netflix, Instagram, and Twitter are banned from phones issued to government
employees. And since France couldn't stop at banning TikTok like every other country and call it
a day, Candy Crush is also not allowed.
The country's cybersecurity agency stated that recreational apps don't have sufficient
security or data protection to give civil servants something more interesting to do on
the toilet than counting bathroom floor tiles. This could mean that France views Chinese and American tech companies with the same
level of suspicion. It wouldn't be the first time France has come to blows with the US over big tech in
2019. The country enacted a digital services tax that prompted retaliatory sanctions from the
American government until 2021. France also opposes the US Cloud Act, which allows US law enforcement to request data stored
by most major cloud providers, even if it's stored outside the US.
So, is this app banned the newest tech tussle with America?
Or is Macron just tired of getting ratioed on Twitter?
Who's to say? Say la vie. And a new Trojan has been announced.
Unfortunately, for everyone waiting for the next leap forward in quantum technology, it's
malware actually. Basically, the opposite of using protection.
Called Nexus, it infects Android devices through phishing websites claiming to allow you to
download discontinued YouTube client, Vansd.
Nexus can replicate legitimate interfaces to trick you into entering your credentials,
can steal SMS messages to get two-factor authentication codes, and can even steal information from
crypto wallets and Google Authenticator. But even worse, the authors have taken a page out of EA's playbook and built a service
model for Nexus. You see, for just $3,000 a month, you can commit financial crimes and steal the savings
of innocent people all over the world. And be your own boss.
So far, the majority of Nexus infections have been reported in Turkey.
But the Nexus creators really want you to know it isn't on purpose, stating our targets
do not include any country, political view, or anything done for the purpose of attack.
Their targets also don't include Azerbaijan, Armenia, Belarus, Kazakhstan, Kyrgyzstan,
Moldova, Russia, Tajikistan, Uzbekistan, Ukraine, or Indonesia, since they prohibit
anyone from using their malware in those countries.
They must have a very diverse team. They may sell software that can drain people's life savings, but they have a code.
I don't quite understand their code, but they have one.
Hey, I couldn't think of a better time to say this, but you know, quick bits.
Gordon Moore, the co-founder of Intel and inventor of, you know, the one, Moore's Law,
passed away on Friday at the age of 94.
In 1965, he predicted that the number of transistors in an integrated circuit would double every
year, three years before founding Intel with Robert Noyce.
Noyce. Ten years later, he humbly updated his law by saying transistors would double every two
years, at least according to Jensen Huang, Gordon Moore outlived his own law, and I doubt
many people have been able to pull that off. That's off to you, Mr. Moore.
Rest in peace. Microsoft has threatened to cut off companies like DuckDuckGo and Yahoo from licensing their
internet search index data if those companies continue to use it to train AI chat features
according to Bloomberg's insider sources. People familiar with the matter.
You see, giving AI access to a map of the web is incredibly dangerous, which is why
only Bing can be entrusted with it. You know, other chatbots might do something extreme.
A number of smaller search engines currently license Bing's index because of Google's
restrictions on licensing theirs, but now Microsoft has hit the Bing time.
You know, fame changes the mega corporation.
The FTC has decided they've had enough of extended warranty memes, so they're going
after the companies trying to rip off Americans. Proposed court orders will ban three companies from both the extended automobile warranty
industry and all outbound telemarketing, continuing the FTC's fight against robocalls
and telemarketing scams. These companies were charged by the FTC a year ago, with the regulator alleging that
the companies falsely claimed to represent dealers and manufacturers, and the FTC claimed
the scam had cost US consumers $6 million since 2018.
The memes were pretty good though, but Xbox Game Pass has gotten so popular that Microsoft
no longer needs to entice new subscribers for the trial price of $1 for the first month.
The company says they'll be evaluating different marketing promotions for new members in the
future, but what could you possibly introduce as a successor to what almost everyone recognizes
as the best deal in gaming? I mean, a single dollar to play entirely through one to 30 top AAA games depending on how alive
you want to be at the end of the day doesn't get much better than that, $5 foot long, so those are good.
And it turns out that farm equipment manufacturers are desperate to get their machines in the
simulation game Farming Simulator. Developer Giant Software claims that manufacturers' interest alone covers the entire cost of game
development. It makes sense, and some companies have announced their products inclusion in the game the same
day they announced the actual product. Manufacturers will even share detailed engineering drawings with the game devs to aid in accurate
simulation. I guess the metaverse was just for tractors the whole time.
And who cares about the engineering drawings, they're not allowed to fix it yourself anyway.
And in the metaverse, they also have wheels.
But tech news is for everyone, so come back on Wednesday when we decide to talk to you
at the camera again. We will decide that.