Block disclosed today that a security breach involving a former employee impacts 8.2 million Cash App users. In an SEC filing, the company reported that an ex-employee on December 10th downloaded a number of reports with information on customer informa…
Epic Games made a mobile app that turns photos into 3D models
Epic Games has built a mobile app that can turn photos into 3D scans. Capturing Reality, a company Epic bought last year, created photogrammetric software called RealityCapture. It can quickly convert laser scans or images into 3D scans of assets. With the RealityScan app, Epic is hoping to give users access to the same tech right on their phone.
The idea is that creatives will be able to scan real-world objects at any time to use in their projects. After you sign in with your Epic Games account, the app will prompt you to take at least 20 photos of an item. You can also hold down your finger on the capture button as you move around the object.
After the app processes the images and turns it into a 3D object with the help of RealityCapture’s servers, you can export the scan to Sketchfab (a 3D asset platform Epic also bought in 2021).
You’ll then be able to sell the asset to other creatives or use them for your own 3D, virtual reality and augmented reality projects. Game developers might find the app particularly useful if they’re in need of a particular item to place in a virtual environment. As it happens, Epic just opened up access to Unreal Engine 5.
Epic is testing a beta of the app with a limited number of iOS users before a broader, early access rollout on iPhone this spring. An Android version of RealityScan will arrive later this year.
Windows 11 is getting a redesigned File Explorer with tabs
Microsoft just unveiled a set of news around Windows 11 and its capabilities for hybrid work, bringing things like system-wide improvements to video-calling tools on PCs. It also announced some changes coming to the beloved File Explorer, with the biggest being a redesign and a highly anticipated tabs feature.
According to the company’s release, “the redesigned, cloud-powered File Explorer” would let you “see all files in one centralized place.” You will be able to pin files and create tabs, keeping your most frequently visited folders within easy reach.
In a video demonstrating the new features, it looks like you can right click on a file or document and select “Add to Favorites” to pin it. And if you want to have multiple File Explorer tabs open, you can click a plus symbol at the top left of the window to start a new tab, and they look just like browser tabs.
The company also added touch Snap layouts to make it easier to quickly arrange your apps on touch-enabled devices.
Microsoft has called Windows 11 the most accessible and inclusive version of Windows ever, and today it shared more around some assistive tools coming to the platform. A system-wide Live Captions feature, which was announced earlier this year, would transcribe all audio on your PC, including content streaming from the web. A Focus mode could help people with ADHD to be more productive, the company said.
To keep your sensitive information safe, the company is bringing two new tools to Windows 11: Microsoft Defender SmartScreen and Smart App Control. The former will detect when you’re entering your Microsoft account login info into a “malicious application or hacked website,” potentially protecting you from phishing attacks.
Microsoft
Smart App Control, meanwhile, uses the company’s AI and code signing to make sure only trusted applications can be run on your PC. This “[blocks] one of the largest attack vectors on Windows by-default,” Microsoft said. The company also said it plans to bring more features to its Pluton security processor, and can also help organizations ensure their fleets of devices retain the right registry keys.
Microsoft hasn’t shared when exactly these features will be released to the public version of Windows 11 just yet, but it sounds like they’re coming soon.
Hulu’s iOS and Apple TV apps now support SharePlay
When Apple rolled out SharePlay with iOS 15.1 last year, it was only supported by a handful of apps. The list has grown a bit over the past months, with ESPN, Twitch and Disney+ updating their apps with the capability to use the group viewing feature. Now, you can add Hulu to the roster. The streaming service’s latest iOS and tvOS update introduces SharePlay as a feature for its iPhone, iPad and Apple TV app, so you can hold watch parties for shows like The Handmaid’s Tale or The Dropout, which tells the story of controversial Theranos founder Elizabeth Holmes.
To use SharePlay, all participants in the watch party will have to be on iOS 15.1 or newer and will need to have Hulu accounts and subscriptions. You have to start a FaceTime call before you open the app. After you do, you’ll see an alert at the top of your screen asking if you want to stream your content. Anyone who joins the session will have access to the pause, skip forward and rewind controls to make sure you’re all watching the same thing at the same time. FaceTime will also have a picture-in-picture box at the top, which will show whoever is talking at the moment. SharePlay even comes with a feature called smart volume that automatically lowers the show’s volume whenever somebody in the call is talking.
In addition to SharePlay support, Hulu’s latest update has also introduced a new feature that gives you a way to easily flip between the live TV channels you’re currently watching. You can now get the update Hulu app from the Apple App Store.
TikTok owner ByteDance scraped content from Instagram and others to push predecessor app
To fuel the rise of its app Flipagram, TikTok parent company Bytedance scraped profiles, videos, usernames and other content from Instagram and other social media platforms. Buzzfeed reported that the Chinese company scraped “hundreds of thousands” of accounts for content without users’ consent. Flipagram, which ByteDance acquired back in 2017, allowed users to create short slideshow videos set to music — sort of a simplified version of TikTok and other short-form video apps. The app has since been rebranded as Vigo Video.
The scraping strategy was meant to be a “growth hack” for Flipagram, allowing it to expand its user base, according to former ByteDance employees interviewed by Buzzfeed. Flipagram was scraping up to 10,000 videos per day from high-priority countries, according to one former employee. The three platforms that Flipagram allegedly scraped content from are Instagram, Snapchat and Musical.ly (which is owned by ByteDance and was later absorbed by TikTok). One former Bytedance employee disputes that Instagram was involved in the scrape due to the incompatible sizing of their videos at the time.
The employees also allege that the scraped content from major US social media platforms was then used to build Bytedance’s “For You” algorithm. TikTok has yet to comment on whether Flipagram’s stolen data was used to build TikTok’s “For You” algorithm.
Scraping publicly available data isn’t illegal by itself. Many social platforms find “creative” ways to boost their audience in their early days, like harvesting external content, creating fake profiles or mass-emailing potential users. But companies can also ban unauthorized scraping in their terms and conditions for users, which Instagram and Snapchat both do. Violating such contracts can often lead to lawsuits.
There’s an irony to Bytedance in its early days allegedly scraping data from Instagram, since Reels was Instagram’s attempt to capture TikTok’s audience and instead became a receptacle for old TikToks. In order to keep Reels from driving more traffic to its rival app, Instagram recently announced it would no longer promote TikToks.
Amazon’s planned worker chat app would reportedly ban words like ‘union’
Amazon’s anti-union stance might spill into the apps for employees. The Intercept says it obtained internal documents detailing a planned worker chat app that, while meant to boost happiness, would include a blocklist focused heavily on silencing pro-union keywords. In addition to forbidding the use of the word “union,” it would also block terms like “compensation,” “pay raise,” “ethics” and even “robots.”
Other bans would focus mostly on keeping things positive, such as “rude” and “stupid.” Most, however, appear centered on working conditions. Amazon supposedly decided on the words at an upper-echelon meeting in November 2021, when they outlined an app that would encourage “Shout-Outs” and offer digital rewards for providing value to the company.
The program linked to the app will reportedly launch in April. In a statement to The Intercept, however, Amazon spokeswoman Barbara Agrait said the initiative “has not been approved yet” and might be changed or scrapped.
If the program and its associated app launch, they would come at a tense moment. Amazon warehouse workers in Staten Island just voted to unionize, and those at a Bessemer, Alabama facility just had a highly contested rerun election where both sides accused each other of interference. While this app isn’t about to hinder union organizers (they weren’t likely to use Amazon-monitored chats), it could underscore the very labor concerns the company doesn’t want employees to mention.
Twitter’s Android app may finally get tweet text selection
Twitter’s Android app has lagged behind its iOS counterpart for years, but at least in one way, the two clients could soon be on equal footing. In a tweet spotted by Android Police, Jane Manchun Wong, who’s known for reverse engineering apps to find ne…
After experiencing the rogue software on the mobile phone: it feels quite magical
Why does the rogue software on Android phones make so many people angry? . . Search the Internet casually, and spray in various poses. Hey? […]
The post After experiencing the rogue software on the mobile phone: it feels quite magical appeared first on Gamingsym.
Windows 重新設計的手機同步 app 讓 Android 通知更醒目
微軟今天公佈了重新設計的手機同步 app，並且將名稱由原本的「Your Phone」改成了「Phone Link」。除了重新設計了介面，讓它與 Windows 11 的整體風格更一致之外，Phone Link 主要的改變是將通知擺在了極顯眼處，讓你不會有所遺漏。…
The original ‘Angry Birds’ game returns to app stores
The original Angry Birds game is back. Sure, there are other, newer entries in the Angry Birds franchise out there — and even a couple of movies — but this one’s for those who have a special place in their hearts for the game that started it all. In a letter to fans published last year, Rovio explained that it had to take its older titles out of circulation, because they used outdated game engines and design. “Today’s mobile technology and games landscape has evolved to a place where supporting them was untenable,” the company wrote. The developer also couldn’t leave them up without updating them, because they’ll soon be incompatible with the latest mobile operating systems.
Apparently, there was a “big outcry” for Rovio to bring back the older games, especially the original, so it decided to work on bringing the classic experiences back. The company said at the time that it has to figure out “what is possible and for which games,” so it’s unclear if other older titles will also get remakes. Rovio rebuilt the original Angry Birds from the ground up using Unity, which allowed the company to recreate the feel of the classic for newer devices. That’s a much more involved process than simply touching up older graphics or updating game mechanics.
The new version of the game called Rovio Classics: Angry Birds, is now available from the Apple App Store and from Google Play. It will set you back 99 cents to download, but it doesn’t have in-app purchases and even makes the Mighty Eagle (an old in-app purchase) available at no extra cost.