It’s peak summer in the U.S. and spotted lanternflies have graduated into full-grown adults that are flapping about in all their spotty glory. Another year of sighting these winged insects means another year for us to do our part in squishing lanternflies and eliminating them from our ecosystems.
Nothing, the company behind the second-gen, see-through, light-up smartphone that’s generated positive user reviews since its debut last month, has announced a new brand called CMF by Nothing. In a quarterly community update video, Nothing’s co-founder and CEO, Carl Pei, explains that CMF by Nothing will be focused on…
When mutantkind established its own sovereign nation on Krakoa, it established three new tenants for the newly-unified species to live by: Make More Mutants, Murder No Man, and Respect This Sacred Land. For the most part, give or take a few loopholes, the Krakoan Age was defined by these tenets until last week’s …
Rom-com Elemental—initially a disappointment for Pixar and Disney—has continued to rack up money at the box office, and now the sleeper hit has a new income stream in its near future: home viewers. Peter Sohn’s animated tale will soon arrive on digital, followed by a physical release, and it’s bringing tons of extras…
Researchers say they have found a hardware exploit with Tesla’s infotainment system that could unlock paid upgrades for free, including Full Self-Driving (FSD) and heated rear seats. They used a technique called voltage glitching, which involves tinkering with the supply voltage of the infotainment system’s processor.
“If we do it at the right moment, we can trick the CPU into doing something else,” Christian Werling told TechCrunch. “It has a hiccup, skips an instruction and accepts our manipulated code. That’s basically what we do in a nutshell.”
Werling is one of three doctoral students at the Technical University of Berlin who found the exploit with the help of an independent researcher. The team will present its work at the Black Hat cybersecurity conference next week.
Since it’s a hardware exploit, the process requires physical access to a Tesla vehicle. The jailbreak could enable FSD and certain other features, including in regions where Tesla has not yet made them available, the researchers claim. However, they noted that more work would be needed to test those possibilities.
Still, the researchers claim to have obtained the encryption key that authenticates the car over Tesla’s network, which could lead to them being able to unlock more features. They noted that they were able to obtain personal information from the test car too, including its recent GPS locations, contacts, call logs and calendar appointments.
For several years, hackers have been attempting to unlock paywalled Tesla features, and some efforts have been successful. More recently, one discovered a so-called “Elon Mode” for hands-free FSD operations. Tesla has been playing a game of cat and mouse with these hackers for years.
However, it would be much more difficult for Tesla to revoke this exploit, according to the researchers, given that it’s a hardware-based approach. They claim the company would need physical access to the car. Tesla does not have a communications department that can be reached for comment.
This article originally appeared on Engadget at https://www.engadget.com/researchers-reveal-tesla-jailbreak-that-could-unlock-full-self-driving-for-free-190431645.html?src=rss
Walmart, one of the world’s largest retailers, is taking steps to enhance its in-store advertising offerings for third-party businesses. The company aims to leverage self-checkout screens and in-store audio to provide more advertising opportunities to brands.
By tapping into these platforms, advertisers can connect with Walmart shoppers in a targeted manner, increasing brand visibility and potential sales.
Photo CC by 2.0: “Walmart Supercenter” by Rusty Clark ~ 100K Photos
As reported by CNBC, Walmart is actively promoting the sale of in-store advertisements to third parties. These ads will appear on self-checkout screens and as 30-second radio spots on the store’s audio system. Advertisers will have the flexibility to choose specific regions or target particular Walmart stores, tailoring their campaigns to reach their desired audiences effectively.
In addition to the in-store ad displays, Walmart is beta-testing food demo kiosks in selected Dallas-Fort Worth-area stores; These kiosks offer sampling stations similar to those found in Costco stores. The plan is to expand these sampler stations to 1,000 Walmart stores nationwide by the end of January. Advertisers can bundle these stations with other advertising options, enhancing their reach and engagement.
To facilitate a seamless shopping experience, Walmart will provide QR codes for customers to scan and purchase the products they try at the food demo kiosks. This innovative approach aims to bridge the gap between experiencing a product and making a purchase, making it more convenient for shoppers to acquire products that pique their interest.
While advertising currently constitutes a relatively small part of Walmart’s business, generating $2.7 billion in the last fiscal year out of its total revenue of $611.3 billion, the company is keen on expanding its advertising initiatives. Walmart’s CEO, Doug McMillon, previously outlined the company’s intent to diversify its revenue streams, with advertising being a significant component of this plan.
Walmart’s move to enhance in-store advertising follows a trend observed among other retailers. Companies like Target and Walgreens have also been testing ad displays throughout their stores, offering advertisers additional channels to connect with customers during their shopping journey.
Ryan Mayward, Walmart’s senior VP of retail media sales for Walmart Connect, the company’s ads division, believes that in-store advertising helps customers make connections between products and encourages them to consider additional purchases. For instance, an advertised jar of salsa in the chip aisle may prompt a shopper to grab it alongside their chips, enhancing the overall shopping experience.
In-store advertising presents a similar effect to targeted ads seen on mobile devices, creating valuable connections and increasing the potential for impulse purchases and, as it becomes an increasingly integral part of Walmart’s (and many other companies’) strategy, businesses know that they can leverage these opportunities to reach a broader audience and drive sales in a targeted and effective manner.
Walmart Expands In-Store Advertising Opportunities for Third Parties
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The frightening encounter happened while the Pennsylvania man was trying to fill a kiddie pool for his granddaughter.
Apple’s financials continue to be in an ever-so-slight slump. Just as we saw the last two quarters, the company suffered minor declines in revenue in its fiscal Q3 2023 — but these are minor blips for a company that is still raking in absurd amounts of money every quarter.
As has often been the case, revenue that Apple made from its Services segment (things like paid iCloud plans, Apple Music, AppleCare, the App Store and numerous other offerings) hit an all-time high of $21.2 billion. That’s the company’s second-largest product category behind the iPhone, and it grew eight percent year-over-year. But iPhone, Mac and iPad revenue all declined compared to a year ago, the same as it did last quarter.
In the case of the iPhone, that decline was slight: revenue of $39.7 billion in the quarter was down about two percent compared to a year ago. iPad (down 19.8 percent) and Mac (down 7.3 percent) sales declined more significantly. But given the fact that Apple hasn’t refreshed any iPad hardware since last fall, it’s not too surprising to see a drop there. Wearables (like the Apple Watch and AirPods) and accessories were another bright spot, as revenues grew a little over two percent, the only product category besides Services to do so.
Overall, revenues of $81.8 billion represented a less than two percent drop year over year, while profits actually increased about two percent to $19.9 billion.
As usual, Apple is holding a call with CEO Tim Cook at 5PM ET, and there’s more to discuss this quarter than usual. Beyond Apple’s normal product categories, this is the first earnings since the ambitious and wildly expensive Vision Pro headset was announced, so it’s likely investors may want to hear about how that new product is progressing. And there’s the ever-present talk of potential AI-related projects hanging out in the background, too. We’ll be updating this post with any details Cook shares on the call.
This article originally appeared on Engadget at https://www.engadget.com/apple-services-are-making-more-cash-than-ever-but-revenue-shrank-for-the-third-quarter-in-a-row-205545482.html?src=rss
Brave’s search engine no longer requires that you jump to Bing or Google just to find photos or videos. The company has introduced image and video queries to Brave Search, helping you find media while maintaining the same levels of privacy and freedom of access. You won’t have to worry about being profiled through your picture hunts, or risk missing politically sensitive content (if unintentionally) pulled from another engine’s index.
You’ll still have the option of continuing searches through competitors, at least for a while. Brave notes that some search features, such as filtering by aspect ratio or license, aren’t ready yet. The choice helps you get the results you’re looking for, so long as you don’t mind using a major engine. It’s more important to have a “clear alternative” than absolute feature equality, Brave argues.
Anyone can use Brave’s search engine in the web, although it’s set as the default in the company’s browser. The firm hopes to expand its reach by asking users to contribute to an anoynmous Web Discovrey Project.
The relative newcomer launched its homegrown search in 2021, but has stood out from similarly privacy-oriented challengers like DuckDuckGo by trying to avoid the use of third-party indexes. Brave stopped using Bing’s search index in May. That cut seven percent of results, but also gave Brave more control over its results.
This won’t necessarily lead to a surge in market share. Brave doesn’t even register in StatCtounter’s browser market share statistics — it’s not in a position to upset heavyweights like Chrome, Edge and Safari. However, this does eliminate a major objection if you’re an enthusiast determined to minimize data collection at much as possible.
This article originally appeared on Engadget at https://www.engadget.com/braves-privacy-focused-search-engine-can-now-find-images-and-videos-211548516.html?src=rss
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