Hasta La Gadget!

The controllers available for consoles like the Xbox Series X and the Nintendo Switch and even some for PC gaming are the peak result of an evolutionary ergonomic transformation. The days of boxy controllers like the NES GamePad and even the Atari 2600 joystick are almost gone from modern gaming but 8BitDo has done a great job of preserving those classic designs without totally sacrificing their functionality.

8BitDo has been making these modern throwback peripherals for 11 years and it’s marking this anniversary with a pair of limited edition gold and silver SN30 Pro controllers.

These controllers aren’t just matte painted in gold and silver. They are made with a “zinc-alloy metal” so they weigh a hefty 381 grams. They also cost just under $100 each. They are compatible with the Nintendo Switch and computers running Microsoft Windows, according to 8BitDo’s website.

The new gold and silver limited edition controllers have the same layout as the original SN30 Pro with a Super Nintendo-esque button layout and two analog sticks. A metal version may give it the little bit of extra weight the original needs so it feels a little more balanced. Plus, a metal controller that looks like gold or silver just makes you feel like a total baller. Such a confidence boost could transfer from your brain to your hands and may improve your game. So it could be an effective controller or just a cool looking paperweight that you might find on Elon Musk’s desk (assuming he stops tweeting long enough to notice it exists).

This article originally appeared on Engadget at https://www.engadget.com/8bitdo-marks-its-11th-anniversary-with-gold-and-silver-metal-controllers-195616688.html?src=rss

Amazon Prime Day is right around the corner so summer deal season is in full swing, including on some manufacturers’ own storefronts. Ooni is running a flash sale at the minute and the company has slashed 20 percent off the price of some of its pizza ovens, including the Karu 12 and Koda 12. The Karu 12 has dropped to $239, which is $60 off the regular price. The Koda 12, meanwhile, is $80 off at $319. The sale runs until July 17.

Ooni makes some of our picks for the best pizza ovens. While we generally recommend larger models, there’s no harm in going for the Karu 12 or Koda 12 if you prefer to make smaller pies or want a more compact model for camping trips .

The Karu is a multi-fuel oven that uses your choice of wood, charcoal or gas to cook pizzas. Bear in mind that you’ll need to purchase a gas burner separately if you prefer that fuel. The Karu 12 doesn’t come with a peel either, unfortunately.

Ooni says the Karu 12 can reach temperatures of up to 950°F or 500°C and that it can hit the optimal baking temperature of 850°F or 450°C in just 15 minutes. From there, it’ll take just 60 seconds to cook a pie. Along with baking pizzas, you can bake, roast and sear in the Karu 12. You can control the temperature by adjusting the airflow on the chimney. The oven weighs 26.lbs (12kg).

As for the Koda 12, that’s a gas-powered model that comes with a regulator and hose to hook up to your propane tank (you’ll still need to buy a peel separately though). It’s also more compact than the Karu 12, as it weighs 20.4lbs (9.25kg).

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This article originally appeared on Engadget at https://www.engadget.com/ooni-flash-sale-includes-20-percent-off-karu-and-koda-pizza-ovens-180029123.html?src=rss

With the introduction of the Galaxy Ring at Unpacked, Samsung jumped on the smart ring bandwagon, a market currently dominated by Oura.

Boasting a sleek 7 mm wide concave design, the Galaxy Ring weighs between 2.3 grams to 3 grams, depending on the size, and is a mere 2.6 mm thick. It offers nine size options, from 5 to 13, and Samsung provides a sizing kit to ensure customers order the right fit.

We expect good durability, thanks to the titanium finish, 10ATM water resistance, and IP68 certification. According to Samsung, the inboard 18 to 23.5 mAh battery delivers 6 to 7 days of battery life, depending on the size. The stylish transparent charging case has LED lighting to indicate the charging status. 

The Galaxy Ring, priced at $399.99, is available in three colors: Titanium Gold, Titanium Silver, and Titanium Black.

Thanks to Isa Does Tech for the photos – check her video hands-on of the Samsung Galaxy Ring, Z Fold6, and Z Flip6 here

The smart ring, equipped with an optical PPG sensor, a skin temperature sensor, and an accelerometer, tracks sleep, heart rate, blood oxygen (SpO2), menstrual cycle, and activity. The primary advantage of smart rings is their comfort, making them ideal for sleep tracking compared to smartwatches. Additionally, using a smart ring for sleep tracking will allow me to recharge my smartwatch every night, which is necessary for advanced intelligent watches that deliver only one to two days of battery life. 

Healthcare professionals know that a pulse oximeter sensor at the tip of the index finger provides the best accuracy. When placed on the index finger, the PPG sensor provides more accurate heart rate and blood oxygen data tracking than other fingers and performs even better than wrist-worn sensors. That is why Samsung recommends wearing it on the index finger.

A smart ring packed with AI-driven wellness features

The Samsung Health app provides a Sleep Score based on a comprehensive sleep analysis and an advanced sleep AI algorithm that includes new metrics such as movement during sleep, sleep latency, heart rate, and respiratory rate. The Cycle Tracking feature monitors the menstrual cycle through overnight skin temperature tracking.

Samsung introduced its new AI-powered Energy Score, which is only available on the most recent health-tracking devices in the Galaxy ecosystem, including the Galaxy Watch 7 and Galaxy Watch Ultra.  This score is based on Samsung’s proprietary algorithm that evaluates users’ physical conditions using four key datasets: sleep, activity, sleeping heart rate, and sleeping heart rate variability. The new Energy Score will not be available on Galaxy Watches older than the Galaxy Watch 4. The Energy Score will not be available on non-Galaxy phones.  The Galaxy Ring acts merely as a passive wearable sensor since all notifications are managed by the Samsung Health app on the user’s Android phone, with no vibration or LED lighting happening on the ring. With Wellness Tips, the Samsung Health app displays personalized messages to help enhance the user’s well-being. Comprehensive data and individual interests drive these Galaxy AI-powered tips.

Heart Rate Alert provides instant notifications about unusually high or low heart rates in real-time via the Samsung Health app. The Live Heart Rate Check feature offers detailed information about the heart rate, including beats per minute, start time, and duration. The Auto Workout Detection feature automatically detects walking and running, and Inactive Alert sends daily fitness reminders.

Galaxy Ring vs. Oura Ring

The Galaxy Ring competes with the Oura Ring, the current leader in the intelligent ring market. I have listed a few differences between the rival devices.

The Oura Ring is available in two design styles, Heritage and Horizon, and up to six finishes, depending on the style chosen: brushed titanium, gold, stealth (matte black), silver, rose gold, or black. The Oura Ring Gen3 starts at $299 for the Heritage model in silver and black versions and goes up to $499 for the Horizon model in Rose Gold; the regular Horizon in silver or black costs $349. Samsung provides a transparent portable charging cradle, similar to an earbuds case, which is more convenient than Oura’s charging dock. 

Each device provides custom wellness scores; both have a Sleep Score, Oura offers a Readiness Score and an Activity Score, and Samsung has an Energy Score that looks equivalent to Oura’s Readiness Score. Samsung sends Wellness tips, while Oura has insight messages. Regarding automatic detection, Oura detects 40+ activities and workouts, while Samsung only delivers automatic detection for walking and running. Since the Galaxy Watch 6, 7, and Ultra can automatically detect much more activities, I am convinced that Samsung will ramp up on that side. I need to test both devices more in-depth to provide a better evaluation of the feature set provided by each brand’s software.

A unique feature of the Galaxy Ring is the double pinch gesture, which allows you to control the camera or the alarm of a compatible Samsung Galaxy phone, such as the new Galaxy  Z Fold 6 and Z Flip 6.

Both companies offer the ability to find their ring via an app, but Find My Ring requires Samsung Find installed on a Galaxy phone. Oura provides the feature for iOS but has yet to release it for Android. Android users can use a third-party app to find their Oura. 

Samsung Galaxy Ring does not require a subscription to access the data it collects and the health and wellness features provided by the Samsung Health app. On the other hand, Oura users have to pay a $5.99 monthly subscription to access sleep analysis, heart rate monitoring, temperature monitoring, blood oxygen sensing (SpO2), cycle sensing, stress measurements and insights, and the activity monitoring dashboard.

Samsung Galaxy Ring Is the Ultimate Rival To The Oura Ring

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AT&T just confirmed a massive data breach in 2022 that impacted “nearly all” of its customers, according to a statement provided by TechCrunch. The company had over 110 million wireless subscribers in 2022 so, yeah, this is kind of a big deal.

The data breach allowed hackers to steal phone numbers, text data and phone records from these people which, once again, comprises nearly the entire customer base, myself included. AT&T says it will begin notifying consumers about the breach in the near future, committing to informing the 110 impacted million customers. The breach occurred during a six-month period from May 1, 2022 to October 31, 2022, though it looks like some data kept getting stolen up until January 2, 2023. This latter breach impacts a smaller, though unspecified, number of consumers.

Now, before you start worrying about that embarrassing text you sent an ex back in 2022, AT&T says the breach “does not contain the content of calls or texts.” However, it does include the phone numbers that an account interacted with, as well as a complete count of a customer’s calls, texts and call durations, otherwise known as metadata. The time and date of the calls or texts were not included in the hack, according to AT&T.

However, the breach did include cell site identification numbers, which could “potentially allow for the triangulation of users’ locations,” wrote Javvad Malik, a representative from cybersecurity awareness firm KnowBe4, in a statement to Engadget. Malik also painted a grim picture of what could be done with the stolen metadata, writing that it “can paint a detailed picture of an individual’s daily life, habits, and associations, making it a valuable asset for those with malicious intent.”

AT&T has published a website with information for customers about the breach and has disclosed the hack in a regulatory filing issued before the market opened on Friday, July 12. The company says it learned of the issue on April 19 and that it has nothing to do with a previous security incident from March, in which customer data was published on the dark web.

So how did this happen? AT&T places the blame on its cloud data partner Snowflake, saying that the compromise occurred after hacks targeted its business customers. Snowflake allows corporate customers to store large amounts of customer data in the cloud for the purpose of analysis. AT&T hasn’t stated any reason as to why it would want to analyze massive amounts of customer data or why it would store this data with Snowflake. A company representative declined to provide further information to TechCrunch.

One thing is certain. AT&T isn’t the only company recently burned by a Snowflake hack. Other impacted companies include Ticketmaster and QuoteWizard, among more than 160 others. Snowflake, for its part, has shifted the blame back to AT&T and the others, saying that each organization didn’t use multi-factor authentication to secure their accounts. So, all 160+ companies forgot to turn on multi-factor authentication? You’d think something like that would be mandatory when dealing with massive amounts of customer data but, well, I guess not.

The breach has been tracked back to an uncategorized cybercriminal group known only as UNC5537, according to cybersecurity incident response firm Mandiant. That company suggests financial motivations behind the hack.

Despite the breach, AT&T says that the stolen data isn’t publicly available at this time. It’s currently working with law enforcement and says that “at least one person has been apprehended.”

This article originally appeared on Engadget at https://www.engadget.com/massive-att-data-breach-impacted-nearly-every-single-customer-155346341.html?src=rss

Luke Muscat, the lead designer for Halfbrick Studios’ Fruit Ninja and Jetpack Joyride, has announced a new game called Feed the Deep. This time, he’s not backed by a studio and supported by colleagues: Feed the Deep is his first solo project after quitting his job. He calls the game a “Lovecraftian deep sea roguelike,” because you take on the role of a diver who literally has to feed the eldritch horror lurking in the darkness of the ocean’s depths. 

In the game, humanity built floating cities on the surface of the ocean without knowing about the threat living below. Your job is to feed whatever’s living in the deep so that it doesn’t destroy the cities. In its Steam page, Muscat said the game was “inspired by the likes of Dome Keeper and Spelunky.” You’ll have to collect resources in the darkness to be able to get upgrades and items, all while managing your oxygen to make sure you survive the dive. The caves you have to explore are procedurally generated so they will look different every time you play. You can also choose your play style, whether to go fast and aggressive, or to go slower and more relaxed. 

It’s unclear if Feed the Deep will be available on non-PC platforms, but Muscat has only shared a Steam page for it so far. He’s planning to release the game sometime this third quarter. 

This article originally appeared on Engadget at https://www.engadget.com/the-designer-of-fruit-ninja-and-jetpack-joyride-is-back-with-a-lovecraftian-roguelike-130002746.html?src=rss