The Federal Communications Commission launched an investigation this week into a large number of media, telecom and infrastructure companies that operate in the United States with ties to Russia, CNN reported. The probe, allegedly being conducted jointly with the Department of Homeland Security and the Department of Justice, is aimed at firms considered a “national security risk,” and covers a wide array of business types including wireless providers, VoIP services and submarine cable operators.
The FCC’s review also arrives as many US cybersecurity experts warn of the increased danger of cyber attacks, especially on critical infrastructure. The US recently imposed a number of sanctions on Russia in response to its invasion of Ukraine, and it’s possible Russia may retaliate through cyber warfare. Recent cyber campaigns suspected to have ties to the Russian government include the hacks of the Olympics, SolarWinds, Ukraine's government websites and coronavirus vaccine research in the US, UK and Canada. US cyber officials have also warned businesses, banks and state and local governments to be vigilant for ransomware.
A similar investigation against Chinese companies Huawei and ZTE launched by the FCC in 2019 over concerns their equipment allowed for Chinese surveillance of US activities. It’s unknown exactly how many similar companies with Russia ties will be covered by the probe. Russia also funds media companies in the US and other countries. UK prime minister Boris Johnson recently ordered a probe into the UK license for RT (Russia Today) a Kremlin-backed global news outlet with offices in the United States and across Europe. US company T&R Productions, which backs RT America, has received over $100 million from the Russian government, an Open Secrets investigation revealed.
Twitter has temporarily paused ads in Ukraine and Russia, one of several steps the company is taking to highlight safety information and minimize “risks associated with the conflict in Ukraine.”
“We’re temporarily pausing advertisements in Ukraine and Russia to ensure critical public safety information is elevated and ads don’t detract from it,” the company wrote in an update that was also shared in Ukrainian. Twitter also said it’s temporarily halting the recommendations feature that surfaces tweets from accounts users’ don’t follow in their home timelines in order to “reduce the spread of abusive content.”
Twitter didn’t indicate how long these measures would be in place, but said it was part of its ongoing work to respond to the Russian invasion of Ukraine. “We’re actively monitoring for risks associated with the conflict in Ukraine, including identifying and disrupting attempts to amplify false and misleading information,” the company said.
We’re temporarily pausing advertisements in Ukraine and Russia to ensure critical public safety information is elevated and ads don’t detract from it.
The company added that it’s directing users to Moments and Events curated by its editorial team in order to provide additional context about what’s happening in Ukraine. Researchers have warned that misinformation and disinformation about Ukraine will continue to flood social media platforms.
Twitter said it’s also working to keep “high-profile accounts” safe from hacking attempts. “We’re actively monitoring vulnerable high-profile accounts, including journalists, activists, and government officials and agencies to mitigate any attempts at a targeted takeover or manipulation.” The company’s move comes one day after Facebook announced it was enabling its one-click “lock profile” tool for people in Ukraine to help users there safeguard their personal information.
Discord hasn't been as active in fighting pandemic misinformation as social networks, but it appears ready to change its tune. According to Protocol, Discord is updating its community policies to ban any misinformation that poses a "significant risk" of physical or social harm, including claims that threaten "public health." A chat server could face action if it spreads falsehoods about COVID-19 vaccines, to put it another way.
The community rules also bar spam, manipulative bots, fake accounts, bad-faith account reporting and "malicious" impersonation of others. The guidelines also forbid hate linked to age, caste, gender identity and serious illnesses. Discord will also consider "off-platform" activity when making decisions on bans and other policy decisions. Someone who belongs to a hate group or commits real-world crimes could face repercussions online.
These updates come alongside clearer privacy policies and terms of service. All of the changes take effect March 28th.
The changes might be necessary. Wirednotes the Institute for Strategic Dialogue spotted a significant number of far-right groups chatting about "egregious" content and plotting raids on sites like Twitch. Combine those with frequently harmful anti-vaccine and anti-mandate protests and Discord risked becoming more of a hub for this toxic activity, however involuntarily.
Despite a litany of financial struggles and botched factory plans, Faraday Future has built its first production-intent car. The EV startup today unveiled the FF 91 at its Hanford, California-based plant, and announced it would begin production in Q3 of 2022. Since the best-laid plans of Faraday Future often go haywire, we won't hold our breath for the time being.
Here’s what we know about the FF 91 so far: Faraday Future’s flagship car is intended to be an “ultra-luxury EV” that can compete with the likes of Jaguar, Tesla, Polestar and other brands. It has three motors, which means that at least in terms of power, it would beat out even the newer Tesla models (except for the Cybertruck) and ostensibly be in the same league as Audi’s E-tron crossover. The system horsepower is a jaw-dropping 1050, and it can go from 0 to 60 mph in 2.39 seconds. The seats are zero gravity (meaning they recline in a fashion that makes you feel weightless) and ventilated. They also double as massage chairs.
The FF 91 can go 300 miles per charge, putting it roughly in the same league as a Tesla Model 3. It also includes a huge 130 kWh lithium-ion battery, which will no doubt be one of the reasons behind the vehicle’s inevitably large price tag.
Drivers who can’t wait to join in on Faraday’s vision of a future can reserve an FF 91 today. There’s a waitlist to join the FF 91 Futurist Alliance (which costs $5,000 but guarantees you a priority reservation), but you can still pay $1,500 for a standard reservation. Given the company's poor track record with deadlines, prospective early adopters should be cautious. The company's troubles don't seem to be over. Just earlier this month, the company restructured its leadership board after an internal investigation found that employees were lying to investors. Given that production of the FF 91 is about four years late; it's likely we shouldn't hold our breath for a timely release.
The Steam Deck will start shipping in the next few days and while there's no real shortage of games to play on it, Valve is adding another one to the mix. The company that created the portable gaming system has created a Portal spinoff called Aperture Desk Job.
In the free playable short, you'll take on the role of a product inspector at Aperture, the corporation at the center of the Half-Life and Portal games. Valve says "Desk Job walks you through the handheld’s controls and features, while not being nearly as boring as that sounds." It seems to be a demo for the Steam Deck's capabilities, similar to how Astro's Playroom shows off the PS5 DualSense controller.
If you haven't been able to secure a Steam Deck just yet, you'll still be able to play Aperture Desk Job on PC. However, it's a controller-only game, so don't expect to play it with a keyboard and mouse.
Meta might be rethinking plans to build a new operating system for its AR and VR devices. The Informationunderstands Meta recently disbanded a team of 300-plus people working on its long-in-the-making XROS. The team will reportedly share its experience with other parts of Meta. Some will move to the Project Aria AR glasses unit, while others will work on future Quest headsets and the "XR Tech" team responsible for eye tracking, hand tracking and other machine perception features.
Rumors surfaced in January that Meta had halted most or all work on XROS in favor of refining the Android-based VROS platform used in the Quest 2 headset. Meta appeared to deny the move in a statement to Engadget at the time, claiming that it was "not halting or scaling back" its reality OS development.
We've asked Meta for comment on this latest report. In a statement to The Information, spokesperson Sheeva Slovan didn't confirm or deny the state of XROS but did reference the disbanding. Meta could "speed up" work on technology for each product line by placing OS engineers "directly" into its AR and VR teams, she said, adding that the company was still devoted to making "highly specialized systems."
A decision like this might produce mixed results. While it could help Meta launch new AR and VR products that much faster, it would also keep the company tied to Android despite attempts to drop Google's software. If those are true, you might see more frequent but iterative headset releases than if Meta continued work on XROS.
NVIDIA's email systems and developer tools have reportedly been experiencing outages over the last two days due to a suspected cyberattack. The company told The Telegraph, which first reported on the issue, that it was "investigating an incident" and didn't have anything else to share for now.
The company is believed to be dealing with a "malicious network intrusion" that, in the words of one person with knowledge of the situation, "completely compromised" NVIDIA's internal systems. Some of its email services were said to be back online on Friday. It's not yet clear whether hackers obtained data on NVIDIA or its customers if this is actually a cyberattack.
There's currently no evidence tying the incident to Russia, following concerns it would retaliate against the West with cyberwarfare. The US and other nations slapped Russia with sanctions after it invaded Ukraine on Thursday, including a moratorium on exporting semiconductors to the country.
"We have no information to suggest a specific credible cyber threat against the US homeland, but it is our responsibility to be prepared," secretary of homeland security Alejandro Mayorkas said this week, before Russia commenced its military offensive.
Tumblr has reached a settlement with New York City’s Commission on Human Rights (CCHR) over how the social media platform handled its ban on adult content, which came into force in 2018. CCHR officials, which started an investigation soon after Tumblr announced the ban, claimed that the move disproportionately impacted LGBTQ+ users.
Under the settlement, which was first reported by The Verge, Tumblr will bring in an expert to review its moderation algorithms for potential bias. It will put its moderators through a diversity and inclusion training program, revise the appeals process. Tumblr will also re-assess around 3,000 old cases of successful user appeals against takedowns to look for indicators of bias.
Tumblr says that, since WordPress owner Automattic bought the service in 2019 from Verizon, it replaced the algorithm that was used to classify adult content. According to the agreement with CCHR, which didn't make a formal legal complaint, the new system can "more accurately classify images and data." The appeal process for images deemed to violate Tumblr's adult content ban has also been revamped. Human reviewers now review appeals and make the final calls.
Automattic's acquisition of Tumblr may have led to the deal being struck. The Verge notes that, under its current ownership, Tumblr has tried to make amends with LGBTQ+ users who left the platform in the wake of the ban. Even before Tumblr outlawed porn, the platform apologized after its Safe Mode filtered out LGBTQ+ posts that were not explicit.
Russia's invasion of Ukraine is now affecting technology trade shows. TechCrunch and Reuters report the GSMA will ban some Russian companies from exhibiting at Mobile World Congress 2022 when it starts February 28th. While the wireless industry association didn't say which companies were barred from attending, it said there would be no Russian Pavilion to showcase that country's mobile products.
There are no plans to cancel or delay MWC 2022 itself, GSMA chief John Hoffman told Reuters. However, the organization said on its website that it would honor all "sanctions and policies" targeting Russia. Some companies are on the sanctions list, Hoffmann added. The measures allow mobile devices, but only as long as they aren't sent to Russian government workers or affiliates.
Like with some trade shows, Russian companies like the carrier VimpelCom can buy dedicated show floor space that could give them a presence. The main ban will primarily affect those companies that were leaning on the Russian Pavilion for a presence.
The bans arrive as tech increasingly serves as a battleground for Russia and its Western opponents. Meta's Facebook and Twitter have respectively taken steps to protect Ukranians and those tracking Russian military movements. Russia, in turn, has limited access to Facebook in retaliation for actions restricting four Russian media outlets. Whether it wants to or not, the GSMA is embroiling itself in politics that could affect the mobile world at large.
Catch up on all of the news from MWC 2022 right here!
A lot of people are going to compare the Steam Deck to the Switch, and that’s totally fair, but after spending more than a week with Valve’s portable PC, I think there’s a better analogy at hand: The Steam Deck is what happens when the Vita and the Wii U get drunk on Linux and make a big baby together.
The Steam Deck combines Valve’s familiar PC storefront with some of the best ideas from these iconic, discontinued consoles, and packs all of it into a beefy bit of hardware. Just like Sony and Nintendo did all those years before, with the Steam Deck Valve is silently asking, does anyone need this?
The short answer is, no. But you’re still gonna want one.
When I unboxed the Steam Deck and got a good look at Valve’s handheld PC for the very first time, I laughed. I couldn’t help it, but this thing is seriously so large it’s funny. The Steam Deck is 11.7 inches long, 4.6 inches tall and 1.9 inches thick, and it weighs 1.5 pounds. For comparison, the Switch Lite and Vita each weigh about half a pound, while the Wii U gamepad weighs just over 1 pound.
Engadget
The Steam Deck’s heft affects how I interact with every game in my Steam library. I find myself holding the system low in my lap, often propping it up on my thighs and craning my neck down in order to play. After about an hour in this position, the muscles along the back of my head start to ache, and I’ve been calling this phenomenon Steam Deck neck. It’s easily remedied with some stretching and repositioning, but the Steam Deck always ends up back on my lap and the cycle of discomfort continues.
And then there’s the sheer size of the thing. Anyone with smaller-than-average hands, here’s where you need to listen up.
The Steam Deck is a full-size controller with a 7-inch LCD touchscreen in the middle; it has big, rounded grips, haptic trackpads on either side of the screen, and analog sticks and face buttons above those. Two bumpers line the top, with two triggers and four clickers on the back. At more than 4.5 inches tall, I’m unable to rest the Steam Deck on my palms while also reaching the top buttons with my thumbs, and even using the analog sticks is difficult in this position. I have to support the controller by clutching the grips about an inch above the bottom, straining my pinky fingers and encroaching on the back buttons in a way that renders them useless. It truly feels like my hands are too small for the Steam Deck.
Engadget
Each game uses a unique input method, and some titles cause more aching in my palms than others. Swapping rapidly among the right analog stick and face buttons, as in action games or shooters, tends to speed up my discomfort. But trackpad- and touchscreen-heavy games like Inscryption and World of Horror allow me to move my hands down or even just place the Steam Deck on a table, where I can tap away with my tiny fingers.
At the risk of narrowing my audience even more, I’d like to note that full-set manicures present a specific problem with the Steam Deck: The options tab is the perfect thumb-nail distance from the X button, and I’ve accidentally pressed it a handful of times while slaying demons in Devil May Cry 5. To all six of you who care, you’re welcome.
The ergonomics of the Steam Deck will vary with each user, and people with larger hands than mine will likely have a less crampy time. But I bet their palms will still get sweaty.
Engadget
The Steam Deck runs hot, but it’s never scalding to the touch — instead, it feels like all that heat is dispersed throughout the device, including in the controller grips. After about 30 minutes of playing any game, my palms get warm enough to start sweating, in a way that’s never happened with a DualSense or Xbox controller. The first time this happened, I blamed it on the pile of blankets I was buried under, but sweaty palm syndrome is a consistent occurrence with the Steam Deck. Additionally, the system fan regularly blows hot air from the top of the machine and this makes a noticeable amount of noise, though it’s nothing extreme. Noisewise, you’ll be fine pulling this baby out on public transportation. Sizewise, that’s your call.
Because of the sweaty palms, finger cramps and Steam Deck Neck, my play sessions max out at two hours. This isn’t terrible in terms of actual playtime, and it means I’ve never run into a battery issue with the Steam Deck. Valve says the system will get two to eight hours of life on a single charge, depending on what games you’re playing and their settings. This aligns with my experience — Devil May Cry 5 definitely sucks more juice out of the battery than World of Horror, as does playing above 30 fps and 50 percent brightness. To that end, there's an option to lock games at 30 fps and it's possible to adjust screen brightness at any time.
This review is based on the mid-tier Steam Deck with 256GB of NVMe SSD storage, priced at $530. There’s also a 512GB model with a high-speed SSD and anti-glare etched glass that costs $650, and a 64GB version that’s just $400. Aside from offering a dismal amount of storage space, the 64GB model uses much slower eMMC storage, and I haven’t seen what that looks like in person.
All versions of the Steam Deck have the same AMD APU, which shares a lot of DNA with the chips inside the PS5 and Xbox Series consoles, along with 16GB of fast RAM, a 40Whr battery and a 7-inch 800p 60Hz display. SteamOS runs the whole damn thing and it takes up 30GB on my mid-tier model, leaving it with 227GB free — so keep that calculation in mind, too. There is a high-speed microSD slot so players can expand their libraries and even play games directly off a card, but internal storage is definitely faster than this method.
Now, the games. The Steam Deck is technically a handheld PC, which means it can theoretically support every game in Valve’s library, though this isn’t the case out of the box. Some Steam titles are officially optimized for the system, while some are not supported at all, and others are functioning on pure hope. There are four optimization levels — Verified, Playable, Unsupported and Untested — and so far, roughly 10 percent of my library falls in the Verified category. Valve rolled out a website where players can see how their games will fare on the Steam Deck, and across the board, the bulk of these titles are falling under the Untested category.
There is a workaround here, if you're willing to put in the effort. The Steam Deck runs on a Linux-based operating system because that's very much Valve's thing, and this is the culprit behind the device's compatibility issues. While some games run natively, the majority utilize Valve's Proton compatibility layer to run Windows games. Proton has improved significantly over the years, but there are still a lot of issues, especially with online games that have aggressive anti-cheat solutions. If there's a specific game you're curious about, there are sites that collate user reports like ProtonDB which should give you an idea of how well something will run.
However, the Steam Deck is an open platform, and it's possible to install Windows on the system and boot up Steam from there, with all the compatibility of a standard PC. This isn't what the device was built to do, presenting a handful of UX concerns out of the gate, and more importantly, it's not how the majority of owners are going to use the Steam Deck. For most players, it'll be all about compatibility labels.
Engadget
I haven’t had a game-breaking issue with any Verified game on Steam Deck, and at worst, I’ve had to spend a few seconds adjusting framerate and brightness settings. In my experience, games labeled Playable generally perform well, though they often require a second glance at the control layout. Playing Inscryption, I was stuck on a scene for a few minutes before realizing I simply had to pull up the on-screen keyboard, which is accessible in the Quick Settings overlay at any time. A prompt appears before installing Playable games outlining their known issues on Steam Deck, like small font or mouse-and-keyboard icons, and it’s easy to make a decision about installing from there.
When it comes to Untested games, you’re on your own. This is the Steam Deck’s wild west, and I’ve seen it all from titles in this category: Artful Escape won’t even load past the developer logo; BPM plays fine but it’s visually blown out; Kentucky Route Zero runs beautifully.
Figuring out how to unbreak a partially supported title on Steam Deck is a game in itself. My advice: If there’s a title you desperately want to play without interruption or frustration, then don’t play it on Steam Deck unless it’s Verified. You’ll likely just be annoyed and disappointed and probably a little sad.
This also might happen when trying to pair Bluetooth devices with the Steam Deck. This process has been hit-and-miss for me — my Xbox controllers refuse to connect to the Steam Deck (no, they weren’t paired with another device at the time) and my Samsung Galaxy Buds don’t even show up as available. However, my new Marshall Bluetooth speaker connects to the Steam Deck without fuss.
Engadget
The device's USB-C port makes it possible to hook up a hub and connect a mouse, keyboard, display and ethernet cable, though I didn't try this out. The official Dock, which is designed just for this use case, won't come out until late spring and I'll give it a whirl then.
I tested a handful of familiar games on Steam Deck, including Hades, Celeste, Devil May Cry 5, Inscryption, Cuphead and World of Horror, and I wouldn’t say that it felt better to play any title on the handheld, rather than PC. However, the Steam Deck delivers something worthwhile: flexibility.
The Steam Deck allows me to step away from my desktop, where I spend all day working, and play my games somewhere I can fully relax. Sure, this is already possible through Steam Link, but the Steam Deck makes the process more luxurious. I’ve loved having one in the house, and truly, it couldn’t have come at a better time. I just moved and I don’t have a TV yet, so I haven’t been able to escape to my living room after work as usual. The Steam Deck has filled the void left vacant by my PS5 and Xbox Series S, allowing me to play on the couch at the end of the day — at least until my neck gets sore.
Engadget
The Steam Deck’s battery life is less of an issue than I thought it would be, largely because the way I use the machine is different than I first imagined. Initially, I figured the Steam Deck would be more like a Switch Lite, something to throw in my bag and take out into the world, a truly mobile version of my Steam library. But in practice, I use the Steam Deck more like a Wii U — it stays at home and I play it on the couch after work or in bed at night, never far from its charger or a sensible tabletop to rest it on.
The Steam Deck is a Frankenstein synthesis of a Wii U and a Vita, but with Valve’s DNA coursing through its cables. It’s a Steam Controller and a Steam Machine in one hefty package, and I’ve come to appreciate it for what it does best. The Steam Deck isn’t a mobile device to take on your everyday commute; it’s a Steam library extender, opening up new places to play around the house. I wouldn’t recommend the Steam Deck as an introduction to PC gaming, but for millions of existing Steam users, it’s worth the price of entry, even if you just play a few times a month, two hours at a time.
