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All MGM Resorts hotels and casinos are back up and running as normal, nine days after a cyberattack shut down systems across the company, the company said in an X post on Wednesday. MGM Rewards accounts will be updated "at a later date," and some promotional offers could still be unavailable. This is the biggest system wide restoration the company has experienced since websites went offline, slot machines went down and some transactions became cash only on September 11. 

The ALPHV ransomware group took credit for the attack shortly after systems went offline. The group claimed it used social engineering tactics, or gaining trust from employees to get information, to access systems. Once a group gains access, they usually demand a sum of money in exchange for access or information. 

After the MGM attack went public, reports started surfacing that competitor Caesars Entertainment, which also owns casinos across the Las Vegas strip, recently suffered a similar attack. But unlike MGM, Caesars reportedly paid "tens of millions of dollars" to the hackers that threatened to release company data to avoid damage. Another ransomware group, Scattered Spider, took credit for that attack. Scattered Spider also took credit for the MGM attack, but responsibility is notoriously difficult to verify without security researchers because hackers are motivated to claim as much damage as they can. 

The attacks both started through identity management vendor Okta. MGM and Caesars both use the service, and the company confirmed hackers were able to use its tech as an access vector. The full extent of the damage remains unclear. At least three other Okta clients have been hit by cyberattacks, David Bradbury, chief security officer of the company, told Reuters. 

MGM did not respond to a request for comment on any data leak implications possibly stemming from the attack or whether backend systems such as employee accounts are back up and running. 

One of the biggest announcements at today's AI-filled Amazon event is the all-new Echo Show 8. The company has refreshed the design with edge-to-edge glass up front and softer curves for a more refined look overall. While the aesthetics have changed for the better, most of the interesting stuff is on the inside. That includes updated internals to enable faster responses from Alexa and Adaptive Content based on your proximity to the device. 

Amazon has also outfitted the new Echo Show 8 with spatial audio and room calibration, specifically citing improvements to clarity and bass. In Amazon's busy demo area, I wasn't able to experience this first hand, but even a marginal upgrade over previous Amazon smart displays would be a welcome change. I also wasn't able to test the quicker Alexa experience due to the noise in the room, but the company says a new processor handles those requests on-device. This should lead to 40 percent faster responses to Alexa commands and queries. 

There's also an upgraded 13-megapixel camera up front and microphones that are better equipped to cut down background noise. Up top, meanwhile, volume controls and the ability to disable both the camera and the microphone are dedicated buttons along the edge of the device.

The main feature I was able to try today is the Adaptive Content. Arguably one of the biggest changes to the Echo Show 8, this feature changes what's on the display based on how far you are away from it. So when you're sitting across the room, the device will show you time and weather info, or even a short news headline, that's large enough to be read from a distance. Move closer and content becomes more detailed and personalized, surfacing a playlist or additional news articles. 

While this was tough to accurately test in a crowded space, I still got an overall sense for how it works and how the UI changes. Indeed, the proximity tweaks will make the device more useful and informative without you touching it, and showing you stuff you'll actually want to see. Plus, the Echo Show 8 can pull up shortcuts to your most-used widgets for faster access. 

Amazon says the Adaptive Content feature will be available on second- and third-gen Echo Show 8 next month. It's coming to other Echo Show devices later this year. The third-gen model costs $150 and starting shipping next month.

Follow all of the news live from Amazon’s 2023 Devices event right here.

With Amazon pushing further and further into smart home integration, during a press event on Wednesday the company announced a new device designed to manage all the various devices in your house called the Echo Hub. 

Instead of being a traditional tablet or a portable smart display, the $180 Echo Hub is an eight-inch display meant to be mounted on a wall. Just like an Alexa-powered smart speaker, users can control connected devices using their voice while also being able to view live feeds from security cameras and toggle settings via a customizable dashboard. The Echo Hub was also designed to support Amazon's upcoming Map View UI, which will be added to the device sometime in early 2024. 

The Echo Hub includes support for all the major smart home protocols including Matter and Thread. And while by default it relies on Wi-Fi, there will also be an optional USB-C adapter that allows it to connect to power-over-ethernet routers like those from Eero. 

This story is still developing...

Follow all of the news live from Amazon’s 2023 Devices event right here.

During its fall hardware event on Wednesday, Amazon showed off a new way for folks to control all of their compatible smart home products. It's called Map View and it will first be available on select phones in the US later this year.

You'll be able to create a digital floor plan of your home using your phone. Map View will display all the devices you add to it. Rather than using Alexa or another app to manage a device, you can see its location in your home and tap on it to switch on a light, bump up the volume of an Echo speaker or change the temperature. It looks like a fairly straightforward and intuitive user interface.

Amazon says it's an opt-in experience — you'll have control over which rooms of your home to add to the floor plan and which devices to include. You can delete your floor plan at any time soon.

On a related note, Amazon is attempting to buy iRobot. Several Roomba devices are capable of mapping out your home to help with cleaning them. It's not difficult to imagine how that might integrate into Map View.

Follow all of the news live from Amazon’s 2023 Devices event right here.

During this morning's Amazon hardware event, the tech giant announced a slate of devices and software updates to the Fire TV line. Brand new to the lineage is the Fire TV Soundbar.

The Fire TV Soundbar is "Bluetooth enabled, simple to set up and compatible with all Fire TV streaming products and TVs," according to Daniel Rausch, Amazon's VP of Alexa and Fire TV. It's is available starting today for sale today at a $120 price point.

Rausch also announced a minor refresh of the ubiquitous Fire TV line of streaming sticks. The new 4K Max, which is now nearly two years old, received a 0.2GHz bump in processing power and an upgrade from WiFi 6 to WiFi 6E. There's some other niceties as well, including support for HDR, HDR10+, Dolby Atmos and Dolby Vision. The new Fire TV 4K Max is up for preorder now for $60, and will begin shipping to customers on September 27th. The standard model Fire TV stick also gets a bump in processing power, 4K support and WiFi 6. Preorders for that also start today (though Amazon has not yet confirmed a ship date), and it'll run a slightly cheaper $50. Purchases of new Fire sticks and TVs will now also come with six free months of the MGM+ streaming service. 

Given the focus on AI and large language models (LLM) throughout Amazon's hardware presentation, it was a foregone conclusion some aspect of those buzzy product categories would be finagled into the Fire lineup. Forthcoming improvements to the Alexa voice search feature will draw from Amazon's LLM (as well as data on IMDB, which Amazon bought in 1998) to supposedly understand nuanced questions about what to watch, and supply relevant recommendations. These recommendations will also, according to Rausch's demo of the feature, be personalized to individual user profiles. The new voice search functionality will arrive via an over-the-air update later this year.

This is a developing story. Please check back for updates.

Follow all of the news live from Amazon’s 2023 Devices event right here.

Amazon announced Eero Max 7, the WiFi device that combines a router, a range extender and a repeater, at its devices event on Wednesday. The device promises 10 gigabit Ethernet connections, with speeds that let users download a 4K movie in just 10 seconds, according to Amazon. It'll cost $599.99.

"It’ll be great for large homes or high-demand networks, and businesses with densely packed devices where multiple applications are being run," Mimi Swain, vice president of Ring, said at the event. 

Eero devices can be connected to each other to create a mesh network, or a WiFi setup that spreads the system across multiple points for better range and performance. Amazon calls the Eero Max 7 its fastest yet.

Amazon acquired Eero in 2019 as a part of its connected devices strategy. Most notably, Amazon connected Eero to its Echo Dot speakers double as Eero WiFi extenders.

Follow all of the news live from Amazon’s 2023 Devices event right here.

This is a developing story. Please check back for updates.

Amazon’s smart glasses are getting their first significant update in more than two years. The latest version of the Echo Frames will ship with a longer battery life and redesigned audio experience, along with several new colors and styles.

The new Echo Frames can squeeze up to six hours of media playback on one charge. They also come in several new styles for both glasses and sunglasses, including two new looks from eyewear maker Carrera (the Carrera styles will be sold as “Carrera Smart Glasses.”)

Amazon

The Alexa-enabled glasses will also come with better audio than their predecessors. Amazon says the new frames have “more balanced sound, better audio clarity, and less distortion.” The glasses also come with better onboard speech processing so the glasses can more reliably detect the wake word in varied conditions, like wind and noisy rooms.

All of the new Echo Frame will cost $269.99. The company didn’t say when they would go on sale, but people can sign up now for notifications about pre-orders.

Developing...

Amazon has used today’s hardware event to go all-in on Alexa’s new LLM-infused capabilities, touting how easy it’ll soon be to have a natural sounding conversation with the bot. This also extends to kids, as the company just announced Explore With Alexa. This is a pared-down and kid-friendly version of the updated chatbot that specializes in topics like animals and nature. It’ll even play trivia games with your tykes and disperse daily fun facts.

Of course, this is for kids, so the tech has been developed with guard rails to protect them from the more sinister parts of the Internet. Amazon says Explore With Alexa will launch at some point before the holidays and will eventually extend beyond the pre-approved topics of animal and nature.

To accompany this new Alexa technology, there are some forthcoming kid-friendly devices. The Echo Pop Kids is a smart speaker designed for the younger members of your family. It ships in two SKUs that fall along typically accepted notions of gender. There’s an Avengers one and a Disney princess one. The Avengers one specializes in conversational tidbits about Earth’s mightiest heroes and the Disney princess model specializes in Mulan, Cinderella and the like. The Echo Pop Kids releases next month for $50 and includes six free months of Amazon’s Kids+ subscription service. Preorders start today.

Amazon

There’s also a pair of forthcoming tablets. The new Fire Kids tablet is aimed at younger children and the Fire Kids Pro is being marketed to older kids. These are 10-inch tablets that are 25-percent faster than the previous generation, with 1080p FHD screens, 3GB of RAM and access to specialized kid-centric apps. Each tablet costs $190 and ships with a year of Amazon’s Kids+ subscription service. You also get a two-year warranty out of the box that covers the kind of accidental mishaps that parents deal with every single day. Preorders start today and shipments begin next month.

Both tablets boast access to the company’s new Play Together feature that gives kids access to online multiplayer titles, like checkers, and an app called Music Maker. This experience lets children become “composers, blending instruments and other sound effects together, to create a unique composition with the help of AI, all through touch.”

Follow all of the news live from Amazon’s 2023 Devices event right here.

“Bird’s Eye View” is the romantic name Ring gives to its use of radar to track a person’s path across a camera’s field of vision. It’s available on the Video Doorbell 2, Floodlight Cam Pro and Spotlight Cam Pro, and now it’s coming to the new Stick Up Cam Pro. Like its peers, the new unit will be able to monitor where your visitors are going, and the route they took to get there. Plus, you’ll be able to set more discrete motion alerts, sparing you the pain of having an alert whenever a shadow is cast across your camera.

The new Stick Up Cam Pro is, like its less-powerful sibling, weather-resistant, small and sleek, so you can put it in any location you may need. It offers HDR video, color night vision and a pair of microphones for clearer audio, as well as two-way talk and a built-in siren. And users will have the usual choice of how to power the device; Solar, Battery or wired in, giving you another layer of flexibility. Plus, it’ll work seamlessly with the rest of Ring’s suite of products to give you a home security system tailored to your specific needs.

At the same time, Ring also wants to talk about Ring Routines, which will let you activate and deactivate Alexa routines that integrate with your cameras. These will, naturally, develop over time, letting you set routines like activating your home’s lights when someone rings the bell at night.

Ring Stick Up Cam Pro is available to pre-order today, for $180 for battery and plug-in, while the solar version will set you back $210. Shipping begins October 18.

Follow all of the news live from Amazon’s 2023 Devices event right here.

It’s been less than a month since Blink, Amazon’s other security camera company, released the Outdoor 4. Now, as part of Amazon’s annual fall showcase, we’re getting a trio of accessories to help the camera travel further and do more when it gets there.

First on the list is the Sync Module Pro, which lets you place your Outdoor 4 further from your home’s wireless network. The company says you can install a camera in “the furthest corner of your property” without worrying about range, but hasn’t yet shared real-world measurements. Maybe those figures haven’t been finalized yet, since the hardware isn’t expected to be available until the start of 2024, when it’ll cost you $50.

There’s a new floodlight mount for the Outdoor 4 that, much like its predecessor, will enable you to temporarily banish the darkness with some motion-activated LEDs. Blink says it’ll last for two years on a charge, based on “default settings” which you’ll probably want to change. That’s available for pre-order today, priced at $160, with shipping due to start on October 17.

Blink

And to round off the trio, there’s a new battery pack that, Blink says, will double the Outdoor 4’s life on a single charge. With more power, you can also be a bit less frugal about the notifications you can set up, letting you talk more, record more and generally have a better experience overall. The price for such freedom is $30, and will also begin shipping on October 17.

Follow all of the news live from Amazon’s 2023 Devices event right here.