If you prefer to support independent artists by buying their music instead of streaming it, today might be a good day to pick up some albums because Bandcamp Fridays are back. Since March 2020, around the time the COVID-19 pandemic took hold, Bandcamp has often run a day-long event on which it doesn't charge commission fees.

Bandcamp hasn't run the event every month and there were concerns that Bandcamp Fridays might no longer happen after Epic Games bought the marketplace earlier this year. But, at least for the next few months, Bandcamp Fridays will be a thing again. Bandcamp confirmed it will run the event on October 7th, November 4th and December 2nd, as well as today.

More than 800,000 music lovers have taken part in Bandcamp Fridays so far. As a result of the 21 events to date, the platform says it has paid out over $78 million to artists and labels. After payment processor fees, artists and labels get around 93 percent of a fan's money. Bandcamp says that on every other day, artists and labels get around 82 percent after it takes a cut.

The Game of Thrones finale was never going to please everyone, but the consensus is that the final season had a lot of flaws. As such, it's totally understandable if you're reluctant to sign up to HBO Max just to catch the new spin-off show, House of the Dragon. You now won't have to pay anything to get a proper taste of the series and see if it might be for you, as HBO has dropped the first episode on YouTube for free.

The premiere sets the table for a story that's set 200 years before the events of Game of Thrones (which is now streaming in 4K HDR on HBO Max). House of the Dragon focuses on House Targaryen, which means there are lots of people with white hair. Oh, and dragons.

While we can't embed the video here to an age restriction setting (this is very much not a family-friendly show), you can head over to YouTube to watch the episode. It's worth noting it appears to be geo-restricted to the US. Meanwhile, if you're looking for a different flavor of high-budget fantasy, the first episodes of The Lord of the Rings: The Rings of Power just hit Amazon Prime.

Samsung has disclosed another cybersecurity incident. While an intrusion earlier this year led to hackers getting their hands on Galaxy source code, this time around, attackers obtained some customers' personal information.

The company says that Social Security numbers, as well as credit and debit card numbers, were not accessed. However, the event "may have affected information such as name, contact and demographic information, date of birth and product registration information." It hasn't revealed how many people may have been affected. The company is notifying some customers directly via email.

Samsung says someone gained unauthorized access to its systems in late July. It determined in early August that the attacker had obtained customer data, but consumer devices weren't affected. The company said it has taken steps to secure its systems and that it brought in a third-party cybersecurity firm. It's also in communication with law enforcement.

In an FAQ, Samsung said it's not necessary for customers to take immediate action based on what it has learned so far in its investigation. Still, it suggested that people exercise caution if they receive unsolicited emails and to review their accounts for signs of suspicious activity.

"We are committed to protecting the security and privacy of our customers," Samsung said. "We will continue to work diligently to develop and implement immediate and longer-term next steps to further enhance the security across our systems."

An eBay listing popped up this week that likely has game console collectors salivating. Someone based in France is selling more than 2,200 consoles, including as many models, color variants and special editions as they could get their hands on. The asking price for this slice of gaming history? €984,000, or just a hair under $1 million.

Per Google Translate, the seller, who goes by Kaori30, says the collection covers 50 years of gaming history. It includes console variants that were only offered through contests. Along with the consoles, the listing (by way of Kotaku) includes a few hundred games, some statues and other collectibles.

Kaori30/eBay

Kaori30 says they started the collection in the early '90s, but sold everything they had acquired a few years later. They started snapping up consoles again later that decade and stopped in 2011 due to a lack of time and how difficult it was to find rarer pieces. After a visit to Japan in 2018, they reignited their passion and were able to get back almost everything they sold, as well as a bunch more consoles.

The collector estimates that there are between 200 and 300 items that aren't available anywhere else, which makes this a one-of-a-kind collection. The listing details many, if not all, of the Nintendo items in the trove (including at least 20 Nintendo 64 variants). Still, Kaori30, who has a perfect positive feedback score on eBay, promises that the lot has "everything," including Sega and Neo Geo consoles. A glance at photos the seller provided reveals that they're also offering many other devices, including PlayStation, Xbox and TurboGrafx hardware and even an Ouya. Some old videos also offer a closer look at many of the items.

Kaori30 is only offering delivery in France. So, if you're a well-off gaming enthusiast living elsewhere and you want to snag this vast collection, you'll need to figure out shipping too.

As if multipledocumentaries, podcasts and books weren't enough to tell the tale of last year's GameStop stock squeeze, a feature film about the saga is in the works. Seth Rogen (aka Donkey Kong), Pete Davidson, Sebastian Stan and Paul Dano will star in Dumb Money, which starts filming this month, according to Variety.

Craig Gillespie (Pam & Tommy, Cruella) will direct the film, which is based on the nonfiction book The Antisocial Network by Ben Mezrich. It will focus on the Redditors at the heart of the story. If you recall, a group of users banded together on the r/WallStreetBets subreddit to artificially send GameStop stock soaring. Hedge funds and short sellers felt the brunt of the squeeze, with at least one hedge fund closing shop as a result. The situation even caught the attention of Congress amid calls for stricter regulation of the stock market.

Apple's big annual iPhone event is only a few days away and we'll soon find out exactly what the company has up its sleeve. In the meantime, the rumor mill is still churning away. The latest word on the street concerns the dual hole-punch cutouts that the iPhone 14 Pro is expected to have.

According to 9to5Mac and MacRumors (with corroboration from Bloomberg's Mark Gurman), Apple will fill the gap between the cutouts with a blacked-out area of the screen, making it appear to be a single "wide pill-shaped cutout." Also interesting is what Apple seemingly plans to do with that section of the display.

The reports suggest iPhone 14 Pro will move the privacy indicators for the camera and microphone to that gap. Instead of showing a small orange dot in the top-right corner when the microphone is in use and a green dot when the camera is active, these indicators will apparently have more prominence between the cutouts.

Per 9to5Mac, Apple's thinking is to make the indicators look more like they do on MacBook, which shows a green indicator whenever an app is using the camera. On top of that, the iPhone 14 Pro would be able to show privacy indicators for the camera and microphone simultaneously — on current models, if both are in use, only a green dot is displayed. Additionally, it seems you'll be able to tap on the privacy indicators to see which apps are using the mic and camera.

Meanwhile, Apple may be redesigning the Camera app to position more controls at the top of the screen — namely the flash and Live Photo buttons. More photo and video settings might appear below the hole-punch cutouts. These changes aren't set in stone, according to 9to5Mac, which may be a good thing, as folks may not want to cover most of the display with their hand while they adjust photo and video settings.

343 Industries had a mixed bag of news for Halo Infinite players with the reveal of its latest roadmap. The long-awaited couch co-op mode for the campaign, a staple of the Halo series, is no longer happening. Head of creative Joseph Staten said in a developer update video that "we have had to make the difficult decision not to ship campaign split-screen co-op." The studio made the call in order shift resources to other priorities, including "experiences we're not quite ready to talk about yet."

It's a blow for those who enjoy split-screen co-op. While that experience is still available in some titles — such as Fortnite, Minecraft, Rocket League and It Takes Two — it doesn't seem as common compared to the games of yesteryear.

There was another Halo Infinite disappointment, as 343 revealed that season 3 won't start in November after all. The studio has delayed that until March, meaning that season 2 will run for over 10 months.

On the plus side, 343 will add the online campaign co-op mode as part of a winter update on November 8th. A mission replay option will be available too. Another boon for players is the fact the long-delayed Forge custom game mode will go live with the update. While Forge will be in open beta at first, 343 has said that it will be available persistently. That should help to open up the game and give players much more to do.

In addition, 343 will add two new maps on November 8th, as well as a free 30-tier battle pass and a game mode called Covert One Flag. The Match XP beta will be another welcome addition. While 343 didn't elaborate on what that entails, it seems likely that you'll be able to make faster battle pass progress beyond only gaining XP for completing specific challenges.

Looking further ahead, 343 Industries is planning to introduce new arena and Big Team Battle maps on March 7th, when season 3 begins. Other planned updates include a piece of equipment called Shroud Screen, in-game reporting tools, a Forge custom game browser, more game modes and fresh events.

Amazon lockers are already supposed to fend off package thieves, but some now perhaps have an extra layer of security. Washington DC is the first city in the US to test Amazon lockers at police stations. This week, Metropolitan Police Department installed the lockers at two sites in the city. The department and Amazon plan to position lockers at more stations if the pilot goes well, according to Washingtonian.

On the surface, it's a logical move to vex porch pirates. It's unlikely that anyone would try pinching a package from a police station. It's a little odd to imagine someone being released from custody only to pick up a package before they leave a police station.

Amazon already has several ties to law enforcement agencies. Earlier this summer, it emerged that the company has given police footage from Ring cameras on at least 11 occasions without a court order or user consent. Law enforcement was also able to use Amazon's facial recognition tech for a time. The company enacted a one-year ban on police use of Rekognition in 2020, and it extended that measure indefinitely last year.

We've known for a while that Sennheiser had a less expensive version of its Ambeo soundbar in the works, and the company took the opportunity at IFA 2022 to reveal the device. The Ambeo Soundbar Plus will run you $1,500, which is $1,000 less than the original Ambeo soundbar but it retains much of the same tech. That should help Sennheiser compete with soundbars from the likes of Sony.

Sennheiser claims its latest offering is the first 7.1.4. standalone soundbar, noting that it's more compact than the previous model (now called the Ambeo Soundbar Max). It has the same 3D sound as the first version, along with a self-calibration mode. Sennheiser says the Soundbar Plus will be able to analyze a room's acoustics to position several virtual speakers.

Sennheiser

The device supports several 3D audio standards, such as Dolby Atmos, DTS:X, Sony's 360 Reality Audio and MPEG-H Audio. Sennheiser says it's possible to upmix stereo and 5.1 content to deliver 3D audio experiences. Ambeo Soundbar Plus supports several music streaming platforms and protocols, including Apple AirPlay 2, Spotify Connect and Tidal Connect. The device is compatible with Siri, Alexa and Google Assistant too.

In addition, Sennheiser announced the Ambeo Sub, which also uses virtualization and self-calibration tech. It says the speaker's deep bass stays at audiophile-grade down to 27Hz. The sub has an eight-inch proprietary woofer and a 350W class-D amplifier. You'll be able to connect as many as four subwoofers wirelessly and calibrate them individually.

Pre-orders for the Ambeo Soundbar Plus open today. It will ship on September 22nd. The same timeline applies to the Ambeo Sub, which costs $700.​

Sennheiser

The legislative arm of the European Union has proposed new rules for mobile phone and tablet reparability. It says manufacturers should make at least 15 components available for at least five years after they release a new phone in the EU. Within that timespan, consumers would be able to replace parts such as batteries, displays, chargers, back covers and SIM and memory card trays, as The Verge notes.

The European Commission is also eyeing improvements to battery durability. It says that phone and tablet batteries should be able to endure at least 500 full charges before dropping below 83 percent of their capacity. Under the proposed regulations, phones would need to have a label detailing information like battery endurance, as well as drop and water resistance ratings.

The idea, as the Financial Times points out, is to reduce e-waste and the environmental impacts of phones and tables. According to a study, increasing smartphone life cycles by five years would equate to taking around 5 million cars off of roads in terms of emissions. The proposal suggests that making phones and tablets more recyclable and repairable would reduce energy consumption costs associated with their manufacture and use by a third.

Smartphone makers have hit back against some elements of the rules by claiming that greater availability of parts will increase plastic consumption. "A potential overproduction, subsequent warehousing and destruction of spare parts will naturally result in wasted resources, reduced material efficiency and negative economic value ultimately resulting in higher costs for the consumer,” Digital Europe, an organization that represents tech companies and trade groups, said.

Nevertheless, some phone manufacturers are attempting to get ahead of such regulations by offering consumers components and tools to self-repair their devices. Apple, Google and Samsung have all started selling parts for phones and other products.

The proposed rules would also impact software updates. Manufacturers would need to keep providing security updates for five years after they stop selling a device and provide functionality updates for at least three years.

Back in June, the EC announced a directive for USB-C to become the charging standard for most electronic devices, including all phones, by fall 2024. Some tech companies had long opposed such a move, particularly Apple, which uses the proprietary Lightning charger for many of its portable devices.