Russian hackers keep trying to infiltrate Microsoft, the company revealed in a blog post. These hacks follow a similar incident from November of last year, in which state-sponsored agents obtained the emails of Microsoft’s senior level managers. An internal investigation led by Microsoft identified the hackers in both instances as a Russian group called Midnight Blizzard.

It looks like Midnight Blizzard has gotten bolder in its approach. Last year’s attack seemed to prioritize the collection of email addresses, but this most recent attack finds the group repeatedly attempting to breach the company’s systems and gain access to source code. Microsoft has filed an incident report with the U.S. Securities and Exchange Commission.

We don’t know exactly what these hackers want, but Microsoft said they are likely using email addresses acquired during November’s attack to help gain access to internal systems. Midnight Blizzard “may be using the information it has obtained to accumulate a picture of areas towhich led to a breach of government networks. attack and enhance its ability to do so,” the company wrote. I know one thing. They had better leave Clippy alone.

Midnight Blizzard is believed to work directly for Russia’s Foreign Intelligence Service (SVR) and is said to operate at the behest of Vladimir Putin. The group is likely behind 2016’s hack of the Democratic National Committee and 2020’s hack of the software company SolarWinds, which led to a breach of government networks. 

The little console that could, Playdate, is having its first sitewide games sale, just like its more-established rivals. Manufacturer Panic is holding the sale to celebrate the one-year anniversary of the online store, which is officially called the Playdate Catalog.

The discounts are noteworthy. If you happen to own a Playdate, you’ll find plenty to like here. The cute little synthesizer app Playmaker is on sale for $8, instead of $15, and the action RPG Under the Castle is on sale for $7, which is a discount of 30 percent. Many titles go much lower than this. The bizarre unicycle/coffee-acquisition sim A Balanced Brew is on sale for just $2 and the Adventure-esque dungeon crawler The Keyper is only a buck.

One of the key selling points of the Playdate is its abundance of indie games that you can’t play anywhere else, which this sale shows off in spades. However, there’s one big game missing from the sale. Lucas Pope’s Mars After Midnight doesn’t release until March 12, though the sale lasts until March 14, so maybe we’ll get a day-one discount.

For the uninitiated, the Playdate is a retro-styled portable console that resembles the original Nintendo Game Boy. It’s bright yellow and features a unique control mechanism in the form of a hand-powered crank. This crank is used in novel ways, like keeping the unicycler balanced in the aforementioned A Balanced Brew. It’s a gimmick, but a fun one.

Beyond the sale, new Playdate owners get 24 free games when purchasing the $200 console. These unlock on a week-by-week basis over 12 weeks. The console has technically been available for nearly two years, but there was an obscene waiting period as Panic worked to meet initial preorders. That’s gone now, so orders ship within a few days.

The iRobot Roomba 694 is back on sale for $180 via Amazon, which is a savings of 35 percent or $95. This isn’t the lowest price ever for the well-regarded robovac, but it’s darned close. There likely won’t be a price drop this stark until Prime Day or the holidays.

The Roomba 694 isn’t one of the company’s flagship models, but it’s still a highly efficient design that excels with standard cleaning tasks. As a matter of fact, this robovac topped our list of the best budget robot vacuums. We loved the handy mobile app that helps people plan routes, schedule cleanings and perform basic maintenance tasks. We also enjoyed the powerful suction, which makes short work of pet hair, dust and debris.

The 694 will return to the charging base on its own, which is always nice, and it runs anywhere from 45 to 90 minutes on a single charge, depending on the flooring. This is a no-frills vacuum, however, so there isn’t a mopping feature or a large debris tank. It’s also somewhat larger than many of its siblings, so it could struggle to get underneath certain items of furniture.

This is part of a larger Amazon sale on iRobot devices, with discounts on just about every model the company makes. For instance, the high-end iRobot Roomba Combo j5+ is on sale for $500, a discount of $300. This machine can both vacuum and mop, and it’ll even self-empty debris into the included container.

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Rivian officially revealed the R2 electric SUV during a livestream held Thursday afternoon. We knew the followup to the well-regarded R1 was coming, and we even got some leaked specs earlier this week, but now we’ve heard it from the electric horse’s mouth. The company also surprised view R3 and R3X, however, came as a complete surprise, harkening back to Steve Jobs and his famous "one more thing" conference enders. 

As previously suspected, the R2 is a compact SUV that looks quite fetching. All versions of the five-seat electric vehicle get at least 300 miles per charge, thanks to newly-designed 4695 cell and a much larger battery pack that makes up a large portion of the bottom floor. Owners will also get plenty of refueling options. It comes with a NACS chargeport, so it'll work with Tesla Superchargers. 

The R2 has plenty of get up and go, with three motor layouts to choose from. There's a standard single-motor rear-wheel drive model, a dual-motor all-wheel model with motors in both the front and back and the beastly tri-motor version, which features two motors in back and one in front. That last model can go from zero to 60 in three seconds, though the metric likely shrinks when considering the other two versions. 

There’s a robust infotainment center up front, though the layout of these digital elements are subject to change as we get closer to launch. Also up front? The R2 sports two gloveboxes, whereas the R1 line lacked even one. There's also two scroll wheels on the steering wheel, complete with dynamic haptic feedback. The car's self-driving features have gotten a major boost here, thanks to 11 cameras throughout and five radars, including a long-range front-facing radar. 

Prices start at $45,000 for the standard single-motor version, which is in line with what company CFO Claire McDonough has been promising. Though slightly smaller than the R1, the R2 is still pretty roomy. As previously stated, it fits five people and boasts an open-air design with quarter windows that pop out and a rear glass window that drops and opens. Seats on both rows fold flat, so owners should be able to transport longer-than-average gear like surfboards. 

Now, the bad news. Despite today’s reveal, the Rivian R2 isn’t slated for release until 2026. Additionally, Rivan itself has been experiencing some issues. The company announced back in February that it would be laying off 10 percent of its salaried employees and job cuts have already started. The EV maker laid off around 100 employees at its Normal, IL factory this week.

Ubisoft+ Classics is now available as a standalone subscription on PlayStation consoles. This is Ubisoft’s curated collection of its back catalog, letting PS4 and PS5 owners play Far Cry and Assassin’s Creed titles until the heat death of the universe. Subscribers can choose from more than 50 games going back more than a decade.

This isn’t a dumping ground for low-reviewed shovelware, as there are plenty of recent hits to choose from. Members can play the well-reviewed Assassin's Creed Valhalla, the squad shooter Rainbow Six Siege, the sidescrolling platformer Rayman Legends and the Giancarlo Esposito simulator Far Cry 6, among many others. All told, there are five Far Cry installments and a whopping 12 Assassin’s Creed games to pick from. The catalog also includes standalone titles like Immortals Fenyx Rising, Child of Light and Valiant Hearts: The Great War.

A subscription to Ubisoft+ Classics for PlayStation costs $8 per month on its own, though it’s still available as part of PlayStation Plus Extra and Premium. So this membership is for Ubisoft superfans who don’t want access to all of the other perks that a dedicated PS Plus membership provides. There must be a few people like that out there, right?

There’s also the Ubisoft+ Premium tier, which costs $18 per month. This pricier membership includes premium editions of the entire back catalog, in addition to day-one access to new releases, early access games, monthly rewards and more. Ubisoft+ Premium, however, is currently only available for Xbox, Amazon Luna and PC. 

There is, though, a multiplayer elephant in the room. Games like Rainbow Six Siege aren’t really any fun without other people, but it looks like an Ubisoft+ Classics subscription only provides access to the games and not any online multiplayer component. For that, gamers would have to pony up for a PS Plus membership, which eliminates any of the savings from opting for Ubisoft+ Classics instead of PlayStation Plus Extra or Premium. We reached out to Ubisoft for clarification on this matter. 

Capcom's Kunitsu-Gami: Path of the Goddess is coming out this year, according to today’s Xbox Partner Showcase. Capcom and Xbox dropped a new trailer today, which shows off more gameplay and more of the title’s unique Japanese folklore-inspired aesthetic. The game looks cool as heck.

Though there’s no concrete release date, Kunitsu-Gami: Path of the Goddess will be a day one Game Pass title for Xbox Series X|S and Windows. It’s also coming to PS5 and the Steam store.

This is a single-player action RPG with some time and resource management flourishes. During the day, you rescue and recruit villagers to your cause. Once the sun sets, you must juggle real-time action with strategic elements, as you decide how each villager will help you fight against a villainous horde called The Seethe.

Lead director Shuichi Kawata was also behind the well-reviewed Metroidvania Shinsekai: Into the Depths. Kawata says his team has been working on Kunitsu-Gami for four years and that they are excited “and maybe a little nervous” to have everyone finally get their hands on the game.

Capcom has compared Kunitsu-Gami’s aesthetic to previous titles with traditional Japanese themes, like the universally beloved Okami. The game was developed using its RE Engine, which was originally designed for Resident Evil 7: Biohazard.

Kunitsu-Gami: Path of the Goddess wasn’t the only news to come out of today’s Xbox Partner Showcase event. Final Fantasy XIV finally hits Xbox consoles on March 21 and an expansion pass for Persona 3: Reload will bring new missions to the JRPG later this year. 

Epic’s plan to launch its own iOS storefront in the EU could be in serious jeopardy. Apple terminated the company's developer account just one day after iOS 17.4 finally allowed for third-party app stores in Europe to comply with the Digital Markets Act (DMA). Epic says that, thanks to the ban, it "cannot develop the Epic Games Store for iOS" and called the move a "serious violation of the DMA." In other words, the biggest beef in tech continues.

The Fortnite developer published a blog post on the matter and shared a letter sent by Apple’s lawyers that called Epic Games “verifiably untrustworthy," suggesting the reason behind the ban was due to fear on Apple’s part that Epic would not comply with the contractual agreements inherent to obtaining a developer’s account. It’s worth noting that Apple granted Epic a developer’s account at the beginning of this year, so the company didn’t have any compliance fears back then.

So what changed? Epic Games CEO Tim Sweeney has been particularly vocal regarding Apple’s EU App Store changes, calling them “a devious new instance of malicious compliance.” Sweeney says that Apple technically complies with the DMA, but severely undercuts third-party app stores in a number of ways, calling it an “anticompetitive scheme rife with new junk fees on downloads and new Apple taxes on payments they don’t process.”

These claims aren't entirely without merit, although Sweeney and his company are far from disinterested parties."Third-party app stores must meet Apple’s Notarization requirements, with all of its tight rules regarding moderation, piracy, fraud and payment disputes. Apple has the right to shut down any app if it finds anything that skirts these rules. Additionally, developers must pay a Core Technology Fee once an app has been downloaded more than a million times, which breaks down to around 54 cents per install each year. Would-be developers must also share a letter from a top financial institution with proof it has access to at least $1.1 million in credit to handle potential financial disputes. There’s also a flat commission on every transaction, which ranges from 15 to 30 percent.

After Sweeney complained openly about the new app store rules, Apple’s Phil Schiller sent Epic Games an email on February 23 to ask for “written assurance” that the company would honor its commitments. “In plain, unqualified terms, please tell us why we should trust Epic this time,” the letter concludes.

Sweeney responded that “Epic and its subsidiaries are acting in good faith and will comply with all terms of current and future agreements with Apple, and we’ll be glad to provide Apple with any specific further assurances on the topic that you’d like.” This didn’t seem to satisfy Apple, as it went on to pull the developer’s account this week.

Epic responded that the move undermines its “ability to be a viable competitor” and that Apple’s “showing other developers what happens when you try to compete” or are “critical of their unfair practices.” The developer calls the ban a simple retaliation “against Epic for speaking out against Apple’s unfair and illegal practices.”

Apple has a different take on things. It laid the blame on “Epic’s egregious breach of its contractual obligations” in a statement published by 9to5Mac. The iPhone manufacturer went on to say it has “the right to terminate any or all of Epic Games’ wholly owned subsidiaries, affiliates, and/or other entities under Epic Games’ control at any time and at Apple’s sole discretion. In light of Epic’s past and ongoing behavior, Apple chose to exercise that right.”

Despite all of this bad blood, the developer still plans on bringing Fortnite to iOS, likely via an unaffiliated third-party storefront. It’s also bringing experimental support for the Unreal Engine to Apple Vision Pro.

Today’s development involves the DMA, a law that designates large companies as "gatekeepers" and specific services, like Apple's App Store, as "core platform services." The law forces these services to become interoperable with competing products to remain in compliance. This is why Apple’s allowing third-party app stores in the first place.

However, the bad blood between the two companies goes back years, long before the DMA was a glint in the EU's eye. Epic Games has been fighting against Apple’s developer transaction fee policy since 2020, taking an antitrust case all the way to the Supreme Court. California’s Ninth Circuit ruled in favor of Epic, stating that Apple had broken the state’s Unfair Competition law, though it stopped short of calling Apple a monopoly. SCOTUS declined to hear appeals from both Apple and Epic, so that’s where it stands right now. The Department of Justice, however, is reportedly considering its own antitrust case against Apple.

Microsoft engineer Shane Jones raised concerns about the safety of OpenAI’s DALL-E 3 back in January, suggesting the product has security vulnerabilities that make it easy to create violent or sexually explicit images. He also alleged that Microsoft’s legal team blocked his attempts to alert the public to the issue. Now, he has taken his complaint directly to the FTC, as reported by CNBC.

“I have repeatedly urged Microsoft to remove Copilot Designer from public use until better safeguards could be put in place,” Jones wrote in a letter to FTC Chair Lina Khan. He noted that Microsoft “refused that recommendation” so now he’s asking the company to add disclosures to the product to alert consumers to the alleged danger. Jones also wants the company to change the rating on the app to make sure it’s only for adult audiences. Copilot Designer’s Android app is currently rated “E for Everyone.”

Microsoft continues “to market the product to ‘Anyone. Anywhere. Any Device,’” he wrote, referring to a promotional slogan recently used by company CEO Satya Nadella. Jones penned a separate letter to the company’s board of directors, urging them to begin “an independent review of Microsoft’s responsible AI incident reporting processes.”

A sample image (a banana couch) generated by DALL-E 3 (OpenAI)

This all boils down to whether or not Microsoft's implementation of DALL-E 3 will create violent or sexual imagery, despite the guardrails put in place. Jones says it’s all too easy to “trick” the platform into making the grossest stuff imaginable. The engineer and red teamer says he regularly witnessed the software whip up unsavory images from innocuous prompts. The prompt “pro-choice," for instance, created images of demons feasting on infants and Darth Vader holding a drill to the head of a baby. The prompt “car accident” generated pictures of sexualized women, alongside violent depictions of automobile crashes. Other prompts created images of teens holding assault rifles, kids using drugs and pictures that ran afoul of copyright law.

These aren’t just allegations. CNBC was able to recreate just about every scenario that Jones called out using the standard version of the software. According to Jones, many consumers are encountering these issues, but Microsoft isn’t doing much about it. He alleges that the Copilot team receives more than 1,000 daily product feedback complaints, but that he’s been told there aren’t enough resources available to fully investigate and solve these problems.

“If this product starts spreading harmful, disturbing images globally, there’s no place to report it, no phone number to call and no way to escalate this to get it taken care of immediately,” he told CNBC.

OpenAI told Engadget back in January when Jones issued his first complaint that the prompting technique he shared “does not bypass security systems” and that the company has “developed robust image classifiers that steer the model away from generating harmful images.”

A Microsoft spokesperson added that the company has “established robust internal reporting channels to properly investigate and remediate any issues”, going on to say that Jones should “appropriately validate and test his concerns before escalating it publicly.” The company also said that it's “connecting with this colleague to address any remaining concerns he may have.” However, that was in January, so it looks like Jones’ remaining concerns were not properly addressed. We reached out to both companies for an updated statement. 

This is happening just after Google’s Gemini chatbot encountered its own image generation controversy. The bot was found to be making historically inaccurate images, like Native American Catholic Popes. Google disabled the image generation platform while it continues to work on a fix.

Samsung’s 32-inch M80C smart monitor is on sale for $400, down from $700. This $300 discount represents a savings of 43 percent and ties the lowest price ever recorded for the display.

The M80C is both a regular 4K computer monitor and a standalone streaming box, with native support for apps like Prime Video, Netflix and Disney+, among others. It also provides access to Samsung’s proprietary TV Plus service, with its selection of free live and on-demand programming.

Samsung’s monitor integrates with some of the biggest on-demand gaming platforms, including Xbox Cloud Gaming and NVIDIA GeForce Now. The 60Hz refresh rate won’t break any speed records, but should allow for fairly smooth gameplay. 

Beyond entertainment, the M80C offers some built-in productivity tools. There’s standalone access to Microsoft Office 365 and a tool that remotely connects to a PC or a Samsung mobile device, with no cables required. The integrated camera can even handle work meetings and the like. The line between computer monitor and entry-level PC continues to blur.

All of the above features can be controlled via the included remote or by using Alexa-assisted voice commands. This deal is for the white model and is available from both Amazon and Samsung. 

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The deadline for compliance with the European Union’s Digital Markets Act (DMA) is this Thursday and Google just dropped a document outlining exactly what changes it has made (or will make) to keep up with the law. These 20+ adjustments vary in scope, and impact search users, advertisers and third-party app developers.

One of the big search changes will be the inclusion of price comparison results from external aggregators when looking up things like flights or hotels. For example, searching Google for a one-way to Paris typically pulls up a module called the Google Flights unit — that's the company's own internal pricing aggregator. Competitor aggregators, like Kayak and Tripadvisor have been vocally displeased to have Google stomping around in their backyard for over a decade. In the EU at least, starting Thursday, these sorts of results will now show some results from these aggregators alongside Google's own Flights results.

Android users are getting an easier way to switch out the search engine or browser, so as to not prioritize Google's products above others. These choice screens appear when you set up the device for the first time, in the settings and at various intervals during use. The company's already been doing this since 2021, but now there will be more choice screens to choose from. Google says this option is also coming to desktop Chrome users and iOS users in the near future.

Digital consent for advertising is a major part of the DMA. Google users will now have to opt into sharing data across the company’s various services for the purpose of personalized advertising. This is done via the settings page. Additionally, users may encounter consent banners while browsing, which will ask if they want to link data across Google services.

The DMA requires app stores to offer alternative billing systems for in-app purchases. To comply, Google recently launched user-choice billing (UCB) as an option for developers to offer their own billing systems. This program is expanding to game developers this week. Of course, Android devices could always run third-party apps with their own billing systems, but now they'll be easier to implement.

Google has said that as part of its DMA compliance it will begin to provide advertisers with "some additional data, which is shared in a way that protects user privacy and customers’ commercially-sensitive information." We've reached out to the company for any information on what that data might be. On Thursday, the company will also be launching its Data Portability API so that users can move their data off Google's products more easily.

Of course, Google couldn’t help but drop a bit of shade in its compliance announcement, telling users that “some of the features that we have developed to help people get things done quickly and securely online — like providing recommendations across different products — won't work in the same way anymore.” Daddy corporation knows best.