For the third time in its short history, OnePlus finds itself embroiled in a controversy over the performance of its phones. This week, AnandTech published a report in which it said it found the OnePlus 9 Pro and OnePlus 9 throttle the capabilities of their Snapdragon 888 processors when running popular apps like Chrome, Twitter and WhatsApp. AnandTech wasn't able to sus out a complete list of all the applications where the two phones limit their CPU output, but what's notable about the outlet's findings is that the OnePlus 9 Pro and OnePlus 9 don't throttle any benchmarking tools.

After AnandTech published its report, GeekBench, one of the more popular tools for benchmarking, completed a separate investigation and went on to delist the OnePlus 9 and OnePlus 9 Pro from its charts. "It's disappointing to see OnePlus handsets making performance decisions based on application identifiers rather than application behavior," the company said. "We view this as a form of benchmark manipulation."

OnePlus has since responded to the report. It toldXDA Developers it tweaked the behavior of the OnePlus 9 Pro and OnePlus 9 in response to complaints people had about the battery life.

Our top priority is always delivering a great user experience with our products, based in part on acting quickly on important user feedback. Following the launch of the OnePlus 9 and 9 Pro in March, some users told us about some areas where we could improve the devices' battery life and heat management. As a result of this feedback, our R&D team has been working over the past few months to optimize the devices' performance when using many of the most popular apps, including Chrome, by matching the app's processor requirements with the most appropriate power. This has helped to provide a smooth experience while reducing power consumption. While this may impact the devices' performance in some benchmarking apps, our focus as always is to do what we can to improve the performance of the device for our users.

If you've been following OnePlus for a while, you'll know the company is no stranger to this type of controversy. Back in the days of the OnePlus 3T, the company included code in OxygenOS that would artificially boost the clock speeds of the phone's Snapdragon processor when running certain benchmark apps. XDA caught the company doing something similar with the OnePlus 5.

On the face of things, the situation here is different. OnePlus is throttling the OnePlus 9 Pro and OnePlus 9 to save on battery life. And while most people won't notice unless they have another Snapdragon 888 device next to their phone, the company was still mispresenting the capabilities of those devices based on the fact they it throttle benchmarking apps.

Amazon made its Lumberyard game engine free to use from the outset, but it's now opening development of the technology to everyone, too. GamesBeatreports that Amazon has made Lumberyard an open source project, rebranding it as the Open 3D Engine. The Linux Foundation will manage the project and form an Open 3D Foundation to foster development. Amazon is a founding member alongside tech heavyweights like Adobe, Huawei, Niantic and Red Hat.

While the original Lumberyard was based on the Crytek engine, the version you'll get as Open 3D Engine was rewritten and is free of possible patent headaches, according to Amazon. It also boasts a new, more photorealistic renderer as well as many of the other tools you'd need to build a game or simulation, including an animation system, a content editor and visual scripting.

This is relatively untouched ground for developers. They don't always have to pay for engines, but they rarely have full freedom to modify the code for their own ends — and those that do often keep the modifications for themselves. Open 3D Engine not only allows extensive customization, but will encourage creators to contribute to the wider community. That theoretically strengthens the technology and helps it move faster than commercial tech like Unreal Engine and Unity.

There is a financial incentive for Amazon, though — open source may be its best chance at fostering growth. Amazon hasn't had much success with in-house games built on Lumberyard, having cancelled Crucible and delayed New World. The shift to Open 3D Engine could spur adoption and encourage studios to use AWS, Twitch and other services that hook into the platform. Amazon could reap the rewards of Open 3D Engine even if its dreams of becoming a AAA game creator never come to pass.

Apple's colorful new iMac may be too flashy for some, and those people should look to the Mac Mini M1 for a similarly powerful desktop experience. Normally starting at $700, the Mac Mini M1 has been discounted to $659 at Amazon — but an automatically applied coupon knocks the price down even further to $600. That gets you Apple's latest M1 chipset along with 8GB of RAM and 256GB of storage.

Buy Mac Mini M1 at Amazon - $600

The Mac Mini is a great option if you want to customize your desktop experience to a certain extent. You don't get a 4.5K Retina Display like you do with the latest iMacs, but that's not a huge deal if you have a monitor that you already love — plus your preferred keyboard and mouse setup as well.

Aside from its compact size, this Mac Mini's biggest draw is the new M1 chipset, which has proven to be blazing fast on every machine we've tested with it. Switching between apps is a breeze, systems wake almost instantaneously and playing Apple Arcade games won't make the Mac Mini break a sweat. It's also worth noting that the Mac Mini M1 comes with an 8-core GPU, which is slightly better than the 7-core GPU on the base iMac.

Apple focused on the internals here, so the exterior design of the Mac Mini hasn't changed. It's still a sleek square on which the back edge houses all of its ports: an Ethernet connector, two Thunderbolt 4 ports, one HDMI 2.0 connector, two USB-A ports and a headphone jack. That's another perk of the Mini when compared to the new iMac, which only has two or four Thunderbolt ports depending on the configuration. Overall, Amazon's sale is a good opportunity for those with aging desktops to get an M1 machine as a replacement for less.

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Microsoft has released an emergency patch to address a critical flaw in the Windows Print Spooler service that bad actors are actively exploiting, as noticed by The Verge. A few days ago, the tech giant has published a security advisory to notify users about the flaw called PrintNightmare, though it didn't name the bad actors currently using it to infiltrate victims' computers. 

Attackers taking advantage of the vulnerability can remotely run code with system-level privileges, giving them the ability to install programs in the victims' computers, delete or change data and create new accounts with full user rights. The vulnerability impacts all versions of Windows, and the company advised users to disable Print Spooler to deactivate local and remote printing to prevent hackers from getting in. They can also disable just the inbound remote printing capability through Group Policy. 

Now, after investigating the vulnerability, Microsoft has issued patches for several versions of the Windows Server, Windows 10, Windows 8 and even Windows 7 — security updates for this OS ended in January 2020 — platforms. The vulnerability has been classified as "Critical," which means its "exploitation could allow code execution without user interaction." Microsoft is asking users to install the updates immediately or to take steps towards protecting their systems if they can't. 

In the middle of pandemic lockdowns last year, Microsoft launched Together Mode for its Teams workplace messaging app in an effort to help attendees feel more connected. To use the mode, a meeting should have five participants at the very least, but it looks like the tech giant is looking to make it available even for calls with fewer attendees. As first reported by The Verge, people are now able to use the feature for video calls with as few as two participants, as long as they're using the Developer Preview version of the Teams app.

Together Mode uses AI-powered segmentation to put all participants in a meeting in one virtual space. Its purpose is to make people feel like they're all sitting in the same room and to help them see the other participants' nonverbal cues. The NBA gave fans a look at what the feature can do by using it to recreate the atmosphere of a packed arena without anyone being physically there. 

In December, a few months after the mode rolled out, it made its way to Skype so that friends and family can use it for their video calls, as well. Even then, though, it had a five-participant minimum, which likely limited its use. Making it accessible to fewer participants could encourage people to use it more frequently. Users can switch to Developer Preview by clicking the ellipsis next to their profile picture in Teams and going to the About section. However, some organizations could switch the option off, making it unavailable to their personnel. 

Google is still racing to pull Android apps that commit major privacy violations. Ars Technicanotes that Google has removed nine apps from the Play Store after Dr. Web analysts discovered they were trojans stealing Facebook login details. These weren't obscure titles — the malware had over 5.8 million combined downloads and posed as easy-to-find titles like "Horoscope Daily" and "Rubbish Cleaner."

The apps tricked users by loading the real Facebook sign-in page, only to load JavaScript from a command and control server to "hijack" credentials and pass them along to the app (and thus the command server). They would also steal cookies from the authorization session. Facebook was the target in each case, but the creators could just have easily steered users toward other internet services.

There were five malware variants in the mix, but all of them used the same JavaScript code and configuration file formats to swipe information.

Google told Ars it banned all the app developers from the store, although that might not be much of a deterrent when the perpetrators can likely create new developer accounts. Google may need to screen for the malware itself to keep the attackers out.

The question, of course, is how the apps racked up as many downloads as they did before the takedown. Google's largely automated screening keeps a lot of malware out of the Play Store, but the subtlety of the technique might have helped the rogue apps slip past these defenses and leave victims unaware that their Facebook data fell into the wrong hands. Whatever the cause, it's safe to say that you should be cautious about downloading utilities from unknown developers no matter how popular they seem.

Broadcom is facing a major antitrust crackdown. Gizmodoreports that the Federal Trade Commission has charged Broadcom with "illegally monopolizing" the markets for broadband and TV chips, including WiFi parts. The FTC claimed that Broadcom struck exclusive deals with vendors and service providers that prevented them from buying chips from rival suppliers.

The FTC also accused Broadcom of obtaining "exclusivity and loyalty commitments" for chip supplies, making it difficult for companies to compete on their own merits. The vote was near unanimous, although newly installed Commissioner Lina Khan bowed out.

The Commission's proposed action would forbid Broadcom from negotiating certain exclusivity and loyalty deals, bar the company from conditioning chip access based on commitments, and ban retaliation against customers who buy from Broadcom's competitors.

We've asked Broadcom for comment, although it previously signalled that it might cooperate on a settlement. It still disagreed with the FTC's portrayal and claimed that it didn't break the law.

The chipset giant hasn't exactly won favor from regulators in recent years. It spent 2017 and 2018 aggressively trying to buy Qualcomm, only to give up after the White House blocked the deal. We wouldn't expect regulators to make too many concessions as a result, even if a settlement seems likely. Broadcom hasn't been shy about wanting to dominate the chip business — the FTC will want assurances the company won't push boundaries in the future.

Hackers just perpetrated one of the largest known supply chain cyberattacks so far. The Financial Times and Wall Street Journal report that IT management software giant Kaseya has fallen victim to a ransomware attack that compromised its VSA remote maintenance tool. The company initially claimed that "fewer than 40" of its customers were directly affected, but security response firm Huntress said three managed service providers it worked with had also succumbed to the attack and compromising over 200 companies.

The number could be higher. Huntress noted there were eight affected cloud service providers, potentially affecting many more 

Kaseya said it had identified the likely source of the security flaw and was developing a patch that would be "tested thoroughly." In the meantime, though, the company urged all customers to shut down their VSA servers and keep them offline until they could install the update. Software-as-a-service customers were "never at-risk," Kaseya added, although the company took down that functionality as a precaution.

It's not certain who's behind the attack, although Huntress tied the campaign to the Russia-linked REvil group that attacked beef supplier JBS.

The incident is the latest in a string of high-profile ransomware attacks, including JBS and Colonial Pipeline. It also follows the large-scale SolarWinds breaches attributed to another group, Nobelium. Online security is quickly becoming a major issue in the supply chain, and it's not clear these problems will disappear any time soon.

Kaseya's breach also reflects the dangers of relying heavily on one company's software platform. While the number of directly affected clients is small, the supply chain network appears to have created a ripple effect that damaged numerous companies down the line. The situation might not improve until there's either tighter security among Kaseya-like providers or more competition that reduces the potential damage.

At the start of the week, Google announced it was finally adding support for 4K streaming to YouTube TV. Now the company is attempting to entice existing YouTube TV subscribers to sign up for the pricey $20 monthly add-on with a promotion that dangles a free Chromecast with Google TV.

A YouTube TV subscriber detailed the offer in a forum post spotted by Droid Life. "To ensure our loyal YouTube TV members have a great viewing experience (including the ability to watch 4K content on our optional, new add-on service), we would like to offer you a free Chromecast with Google TV device," the company says in an email it sent out to some customers.

Taking advantage of the promo involves visiting the Google Store to “purchase” the streaming device at no cost. As you might have guessed, supplies are limited, and the code is only valid for the white model. The email’s fine print also states only those in the US with an active YouTube TV subscription are eligible. What’s more, you’ll need to have made at least one payment to Google. If you find the email in your inbox, you’ll need to redeem it before the end of the month. And if you already own a Chromecast with Google TV, the code is not transferable.

While iOS 15 and iPadOS 15 are Apple's major software focus this year, there's still plenty to look forward to in macOS Monterey. And you'll be able to get your first taste of it today with the launch of the MacOS Monterey public beta. You can sign up to receive it on Apple's beta software page. 

Apple's new OS features a dramatically redesigned version of Safari, which combines tabs and menu options into a single compact bar, as well as enhanced FaceTime features and the ability to enjoy media together with friends. There's also Universal Control — a feature that, sadly, isn't in this public beta — that will eventually let you control your Macs and iPads with a single keyboard and mouse.

Even without Universal Control, the public beta still gives you a sense of how Apple's latest OS feels. The new Safari, in particular, will take a bit of getting used to (though it's not as dramatically different as in iOS 15). And it's nice to see Apple finally giving FaceTime some new capabilities, even if many of them seem to mimic Zoom. You'll also be able to test out AirPlaying audio to macOS, as well as some simplified automation capabilities with Shortcuts. 

Let us know what you think of the maCOS Monterey public beta below! As with most beta releases, though, be wary of throwing it onto your primary computer.