Xfinity says a data breach likely led to attackers obtaining customers' usernames and hashed passwords. Other personal information may have been exposed, such as names, contact information, the last four digits of social security numbers, dates of birth and secret questions and answers. The company added that its analysis of the attack is ongoing, which may explain why it hasn't disclosed the number of customers who have been affected. Xfinity also notes that it informed law enforcement about the incident.

On October 10, Citrix disclosed a vulnerability in software that Xfinity and many other businesses use. It provided guidance on how to mitigate the vulnerability on October 23 and Xfinity said it swiftly patched the problem. However, while carrying out a routine cybersecurity check two days later, Xfinity spotted suspicious activity in its systems. It later determined that bad actors accessed its internal network between October 16 and 19.

Xfinity says it's informing customers of the incident via its website, email and by other means. It's urging them to change their passwords, to make sure they don't use the same passwords on different accounts and to enable two-factor or multi-factor authentication. Xfinity also suggested that folks who use the same login credentials on other accounts change their passwords on those.

This isn't the first security incident Xfinity has had to deal with. Back in 2018, it emerged there was a bug in a Comcast website used to activate Xfinity routers. The issue led to some customers' home addresses being exposed, along with the name and password for their Wi-Fi networks.

TomTom just announced a “fully integrated, AI-powered conversational automotive assistant” which should start popping up in dashboard infotainment platforms in the near-ish future. The company has issued some bold claims for the AI, saying it’ll offer “more sophisticated voice interaction” and allow users to converse naturally to navigate, find stops along a route, control onboard systems, open windows and just about anything else you find yourself doing while driving.

The company, best known for GPS platforms, partnered up with Microsoft to develop this AI assistant. The technology leverages OpenAI’s large language models, in addition to Microsoft products like Azure Cosmos DB and Azure Cognitive Services. Cosmos DB is a multi-model database and Cognitive Services is a set of APIs for use in AI applications, so this should be a capable assistant that draws from the latest advancements. 

TomTom promises that the voice assistant will integrate into a variety of interfaces offered by major automobile manufacturers, stating that the auto company will retain ownership of its branding. So this could start showing up in cars from a wide variety of makers. The company hasn’t announced any definitive partnerships with known vehicle manufacturers, but the technology will be integrated into TomTom’s proprietary Digital Cockpit, an open and modular in-vehicle infotainment platform.

This isn’t the first time a company has tried to stuff an LLM inside of a car. Back in June, Mercedes announced a three-month beta program that incorporated ChatGPT models into select vehicles. This tool also leveraged Microsoft’s Azure OpenAI service. TomTom is showing off the AI at CES in January, so we’ll know more about how it actually works at that point. 

It may seem like blasphemy for an Engadget writer to diss touch controls, but as the demise of the MacBook Pro's Touch Bar has proven, those aren't always a good idea — especially on cars. As spotted by Autocar at Volkswagen City Studio in Copenhagen, the ID. 2all concept electric car now features a slightly updated interior, with the most notable change being the return of physical buttons below the central touchscreen. According to the brand's interior designer Darius Watola, this will be "a new approach for all models" based on "recent feedback from customers" — especially those in Europe who wanted "more physical buttons."

In Autocar's Tiguan launch interview back in June, Volkswagen CEO Thomas Schäfer already acknowledged customers' criticism on the over-reliance on touch controls — namely on the Golf Mk8 and ID.3, not to mention the same trend across the motor industry. The exec went as far as saying the earlier touch-heavy approach — endorsed by his predecessor, Herbert Diess — "definitely did a lot of damage" in terms of customer loyalty.

The ID. 2all is based on Volkswagen's updated MEB Entry platform, and packs a 223HP motor that can go up to 62MPH in under seven seconds. As far as range goes, this car can apparently travel up to 280 miles on a single charge, but that's with the larger and more advanced 56kWh battery instead of the base 38kWh version. Expect this concept electric vehicle to cost under €25,000 (around $27,300), when it arrives as a production model in Europe in 2025. The company also recently teased the ID. 2all SUV, which is described as "the brother of the ID. 2all," but it won't arrive until 2026.

Google is giving anyone who has a WiFi-only Stadia controller lying around an additional year to convert it to Bluetooth. The deadline to do this was previously until the end of this year, but Google is now extending it to December 31, 2024.

Google axed Stadia, its cloud gaming service, at the beginning of this year. Most customers who bought digital games through the Google Store got refunds, but some physical hardware such as Stadia’s controller that connected directly to WiFi, is still out there. Enabling Bluetooth on Stadia controllers will let people use them with any other devices such as PCs, Macs, phones or tablets. This, as Kotaku points out, could prevent e-waste.

Switching your controller to Bluetooth is permanent. It takes about three minutes and requires a USB cable, according to Google. To pair a Stadia controller to Bluetooth, you need to press and hold the Y and Stadia button for at least two seconds. You’ll know that the controller has entered “pairing mode” when the status light flashes orange. If you’re having issues establishing a connection, Google advises making sure that the controller is charged for at least 30 minutes.

Trevor Milton, the disgraced founder of Nikola, was just sentenced to four years in prison on three counts of fraud. 

In October 2022, a jury found Milton guilty of one count of securities fraud and two counts of wire fraud. Milton faced up to 60 years in prison. Prosecutors asked the judge for an 11-year prison sentence and a $5 million fine, according to The New York Times, while the defense argued for probation. 

After announcing the sentence at a federal court hearing in New York City, U.S. District Judge Edgar Ramos spoke directly to Milton. "As difficult as it may be for you or your family to hear, I believe the jury got it right," Ramos said, as transcribed Reuters.

Milton addressed the court before sentencing was handed down, saying "I did not intend to harm anyone and I did not commit those crimes levied against me." He also spoke at length about his rural upbringing and recited biblical verse. 

Prosecutors claimed that Milton pumped up the value of the company's stock by lying to investors about "nearly all aspects" of Nikola's business. Among other things, Milton claimed his company had a fully functional electric truck. The company released a video that made it appear as though a Nikola One prototype was able to move by itself. However, an indictment alleged that the truck was actually rolling down a hill and that Milton was involved in the video's creation.

In addition, Milton was accused of lying about Nikola having billions of dollars worth of pre-order reservations and that it was producing hydrogen fuel at four times less than market rates. Prosecutors also said Milton falsely claimed Nikola had developed "game-changing" battery tech.

Nikola is still in business and it plans to resume deliveries of its battery electric truck in early 2024 following a recall over battery issues that cost around $61.8 million to resolve. In the nine months to September 30, Nikola produced 96 trucks and shipped 79.

The company's stock price has dropped by 99 percent since 2020 and investors are said to have lost more than $660 million. Milton sold around $100 million of his Nikola stock in 2020 and spent most of that on luxury goods such as a plane and real estate, according to the Times. It's likely that Milton will appeal this conviction, as he's already asked Ramos for a new trial following the jury's guilty verdict.

The James Webb Space Telescope (JWST) has a treat to celebrate the upcoming second anniversary of its launch. NASA and the European Space Agency (ESA), which operate the craft alongside the Canadian Space Agency (CSA), shared a recent image of the icy planet Uranus. The picture, resembling a glowing blue marble rippling into a black ocean, was funneled through the telescope’s infrared filters to capture wavelengths future space travelers wouldn’t see with the naked eye.

Compared with the generic-looking images of Uranus taken by Voyager 2 in the 1980s, the Webb telescope paints a more vivid picture. Capturing light in the infrared spectrum, the craft’s sensors reveal a “strange and dynamic ice world filled with exciting, atmospheric features,” as the team operating the telescope described it.

The JWST’s image showcases the planet’s rings surrounding the planet, including “the elusive Zeta ring,” Uranus’ faint and scattered innermost one. You can also catch its north polar cloud cap, the white blob near the center.

NASA / ESA / CSA

The image also captures 14 of Uranus’ 27 moons, labeled in the photo above. Among the (mostly Shakespearean-named) orbiting bodies pictured are Oberon, Titania, Umbriel, Juliet, Perdita, Rosalind, Puck, Belinda, Desdemona, Cressida, Ariel, Miranda, Bianca and Portia.

The JWST’s photo uses four NIRCam filters, revealing detail in the near-infrared spectrum. These include F140M (blue), F210M (cyan), F300M (yellow) and F460M (orange). An image NASA shared earlier this year showed Uranus in only two filters (blue and orange), resulting in a more primitive-looking view of the icy giant.

Speaking of ice, Uranus has loads of it. The planet rotates on its side at about 98 degrees, plunging the opposite side of the planet into extreme cold and darkness for a quarter of a Uranian year. Oh, and since Uranian years last around 84 Earth years, that means, by our calendar, the planet’s dark side enjoys a blustery 21-year winter.

NASA / ESA / CSA

Astronomers believe the Webb telescope’s images will help them better understand Uranus, especially its Zeta ring, for future missions. They also view the pictures as a proxy for learning about the nearly 2,000 documented exoplanets in other solar systems that share traits with our ringed and icy neighbor.

Acura has opened reservations for its first fully electric vehicle (EV). Starting today, you can order the Acura ZDX at around $60,000 for a baseline model with a single-motor (rear-wheel-drive) powertrain. The first deliveries of the “performance SUV” are expected in early 2024.

The automaker said earlier this year it would shift to online-only sales of Acura EVs starting in 2024, and ZDX preorders appear to reflect that. The company said the EV is available through “a new, omni-channel digital sales process,” which buyers can use themselves at home, or receive assistance in using at Acura dealers (although the EVs won't be available at the dealership itself.)

The ZDX comes in two models. The standard ($60,000 and up) A-Spec variant ships with a 325-mile range, 340 horsepower, a rear-wheel-drive single motor and 20-inch wheels. Meanwhile, the all-wheel-drive ZDX Type S has a shorter 288-mile range but a more potent 500 horsepower, 22-inch wheels and a starting price of around $70,000. Parent company Honda describes the pricier Type S as “the most powerful and best performing Acura SUV ever.”

Acura

The EV has Android Auto, built-in Google apps and Apple CarPlay integration. It includes an 11-inch driver-side touchscreen, an 11.3-inch center display and a Bang & Olufsen audio system, which is standard. Its safety features include a rear pedestrian alert and blind zone steering assist. It even has hands-free cruise driver assistance.

The ZDX supports DC Fast Charging (and can add 81 miles through a 10-minute top-off). In addition, Honda has teamed with six other automakers on a project to build a network of 30,000 stations across North America. That initiative is expected to begin in the US by the summer of 2024.

Acura

You can order your ZDX in either model in Acura’s online reservations portal. Honda notes pre-orders will include a bonus Acura Energy Key Card, which can unlock “exclusive benefits,” including “discounts to Acura entertainment partners and special events.”

VF Corporation reported in a Securities and Exchange Commission filing on Monday that it had been hit by a cyberattack. The company owns a slew of apparel brands, including Vans, North Face, Timberland, Dickies and more — and it warns the disruption could affect your holiday shopping. 

VF first noticed "unauthorized occurrences" on its IT systems on December 13, it said in a statement to Engadget. While it began to mitigate the damage, VF found that the hackers had encrypted some of its IT systems and stole personal data. It's trying to come up with work arounds so that people can still buy from VF brands, but the $7 billion company said the attack messed with its ability to fulfill orders. 

"At this time, VF-operated retail stores globally are open, and currently consumers can purchase available merchandise, but VF is experiencing certain operational disruptions," a company spokesperson told Engadget on Monday. "At this time, consumers are also able to place orders on most of the brand e-commerce sites globally. However, the Company’s ability to fulfill orders is currently impacted." VF did not confirm who was behind the attack or provide additional details on what delays customers could experience.

The hack comes shortly after VF said it was experiencing financial headwinds at its quarterly earning meeting. It's still unclear whether customer data may have been impacted. 

You can now mindlessly scroll your TikTok’s ‘for you page’ on larger screens and foldable devices. The new update will be available for users worldwide and on devices like the iPad or the various foldable Android phones out there. TikTok, which is traditionally mobile-forward, said it will deliver a clear video feed of content on bigger screens with “enhanced clarity.”

The top and bottom of screens that stream TikTok videos will have a navigation bar that makes it easier to access tabs and featured videos. With this update, clips can also be watched in landscape orientation. This creates new opportunities for video creators to generate content in a horizontal format after years of a vertical-only.

TikTok also said it is going to continue experimenting with features like Topic Feeds, which would allow users to explore videos in specific categories like gaming, food or fashion. The platform has been exploring new ways to deliver content to users and it has been quietly testing the idea of an AI-powered chatbot that can recommend videos to users. While it’s still the leading app for short-form videos, creating unique ways to deliver content to its users can help set the social media company itself apart from competitors in the space, like Instagram’s Reels and YouTube Shorts.

Flipboard is the latest mainstream app to officially join the fediverse, the collection of decentralized services that run on the ActivityPub protocol. The news reading app, which has been experimenting with Mastodon for nearly a year, now plans to become fully interoperable with Mastodon and the rest of the fediverse.

The news reading app is starting with the accounts of about two dozen publishers, including Polygon, Medium, Semafor, Kotaku and Mental Floss, whose Flipboard content will be discoverable across the fediverse. By next month, the company expects all public Flipboard accounts will be federated, meaning anyone on an ActivityPub-powered app will be able to view their posts and interact with them.

And beginning in April, according to Flipboard CEO Mike McCue, all fediverse content will also be readily available within the Flipboard app itself. This means users will be able to use Flipboard browse content shared to Mastodon, Pixelfed (a photo sharing app kind of like Instagram), PeerTube (a decentralized video platform) and the rest of the apps that make up the fediverse.

Flipboard’s official entrance into the fediverse comes at a moment where there is increasing enthusiasm for ActivityPub within the social media industry. Last week, Meta announced that it was taking its first steps toward making Threads compatible with Mastodon and the rest of the fediverse. “I think you’ll probably have more than 150 million people in the fediverse by the end of the next year,” McCue tells Engadget, “You have millions of Flipboard users, millions of Threads users all joining this network ... it’s not going to take very long before this becomes the largest social network.”

McCue’s enthusiasm for Mastodon and the fediverse is especially notable given his once close ties to Twitter. The Flipboard CEO was a member of Twitter’s board between 2010 and 2012, and reportedly considered selling Flipboard to the company in 2015. But Elon Musk’s takeover of the company, and the disintegration of its API, prompted him to begin experimenting with Mastodon and Bluesky integrations earlier this year.

He now believes that momentum for the fediverse is so strong, Twitter may ultimately end up supporting ActivityPub too. “More and more companies will have to look at ActivityPub,” he predicts. “I wouldn’t be surprised if Twitter ultimately decides they’re going to have to do this.”