Apple's latest TV+ sci-fi series is decidedly stranger than usual — but also one of its most star-studded. The tech firm has released the first trailer for Severance, a Black Mirror-like thriller depicting the horrors of trying too hard to achieve an ideal work-life balance. The show stars Parks and Recreation's Adam Scott as Mark, an office worker who volunteers for surgery that completely splits his personal and workplace memories. As you might guess, the procedure isn't as innocuous as it sounds — Mark finds himself questioning both his work and his identity.

Ben Stiller is an executive producer alongside show creator Dan Erickson. Scott isn't the only major star, either. Patricia Arquette (also a producer), John Turturro and Christopher Walken are also part of the cast.

Severance debuts February 18th. There's no guarantee it will be a hit, but it comes right as Apple is racking up awards nominations for multiple shows and movies. Apple TV+ appears to be finding its footing in the streaming world, and it's now a question of whether the service can keep that momentum going with high-profile efforts like this.

Disney+ is finally close to releasing Moon Knight. The Marvel series is now set to debut March 30th, and the trailer shows just how the streaming service will handle the mercenary turned superhero. Oscar Isaac stars as Steven Grant, a gift shop worker who has trouble distinguishing not just between dreams and waking life, but between identities — he learns he shares a body with the mercenary Marc Spector. The two identities have to reconcile while grappling with a threat among Egyptian gods, eventually coalescing into the show's namesake knight.

The series also stars Ethan Hawke and Ramy's May Calamawy. Mohamed Diab and the duo of Justin Benson and Aaron Moorhead directed the season. The Umbrella Academy's Jeremy Slater is the lead writer, with Marvel Cinematic Universe guru Kevin Feige serving as one of several executive producers.

Moon Knight is one of several MCU "Phase Four" shows announced in 2019, including now-available projects like WandaVision and Hawkeye as well as yet-to-air productions like Ms. Marvel and She Hulk. In some ways, it represents the next wave of Disney+ content. Disney is confident enough to bank less on connections to popular Marvel movies and more on new stories, even if it's still leaning on stars like Isaac (himself no stranger to Disney) to attract viewers.

AT&T and Verizon say they will voluntarily delay the deployment of their new C-Band 5G services near some US airports after several carriers, including Delta, United and Southwest Airlines, wrote to the federal government to warn of potential flight delays due to the rollout. An AT&T spokesperson told CNBC the carrier was “frustrated” by the Federal Aviation Administration’s inability to safely deploy the networking standard without disrupting aviation services, a feat the company said 40 other countries have done without issue.

Verizon shared AT&T’s sentiment. “We have voluntarily decided to limit our 5G network around airports,” the company said. “The Federal Aviation Administration and our nation’s airlines have not been able to fully resolve navigating 5G around airports, despite it being safe and fully operational in more than 40 other countries.”

In a letter obtained by Reuters, airlines warned interference from 5G cell towers could affect the safety equipment on their planes. Devices like airplane altimeters, which pilots use to land when visibility is low, operate on C-Band adjacent frequencies. Airlines asked that AT&T and Verizon not offer 5G service within two miles of some of the country’s busiest airports. “Immediate intervention is needed to avoid significant operational disruption to air passengers, shippers, supply chain and delivery of needed medical supplies,” they said.

Before airlines sent out the letter to government officials, AT&T and Verizon had agreed to establish buffer zones around 50 airports to reduce the risk of flight disruption. They also agreed to a month-long delay in December, and then a further two-week delay in January, to give the FAA more time to address any interference concerns.

Snapchat is changing up its friend recommendation feature following calls for increased safety on the app. The company is making it harder for adult strangers to find teens in its app by limiting friend recommendations in its “Quick Add” feature. 

Now, the app won’t show the accounts of 13 to 17-year-olds in Quick Add unless they have “a certain number of accounts in common,” according to Snap. While the change won’t prevent adults and teens from connecting at all, it could make it more difficult for strangers to find teens they don’t already know. In a blog post, the company said the change was part of its work to "combat the fentanyl epidemic" and keep drug dealers from finding "new ways to abuse Snapchat."

The company has faced scrutiny over its handling of drug dealers on its platform in recent months. Lawmakers and safety advocates have pushed Snap to do more to keep dealers off of Snapchat following reports of overdoses linked to drugs bought through the app. Snap also said Tuesday that it has improved its ability to proactively detect “drug-related content” on its platform, with 88 percent of “drug related content” now being “proactively detected” with AI. The company also notes it has staffed up the team that works directly with law enforcement agencies and has “significantly improved” its response time to law enforcement requests.

At a Senate hearing last fall, Snap’s VP of Global Public Policy Jennifer Stout said the company was working on new parental control features that would make it easier for parents to monitor their children’s activity in the app. Those updates still have yet to launch, though the company hopes to make them available “in the coming months.”

Just over two weeks before the 2022 Winter Olympics are set to get underway in Beijing, researchers have issued a report claiming that an app many attendees are using has major security issues. The Citizen Lab, a research facility based at the University of Toronto's Munk School of Global Affairs and Public Policy, said a "simple but devastating flaw" made it easy to bypass encryption systems that are supposed to protect voice audio and file transfers.

"The worst case scenario is that someone is intercepting all the traffic and recording all the passport details, all the medical details," research associate Jeffrey Knockel told CTV.

The app is used for health monitoring as part of COVID-19 countermeasures. Other features include messaging, news about the Games and information about logistics. The International Olympic Committee says the local Beijing 2022 workforce is using the app for things like time-keeping and task management too.

"The IOC has conducted independent third-party assessments on the application from two cyber-security testing organizations," the IOC told Engadget in a statement. "These reports confirmed that there are no critical vulnerabilities." The IOC noted that instead of using the mobile app, attendees can access a web-based health monitoring system. It said it has requested the researchers' report "to understand their concerns better."

The Citizen Lab notes that health customs forms containing passport information and travel and medical history are also at risk. In addition, the researchers said it was possible to spoof server responses, which could let hackers provide fake instructions to users.

Along with determining that the app doesn't encrypt some data transmissions, the team found that the app fails to validate some SSL certificates. In such cases, the app can't "validate to whom it is sending sensitive, encrypted data." Although they were only able to create an account on the iOS app, the researchers believe the vulnerabilities exist on the Android version of MY2022 as well.

The Citizen Lab said it informed the organizing committee for the Games about the issues on December 3rd, and said it had 15 days to respond and 45 days to fix the issues before it published its findings. As of Tuesday, the researchers hadn't received a reply.

An updated iOS version of the app that was released on Sunday didn't solve the problems. According to the researchers, the developers added a feature called “Green Health Code” that asks for more travel and medical history details, which are also vulnerable to the SSL certification issue.

According to the researchers, the flaws could mean that the app contravenes Apple's App Store rules and Google’s Unwanted Software Policy. In addition, MY2022 may be violating China's privacy standards and laws.

In addition, The Citizen Lab noted that the app includes an option to report “politically sensitive” content. It has a list of 2,442 censorship keywords too, which is said to be inactive at the minute, but includes terms related to topics like Xinjiang, Tibet, Chinese government agencies and other socially sensitive matters.

YouTube is further backing away from original productions. Business chief Robert Kyncl has revealed that YouTube is shrinking its Originals program. From now on, the unit will only finance projects that are part of its Black Voices and YouTube Kids Funds. The company will respect commitments for shows in progress, but you shouldn't expect other new productions.

The company is making the shift due to a combination of strategy and a key departure. YouTube believed it could have a "greater impact" on creators by funding Shorts, the Black Voices Fund and Live Shopping. At the same time, Originals global lead Susanne Daniels is leaving YouTube on March 1st. Now may have been a prime opportunity to rethink the program, in other words.

The change isn't a shock. YouTube initially had ambitions of competing with paid streaming services like Amazon Prime Video and Netflix with shows like Cobra Kai. While it had some success, it didn't pose a significant threat and eventually made Originals free. The new strategy lets YouTube fund more creators while giving it a better chance of competing with TikTok, Instagram and other short-form video rivals.

Giving a computer to a kid is basically putting it through a torture test. So HP is launching its new line of rugged Fortis laptops made to stand up to the abuse of students.

Comprised of a range of laptops and 2-in-1s that start as low as $349, every Fortis notebook comes with an extra level of durability compared to typical notebooks including spill-resistance (up to 11.8 ounces of liquid), reinforced ports and rubber trim to protect against drops and bumps. HP even added a textured surface to make the laptops easier to grip to prevent drops from happening in the first place, while a new metal shield helps protect the laptop’s battery in case the device does take a fall.

To guard against kids who are constantly fidgeting, HP installed a new full-skirted anchored keyboard with keys that are harder to remove. And because schools are a breeding ground for bacteria, HP designed its Fortis laptops to be wiped down using standard household cleaning products.

HP

As for the devices themselves, the HP Fortis 14-inch G10 Chromebook is the cheapest of the bunch starting at just $349 (available now). It comes with either a 1366 x 768 or full HD 1920 x 1080 display (touch is optional), a range of Intel Celeron and Pentium processors, up to 8GB of RAM and 128GB of eMMC storage, Wi-Fi 6, and one of Google’s Titan C security chips built-in. Connectivity includes one USB-C port for charging and data, two USB-A ports, one HDMI, a combo headphone/microphone jack, and a microSD card reader.

If you want a slightly smaller Chromebook for education there’s also the HP Fortis 11-inch G9 Q Chromebook, though it won’t be out until June. Instead of a chip from Intel, it features a Qualcomm Snapdragon 7c along with a slightly slower Wi-Fi 5 modem, 4GB/8GB of RAM and 32GB/64GB of eMMC storage. And regardless of which one you choose, both the Fortis 14 G10 and Fortis 11 G9 Q can be configured with an optional 4G LTE connection.

HP

Meanwhile, when it comes to Windows-based systems, there’s the clamshell HP ProBook Fortis 14-inch G9 and HP Probook Fortis 14-inch G10, which feature nearly identical specs aside from their processors. The ProBook Fortis 14 G9 comes with a selection of Intel Celeron and Pentium chips running on Windows 11 SE, while the ProBook Fortis 14 G10 features newer Intel 12th-gen Core i3 and Core i5 CPUs running on standard Windows 11. Both systems support up to 8GB of RAM and 64GB of onboard eMMC storage in addition to either a 128GB or 256B M.2 SSD.

The HP ProBook Fortis 14 G9 is available now starting at $369, while the ProBook Fortis 14 G10 won’t ship until later in April (price still TBA).

HP

And if that’s not enough, HP created some rugged 2-in-1s for education in the HP Pro x360 Fortis 11-inch G9 and the HP Pro x360 Fortis 11-inch G10. Similar to their clamshell siblings, the Pro x360 Fortis 11 G9 is powered by a range of Intel Celeron and Pentium processors and comes with Windows 11 SE pre-installed, while the Pro x360 Fortis 11 G10 gets more powerful 12th-gen Core i3 and i5 chips and full Windows 11. Notably, both of HP’s Fortis 2-in-1s come with stylus support (though HP’s rechargeable pen is an optional extra) and support for an optional rear-facing 5-MP camera.

The Pro x360 11 G9 is available now starting at $399, with the Pro x360 Fortis 11 G10 expected to arrive sometime in April (price still TBA).

A show that stars three actors who all identify as being on the autism spectrum will debut on Amazon Prime Video this week. Rick Glassman, Albert Rutecki and Sue Ann Pien play three 20-something roommates who are also on the spectrum in As We See It.

Creator Jason Katims is best known for his work on Friday Night Lights and Parenthood, which featured a character with Asperger’s syndrome. He said all of As We See It's “neurodiverse roles were cast with neurodiverse actors” and “two neurotypical roles were cast with neurodiverse actors," according to Disability Scoop. Some writers, editors and other crew members are neurodiverse too.

Katims said his son has autism, and their experience inspired As We See It. "I think the show affords us a window into the hearts and souls of three-dimensional, loving, beautiful, complicated human beings who happen to be on the autistic spectrum, played by actors who identify as being autistic," Katims said. "It shouldn’t be revolutionary. But it sort of is."

Several other shows from recent years have featured characters with autism, including Netflix's Atypical, The Good Doctor, Prime Video series The A Word and even Sesame Street. However, it's rarer for a series to feature characters with autism played by performers who themselves are on the spectrum. As such, As We See It could bolster authentic on-screen representations of autism.

All eight episodes of As We See It's first season will hit Prime Video on Friday.

Israeli police have employed NSO Group’s Pegasus spyware to extract data from phones belonging to Israeli citizens, according to an investigation by the country’s Calcalist business publication. Police reportedly used the controversial software to target a number of individuals, including politicians and members of an activist group that had called for the removal of former Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu. According to the report, Israeli police conducted their surveillance without court supervision, a claim both police and public officials deny.

“All police activity in this field is done in accordance with the law, on the basis of court orders and strict work procedures,” Israeli Police said. The Washington Post reports Omer Bar-Lev, the country’s country’s public security minister, said an initial investigation had found no evidence of a “secretive wiretapping” program but promised a judge would check everything “thoroughly and unequivocally.”

“We would like to clarify that the company does not operate the systems in its customers’ possession and is not involved in their operation,” NSO Group said in a statement the company shared with Israeli media. “The company sells its products under license and supervision for the use of security bodies and state law enforcement agencies, to prevent crime and terrorism legally, and according to court orders and local law in each country.”

Per The Guardian, Israeli law only allows Shin Bet, the country’s domestic intelligence agency, to hack a phone without a court order. What’s more, the only context in which the agency is allowed to carry out such an action is to prevent a terrorist attack involving Palestinians, Israeli-Arabs or Israeli-Jews. Approval from a senior Shin Bet official or the attorney general’s office is also required. No such exemption exists for the country’s police service. However, according to Calcalist, the software wasn’t directly covered by Israel’s existing laws.

The report comes a month after Reuters found the Pegasus spyware had been used to target at least nine US State Department officials. In that instance, an unknown assailant had used the software to target federal employees who were either stationed in Uganda or whose work involved the African country. NSO has claimed its software can’t target devices linked to American or Israeli phone numbers. 

Folks in the US can now order free, at-home COVID-19 tests from a United States Postal Service website, one day earlier than expected. Last week, the Biden administration said people would be able to place orders starting on Wednesday. At the time of the announcement, COVIDtests.gov was a placeholder site, but it now directs users to the USPS to place an order.

Households can each request one set of four rapid antigen tests. USPS will start shipping the kits later this month and usually within seven to 12 days of ordering. 

The administration says the site went live one day early as part of its beta phase, according toCNN chief White House correspondent Kaitlan Collins. Officials are hoping to troubleshoot the site and ensure the official launch goes smoothly on Wednesday. Sure enough, at the time of writing, some people were having trouble loading the site, so you might not be able to place an order right away.

The COVIDtests.gov site provides some more information about the tests. You should see results within 30 minutes and can be taken anywhere. It provides guidance on when to take a test, as well as directions on what to do based on the results. The site also has resources about testing sites and insurance reimbursement for at-home tests.

The Biden administration said it was buying a billion rapid, at-home COVID-19 tests to distribute to Americans. Half of those are expected to be available for order this week. The White House said its goal was to make sure everyone has a test available when they need one, especially given that tests are in high demand and are often difficult to find in stores.