Windows 11 is here and Microsoft has detailed how the phased rollout will work. The first systems to get the operating system are new devices on which it's pre-loaded. Starting on October 5th, Microsoft will initially offer the free upgrade to new PCs, laptops and tablets that ship with Windows 10.

Next, Microsoft says it will look at hardware eligibility, reliability metrics and other factors on existing Windows 10 devices to determine when to offer the latest OS through Windows Update. It's a similar approach to how the company has handled Windows 10 feature updates over the years. You can find out whether your device is compatible using the PC Health Check app.

Microsoft will let you know when Windows 11 is ready for your system via the Windows Update Settings page or when you check for updates. You might be in for a wait, though. The company expects to offer the upgrade to all eligible Windows 10 devices by mid-2022.

Microsoft

Windows Update is Microsoft's suggested Windows 11 upgrade method, and likely the easiest one for most people. However, you can install the OS manually if you prefer. You can download the Installation Assistant or use an ISO install.

Microsoft doesn't recommend installing Windows 11 on devices that don't meet the system requirements, but you'll still be able to do so. It's worth noting that you might not get Windows 11 updates on PCs with unsupported processors.

However you decide to make the switch to Windows 11, it's probably best to back up all of your files first. The OS is likely stable at this point, but it's not worth taking the risk that something will go awry and cause you to lose important data. 

Meanwhile, Microsoft says today marks the start of the 24-month lifecycle for Windows 11 Home and Pro editions, as well as the beginning of 36 months of servicing support for the Enterprise and Education versions.

Sony has revealed its first wireless neckband speaker with Dolby Atmos support. The company says the SRS-NS7 offers "an immersive home theater experience" without the need for a surround sound speaker system or having headphones clamped around your head.

For the full Dolby Atmos effect, you'll need a Sony Bravia XR TV and the included wireless transmitter. After you hook up the adapter and pair it with the neckband over Bluetooth, you can use the 360 Spatial Sound Personalizer app to take a photo of your ear. The app will estimate the shape of your ear and optimize the arrangement of virtual Dolby Atmos speakers for you.

The company says the transmitter also will minimize audio lag to precisely match up the audio and images. You can buy the WLA-NS7 wireless transmitter separately and use it with some Sony headphones for the same effect.

Sony

Along with watching their TV with the neckband, users can connect it to other devices. Pair the SRS-NS7 with a smartphone and you can listen to 360 Reality Audio from supported music streaming services such as Deezer and Tidal. Customers can link the device with a PC or tablet too.

Sony notes the flexibly designed SRS-NS7 includes multipoint connection, meaning it can link to two devices simultaneously. So if you're listening to music from your computer and a call comes in on your phone, you can answer with a press of a button and use the built-in microphone. In addition, the SRS-NS7 has an IPX4 rating, meaning it's splash-proof.

As for the battery life, you'll get up to 12 hours of use out of a single charge, Sony says, and up to five hours of playback at maximum volume. You'll get up to an hour of use after 10 minutes of charging.

The SRS-NS7 neckband costs $300 and the TV transmitter is $60. Pre-orders are open now and the devices will ship on October 27th.

Following a preview at I/O 2021 and multiple betas since then, the next version of Google's mobile operating system is ready for prime time. Android 12 is now officially available. But if you own an Android device, don't get excited just yet. With today's announcement, Google is uploading the source code to the operating system to the Android Open Source Project (AOSP). As things stand, the update isn't publicly available on any current devices. But that should change soon.

Google says it will start rolling out Android 12 to Pixel devices starting sometime in the "next few weeks," with availability on Samsung, OnePlus, Oppo, Realme, Tecno, Vivo and Xiaomi devices to follow later this year. Once the OS finally makes it to your device, you can look forward to checking out Google's new Material You design language, an updated privacy dashboard that includes a timeline of all the data the apps on your phone have accessed, the ability to capture scrolling screenshots, a new one-handed mode and more. Until then, the wait continues.    

If you've been on the market for a new portable drive, a microSD card for your Nintendo Switch or even an SSD for your PS5, Amazon has a big, one-day sale on a bunch of storage devices from brands like PNY, Crucial and Lexar. There are quite a few notable deals in this sale, two of which can help you store more games on your preferred console. Our favorite cheap SSD for the PS5, PNY's 4TB XLR8 CS3040, is down to a record low of $520, while Lexar's 1TB Play microSD card for the Nintendo Switch is nearly half off, bringing it down to an all-time low of $128.

All variations of PNY's XLR8 internal SSD have been discounted in some way — you can pick up a 1TB version for $145 — but you'll get the best deal if you spring for the 4TB model. Even at its normal price of $700, it was the only high-capacity SSD we could thoroughly recommend in our PS5 SSD guide due to its comparatively low price. And while Lexar's Play microSD card can be used in other devices like tablets, it's a great option to add more storage to your Nintendo Switch thanks in part to its 150MB/s read transfer speeds.

A couple of Crucial portable SSDs are included in this sale, too. The speediest option is the 1TB Crucial X8 drive, which is 21 percent off and down to a record low of $100. It has a slick yet durable design, supports read speeds up to 1050MB/s and can be used with iPad Pros, game consoles including the Xbox One, Android smartphones and more. If 1TB just won't cut it for you, Crucial's 2TB X6 SSD is also down to an all-time low of $143. It has a more square design than the X8 and it supports read speeds up to 540MB/s, so it'll be the better option if you care more about capacity than super-fast performance.

Unsurprisingly, Amazon filled out this daily deal with additional discounted SD cards and flash drives. Arguably the best on that front are the Lexar Professional-series SD cards, which will be good for photographers and videographers — a 128GB Professional 2000x card is $80 off, bringing it down to $110. And there are even a couple bay stations included in this sale, like this DiskStation from Synology that's down to a new low of $400.

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Following reports that revealed that a significant percentage of top App Store apps were scams, Apple is allowing users to report such behavior, according to The Verge. As part of iOS 15, the latest App Store update lets you "report a scam or fraud" for both free, in-app purchase (IAP) and paid apps, provided you've installed the app in question. 

The feature, detailed by Kosta Eleftheriou and Richard Mazkewich on Twitter, goes even farther than the previous "Report a Problem" feature. You can now signal a scam or a fraud and not just “Report suspicious activity,” “Report a quality issue," “Request a refund” or “Find my content” as before. Previously, you would have also needed to make an in-app purchase before you could highlight a scam or fraud, but that's no longer the case. 

The "Report a problem" feature itself returned to individual app listings for the first time in years, as The Verge pointed out. Prior to that, it was located at the bottom of the Apps or Games tabs and would send you to a separate website. 

Apple essentially foreshadowed the changes when it released new App Store Review Guidelines in June. Several sections included changes that saw Apple taking a tougher stance on fraud, scams and developer misconduct, TechCrunch noted at the time. 

Bad apps found on the Store included VPNs that duped customers into buying unneeded software, bad dating apps, QR readers and apps fraudulently claiming to be from major brands, the Washington Post revealed earlier this year. The apps may have defrauded users out of an estimated $48 million, according to the Post's estimates. 

Amazon Prime members can now use the mobile Amazon Shopping app to send gifts to friends using just their phone number of email address — even if they don't have their street address. The new feature makes it easier to give, receive and even exchange presents for a gift card, the company announced. 

To do it, you just need browse for "millions of products" available to gift on Amazon's Shopping smartphone app, according to the company. Once you've selected a product, you can select "add a gift receipt for easy returns" and go to check out. You can also select a new option to "let the recipient provide their address." To complete the transaction, you just enter their email address or mobile phone number. 

Once sent, recipients receive a gift message by email or text. From there, they can choose to accept the gift and enter their preferred delivery address. If they're not keen on your choice, they can exchange the item for a gift card and use that to purchase something else with no need to notify the gift giver. 

The feature requires the gift recipient to also have an Amazon account, much as Venmo or PayPal's Mobile Cash app requires the sender and receiver to have an account. The key benefit of Amazon's app is that you can still personalize a gift, even if you don't feel comfortable hitting shops with a pandemic still raging. The new feature arrives to Amazon Shopping in the US today (October 4th) — if you get a chance to try it, let us know how it went in the comments below. 

Apple has already updated the iPhone, iPad and Apple Watch for the holiday season, but we're still waiting on an update to the Mac lineup. There have been plenty of rumors about a totally redesigned MacBook Pro coming out this fall, and the reliable Mark Gurman at Bloomberg reported in his Power On newsletter that an M1X-powered MacBook Pro will arrive "in the next month." Apple has typically held Mac-focused events in October or early November; the first M1-based Macs were announced in early November of last year.

As noted by 9to5Mac, Gurman predicts that there will be two M1X variants, both 10-core processors with eight high-performance cores and two efficiency cores. The difference between the two chips are in the graphics department — Apple may be offering an M1X with either 16 or 32 graphics cores. As for Apple's other Macs, Gurman says that the company is working on a high-performance chip for a future Mac Pro, and an M2 for the MacBook Air, iMac and lower-end MacBook Pro models. 

Rumors have swirled all year long about Apple's next MacBook Pro revision; the first 13-inch M1 model that was released last fall was essentially identical to the one it replaced, aside from the Apple Silicon inside. And Apple's 16-inch MacBook Pro hasn't been updated since it was released in late 2019, so the whole lineup is due for a refresh. 

Potential changes include new 14- and 16-inch models with a redesigned case that'll bring back more ports like HDMI and an SD card slot. It might also bring back a MagSafe-style power charging port, and Apple is expected to drop the Touch Bar, which was first introduced with the 2016 MacBook Pro revision. 

Alongside a massive AirPods sale today, Beats' new Studio Buds have hit a new record-low price on Amazon. The online retailer has the wireless earbuds for $125, or $25 off their normal price and $5 less than their previous low. All three colors are on sale, so you can choose from black, red or white and get the same savings.

Beats finally figured out the formula to make a pair of wireless earbuds that should please the masses. The Studio Buds impressed us enough to give them a score of 84, and we consider them to be the best Beats earbuds for most people. They have a small, comfortable design with IPX4 water resistance, which will make them good companions during workouts. The sound quality is good with (unsurprisingly) punchy bass, and they support Apple's Spatial Audio feature, too. Active noise cancellation is good as well and it uses adaptive gain control to adjust in real-time based on the noises in your environment. While ANC use will affect battery life, you should be able to get five to eight hours of use on a single charge.

Since they are technically Apple earbuds, the Beats Studio Buds have the H1 chip inside, allowing them to pair and switch easily between Apple devices. But Android users can also get some of that convenience now that the Studio Buds support Fast Pair, a feature which allows Android devices to quickly recognize the buds during the initial setup. The earbuds also work with Find My Device on Android, so you can always see their last known location.

There are a few downsides to the Studio Buds, though. Notably, their case doesn't support wireless charging, and they don't have onboard volume controls or sound customizations. However, Beats fans will likely overlook those shortcomings to get an attractive, reliable pair of wireless earbuds with a sound profile they're sure to enjoy.

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Amazon is having a huge sale on AirPods right now, slashing up to 35 percent off some models. Of note are the AirPods Pro, Apple's best sounding earbuds, which are back down to $179. That's $70 off their normal price and only $10 more than the record low that we saw during the holiday shopping season last year. Also discounted are AirPods with the wireless charging case, which are down to an all-time low of $129, and AirPods with the standard case, which are on sale for $109. Amazon claims these are "limited time" sales, so it's unclear if these discounts will be available after today.

While we thought we might hear about new AirPods during Apple's event last month, the tech giant didn't announce anything new in that department. That means all of these models are a few years old at this point, but they remain some of the best true wireless earbuds you can get if you live within the Apple ecosystem. AirPods Pro earned a score of 87 from us for their improved sound quality, better fitting design with IPX4 water resistance and convenient features like hands-free Siri access. They're far and away the best sounding Apple earbuds you can get, and they do a good job of blocking out surrounding noises with active noise cancellation and Transparency Mode.

Regular AirPods are better for those who already liked the fit of Apple's EarPods, which used to come with each new iPhone. They have decent sound and good wireless range, plus a solid five-hour battery life, too. But what sets any pair of AirPods apart is their fast pairing and switching between Apple devices. The H1 chip inside allows them to recognize which device you're actively using and switch to it, so you can go form taking a call on your iPhone to listening to music from your Mac.

Aside from the AirPods Pro, the kicker in Amazon's sale is the wireless charging case — they originally cost $199 but have been hovering at $159 for months. The last time we saw them close to this $129 record low was in early August. And that means you're only paying $20 extra for the wireless charging case, which is a great deal.

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Bad actors were able to infiltrate the accounts of and steal cryptocurrency from around 6,000 Coinbase customers by exploiting a multi-factor authentication flaw, according to Bleeping Computer. The cryptocurrency exchange told the publication that its security team observed a large-scale phishing campaign targeting its users between April and early May 2021. Some users may have fallen victim to the malicious emails, giving hackers access to their usernames and passwords. Worse, even those who had multi-factor authentication switched on were compromised because of a flaw in the exchange's system.

In the notification [PDF] it sent to affected customers, Coinbase said the bad actors took advantage of a vulnerability in its SMS Account Recovery process. That allowed the hackers to receive the two-factor token that was supposed to be sent via text to the account owner's phone number. 

Coinbase recommends using two-factor with a security key on its website, followed by an authenticator app. It lists SMS authentication as a last resort, advising users to lock their mobile accounts to protect themselves from SIM swap scams or phone port frauds. Back in August, Coinbase also notified 125,000 users that their two-factor settings had changed, but the exchange said back then that the notification was sent by mistake and wasn't the result of a hack.

In its letter to customers, Coinbase said it patched up its SMS Account Recovery protocols as soon as it learned about the issue. It's also reimbursing everyone who's lost cryptocurrency from the event. Those who were affected by the hack may want to make sure all their other accounts are secure, though, since it also exposed their names, addresses and other sensitive information when their accounts were infiltrated.