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• The biggest controversy surrounding Apple’s new iPad Pro isn’t actually an issue at all
• Intel CEO seeks $10B subsidy to build a chip factory in Europe
• NASA freezes SpaceX’s lunar lander cash due to protests from Blue Origin, Dynetics
• Cybersecurity firm started by ex-spies surges on London market debut
• Marijuana data platform Headset raises $1.8M to expand into recently legalized markets
• More US agencies potentially hacked, this time with Pulse Secure exploits
• A blowout earnings cycle hides strategy shift from cloud vendors
• Returnal review, Project Dragon for Xbox, and a lot more Star Wars games | GB Decides 194
• Research: A market where consumers can pay for privacy is emerging
• One scary way that Apple’s new AirTag trackers can be abused

The biggest controversy surrounding Apple’s new iPad Pro isn’t actually an issue at all Posted: 30 Apr 2021 07:39 PM PDT Apple unveiled several new products last week, including an iPad Pro that should finally rival computers in terms of power. The new iPad Pro models are the first to ship with the same powerful M-series processor that powers the MacBook. The 11-inch and 12.9-inch iPad Pros feature the same M1 system-on-chip as the 24-inch iMac and the three new Mac models launched last fall. On top of that, the new tablets come with optional 5G support. If that's not enough to make the iPad Pro stand out, you need to check out Apple's new screen technology for the 12.9-inch iPad Pro (5th generation). The bigger tablet comes with a mini-LED display that will offer the same performance as Apple's premium Pro Display XDR monitor, which retails for $5,000. The new iPad Pro models are available for preorder now, and will ship in the second half of May. Before you get yours, though, you should be aware of the recent Magic Keyboard controversy and what it means. Thankfully, it turns out we have good news on that front: Apple's older keyboard accessory is compatible with the 12.9-inch tablet after all. Today’s Top Deal AirPods Pro are finally back in stock at Amazon… at the lowest price of 2021! Price: $197.00 You Save: $52.00 (21%) Buy Now Reports last week said the new iPad Pro would not work with the first-gen Magic Keyboard because the tablet is slightly thicker than before. But that's not quite the case. The Magic Keyboard attaches to the iPad magnetically, with the screen hovering above the actual keyboard. This lets you adjust the viewing angle according to your needs without the base of the tablet touching the keyboard section. The whole thing looks terrific. But that design and functionality don't come cheap. The Magic Keyboard retails for $299 and having to repurchase the new version for the 2021 iPad Pro wouldn't have been great news for Magic Keyboard owners who thought they could use the accessory they already bought. Apple has just updated the Magic Keyboard support document with a critical explanation that addresses concerns about compatibility. According to Apple, buyers who use screen protectors with the new 12.9-inch iPad Pro and the first-gen Magic Keyboard might discover that the accessory doesn't fit precisely: The first generation of the Magic Keyboard (A1998) is functionally compatible with the new iPad Pro 12.9-inch (5th generation) with Liquid Retina XDR display. Due to the slightly thicker dimensions of this new iPad Pro, it's possible that the Magic Keyboard may not precisely fit when closed, especially when screen protectors are applied. The following size comparison reveals the culprit. The new 12.9-inch iPad Pro is 0.5mm thicker than its predecessors. That extra thickness might be almost imperceptible, but it's enough to cause compatibility problems with the first-gen Magic Keyboard if you also use a screen protector. The good news is that according to Apple's own documentation, the old accessory will still work fine, despite the fact that you might not get a perfect fit. 12.9-inch iPad Pro (2021) size compared to previous generations. Image source: Apple Inc. The new 11-inch iPad Pro isn't affected. As seen below, it has the same measurements as its predecessors. 11-inch iPad Pro (2021) size compared to previous generations. That mini-LED display might be the reason why Apple had to increase the 12.9-inch iPad Pro's thickness. Today’s Top Deal AirPods Pro are finally back in stock at Amazon… at the lowest price of 2021! Price: $197.00 You Save: $52.00 (21%) Buy Now

Intel CEO seeks $10B subsidy to build a chip factory in Europe Posted: 30 Apr 2021 05:39 PM PDT Intel CEO Pat Gelsinger may be asking for as much as $10 billion in subsidies to build a new foundry in Europe to ease the chip shortage.Read More

NASA freezes SpaceX’s lunar lander cash due to protests from Blue Origin, Dynetics Posted: 30 Apr 2021 05:39 PM PDT An artist's conception shows SpaceX's Starship rocket ship on the moon. (SpaceX Illustration) NASA says it'll hold up on its payments to SpaceX for developing its Starship super-rocket as a lunar lander while the Government Accountability Office sorts out challenges to the $2.9 billion contract award from Jeff Bezos' Blue Origin space venture as well as from Alabama-based Dynetics. Dynetics and a space industry team led by Blue Origin submitted their protests to the GAO this week, contending that the award unfairly favored SpaceX. The three teams spent months working on proposals in hopes of winning NASA's support for developing a landing system capable of putting astronauts on the moon's surface by as early as 2024. The GAO has 100 days to determine whether the challengers' complaints have merit, and if so, what to do about it. That 100-day clock runs out on Aug. 4. In the meantime, the space agency is suspending work on the Human Landing System contract. "NASA instructed SpaceX that progress on the HLS contract has been suspended until GAO resolves all outstanding litigation related to this procurement," Space News quoted NASA spokeswoman Monica Witt as saying. It's not clear how much of an effect the suspension of NASA funding will have on Starship development. Even before this month's contract award, SpaceX was conducting an extraordinarily rapid series of high-altitude tests of Starship prototypes. The next prototype, dubbed SN15, is due for launch from SpaceX's Boca Chica base in South Texas sometime in the next few days. Landing people and cargo on the moon is just one of the applications that SpaceX has in mind for Starship. The reusable rocket ship and its even bigger Super Heavy booster are also meant to be used for point-to-point terrestrial travel, mass deployment of satellites in Earth orbit, commercial trips around the moon and odysseys to Mars and back. SpaceX has raised billions of dollars in private investment for its rocket development effort, and that funding seems likely to sustain SpaceX while the GAO reviews NASA's award. NASA officials had hoped to choose two teams to go on to the next phase of lunar lander development, but because Congress allocated only a quarter of the $3.3 billion that NASA was seeking for the project in the current fiscal year, the space agency decided to go with only one of the teams. SpaceX came in with the lowest cost and the highest rating. Both Blue Origin and Dynetics said that NASA didn't assess their lunar lander proposals correctly, and that officials changed the rules of the competition in midcourse. Dynetics said NASA should have reworked or canceled its plan for awarding contracts once it determined there wasn't enough money for two teams. The teams also argued in their filings that going with a single source ran counter to NASA's general trend to select multiple teams for key commercial space programs, in the interest of encouraging competition and providing redundancy if one of the teams falters. Sen. Maria Cantwell, D-Wash., echoed that criticism last week during the confirmation hearing for NASA's next administrator, former Sen. Bill Nelson. "NASA has a big tradition of ensuring resilience in commercial programs by using multiple competitors and maintaining what's called dissimilar redundancy. So I want to know that you will commit to rapidly providing Congress with a plan for assuring that kind of resilience our of the Human Lander program," Cantwell told Nelson. In response, Nelson agreed that "competition is always good." On Thursday, NASA said it's looking into opening up a new program to procure commercial lunar landing services for the crewed missions that will follow up on SpaceX's initial demonstration mission. Meanwhile, the Senate confirmed Nelson's nomination by unanimous consent.

Cybersecurity firm started by ex-spies surges on London market debut Posted: 30 Apr 2021 04:39 PM PDT Darktrace, the cybersecurity startup run by former British and American spies, rocketed to a strong start in its London market debut.Read More

Marijuana data platform Headset raises $1.8M to expand into recently legalized markets Posted: 30 Apr 2021 04:39 PM PDT Seattle startup Headset, which provides a business intelligence platform for the legal cannabis industry, announced $1.8 million in new funding. Headset will use the funds to expand into recently legalized markets. In the U.S., 16 states and Washington, D.C., have legalized recreational marijuana for adults over age 21 and 36 states have legalized medical marijuana. In the past six months alone, half a dozen states have passed or are in the process of passing legislation legalizing marijuana in some form. Headset was founded in 2015 by CEO Cy Scott, Chief Design Officer Brian Wansolich and CTO Scott Vickers, who all previously co-founded Leafly, a cannabis resource platform. The latest funding was led by private equity investment manager Silverleaf Venture Partners with participation from cannabis-focused investors WGD Capital and Poseidon. Last year, Headset raised $3.2 million as cannabis sales surged during the pandemic. Total funding to date is just under $20 million.

More US agencies potentially hacked, this time with Pulse Secure exploits Posted: 30 Apr 2021 03:39 PM PDT Enlarge (credit: Getty Images) At least five US federal agencies may have experienced cyberattacks that targeted recently discovered security flaws that give hackers free rein over vulnerable networks, the US Cybersecurity and Infrastructure Security Agency said on Friday. The vulnerabilities in Pulse Connect Secure, a VPN that employees use to remotely connect to large networks, include one that hackers had been actively exploiting before it was known to Ivanti, the maker of the product. The flaw, which Ivanti disclosed last week, carries a severity rating of 10 out of a possible 10. The authentication bypass vulnerability allows untrusted users to remotely execute malicious code on Pulse Secure hardware, and from there, to gain control of other parts of the network where it’s installed. Federal agencies, critical infrastructure, and more Security firm FireEye said in a report published on the same day as the Ivanti disclosure that hackers linked to China spent months exploiting the critical vulnerability to spy on US defense contractors and financial institutions around the world. Ivanti confirmed in a separate post that the zeroday vulnerability, tracked as CVE-2021-22893, was under active exploit. Read 9 remaining paragraphs | Comments

A blowout earnings cycle hides strategy shift from cloud vendors Posted: 30 Apr 2021 03:39 PM PDT The big 3 cloud vendors have made huge investments over the past few months in data and AI services targeting vertical markets.Read More

Returnal review, Project Dragon for Xbox, and a lot more Star Wars games | GB Decides 194 Posted: 30 Apr 2021 03:39 PM PDT On GamesBeat Decides this week, we talk about Returnal, Project Dragon, Lucasfilm’s plans for Star Wars, and more.Read More

Research: A market where consumers can pay for privacy is emerging Posted: 30 Apr 2021 03:39 PM PDT There is a hidden market for privacy, with consumers eager to pay a premium to protect their personal information online, new research shows.Read More

One scary way that Apple’s new AirTag trackers can be abused Posted: 30 Apr 2021 03:39 PM PDT Even before Apple unveiled the AirTag tracker, we learned that the company had built protections into iOS 14.5 to prevent AirTag abuse. iOS will warn iPhone users when it detects an AirTag tracker following them around so that they can disable it and prevent stalkers from keeping track of their location. An AirTag that's been away from the owner for three days will also make a sound when moved so that Android users could discover it as well. Apple also explained that the AirTags were not designed to track children or pets, and the privacy and security features above explain why it's difficult to track people using AirTags. But a nonprofit dealing with violence against women has identified one situation where the AirTags can be used to track unsuspecting victims without triggering the protection that Apple has in place to prevent stalking. Today’s Top Deal Shoppers are swarming Amazon to get the Roomba 675 robot vacuum while it’s only $199! Price: $199.00 You Save: $80.99 (29%) Buy Now The National Network to End Domestic Violence (NNEDV) group has addressed tracking technologies like AirTag in an interview with FastCompany, explaining one scenario where Apple's protections might fail. Apple has a support document where it details how AirTag tracking works and the security and privacy protections built into the Find My tracking service: AirTag has also been designed to discourage unwanted tracking. To discourage tracking without your knowledge, Find My will notify you if an unknown AirTag is seen moving with you over time. An AirTag that isn't with the person who registered it for an extended period of time will also play a sound when moved so you can find it, even if you don't use an iOS device. If you detect an unknown AirTag, use the steps below to learn about the AirTag and how to disable it. Apple did not initially explain how quickly the AirTag "moving with you" alert might happen if you're an iPhone user who is being tracked with an AirTag, but the company told the blog that it would occur when you arrive at your home, which is the address you stored in your Apple "Me" card, or at specific locations that your phone learned you frequently visit. Privacy warning tells an iPhone user that an unknown AirTag is traveling with them. Image source: Apple Inc. But this won't work for Android users who might be tracked with an AirTag. They'll only be notified that they might have an AirTag tracker on them after three days. NNEDV said that might be a problem for Android users who live with abusive spouses who might use AirTags to track their victims. "Three days won't work if you're going home every day to the same person tracking you… That's a learning space [that] hopefully Apple will consider and work to build in protections with that threat model," NNEDV technology safety specialist Corbin Streett told the blog. "[Apple] is thinking about the threat model where it's a stalker who is walking by someone on the street they don't know — that stranger danger model — but what about when it is the person you come home to every day?" Fast Company points out that Apple said in recent interviews that the three-day rule might be lengthened or shortened in the future. Today’s Top Deal This magnetic air fryer cheat sheet is a must-have in every kitchen — check out the Amazon reviews! Price: $11.45 You Save: $4.54 (28%) Buy Now

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