On Sunday, the genetic testing and heritage company 23andMe announced that it had entered Chapter 11 bankruptcy and was asking a court to arrange its sale. The company has been losing money for years, and a conflict between its board and CEO about future directions led to the entire board resigning back in September. Said CEO, Anne Wojcicki, has now resigned and will be pursuing an attempt to purchase the company and take it private.

At stake is the fate of genetic data from the company’s 15 million customers. The company has secured enough funding to continue operations while a buyer is found, and even though US law limits how genetic data can be used, the pending sale has raised significant privacy concerns.

Risky business

The company launched around the time that “gene chips” first allowed people to broadly scan the human genome for sites where variations were common. A few of these variants are associated with diseases, and 23andMe received approval to test for a number of these. But its big selling point for many people was the opportunity to explore their heritage. This relied on looking broadly at the patterns of variation and comparing those to the patterns typically found in different geographic regions. It’s an imperfect analysis, but it can often provide a decent big-picture resolution of a person’s ancestry.

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DNA testing company 23andMe has filed for Chapter 11 bankruptcy, following a tumultuous few years that included significant layoffs and a wide-ranging data breach. It plans to find a buyer and continue operations throughout the process, with the company’s CEO, Anne Wojcicki, resigning to bid for the company independently. The Board of Directors’ Special Committee previously rejected a proposal from Wojcicki.

“We expect the court-supervised process will advance our efforts to address the operational and financial challenges we face, including further cost reductions and the resolution of legal and leasehold liabilities. We believe in the value of our people and our assets and hope that this process allows our mission of helping people access, understand and benefit from the human genome to live on for the benefit of customers and patients,” said Mark Jensen, chair and member of the Special Committee, in a release.

Jensen added that the company is committed to safeguarding customer data and that “being transparent about the management of user data going forward, and data privacy will be an important consideration in any potential transaction.”

There was a time when 23andMe was all the rage, with everyone you knew sending samples of their saliva. However, things have declined since the company went public. It was once valued at $6 billion, but this month that number was less than $50 million. The company also laid off over 200 employees late last year.

But, the largest hurdle came in 2023 when hackers accessed the information of 6.9 million customers — the breach started in April of that year, but 23andM3 noticed it five months later, in September. The company announced the leak that October. One year later, 23andMe settled a class action lawsuit for $30 million, following claims such as that the company failed to tell plaintiffs that they were specifically targeted for being of Chinese or Ashkenazi Jewish heritage.

This article originally appeared on Engadget at https://www.engadget.com/big-tech/23andme-has-filed-for-bankruptcy-and-ceo-anne-wojcicki-has-stepped-down-144629683.html?src=rss

The most affordable iPhone, or the most affordable Pixel? Which one is right for you? Google’s Pixel 9a comes in $100 cheaper than the iPhone 16e, and has many AI features and specs from its flagship big brother, the Pixel 9. And it’s a similar story with the iPhone 16e. The Pixel 9a starts shipping in April, while the iPhone 16e is out already (and we’ve already compared it with Samsung’s mid-range lineup).

But, as always, the devil is in the details. Here’s how Google’s new Pixel 9a compares to the iPhone 16e.

Design

Credit: Apple

Both the iPhone 16e and the Pixel 9a have a similar design language. They have flat sides, flat fronts, and rounded edges. And unlike its flagship counterpart, the Pixel 9a does not feature a camera bump. This is a big departure for the Pixel line, but it does make it look more like an iPhone.

Pixel 8a (left) vs Pixel 9a (right).
Credit: Michelle Ehrhardt

On the front, the iPhone features a notch-style display instead of the Dynamic Island found on the flagship iPhones. The Pixel 9a, comparatively, has a circular cutout at the top for the front-facing camera.

The Pixel 9a weighs 6.6 ounces, while the iPhone 16e is ever so slightly lighter at 5.9 ounces.

The iPhone 16e only comes in Black or White, but the Pixel 9a comes in four different color options: Porcelain, Obsidian, Peony, and Iris. The Peony color is the light-pink option, while the Iris color looks like a mix of purple and lavender.

Display

Credit: Michelle Ehrhardt

The Pixel 9a has a 6.3-inch OLED screen (2,424 by 1,080 pixels), supports variable refresh rate (between 60-120Hz), and has a max brightness of 2700 nits (1800 nits typical brightness).

The iPhone 16e on the other hand a smaller 6.1-inch OLED display with a nearly identical resolution (2,532 by 1,170 pixels), and offers a fixed 60Hz refresh rate and a maximum brightness of 1200 nits (800 nits typical brightness).

On paper, it seems like the Pixel is out in the lead here, offering a high-refresh rate display that’s slightly bigger, sharper, and much brighter than the iPhone.

Performance

Both the iPhone 16e and Pixel 9a run on chips made by the same company, and are featured in their flagship counterparts. The iPhone 16e features an Apple A18 chip (minus one GPU core) that’s found in the iPhone 16 series, while the Pixel 9a uses Google’s Tensor G4 chip, same as the Pixel 9. Both devices feature 8GB RAM, which is a downgrade from the flagship.

While the Pixel 9a benchmark scores aren’t out yet, we can use the Pixel 9 as a comparison, as both devices share the same chip. In Geekbench, Pixel 9 scored 1,657 in single-core performance and 4,060 in multi-core performance.

The iPhone 16e, on the other hand, score 2,706 in single-core testing and 7,942 in multi-core testing.

Based on raw numbers, it looks like the iPhone 16e’s performance is far better than Pixel 9a’s. Both devices should be plenty fast for day-to-day use, but the extra headroom from the A18 processor bodes well for iPhone 16e’s longevity.

Cameras

The iPhone 16e famously has a single camera setup with a single 48MP lens at the rear, while the Pixel 9a has a 48MP ( f/1.7) wide-angle lens and an additional 13MP ( f/2.2) ultra-wide sensor. Apple’s sensor lets in more light, however, which should make low-light photography better.

Both devices capture 4K video at 30 or 60 frames per second. The iPhone also has options for 24 and 25 frames per second.

iPhone and Pixels are generally good at photography, and each have their own slightly different look that largely comes down to computational postprocessing. Both devices also come with their own AI photo editing features, although it’s uncertain which will be more useful until the Pixel 9a releases.

Battery Life

Both phones go big on battery life. Google has put in a massive 5,100 mAh battery in the Pixel 9a and is promising over 30 hours of battery life.

The iPhone 16e, meanwhile, features a 4,004 mAh battery, and Apple says it has the largest battery life of any iPhone, promising 26 hours of offline video, or 21 hours of streaming video. In real life testing, PCMag found that the iPhone 16e lasted 21 hours and 39 minutes in a battery benchmark test, although Pixel 9a tests are still a question mark.

Price

With the Pixel 9a, you clearly get more for less. Google’s budget phone starts at $499 for 128GB storage, and the upgrade to 256GB only costs $559.

On the other hand, the iPhone 16e starts at $599 for 128GB, and goes up to $699 for 256GB, or $899 for 512GB.

Although, it’s worth reiterating that the iPhone 16e is available to purchase right now, while the Pixel 9a will start shipping sometime in April 2025.

Which One Is Right For You?

Your choice starts with the ecosystem. If you want a smartphone to work well with your Mac, the iPhone 16e might be the default choice for you. The same goes for Pixel 9a if you really want an Android phone.

If you want the best AI features, the Pixel 9a might have an edge. It comes with Gemini Nano built-in, and the Gemini app adds support for AI features like Gemini Live, AI photo editing, and more. Apple Intelligence on the iPhone 16e also supports AI features like Writing Tools, photo Clean Up, and more, but the AI-enhanced Siri largely isn’t out yet.

As for hardware, if you want a phone that will last for a longer time, the iPhone 16e’s slightly stronger chip is a better bet. However, the Pixel 9a is the value for money pick. Not only is the base model $100 cheaper, the 256GB version is $140 cheaper than the iPhone 16e.

This is a video included in the extras of a Blu-Ray copy of Back To The Future featuring actors (Billy Zane, C. Thomas Howell, Jon Cryer, and Ben Stiller) in 1984 auditioning for the role of Marty McFly. There’s also clips of Peter DeLuise auditioning for Biff Tannen and Kyra Sedgwick for Jennifer Parker. What might have been! I think they nailed the casting though. Apparently (but not shown in the video) Jeff Goldblum, John Lithgow, Dudley Moore, Ron Silver, Robin Williams, John Cleese, Mandy Patinkin, Gene Hackman, James Woods, and Mark Mothersbaugh were all considered for Doc Brown’s role. Are you thinking what I’m thinking? “Does it involve building a time machine and repeatedly traveling back to the casting and meddling so each actor gets the part just to see how that version of the movie turns out?” Oh what, you’ve got something better to do?

No, pigs aren’t flying, hell hasn’t frozen over and you (probably) haven’t won the Powerball jackpot, but something else nearly as unexpected is happening. Over four years after it debuted AirPods Max, Apple is set to update them with long-overdue features. The company is bringing lossless audio and ultra-low latency audio to the overear headphones when it rolls out iOS 18.4, iPadOS 18.4 and macOS Sequoia 15.4 in April.

It’s the first (and only major) update Apple has given the AirPods Max outside of starting to offer a model with a USB-C charging port back in September. And that’s the kicker: based on the wording in Apple’s press release, it seems the update will only be for the USB-C version of the AirPods Max, not the original version with the Lightning port. What’s more, it appears that lossless audio and ultra-low latency audio may only be available when you connect the headphones to an audio source via a USB-C cable. Engadget has asked Apple for confirmation.

As luck would have it, Apple is starting to sell a USB-C to 3.5mm cable today. It’ll run you $39. There will also be the option to connect your iOS or iPadOS device to speakers or car stereos that have 3.5mm audio ports with the cable.

Still, you’ll at last be able to listen to 24-bit, 48 kHz lossless audio with AirPods Max. Lossless audio will also be compatible with Personalized Spatial Audio, Apple says. Apple Music subscribers can listen to more than 100 million songs in lossless audio.

The company notes that, following the firmware update, “AirPods Max will become the only headphones that enable musicians to both create and mix in Personalized Spatial Audio with head tracking.” It adds that the ultra-low latency audio feature will allow for no response delay on par with the speakers built into Mac, iPad and iPhone devices. It suggests this feature could be a boon for gamers and livestreamers.

This article originally appeared on Engadget at https://www.engadget.com/audio/headphones/apple-is-finally-updating-airpods-max-with-lossless-and-ultra-low-latency-audio-140142271.html?src=rss

Filling out CAPTCHAs to prove you’re a human is one of the regular annoyances of the internet—but maybe it doesn’t need to be. A new feature in the latest version of One UI 7 for Samsung devices promises to solve CAPTCHAs (or Completely Automated Public Turing tests, to name them in full), but it’s not yet clear how effective it will be.

Why sites use CAPTCHAs

CAPTCHAs pop up on numerous websites, often when you’re trying to log in, and their purpose is to prove you’re not a bot. The idea is that websites don’t want to be overwhelmed with bot spam or come under attack from a swarm of bots, and CAPTCHAs are one way to prevent those problems.

The challenge that you’re met with is typically something that’s relatively straightforward for a person to do, but tricky for a web bot. You may have to identify a group of misshapen letters that are put on top of a distracting background, or you might have to click all the pictures in a grid that have motorcycles in them.

While it is necessary to put up defenses against bots, these CAPTCHAs can be a frustrating hurdle for users to get over, and they can often take up a minute or two to complete in full. What’s more, some versions of these bot checkers also look at your behavior and actions in the browser to determine whether or not you’re human—which isn’t great from a privacy point of view.

With all that in mind, Samsung is aiming to make your life online a little easier with a new feature called Automatic Verification, which essentially solves CAPTCHAs for you. As spotted by SammyGuru, it’s available in the latest version of the Samsung Internet browser on One UI 7, so you can try it now on Galaxy S25 phones, and it’s coming soon to older devices.

How to turn on Automatic Verification

Enabling the Automatic Verification feature.
Credit: Lifehacker

Open up Samsung Internet on your phone, then tap the menu button (three horizontal lines, bottom right) and Settings. Choose Privacy dashboard, then Smart anti-tracking, and you’ll get to the Automatic Verification toggle switch—if it’s not already enabled, you can turn it on here.

The feature “prevents websites from using data collected during the user authentication process to track your activities” according to the notes accompanying the latest app update. “You can use Automatic Verification to skip the CAPTCHA step on websites.”

There are a few caveats to keep in mind. First, this is a feature that’s restricted to the Samsung Internet browser, so you can’t use it with other web browsers you might have installed on your device. Also, websites have to support the feature, Samsung says—it’s not clear what that means, but it sounds like it won’t work with every CAPTCHA you come across.

Does Automatic Verification work?

I tested the feature out on several websites, including the demos available at NopeCHA, and they all appeared as normal—it didn’t appear that Automatic Verification made any difference. This could be a case of a feature that’s great in theory but which doesn’t actually work when put to the test. Alternately, it might be too soon to expect results, as Samsung has only just introduced the feature, so it’s perhaps no surprise that it’s not playing nicely with every website yet.

If Automatic Verification is eventually supported more widely across the most popular websites, it could be another reason to stick to Samsung’s built-in mobile browser. At this point, that’s a big if.

DNA-testing company 23andMe has filed for Chapter 11 bankruptcy protection [non-paywalled source] in Missouri and announced CEO Anne Wojcicki’s immediate resignation, weeks after rejecting her proposal to buy back the business she co-founded. The bankruptcy filing represents “the best path forward to maximize the value of the business,” said Mark Jensen, board member and special committee chair.

Read more of this story at Slashdot.