New products tend to add features, not take them away. That isn’t always the case with Apple, however. The company has a long history of removing functions from one generation of devices to the next, whether that’s removing the disc drive from its MacBooks back in 2012, or taking away the iPhone’s Home button in 2017. Some of these changes are good, some are controversial, while others are undone altogether: MagSafe and HDMI both found their way back to MacBooks after all.

It’s not often I hear about Apple removing software features from one generation of product to the next, however. So, imagine my surprise when I saw a number of headlines this morning asserting that the iPhone 17 Pro, Apple’s latest and greatest flagship, is missing a feature found in the last five generations of Pro iPhones—and nobody noticed for nearly three months. Night mode is missing from Portrait mode on the iPhone 17 Pro and 17 Pro Max.

What happened to Night mode in Portrait?

The short answer? We have no idea. This was not something Apple announced publicly, of course. In fact, Macworld spotted the change in an Apple support doc: If you scroll down to the section where it says “On supported models, you can take Night mode photos with Portrait mode,” and click the hyperlink on “On supported models,” you’ll pull up a list of iPhones that, mysteriously, doesn’t include the 17 Pro or 17 Pro Max. The list includes:

• iPhone 12 Pro

• iPhone 12 Pro Max

• iPhone 13 Pro

• iPhone 13 Pro Max

• iPhone 14 Pro

• iPhone 14 Pro Max

• iPhone 15 Pro

• iPhone 15 Pro Max

• iPhone 16 Pro

• iPhone 16 Pro Max

For the uninitiated, Night mode and Portrait mode are technically two distinct features. Portrait mode was released first, all the way back on the iPhone 7 Plus, which utilized the dual-camera system to add a bokeh effect to shots of people. Those early shots were hit or miss, and were often no replacement for a true DSLR, but as Apple’s tech and cameras have improved, so has Portrait mode. Part of the improvement was the introduction of Night mode. This feature, which Apple was a bit late to the game on, allowed you to take brighter images in low-light environments by lengthening the time the shutter stays engaged. Older iPhones without the feature would take images that were hard to see without the flash engaged, but Night mode could pull in details as long as there was just enough light present in the scene.

Since the iPhone 12 Pro, Portrait mode came with the option of Night mode, as well. If you’re trying to take a portrait shot in a dark environment, Night mode kicks in and gives the image a chance to turn out brighter and more detailed. But now, it seems, the 17 Pro and 17 Pro Max do not have this option.

To be clear, these new iPhones still have Night mode: Per that previously mentioned support page, you can take brighter shots at night when taking standard photos, selfies, and time-lapse videos. It just seems Apple decided to remove the feature for Portrait mode shots on its latest Pros.

Of course, this news started breaking on Dec. 3, nearly three months after the 17 Pros launched. If it took this long for someone to notice a missing feature, was it really all that important to begin with? I don’t have a 17 Pro, so I really can’t say, but I also can’t say I take many Portrait mode shots in dark environments. I’ve reached out to Apple for comment, and will update this story if I hear back.

The debut game from Liquid Swords will arrive in early 2026, it was announced at today’s PC Gaming Show. Samson: A Tyndalston Story is billed as “a consequence-heavy noir action game” by its developer, and focuses on the eponymous Samson McCray, a man who’s got himself into serious debt in a city that doesn’t seem particularly forgiving. 

The debut trailer doesn’t give too much away in terms of story, but I’m getting gritty Max Payne-y vibes. Combat looks crunchy and visceral, and it sounds like Liquid Swords is going for an oppressive atmosphere. “Samson is built on a simple, brutal truth: every day costs you,” writes the studio in a press release. “Debt grows with interest, and time works against you. Each job burns a limited pool of Action Points and every decision shifts how the city treats you—there are no do-overs. You move forward because standing still makes everything worse.”

Liquid Swords has been teasing its first game for a while. The studio has some serious pedigree, being founded in 2020 by Christopher Sundberg, who created the Just Cause franchise when he was at Avalanche Studios. Developers who previously worked on Mad Max and the Battlefield series have also joined Sundberg at Liquid Swords, and the studio says it drew on its collective experience in combat systems, systemic design, animation and action-oriented storytelling to create Samson.

Just Cause was an open-world series, but it sounds like Samson will be a more focused experience, possibly reflected by its $25 price tag. At the beginning of the year, the studio laid off an undisclosed number of employees, something it said was necessary to ensure its “long-term sustainability” amid challenging industry conditions. Samson: A Tyndalston Story launches in early 2026 on Steam and the Epic Games Store. We don’t yet know if it’s coming to console as well. 

This article originally appeared on Engadget at https://www.engadget.com/gaming/pc/liquid-swords-debut-title-is-a-25-noir-action-game-coming-next-year-215544328.html?src=rss

Two sibling contractors convicted a decade ago for hacking into US State Department systems have once again been charged, this time for a comically hamfisted attempt to steal and destroy government records just minutes after being fired from their contractor jobs.

The Department of Justice on Thursday said that Muneeb Akhter and Sohaib Akhter, both 34, of Alexandria, Virginia, deleted databases and documents maintained and belonging to three government agencies. The brothers were federal contractors working for an undisclosed company in Washington, DC, that provides software and services to 45 US agencies. Prosecutors said the men coordinated the crimes and began carrying them out just minutes after being fired.

Using AI to cover up an alleged crime—what could go wrong?

On February 18 at roughly 4:55 pm, the men were fired from the company, according to an indictment unsealed on Thursday. Five minutes later, they allegedly began trying to access their employer’s system and access federal government databases. By then, access to one of the brothers’ accounts had already been terminated. The other brother, however, allegedly accessed a government agency’s database stored on the employer’s server and issued commands to prevent other users from connecting or making changes to the database. Then, prosecutors said, he issued a command to delete 96 databases, many of which contained sensitive investigative files and records related to Freedom of Information Act matters.

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The latest AirPods 4 dropped to a record low price during Black Friday last week, and after restocking, they’re back on Amazon (and even slightly cheaper). The ANC AirPods 4 are $99 (originally $179.99) after a 45% discount. This is the lowest price they’ve ever been, according to price-tracking tools.

Apple AirPods 4 Active Noise Cancelling Wireless Earbuds

$99.00
at Amazon

$179.00
Save $80.00

$99.00
at Amazon

$179.00
Save $80.00

The AirPods 4 have updated USB-C charging. Both models (the ANC and non-ANC) are powered by Apple’s H2 chip, so you’ll get Personalized Spatial Audio (so you can hear sounds seemingly coming from different directions as you move your head) and the ability to use head gestures to tell Siri “yes” or “no” and answer calls. Apple added a live translation feature to the ANC model when iOS 26 rolled out earlier this year.

The biggest difference if you choose to go with the non-ANC is that you’ll miss out on the charging case with a built-in speaker, which you can use with Find My to locate it if you lose them. You’ll also miss features like Conversation Awareness, which lowers your music volume when your AirPods detect that you’re talking to someone; Transparency Mode, which lets you better hear your surroundings while your earbuds are in; and Adaptive Audio (combines ANC and Transparency mode to adjust ANC levels based on the noise around you).

Both versions are rated IP54 for dust and water resistance, offer up to five hours of listening per charge (up to 30 hours with the charging case), and can handle automatic switching with your other Apple devices. You can read more about the non-ANC AirPods in PCMag’s “excellent” review, and more about the ANC AirPods in PCMag’s “outstanding” review.

Kohler is facing backlash after an engineer pointed out that the company’s new smart toilet cameras may not be as private as it wants people to believe. The discussion raises questions about Kohler’s use of the term “end-to-end encryption” (E2EE) and the inherent privacy limitations of a device that films the goings-on of a toilet bowl.

In October, Kohler announced its first “health” product, the Dekoda. Kohler’s announcement described the $599 device (it also requires a subscription that starts at $7 per month) as a toilet bowl attachment that uses “optical sensors and validated machine-learning algorithms” to deliver “valuable insights into your health and wellness.” The announcement added:

Data flows to the personalized Kohler Health app, giving users continuous, private awareness of key health and wellness indicators—right on their phone. Features like fingerprint authentication and end-to-end encryption are designed for user privacy and security.

The average person is most likely to be familiar with E2EE through messaging apps, like Signal. Messages sent via apps with E2EE are encrypted throughout transmission. Only the message’s sender and recipient can view the decrypted messages, which is intended to prevent third parties, including the app developer, from reading them.

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The EU has opened an antitrust investigation into Meta over a new WhatsApp policy that could block rival AI assistants from accessing the platform. Complaints from smaller AI developers triggered the probe, which could lead to fines of up to 10% of Meta’s global revenue if the company is found to have abused its dominance. Reuters reports: EU antitrust chief Teresa Ribera said the move was to prevent dominant firms from “abusing their power to crowd out innovative competitors.” She added interim measures could be imposed to block Meta’s new WhatsApp AI policy rollout. “AI markets are booming in Europe and beyond,” she said. “This is why we are investigating if Meta’s new policy might be illegal under competition rules, and whether we should act quickly to prevent any possible irreparable harm to competition in the AI space.”

A WhatsApp spokesperson called the claims “baseless,” adding that the emergence of chatbots on its platforms had put a “strain on our systems that they were not designed to support,” a reference to AI systems from other providers. “Still, the AI space is highly competitive and people have access to the services of their choice in any number of ways, including app stores, search engines, email services, partnership integrations, and operating systems.”

Read more of this story at Slashdot.

We’ve been monitoring the upcoming rock climbing game Cairn for several months, as have the many folks who’ve already enjoyed the demo — which has an impressive 99 percent rating on Steam. In September, developer The Game Bakers pushed back the game’s planned 2025 debut to give some extra time for polish. Today, the team dropped a fresh trailer announcing the revised launch date for the project. Cairn will be available on January 29, 2026 for Steam and PlayStation 5 for $30.

The Game Bakers have a solid track record of indie gems, often with a strong, unique sense of place and character. The survival-climbing experience seems like an excellent new topic for the team behind games including Haven and Furi. Cairn captures the intensity of winding your way up a mountain and paints a psychological portrait of the people who are drawn to tackling that mental and physical challenge. And if you find the basic gameplay isn’t difficult enough, there will also be a free solo mode for channelling your inner daredevil without ropes.

This article originally appeared on Engadget at https://www.engadget.com/gaming/cairns-new-release-date-is-january-29-2026-211508330.html?src=rss

This is a GoPro video captured by the “Hurricane Hunters” of the US Air Force’s 53rd Weather Reconnaissance Squadron as they fly through the eye of Hurricane Melissa. I don’t know about you, but I’ve known several Hurricane Melissas myself. Actually, every Melissa I’ve ever known. If you’re a Melissa I’m sure you’re the exception and not the rule though. It looks so peaceful inside, doesn’t it? Hard to believe its exterior is WREAKING HAVOC. Want to see a hurricane up close and personal? Come over to my place. My girlfriend isn’t a Melissa, but make no mistake, she leaves a trail of total destruction. “What are you writing?” Nothing dear! Just hitting the keys at random.

Love it or hate it, there’s one thing that ChatGPT avoids that many other tech products include right now: ads. Everything from websites, streaming services, and games ship with ads—either as a subsidized choice, or as a requirement. Chatbots like ChatGPT, however, have so far managed without this ad model, which is somewhat refreshing. The chatbot might lower your critical thinking skills, but it won’t try to get you to buy something.

That might not be the case for long, however. Over the past week, reports have been circulating about OpenAI’s plans to incorporate ads into ChatGPT. These aren’t just based on rumors and conjecture, either: Engineer Tibor Blaho spotted references in ChatGPT’s Android app beta to an “ads feature,” that included things like “bazaar content,” “search ad,” and “search ads carousel.” More damning, a Wall Street Journal report indirectly confirms the company’s work to bring ads to ChatGPT—though more on that later.

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If OpenAI were to actually roll out ads in its chatbot, it would have huge implications for the platform. Ads, of course, drive a huge amount of revenue for internet-based products, in large part because advertisers can target users with pinpoint precision. Nike doesn’t want to pay for ads to show up on a random assortment of users’ screens; they want to pay for ads to show up on users who are likely to buy Nike products. That’s where all the data trackers collect about us across apps and websites comes into play—and ChatGPT knows a lot about its users.

Imagine a scenario in which you ask ChatGPT for a lasagna recipe, and an accompanying shopping list. Where the current iteration of ChatGPT might suggest “tomato sauce,” you’ve expressed an interest in high quality ingredients in the past. So, in between mozzarella cheese and lasagna noodles, ChatGPT plops an ad for Rao’s. Perhaps you would’ve spend $3 on the generic brand at the store, but now you’re spending potentially more than $10 on the sauce. Or, say you’re asking ChatGPT for advice on getting into running. An important factor here is the shoe you use, as a low-quality or old sneaker can lead to injury. Along with tips like “taking it slow” and “eating right,” you get a convenient link to Nike’s latest running shoe. How thoughtful.

ChatGPT ads might be delayed, but other tests are still ongoing

Before you get too worked up about this news, know that this isn’t necessarily happening just yet. While OpenAI might have serious intentions to brings ads to ChatGPT, the company appears to be pausing those efforts for now.

According to that Wall Street Journal piece, OpenAI CEO Sam Altman sent an internal memo to the company on Monday issuing a “code red.” The key objective? Improve ChatGPT, in response to Google’s latest Gemini models. Among the strategies here, which include improving personalization and performance, is to move resources away from lower priority efforts—including, most relevant to this discussion, advertisements.

But ads aren’t the only intrusion OpenAI is testing right now. As highlighted by TechCrunch, among the hullabaloo about traditional ad placements, critics are also going after the company for another test: app suggestions. Hyberbolic Labs co-founder Yuchen Jin posted on X about his experience here, where at the end of one response, ChatGPT presents a box to “Find a fitness class” and “Connect Peloton.” Jin isn’t a free user either: He’s a Pro subscriber, which costs $200 per month. One user responded to the thread, sharing that ChatGPT was routinely recommending Spotify, even though the user already subscribed to Apple Music.

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At first glance, this seems like ChatGPT’s much discussed ad test, but, according to OpenAI’s data lead Daniel McAuley, it isn’t. McAuley responded to Jin with the full explanation, detailing how this feature is designed to suggest an app based on the context of the conversation. Importantly, OpenAI doesn’t make any money off this app placement, so it’s really not an ad in the traditional sense of the word. The goal seems to be to provide access to an external app when relevant—if you’re talking about working out, maybe it’ll recommend the Peloton app; if you’re talking about finding new music, maybe it’ll send a link to Spotify. That could be helpful, but it could also be annoying, especially if the bot is suggesting apps and services you don’t actually use. Plus, the current implementation of this feature just feels like an ad, especially when it seems apparent the company is working on ad integrations for ChatGPT.

At this time, there doesn’t appear to be an imminent threat of ads in your ChatGPT experience, but just know you may see suggested apps as you chat with Chat.

The panel of federal vaccine advisors hand-selected by anti-vaccine Health Secretary Robert F. Kennedy Jr. has once again punted on whether to strip recommendations for hepatitis B vaccinations for newborns—a move it tried to make in September before realizing it didn’t know what it was doing. The decision to delay the vote today came abruptly this afternoon when the panel realized it still does not understand the topic or what it was voting on.

Prior to today’s 6–3 vote to delay a decision, there was a swirl of confusion over the wording of what a new recommendation would be. Panel members had gotten three different versions of the proposed recommendation in the 72 hours prior to the meeting, one panelist said. And the meeting’s data presentations this morning offered no clarity on the subject—they were delivered entirely by anti-vaccine activists who have no subject matter expertise and who made a dizzying amount of false and absurd claims.

“Completely inappropriate”

Overall, the meeting was disorganized and farcical. Kennedy’s panel has abandoned the evidence-based framework for setting vaccine policy in favor of airing unvetted presentations with misrepresentations, conspiracy theories, and cherry-picked studies. At times, there were tense exchanges, chaos, confusion, and misunderstandings.

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Bank impersonation is a popular scam tactic, and one I’ve written about a lot. Fraudsters prey on people’s fear, confusion, and desire to protect their money, which may lead targets to hand over login credentials, make irreversible wire transfers, or provide other sensitive information without stopping to question their actions.

Android users in the U.S. will soon have extra protection against scams targeting their financial apps, preventing threat actors impersonating bank representatives from accessing data on their devices. Google’s in-call scam protection is designed to prevent users from sharing their screens with threat actors and help them avoid revealing their banking information.

How Android in-call protection works

Android’s scam protection kicks in if you are on a phone call with a number not saved in your contacts and attempt to open a participating financial app. You’ll get a pop-up warning that the call is likely a scam with a reminder not to make payments or share personal information and a button to end the call (and stop screen sharing). There’s also a 30-second delay on further action on your device, which Google says is designed to disrupt any sense of urgency.

Note that financial institutions must opt into in this feature—at this time, Google has specifically named Cash App and JPMorganChase as partners, though it indicates expansion to other popular fintechs and banks.

Google initially rolled out in-call protections for banking apps to UK users earlier this year as part of a larger package of security features announced ahead of Google I/O. That launch also included real-time scam detection alerts for calls and texts, improved theft protection via remote lock and identity check, key verifier for Google Messages, and device-level Advanced Protection (in addition to account-level settings).

Alongside the US pilot, in-call scam protections will now cover most major banks in the UK as well as financial apps in Brazil and India.

Longtime Slashdot reader williamyf writes: The Italian company Bending Spoons seems to be on an acquisitions spree. Their recent acquisitions of AOL and Vimeo are not yet finalized, yet on Dec. 2 they announced they are buying Eventbrite, a company specializing in publicizing and organizing local events, for just half a milliard USD. Bending Spoons’ portfolio also includes other companies like Evernote and WeTransfer. Further reading: Private Equity Hipsters Are Coming For Your Favorite Apps (2024)

Read more of this story at Slashdot.

Roughly two years ago, Sam Altman tweeted that AI systems would be capable of superhuman persuasion well before achieving general intelligence—a prediction that raised concerns about the influence AI could have over democratic elections.

To see if conversational large language models can really sway political views of the public, scientists at the UK AI Security Institute, MIT, Stanford, Carnegie Mellon, and many other institutions performed by far the largest study on AI persuasiveness to date, involving nearly 80,000 participants in the UK. It turned out political AI chatbots fell far short of superhuman persuasiveness, but the study raises some more nuanced issues about our interactions with AI.

AI dystopias

The public debate about the impact AI has on politics has largely revolved around notions drawn from dystopian sci-fi. Large language models have access to essentially every fact and story ever published about any issue or candidate. They have processed information from books on psychology, negotiations, and human manipulation. They can rely on absurdly high computing power in huge data centers worldwide. On top of that, they can often access tons of personal information about individual users thanks to hundreds upon hundreds of online interactions at their disposal.

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