Apple’s New VR Goggles & Operating Systems (Plus Reddit’s Price Hike Blackout) | June 6th, 2023
In Today’s Tech News:
- Apple’s Vision Pro Magic VR Goggles
- Reddit’s Blackout Due To API Price Hikes
- Apple’s New & Updated Operating Systems
- Info-Robbing Malware: Bandit Stealer
Apple’s Vision Pro Magic VR Goggles
Apple has finally announced its entry into the world of VR with the Vision Pro, a hybrid augmented and virtual reality headset.
The goggles are slated to be $3500 and are planned to be released in Q1 or Q2 of 2024.
The Vision Pro is the first original device from Apple since the AirTag, released in 2021, the first original multi-media device since the HomePod speaker, released in 2018, and the first original screen-interactive device since the release of the Apple Watch in April 2015.
The standalone headset will rely entirely on voice inputs and hand/eye gestures and will be protected by Optic ID optical authentication.
Tech Youtuber Marques Brownlee got his hands on it and called the device’s eye-tracking “the closest thing I’ve seen to magic,”
CEO Tim Cook stated he believes the “Apple Vision Pro is a revolutionary product,”
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Reddit’s Blackout Due To API Price Hikes
Reddit’s community is planning a 48-hour plus blackout as a response to the recent API price change announcement.
A full list of subreddits participating can be found in our sources and include massive communities such as r/aww, r/videos, and r/technology.
The changes, announced by Apollo creator Christian Selig and covered in last Friday’s Tech Byte linked now, would cost 3rd party Reddit browsers up to $20 million per year.
The price hikes are theorized to kill 3rd party apps including Apollo, BaconReader, Reddit is Fun, and old.reddit, which enables users to create their own customizable browsing experience
The users most affected will actually be the moderators as the 1st party Reddit app has abysmal mod tooling and the largest subreddits have incredible traffic that needs moderation.
The blackout is to begin on June 12th and last over 48 hours through June 14th or longer depending on the response from Reddit.
A few subreddits have decided to participate in a permanent blackout due to the moderation tools being affected.
The original announcement and list of subreddits participating can be found in our sources in the description.
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Apple’s New & Updated Operating Systems
Along with the Vision Pro, Apple has announced quite a few updates coming down the pipe over the next year.
A majority of the announcements were operating system updates including iOS 17, macOS Sonoma, watchOS 10, and visionOS, the new operating system powering the Vision Pro.
Sonoma, the new macOS, has exciting new features including new gaming functionality using Apple’s upgraded graphics processing and Metal 3 frameworks and AR functionality for Zoom and Teams.
Along with the software announcements, Apple unveiled their new 15-inch MacBook Air as well as M2 Max and M2 Ultra versions of their Mac Studio and Mac Pro.
The new Mac Pro will be Apple’s highest-end desktop costing $7,000 for the M2 Ultra package featuring a 24-core CPU, 76-core GPU, 8 Thunderbolt 4 ports, and supporting up to 7 Pro XDR displays.
We will be keeping our eye on WWDC and will have more coverage come Friday.
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Info-Robbing Malware: Bandit Stealer
Bandit Stealer, the Go-written information stealer covered last week has had more information come to light as researchers from the Zscaler ThreatLabz have released a more in-depth technical analysis of the malware.
The updates include lists of blacklisted IPs, Mac addresses, users, PC names, and processes that, if present, will trigger a self-termination.
Processes include Vmware, VirtualBox, KVM, and the Windows Debugger, including the remote debugger.
On top of listing what will cause the stealer to kill itself, the researchers also delivered fuller lists of affected web browsers, crypto wallets, FTP clients, and email clients where information can be stolen, all of which can be found in our sources in the description.
To mitigate your risk
- Regularly back up important data
- Follow the 3-2-1 rule of data storage: 3 copies, on 2 formats, 1 of which is off-site.
- Keep your operating system up to date
- Use strong, unique passwords
- Enable 2FA wherever possible
- Consider a reputable anti-malware solution like BitDefender or Malwarebytes
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What Are Your Thoughts?
- Do you think Apple can revitalize the VR market?
- Is Reddit going to change its stance?
- What did the janitor say when he jumped out of the closet?
Let us know your thoughts in the comments at the bottom of the page!