illrigger

rezwits said:

How in the F, does Microsoft pull this off?  Doesn't Xbox have a similar "streaming" service?  Thru the browser or something?

For MS, it's just a value added subscription for the things they already do. They own the studios that make the games on it, make the operating systems and game consoles it runs on (outside of streaming), and run the server farms that serve it. They just have to attach three people who wouldn't have bought a game for every one who would and they make money on the service. Plus, they don't give away the DLC so they make money on attaching that to the subscribers.

The difference between GamePass and Stadia is that the games come with the subscription on GamePass - over a hundred of them at present and more added and rotated in and out all the time, including every title that their AAA game studios release. Google expected you to pay a monthly fee AND buy the games (other than a few bones they threw at you). GamePass is a good deal - you break even if you were going to buy two games a year that come with it. Stadia was a virtual game console that you had to pay for every month and got nothing else from.

 In between the two is GeForce Now, which is literally a gaming PC you pay a monthly fee to stream, but you play the games you have already bought from Steam, Origin, and Ubisoft so if they ever shut down you at least still have your games to play on a PC elsewhere.

red oak said:

illrigger said:

That's Volvo/Polestar, Nissan/Mitsubishi/Renault, GM, Ford/Lincoln, Honda/Acura, VW Group, and now Chevrolet that are all-in on Android Automotive, with several others using it as their base without the Google services.

It's not shocking, it's all about money. Apple's Carplay integration requires the carmakers to still develop a local OS and GUI for those who don't have an iPhone, and presumably they have to pay Apple some licensing fees on top. Android Automotive *is* the operating system so no external reliance needs to be assumed, and presumably Google is both aiding in integration and probably covering part of the costs. In the end, automakers get a cohesive car OS that has top-notch navigation and all the apps people want, and Google does all the work for them.

In a day when the software that runs the car is as important if not more so as the hardware, anything that makes the job easier and cheaper for carmakers is going to get their money. Apple dropped the ball here by focusing on making people need to buy more of their products instead of working with the automakers to give them what they need, and Google has been more than happy to pick it up and run it home.

Apple CarPlay is 100% free to automakers.   They do not pay a dime

Not sure where you get that idea. Carplay accessory development is covered under the MFi program.

MFi Program (apple.com)

It places all kinds of restrictions on automakers and requires them to jump through all kinds of hoops to get their products approved.

verne arase said:

22july2013 said:

The spec bump comes with a spec thump... no Thread.

The higher end model is $149 and includes an A15, thread, ethernet, and 128 GB storage.

What's not to like?

Well, the fact that they neutered the $129 price point model so badly that you can get almost the same functionality from a $50 Roku or FireTV stick, but that's just good news for Apple since their formerly DOA high-end Apple TV 4K is now the only one worth buying. And for that price, I admit it's a good product. It is finally competing with the nVidia Shield TV directly, and given the Shield is 7+ years old at this point, it's good that someone has finally caught up.

You can really tell how hard it is getting for Apple to create product strata in the iPad lineup at this point.

We can't make this TOO good, or people won't feel like they want to move up to the next one. We can use the old Facetime camera and limit it to the Apple Pencil, not the 2! But we can't put in an A15, that would be too fast and efficient, and close the gap to the M1 too much. Perfect!

caladanian said:

USB-C not for iPhone 14, yet, I fear?

They won't be required to do it until 2024, so next year would be the earliest and they may hold out for a year after that.

caz-adam said:

illrigger said:

Hear that? It's the stampede of people rushing to get the old model before they go out of stock.

Why?

Because the loss of Matter support and the Ethernet port is a pretty big deal for a streaming box that is also your home automation hub, especially considering the extra features added this year aren't super useful for one. Extra storage, CPU and GPU power for the miniscule number of games is not a big selling point, so it's really just HDR10+ support, which only Samsung and TCL TVs can even use.

In effect, the old entry level model is the way to go for most people, and if you want the new one you should really only be considering the $150 one. The new entry level one is basically an expensive Roku.

Ugh. What a load of clickbait BS. How many attack vectors are coming into any given platform doesn't matter nearly as much as how effective those vectors are, and the most successful ones are hitting every platform all at once.

I do information security for a living, and I will tell you one very important thing: all it takes is one successful vector, and you are hosed. It doesn't matter how much more the other guys are getting attacked than you are, you still need to act as if you are constantly being attacked - because you really are. That means:

• Get everything that talks to the Internet (hardware and software) up to date as quickly as you can as updates are released. That includes your router!
• Replace that router that you "got a great deal on" back on Black Friday in 201x with a modern one that is well reviewed by a site that primarily/only reviews network stuff. If you are unsure, just get something from Asus that has at least 3.5 stars on Newegg.
• Limit exposure from the outside as much as possible and turn off uPnP on your router.
• Practice network isolation: keep equipment that doesn't need to be on the same network as your personal date on its own subnet, especially IoT stuff like lighting hubs and smart home gear that doesn't get updated often. 
• If something you have connected to the Internet hasn't gotten an update in a year, consider replacing it entirely (once again, that includes your router!), and don't buy no-name stuff from Amazon, Wish, AliExpress, etc., and put it on your network with the your PCs. Getting "Linarsefft" smart bulbs because they are so cheap is a BAD idea - they will never get updated and will almost certainly have some sort of security flaw in them eventually.
• Stop going to that site you know you shouldn't be going to. You know which one I am talking about - it's the one that you immediately thought of when you read that. Stop going to the rest of the ones you know are risky as well. Or, at the very least, build a VM, put it on its own network, and use that to go there instead.
  

As a reader, you should be finding articles like this offensive to you. They play to your ego to make you feel superior so they can make a bit of money from your clicks, but they are actually giving you a false sense of security. You ARE being attacked constantly and relentlessly - your network is getting pinged hundreds of times a day from countries far and wide (and by that I mean mostly Russia), looking for their way in. Don't listen to anyone who tells you you aren't, and act accordingly to minimize the risk of them actually getting in.

mike1 said:

starof80 said:

I have the first gen 4K model and really don’t plan to upgrade. Yes Thread and Matter is nice, but the A10X is still a beast. I don’t really game on it so the bigger storage doesn’t matter to me that much. I have a HomePod Mini that I can use for Thread.

The more Thread devices throughout the home, the more reliable the network.

To be fair, that's true of most dedicated home automation standards. For example, Thread isn't superior to Zigbee in that regard, which is why Philips Hue has managed to stay on top of the game for so long. The reason people have had such low opinions of home automation devices in general and tout the superiority of Thread so much is the huge number of cheap and unreliable WiFi connected devices out there, and the fact that the more WiFi devices you have on your network, the worse all of them work thanks to collision domain issues.

Japhey said:

alterbentzion said:

Do any aftermarket vendors offer sound system replacements with CarPlay?

Definitely. There are many. 

And almost all of them fit inside a DIN-style slot in the dash, which for the most part has not been present in cars made in the last half a decade. You can still put in aftermarket stuff, but it's not easy or cheap to do anymore - the automakers have made sure of it.

To counter all of that, what would you say if the thing broke far easier than expected? People say the exact same thing every time JerryRigEverything does a bend test, and yet every so often you end up with an iPad that bends in half when almost no force is applied. I agree that hitting something with a sledgehammer is dumb, but it's not like these people haven't found things out that are important to know (like to never ever stick an iPad Pro into your backpack unsupported).