StrangeDays

gatorguy said:

bloggerblog said:

It's a backdoor, they probably found a better way or backed it into their OS so they're deprecating the old. Windows has backdoors that date back to the days of Windows NT, they discovered 3 backdoors because someone forgot to encrypt them, one of them was names NSA. Microsoft of course denied that they were intentional...

Not exactly. It's not a Google creation, nor can it be accessed remotely.

It's for a very specific Verizon in-store feature, a demo mode per-se, as mentioned in the AI article. This one requires physical access to the device, just as some other “back doors” have been, whether Windows, Mac or other. Even then, unless you are a Verizon employee, it's almost impossible to access according to reports.

Since Verizon is no longer using the app, it was Google's responsibility to remove it from Pixels, assuming they were advised it was deprecated. Google also seems to better understand it shouldn't be done via the OS in the first place.

...But it's hardly at the level of a "security nightmare".

gatorguy said:

igorsky said:

kurai_kage said:

AppleInsider said:

..., and since they support Matter, both can work with Apple HomeKit.

Last I checked there weren't that many notable alternatives though.

You just mentioned a notable alternative: Ecobee. I have four throughout the house for the last five years and they’ve been excellent. Haven’t even thought about Nest. 

I did just preorder the new Nest Thermostat, primarily for two features: More malleable and specific "learning", and the inclusion of the temp monitor in the box for the master bedroom. Both should make my wife happier. If it were just me, I'm good with the 2nd gen units we have now.

Of course I won't argue with the larger display with optional info fields other than the current temperature setting, but that's mostly a guy thing. 

ddawson100 said:

I really don't know how this ends. Streaming doesn't make much money for anyone and it keeps growing in cost for the consumers. Some great re-bundling is nigh. Disney's offer is compelling but so are the others. We can't pay for them all and music. And storage and Applecare and apps/services and news and ...

ddawson100 said:

I agree that a subscription mouse is absolutely absurd but their CEO hasn't said anything about subscribing to a mouse. She mentioned the concept of a a quality "forever mouse" and mentioned that it's possible that people would want to pay for software updates to go with their hardware. It's maybe cynical to hear (read about) these two topics in an interview and conflate them. Logitech has never required you to pay for their software and if they had something good enough I imagine they could incrementally increase their revenue.

Their newer Logi Options+ is making it easier to assign multi-step macros to their mice & keyboards. Some of these macros duplicate other things I'm doing with paid software. If Logitech could compete with those other ones and do it better then I'd consider buying from them, too. But that's not a subscription mouse.

Anilu_777 said:

I was able to do this via Safari browser in my iPhone. Unchecked the box for both my accounts.