Samsung rolls out November 2021 security patches early for the Galaxy S21 series

As it’s been doing for the past several months, Samsung has released new security patches ahead of its official schedule. The South Korean giant has started rolling out November 2021 security patches to several Galaxy smartphones, including the Galaxy S21 series.

According to reports on our forums and Reddit, Samsung has begun rolling out a new software update to the Galaxy S21, Galaxy S21+, and Galaxy S21 Ultra, which brings November 2021 security patches. The update weighs 227.49MB and has firmware version G99xBXXS3AUJ7. Besides the security patches and bug fixes, the update doesn’t pack any new features or improvements. Samsung has yet to publish the complete security bulletin detailing various vulnerabilities and security flaws fixed in this month’s update. The bulletin will likely be released early next month.

Screenshot credit: XDA Senior Member
iamnotkurtcobain

As mentioned above, the update has started hitting the Galaxy S21 series units in a few regions. We expect Samsung to expand the rollout to more countries/regions over the coming weeks. If you own a Galaxy S21 and want to check if the update is available for you, head over to Settings > Software update and tap on the “Download and Install” button. As always, the new security update should also be making its way to the Galaxy Note 20 series, Galaxy S20 lineup, and foldables in the coming weeks.

The Galaxy S21 series owners can also get their hands on the latest Android 12 based One UI 4 beta. Interested users can enroll their Galaxy S21 in the beta program via the Samsung Members app. One UI 4 packs several exciting features, including new home screen widgets, a redesigned Quick Settings panel, new charging effects, improved multitasking experience, new Bixby Routines, and much more. Be sure to check out our in-depth review of One UI 4 to learn more about the latest software.

Samsung recently rolled out the third One UI 4 beta, which further polishes the software experience by fixing a log of bugs.

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Genshin Impact 2.2 update brings new characters, teases OnePlus collaboration for China [Updated]

Update 1 (10/04/2021 @ 01:42 AM ET): We have some more information on the OnePlus collaboration. Scroll to the bottom for more information. The article as published on October 3, 2021, is preserved below.

Update 2 (10/26/2021 @ 01:46 AM ET): The OnePlus x Genshin Impact collab involves a themed OnePlus 9RT and other goodies.

Genshin Impact has had quite an eventful past few months. The biggest updates to the game dropped in the form of 2.0 and 2.1, building upon another set of exciting gameplay elements to one of the better games on Android. Genshin Impact is also celebrating its one-year anniversary, and players have been treated to fair few freebies along the way (but not without many free-to-play players criticizing the previously planned set of freebies). Anyway, it’s time for a new update, and we get v2.2 with a new character Thoma, a new location unlock in the Inazuma region, new monsters, a collaboration with Razer for global, and a teaser for an upcoming OnePlus collaboration for China.

Free Primogems from Genshin Impact 2.2 Livestream

Before we begin, here are the free primogem codes coming from this event live stream:

• LBNDKG8XDTND
• NB6VKHQWVANZ
• BSNUJGQFUTPM

Redeem them quickly over here through your browser. You can also redeem them in-game, but browser redemption is quicker. Act quickly as these are time-limited codes and will expire soon.

New Playable Characters in Genshin Impact v2.2: Thoma

There’s only one new character in this update, but that should give people time to farm and level up the whole slew of new characters that have been releasing for the past few updates now.

Thoma is a four-star Pyro Polearm character, one that seems to be centered around a support role. He provides a strong defense and buffs, which is what you’re looking at for a support role. We’ll have to his full kit and stats to see the kind of teams he fits into, but he does look like a better-positioned unit than Xinyan.

New location in Inazuma:

Inazuma is getting its final major island to unlock in the form of Tsurumi Island, which should be completing Inazuma as a region. The highlight of this region is the dense fog in the region, as well as the new enemies that apply a corrosion effect. Tsurumi Island will also be the focus of new events, which means exploring it would be crucial to obtain event-limited rewards.

New Enemies in Genshin Impact 2.2: Rifthounds and Rifthound Whelps

Rifthounds and their Whelps are the newest enemies players will encounter when they go around exploring Tsurumi Island. These creatures focus on stealth and try to sneak an attack on the player. When an attack hits a character, all party members will be affected by the “Corrosion” status (similar to the Corrosion status in the current Spiral Abyss Floor 11), which causes all members to continually lose HP regardless of their shield status. There appear to be two element types of Rifthounds: Geo and Electro.

Event Wish Banner: Childe, followed by Hu Tao

The next character banner after the current Kokomi banner is for Childe (along with 3 other four-star characters), followed by a banner featuring Hu Tao, Thoma, and two other four-star characters.

This is the third banner for Childe, and considering it precedes Hu Tao and Thoma’s banner, there’s a good chance a lot of players skip this one and roll on Hu Tao instead. Hyper carries like Hu Tao are still the rage.

Other new game mechanics, events and changes in Genshin Impact 2.2

Aloy for all players

Aloy, the 5 star Cryo Bow user unlocked for PlayStation users in the last patch, will now be available to all players (above Adventure Rank 20) in this patch.

All you have to do is log into the game once in this patch, and she should be made available to you to build and play. Reception to Aloy has been muted so far, but we don’t say no to a freebie.

Hangout Events: Sayu and Thoma

Both Sayu and Thoma are the newest characters getting their own Hangout event.

Events: Labyrinth Warriors; Tuned to the World’s Sounds

We’re getting two events this patch. Labyrinth Warriors is a combat event centered around Childe and Xinyan, while Tuned to the World’s Sounds is a music-based event.

Serenitea Pot

The Serenitea Pot is getting a new Inazuma-themed realm layout called “Silken Courtyard” (unlocked when you reach Thunder Sakura level 40), several more Inazuma-style Furnishing Blueprints in the wild as well as through Tubby, a new furnishing type in the form of Floating Platforms which can be height adjusted, and flowers that can be earned through the time-limited “Dreams of Bloom” event.

Miscellaneous Changes

With Genshin Impact v2.2, support for the PlayStation 5 DualSense Controller has been added for the PC version.

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Genshin Impact x Razer Co-Branded Products

Mihoyo has inked a new partnership with Razer to create Genshin Impact co-branded products. These include a Genshin Impact-themed Razer DeathAdder V2 Pro wireless gaming mouse, a Razer Goliathus Speed mouse mat, and a Razer Iskur X gaming chair. Not only do these products come with Paimon from Genshin Impact as their theme, they also come with bonus in-game rewards. Genshin Impact designs will also be made available on Razer Customs, an online service by Razer that offers official partner designs for a range of Razer hardware. All of these are coming soon, and no concrete date or availability was presented at this time.

There’s also a custom-tuned THX Game Profile on offer via the THX Spatial Audio app. The profile is available on PC and is compatible with all gaming headsets for GEnshin Impact.

Genshin Impact x OnePlus

In the Chinese live stream, Genshin Impact also teased a collaboration with OnePlus, coming up in November 2021.

Unfortunately, there are no English transcripts, and we can only take a wild guess what this could be. Could this be a custom phone edition like the OnePlus 8T Cyberpunk 2077 Edition, or could it just be custom cases and themes? We’ll have to wait until November to find out. Keep your hopes low of this being made available globally, as the announcement was only made in the Chinese stream and not in the Global stream, indicating a China-limited release for whatever this is.

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Update: Genshin Impact x OnePlus collaboration

We have some more information to share on the OnePlus collaboration. During the “Double Eleven” shopping festival in China, OnePlus will unveil a limited-time Genshin Impact gift pack which will include tailor-made Genshin Impact goodies along with an in-game bonus. It is not yet known what this gift pack would contain.

“Double Eleven” is the largest online shopping festival in China, taking place on November 11. Most online retailers in the country have discounts and offers for customers, and several time-limited products are also launched in this period.

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Update 2: Sucrose-themed OnePlus 9RT

The OnePlus x Genshin Impact collaboration is a Sucrose-themed limited time gift box for China. The box contains a OnePlus 9RT, a Sucrose case, a Sucrose stand poster, an Anemo themed back-clip cooling fan and a Sucrose badge. The phone also comes with a Sucrose theme installed. Buyers will also receive 1000 primogems and a bunch of other in-game goodies.

Genshin Impact x OnePlus Sucrose themed limited gift box, available to order on November 5th via the OPPO Mall and other OnePlus Chinese retailers. https://t.co/jnqLUvEqkr pic.twitter.com/VaBizxMQqG

— AE Entropy (@AeEntropy) October 26, 2021

 

The Genshin Impact x OnePlus gift box will be available to order in China on November 5, via OPPO Mall and other OnePlus Chinese retailers.

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What are your favorite bits from the announcements? Let us know in the comments below!

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Grab a Google Nest Wifi 2-pack for only $199 today ($70 off)

Google released a new mesh Wi-Fi system in late 2019, dubbed the Nest Wifi. It replaced the older Google Wifi, and provides fast and reliable internet to every corner of your home. The Nest Wifi is sold packs of 1-3, depending on how much space you need to cover, and now the two-pack is on sale for $199 at B&H Photo. That’s $70 below the usual cost, and one of the lowest prices we’ve seen for the 2-pack in recent history.

This is a mesh router system, meaning one station acts as the main router (which connects to your ISP’s modem) and the other “points” (just one, in this case) act as additional nodes. Your computers, tablets, phones, and other internet-enabled gadgets connect to the Nest Wifi closest to them, which means your practical network range is greater than most single-router setups.

Google Nest Wifi (2-pack)

B&H Photo has the Google Wifi 2-pack on sale for $199, a discount of $70 from the usual price.

Buy at B&H

The other main selling point for the Nest Wifi is the easy management features. You use the Google Home app on iOS and Android for setup and configuration, similar to how you would set up a new Chromecast or Nest smart speaker. The Nest Wifi supports speeds of up to 2200 Mb/s on the main router, and up to 1200 Mb/s on the secondary points. The secondary point also functions as a Google Assistant speaker.

Even though the Nest Wifi is a great option for a simple and easy mesh network, it is missing some features that are common on competing mesh systems. There’s no support for Wi-Fi 6, the faster wireless standard that is increasingly becoming common, or the newer Wi-Fi 6E technology. That means you might not get the fastest possible speeds supported by some phones, tablets, and laptops released in the past year or two. However, you still get the advantages of greater wireless reception across your home, especially if you’re coming from a single router setup.

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This is what the Surface Neo would have looked like in real life

Microsoft has released many hardware products over the past few years, from the massive Surface Studio to the dual-display Surface Duo. However, one device that didn’t quite make it to the finish line was the Surface Neo, a laptop-sized version of the Duo that would have used Windows 10X. Both the Neo and Windows 10X were shelved, but now photos of a Neo prototype have been published.

The Surface Neo was first announced in October 2019 as a large tablet with two displays. Similar to the Duo, which was eventually released (as well as this month’s second generation model), the Neo was designed for running one application on each screen or stretching a single application to both monitors. Microsoft also showed off a keyboard attachment, which would have covered part of the bottom section (when the Duo was on its side) and turned it into a laptop-like device.

Max Weinbach, a reporter for Android Police and noted tech leaker, posted photos today of a Surface Neo prototype “straight […] from China.” The actual displays are missing (with cracked remnants visible on the top and bottom), but the rest of the unit looks close to what Microsoft teased in the above video from 2019. The outside looks like a large Surface Duo, while the inside reveals the battery cells and some other components.

The Surface Neo was being designed for Windows 10X, which was intended as a streamlined version of Windows for ultrabooks and dual-screen devices. Microsoft ended development of Windows 10X sometime in early 2021, but some of its design elements and other ideas were integrated into Windows 11, which was finally released on October 5 of this year.

Microsoft has never officially said that Neo was cancelled, but we haven’t heard a peep about it since 2019, and Microsoft confirmed the death of Windows 10X in May. There’s a chance Microsoft might revisit the idea in the future with Windows 11, but given the continued lackluster reception to the Surface Duo series, killing off the Neo might have been a good idea.

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Apple has released iOS 15.1 that enables SharePlay

Apple has released the final versions of iOS 15.1, macOS 12.0.1 Monterey, iPadOS 15.1, watchOS 8.1, and tvOS 15.1 to the public. These updates across Apple operating systems bring SharePlay support to Apple and (supported) third-party services. SharePlay is a new online group media consumption service that works through FaceTime. It was first spotted in early iOS 15.0 betas, but it never made it to the public iOS 15.0 build.

What’s new in iOS 15.1

Below is the complete change log of iOS 15.1:

iOS 15.1 Changelog

SharePlay

• SharePlay is a new way to share synchronized experiences in FaceTime with content from the Apple TV app, Apple Music, Fitness+, and other supported App Store apps
• Shared controls give everyone the ability to pause, play, rewind or fast forward
• Smart volume automatically lowers the audio of a movie, TV show or song when your friends speak
• Apple TV supports the option to watch the shared video on your big screen while you continue the FaceTime call on iPhone
• Screen sharing lets everyone on a FaceTime call look at photos, browse the web, or help each other out

Camera

• ProRes video capture using iPhone 13 Pro and iPhone 13 Pro Max
• Setting to turn off automatic camera switching when taking macro photos and videos on iPhone 13 Pro and iPhone 13 Pro Max

Apple Wallet

• COVID-19 vaccination card support allows you to add and present verifiable vaccination information from Apple Wallet

Translate

• Mandarin Chinese (Taiwan) support in the Translate app and for system-wide translation

Home

• New automation triggers based on the current reading of a HomeKit-enabled humidity, air quality, or light level sensor

Shortcuts

• New pre-built actions let you overlay text on images or gifs, plus a new collection of games lets you pass the time with Siri

This release also fixes the following issues:

• Photos app may incorrectly report storage is full when importing photos and videos
• Weather app may not show current temperature for My Location, and may display colors of animated backgrounds incorrectly
• Audio playing from an app may pause when locking the screen
• Wallet may unexpectedly quit when using VoiceOver with multiple passes
• Available Wi-Fi networks may not be detected
• Battery algorithms updated on iPhone 12 models to better estimate battery capacity over time

SharePlay enables friends to watch content together as a watch party through FaceTime. It also allows users to work out together on Apple Fitness+, listen to Apple Music, and share their device screens. If you’re interested in how to use SharePlay, we have prepared a detailed guide for you.

This update also enables new camera features on the iPhone 13 Pro models that had been missing on iOS 15.0. A toggle has been added to optionally disable automatic camera switching in Macro mode. This change comes after users complained about how annoying the camera switching animation is. Users can now shoot videos in ProRes, as well, but we advise you to use it when creating special projects, rather than average, everyday clips. This is because of the significantly larger files you will end up with when using this feature.

Apple has also added the option to include your COVID-19 vaccination certificate in the Wallet app in supported regions. If your region doesn’t support it, make sure to check our guide on how to manually add your vaccination certificate to Apple Wallet.

Will you be using SharePlay with your friends? Let us know in the comments section below.

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Apple has released macOS 12 Monterey to the public, here’s how to update

Apple announced macOS 12 Monterey back in June, along with iOS 15, iPadOS 15, tvOS 15, and watchOS 8. Several betas later, Apple has finally made the update available to the public today, October 25. While Big Sur was a more significant upgrade than Monterey, the latter packs several tweaks that make Macs even more capable. You can read our macOS Monterey review to learn more about the changes.

macOS 12 Monterey brings improvements to FaceTime, iMessage, Notes, Reminders, Safari, and more. It also turns Macs into AirPlay servers to cast content to them from your other iDevices. Last but not least, it enables Universal Control, which allows you to drag-and-drop content and move your cursor across up to three Mac/iPad devices. According to Apple, Universal Control will be available in a future software update.

macOS 12 Monterey Compatibility

More importantly, you should check if your Mac supports this update. If your Mac is in the following list, then you’re in luck!

• Mac Pro: Late 2013 and later models
• Mac Mini: Late 2014 and later models
• MacBook Air: Early 2015 and later models
• MacBook Pro: Early 2015 and later models
• iMac: Late 2015 and later models
• MacBook: Early 2016 and later models
• iMac Pro: 2017 and later models

If your Mac doesn’t support macOS Monterey, then you might want to take a look at the best Macs currently available and consider upgrading to a newer model.

Keeping your device up to date is important, not only for the new features but also to receive the latest security patches. Operating systems will never be perfect and completely immune to security flaws. However, Apple usually patches all new ones as soon as possible. So by updating, you’re ensuring your Mac won’t be vulnerable to a known vulnerability. If your current Mac supports this update, but you are unsure how to do it, you can check out our detailed guide on how to update your Mac.

What do you think of macOS 12 Monterey, and will you be updating your Mac? Let us know in the comments section below.

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Google blocked ad competition and skirted privacy regulations, court filings reveal

Google has been under investigation by the United States Department of Justice over possible anti-competitive practices, primarily related to Google’s search and advertising business. Last year, the Department of Justice released a complaint alleging that Google dominated the search engine market through its advantage of deep integration with Android and other agreements that limited adoption of other search engines. More recently, focus has shifted to the company’s dominance of online advertising, and a new complaint doesn’t paint Google in the best light.

The 168-page complaint was filed by 17 states, most of which are Republican-controlled — Texas, Alaska, Arkansas, Florida, Idaho, Indiana, Kentucky, Louisiana, Mississippi, Missouri, Montana, Nevada, North Dakota, Puerto Rico, South Carolina, South Dakota, and Utah. There’s a lot of information covered in the report, including details about secret Google initiatives to limit competition and privacy measures.

Advertising practices

The filing primarily focuses on Google’s advertising business, and how the company has gained control of every sector of online advertising over the years. That’s probably not surprising to anyone, but the filing does include details about “Jedi,” a secret project that allowed Google to win in bids for online advertising. This came after publishers began to adopt “header bidding,” a way to simultaneously bid on advertisement places on multiple ad exchanges (instead of only Google’s exchange), even if the ads were hosted by Google. The Jedi program ensured Google’s own exchange would win in these automatic bidding wars, even when another exchange submitted a higher bid.

In the same way that eBay choosing the second or third highest bid for an iPhone auction would cut into potential profits for the person selling the iPhone, this impacted advertisers’ revenue. In Google’s own words, the Jedi program “generates suboptimal yields for publishers and serious risks of negative media
coverage if exposed externally.”

Google and Facebook began to work together to identify people using Apple products.

Facebook announced in 2017 that it would support header bidding on its advertising platform, the Facebook Audience Network, which would have been another potential blow to Google’s domination of the ad industry. However, an internal Facebook communication revealed that the announcement’s purpose was mostly to pressure Google into giving Facebook information, speed, and other advantages in Google’s own advertising auctions. Facebook curtailed its involvement with header bidding, and Google and Facebook began to work together to identify people using Apple products. In an agreement internally called “Jedi Blue,” both companies “agreed up front on quotas for how often Facebook would win publishers’ auctions—literally manipulating the auction with minimum spends and quotas for how often Facebook would bid and win.”

The filing details many other monopolistic and anti-competitive practices in advertising. Starting in 2013, Google blocked ad buying tools by other companies from placing ads on YouTube, forcing advertisers to use Google’s own tools. “If advertisers feel like they don’t have to work with Google directly to access video inventory—including YouTube—we will lose our ability to influence decisions about budget allocation.

Privacy price fixing

Google allegedly had a closed-door meeting on August 6, 2019 with representatives of Facebook, Apple and Microsoft, where the companies discussed how to delay efforts to improve user privacy. Google said in a memo prepared for the meeting, “we have been successful in slowing down and delaying the [ePrivacy Regulation] process and have been working behind the scenes hand in hand with the other companies.”

Google was concerned that Microsoft was taking child privacy more seriously than itself.

The companies also discussed their strategy towards child privacy and safety, which has become a significant talking point over the past few years — Google has been heavily criticized over poor content filtering on YouTube Kids, and Facebook’s own internal research found that Instagram is harmful to the mental health of many teenagers. At the meeting, Google was concerned that Microsoft was taking child privacy more seriously than itself. The same memo read, “Whether at this meeting or at another forum, we may want to reinforce that this is an area of particular importance to have a coordinated approach.” Microsoft’s stance was also noted with “we have direction from Kent [Walker] to find alignment with MSFT where we can but should be wary of their activity [in promoting privacy] and seek to gain as much intel as possible.”

Google was also concerned that Facebook wasn’t aligned with its privacy efforts, saying “we’ve had
difficulty getting FB to align on our privacy goals and strategy, as they have at time[s] prioritized winning on reputation over its business interest in legislative debate.” The filing alleges that this behavior is similar to the anticompetitive practice of price fixing, but instead of secretly agreeing on prices, tech companies are forming agreements over privacy measures.

Google AMP

Accelerated Mobile Pages, or AMP, is a technology initially created by Google. The public goal is to allow websites to create faster-loading versions of their articles, which AMP achieves by limiting the amount of scripting and custom styles that a page can use. Much to the chagrin of visitors and publishers, Google later required sites to support AMP before they could appear in Google Feed, Google News, and other promotional platforms. Google only started dropping this requirement in the past few months.

The filing alleges that a private goal for AMP was to reduce the effectiveness of header bidding in advertisements, giving a competitive advantage to Google’s ads. AMP code prohibited publishers from routing bids to more than a few exchanges at a time, but no limitations were placed on exchange bids through Google’s ad server. AMP also gave Google more information about browsing behavior and ad loading, because in most cases (like with Search and News), AMP pages are served by Google itself through cached copies.

Google AMP has been criticized for being anti-competitive and giving Google more control over the internet for years, so the information about AMP is perhaps the least-surprising aspect of the filing. The reason why so many sites (including XDA Developers) added AMP support, even though it’s a worse experience for readers and publishers, is because it was a requirement for appearing in Google’s Discover Feed and the top news carousel on Google Search. If sites didn’t add AMP, they could lose out on web traffic, even if advertising manipulation from Google resulted in less revenue from AMP pages.

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The filing alleges that Google has committed several violations of the Sherman Antitrust Act of 1890 (also known simply as the ‘Sherman Act’), an antitrust law in the United States that prohibits noncompetitive agreements and attempts to monopolize markets. The filing also calls for Google to surrender all profits and information squired through deceptive trade practices, and for the company to pay various fines.

We’ll have to wait and see what happens as the lawsuit works its way through the US legal system. If this filing is anything to go by, we could have another Microsoft-level antitrust bust on our hands. We’ve reached out to Google for a statement, and we’ll update this post when (or if) we get one.

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