In BriefPosted:9:14 AM PST January 5, 2025Image Credits:X/YouTubeBad news for Adrian Dittman/Elon Musk truthersAfter days of speculation that X owner Elon Musk was secretly posting under an account named Adrian Dittman, new evidence suggests Dittman is, in fact, a real person living in Fiji.Attempts to connect Dittman and Musk go back at least to 2023; Dittman frequently makes fawning posts about Musk, and his voice (as heard on numerous X Spaces) sounds quite similar. But a story in The Spectator appears to have identified the real Dittman, the son of a German software entrepreneur whos started multiple companies in Fiji. This Dittman was included in a Fijian government video of a recent warehouse opening.Hacker and writer maia arson crimew subsequently took credit for working with Ryan Fae to track Dittman down. In a blog post, they offered more detailed evidence that the Dittman in Fiji is the Dittman on X for one thing, the Dittman in the warehouse video appears to be wearing the same ring as one featured in multiple cooking videos that Dittman posted (and subsequently deleted) on X.Crimew wrote that the Spectator article was not very good and that the pair was unhappy with how our work was used without credit.Topics

Samsungs CES presser is always an odd duck. The Korean electronics giant generally keeps its powder dry when it comes to consumer electronics. After all, its expected to announce its latest flagship handset the Galaxy S25 toward the end of January.CES 2025 is going to continue the companys tradition of TVs and appliances. There are also odds and ends like consumer robots that will most likely never see the light of day. Samsung has adopted the tagline AI for All: Everyday, Everywhere for the presentation, which kicks off on January 6 at 2 p.m. PT/5 p.m. ET.That alone doesnt offer us much to work with. After all, any company that doesnt mention AI during its press event will be fed to the sharks at Mandalay Bay. We do have it on good authority, however, that the company will be going hard on the AI refrigerator front, come January.Samsung is streaming the presentation directly from its newsroom, and you can follow along with our live coverage here, or catch up on the other CES 2025 events being streamed here.

Sony knows how to put on a show at CES 2025. The companys pressers are high-octane, star-studded affairs, as these things go. In addition to standard Sony fare like TVs and audio systems, theres always a curve ball or two, be it a car, a drone, or a Gran Turismo movie. Thats one of the [] 2024 TechCrunch. All rights reserved. For personal use only.

This pre-Revolutionary double-house is located at 128-130 Prospect Hill Street in the architectural historian paradise that is Newport, Rhode Island. This property was originally platted and purchased in 1752 by Anthony Shaw. By 1760, local papers advertised the property for sale, giving a built-by date. In 1777, the house was owned by Anthony Shaw Jr. and John Thurston. The property was purchased before the Civil War and went into single-ownership, which has remained to this day. The house, while seemingly a single-family, is preserved lovingly by the owners, who even retained the second front door!

ZDNETYou probably have a lot of passwords in your life.Even with the help of password managers, passwords are becoming more and more of a burden for most people.Long gone are the days of being able to use and reuserubbish passwordslike p455w0rd123. Now, all of your online accounts need to be protected by passwords that are complex and unique.You also need to be ever vigilant in case one of your many passwords is compromised.There's a better solution: Passkeys. What are passkeys? Passkeys are an authentication method for websites and apps that were first popularized by Apple in June 2022 when the company added support in iOS and macOS. However, it's not an Apple technology. Passkeys are a standard that's promoted byGoogle, Apple, Microsoft, the World Wide Web Consortium, and the FIDO Alliance.Also: The best VPN services: Expert tested and reviewedPasskeys are sets of two cryptographic keys: a public key that's registered with the online service or app, and a private key that's stored on a device, such as a smartphone or computer.That might sound complicated, but passkeys have been designed to be easy to use. In fact, to log in with a passkey, you use your face, a fingerprint, or a PIN in much the same way you unlock your smartphone.The advantage of passkeys is that even if a hacker gets their hands on a website's public key, your account is still locked because they don't have access to the private key on your device. Show more ZDNETThe screenshot above proves the benefits: no passwords in sight, nothing that needs to be remembered, and nothing to accidentally hand over to a hacker.Passkeys can also help you get around the issue of having to synchronize passwords between your devices.Say you normally log in to your Google account using a smartphone, but you want to log in using a laptop. That's no problem, even if the passkey isn't synchronized with the laptop, as long as the smartphone is within Bluetooth range of the laptop and you approve the login.What's even cooler is that the passkey isn't transferred between the smartphone and the laptop. Instead, after confirming the login, you get the opportunity to create a passkey on the laptop. Is giving your fingerprint or face to a third-party app or website risky? No, because none of your biometric information is sent to the website or app that you are accessing. Instead, your biometric information is only used to unlock the passkey that resides on your device.Your face or fingerprint information never leaves your device. Show more What do you need to use passkeys? Here are the system requirements for passkeys:A system running at least Windows 10, macOS Ventura, or ChromeOS 109A smartphone or tablet running at least iOS 16, iPadOS 16, or Android 9Optional: ahardware security keywith FIDO2 protocol supportThe computer or mobile device you are using will also need a supported browser, such as:Chrome 109 or greaterSafari 16 or greaterEdge 109 or greaterThe major tech players all have more information about how to use passkeys on their platforms:Apple,Google, andMicrosoft.As for overall support for passkeys, data gathered byState of Passkeysshows that support for passkeys on desktop computer browsers is very close to 100%, while on mobile it averages about 85%. Show more ZDNET Which websites support passkeys? You can find a list of websites that support passkeys atpasskeys.io.Some well-known websites and apps that support the technology include Adobe, Amazon, Google (wherepasskeys now secure over 400 million accounts), GitHub, PayPal, TikTok, Nintendo, WhatsApp, Shop by Shopify, and X. Recently, eBay and Uber have also added support for passkeys.On World Password Day 2024,Microsoft rolled out passkey supportfor all its consumer accounts and will roll out passkey support for signing into mobile versions of Microsoft applications over the coming months.Passkeys are growing in popularity -- and fast. Show more Why should you use passkeys? Two reasons: speed and security.According toState of Passkeys, companies are finding that passkeys offer logins that are faster by between 2 times and awhopping 17 times for TikTok, compared to using passwords.As for security, CVS Health says that passkeys havereduced account takeover fraud by 98%.Passkeys also reduced tech calls, withState of Michigan's MiLoginseeing a 1,300 drop in password reset support calls. Show more What is 2025 likely to bring to the passkeys landscape? It seems that after getting the passkeys tech in place and rolling it out to the masses to protect online accounts and identities, the next big push will be to get banks and financial institutions on board.FIDO Executive Director Andrew Shikiarpoints outthat while banks have been slow to offer passkeys to consumers, he is "quite confident that in 2025 we'll start to see some big brand banks across the world start to deploy passkeys to allow their users to sign in and access accounts without having to use a password."And that's just part of the spread, with other areas such as travel and hospitality also likely to adopt passkeys.By the end of 2025, Shikiar expects thatone in four of the world's top 1,000 websiteswill support passkeys. Show more Has Google made passkeys the default login option for all personal accounts? Yes, Google is now asking users to create a passkey and use that passkey as the default login.Using a passkey to log in to your account is about40% faster and a lot more secure than using passwords. Google's reach means its decision will not only help spread the word about passkeys, but it will also encourage other online services to do the same.In fact, Google is clear that its plan is to make "passwords a rarity, and eventually obsolete."Not ready to use a passkey for Google yet? You can skip this option and continue to log in to your account the old way. Show more Do apps support passkeys, or do you need to use a browser, and what about iOS vs. Android? Passkeys should work, whether you access a service via a browser or an app.The experience is not universal, though. For example, Amazon has rolled out support for passkeys, but support in the app is currently only available for iOS users. These are early days for passkeys, and soon we can expect across-the-board support. Show more ZDNET How can you get a feel for how passkeys work? If you're not yet ready to take the plunge and start using passkeys, the best way to experiment with how they work is to use the demo atpasskeys.io. It will guide you through the process of setting up a passkey and how to use it to log in to a site. Show more ZDNETIf you're ready to take the plunge, a great place to start is by securing your Google account with a passkey. Not only has Google made the process easy, but there's alsoextensive documentationavailable. Are passwords dead? Unfortunately, we're a long, long way from the death of passwords. Passkeys, much likehardware security keys, offer a way for you to harden accounts and online services that support the feature.You're going to need passwords andpassword managersfor a long time yet. Show more Do any password managers support passkeys? Yes. Show more Are there any cons to passkeys? While passkeys are certainly far better than the best-case scenario with passwords, there are downsides.Many of the downsides of passkeys revolve around the fact that the technology is relatively new and the rollout has been ongoing. On top of that, we're seeing companies like Apple, Microsoft, and Google push their method of storing and sharing passcodes, and this can silo your passkeys and make them hard to access on different platforms. This is getting better with passkey management being included in password managers.Another common issue is that sites that use passkeys still demand users set a password to protect the account, thereby diluting the efficacy of passkeys.Tech siteArs Technicahas done a good job of highlighting some of the biggest issues related to passkeys. Show more All the big operating systems, as well as third-party password managers such asDashlane,1Password, andBitwarden, all support passkeys. Microsoft isalso on trackto add passkey support to its Authenticator app in mid-January 2025.These tools should help ease the transition from passwords to passkeys.These tools should help ease the transition from passwords to passkeys.Security

The two companies joined forces to create a 3D audio format that beats out Dolby in one huge way: No licensing fees.

PS5, Xbox Series XSony/MSMicrosoft is downplaying the need to own an Xbox in the wake of several years focused on Game Pass and the new everything is an Xbox campaign, and the market continues to head down that road as a result.New sales estimates from VGChartz (very much not official figures, but it can usually indicate trendlines), say that in November 2024, console sales were:PS5 - 4.1MSwitch - 1.7MXbox Series - 767KPS5 was bolstered by the PS5 Pro, making for an 18% boost from a year ago, while Xbox X/S sales are down 25%. Switch is nearly the same, just a slight dip. That ratio means that the PS5 sold 5.4 times more consoles than the Xbox did that month. This year, the estimate puts PS5 at 15.31 million to Xboxs 4.01 million, just under a 4:1 ratio.The caveats here are that Xbox has a large number of Xbox Game Pass subscriptions that effectively endlessly print money, even if it may be approaching the ceiling on that subscription base. The newly refreshed marketing idea is to show gamers and non-gamers you can play Xbox games on a bunch of things that are not Xboxes, like non-gaming laptops, phones, tablets, even Amazon Fire Sticks, albeit that is through cloud streaming, not intrinsic downloads. But as Ive always said, I am not sure what the market is for someone interested in a monthly subscription for dozens of core Xbox games that sees buying a $300 or so console as a roadblock. Microsoft, pleading its acquisition case in court, said itself cloud gaming is a tiny part of the market.XboxMicrosoftMORE FOR YOUThe combination of Xbox already being PlayStation since last generation, and this new push to downplay Xbox hardware as necessary to enjoy Xbox games has resulted in the continued declines. It has also led to an odd place where the everything is an Xbox movement is now sometimes extending to PS5, and for more than just existing series like Call of Duty. Microsoft has said that in theory nothing is off the table for multiplatform release at this point, and its become possible, if not likely, it may put many of its upcoming big games on both PlayStation and Xbox, the draw being you get them free on day one if you have Game Pass.Microsoft has repeatedly said they are not getting out of the hardware game, despite all this. Next on deck is supposedly some sort of Xbox handheld that will be perhaps a more logical way to play Xbox games anywhere if it can manage to emulate the appeal of the Switch. That will be something PlayStation does not have and cannot match (at least for now, as rumblings are Sony may be working on something in that vein too). And there does not seem to be any indication Xbox will not make a next-gen console a few years from now as this one ends. If theres one thing all these numbers show, its that console gaming is not going anywhere. Though that is not ideal for Xbox, trying to convince people to hang out in the cloud.Follow me on Twitter, YouTube, Bluesky and Instagram.Pick up my sci-fi novels the Herokiller series and The Earthborn Trilogy.

The K17 from FiiO is an $899 headphone amplifier which covers all the bases for headphone fans. FiiOFiiO is a rising star in the world of digital audio and at CES it will be launching trio of products including the budget-priced JM21 Digital Audio Player for just $149 Launching 1alongside will be the full-sized FiiO SR15 streamer and FiiO K17 headphone amplifier. The company claims will set new price and performance benchmarks in 2025.FiiO K17The FiiO K17 is a $899 headphone amplifier which covers all the bases for anyone who really enjoys listening to music through headphones. The custom PEQ settings are taken from FiiOs flagship K19 streamer with both Bluetooth and local USB playback being possible using the responsive touchscreen. An RCA In means the K17 is also an ideal turntable companion, able to cover digital and analog sources. The units remote control offers extensive options while the FiiO Connect app enables users to delve deeper into the customization of all settings and touchscreen images such as retro VU meters. The K17 is ideal as a standalone unit for headphone users with models like the award-winning FiiO FT5, but it can also becomes a fully-fledged hi-fi system with the addition of a pair of active speakers.Pricing & Availability: The FiiO K17 headphone amplifier will ship late January and is priced at $899.99 / 899 / 999.99.Tech Specs:Global 31-band professional-grade, high-precision, lossless PEQ.DAC: AKM flagship DAC chips AK4191 + AK4499EX x 2.Amp: Fully discrete AB-class transistor amplification circuit.Output: 4000mW + 4000mW.Three ultra-low phase noise femtosecond oscillatorsFully balanced audio architecture35W low-noise, low-frequency linear power supply.Display: 3.93-inch LCD touchscreen.Network: Dual-band 2.4G/5G Wi-Fi + 1000M Ethernet port.Remote: Yes.The FiiO S15 is the first full-size streamer from FiiO and has a 7.8 inch touchscreen and uses the ... [+] custom FiiO OSFiiO FiiO S15The FiiO S15 marks the first full-size streamer from FiiO. With a large 7.8-inch touchscreen, it is the first time for the custom FiiO OS which is built into the streamer and based around Android 12.MORE FOR YOUWith an AK4191and AK4499EX DAC set-up, alongside an M.2 hard drive slot and cage, the S15 could easily become the high-end streaming core of any premium audio system. The Roon Ready S15 also has custom FiiO tech such as DAPS (digital audio purification system) which is based around a custom Android audio core and a low-jitter clock coprocessor. It works at a system and application level and can match sampling rates of PCM and DSD music and enables a purer feed of digital audio.Pricing & Availability: The FiiO S15 streamer starts shipping late January priced at $999 / 999 / 999.99.Tech Specs:DAC: AK4191 + AK4499EX.Local playback: up to 384kHz / 32-bit; DSD256(Native).USB DAC: (XMOS XU316) Up to768kHz / 32-bitDSD 512(Native)USB audio: 768kHz / 32-bit; DSD512 (support DoP/D2P/Native).coaxial in: up to 192kHz / 24-bit.Optical in: Supports up to 96kHz / 24-bit.Coaxial out: Supports up to 384kHz / 24-bit; DSD 128 (D2P/DOP).Optical out: Supports up to 192kHz / 24-bit.HDMI in: Supports up to 192kHz / 24-bit.HDMI out: Supports up to 192kHz / 24-bit.Bluetooth Transmission: SBC / AAC / aptX / aptX HD / LDAC / LHDC.Bluetooth chipset: (QCC5125).Bluetooth reception: SBC / AAC / aptX / aptX-LL / aptX-HD / aptX-Adaptive / LDAC.Processor: Qualcomm Snapdragon 660, 4GB RAM + 64GB ROM.Bluetooth chip: Qualcomm flagship QCC5181USB chip: XMOS XU316Display: 7.84-inch.Marking a price breakthrough in the world of Digital Audio Players, the new FiiO JM21 sells for just ... [+] $149.FiiOFiiO JM21The FiiO JM21 is a portable music player at a breakthrough price point of just $149. Offering Android 13, classic FiiO UI and an ultra-slim (13mm) design, the JM21 is being touted as the ideal first step for music lovers who want an experience a sound quality far beyond their smartphone.The dual CS43198 DACs inside the JM21 are combined with 3GB RAM and 32GB of internal storage. With a 3.5mm and balanced 4.4mm headphone socket and FiiO Music on board, all high-res streaming services are supported and theres a MicroSD slot which offers extensive storage options for digital music collections up to 2TB. Truly pocket sized and weighing just 165g, FiiO says this is the ideal travel companion thanks to 12 hours of battery life and a two-hour fast-charge mode.Pricing & Availability: The FiiO JM21 Digital Audio Player will be available late January and priced at $149 / 139 / 149.Tech Specs:Processor: Qualcomm Snapdragon 680.DAC: CS43198 x 2.Amp: SGM8262 x 2.Dimensions: 120.7 x 68 x 13mm.Display: 4.7-inch (750x1334) bezel-less display.System: Android 13.Wi-Fi: 2.4GHz/5GHz, Supports DLNA, AirPlay, Wi-Fi song transfer, etc.USB DAC: Up to 384kHz/32bit; DSD256 (Native).Local decoding: Up to 384kHz/32bit; DSD256 (Native).USB Audio: 768kHz/32bit; DSD512 (DoP/D2P/Native supported).Coaxial output: Up to 384kHz/24bit; DSD128 (D2P/DOP).

The recently released Thelio Astra from American computer manufacturer System76 is being touted as "the fastest Arm desktop computer in the world" or at least that's what developer and influencer Jeff Geerling declared after putting the system through its paces.In Geerling's testing using the Cinebench 2024 benchmark, the top-tier variant of the Thelio Astra, powered by the 128-core Ampere Altra Max M128-30, achieved an eye-watering 5,003 points in multi-threaded mode. This score edges out the certified world record of 4,723 points set by AMD's EPYC 7713 chip with a similar number of cores.Given these figures, it's no surprise that the Astra also excelled in Blender rendering workloads. Geerling specifically highlighted the system's impressive 1.7 TFLOPS of double-precision compute power.When it comes to the overall package, this is far from your average pre-built desktop. The entry-level $3,299 model already packs a serious punch with 64 cores, 64GB of RAM, and an RTX A400 GPU. However, the top configuration Geerling tested priced just shy of $7,000 pulls out all the stops with 128 cores, 512GB of octa-channel RAM, 40TB of storage capacity, and an RTX 6000 Ada GPU.All this hardware is housed in a sleek, quiet tower, which again is a surprise considering the near server-grade specs. Patriots will also be pleased to know that it's an American-made system, coming straight out of System76's Denver facility.Geerling did highlight some downsides with the system though. Beyond its ultra-premium pricing, single-threaded performance is underwhelming and barely inches past AMD's 2017 Threadripper 1950X in the same Cinebench test. That's sad considering the prodigious multi-core muscle. // Related StoriesThere are also platform limitations to consider. The system is restricted to PCIe 4.0 and DDR4 RAM, which may feel outdated to some. Geerling was also less than thrilled with the lack of front I/O ports and noted some rattling from the PCIe brackets. And if you're thinking about gaming on this machine while running Windows, think again Nvidia has yet to release Arm-compatible drivers.But then again, the Thelio Astra isn't designed to be a gaming rig or a general-purpose desktop PC replacement. System76 is squarely targeting developers, with a particular emphasis on the automotive software industry, where it shines as a platform for "rapid dev prototyping.""System76 and Ampere ride together to make Thelio Astra the driving force behind AV development," the company notes on its website. If you're in that niche and have cash to burn, this could be the latest must-have Arm toy for you.

html PUBLIC "-//W3C//DTD HTML 4.0 Transitional//EN" "http://www.w3.org/TR/REC-html40/loose.dtd" Belkin is no stranger to personal audio the brand best known for its charging and laptop accessories has tried its hand at wireless earbuds and wireless AirPlay adapters in the past, but this year at CES 2025, it has revealed its first over-ear noise-canceling wireless headphones, the $60 Soundform Isolate. Theyre available for preorder starting today in either sand or black color options.The Soundform Isolate likely wont end up on any audiophile list of must-buy headphones; Belkin is clearly looking to offer a budget-friendly option for folks who just want a decent, comfy set of active noise cancellation (ANC) cans.BelkinThe foldable design helps them collapse into a smaller shape for traveling, and Belkin says its CloudCushion earcups offer pillowy soft comfort. Battery life is a claimed 40 hours when youre using ANC and a very convenient 60 hours when its off. Theres also a transparency mode that lets you hear your surroundings.BelkinThe Soundform Isolate use Bluetooth 5.4 and support Multipoint for simultaneous connections to two devices. According to a press release, the headphones use touch controls, but if the images included here are any indication, most functions are controlled by physical buttons.Recommended VideosIn addition to wireless connections, you get two kinds of cables for wired audio: a USB-C to USB-C for digital audio and charging, and a 3.5mm analog cable for non-digital sources. When youre not enjoying your tunes or just the silence, a built-in Relaxation track that plays ocean wave sounds can help you chill out.BelkinBelkin also showed off a new set of budget wireless earbuds called the Soundform Anywhere. Theyre semi-open, just like the Apple AirPods, which means they dont use silicone eartips.Please enable Javascript to view this contentBelkin hasnt set a price for these tiny accessories, which remind me of Skullcandys Dime series, but it says they should be available by the second half of 2025.BelkinWe dont have a full set of specs yet. According to the company, we can expect 27 hours of total battery life (up to 7 hours on a single charge and an additional 20 hours from the case). A 10-minute fast charge will give you an extra 90 minutes of playtime. ENC microphones in each earbud will help with achieving clear calls, and an IPX4 rating should prove decent protection for sweat and splash resistance.RelatedFinally, the charging case comes with a mini-lanyard, which can be used to attach it to a key ring or zipper.Editors Recommendations