Netgear just announced a new Wi-Fi 7 mesh router system called the Orbi 870, joining the pre-existing 970 and 770. The company says that the latest system offers the perfect balance of performance, coverage, and security. To that end, the Orbi 870 offers tri-band speeds up to 21Gbps and all kinds of modern bells and whistles. These include enhancements like support for the latest 320MHz bandwidth and 4K QAM, which squeezes more data into traditional transmissions. This looks to be a fairly future-proof router system. Netgear also touts the reliability of this device, thanks to an enhanced backhaul that combines 5GHz and 6GHz into a single band. Of course, there are plenty of wired connectivity options here. Theres a 10 gigabit internet port and four 2.5Gbps Ethernet ports on the router. Additionally, each satellite includes four Ethernet ports. Netgear Like most Netgear mesh systems, adjustments can be made via the Orbi app. This lets users pause the internet, run speed tests, track usage and set up separate networks for guests. This app also allows access to parental controls. The Netgear Orbi 870 system is available in black or white. A three-pack that includes the router and two satellites costs $1,300, while a two-pack costs $1,000. Additional satellites can be purchased for $550 each. This is expensive, to be sure, but an actual bargain when compared to the slightly higher-end Orbi 970 system. This article originally appeared on Engadget at https://www.engadget.com/home/smart-home/netgears-orbi-870-mesh-router-system-is-a-great-way-to-join-the-wi-fi-7-bandwagon-133031270.html?src=rss

Bad actors have created deepfakes to imitate celebrity endorsements, President Biden and employers. But, one of the most heinous uses is making sexually explicit deepfakes of real people. Now, the UK government is taking new steps to deter their creation, introducing new criminal offenses for producing or sharing sexually explicit deepfakes. Only sharing deepfakes is currently an offense under UK law."With these new measures, were sending an unequivocal message: creating or sharing these vile images is not only unacceptable but criminal," said Baroness Margaret Beryl Jones, minister for the future digital economy and online safety. "Tech companies need to step up too platforms hosting this content will face tougher scrutiny and significant penalties." The new offenses will be proposed in parliament under the Governments Crime and Policing Bill.A similar measure was proposed in April 2024 by the previous UK government under former Prime Minister Rishi Sunak. However, it only covered cases in which a person created the deepfake to "cause alarm, humiliation or distress to the victim," creating a loophole for perpetrators to argue their case. The law never progressed as Sunak called a general election just one month later. Notably, the new measure covers only adults, as it is already illegal to create or share any sexually explicit images of children.The UK government has also announced its intention to make it a criminal offense if a person takes intimate photos or video without consent. Additional offenses would look at whether it was created without consent and to cause alarm, distress, humiliation or sexual gratification for themselves or another. A person charged with one of these actions can face up to two years in custody.The US has attempted to create helpful measures or individuals impacted by deepfakes. In 2024, the Senate passed the Disrupt Explicit Forged Images and Non-Consensual Edits Act (DEFIANCE Act), which would allow victims of sexually explicit deepfakes to sue the perpetrators. It would give the individual 10 years to sue for up to $150,000 or $250,000 if it relates to attempted sexual assault, stalking or harassment. However, it's fate is unclear, having sat in limbo in the House of Representatives since last July.This article originally appeared on Engadget at https://www.engadget.com/new-uk-law-would-criminalize-creating-sexually-explicit-deepfakes-132155132.html?src=rss

MyGiftCardSupply was keeping sensitive data in an unprotected database, putting customers at risk.

PS5 owners are equally divided when choosing to turn their console off or putting it in Rest Mode.

Google has released its Timeline update, which recaps your 2024 journeys and compares your total travel distance to the circumference of the Earth.

Meta announces intent to "restore free expression" on its platforms

Shares of Nvidia Corp (Nasdaq: NVDA) are nearing all-time highs in premarket trading this morning after the company announced a slew of new AI products at the CES trade show in Las Vegas yesterday. NVDA stock is trading at $152.42 as of the time of this writingnot far from the companys $152.89 all-time high stock price that was reached late last year. NVDA shares achieved a closing price of $149.43 yesterday,Here are the biggest announcements Nvidia made yesterday.Cosmos synthetic training modelIn the last few years, Nvidia has become the leader in AI hardware thanks to its Blackwell chipsets, which power the AI servers major tech companies, including OpenAI and Amazon, use for their products. But at CES yesterday, Nvidia announced several hardware and software products as well.The first of that is Cosmos sythetic training model, which is aimed at making it easier for companies to train AI-powered robots and cars. Such devices are usually trained to operate in a physical space, such as on the road or in an assembly line, by using video recorded in real-world locations. However, real-world video recordings have their limitations. For example, if a self-driving car is trained on real-world video, that video must be captured firsta time-intensive taskand the environment cant be well controlled (nature will decide if its sunny or raining on the day the video is captured).Cosmos aims to usurp nature and the real world by allowing the trainers to generate photorealistic training videos on the fly. These synthetic videos would no longer be beholden to real-world locations or weather and help eliminate the time commitments of capturing the perfect training video data in the first place.Nvidias first desktop computerAnother surprise announcement was that Nvidia is planning to launch its first desktop computer. However, dont expect this computer to be a Windows or Mac competitor.The computer, known as Project DIGITS, is designed for computer programmers and not consumers, Reuters reports. It will feature a Blackwall GPU chipset from Nvidia along with a CPU made by Taiwans MediaTek. The computer itself will not run Windows; instead, it will use a custom Linux-based Nvidia operating system.The Project DIGITS desktop computer will reportedly cost $3,000 and is designed to help developers test their AI systems in a more speedy manner than they can today. Project DIGITS is scheduled for a March release.Nvidia returns to its gaming roots with new graphics cardMost people today think of Nvidia as an AI company. Indeed, its $3 trillion-plus market cap is thanks largely to sales of its Blackwell chips, which help power AI servers across the globe. But for the first two decades of its existence, Nvidia was primarily known as the company that made the cards that powered some of the most high-end video game graphics out there.At CES yesterday, Nvidia announced that it wasnt leaving its video game roots behind. It unveiled a new line of graphics cards aimed at consumer PCs, which would allow for some of the most advanced video game graphics ever. The new RTX 50 series of graphics cards will enable movie-quality graphics on a PC.As Reuters notes, the RTX 50 series graphics cards will be able to display more accurate human faces and even generate fingerprint smudges on in-game surfaces, giving video game graphics an air of reality theyve never had before. The RTX 50 series of graphics cards are expected to cost between $550 and $2,000.

Unpaid medical bills will no longer appear on credit reports, where they can block people from mortgages, car loans or small business loans, according to a final rule announced Tuesday by the Biden administration.The Consumer Financial Protection Bureau rule will remove $49 billion in medical debt from the credit reports of more than 15 million Americans, according to the bureau, which means lenders will no longer be able to take that into consideration when deciding to issue a loan.The change is estimated to raise the credit scores by an average of 20 points and could lead to 22,000 additional mortgages being approved every year, according to the bureau. Vice President Kamala Harris said in a statement announcing the rule that it would be lifechanging for millions of families.No one should be denied economic opportunity because they got sick or experienced a medical emergency, she said.Harris also announced that states and local governments have used a sweeping 2021 pandemic-era aid package to eliminate more than $1 billion in medical debt for more than 700,000 Americans.The administration announced plans for the rule in fall 2023.The CFPB said that medical debt is a poor predictor of an individuals ability to repay a loan. Experian, Equifax and TransUnion, the three national credit reporting agencies, said last year that they were removing medical collections debt under $500 from U.S. consumer credit reports.The new rule from the Biden administration is set to take on the outstanding bills appearing on credit reports.Michelle L. Price, Associated Press