The Galaxy Watch 9 and Galaxy Watch Ultra 2 already shipped with Wear OS 7, so this update brings last year's models to the same software.

One UI 9 Watch Update Details

The stable update carries these firmware versions:

• L320XXU2BZJ7 for the Galaxy Watch 8
• L500XXU2BZJ7 for the Galaxy Watch 8 Classic

It also includes the October 2026 security patch. The download is reportedly around 2 GB, and it should be much smaller for users who are already running the beta.

The update changes the main parts of the watch experience:

• a redesigned Galaxy Wearable app on the phone, with a cleaner layout and simpler customization controls
• a reorganized settings interface on the watch
• the option to swipe between watch faces from the main screen, without opening a separate customization menu
• double pinch and shake gestures grouped under a single toggle

Health tracking gets the most new features. Daily Cardio Load shows how much physical activity the wearer gets during the day. Samsung also adds improved sleep vitals monitoring, new heart health insights, and redesigned health charts that make fitness data easier to read.

How to Install One UI 9 Watch on the Galaxy Watch 8

The update is delivered through the phone the watch is paired with. To check for it:

1. Open the Galaxy Wearable app on the paired phone.
2. Go to Watch settings > Watch software update.
3. Select Download and install.

The watch should have enough battery and stay close to the phone while the update installs, since a 2 GB package takes a while to transfer over Bluetooth or WiFi. Owners who run the One UI 9 Watch beta should see a smaller package, since most of the changes are already on their watches.

Owners outside the US may not see the update yet. Samsung usually starts watch updates in one market and adds regions over the following days, so checking again later is the best option for now.

For Galaxy Watch 8 owners, the update is the main software upgrade of the year. It brings the redesigned interface and new health tools of Samsung's 2026 watches to last year's hardware, so the gap between the two generations is now mostly hardware.

Samsung has not confirmed when One UI 9 Watch will reach other regions, such as Europe or Asia, or when older models such as the Galaxy Watch 7 will get it.

Thank you for being a Ghacks reader. The post Samsung Rolls Out One UI 9 Watch With Wear OS 7 to the Galaxy Watch 8 and Galaxy Watch 8 Classic appeared first on gHacks.

The offer requires a Mozilla account. Users sign in, turn on the VPN, and browse without a data cap for the rest of the period.

What Firefox's Built-In VPN Does

The VPN routes Firefox traffic through Mozilla's service, which makes it harder for websites to use a visitor's IP address to work out their location or link their visits across sites. Mozilla says Firefox does not sell browsing data, show ads in the VPN, or keep a record of the websites users visit.

Mozilla highlights two everyday uses:

• hiding the sites you visit from whoever runs a public or shared WiFi network, such as a café or a relative's home network
• changing the location your connection appears to come from, for example to check news from home while traveling

The VPN has clear limits. It does not make users anonymous, since websites can still recognize visitors through cookies or account logins, and it does not hide browsing history stored on the device. It also covers browsing inside Firefox only. Other apps on the same computer or phone connect normally, and Mozilla points users who want device wide protection to Mozilla VPN, its separate paid subscription.

How to Turn On the Free Firefox VPN

The built-in VPN is available in Firefox on desktop and Android. Mozilla says iOS support is coming soon but has not given a date. To start using it:

1. Create a Mozilla account, or sign in to an existing one, in Firefox.
2. On desktop, select the VPN icon in the Firefox toolbar. On Android, open the three dot menu and go to Settings > VPN.
3. Follow the setup prompts and turn the VPN on.

Availability depends on the region, and Mozilla's Help Center lists the supported countries along with full setup instructions for desktop and Android.

The unlimited period lines up with holiday travel and shopping, when people spend more time on hotel, airport, and café networks. Users who already have the VPN set up do not need to do anything to get the extra data, and users who stopped using it because of the cap can turn it back on and browse for the full period without running out.

The built-in VPN is a lighter option than a full VPN app, since it protects only the browser, but it costs nothing beyond a Mozilla account. That makes it a practical choice for travelers who mainly need to protect browsing on public networks.

Mozilla has not said whether the data cap will return on February 1, 2027, or what the limit will be after the offer ends.

Thank you for being a Ghacks reader. The post Firefox's Free Built-In VPN Gets Unlimited Data From November 10 Through January 31, 2027 appeared first on gHacks.

Microsoft is also retiring two related programs: the Student Use Benefit, which provides student licenses at no extra charge when an institution buys qualifying faculty licenses, and free Exchange Online for Alumni, which lets graduates keep their school mailboxes. Microsoft plans a paid replacement for the alumni service.

What Replaces Office 365 A1

The free tier continues under a new name, Microsoft 365 Education A0, but it drops the services most schools rely on day to day. A0 does not include:

• Exchange Online, the service that hosts school email
• SharePoint Online, used for shared files and internal sites
• Teams, used for classes, meetings, and chat

Eligibility for A0 also depends on paid faculty licensing and on students actively using Windows devices for education. Microsoft is changing storage entitlements across the education plans as well, and it is adding Microsoft 365 Education A7, a new top tier with AI, security, governance, and device management features.

Microsoft says the change reflects how institutions now evaluate AI, security, privacy, and teaching tools together. The company also pointed to "the value Microsoft 365 Education has gained since the last pricing change nearly a decade ago."

Key Dates for Schools and Universities

The retirement is spread over the next two years, and existing agreements stay valid until they run out:

1. November 5, 2026: Office 365 A1 stopped accepting new web direct orders.
2. May 1, 2027: partner channel sales of Office 365 A1 end.
3. January 1, 2028: retirement begins, applied at each institution's first renewal or extension on or after that date.

The reaction in the UK has been negative. The Department for Education said it was "disappointed" by the decision, but added that it had negotiated additional concessions that give UK schools, colleges, and universities more time to move to new licensing agreements.

One industry insider estimated that losing free Microsoft hosted email could add thousands to an institution's bill, and another education organization raised concerns about affordability and equal treatment across the sector.

IT teams in education should check when their current agreement renews, since that date, not January 1, 2028, decides when the free services end for them. Institutions that depend on A1 for student email will need to budget for paid licenses or plan a move to another email provider before that renewal.

Microsoft has not published prices for the paid alumni service or said how much the new paid tiers will cost per student.

Thank you for being a Ghacks reader. The post Microsoft Will Retire Free Office 365 A1 Email for Schools, Moving Them to an A0 Plan Without Exchange or Teams appeared first on gHacks.

Rockstar says the game was built from the ground up for the current console generation, "targeting 30 frames per second while pushing both platforms to their absolute limits." The blog post does not mention a performance mode, either at launch or in a later update.

GTA 6 on PS5 Pro, PS5, and Xbox

The frame rate is the same on the PS5 Pro, but Sony's upgraded console gets two visual extras. Rockstar lists "improved clarity through PlayStation Spectral Super Resolution (PSSR) and ray-traced shadows only available on PlayStation 5 Pro."

Rockstar also says the game will "play best on PlayStation 5 consoles," citing three features on the standard PS5:

• haptic feedback integrated across the game on DualSense controllers, adjustable through the accessibility settings
• improved spatial audio rendering that uses Tempest 3D Audio
• improved load times

The only Xbox detail in the post concerns Xbox Cloud Gaming. GTA 6 will be playable through the cloud on Xbox Series X, Xbox Series S, and Xbox One, but the cloud version uses the Series S graphics settings, so it will not look as good as the version installed on a Series X.

Preload Size and What Pre-Order Buyers Need

The preload needs up to 212 GB of free space, depending on the console. Players who bought a physical copy get a box with a download code instead of a disc, so they have to wait for the box to arrive before they can preload.

Buyers have a few days left to make room. Before the launch on November 19:

1. Check that the console has at least 212 GB of free space, and delete or move other games if it does not.
2. Start the preload from the PlayStation Store or Xbox Store library entry for GTA 6.
3. Redeem the code from the box if you bought a physical copy, then start the preload the same way.

The standard edition costs $79.99, and an Ultimate Edition upgrade with extra in-game items is also available. Digital purchases made before November 20, 2026, include the Vintage Vice City Pack, a set of 1980s style outfits for Jason and Lucia. Physical pre-orders get the same pack while supplies last.

For players choosing a platform, the blog post settles the frame rate question: no console version runs above 30 frames per second. The differences between versions come down to image quality, ray-traced shadows, and controller and audio features.

Rockstar has not said whether a 60 frames per second mode could come in a later update or when a PC version of GTA 6 will be released.

Thank you for being a Ghacks reader. The post Rockstar Confirms GTA 6 Runs at 30fps on All Consoles, With Ray-Traced Shadows Only on PS5 Pro appeared first on gHacks.

Android Auto previously supported phones running Android 9 or later. Google had started warning Android 10 users in October 2026 that their devices would soon stop working with Android Auto, and the requirement is now in effect on the support page.

Who Is Affected by the Android Auto Android 11 Requirement

Wireless Android Auto already required Android 11 or newer, so the practical impact falls on drivers who connect their phones to the car with a USB cable. Phones in that group lose official support if they meet both of these conditions:

• the phone runs Android 9 or Android 10
• the manufacturer offers no update to Android 11 or a later version

Android Auto puts apps such as Google Maps, Spotify, and YouTube on the car's infotainment screen, so the change affects navigation and media playback for drivers who still use older phones in the car. Some users report that Android Auto has already stopped working on their phones, which suggests the cutoff is reaching devices now.

Google has not given an exact date for when Android Auto stops working on every affected phone.

What Owners of Older Android Phones Can Do

There is no supported way around the new minimum. Owners of older phones have these options:

1. Check the Android version in the phone's settings to confirm whether the phone runs Android 9 or Android 10.
2. Install any pending system update, since some phones can still move to Android 11 or newer through the manufacturer.
3. Plan to replace the phone if it cannot be updated, because unsupported phones can lose Android Auto without warning.

Cars that support Android Auto are not affected by the change on their side. The requirement is tied to the phone's software, so a newer phone restores Android Auto in the same car.

Google has not said whether apps such as Google Maps will keep working on Android 9 and Android 10 phones outside of Android Auto, and the support page does not list a timeline for the next minimum version.

Thank you for being a Ghacks reader. The post Google Raises the Android Auto Minimum to Android 11, Ending Support for Android 9 and Android 10 appeared first on gHacks.

The prompt opens when the Shift key is pressed five times. Microsoft is giving the Filter Keys prompt, another accessibility feature with its own keyboard shortcut, the same option.

What Changes in the Windows 11 Sticky Keys Prompt

Sticky Keys lets users press modifier keys one at a time instead of holding them down together. With the feature on, Ctrl + Alt + Delete can be entered by pressing Ctrl, then Alt, then Delete.

The Shift shortcut that turns it on has been part of Windows for decades, and it fires by accident in games and creative programs where Shift gets pressed repeatedly as part of normal work.

Today, the prompt only offers a link to the Sticky Keys page in the Settings app, and stopping it for good means changing the setting there. The updated prompt in the Insider build adds:

• a check box that prevents the Sticky Keys prompt from appearing again
• the same check box in the Filter Keys prompt
• the existing link to the full Sticky Keys settings, which stays in place

The feature itself is not removed. Users who rely on Sticky Keys for accessibility can still turn it on from Settings, and the Settings page keeps related controls, such as turning Sticky Keys off when two keys are pressed at the same time.

How to Disable the Sticky Keys Shortcut on Current Windows 11

The new check box is limited to Windows Insider builds for now. On release versions of Windows 11, the shortcut can be switched off in Settings:

1. Open Settings and go to Accessibility > Keyboard > Sticky Keys.
2. Turn off the keyboard shortcut for Sticky Keys so that pressing Shift five times no longer opens the prompt.
3. Check the Filter Keys section under Accessibility > Keyboard as well if that prompt also appears by accident.

Users who press Shift repeatedly in games or design software gain the most from the change, since the prompt interrupts full screen apps when it appears.

Microsoft has not said which Insider build introduced the updated prompt or when the change will reach the release version of Windows 11.

Thank you for being a Ghacks reader. The post Microsoft Tests a Windows 11 Sticky Keys Prompt That Can Permanently Turn Off the Shift Key Shortcut appeared first on gHacks.

Rachel Lord, policy head for YouTube in Australia and New Zealand, raised the concern at a Senate hearing on November 9, saying age check provisions in the bill would reach email, messaging, and private file storage.

Lord described the possible result as "intrusive monitoring within private communications or file storage." The provisions in question require age checks where children risk encountering pornography.

What the Digital Duty of Care Bill Requires

The government introduced the bill on October 15. It requires online service providers to take reasonable steps to keep Australians safe, with extra protections for users under 18. Penalties reach up to AU$109.2 million (about $75.40 million), according to the government's description of the legislation.

The bill also includes these measures:

• tools that let users choose whether algorithmically recommended content appears in their feeds
• powers for the eSafety Commissioner to issue removal notices for nudify apps and websites
• a 24 hour response requirement for cyberbullying and abuse complaints
• minimum standards for platform complaint processes

The bill has passed the House of Representatives and needs cross-party support to pass the Senate.

Meta, TikTok, and Snap Raise Objections

Google was not the only company to push back. Meta, TikTok, and Snap warned that giving regulators broad discretion over harmful content could lead platforms to remove too much material in order to avoid penalties.

The bill follows Australia's ban on social media for users under 16, which took effect on December 10, 2025, and made Australia the first country to introduce such a restriction. Reddit is challenging that ban in court, calling it "ill thought out" and "inept" and arguing that Reddit is not a social media platform.

Nothing changes for Gmail users in Australia yet. The bill is not law, and Google has not announced any change to Gmail accounts for minors. Families and schools that rely on Gmail for students under 18 should follow the Senate vote, since an age check requirement on email would affect account access rather than a single feature.

Google has not said how it would verify ages in Gmail or whether school managed accounts would be treated differently if the bill passes in its current form.

Thank you for being a Ghacks reader. The post Google Warns Australia's Digital Duty of Care Bill Puts Gmail Access for Under-18s at Risk appeared first on gHacks.

The revised handheld keeps the features of the original Portal and goes up for pre-order in Japan on November 13 at ¥39,980, the same price as the current model.

Sony says more information on the storage is coming and that details of the feature are still being finalized. The company has not said how much storage the new model includes.

New PlayStation Portal Storage and Region Limits

The PlayStation Portal works as a remote player. It streams PS5 games from a console at home, or through the cloud with a PlayStation Plus Premium subscription, and does not run games locally.

Sony lists no changes to the internals of the new model beyond the added storage, so running PS5 games directly on the handheld is not part of the announcement.

The original Portal was found to have about 6 GB of free space after its launch. Sony has not confirmed the capacity of the new storage or what it will be used for.

The new model is locked to Japan, like the Midnight Black PS5 announced last month:

• the system language can only be set to Japanese
• a Japanese PlayStation Network account is required to use the device
• pre-orders open in Japan only, on November 13

For buyers in Japan, the choice between the two models comes down to the storage alone. Both cost ¥39,980 and offer the same remote play and cloud streaming features, so the new model adds the storage at no extra cost. Owners of the current Portal do not need to change anything, since Sony has not tied any existing feature to the new hardware.

What Buyers Outside Japan Should Know

The new model is not built for use outside Japan. The language lock and the Japanese PSN account requirement limit the device to the Japanese store and interface, and the storage has no announced use yet. Players in other regions who want a Portal today can buy the current model, which offers the same remote play and cloud streaming features.

Sony has not said whether the storage update will come to PlayStation Portal models in the US, the UK, or other regions, and the company has not given a date for the details of the future functionality.

Thank you for being a Ghacks reader. The post Sony Announces a New PlayStation Portal for Japan With Extra Internal Storage for Future Functionality appeared first on gHacks.

This guide covers the current iOS 27 behavior: turning AirDrop on, sending and receiving, who can see you, where received files land, iPhone to Mac and iPhone to Android. If transfers fail, use our separate fixes for AirDrop not working or failing.

What is AirDrop?

AirDrop is Apple's wireless sharing feature that sends photos, videos, documents, contacts and links directly between nearby iPhone, iPad and Mac devices, without a cable, an upload or a messaging app. It is built into the share sheet of almost every app, so anything you can share, you can usually AirDrop.

How AirDrop works

AirDrop uses Bluetooth to find nearby devices and Wi-Fi to move the data, which is why Apple requires both to be switched on. Apple states that devices must be within 30 feet (10 meters) of one another. The transfer runs directly between the two devices rather than through a cloud server, which is why large videos often arrive faster than through a chat app.

Since iOS 17.1, a transfer that has started keeps going over the internet if you walk out of range (see the cellular section below), and since iOS 26.2, people outside your contacts are verified with a short AirDrop code.

How to turn on AirDrop on iPhone

To turn on AirDrop, open Control Center, touch and hold the connectivity controls, tap AirDrop and choose Contacts Only or Everyone for 10 Minutes. On iPhones with Face ID, Control Center opens with a swipe down from the top-right corner of the screen; on iPhones with a Home button, swipe up from the bottom edge.

1. Open Control Center.
2. Touch and hold the group of connectivity controls (the tile with Airplane Mode, Wi-Fi and Bluetooth).
3. Tap AirDrop.
4. Choose Contacts Only to be visible to people in your Contacts, or Everyone for 10 Minutes to be visible to any nearby device for a short time.

The same choice is available in Settings > General > AirDrop, which is also where the Use Cellular Data option lives. If AirDrop is not listed in Control Center at all, check Screen Time content restrictions, which can hide it on managed or children's devices.

How to AirDrop photos and files from iPhone

To AirDrop something, select the items, tap the Share button, tap AirDrop and then tap the person or device under People. Nearby contacts with AirDrop enabled appear there automatically.

1. Open the app that holds the content, for example Photos or Files.
2. Select the item or items. In Photos, tap Select and tap each photo; in Files, tap the More button, then Select.
3. Tap the Share button, then tap AirDrop.
4. Tap the person or device under People and wait for the receiver to accept.

Send to someone who is not in your contacts

Sending to a stranger takes one step on each side. The recipient opens Control Center and sets AirDrop to Everyone for 10 Minutes, then you tap their device under People. If both iPhones run iOS 26.2 or later, you are prompted for an AirDrop code: the recipient taps Get AirDrop Code and reads the code to you, and you enter it. Apple says the recipient is then added to your Other Known list for 30 days, and you can mark them as unknown in the Contacts app before that period ends.

Bring two iPhones together

If both devices run iOS 17 or later, you can hold the two iPhones close together to start an AirDrop share without opening the People list. The same gesture powers NameDrop, Apple's feature for swapping contact information instead of files.

How to receive AirDrop on iPhone

To receive AirDrop, tap Accept on the AirDrop prompt that appears on your screen; items sent between devices signed in to the same Apple Account are accepted automatically. Make sure the sender can see you first.

1. Set AirDrop to Contacts Only if the sender is in your Contacts, or to Everyone for 10 Minutes if they are not.
2. Keep Wi-Fi and Bluetooth on and Personal Hotspot off.
3. Tap Accept when the prompt appears, or Decline to refuse the item.
4. If asked, tap Get AirDrop Code and read the code to the sender.

On a child's iPhone, Communication Safety can warn about sensitive images received or sent through AirDrop, blur them and point to help resources.

AirDrop settings: who can send to you

Contacts Only is the everyday setting, Everyone for 10 Minutes switches itself off after 10 minutes, and Receiving Off hides your iPhone completely. Since iOS 16.2, Everyone for 10 Minutes falls back to Contacts Only when you are signed in to an Apple Account, or to Receiving Off when you are not. The table shows who can reach you under each setting, which is the question most AirDrop problems come down to.

Code-verified people sit in the Other Known list for 30 days. Apple's AirDrop documentation describes the full code flow.

Use Cellular Data and out-of-range transfers

AirDrop can finish a transfer over the internet when you move out of Bluetooth and Wi-Fi range, and it may use mobile data for that. The Use Cellular Data switch in Settings > General > AirDrop is on by default; turn it off if you want AirDrop to stay off your data plan. Background on the change is in our post on AirDrop over cellular, added in iOS 17.1.

Where do AirDrop files go on iPhone?

Photos and videos go to the Photos app; most other items are saved in or opened with the app that handles them, as Apple puts it, "in the app that they're sent from". The table maps the common item types.

Is there an AirDrop history?

No, iOS has no AirDrop history or transfer log. To find something you received earlier, check Recents in Photos, the Recents and Downloads views in Files, or the app that matches the file type. A Mac is different: some received items go straight to its Downloads folder.

How to AirDrop between iPhone and Mac

To AirDrop from iPhone to Mac, use the share sheet on the iPhone and tap the Mac under People; the Mac must be awake, unlocked and set to Contacts Only or Everyone. From Mac to iPhone, use the Share menu or Finder.

• iPhone to Mac: select the items, tap Share, tap AirDrop, tap the Mac. If both are signed in to the same Apple Account, the item is accepted automatically and most files appear in the Mac's Downloads folder.
• Mac to iPhone: Control-click a file and choose Share > AirDrop, or open a Finder window, click AirDrop in the sidebar and drag the file onto the iPhone.
• Mac visibility: click Control Center in the menu bar, click the arrow next to AirDrop and choose Contacts Only or Everyone.

Can you AirDrop to Android?

Yes, with select Android phones as of November 2026: Google's Quick Share can exchange files with AirDrop when the iPhone is set to Everyone for 10 Minutes. Google added the feature in November 2025, starting with Pixel phones, and widened the list in June 2026.

The table follows Google's June 2026 expansion as listed by MacRumors. Samsung has since added more mid-range models; see Galaxy A56 and A57 AirDrop support in One UI 9. Settings needed on both sides:

• iPhone: set AirDrop to Everyone for 10 Minutes in Control Center.
• Android: turn on Share with Apple devices in the Quick Share settings.
• Android, when receiving: switch Quick Share Receive mode on.
• Send from the iPhone through the normal AirDrop share sheet; the Android phone appears under People.

For phones that are not on the list, a browser-based tool such as open source Snapdrop for Windows and Linux or a cloud link is the practical fallback.

Is AirDrop faster in iOS 27?

Apple says it is: at its WWDC keynote on June 8, 2026, Apple listed "up to 80% faster AirDrop transfers" among the iOS 27 performance changes, as reported by 9to5Mac. Apple did not say which file types, device pairs or baseline the figure refers to, so treat it as a best case rather than a typical result. Real speed still depends on the two devices, the distance between them and the Wi-Fi conditions around you. To get the new behavior, update both devices; the other iOS 27 changes are in everything new in iOS 27.

How to change your AirDrop name

Your AirDrop name is your iPhone's name, so you change it in Settings > General > About > Name. The new name shows up for senders the next time they open the AirDrop list.

1. Open Settings and tap General.
2. Tap About, then tap Name.
3. Type the new name and tap Done.

Pick a name that does not reveal your full name if you use Everyone for 10 Minutes in public places, because anyone nearby can see it during that time.

How to turn off AirDrop

To turn off AirDrop, set it to Receiving Off in Control Center or in Settings > General > AirDrop. Your iPhone then disappears from other people's AirDrop lists, while you can still send items to others.

1. Open Control Center and touch and hold the connectivity controls.
2. Tap AirDrop, then tap Receiving Off.

To block AirDrop entirely on a child's iPhone, use Screen Time content and privacy restrictions under allowed apps; that hides AirDrop until a parent turns it back on.

AirDrop not working?

If AirDrop fails, first check that Wi-Fi and Bluetooth are on, Personal Hotspot is off and the receiver's visibility setting allows you. For everything beyond that, follow our guide to fix AirDrop when it fails or does not show up.

FAQ

Related: how to factory reset an iPhone, blocking account changes with Screen Time.

Thank you for being a Ghacks reader. The post How to AirDrop on iPhone appeared first on gHacks.

Mullvad VPN users who rely on the app's built-in DNS inside the tunnel are not the target of this change. This post covers what was shut down, why, which settings to change, verified replacement addresses, and how to confirm which resolver a device really uses.

What Mullvad shut down and why

Mullvad is retiring its public encrypted DNS service only, not its VPN. Mullvad announced the move on its blog on September 3, 2026, and its DNS over HTTPS and DNS over TLS help page states that the service "will be discontinued on November 2, 2026."

The company gives two reasons. First, the servers add nothing for its VPN customers, because VPN traffic is already encrypted and the VPN's own resolver handles queries. Second, it considers running a privacy-focused public resolver a specialized job and prefers to fund Quad9, which it calls the leader in the field, rather than duplicate that work. Mullvad says it will financially support Quad9 but does not name an amount.

The service launched as a free alternative for people who wanted encrypted DNS without a VPN. In 2023, ghacks reported that Mullvad's public encrypted DNS servers moved to RAM-only operation; that infrastructure is what is going away.

Which Mullvad DNS settings stop working

Every manual configuration that points to a Mullvad DNS hostname or address is affected. The help page lists these six resolvers:

• dns.mullvad.net (194.242.2.2): no blocking
• adblock.dns.mullvad.net (194.242.2.3): ads and trackers
• base.dns.mullvad.net (194.242.2.4): ads, trackers and malware
• extended.dns.mullvad.net (194.242.2.5): base plus social media
• family.dns.mullvad.net (194.242.2.6): base plus adult content and gambling
• all.dns.mullvad.net (194.242.2.9): all of the above

The older hostnames doh.mullvad.net and dot.mullvad.net, which the help page already listed as replaced, should be removed as well. Mullvad's blog adds three platform notes:

• Mullvad Browser: users on the default DNS over HTTPS setting or the included ad-blocking option are moved to Quad9 automatically. Custom settings are not changed, so anyone who picked base, extended or family should switch back to the default.
• iOS and macOS: Mullvad DNS configuration profiles stop working. Delete them and install a Quad9 profile instead.
• Everything else (browsers, Android, routers, Windows): replace the hostname or DoH URL by hand.

Replacement resolvers with DoH and DoT addresses

Quad9 is the replacement Mullvad recommends, and it is the closest fit in terms of privacy policy. Quad9 is a Swiss public-benefit not-for-profit foundation, and its privacy policy states that it "does not collect or record user IP addresses." Its default service blocks malicious domains and validates DNSSEC. ghacks covered the launch of Quad9 in 2017.

All addresses below come from each provider's own documentation:

The plain IPv4 addresses are 9.9.9.9 and 149.112.112.112 for Quad9, 94.140.14.14 and 94.140.15.15 for AdGuard DNS, 86.54.11.13 and 86.54.11.213 for DNS4EU, and 1.1.1.1 and 1.0.0.1 for Cloudflare.

Which one replaces which Mullvad tier:

• dns.mullvad.net: Quad9 no-blocking or Cloudflare.
• adblock, base or all: AdGuard DNS or DNS4EU ad blocking, both of which filter ads and trackers. AdGuard says it processes no personal data on its public servers; DNS4EU, operated by Whalebone in the Czech Republic, says client IPs are anonymised before logging.
• family: DNS4EU's child protection variant (child.joindns4.eu).

Cloudflare says it keeps no source IPs in non-volatile storage and deletes truncated IPs within 25 hours. Our older look at AdGuard DNS and its filtering explains the blocking approach in more detail. To enter any of these in a browser, follow our guide to enabling DNS over HTTPS in Chrome, Brave, Edge and Firefox.

How to check which resolver a device uses

The quickest check is the provider's own test page, opened on the device you changed. Quad9's on.quad9.net answers yes or no, and Cloudflare's one.one.one.one/help runs a set of tests that show whether the connection to 1.1.1.1 works.

1. Open the browser's secure DNS setting first. A browser DoH provider overrides the system resolver, and Quad9 notes that Firefox and Brave may default to Cloudflare in some regions.
2. On Windows, run ipconfig /all in a terminal and read the DNS Servers lines for the active adapter. Any 194.242.2.x address is a leftover Mullvad entry.
3. On Android, open Settings, search for Private DNS and confirm the hostname. Replace any Mullvad hostname with one from the table above.
4. On iOS and macOS, check the installed profiles under VPN and Device Management and remove any Mullvad DNS profile. iCloud Private Relay must be off for a third-party resolver to apply.
5. If a VPN is active, enter the new resolver in the VPN client's custom DNS setting, because VPNs usually ignore the device setting.

Do not mix providers: Quad9's test reports "no" when a device lists a Quad9 address next to one from another resolver.

Related: display all cached DNS entries on Windows, Control D, the DNS service from the makers of Windscribe

Which resolver did you move to after Mullvad's DNS shutdown, and did you keep ad blocking at the DNS level or move it to the browser?

Thank you for being a Ghacks reader. The post Mullvad shuts down its public encrypted DNS service: switch to Quad9 or another resolver now appeared first on gHacks.

The bug affects workbooks that contain conditional formatting. In those files, paste operations might fail. Microsoft first broke copy and paste in Excel in September, shipped a fix, and then saw the same problem return with another update this month.

The re-released update keeps the KB5002934 number, but it is not the same package that shipped last month.

What Changed in the Re-Released KB5002934 Update

Microsoft explains the change directly on the support page. The page originally described build 16.0.5574.1005, and Microsoft has since updated the release to build 16.0.5574.1006 without assigning a new KB number. According to the company, build 16.0.5574.1006 "includes all security updates for Microsoft Excel 2016" and also fixes the reintroduced issue "in which paste operations might fail if the workbook contains conditional formatting."

Two consecutive updates have now broken the same Excel function. A re-release under an existing KB number is uncommon for Microsoft, and the company has not explained how the paste problem made its way back into Excel after the September fix.

The scope is narrow. Only Excel 2016 is affected, which is an older release of the spreadsheet app, so the number of impacted users is smaller than a bug in a current Microsoft 365 build would reach. Organizations that still run Excel 2016 on managed PCs are the main group that needs to act.

How Excel 2016 Users Can Restore Copy and Paste

Excel 2016 users who saw paste operations fail in workbooks with conditional formatting should move to the revised release. The fix is part of the security update itself, so there is no separate hotfix to hunt down.

1. Confirm that the affected installation is Excel 2016 and not a newer Office or Microsoft 365 version.
2. Check the Excel build number. Build 16.0.5574.1005 contains the reintroduced paste bug.
3. Install the re-released KB5002934 update so that Excel 2016 reaches build 16.0.5574.1006.
4. Open a workbook that uses conditional formatting and test a paste operation to confirm the fix.

Administrators who deployed the original KB5002934 package last month should treat the revised release as a new deployment, since the build number changed even though the KB number did not. Skipping the update is not a practical workaround, because build 16.0.5574.1006 also carries all current security updates for Excel 2016.

Microsoft has not said why the paste bug returned or what it is changing to prevent a third regression in Excel 2016.

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Guests without the app can open a shared event link, see the details, and RSVP without downloading WhatsApp. Meta pitches the change as timed for holiday meetups.

WhatsApp Events Now Reaches People Without an Account

The workflow is short. An organizer creates an event, adds a cover photo, and shares the event link. Recipients who use WhatsApp see the invite as usual, while people outside the platform can view the event and reply through the link.

"With Events on WhatsApp, your invite can now reach everyone, even friends who don't have a WhatsApp account," Meta writes in the blog post.

Events Home is the second part of the update. Meta describes it as "your one-stop to create and send customized invites and manage RSVPs." The hub supports:

• customized invites created and sent from one place
• RSVP tracking for each event
• custom reminders for guests
• an option for guests to add a plus one
• a list of past and upcoming events, including ones the user created or was invited to

Before this update, WhatsApp users often organized gatherings in regular chats. Events Home pulls invitations, replies, and reminders into a single view instead.

Privacy Rules for Guests Outside WhatsApp

Opening events to people outside the platform raises an obvious question about what those guests can see. Meta addresses it with two rules.

When a user invites guests they are not connected to on WhatsApp, the organizer's phone number is not shared with those guests. Meta also says the address of an event will not be shown to people who do not use WhatsApp until they have RSVP'd to the invitation. These rules sit on top of the end-to-end encryption WhatsApp already uses across the service.

Users who want to check the feature once it arrives can follow these steps:

1. Update WhatsApp to the latest version from the app store.
2. Open Settings and select Events to view Events Home.
3. Create an event, add a cover photo, and share the event link with guests.
4. Track replies and set custom reminders from Events Home.

Organizers who share an event link widely should keep in mind that anyone with the link can view the event details, and the address becomes visible to non-WhatsApp guests once they RSVP.

Meta says the updated Events feature is rolling out over the coming weeks and has not listed a date for specific countries or platforms.

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Governor Gavin Newsom signed AB 1709 on September 10 as part of a broader package covering social media and AI chatbot safety.

What California's AB 1709 Restricts

AB 1709 targets three features that the law defines as "psychologically exploitative features":

• personalized feeds
• endless scrolling
• autoplay videos

Platforms covered by the law must also take reasonable steps to verify the ages of their users. California's goal is to stop companies from using features designed to keep children scrolling after they meant to put the phone down.

How Google, Meta, and TikTok Are Challenging the Law

The three companies argue in their filings that California is dictating how they present content and replacing parents' judgment with the state's own. Each company frames the challenge slightly differently.

Meta says the state cannot override its editorial decisions about how posts are organized and displayed. TikTok says the restrictions interfere with free expression and parental choice. Google argues that the rules could undermine systems that help children find appropriate videos, and says parents should decide what is appropriate for their families, pointing to its existing parental controls.

"Overly broad laws like this actually break the systems we've built to help kids find high-quality, age-appropriate videos," Google spokesman José Castañeda said.

The office of California Attorney General Rob Bonta said it is reviewing the lawsuits and will defend the state's child-protection laws.

Opposition is not limited to the platforms. The Electronic Frontier Foundation warns that age checks could push all users to hand over more personal information, and argues that removing recommendation tools could effectively shut young people out of online communities.

The lawsuits follow Meta's August agreement to pay up to $18 billion and change how teenagers use Facebook and Instagram to settle child-safety claims brought by states. Those changes include default time limits and mandatory scrolling breaks. Australia was the first country to pass an under-16 social media law, and Reddit has challenged that ban in Australia's High Court.

Nothing changes for California users yet. Parents who want limits before the law takes effect still have to rely on the parental controls each platform already offers, such as the ones Google points to in its argument. Age verification under AB 1709 would add a new data collection step for all users if the law survives, which is the trade-off the Electronic Frontier Foundation highlights.

No ruling has been issued, and the companies have not said whether they will ask the court to block AB 1709 before its January 1, 2027 start date.

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"Congratulations everyone, you made HISTORY!" the post reads. Blizzard did not publish actual player figures, as it no longer releases player numbers.

WoW: Forever Beats Wrath of the Lich King and WoW Classic

The claim puts WoW: Forever ahead of earlier peaks for the franchise, including Wrath of the Lich King, which marked the game's previous height almost two decades ago. Other records include Cataclysm, which sold more than three million copies in its first 24 hours, and Shadowlands, which sold almost four million copies on day one. WoW Classic drew over 1.1 million viewers on Twitch, and demand to log in caused heavy service disruptions.

WoW: Forever avoided a repeat of that. Access to the beta required the paid Skyborne Pack, and the beta still produced almost nine million characters, long queues, and server issues. Blizzard adjusted for the expected player numbers, and the November 4 launch ran smoothly by comparison.

WoW: Forever reworks the original vision for World of Warcraft. The game uses an alternative timeline set about a year before the original base game, and it adds:

• one thousand new quests and new zones
• a new playable race, the Skyborne elves, plus new race and class combinations
• new talents and items that change builds, including a sword that lets Mages fight in melee
• rare items hidden as loot from every raid boss

The game is currently available on PC and through cloud streaming services such as NVIDIA GeForce Now. A dedicated team runs WoW: Forever separately from the team behind the retail version of World of Warcraft.

Free Launch Item Available Until November 12

Blizzard is giving WoW: Forever players a launch item at no cost. The Pouch of Violet Dust turns campfire flames purple and extends the duration of all campfire buffs from one hour to two hours.

1. Log in to World of Warcraft: Forever on PC before November 12.
2. Claim the free Pouch of Violet Dust.
3. Use it at a campfire to double the duration of campfire buffs while leveling solo or in a group.

The item is free only until November 12. Players who skip the claim window lose access to the offer.

Blizzard has not shared subscriber totals or concurrent player counts for WoW: Forever, so the size of the record cannot be compared directly with Wrath of the Lich King or WoW Classic.

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In posts on X on November 4 and 5, Vishnevskiy showed the new client running on Windows 11 with 290.2 MB of memory in use while active, and he said Discord wants to start testing it with users soon. No release date has been given.

The current Electron client regularly uses more than 500 MB of memory on Windows. Electron is built on Chromium, so every Electron app ships with what amounts to its own browser engine, and that overhead is what the move to Rust is meant to remove.

How Discord's Rust Client Is Built

Discord has used Rust since 2018. Vishnevskiy says a large part of the company's infrastructure, its voice technology, and some of the current client already run on Rust, and that moving the whole client to Rust was "the holy grail." With the rebuild, Electron goes away, and so does React Native.

The change also affects mobile. Discord's mobile apps keep their native interface but will share app code with the desktop client through Rust.

Some developers expected Discord to use Tauri, an open-source framework for desktop and mobile apps. Vishnevskiy says the company is using GPUI, a framework written in Rust, with Discord's own patches applied on top.

Startup speed is the second claim. Vishnevskiy showed two Lenovo ThinkPads running Windows 11 side by side, one with the current client and one with the Rust version, and the new client opened noticeably faster. These figures come from Discord itself. Independent measurements are not available yet, since the client is not in public testing.

Why Lower Memory Use Matters for Discord Users

The rebuild comes while memory prices remain high, and buyers of new PCs often end up with 8GB of RAM to keep costs down. Microsoft is working on the same problem from the operating system side and has published Windows 11 26H2 performance claims for 8 GB PCs.

Electron stayed popular because it lets developers keep one codebase for Windows, macOS, and Linux. Slack, Microsoft Teams, and Visual Studio Code are built on it as well. Discord now joins the developers who decided the efficiency cost was too high.

Users who want a baseline before the new client arrives can check how much memory Discord uses today:

1. Press Ctrl+Shift+Esc to open Task Manager.
2. Select the Processes tab and expand the Discord entry.
3. Note the combined value in the Memory column while Discord is active.

Discord has not announced when testing of the Rust client will begin, which platforms get it first, or whether early builds will be opt-in.

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Warby Parker co-founder and co-CEO Dave Gilboa said customers can expect their orders to arrive during the holiday season. An exact shipping date has not been announced.

Samsung's Android XR Glasses and the Eyewear Partners

Samsung announced at the Galaxy Z Fold 8 launch earlier this year that its Android XR smart glasses would be available later in 2026. The company said at the time that it was developing the glasses together with the eyewear brands Warby Parker and Gentle Monster.

Samsung did not share a launch date or other availability details at that event. Since then, a leak has shown a range of designs and styles for the upcoming Samsung Galaxy smart glasses, but Warby Parker's earnings call is the first source to put a date on sales.

Gentle Monster has not announced when its version of the glasses will open for pre-order. Warby Parker's November 12 date is the first confirmed purchase window for the platform.

The glasses use Qualcomm hardware. Unlike Samsung's Galaxy XR headset, they do not include a built-in display, which places them closer to camera and audio glasses than to a headset. Leaked designs have shown Samsung working on two variants, one with a built-in camera and one without. Reports also point to built-in speakers for audio, microphones for voice commands and calls, and an LED indicator on the camera model that signals when the glasses are recording. Samsung has not confirmed these specifications.

Pricing and Availability Still Unconfirmed

No official price has been published for Intelligent Eyewear or for Samsung's own model. Samsung has previously said the glasses will fall into a "reasonably premium" price range. The first phase of availability is expected to be limited to the US and South Korea.

Buyers who are considering the glasses can act on the confirmed details:

1. Check Warby Parker's store on November 12, when pre-orders open and pricing is expected to become visible.
2. Decide between the camera and non-camera variants once the final specifications are listed, since the camera model carries a recording indicator and different privacy considerations.
3. Factor in the holiday delivery window, as Warby Parker has not given a specific shipping date.

The glasses will be among the first Android XR smart glasses on the market and will compete with Meta's Ray-Ban smart glasses.

Warby Parker has not said which countries the November 12 pre-orders cover, and neither Samsung nor Gentle Monster has confirmed when their versions of the Android XR glasses will go on sale.

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The announcement follows the overhauled Windows Search that Microsoft introduced in October. Microsoft says the new Search will begin rolling out before the end of 2026.

Copilot Integration in the New Windows 11 Search

Microsoft describes the integration in a short statement: "We will also begin adding the option to integrate the new Copilot with Search on the taskbar, so you can get quick answers inline from Search, and if you want to have a richer conversation, you can jump from Search directly to the full Copilot app." The company adds that "this experience will be opt-in, and will first start rolling out to select markets later this year."

Two modes are planned once the option is enabled:

• quick Copilot answers shown inline in the taskbar Search results
• a direct handoff from Search to the full Copilot app for longer conversations

The rebuilt Windows Search itself was designed from the ground up. Microsoft says it returns more accurate file and app results and can change settings or start actions that the user asks for. Users can also answer text messages, open apps, and preview images, files, and rich content without leaving the Search interface. The new version uses less web content and relies on native Windows UI frameworks, which Microsoft says makes the interface faster.

Why the Opt-In Model Matters for Windows 11 Users

The new Search builds on Ask Copilot, an experience Microsoft announced last year that never shipped outside of preview builds. Testing of Ask Copilot was paused over the summer. The new Windows Search looks almost identical to it.

One difference is control. Ask Copilot had no option to turn off the Copilot integration in its interface. The new Windows Search keeps the same design but makes Copilot a choice rather than a fixed part of the experience. Earlier this year, Microsoft also said it would reduce the amount of Copilot integration across Windows.

For users, the practical result is simple. Anyone who does not want AI answers in taskbar Search does not have to change anything, because the integration stays off unless it is turned on. Users who want Copilot answers in Search will have to wait until the option reaches their market and then enable it.

Microsoft has not listed the select markets that get the Copilot option first, and the company has not said where the opt-in setting will appear in Windows 11 or when it will reach additional languages and regions.

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The drop of 3.87 million units, roughly 37 percent, covers the first half of Nintendo's fiscal year and mostly predates the gaming console's $50 price increase in the US, Canada, and Europe.

Nintendo also lowered its expectations for the full year. The company now forecasts 16.5 million Switch 2 units sold by March 31, 2027, compared with 19.86 million in the previous 12-month period, a reduction of 16.9 percent.

Nintendo Switch 2 Hardware and Software Sales

Nintendo labels the reporting window FY27 Q1 to Q2, the first six months of its fiscal year ending March 31, 2027. The original Switch sold 1.27 million units in the same six months, down 32.7 percent. That decline is expected for a console in its final years.

The Switch 2 numbers stand out because the console's first year went so well. It sold 19.8 million units in that period, which is more than the original Switch managed in its first full year (around 17.7 million). The original Switch then doubled that figure in its second year, a pattern the Switch 2 forecast does not follow.

Software sales moved in the other direction:

• Switch 2 games rose 18.8 percent, from 20.62 million to 24.49 million units
• Switch games rose 6.8 percent, from 61.56 million to 65.73 million units

Nintendo says in its report that consumers continued to adopt the Switch 2 even though hardware sales declined year over year, and it credits the release of new titles for that.

Switch 2 Price Increase and the Holiday Quarter

Nintendo announced the Switch 2 price increase in May 2026. Japan saw the higher price immediately, while the US, Canada, and Europe moved to the new price on September 1, 2026. The console now costs $500, up from its $450 launch price. Nintendo attributed the change to "changes in market conditions."

Because the reporting period ended on September 30, the results show only one month of sales at the higher price in most Western markets. The reduced forecast is Nintendo's first indication of how it expects the holiday quarter to go.

For buyers, the current situation is straightforward. The Switch 2 costs $500 in the US, and Nintendo's sales growth now comes from software, including new releases such as the remake of The Legend of Zelda: Ocarina of Time, which launched this week.

Nintendo has not broken down how much of the hardware decline it attributes to the price increase, and the effect of the $500 price on holiday sales will only show up in the company's next quarterly results.

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Fortnite Crew paid 1,000 V-Bucks per month for most of its existence. Earlier this year, Epic cut the grant to 800 following its V-Bucks price increases.

Fortnite Crew V-Bucks Tiers and New XP Bonus

From December 5, the monthly V-Bucks amount depends on how long a player has been subscribed without a break:

• 1,000 V-Bucks per month as the new base amount
• 1,200 V-Bucks per month after at least 3 consecutive months
• 1,400 V-Bucks per month after 6 consecutive months
• 1,600 V-Bucks per month from 12 months onward, the maximum

At the top level, a long-term subscriber receives twice the 800 V-Bucks that Crew paid after this year's cut. Epic assigns the tiers automatically to current subscribers on December 5.

Current subscribers will be placed in a bronze, silver, or gold tier based on the number of consecutive months they have been subscribed in the last year as of December 5. Lapsed subscribers who resubscribe between December 5 and December 31 get a starting tier based on their most recent continuous subscription period over the past 12 months, Epic says.

Crew members also get faster progression. Subscribers will earn 20% more XP than players without Crew, while non-subscribers still receive a 10% XP bonus when they play on the same team as a subscriber.

Fortnite Crew Monthly Skins End After December

The monthly skin is the one perk going away. Crew skins have never been offered any other way, including in the regular Item Shop, which made them a key reason to subscribe. After December, subscribers will no longer receive one each month, which makes December the final month with a Crew skin included.

Epic is unlocking all remaining Legacy Styles in December for everyone who owns the related cosmetics, whether or not they are still subscribed. Legacy Styles are alternate color styles for certain Crew skins, back blings, and pickaxes that were previously unlocked over months of subscription.

Everything else stays in place. Crew continues to include the Battle Pass, Music Pass, LEGO Pass, and Rocket Pass Premium without separate purchases.

Former subscribers who want their past subscription history to count toward a higher starting tier need to resubscribe between December 5 and December 31. Epic has not said whether earlier Crew skins will ever be sold in the Item Shop once the monthly skins end.

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On November 17, Gems transition to skills. The original Gems stay visible for reference, but users can no longer use, edit, or create them. On December 17, Gems disappear from the account entirely.

Skills work differently from Gems. A Gem has to be opened directly, while a skill can be called up anywhere in Gemini, including in the middle of an existing chat, by typing a slash followed by the skill name.

Google plans to switch that trigger to the at sign. Skills can also run automatically based on a "When to use" section in their instructions, multiple skills can be stacked in one chat, and skills are built on the open SKILL.md standard, which makes them transferable to other AI platforms such as Claude and ChatGPT.

Gemini Gems Transition Timeline by Account Type

Google Workspace accounts follow a later schedule. For those users, Gems move into the Settings panel on November 17 but keep working until at least March 1, 2027. Education users will not see their Gems removed before June 1, 2027. Google has not announced when the transition starts for users under 18, and it has delayed the rollout of skills to Workspace apps such as Docs, Sheets, Slides, and Studio without a new date.

Skills come with restrictions. They do not work with Canvas, Deep Research, Guided Learning, video creation, or music creation. Content from Google Drive and Gemini Notebook cannot be added, skills cannot be shared with other users, and only 100 skills can be active at one time. Files added to a skill are capped at 100 MB, and skills do not sync between the Gemini app and Workspace apps.

How to Move Gems With Knowledge Files Before December 17

Simple, text-based Gems should survive the automatic migration. Gems with knowledge files need more attention: Google will delete the largest files to bring a skill under the 100 MB limit, and unsupported files are dropped, including legacy Office formats (.doc, .xls, .ppt), compressed archives, GitHub files, and audio and video files. Those files are deleted on December 17, so users should download them first.

1. Click Gems in the Gemini sidebar, then click the Edit (pencil) button next to the Gem.
2. Download every file listed under the Knowledge heading.
3. Open a new Gemini tab and go to Customize, Skills, Create, and select Create manually.
4. Paste the Gem's name, description, and instructions into the new skill and click Create.
5. Edit the skill and use Add files for a small number of files, or download the skill, place its SKILL.md file in a folder with the knowledge files, and upload that folder with Replace skill.

Google has not set final removal dates for Workspace accounts, and no date has been announced for skills in Docs, Sheets, Slides, and Studio.

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The 27.3 releases went out to developers in beta on Tuesday, and a general release is expected in December. Apple has not said whether the checks are already active in the beta builds.

The policy reaches iPhone, iPad, Mac, and Apple Vision Pro users at the same version number, so anyone who creates public iCloud links on those devices is covered once the 27.3 updates are installed.

Apple's New Rules for Anyone With the Link Sharing in iCloud

"Items shared using Anyone with the Link will be checked by Apple for harmful content," the support page states. Apple does not define harmful content on the page. The company also has not explained how the checks work, or whether human moderators, automated systems, or both will identify and remove content.

Apple says it can access items shared this way. The public sharing option removes end-to-end encryption from the shared item, even when Advanced Data Protection, Apple's optional end-to-end encryption feature for supported iCloud data, remains enabled on the account.

When harmful content is found, Apple reserves the right to move, refuse, modify, remove, or delete it at any time, according to the support page. The company says it may also block or disable accounts associated with that content and reserves the right to involve law enforcement when necessary. Apple does not list which content types fall under the policy.

How iCloud Users Can Review Their Public Links

The checks are tied to the sharing method, not to iCloud storage as a whole. iCloud users who rely on public links can review their sharing habits before the 27.3 updates reach their devices:

1. Go through iCloud items that are currently shared with Anyone with the Link and decide whether each link still needs to be public.
2. Share sensitive items directly with specific people instead of creating a public link, since the checks cover only links that anyone can open.
3. Keep in mind that Advanced Data Protection does not protect items shared with Anyone with the Link, because that option removes end-to-end encryption from the shared item.

The support page ties the checks to Anyone with the Link sharing only. Apple has not said whether items that were shared publicly before iOS 27.3 will also be checked once the update is installed, and the company has not given an exact release date beyond the expected December rollout.

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The redesign targets a long-standing problem with Outlook search: irrelevant emails show up in the results while the message a user actually needs is missing. Microsoft says it focused on three areas while building the new search, namely better ranking, improved performance when connectivity is poor, and a tighter feedback loop.

How the New Outlook Search Ranks Emails

A search in Outlook now lists seven ranked emails at the top rather than three. Microsoft ranks these messages by recency, sender, how much the message has been interacted with, and other signals. Showing more ranked messages is meant to surface the relevant email more often, and the larger set also helps Microsoft improve its ranking systems over time.

Stop words get different treatment as well. Words such as "the," "and," and "is" used to pull unrelated emails into the results, which users then had to scroll through in chronological order. Microsoft illustrates the change in its blog post with a search for "the FY27 budget," comparing what the old and the new Outlook search return for the same query.

The ranking comes from a small language model built specifically for Outlook. Microsoft trained it through distillation, a method in which a smaller model is built under the supervision of a larger one. That keeps search lightweight, because Outlook does not need to run a large model each time it ranks emails.

Classic Outlook Gets Offline Fallback and Faster Results First

Classic Outlook now falls back automatically to locally indexed content when the connection is poor, so searches still return results from mail stored on the device.

The same fallback is coming to the new Outlook, but Microsoft says it will ship later. Classic Outlook users should also see faster search results, and the company states that recent improvements reduced latency for the slowest 5% of Outlook searches.

Users can verify the changes in their own mailbox:

1. Run a search that includes common words, for example a phrase that starts with "the," and check whether unrelated emails still appear at the top.
2. Look for seven ranked emails above the regular results instead of three.
3. In Classic Outlook, run a search on a slow or unstable connection to confirm that locally indexed results still appear.

Microsoft lists the tighter feedback loop as one of the three goals of the redesign and is asking Outlook users for feedback on the new results. No release date has been given for the local index fallback in the new Outlook.

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The case names Blazesoft Ltd., Blazegames, Inc. and SCPS LLC, which operates as Zula Casino. The defendants moved the action to the U.S. District Court for the Middle District of Georgia in June. The federal case carries the number 4:26-cv-00914-CDL. The docket identifies the defendants and removal date.

Why the arbitration agreement failed to establish federal jurisdiction

The companies relied on the New York Convention, an international agreement concerning arbitration agreements and foreign arbitral awards, to establish federal jurisdiction. Land found that Georgia Gambling Recovery had neither signed the arbitration agreement nor agreed to be bound by it. He also rejected the defendants’ argument that Georgia law allowed them to enforce the agreement against the company.

Georgia Gambling Recovery seeks relief under the state’s gambling-loss recovery statute. Land explained that its asserted right to relief arose from that statute, rather than a contract containing an arbitration clause. He concluded that the defendants had failed to establish federal jurisdiction and directed the clerk to remand the action. The November 3 order sets out his reasoning.

Why the VGW, Blitz and Dabble cases stayed in federal court

On October 28, Land had kept the same plaintiff’s separate cases against VGW, Blitz Studios and Dabble in federal court. Those cases involved diversity jurisdiction, which depends on the parties’ citizenship and the amount in dispute. The court found those requirements satisfied. The Blazesoft case relied on a different jurisdictional basis through the arbitration convention. The October 28 order covers those three cases.

The November 3 ruling places the gambling-loss claim back before the State Court of Muscogee County for further proceedings on the underlying allegations.

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The PS5 date is earlier than some buyers expected. Pre-order forms had listed November 12 as the preload start, and Rockstar has now clarified that digital preloading on PS5 opens at midnight local time on November 10. Code-in-box versions for both consoles "should" be available from retailers beginning November 12, Rockstar says.

GTA 6 Preload and Launch Times on PS5 and Xbox

The two consoles follow different schedules. PS5 preloading starts at local midnight in each time zone, while Xbox Series X and S preloading opens at the same moment worldwide, 12 a.m. GMT on November 10. In the US, that puts the Xbox preload at 4 p.m. PT and 7 p.m. ET on November 9.

• PS5 preload: 12 a.m. local time on November 10, which is 9 p.m. PST on November 9 in Los Angeles
• Xbox Series X and S preload: 12 a.m. GMT on November 10, which is 8 a.m. in Beijing, 9 a.m. in Tokyo and Seoul, and 11 a.m. AEST in Melbourne
• Launch on both platforms: midnight local time on November 19, which is 9 p.m. PST on November 18 in Los Angeles

Earlier PlayStation Store data had put the PS5 download at 210 GB. Rockstar's figure of up to 212 GB covers the preload file, PS5 and Xbox sizes may differ slightly, and final install sizes can differ from preload downloads. "So make sure you've got ample space to begin pre-loading as soon as possible," Rockstar said.

Players who want to start on launch night should prepare before November 10:

1. Free up at least 212 GB of storage on the console before preloading opens.
2. Note the preload start for the platform, local midnight on PS5 or 12 a.m. GMT on Xbox Series X and S.
3. Expect codes for code-in-box physical editions from retailers from November 12, two days after digital preloading begins.

GTA 6 Cover Art Poster and Map of Leonida

Rockstar will add a printable GTA 6 cover art poster and map of Leonida as a free digital download on its official site on November 19. A double-sided physical version will follow shortly after launch on the Rockstar Store, priced at $0.99 on its own or free with any purchase from the store.

Rockstar has published a preload FAQ on its support site, but the publisher has not listed separate final install sizes for PS5 and Xbox Series X and S.

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The post follows a renewed push on memory optimization that Microsoft started earlier in 2026. Copilot+ PCs, which Microsoft continues to promote, require at least 16 GB of RAM, while memory prices keep climbing on demand from AI infrastructure.

Windows 11 Memory Changes for 8 GB PCs

Most of the work adjusts how Windows 11 handles memory on lower-specced hardware instead of adding features. Microsoft lists these changes:

• Windows 11 keeps up to 2 GB more active data in memory before moving it to slower storage.
• Windows connects directly to Microsoft Edge when the browser is already running in the background, which Microsoft says lets Edge launch up to 33 percent faster.
• Microsoft Teams can enable Efficiency Mode by default on 8 GB machines, and the company says Teams then launches up to 20 percent faster.
• Widgets load only when they are used instead of running all the time.
• Edge puts inactive tabs to sleep after 15 minutes by default, down from two hours.

Third-party apps can use the same memory tweaks, according to Microsoft.

The blog post also cites benchmark data from research Microsoft commissioned, comparing 2026 Windows machines with models from 2021. In that report, a 2026 Dell XPS 13 with 8 GB of RAM performed about as well as a 2021 Dell XPS 13 with 16 GB across selected workloads. Microsoft's reading of the result is that "the complete PC, not memory capacity alone, shapes the experience."

Davuluri drew a line for heavier use as well. He described 8 GB as "a great fit for the things they do every day" for everyday users, while workloads such as 3D modeling, advanced video editing, or large-scale data processing "benefit from 16 GB of memory or more," according to the post.

How to Get the 8 GB Improvements on Windows 11

The gains depend on both the Windows 11 version and on app updates, so owners of 8 GB PCs need both parts current:

1. Confirm the PC runs Windows 11 26H2, build 26300.9818 or later, and install pending updates through Windows Update.
2. Update Microsoft apps such as Edge and Teams, since Microsoft says "some improvements arrive through app updates or through Microsoft Store."
3. Review Edge tab behavior after updating. Tabs that sleep after 15 minutes free memory sooner but need to reload when reopened.

The 20 and 40 percent figures are Microsoft's own claims, and the commissioned benchmark covers selected workloads only. Microsoft has not said whether PCs on Windows 11 versions older than 26H2 will receive the same memory changes.

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"We assess with high confidence that the backdoor and botnet were intentionally developed, deployed, and operated for financial gain by Videostrong Technology Co.," GTIG said.

Google also took down command-and-control servers used by more than a dozen related malware families, cutting off access to at least 10 million additional compromised devices. Those include retail set-top boxes, karaoke machines, and telehealth hardware, and Google says not all of them run Android.

Google Revokes Videostrong's Android TV License

Google has ended its relationship with Videostrong and revoked the company's license to manufacture Android TV devices with preloaded Google apps and services.

The ban extends to future affiliates, which cannot produce certified Android devices or supply software to certified vendors. Google says it changed its certification review process after finding that Videostrong used obfuscation to evade security testing and load malicious code only after a device first booted.

Japan's National Police Agency joined the operation alongside security companies Lumen, HUMAN Security, Plume, Synthient, and TrendAI. Synthient traced the backdoor to Videostrong after finding it preinstalled on a MECOOL KM9PRO Max Android TV box bought in late 2025, and the researchers found Videostrong company email addresses had been used to sign the backdoors.

XCPE did not arrive through a vulnerability or a malicious download. The malware, tracked as x.cpe and com.oemservice, sat in the firmware from the factory and ran with Android system-level privileges. Operators could use it to:

• silently download and install additional Android apps
• disable Google Play Protect
• run shell commands and scripts with system privileges
• capture screenshots and inject keystrokes
• collect account information, device details, installed app lists, and system logs

Affiliates used the boxes for ad fraud, ran residential proxy software that routed third-party traffic through owners' connections without consent, and installed further backdoors named Moyu, Spirit, and Bird.

What Owners of Infected Android TV Boxes Can Do

The takedown disrupted XCPE's operations but did not remove the malware from infected boxes, Google says. The backdoor reinstalls itself from the /oem/ partition when it is deleted, so removing the malicious apps alone does not clean a device. Owners of affected boxes have two options:

1. Install clean firmware on the box to remove the infection.
2. Disconnect the box from the internet to stop further malicious activity if clean firmware is not available.

Google says Videostrong placed the malware in different device brands and models over multiple years, but the company has not published a full list of affected products beyond the MECOOL box identified by Synthient.

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Chris Phillips, Google's vice president and general manager of education, has confirmed that students at schools that keep Google's AI tools turned off will not have access to Google Search either.

"After listening to schools, teachers, leading researchers, and policymakers, we are now updating our approach to controls for Gemini, Gemini Notebook, Gemini in Classroom, and Google Search," Phillips wrote. Google presents the change as a way to ensure that "schools should have control over AI in their classrooms."

Why Google Ties Search to Gemini for Student Accounts

The link comes from Guided Learning, a Gemini mode that coaches students through problems with open-ended questions and step-by-step breakdowns. Google says its research shows Guided Learning produces measurable learning gains, and the company is bringing the mode to Google Search and Google Classroom.

Phillips said in an interview that "search and AI are deeply integrated." Students at schools that disable the AI tools "will not have access to search, and they'll see a message from their school that indicates it's not available," he said.

For school IT administrators, the update leaves one decision point with these outcomes:

1. Leaving the controls off keeps Gemini, Gemini Notebook, and Gemini in Classroom unavailable to K-12 students, and Google Search stays off with them.
2. Turning the tools on restores Google Search for student accounts, with Guided Learning built in to help students work through problems without skipping straight to answers.
3. Enabling Search on its own still brings AI along, because Google is building Guided Learning into Search for all student accounts.

Teachers' Union and Critics Respond to Google's Policy

American Federation of Teachers president Randi Weingarten said that "Google has prioritized its business interests over the education of our children." Fairplay, a non-profit that campaigns against marketing to children, said Google's "attempt to strong-arm schools into using its AI products is likely to backfire." The group urged schools to turn off the AI tools and look for privacy-protective search alternatives.

Former FTC chair Lina Khan accused Google of "using its search monopoly to coerce schools into adopting AI," pointing out on X that multiple courts have found the company liable for violating antitrust laws. New York City mayor Zohran Mamdani said that "Google is trying to use its monopoly power to force AI into our public schools."

The policy arrives days after Alphabet shares fell sharply as AI Mode cut into Google's search business. Google has not said when the updated controls take effect for existing student accounts.

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The amended S-1 filing also lists nearly $895 billion in compute and infrastructure commitments, and additional estimated payments could push Anthropic's total compute tab beyond $1 trillion.

The figure represents a year-over-year growth rate of 1,206%, the filing states. Anthropic warns in the same document that it does not expect revenue to keep growing at comparable rates and "cannot assure you that it will continue to grow at all."

Anthropic Revenue Growth Slows in the Third Quarter

The revised filing shows quarterly growth already easing. Revenue rose nearly 2.5 times between the first and second quarter of 2026. Third quarter revenue of nearly $17 billion was up 46% from the second quarter, while compute and infrastructure costs climbed 77% over the same period.

Cloud marketplaces accounted for roughly 44% of Anthropic's revenue in the nine months ended September 30. Anthropic says no single customer accounts for more than 10% of revenue.

The filing still treats reliance on hyperscalers for distribution as a risk, since Amazon, Google and Microsoft either build competing products or offer models from Anthropic's rivals.

Anthropic Compute Commitments Approach $1 Trillion

The prospectus puts Anthropic's commitments at about $895 billion, up from the more than $800 billion reported a week earlier. The breakdown in the filing:

• roughly $320 billion in existing contractual obligations
• about $451 billion in signed leases that have not commenced yet
• nearly $70 billion in contractual payments due by September 2027
• around $447.5 billion in commitments expected to be incurred by the end of 2030

Anthropic separately estimates additional payments made to secure adequate compute at $150 billion to $175 billion, which brings the total above $1 trillion. Deals with Microsoft, Google, Amazon and Broadcom now total $437 billion and are non-cancellable, and some require payment whether or not Anthropic uses the capacity. Of the $895 billion in contracts, only about $213 billion allow Anthropic to avoid payments.

"Our ability to meet the substantial and growing financial obligations of these requirements to secure compute depends on our ability to generate significant revenue growth," the filing reads. Debt or equity financing remain options, but leaning on them long term could dilute existing shareholders or force borrowing on unfavorable terms.

For Claude users and API customers, the filing does not announce any product or pricing changes. Anthropic expects the signed leases to begin between 2026 and 2028, and some of those agreements remain subject to termination rights or other conditions.

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S-Game, the studio behind the game, shared the milestone only days after release as the title held first place in the Steam charts for gaming sales. "Thank you everyone from the bottom of our hearts for all the love and support!" S-Game wrote in the announcement post.

Phantom Blade Zero Tops Steam Charts at Launch

Phantom Blade Zero moved to the top of the Steam charts as soon as it launched, ahead of long-running titles such as PUBG and Dota 2. The game was also the best-selling title on Steam by revenue, finishing ahead of Call of Duty: Modern Warfare 4, Aion 2 and Probably Stolen, a cyberpunk shopkeeper simulator.

The result tops recent Steam launches covered here, including Modern Warfare 4's 227,434 player Steam peak, which Phantom Blade Zero has now passed by more than 600,000 concurrent players.

Demand was visible before release. Estimates published last week put Phantom Blade Zero above 1 million copies sold before launch across Steam, PS5 and WeGame. Nearly two thirds of those prelaunch sales came from China, Taiwan and Hong Kong.

The launch still trails Black Myth: Wukong, which sold 10 million copies in its first three days. S-Game has not released a regional breakdown of the 4 million figure or split it by platform.

Phantom Blade Zero Cast and Availability

Roger Craig Smith, known for voicing Sonic the Hedgehog, Ezio Auditore and Chris Redfield, plays Soul, the lead character. Maggie Robertson, who played Lady Dimitrescu in Resident Evil 7, voices Mu Xiaokui. Donnie Yen served as a key creative consultant and plays Mó Yuan, Soul's father, through full facial, voice and motion capture.

Players interested in the game have three storefronts to choose from:

• Steam on PC, where the game holds the top revenue spot
• PlayStation 5 through the PlayStation Store
• WeGame, Tencent's PC storefront in China

Steam players can verify the concurrent player figures on the game's Steam charts listing, which tracked the 833,921 peak on Sunday.

S-Game has not shared a sales target for Phantom Blade Zero beyond the 4 million milestone, and the game remains limited to Steam, PS5 and WeGame at launch.

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The connection failures surfaced as One UI 9, Samsung's latest Android update, continues to reach additional Galaxy devices each week.

Android Auto Problems Reported After the One UI 9 Update

Owners of Galaxy phones running One UI 9 report three types of Android Auto failures:

• random disconnects from the car's head unit during a drive
• phones that fail to connect to Android Auto at all
• audio stuttering that some users say has become worse since the update

The problem is not limited to a single Samsung model. User reports point to a wide range of Galaxy handsets that have received One UI 9, so owners of older and current models alike can run into the disconnects.

One UI 9 has already had one major bug, which Samsung has since fixed. The Android Auto issue is the second notable problem tied to the update, and Google, rather than Samsung, is the company delivering the fix in this case.

What Galaxy Owners Should Do Until the Fix Arrives

Google has not said which app or component the fix ships in, so the practical steps are limited to what drivers can check on their own:

1. Install pending app updates on the phone so the Google fix is applied as soon as it reaches the device.
2. Watch for disconnects or audio stuttering in Android Auto after updating to One UI 9, and report the behavior through the Android Auto Help page, where Google has already responded to submissions about the problem.
3. Galaxy owners who have not installed One UI 9 yet and depend on Android Auto daily can wait for the Google fix to arrive before updating.

One UI 9 also brings expanded Quick Settings customization that lets users shrink and expand widgets, so postponing the update means waiting longer for those features.

The One UI 9 rollout is still in progress, and not all eligible Galaxy devices have received it. Google has not provided a timeline for when the Android Auto fix will reach every affected phone.

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The removal started with the September optional update (KB5124010) and reached regular users through the October 13, 2026 Patch Tuesday update, KB5127648.

Microsoft's support documentation now redirects users to Windows Backup, a tool that relies on OneDrive cloud storage instead of a direct connection between two computers. The company has not explained why the local transfer option was pulled.

What Windows 11 Users Lose With PC-to-PC Migration Gone

PC-to-PC Migration arrived in 2025 as a modern replacement for Easy Transfer from the Windows 7 era. The feature moved files and settings directly between two PCs over Wi-Fi or Ethernet. Users paired the old and new computer with a one-time code, picked the folders to copy, and Windows handled the rest.

It was never a full system migration tool. Installed apps, saved passwords, sign-in information and some protected folders stayed behind. For setting up a replacement computer, though, it moved files between drives and folders without any cloud account or storage quota involved.

Windows Backup works differently. It requires a personal Microsoft account and backs up supported folders (Desktop, Documents, Pictures, Videos and Music) to OneDrive.

Free OneDrive accounts include only 5GB of storage, and Microsoft's own promotional screenshot for Windows Backup shows 4.5GB of that allowance already in use. Years of photos, documents and downloads can exceed the free tier quickly.

Windows Backup does carry some extras. It can remember installed apps, Wi-Fi networks, passwords and some settings to speed up setup on a new device. Apps still have to be reinstalled, and supported files are restored from the cloud.

How to Move Files to a New Windows 11 PC Now

Users replacing a computer have three routes after the KB5127648 update:

1. Use Windows Backup with a personal Microsoft account and check the OneDrive storage quota first, since free accounts stop at 5GB.
2. Copy files manually with a USB drive or external storage device, moving the user folders to the new PC by hand.
3. Use a network share on the local network to transfer folders between the old and new computer without cloud storage.

The manual methods avoid the OneDrive requirement and the 5GB storage limit. They take more effort, and Windows does not guide users through them the way PC-to-PC Migration did, so the folder selection is left to the user.

Microsoft has not said whether a local migration option will return to Windows 11, and the support page offers no alternative beyond Windows Backup.

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The felony provision covers paid and unpaid support

The amendment to 21 O.S. Section 941 defines online casino games as internet-accessed gambling games in which a person risks a representative of value. That value definition expressly includes currency used in a dual-currency system that permits exchange for prizes, cash, cash equivalents or a chance to win them.

The support provision names owners or employees, geolocation providers, gaming suppliers, platform providers, promoters and media affiliates. It applies whether or not they are paid for dealing or providing support for those engaged in a covered game. The offense is a Class C2 felony, punishable upon conviction by a $500 to $2,000 fine and imprisonment under the cross-referenced sentencing provision.

The law preserves exceptions under the Oklahoma Charity Games Act and for gaming otherwise authorized on Indian lands in compliance with the federal Indian Gaming Regulatory Act.

The official bill history records a May 7 veto followed by overrides in both chambers on May 14: 34 to 10 in the Senate and 68 to 19 in the House.

Existing balances remain an operator-specific question

SB 1589 provides no special prize-redemption grace period and sets no process for resolving existing customer balances or pending requests. Its November 1 commencement therefore does not establish whether a particular operator will approve or deliver a prize requested before its access restriction.

Current NoLimitCoins terms limit Oklahoma access to Gold Coins mode, while Funrize's terms allow access in Tournament Points mode only. These are published availability conditions; they do not establish when either Oklahoma restriction first took effect or how an individual account is being handled.

For existing customers, continued access to an entertainment mode does not establish whether a previous prize request will be processed. An unredeemed balance, a request awaiting review, an approved prize and a payment already sent represent different stages. The outstanding question is how each operator treats those balances and requests after restricting access to prize-eligible play.

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WoW: Forever is set in the original era of the MMO and keeps its slower travel, questing, and combat. Unlike each version of WoW Classic, it can draw on all of World of Warcraft's history for new content, which lets Blizzard keep updating it indefinitely.

World of Warcraft: Forever Update Schedule

Zierhut says the team experimented to find the right release rate and settled on something close to once every four months, or 17 weeks, which works out to three major updates per year.

The schedule is a reaction to Season of Discovery, the limited-time mode in which members of the same team shipped new content every eight to 10 weeks. Zierhut says that pace "felt way, way, way too fast."

The plan for WoW: Forever updates includes these elements:

• major updates timed around new raid tiers, giving players months to work through each one
• new activities for characters below the level cap, not only endgame raid content
• parts of each update unlocking one, two, or three months after release through a timed event calendar

Zierhut says the staggered unlocks are meant to avoid a single content dump on patch day followed by four quiet months. The event calendar opens new things gradually across the update window.

How WoW: Forever Compares With Retail World of Warcraft

Retail World of Warcraft follows a faster rhythm. The current Midnight expansion released its 12.0.0 update in January and 12.1.0 in August, with interim content arriving roughly every three months in between. Retail WoW also uses expansions, while WoW: Forever is designed around horizontal progression without expansions.

For players deciding where to spend their time, the difference is practical. A four-month raid cycle gives guilds and casual players longer to finish content before the next tier arrives, and the timed unlocks spread smaller additions across that window instead of front-loading them.

Blizzard also says one of its goals is to "unsolve" the game, so that optimized routes and guides do not exhaust it quickly.

WoW: Forever launches on November 4. Zierhut did not give a date for the first major content update, and the four-month cadence is a target the team described rather than a fixed calendar.

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Google fixed the bug, tracked as CVE-2026-58882, in the October 2026 Android security updates for Android 14 through 17, according to researcher Mark Blah, while Android 12 and 13 devices did not receive the fix.

The attack is zero-click. Android processes the malicious message before it reaches the SMS inbox, so the target sees nothing that explains the crash. Blah notes that the flaw is not listed in Google's October security bulletin, even though the fix appears in Android's telephony code.

How the Android SMS of Death Attack Works

Blah traced the flaw to improper validation of a header-length value in Android's WapPushOverSms.decodeWapPdu function. An attacker sends a malformed eight-byte WAP Push message as a data SMS to port 2948. Without a bounds check, the length value turns into -2147483648 when read as a signed 32-bit integer.

Android then tries to allocate memory with that negative size, which throws a NegativeArraySizeException and crashes the com.android.phone process. Because that process manages cellular functions, the crash disrupts mobile connectivity and drops calls in progress, including calls to emergency services.

The damage can repeat. Carriers may try to redeliver the message, and Android may process messages already stored on the phone again. In Blah's testing, 20 malicious messages pushed phones into reboot loops. One Android 12 device restarted into recovery mode roughly every 90 seconds, and only a factory reset recovered it.

A GitHub contributor named Sakis found a way to remove the messages with Android Debug Bridge (ADB), but the method requires a computer and technical knowledge.

Blah has also released a proof-of-concept exploit that sends the malicious messages from another Android device, so the attack no longer requires custom tooling.

What Android Users Should Check Now

Google's fix, titled "Fix remote DoS in decodeWapPdu," catches the exceptions caused by the malformed messages and deletes those messages from the SMS database so they cannot trigger repeated crashes. Android owners can take these steps:

1. Check the phone for a pending system or security update and install it.
2. Restart the device if prompted, since installation may require a reboot to complete.
3. Confirm that the phone runs Android 14 or later with the October 2026 security update or newer.

Security updates install automatically on supported devices, but availability depends on the phone maker and the carrier, so the timing of the October patch varies from one Android 14 to 17 phone to the next.

Owners of Android 12 and Android 13 phones have no patch to install. The October bulletin does not list CVE-2026-58882, and no fix for those two versions has been released.

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Anthropic confirmed the change through a post by Addy Osmani, a member of its technical staff, who said the company added two sentences to Claude Code's prompt on Opus 5.5 to steer it away from rebuilding someone else's game.

The rule reached Claude Code around October 27, according to X user Chasm, who first shared the change. Chasm reports that the instruction is delivered from Anthropic's servers under a flag named "tengu_heron_brook" and that users cannot switch it off.

What the New Claude Code Rule Allows and Blocks

The instruction tells Claude to keep building original games, games in an established genre, and games based on the user's own designs and assets. Recreating a specific existing game is off the table, and the rule says this applies "even if it is renamed or called original."

In practice, the rule draws this line:

• allowed: original game concepts, genre games, and projects built from the developer's own designs and assets
• blocked: a copy of a specific existing game, including versions that carry a new name or are described as original

Osmani says the reason is Anthropic's usage policy, which already prohibits using Claude to infringe intellectual property. The prompt change makes Claude Code enforce that policy directly when a request targets a particular game.

Anthropic says it will continue to adjust the rule to strike the right balance. Osmani asked developers whose own projects are refused by Claude to send those cases to him directly.

Why Anthropic Is Targeting AI Game Clones

The change follows complaints about low-effort AI-generated games during Valve's Steam Next Fest in October. Players reported that their feeds filled up with clones of existing games, including copies of titles that had only just released their own demos.

Some developers reacted by pulling public demos. The team behind Drunken Goddess Reflux, Alliance Arts and Who You, canceled its Steam demo plans in favor of private playtests. Valve responded that it would be "thinking about how to solve this problem."

For developers who use Claude Code, the practical impact depends on the project. Original work and genre games should continue to work as before. Requests to reproduce a known game, or to rebuild one under a new title, now fail on Opus 5.5. Anthropic's previous Claude launch, the Claude Duet background agent, was limited to paying subscribers, while the game rule is applied server-side to Claude Code on Opus 5.5 with no user setting to disable it.

Anthropic has not said whether a specific incident prompted the change, whether the rule will extend to other Claude models, or how it treats mods, decompilations, and recompilations of existing games.

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Windows 11 gained the ability to change the taskbar position earlier this year, but only through the Settings app. Baca's statement makes clear that Microsoft does not plan to add the drag gesture on top of that option.

Why Microsoft Kept Taskbar Positioning in Settings

Baca says Microsoft's research showed that dragging the taskbar to reposition it can lead to accidental movements. He points out that this risk is one of the reasons the "Lock the taskbar" option existed in earlier versions of Windows.

Microsoft also found that people rarely change the taskbar position. Most users pick a location once and leave it there, so the company decided that a setting reachable with a single right-click is the more predictable approach. Baca calls the result more intentional than a free drag gesture.

The workflow differs noticeably between the two versions:

• Windows 10: right-click the taskbar, uncheck "Lock the taskbar", then drag the bar to the desired edge of the screen.
• Windows 11: right-click the taskbar, open the taskbar options in Settings, then select the desired position from the list.

Resizing the taskbar by dragging its top edge, which Windows 10 also allowed, is not part of Windows 11 either. Microsoft's statement addresses only the drag-to-move behavior and does not mention resizing.

How to Change the Taskbar Position on Windows 11

Users who want to move the taskbar now have one route, the Settings app. The process takes a few clicks:

1. Right-click an empty area of the Windows 11 taskbar.
2. Open the taskbar settings from the context menu, which launches the Settings app.
3. Pick the new taskbar position from the available options.

Because the bar cannot be dragged, the old lock option has no job left to do, which is the accidental-movement problem Baca describes. The trade-off is speed: users who switch positions often now go through Settings each time instead of grabbing the bar with the mouse.

Microsoft has adjusted other basic Windows 11 interactions recently, including the faster, customizable context menu in KB5127936. Baca's explanation was posted on X rather than in official Windows documentation, and Microsoft has not published the research data behind the decision.

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The crowd crush happened in October 2022 during Halloween celebrations in Seoul's Itaewon neighborhood. A surge in the narrow streets and alleys killed 160 people and left nearly 200 more injured.

Modern Warfare 4 uses video from that disaster in its opening to portray the immediate aftermath of a fictional North Korean invasion of South Korea, the premise of the game's story.

Activision Responds to Complaints From Victims' Families

Activision first said the footage was not meant to "reference or trivialize" the actual event and was used only "to establish the game's fictional narrative." Families of the victims rejected that explanation. In their statement, they called the use of the event in an entertainment product "highly inappropriate and senseless."

The families also said that if Activision "has even a minimum of courtesy and empathy towards the victims, it should take corrective action without delay." The publisher has now done that, a clear change from its first response, which defended the footage as part of the fictional setup.

"We offer our deepest condolences and sincere apologies to the bereaved families, victims and everyone who has been deeply hurt or distressed by this incident," Activision said in its latest statement.

Modern Warfare 4 Cinematic Update Timing for Players

The announced change covers the opening cinematic only. Activision has not said that any other campaign content will be edited, and the statement does not describe what will replace the removed clips.

Players do not need to take any action. The edited cinematic will arrive with the November 12 update through the normal patch process, and anyone who replays the campaign opening after that date will see the revised version.

The change comes during the launch window of a release that peaked at 227,434 concurrent Steam players, so the original version of the opening has been in front of a sizable player base since launch. The footage remains in the game on all versions until the update installs.

Activision has not published patch notes for the November 12 update yet, so the full scope of that release beyond the cinematic change is not known.

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Gemini 4 Carbon arrives two weeks after Gemini 4 Argon. Google says that in internal testing, Carbon worked on engineering tasks for days, pushing through roadblocks to diagnose, root-cause, and patch subtle bugs across large codebases.

Gemini 4 Carbon Benchmarks and API Pricing

Google reports that Carbon ranks first on the Artificial Analysis Intelligence Index v5.0 with a score of 59. On WebDev Arena, the model gained 89 Elo points to reach 1768, which places it fourth.

Cybersecurity is the focus of the launch. Google lists these scores:

• SEC-bench Pro, which measures autonomous discovery of real-world vulnerabilities: 88.2%
• ExploitGym, which tests whether discovered flaws can be exploited: 54.8%
• CWE-bench, which measures turning validated flaws into working code patches: 71.0%

The company claims Carbon has more than twice the success rate of Argon at generating secure code in internal benchmarks. The Chrome security team also reported that Carbon produced high-quality patches at more than ten times the rate of another lab's large frontier model. Google notes that the external cybersecurity benchmarks were evaluated without guardrails.

Introductory API pricing matches Gemini 4 Argon at $2 per million input tokens and $10 per million output tokens, with cached input tokens priced 95% below the standard input rate. After the introductory period ends, prices rise to $4 per million input tokens and $20 per million output tokens.

Gemini 4 Carbon Availability Through the Fairwind Program

The first wave is limited to defenders. Google says it will make Carbon available to a subset of cyber defenders starting this week, then phase in more trusted partners through its Fairwind Program.

The company is still "gathering feedback and iterating on guardrails" and plans to open access to developers, businesses, and consumers "as soon as possible."

Carbon is built on the same safety stack as Argon, according to Google. In the company's own testing, the attack success rate on the Gray Swan indirect prompt injection benchmark fell to 0.0%, compared with 0.7% for Argon, and high-severity misalignment alerts in live internal coding environments dropped by almost 80%. Google is also taking part in the US government's voluntary pre-release model testing process.

Developers can plan budgets around the published introductory and standard prices now. Google has not given a date for public API access, and all benchmark figures come from the company's own announcement without independent verification.

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"We have identified a battery drain issue, affecting a small number of Pixel Watch users, and are working to roll out a fix as soon as possible," Google says in its reply. "Thank you for your patience and understanding."

Pixel Watch Battery Drain Symptoms Across Four Generations

Complaints started earlier this week. On affected watches, battery life that normally lasts a day or two dropped to about 12 hours, and the drain continued even while the devices sat idle.

Turning off the Always-on Display did not make a noticeable difference for affected owners. Some reported an improvement after a full device reset, but that result was not consistent from one report to the next.

Google's statement does not list affected models. The model range comes from owner reports, and because those reports span four generations of hardware, a shared hardware failure is an unlikely explanation.

Google has not confirmed the cause, which software version introduced the drain, or the number of affected watches, beyond describing the group as "a small number" of users.

How Pixel Watch Owners Can Handle the Drain Until the Fix Arrives

Google has not published an official workaround. Owners who see unusually short battery life can take these steps while they wait:

1. Check for system updates on the watch and update the Pixel Watch app on the paired phone, so the fix installs as soon as Google releases it.
2. Compare battery behavior with the reported symptoms, especially heavy drain while the watch sits idle, to confirm the problem matches this issue and not normal heavy use.
3. Leave the Always-on Display setting as it is if the only goal is fixing the drain, since disabling it did not help affected owners.
4. Treat a full factory reset as a last resort. Some owners saw an improvement after resetting, but the result was inconsistent, and a reset means setting the watch up again from scratch.

The battery problem affects a product line where a day or two of battery life is the expected baseline, so a drop to roughly 12 hours makes affected watches hard to rely on through a full day.

Google has not shared a timeline beyond "as soon as possible," and the company has not said whether the fix will arrive as a watch system update or through an app update.

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The fix is available now on devices that install the optional October preview update for Windows 11 25H2 and 26H2. Devices that skip it stay affected until next month's Patch Tuesday cumulative updates.

The confirmation follows an earlier misstep. Microsoft had marked the issue as resolved in the October 2026 cumulative updates, then reopened the Always On VPN bug when it turned out the problem was still there.

Always On VPN Fix in KB5127936 and Affected Configurations

Microsoft first acknowledged the problem in a service alert sent to IT administrators in late September. According to that alert, the failures hit Windows 11 systems after the September security updates when Always On VPN profiles used automatic protocol selection with IKEv2 and SSTP.

The KB5127936 release notes describe the symptoms in more detail. "When automatic protocol selection or protocol fallback was configured, affected VPN connections could remain stuck in a Connecting state or fail to connect after an initial connection attempt failed," Microsoft says. In some cases, later connection attempts displayed the error "The specified port is already in use."

Always On VPN runs in the background and establishes secure tunnels back to a corporate network whenever a device connects to the internet. The remote access solution replaced the legacy DirectAccess technology and supports domain-joined, non-domain-joined, and Microsoft Entra ID joined devices running Windows 10, Windows 11, and Windows Server.

How Administrators Can Apply the Fix or Mitigate the Issue

Organizations have two paths. They can deploy the preview update now, or they can apply the temporary mitigation Microsoft published and wait for the November cumulative update.

1. Install KB5127936 on affected Windows 11 25H2 and 26H2 devices through Windows Update or the organization's update management tool.
2. If the preview update is not an option, open the Always On VPN profile and change it from automatic protocol selection to a single protocol.
3. Pick SSTP only or IKEv2 only. Microsoft says organizations should select the protocol based on their environment, security, and deployment requirements.

The mitigation removes the protocol fallback that automatic selection provides, so admins who choose it should revert the profile once the fixed cumulative update is installed.

KB5127936 also resolves a separate known issue. Non-admin users could not connect to devices through Remote Desktop when the Administrator protection security feature was enabled after the September 2026 non-security preview update or later Windows updates.

Microsoft has not said whether the November Patch Tuesday release will include further changes to the VPN fix beyond what ships in KB5127936.

Thank you for being a Ghacks reader. The post Microsoft Fixes Windows 11 Always On VPN Failures From September Updates in KB5127936 appeared first on gHacks.