ChromeOS is Google’s proprietary OS based on the open-source ChromiumOS, which itself is underpinned by Linux. Microsoft security researcher Jonathan Bar Or found the bug in the ChromiumOS Audio Server (CRAS), a service that routes audio to peripherals such as USB speakers and Bluetooth headsets. Or found a local memory corruption issue that could be remotely triggered by manipulating audio metadata, either in the browser or via Bluetooth. SEE: The 7 best cybersecurity certifications: Become a security expert “Attackers could have lured users into meeting these conditions, such as by simply playing a new song in a browser or from a paired Bluetooth device, or leveraged adversary-in-the-middle (AiTM) capabilities to exploit the vulnerability remotely,” he explains in a blogpost....

It’s the standard approach Microsoft has been taking to the Windows 10 rollout in recent years, which starts with a throttled release and accelerates a few months later. This release timing helps avoid early compatibility hiccups on different hardware and drivers, and then nudges machines on older versions of Windows 10 over to the current release. As of January 20, Microsoft’s machine-learning algorithms began targeting devices on Windows 10 20H2 for automatic upgrades to 21H2....

Today, AT&T officials said they are moving their 5G mobile network to Microsoft’s cloud, which provides a path for all of its mobile network traffic to be managed using Azure technologies. The first piece to be moved will be AT&T’s 5G core, which connects mobile users and IoT devices with Internet and other services. In 2019, Microsoft and AT&T announced Azure technology would be woven into AT&T’s 5G and edge networks, so that AT&T’s virtualized 5G core Network Cloud will be able to deliver Azure services to customers....

Running until September 11, the Redmond giant is offering discounts on budget tablets to future-proof laptops, headsets, gaming accessories, and everything in between. As summer draws to a close and parents or guardians begin to organize their school shopping lists, the independent sales launched by vendors, including Microsoft, are a great opportunity to purchase the equipment necessary for modern learning – a laptop, often, being the bare minimum to access online assignments and classes – for a substantial discount....

I’ve asked Microsoft to clarify what constitutes an “unsupported state.” Does this mean no security updates ever? Anything else? So far, no response. Update (August 28): An “unsupported state,” in this case, means your PC won’t be entitled to receive updates via Windows Update. These may (or may not) include security and driver updates. As a result, your PC may encounter compatibility issues and become unusable, may experience issues that Microsoft support won’t be able to help resolve, and may not be covered by warranty....

The patches released address common vulnerabilities and exposures (CVEs) in: Microsoft Windows and Windows Components; Azure and Azure Arc; .NET and Visual Studio and .NET Framework; Microsoft Edge (Chromium-based); Office and Office Components; Windows Defender; and Linux Kernel. This release comes on top of 15 patches for CVEs in Microsoft Edge (Chromium-based) and one patch for side-channel speculation in Arm processors, as noted by Zero Day Initiative. By comparison, Microsoft disclosed 141 CVEs in August....

Last spring, Microsoft rolled out a way for IT pros to view their users’ product feedback via a mechanism in the Microsoft 365 Admin Center. That product feedback option is located under the Health node in the Admin portal. A note about Microsoft feedback on the docs.microsoft.com site that is dated October 5, 2021, includes this information: “To meet Microsoft’s legal obligations to customers, we’re working on a new experience in the Microsoft 365 admin center that lets administrators view, delete, and export the feedback data for their organizations....

I asked Microsoft for some of the app titles that were added to the collection; no word back so far. The full set of Windows 11 features that begin rolling out today includes: Although Microsoft announced last year that it would deliver only one feature update per year to Windows 10 and 11 users starting this year (with the 22H2 releases coming around October), today’s blog post about the new features indicates that Microsoft is planning to continue to roll out new features independently of this annual update....

Designer looks to be a tool meant to help individuals create polished-looking Instagram and LinkedIn posts and stories, Facebook ads, brochures, invitations and more. Users can start with a blank canvas or provided templates for their creations. (A preview of the Designer tool was briefly available via designer.microsoft.com to those with personal or Microsoft education accounts, but Microsoft has since blocked the content available at that URL, even though the Designer logo still appears....

The new client, as expected, looks and feels a lot like the current Outlook for the Web/Outlook.com clients. It also has new features like message reminders; a calendar board; a single view for email, calendar, and to-do; and support for a test version of Loop components. The new Outlook client also allows users to quickly attach files and documents that are stored to the cloud in their email messages by using the “@thenameofthefile” convention to see options....

The feature couldn’t come sooner for a number of users, including teachers who have been obliged to use Teams or Zoom to host remote classrooms during the global coronavirus pandemic. At the outset of the pandemic’s spread to the US and Europe in February, Microsoft Teams only supported four simultaneous onscreen participants. Then in May it bumped it up to nine in a three-by-three grid, a limit that a Teams engineer admitted was “not good enough”....

In the Windows 11 build 25252 that has been released to the Dev Channel, Microsoft is testing different ways to display the search in the taskbar. One example draws directly on Windows 10 and offers a search box that users can type into, with results displayed in a separate window. The other is a pill-shaped ‘search button’ that opens a window where text can be typed in. There’s also the smaller search icon that opens a new window for search, and a ‘hide’ option where there is no box or icon in the taskbar and users would press the Windows icon to open the Start page, which features a search box at the top....

Xandr is a “first-tier affiliate” of AT&T, according to the press release, as well as a “data-enabled technology platform powering a global marketplace for premium advertising. Xandr offers ad products including Xandr Invest, Xandr Monetize, Xandr Curate and Invest TV. The release says Xandr’s technology complements Microsoft’s current ad offerings, including its audience intelligence, technology and global advertising customer base. Microsoft’s own ad-buying solution, the Microsoft Audience Network, its PromoteIQ retail-media solutions and Microsoft Customer Experience Platform for marketers is the backbone of Microsoft’s digital advertising platform....

This update isn’t aimed at Excel-using business execs but developers who need to wrangle metadata in Excel cells. Excel has historically been about organizing text and numbers, but for several years, Microsoft has been working to boost the number of data types the application supports. At last year’s Ignite 2020 conference, it introduced both dynamic arrays and array formulas and support for Stocks and Geography data types via Bing. Ignite’s on again this week, and Microsoft has furthered this goal with more data types that also power Wolfram search....

The subsidiary, MacroStrategy LLC, will hold MicroStrategy’s 92,079 Bitcoins. MicroStrategy was an early mover in adding cryptocurrency to its balance sheet. MicroStrategy is a business intelligence software company. By raising $400 million for Bitcoin purchases, MicroStrategy is betting that cryptocurrency prices will increase in the long run. Michael Saylor, MicroStrategy CEO, said Bitcoin is going to be one of the most disruptive technologies. In a regulatory filing, MicroStrategy said that it will incur an impairment loss of at least $284....

For that to happen, Lee Goddard, who was appointed earlier this year to lead Minderoo Foundation’s Fire and Flood Resilience initiative after serving in the Royal Australian Navy for three decades, said it would not only require a concerted effort from various stakeholders, but also for satellite technology and predictive analytics to be leveraged. Using such tools, Goddard said, would help firefighters put out fires as close to inception as possible....

For the past few weeks, I have been running and walking with the Mojawa Mojo 1 headset and I’ve been pleased with its performance. They offer longer battery life, a newer version of Bluetooth, and a higher water-resistant rating than the Trekz Air I have been using. Also: Trekz Air wireless bone conduction headphones: Run safer hearing your environment AfterShokz now has a newer model, called the Aeropex, that offers the same specs as the Mojo 1 headset with a two-year warranty and a price of $159....

Mozilla told ZDNet that the tool’s goal is to combat cross-site tracking, which allows companies to monitor what websites users visit and what products they search for. “Have you ever signed up for a contest to win a big-screen TV or a vacation to an exotic location? Or have you joined a big retailer loyalty program so you can save money? If you answered yes to either of these questions, you may be exchanging your name, home address, email address, phone number, and sometimes even your birthdate to companies who are building your profile with the information you freely provide,” Mozilla explained....

It all started when I got a plausible Instagram message from a friend. His message asked for my help and included a reset link for their account. Rather than asking me to click the link, which I’d never do in a million years, it simply asked me to send him back a screenshot of the message including the link. I thought, “How can I be hacked by sending a PNG image?...

Full-year cash earnings came in nearly 39% higher than last year to AU$6.56 billion. Meanwhile, investment levels hovered just below AU$1.3 billion, which were similar levels to FY20. This helped the bank limit FY21 cost growth to 1.8%, which NAB said was consistent with its 0-2% target for the year. “Execution of our strategy is delivery good momentum with lending up 6% in FY21, while FY21 expense growth of 1....