Good morning, welcome to your Tuesday tech news briefing.
1. Uber has blamed the kids
Uber has published additional information about how it was hacked, claiming that it was targeted by LAPSUS$, a cybercriminal gang with a hefty track record that is thought to be composed largely of teenagers. Last week, someone broke into Uber’s network and used the access to cause all sorts of chaos. The culprit, who claims to be 18 years old, managed to spam company staff with vulgar Slack messages, post a picture of a penis on the company’s internal websites and leak images of Uber’s internal environment to the web.
2. A shaky start for the iPhone 14 Pro Max
Although we have not experienced this issue, with our review mostly praising the new iPhone 14 Pro Max, users have reported issues with the device’s optical image stabilisation feature. Users reporting the issues over the weekend posted videos showing their devices vibrating and physically failing when attempting to use apps like TikTok, Snapchat and Instagram. The Verge is reporting that Apple is working on a fix.
So uh, we’re having some issues with the 14 Pro Max camera pic.twitter.com/7HH1wLFjdF
— Luke Miani (@LukeMiani) September 16, 2022
3. Two new iPads could be on the way
Still on Apple and Logitech might have just confirmed Apple’s next new iPads. Brought to our attention by 9to5Mac, a product page for Logitech’s Crayon stylus, which is compatible with the iPad, lists two unreleased devices: iPad Pro 12.9-inch (6th gen) and an iPad Pro 11-inch (4th gen) with both listed as “coming soon”. It’s expected Apple will drop both devices next month at what’s currently known as the company’s “October event”.
4. New facial rec SmartGates for Aussie airports
InnovationAus is reporting that the Department of Home Affairs has reignited its plan to introduce facial recognition SmartGates in the arrivals halls of Australia’s international airports. The new system (which is expected to reflect the setup of the old system) could be operational by 2024. This project has been in the works for a while, with SmartGates initially rolled out in 2007.
5. Anal beads and chess
The 31-year-old Norwegian chess Grandmaster Magnus Carlsen performed as close as you can to the digital equivalent of a table flip Monday, closing his stream and walking away from his 19-year-old U.S. opponent Hans Niemann on his second move of their first actual match. It’s just the latest rogue move in a long series of scandals that have rocked the chess world. I promised you ‘anal beads’ in the header but you’ll have to click through to go deep (sorry) into the entire saga.
BONUS ITEM: Britain has farewelled its longest-serving monarch. The Queen’s corgis Muck and Sandy have also said their final goodbyes.
See you tomorrow.