Code found in Android 17 QPR2 Beta 5 references an 'Unlock with Google Account' feature that would let users regain access to a locked phone using their linked Google credentials instead of performing a factory reset. Google offered a similar pattern-unlock recovery option through Android 4.4 before removing it, leaving users locked out of forgotten PINs with no option but a full wipe. The feature appears unreleased and possibly optional, suggesting Google is still testing how to implement it.
Activision published a report ahead of Call of Duty: Modern Warfare 4's October 22 launch detailing the scale of the video game cheating economy, citing research from threat intelligence firm Intorqa. The study estimates the market generates between $5.1 billion and $13.8 billion yearly, with cheat subscriptions for just 15 popular titles alone bringing in roughly $3.5 billion, and the remainder coming from account trading, boosting, and spoofing hardware sold through organized distributor networks.
Chinese architect Ma Yansong and his firm MAD Architects have completed the Lucas Museum of Narrative Art, a large-scale building in Los Angeles's Exposition Park designed to house filmmaker George Lucas's art collection. The project marks the most high-profile commission yet for Ma, known for sculptural, futuristic designs that go beyond conventional museum architecture.
A new website called Shov lets visitors pay to remotely aim and fire real pneumatic weapons loaded with .68-caliber rubber 'less lethal' rounds at targets in a physical firing range, all through a web browser. Users buy credits—$5 for five shots—and control one of twelve gun turrets shown via live video feed, competing to hit targets that change color when struck.
After spending a week testing both Apple's newly unveiled iPhone Duo and Samsung's Galaxy Z Fold 8, an Android Authority reviewer concludes he'd still choose Samsung's foldable if spending his own money. The comparison highlights that the iPhone Duo, unveiled at Apple's September 9 event under new CEO John Ternus, weighs 254 grams and measures 11.3mm folded, while the Galaxy Z Fold 8 comes in at 201 grams and 9.7mm.
EssilorLuxottica has released the Nuance Audio Plus, an upgraded version of its FDA-cleared over-the-counter hearing aid glasses that look like ordinary eyewear. The new model adds sharper voice clarity in noisy settings, extra physical controls on the frame, and up to 10 hours of battery life, and comes in three frame styles and five colors starting at $829. The original Nuance Audio glasses, priced from $699, will continue to be sold alongside the new Plus version.
Waymo has launched a new incentive program with Visa that credits riders $2.85 toward future robotaxi trips when they use a Visa card to pay for both a Waymo ride and public transit within a two-hour window. The pilot starts in the San Francisco-Bay Area and builds on earlier standalone tests Waymo ran in San Francisco and Los Angeles, but this version relies on Visa's payment data to verify qualifying trips automatically.
Moxie Marlinspike, the developer behind the encrypted messaging app Signal, has released a new AI chatbot called Confer that uses cryptographic techniques to keep user conversations private. The launch responds to growing concern that mainstream AI tools like ChatGPT, Claude, and Gemini collect and store deeply personal user data with few restrictions on how it can be shared, sold, or subpoenaed.
BleepingComputer is partnering with Material Security for a live webinar on September 23 examining documented Google Workspace breaches. Speakers Rajan Kapoor of Material Security and Rick Fitzgerald of Fireside Consulting will dissect two incidents where attackers used social engineering and rogue OAuth apps to gain access, then walk through the response decisions that followed.
D-Link disclosed a maximum-severity vulnerability, CVE-2026-86296, affecting its legacy DIR-822A dual-band routers, caused by a stack-based buffer overflow in the DHCP server component. The bug requires no authentication and can be triggered by sending crafted DHCP packets over the local network, potentially crashing the device or enabling remote code execution. A proof-of-concept exploit is already public, and D-Link has not yet released a patch. The company is also probing a second flaw, CVE-2026-86510, an out-of-bounds write in the L2TP parser reported by the same researcher.
British Columbia's government has filed a lawsuit against OpenAI in California, alleging the company was negligent and designed an unsafe product by failing to alert the Royal Canadian Mounted Police about a shooter's concerning conversations with its chatbot. The suit claims OpenAI's own human reviewers had recommended notifying police in 2025, but the company did not act until after the shooting occurred, despite later banning the shooter's account and discovering a second one.
British Columbia has filed suit against OpenAI and Sam Altman in San Francisco federal court, alleging the company's negligent design and failure to alert police to a user's violent ChatGPT conversations contributed to a mass shooting at a Tumbler Ridge school that killed nine people, mostly children. The suit claims OpenAI's own safety reviewers had recommended notifying the Royal Canadian Mounted Police about the shooter's chats, but the company decided the messages didn't meet its threshold for legal referral.
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