Author: easyfilo

Enlarge / The many sizes of Android Auto. (credit: Google / Ron Amadeo)

Android Auto, Google’s car interface app for Android, is getting a new, more flexible design at Google I/O. Android Auto previously demanded a pretty rigid screen aspect ratio. It could not handle things like large, vertically oriented car screens and would often resort to pillar boxing or letterboxing the UI to keep a reasonable layout. Now, Google says the interface is “built to adapt to any screen size” thanks to a new panel design.

Google says that “there are three main functionalities that drivers prioritize in their cars: navigation, media and communication,” and the new Android Auto design puts each of those interfaces in its own panel. Maps gets the biggest, main panel, media and communication panels get stacked next to each other, and there’s a combo status/navigation bar. To accommodate the million different screen sizes, these items can be arranged in whatever orientation works best in the car.

One example, close to the current Android Auto configuration, shows the combo bar oriented vertically against the side of the screen, followed by a vertical stack of the message and media panels, then a big Google Maps panel. Another example of a more vertical screen design shows a big Google Maps panel on top of the message and media panels, with the combo bar on the bottom, where things can be arranged to fit.

Enlarge (credit: R.Tsubin / Getty)

The price of one bitcoin briefly fell below $27,000 on Thursday morning, the lowest price for the cryptocurrency since 2020. The world’s leading virtual currency bounced back later in the day and now trades at $28,600. But that’s still 20 percent below the price one week ago and 57 percent below last November’s peak.

Bitcoin’s fall is part of a broader cryptocurrency sell-off. Ethereum is currently down 8 percent over the last 24 hours and 28 percent over the last week. Additionally, cardano (39 percent), dogecoin (36 percent), and litecoin (32 percent) have all fallen during the past week.

Perhaps most alarming for the cryptocurrency world: “Stablecoin” tether lost its peg to the US dollar early Thursday, briefly dipping to 96 cents. Tether is now trading at $1 once again.

Enlarge / People watch a television broadcast showing a file image of North Korean leader Kim Jong Un during a military parade at the Seoul Railway Station on May 4, 2022 in Seoul, South Korea. (credit: Getty | Chung Sung-Jun)

North Korea instituted a nationwide lockdown Thursday after reporting an omicron coronavirus variant outbreak in its capital, Pyongyang. The report marks the first time during the pandemic that the secretive, authoritarian country has acknowledged coronavirus cases within its borders, though outside experts have doubted the country’s previous claims of zero infections.

Acknowledging omicron cases in Pyongyang raises questions over whether the admission is a sign of deteriorating public health conditions and/or a signal that the country is willing to accept pandemic aid, including vaccines.

So far, North Korea’s government has rejected offers of COVID-19 vaccine supplies from the United Nation’s global vaccination effort, COVAX, and China’s domestically produced vaccines. North Korea is one of the few countries that has not run a public vaccination effort, and its 26 million people are believed to be largely unvaccinated.

Enlarge (credit: Zyxel)

Hardware manufacturer Zyxel quietly released an update fixing a critical vulnerability that gives hackers the ability to control tens of thousands of firewall devices remotely.

The vulnerability, which allows remote command injection with no authentication required, carries a severity rating of 9.8 out of a possible 10. It’s easy to exploit by sending simple HTTP or HTTPS requests to affected devices. The requests allow hackers to send commands or open a web shell interface that enables hackers to maintain privileged access over time.

High-value, easy to weaponize, requires no authentication

The vulnerability affects a line of firewalls that offer a feature known as zero-touch provisioning. Zyxel markets the devices for use in small branch and corporate headquarter deployments. The devices perform VPN connectivity, SSL inspection, web filtering, intrusion protection, and email security and provide up to 5Gbps throughput through the firewall. The Shodan device search service shows more than 16,000 affected devices are exposed to the Internet.

Enlarge / At first glance, this could be any other Ford F-150 pickup, but the aerodynamic wheels and nose treatment mark it out as the all-electric F-150 Lightning. This is the top-spec Platinum trim. (credit: Jonathan Gitlin)

SAN ANTONIO, TEXAS—Simply put, the Ford F-150 Lightning is the most important new electric vehicle we’ll drive for some time. Auto journalists can be accused of using that cliché all too readily, but in this case, I think it’s defensible. Americans love pickup trucks more than any other four-wheeled vehicle, and when it comes to pickup trucks, they love Ford’s F-series enough that it has been the nation’s bestseller for almost as long as I’ve been alive.

Making a fully battery-electric version of its favorite pickup therefore seems like a good way to spur adoption of electric vehicles in a country that’s lagging behind Europe and China. But only if the truck is any good. Part of the reason Ford sells so many F-series trucks is that many of them are put to work, pulling trailers or hauling heavy loads in their beds. And it’s just as important to decarbonize those trucks, which means that a stripped-down electric F-150 has to be able to cut it on the job site just as much as in the role of a suburban dad’s fully loaded commuter pickup.

To a casual observer, there’s little that marks the F-150 Lightning as being anything other than just another F-150 with a super crew cab and a 5.5-foot bed. Instead of an open grille, there’s a more aerodynamic treatment at the front, plus some distinctive daytime running lights. The alloy wheels’ surfaces are more disc-like than you’d normally see. And if you look carefully, you’ll spot the occasional lightning bolt. The cab is light and airy thanks to large glass moonroofs, and there’s plenty of room in the back for large adults.