124 – Breaking News & Latest Updates 2026
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Richard Lawler

Richard Lawler

Senior News Editor

Senior News Editor

    More From Richard Lawler

    Richard Lawler
    Richard Lawler
    LG’s bringing a 98-inch QNED Mini LED to CES 2024, and a promise for webOS upgrades.

    We’ll have more news about LG’s 2024 TV lineup (including new OLEDs) once it’s all revealed in Las Vegas, but the most intriguing part of this pre-CES press release is a guarantee of future smart TV software updates, similar to what we’ve seen recently on phones like Google’s Pixel 8 series:

    With the webOS Re:New program,* LG is offering an upgrade to the latest version of its webOS smart TV platform to give more smart TV owners the most up-to-date user experience for the next five years. This notable offer comes to LG QNED Mini LED 8K models launched in 2022 (QNED99 and QNED95 series) and will be extended to additional models in the QNED TV lineup worldwide in the future.

    A footnote mentions, “...this upgrade does not cover the TV’s hardware performance, features or durability,” so we’ll have to find out what it does cover in a few days.

    Correction December 28th, 12:30PM: An earlier version said Mini OLED, the TVs mentioned are Mini LED. We regret the error.

    Promotional picture showing a simulated upscale living room area with parents and two children watching a massive wall-mounted LG television.
    LG 2024 QNED TV
    Image: LG
    Richard Lawler
    Richard Lawler
    The Ivory app for Mastodon swaps out its Search tab for Explore.

    If you’re joining or thinking about joining the fediverse via an iPhone, this Mastodon client from the makers of Tweetbot is an option many prefer. A post on DaringFireball points out that the most recent update for Ivory adds an Explore tab with better search plus “a new popular & trending section.”

    However, the devs note, that the data populating that section will vary based on the data generated by your particular Mastodon server. We’re on Mastodon (and Threads and whatever else), are you?

    Richard Lawler
    Richard Lawler
    NASA has a 2024 space trailer.

    It’s no MCU flick, but it runs down more than 15 missions, experiments, and big events to keep an eye out for next year. From Artemis, to Quesst, to a total eclipse in North America on April 8th, here’s your preview (also available as 1080p download).

    Richard Lawler
    Richard Lawler
    Verizon Visible Plus “35FLASH” promo cuts $10 from the price of its monthly mobile plan.

    The Visible Plus plan offers access to Ultra Wideband 5G and other perks over its base $25 per month plan (taxes and fees included with both).

    It’s usually $45 per month, but with the above promo code, it’s $35 until “Visible provides notice that the discounted rate has been discontinued.” Whatever that turns out to mean — it’s available to both new customers and “qualified” subscribers to the cheaper plan, but only until 6AM ET tomorrow, December 28th.

    Visible Unlimited Phone Plans | No Annual Contract

    [www.visible.com]

    Richard Lawler
    Richard Lawler
    Brooklyn Nets star Mikal Bridges shows off his traveling PS5 setup.

    Presumably, he had this Poga PS5 carrying case / portable monitor with him last night in Detroit as his team handed the Pistons their record-breaking 27th straight loss.

    Some may say, “Just get a Steam Deck” (Danny Brown concurs), but that wouldn’t be the best option for Madden, and despite a price starting above $1,000, at least this means he doesn’t have to worry about hotel HDMI shenanigans. Still, I don’t think anything tops the San Antonio Spurs laptop LAN setup for Starcraft during the 1999 NBA Finals.

    Richard Lawler
    Richard Lawler
    Meet Marcelo Lamego, a key figure in the patent battle that’s banned Apple watches.

    Bloomberg reporter Mark Gurman goes into the history of Masimo’s patent infringement case against Apple’s wearables, explaining that Lamego was the CTO at a Masimo spinoff. He rebuffed one inquiry from Apple, but in 2013 he emailed Apple CEO Tim Cook at 1AM about working there and joined a few months later:

    Lawyers for Masimo say that Lamego lacked prior knowledge about how to develop the blood-oxygen feature (his previous studies were about neural interfaces rather than health sensors). He learned how to build the technology at Kiani’s companies and delivered it to Apple, they say.

    Lamego then resigned from Apple in July 2014, just months after joining. Masimo argues that he left after Apple got what it needed.

    Masimo also says Apple hired its former chief medical officer and 20 or so other staffers, while Apple claims he wasn’t a good fit.

    What Started the Apple Watch Ban Saga? A Late-Night Email to CEO Tim Cook

    [Bloomberg]

    Richard Lawler
    Richard Lawler
    Mint Mobile is notifying customers about a security breach.

    Without mentioning this on its social media channels or anywhere on its website that we could find, Ryan Reynolds’ Mint Mobile chose the last Friday before Christmas to tell customers it’s had a data breach. Cord Cutters News and Bleeping Computer point out this Reddit comment from a company account saying affected customers should have an email from “no-reply@account.mintmobile.com.” Leaked information includes names, phone numbers, email addresses, SIM/IMEI numbers, and some service plan details.

    Mint Mobile is apparently still in the process of being acquired by the famously insecure T-Mobile that has had two breaches this year and nine since 2018.

    Richard Lawler
    Richard Lawler
    Performance testing Grand Theft Auto’s latest remastered re-release.

    Rockstar’s attempt at launching Grand Theft Auto: The Trilogy — Definitive Edition in 2021 went so poorly that the PC version was removed from sale for a while. Now, the bundle (GTA III, GTA: Vice City, and GTA: San Andreas) is available on mobile devices and for no extra cost if you have Netflix.

    So how does it run? Digital Foundry’s iOS analysis is here, finding that despite an uneven framerate and iffy gamepad support, it “probably offers the best portable experience at the moment.”

    GM stops selling the Chevy Blazer EV to deal with ‘software quality issues’GM stops selling the Chevy Blazer EV to deal with ‘software quality issues’
    Richard Lawler
    Richard Lawler
    Elon Musk’s X can’t shake off a lawsuit over millions of dollars in unpaid Twitter bonuses.

    In this entry into the list of lawsuits over unpaid Twitter bills, Courthouse News reports Mark Schobinger’s class action lawsuit is over unpaid 2022 annual bonuses. Schobinger, notably, is Twitter’s former senior director of compensation.

    He says execs’ promises of a 50 percent payout for those who remained through Q1 of 2023 kept employees around during Elon’s “hardcore” takeover, but now the company argues its oral promise wasn’t enforceable. The judge didn’t buy that, writing that “Twitter’s contrary arguments all fail,” so the case will proceed.

    Schobinger v. Twitter (Order re: Motion to Dismiss)

    [DocumentCloud]

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