News written by Matti Robinson (December, 2020)

The cybersecurity company Avast has released a review on web browser extensions and found out which ones might contain malware-like behavior.

The company found a total of 28 extensions for either Google's Chrome or Microsoft's Edge browsers that you should probably get rid of.

After all Avast should have plenty of experience about browser extension that need to be deleted after Mozilla pulled Avast's add-on for data collection, although they quickly met with Mozilla's guidelines.

Most of these extension redirect the user to an ad-filled page or phishing sites, which try to acquire some personal information about the user.

According to Avast, the majority of these extensions are designed for Instagram or video platforms and usually promise (and usually deliver) some kind of unofficial download function for those platforms.

Unfortunately not only do they let you download content, they also try to gain access to your attention and information.

The most anticipated game of perhaps the past decade was released eight days ago and while the sales figures and gamer stats broke records, the reception was anything but one-sided adulation.

Sony has determined that the game is in fact so broken that it needed to remove it from the PlayStation Store. This is somewhat unforeseen act from the game console maker and a harsh punishment for CD Projekt Red.

The company has also offered full refund for all those who've bought the game already.

In a statement, CD Projekt Red first notes that people can still buy the physical copies both from brick and mortar stores and online even for PlayStation. There's also a mention of working hard to repair the game and get it back to PlayStation Store as fast as possible.

Well, this one you didn't expect, did you? Netflix is adding a audio-only mode to its world-leading streaming video service.

According to Android Police, Netflix is bringing the new feature to at least the Android app.

In the new version (version 7.84.1 build 28 35243) Netflix adds a Video button on the top of the UI. By clicking the button the video turns off and you are presented with only the audio and a black screen with regular playback controls. You can tap the button again to regain the video playback.

As Android Police notes, somewhat oddly even the brightness slider stays in place when the video is turned off.

There's also an option in the settings to tweak how you'd like to use the feature. You can select the audio only to be always on, off, or only for headphones and external speakers.

Whether Netflix is trying to combat the increasing success of podcasts or just thinks you might want to listen to a less visually intense piece of entertainment is not certain but people will likely find use for the feature.

At this point there's no word on when this might land on your devices, especially if you aren't running Android. However, shouldn't take too long if some already have access to it.

Samsung has been developing MicroLED technology for a while now, and some of its first implementation have been out for while too, like the custom display called The Wall.

However, these displays have been meant for custom installations only, and thus only for the wealthy. Well, now Samsung is letting us regular folks buy MicroLED TVs to their homes for the first time, as it announces the first ever home MicroLED screen.

Perhaps some clarification is in order, though, since we don't actually mean regular folks, we mean people that have just under $100k lying around waiting to be spent on a massive television. Yes, that's how much this will cost.

Samsung anticipates that it will enter the market in early 2021 and will cost around a hundred million won which translates to around $91,500.

Federal Trace Commission, better known as FTC, is taking the largest social media platform, Facebook, to court for illegitimate antitrust practices. Joined are 48 state prosecutors.

The charges against Facebook claim that the company has been abusing their competitive advantage in the marketplace in ways that violate the antitrust laws. Some of the largest error mentioned include the acquisition of Instagram for mere $1 billion in 2012 as well as a larger acquisition of WhatsApp in 2014 for $19 billion.

The prosecution sees these as buying off the competition and protecting the company's monopolistic nature in the marketplace. The House Antitrust Subcommittee in Congress released a report earlier couple months ago that called Facebook, among other platforms, monopolies.

In the filing there are mentions other less famous cases of potential antitrust violations committed by Facebook. In 2013 Facebook acquired a small VPN service and the prosecution claims that the company went through their user data to determine that WhatsApp popularity was indeed in the rise and followed up by acquiring the company.

Apple unveiled earlier this week the new AirPods Max headphones. The company didn't have an over-ear headphones to compete with the likes of Sony 1000XM4 or Bose QC35, until now.

As you might imagine, the new AirPods Max are aiming for a luxurious feel. This is with both the price tag of $550 and with quality materials including stainless steel bands and aluminum cups.

Double the price of QC35, at least $200 more than the XM4, that is a tough ask. Apple's design, and perhaps some ecosystem-specific features, has to be what you are looking for to invest in AirPods Max, surely.

The headband with its netted middle part is a completely propriety design that is said to distribute the pressure evenly, and there are no touch controls, which is likely a good thing. However, the placement of the controls is a little odd at the top of the cup.

Spotify is ever changing and challenging the streaming music landscape. One of the more important focuses lately has been the introduction of podcasts and investing in talent.

As you can imagine, Spotify has also been working on other stuff too. XDA-developers reports that they're even testing local file support on Android, which isn't exactly what one thinks when they think about Spotify.

The world's most popular streaming service already supports downloaded songs on your mobile device so you can enjoy music or podcasts on the plane or wherever you might be without sufficient internet access but adding support for non-Spotify songs is rather odd for a company that gets money from subscriptions to their streaming service.

But perhaps they're trying to make some new customers by attracting the ones that have a MP3 catalog of their own. Maybe, just maybe, they'll see that Spotify is actually a good service.

To be fair, this isn't exactly a new feature. You've been able to get your add your music to the Spotify library by adding them via PC. So this is simply taking one annoying step out of picture for those that prefer not to touch the desktop player.

At this point the feature is not 100% official yet, and it might be axed still as it is in testing. However, we'll likely see it soon added to the stable version of the software.'

There are a few industries that have suffered in the most harsh way imaginable from the coronavirus pandemic. Hotels aren't doing well, neither are airlines, but perhaps the worst off of them all are movie theaters.

During some of the worst weeks box office figures went down 99,99997%, and still they are down something like 90-95%.

Movie studios of course know that people aren't risking it because they can get entertainment delivered to their living rooms in one form or another. Warner is the first to announce that all of their 2021 blockbuster premieres will be available online.

The premieres will be shown on HBO Max, which is owned by AT&T like Warner, at the same time as they are shown in theaters.

However, there's an interesting twist. After the first month, the movies will be removed from HBO Max during which they can only be seen in the theaters.

All titles will be available in 4K Ultra HD and HDR on HBO Max. Some of the more important titles include "The Little Things," "Judas and the Black Messiah," "Tom & Jerry," "Godzilla vs. Kong," "Mortal Kombat," "Those Who Wish Me Dead," "The Conjuring: The Devil Made Me Do It," "In The Heights," "Space Jam: A New Legacy," "The Suicide Squad," "Reminiscence," "Malignant," "Dune," "The Many Saints of Newark," "King Richard," "Cry Macho" and "Matrix 4."