Barnes & Noble Hack Revealed in Emails to Customers

A Barnes & Noble hack occurred on Saturday, October 10, customers learned in an email from the retailer. Data that was accessible included email addresses, billing/shipping addresses, and telephone number. Financial data like credit cards were safely encrypted.

According to Barnes & Noble’s Nook Twitter account, a “system failure” was responsible for the service interruption for Nook owners. The firm said it was “working urgently to get all NOOK services back to full operation. Unfortunately it has taken longer than anticipated, and we sincerely apologize for this inconvenience and frustration.”

This Tool Compares the iPhone 12 Size With Your Current Phone

On Tuesday Charlotte Henry shared Apple’s comparison tool so you can quickly compare the specifications of different iPhones. Recently I found a helpful tool called Phone Sized that compares different phone sizes and tablets. Whether you’re switching to an iPhone or from an iPhone, Phone Sized gives you an idea of what size difference you can expect. “There is an option to add a credit card image which you can enlarge to match your credit card, which they will resize the other images so they will be presented in their real-life size.”

Sony PS4 Update Will Monitor Your Party Chats

In a 8.00 PS4 update today, players must agree to have their voice chats monitored for moderation purposes. It’s a gross breach of privacy and fans are understandably upset.

Fans noticed that upon downloading PS4 update 8.00, they were greeted by a message telling them that voice chats can now be recorded and subject to moderation. Not only that, but anyone that uses the PS4 party chat system has to agree to their voice being recorded.

Magnetic iPhone 12-Compatible PopSockets are Coming

Magnetic iPhone 12-compatible PopSockets are coming in the future that won’t require you to stick it on with adhesive.

Conversely, it could open PopSockets to more competition in the accessories market, as companies won’t have to out-engineer the Grips and their patent-protected technology. Instead, rivals could simply expand their existing product lines with MagSafe-compatible items for an upcharge and increase their revenues.

PopSockets says it has MagSafe products in development, but isn’t announcing details at this time.

I thought these might show up. I look forward to seeing other MagSafe accessories (I like Apple’s wallet).

Electric Respirator LED Fan Mask: $49.99

We have a deal on the Electric Respirator LED Fan Mask, a face mask with an integrated battery, 2-speed fan cycle, and custom 4-layer KN95 certified filter. The mask is designed to filter your air while keeping fresh air circulating for your breathe. It’s $49.99 through our deal.

Rewatch the iPhone 12 Launch Event in Under One Minute

There was a lot to take in at Apple’s ‘Hi, speed’ event on Tuesday. Not only was the 5G-enabled iPhone 12 family unveiled, the company also announced a new HomePod mini smart speaker. There were some new environmental announcements too. If you don’t want to sit through the full thing, which lasted over an hour, there is a handy 51-second version available.

Geeky Thoughts About Apple's "Hi, Speed" iPhone 12 and HomePod mini Announcements – Mac Geek Gab 838

Join John F. Braun and Dave Hamilton for the geeks’ dissection of Apple’s iPhone 12 and HomePod mini announcements. Digging into some of the deeper elements, your two favorite geeks cover some of the 5G nuances, OLED on all screens 12, LIDAR, speaker pairing, and more. Press play and enjoy, then send your feedback into [email protected].

Apple Has a Great Tool to Help You Compare iPhone Models

There are now lots of different Apple smartphones to choose from. That includes four iPhone 12 models with different specs. To help you decide which device you want, Apple has a fantastic tool that helps you directly compare up to three different models. Simply pick the ones you want to compare from the dropdown menus, and it puts all the different specs side-by-side, making it clear what the differences are. It includes everything from the first generation iPhone SE onwards.

Pandora Will be Available on HomePod, HomePod mini

As we saw during Apple’s virtual keynote on Tuesday, Pandora joins other services by coming to the HomePod and HomePod mini.

With Pandora on HomePod, users will be able to easily play their favorite Pandora content and control their listening experience hands-free by using simple Siri voice commands, such as:

“Hey Siri, play some relaxing music on Pandora.”

“Hey Siri, play the Sway’s Interviews podcast on Pandora.”

Pandora will be available on Apple HomePod soon. Once available, users will be able to enable Pandora listening directly from HomePod by tapping this link via their iOS device