The Morning After: Tuesday, September 19th 2017
There's good news, but not for Toys 'R' Us or Equifax
Hey, good morning! You look fabulous.
We have some bad news from Toys 'R' Us, CCleaner and Equifax, but at least Galaxy S8 owners can disable the Bixby button, and Jerry Seinfeld's latest stand-up is available on Netflix.
Between the rise of internet shopping and a crushing debt load, Toys 'R' Us is struggling. The company announced it's filing for bankruptcy protection in the US and Canada but says all of its stores will continue to operate as normal. The Wall Street Journal reports some "underperforming" stores may shut down, while others are revamped to focus on experiences like in-store play areas.
Porsche's Mission E will be priced to challenge Tesla
Porsche is still a couple of years away from releasing the production version of its Mission E speedster, but Chairman Oliver Blume revealed some key details about the project. When it arrives before the end of 2019, it should have a price similar to the Panamera (between $80,000 and $90,000), which makes it a competitor for the Tesla Model S 100D and could make it cheaper than the $135,000 Ludicrous Mode-equipped P100D. Porsche is also planning for 350kW fast-charging that can give 250 miles of range (out of a possible 300 miles) in just 15 minutes.
Galaxy S8 owners can finally disable the Bixby button
They just can't do anything else with it.
Equifax stock sales prompt DOJ investigation for insider trading
You probably already knew that three Equifax officials sold $1.8 million in shares after the company learned of the security breach. The DOJ is investigating that, and while the company says those execs were not aware of this breach when they sold their shares, the story is complicated further now that Bloomberg reports Equifax suffered a separate breach even earlier, in March.
August's latest smart locks let you know if you left the door open
August is introducing two new locks, the $150 August Smart Lock and the $280 August Smart Lock Pro, that both include a sensor to determine whether or not the door is really closed. If it's ajar, the lock can let you know on your phone, so you never have to wonder again. Oh, and there's a new doorbell camera that buffers its recordings to capture the seconds leading up to a button press.
Hackers slipped malware into popular PC software CCleaner
Piriform's CCleaner utility, owned by antivirus provider Avast, was found to be hosting a "multi-stage malware payload" that could install ransomware or keyloggers and further infect targeted computers on command. The company says this backdoor has been removed, and it already forced updates to push some two million users off of the affected version. Still, it may be worthwhile to clear your own cookies in the future.
CBS is ready to premiere its new Star Trek series on broadcast television before pushing Discovery as a streaming exclusive, while Netflix brings Jerry Seinfeld (plus Jaden Smith in Neo Yokio) and Amazon drops in a new season of Transparent. Movie fans can choose Wonder Woman, Close Encounters of the Third Kind or Starship Troopers on Ultra HD Blu-ray, while gamers have Marvel vs. Capcom: Infinite and Project Cars 2 incoming.
Gmail finally turns addresses and phone numbers into links
Google has rolled out an update that gives its mail apps the power to turn addresses, phone numbers and email addresses into hyperlinks.
But wait, there's more...
The Morning After is a new daily newsletter from Engadget designed to help you fight off FOMO. Who knows what you'll miss if you don't subscribe.
