News

• HTC has a new pair of smart glasses called the Vive Eagle
• They boast many of the same features as their rivals
• You can only get them in Taiwan right now

HTC has just announced a new Vive wearable, but it’s not another VR headset – instead it’s a pair of stylish AI glasses called Vive Eagle. And I’m feeling twinges of jealousy towards anyone that can get a pair.

That’s because these smart specs could put up a good fight against the Ray-Ban Meta smart glasses I’ve come to love (as well as the new Oakley HSTN specs that take the RayBans and make them a smidge better).

Hardware-wise, Vive goes beat for beat with the competition. It boasts a 12MP snapper as well as open-ear speakers, and a solid battery life of up to 36 hours of standby time and 4.5 hours of music playback while still boasting a sleek 49g design.

Where I think it truly shines however is its AI.

That’s because while Vive’s own assistant can help you with tasks it can also team up with your choice of ChatGPT or Google Gemini rather than locking you to one service – like how Meta’s glasses are entirely dependent on Meta AI.

As we’ve come to expect from AI companions, Vive also makes clear that “all user data is stored locally” on its glasses meaning it isn’t used for model training. When using third-party AI services your data is also anonymised to provide improved privacy.

Rounding off the AI upgrades, Vive’s specs are better with languages. Meta’s AI currently lets its smart specs translate between English, French, Spanish, Italian and German, Meanwhile Vive’s assistant supports Arabic, Traditional Chinese, English, French, German, Greek, Italian, Japanese, Portuguese, Spanish, Korean, Thai, and Turkish.

And I can’t ignore the Eagle’s striking design. I’m boring enough to want to grab the translucent black pair, but the slightly see through berry red, blueish gray, and coffee brown all look beautiful and each perfectly highlight the specs’ blend of fashion and technology.

Though with a Wayfarer-like shape, these glasses perhaps don’t create enough of their own personality from a silhouette perspective.

Unfortunately they won’t be easy to get your hands on.

Firstly, the Vive Eagle specs are currently exclusive to Taiwan. Specifically you can find them at 2020EYEhaus premium eyewear locations and designated Taiwan Mobile OP Experience Stores.

Secondly, they are pricier than some of their rivals, such as the Meta Ray-Bans and their new Oakleys collaboration.

Viva's glasses are currently up for pre-order, and when they launch on September 1 they’ll cost NT$15,600 (New Taiwan dollars).

That comes to about $520 / £385 / AU$795 – which is higher than the most expensive Meta Ray-Bans at $379 / £379 / AU$539, and the $499 / £499 / AU$789 Oakley smart glasses with PRIZM lenses (ignoring the UK where the Oakleys are over £100 more).

I’ll need to try the Vive Eagle glasses out before passing judgement, but there is seemingly a lot to love here, and as the AI glasses competition heats up – with Meta Connect promising next-gen specs, and Android XR due next year – Vive’s Eagle wearable is a welcome addition that I look forward to seeing more of.

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• 4 key changes Meta is making with its Oakley smart glasses to make them stand out from the Ray-Ban AI specs

• Dice has announced new changes for the Battlefield 6 Open Beta Weekend 2
• Playlists will receive game mode rotation adjustments, including to the All-Out Warfare, and a Custom Search feature for maps and mode selection
• The second Open Beta starts today and ends on August 17

After the massive success that was the Battlefield 6 Open Beta Weekend 1, Dice has revealed new changes it will be adding for Weekend 2.

The studio revealed the details in a new blog post, where it confirmed that it will be making playlist adjustments in Weekend 2 for more variety and choice, including to the All-Out Warfare playlist, which will include the Breakthrough, Conquest, and Rush game modes. You can check out the updated playlists below.

"Rotating through multiple modes within playlists helps us understand what our community enjoys as we shape the launch experience, and enables us to keep more fan-favorite modes available at the same time," it explained.

The second Open Beta will also add a new Custom Search feature to give players more control over map and mode selection.

"This feature allows you to choose your favorite combinations of maps and modes," the post said. "For example, if you want to play Conquest on Siege of Cairo, then matchmaking will prioritize putting you in a match with this combo, if available. Note that this is not a Server Browser (which is not being tested this week).

During Open Beta, Custom Search will be available for Open Weapon mode playlists as well, allowing players to mix and match maps and modes as they like.

In addition, Training Grounds will continue to offer the Firing Range and gameplay introductions for classes, Breakthrough, and Conquest, and players at career rank 14 and below will be able to access Initiation Mode, which includes AI Soldiers.

"This initiation experience is tailored for new players and will shift from Breakthrough to Conquest. Separately, there will be a non-playable introduction to Rush as well," the developer said.

Dice also confirmed that Open Beta Weekend 2 will kick off today, Thursday, August 14, at 8 AM UTC / 1 AM PT / 9 AM BST.

The full game launches on October 10, 2025, for PS5, Xbox Series X, Xbox Series S, and PC.

Day 1 - Thursday, August 14:

• Conquest
• Rush
• Attack & Defend (Breakthrough, Rush)
• Close Quarters; Fast-paced playlist on smaller maps (Domination, King of the Hill)
• Closed Weapons All-Out Warfare (Conquest, Breakthrough)

Day 2 - Friday, August 15:

• Conquest
• Squad Deathmatch
• Close Quarters; Fast-paced playlist on smaller maps (Domination, King of the Hill, Squad Deathmatch)
• All-Out Warfare; Epic battles across expansive maps (Conquest, Breakthrough, Rush)
• Closed Weapons All-Out Warfare (Conquest, Breakthrough)

Day 3-4 - Saturday, August 16 - Sunday, August 17:

• Conquest
• Close Quarters; Fast-paced playlist on smaller maps (Domination, King of the Hill, Squad Deathmatch).
• All-Out Warfare; Epic battles across expansive maps (Conquest, Breakthrough, Rush)
• Closed Weapons All-Out Warfare (Conquest, Breakthrough)

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Comedy Central did not air South Park season 27 episode 3 on its expected release date (August 13), with the series now thought to continue next week instead. This also means it now won’t be available on Paramount+ either. However, unlike the season’s previous delay, the episode 3 delay was scheduled in advance. Instead, the network declared the day to be “South Park day,” running a marathon of fan-favorite episodes followed by the sitcom’s pilot episode ‘Cartman Gets an Anal Probe’ in the typical 10pm ET timeslot.

Episode 2 was delayed after the show’s controversial premiere, which featured the likes of a deepfaked Donald Trump with no clothes on and ICE (Immigration and Customs Enforcement) agents shooting puppies and driving around ominously in large groups. Screenshots from the show were quickly used on both the White House and US Secretary of Homeland Security Kristi Noem’s social accounts in order to try and recruit more people to join ICE.

The Department of Homeland Security (NHS) additionally told Newsweek: “We want to thank South Park for drawing attention to ICE law enforcement recruitment. We are calling on patriotic Americans to help us remove murderers, gang members, pedophiles, and other violent criminals from our country.”

It’s for this reason that I can’t help but think the delay of South Park season 27 episode 3 has something more attached to it. It’s certainly a conveniently timed break in the schedule, but given that season 27 has only been on for three episodes yet has suffered two delays already. Surely things aren’t operating smoothly behind the scenes? We always know what we get into with the hit TV show, but that might no longer be to everybody’s tastes.

I don’t need to spell out that the political and cultural landscape has remarkably changed in the last few years, and that’s possibly to South Park’s detriment. While real-world political and cultural affairs are offering a smorgasbord of inspiration, it also comes with a more critical lens. We’ve already had the comments from the NHS, above, with Kristi Noem also weighing in on her portrayal as well. Before her secret post-credits scene was revealed, she responded during an interview on the Glenn Beck Program podcast, slamming her character’s appearance: “It’s so lazy to just constantly make fun of women for how they look. If they wanted to criticize my job, go ahead and do that. But clearly they can’t – they just pick something petty like that.”

White House spokesperson Taylor Rogers also told Variety about the events of episode 1: "Just like the creators of South Park, the Left has no authentic or original content, which is why their popularity continues to hit record lows. This show hasn't been relevant for over 20 years and is hanging on by a thread with uninspired ideas in a desperate attempt for attention."

This won’t be the last round of comments from political figures about what’s happening on the show, and I wouldn’t be surprised if we see public conversations between the two sides on a weekly basis. I also wouldn’t be surprised if there’s resistance to what’s being shown behind the scenes, given nobody exactly comes across particularly well if they’re being featured on South Park. We’ve seen critics of the current US Government coming under fire or having their shows canceled (The Late Show with Stephen Colbert’s cancellation is a great example of this), so discussions about what should and shouldn’t be parodied could be holding up episode releases.

Of course, this is all speculation. We’ve got no idea what the rest of South Park season 27’s 10-episode run has in store for us, and I really hope Paramount and the show’s creators can hold firm to delivering the creative vision they want to. I can’t deny that I’m worried about episodes 4-10, but I’m also holding out hope. After all, South Park wouldn’t be South Park if it wasn’t near the knuckle and beyond, right?

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• Finance-themed phishing uses personalized subjects and file names to deliver malware
• Travel and response phishing also use personalization to push information stealers and RATs
• Cofense urges verification of unexpected emails and updates to security tools

Attackers are increasingly personalizing phishing emails to deliver malware, experts have warned, with criminals reaping in huge gains.

In adding the recipient’s name, company and other details into subject lines, file names, and message content, threat actors seek to make the messages appear more legitimate, increasing the chances that recipients will open malicious attachments or click links, researchers at Cofense have revealed.

Cofense analyzed a year’s worth of data and found that while several campaign themes use this tactic, finance-themed phishing was the most worrying due to both its frequency and impact.

Nearly 22% of subject-redacted emails fell into this category, often posing as invoices, tenders, or payment summaries.

Many of these emails carried jRAT, a cross-platform remote access trojan that can give attackers full control of a system, steal files, and install more malware.

Finance-themed phishing is particularly effective because it blends seamlessly with normal workplace communication, as employees often expect emails about contracts or payment updates.

While finance-themed phishing accounted for 21.9% of personalized subject cases, other themes also made heavy use of this approach.

Travel Assistance was the largest category at 36.78%, often used to deliver Vidar Stealer under the guise of reservation or itinerary updates.

Response-themed emails followed at 30.58%, frequently carrying PikaBot in messages disguised as meeting cancellations or order confirmations.

Tax-themed campaigns made up 3.72%, commonly involving Remcos RAT in password-protected archives, while Notification-themed phishing also represented 3.72%, delivering various malware families including WSH RAT and jRAT.

To counter these threats, Cofense advises verifying unexpected email requests through trusted channels, keeping antivirus and malware removal tools up to date, and limiting public exposure of staff details to make targeting harder.

Summing up, Cofense says, “While customized subject lines are not used in all malware email samples, it is a strong tactic to make the recipient feel a higher sense of urgency that may lead to a successful infection. Particularly targeted emails delivering RATs or Information Stealers can be notable for potentially providing remote access or login credentials that can be brokered to ransomware threat actors.”

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• Dahua CCTV flaws identified by Bitdefender affect over 100 popular security camera models
• Vulnerabilities allow remote code execution without authentication over local or internet connections
• Company urges firmware updates and network isolation to prevent exploitation

Researchers at Bitdefender have announced two critical vulnerabilities affecting a large number of Dahua smart cameras.

The flaws, which were patched in the most recent firmware update, could allow unauthenticated attackers to take full control of affected devices.

Dahua has confirmed that a total of 126 models were affected, including multiple IPC, SD, and DH series devices, not just the Hero C1 model first reported.

The first of the vulnerabilities, CVE-2025-31700, is a buffer overflow flaw in Dahua camera firmware that can be triggered when the device processes specially crafted network packets. If exploited, it could cause the camera to crash or, in some cases, allow a remote attacker to run their own code on the device.

The second, CVE-2025-31701, is another buffer overflow issue also exploitable through maliciously crafted packets sent over the network. It too can be used to crash the camera or potentially gain full remote control depending on the target’s defenses.

Both can be exploited to run arbitrary code with root privileges.

Bitdefender privately reported the issues to Dahua on March 28, 2025. The Chinese video surveillance equipment manufacturer acknowledged the report the next day and validated the findings by April 1.

It requested some time to prepare a fix for the issues, with patches finally rolling out last month, followed by the agreed public disclosure.

The two vulnerabilities can be especially dangerous for devices accessible from the internet via port forwarding or UPnP, as no authentication is required for possible exploitation.

Bitdefender warns that successful attacks could bypass firmware integrity checks and deploy persistent malicious code, making cleanup difficult.

Dahua, the world’s second-largest CCTV manufacturer behind Hikvision, has faced scrutiny in several countries over cybersecurity issues and data privacy concerns, particularly related to potential vulnerabilities in its network-connected devices.

It maintains a Product Security Incident Response Team (PSIRT) to coordinate with researchers on reported flaws, such as in the case of these vulnerability disclosures.

It is urging all customers who have not yet done so to update their camera firmware as a matter of urgency.

For anyone unable to do so immediately, it advises disconnecting vulnerable devices from direct internet access, disabling UPnP, and isolating cameras on separate networks to reduce risk.

A detailed list of affected models is included in Dahua’s online advisory, along with links to patched firmware.

Both Dahua and Bitdefender stress unpatched internet-connected devices should be considered prime targets.

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