If your IoT device secretly contained a microphone, which was previously undocumented, would you be happy when the device maker announced an over-the-air update that can enable the microphone for virtual assistant voice functionality? That’s what happened with the security alarm system Nest Secure.

The Welt am Sonntag weekly had reported on Sunday that Germany had learned of 157 hacker attacks on critical infrastructure companies in the second half of 2018 compared to 145 attacks in the whole of the previous year.

German and European authorities have become increasingly worried about the risk of security breaches in infrastructure as well as interference in elections especially from Russia, China and far-right groups.

Fifth generation wireless (5G) has quickly become a sort of magical carrot on a stick in tech and telecom policy circles. Telecom lobbyists and the Ajit Pai FCC have spent the better part of the last two years trying to claim that unless we gut consumer protections like net neutrality, America will somehow fall behind in the "race" to 5G.

Of course this is all bullshit. As we've noted previously, the "race to 5G" rhetoric is largely nonsense crafted by hardware vendors looking to sell more network hardware and wireless carriers looking to justify high US mobile data prices and spur lagging phone and tablet sales.

GPS signals from satellites include a timestamp, needed in part to calculate one's location, that stores the week number using ten binary bits.

Every 1,024 weeks, or roughly every 20 years, the counter rolls over from 1,023 to zero.

For devices unprepared for the counter overflow, a firmware upgrade will be necessary to keep the things working properly.

Raspberry Pi is finally ready for the full Windows 10 experience. A new installer lets you put Windows 10 on Arm, including the Pi.

Previously, the only way to run Windows at all was by using Windows IoT Core, but Windows 10 on ARM may be far more capable.

Beijing has approved the construction of four new nuclear reactors using a domestically developed design, according to Chinese news reports.

Both projects had been planned and approved by Chinese authorities with Westinghouse’s AP1000 reactor design, which promises safety advances such as passive cooling. That means it stores water above the reactor, leveraging gravity to keep the plant cool should the pumps fail.

It would also be a welcome development for energy experts and governments that see nuclear as a crucial low-carbon energy source to accelerate a fossil-fuel phase-out.

Revenue from the iPhone, responsible for most of the firm's profits, fell 15% in its latest financial quarter.

The slowdown had been expected after the tech giant warned investors earlier this month that revenue would be about $84bn, lower than expected.

The European proposals refer to lighting, televisions and large home appliances.

At least 18 US states are considering similar laws in a growing backlash against products which can’t be prised apart because they’re glued together, or which don’t have a supply of spare parts, or repair instructions.

Manufacturers say the proposed rules on repairability are too strict and will stifle innovation.

The rear camera setup features seven holes housing five cameras, with the extra two holes used for an LED flash and what looks to be a sensor cluster. For the first time, a video from MySmartPrice gives us an idea of what all of these cameras are actually supposed to do: it promises the phone will take "5 simultaneous shots," which will result in "10x more light captured" compared to a regular camera sensor.

Thousands of hot tubs can be hacked and controlled remotely because of a hole in their online security, BBC Click has revealed.

Balboa Water Group (BWG), which runs the affected system, has now pledged to introduce a more robust security system for owners and said the problem would be fixed by the end of February.

It said it was working with more than 1,000 owners in the UK and others globally to set up a system of individual usernames and passwords to secure the online controls.

It said it had previously opted not to do so because it had wanted to "allow for simple and easy use and activation" by homeowners.