Na semana passada, pesquisadores revelaram falhas de segurança nas configurações de proxy da Retransmissão Privada (Private Relay) do iCloud+, que também afetam navegadores baseados no WebKit que utilizam a API 1Application programming interface, ou interface de programação de aplicações. de proxy para privacidade, expondo o endereço IP dos assinantes do serviço. Pois bem, não demorou muito para que surgisse o primeiro processo relacionado ao caso.
A ação coletiva foi movida pelo escritório jurídico Clarkson, que você talvez lembre pelo envolvimento no processo sobre o adiamento dos recursos de inteligência artificial (IA) apresentados durante a WWDC24, o que resultou em um acordo o qual previu o pagamento de US$250 milhões a clientes em dezembro do ano passado.
Como sambemos, a Retransmissão Privada oferece proteção para ocultar o seu endereço IP e dificultar a ciência sobre os seus acessos na web por parte de provedores de internet e terceiros, direcionando o seu tráfego para duas camadas de proteção.
O novo caso menciona o problema na Retransmissão Privada que faz a sua barreira ser burlada nos iOS em qualquer site compatível com as Chaves-senha (Passkeys) — algo que acontece pois o dispositivo do usuário faz uma requisição web fora do próprio navegador sempre que o usuário faz login, ignorando o Private Relay — e acusa a Apple de publicidade enganosa, declarações falsas ou deturpadas e fraude.
[A Apple] sabia, ou deveria saber, que as declarações contestadas eram falsas, enganosas, fraudulentas e ilegais, no momento em que a ré fabricou, comercializou, anunciou, rotulou e vendeu as assinaturas [do iCloud+].
Convidada a comentar o caso pelo 9to5Mac, a Apple ainda não se pronunciou sobre o tema. Tim Giordano, um dos sócios do escritório, por outro lado, disse que a empresa traiu a confiança de usuários “expondo-os ao mesmo rastreamento, criação de perfis e segmentação sobre os quais a Apple os alertava”.
O texto completo da ação coletiva pode ser conferido nesse link [PDF].
Notas de rodapé
1
Application programming interface, ou interface de programação de aplicações.
Mercredi 12 août, la France assistera à une éclipse solaire partielle, dont le degré d'occultation variera de près de 90 % dans l’Est à 99,5 % à Biarritz. Horaires, carte, météo, lunettes, événements et direct : voici la check-list de dernière minute avant de vivre cet évènement exceptionnel.
Last week a researcher outlined what he said was a “novel attack surface” in passkeys, the new authentication paradigm that offers a more secure alternative over password-based methods. In fact, the attacks demonstrated in the post are neither novel nor unique to passkeys. This distinction is important because the research has generated confusion among end users and security professionals as they assess whether this new mechanism is truly safe to use.
The attack is called Pass-ta-key—a blending of the word passkey with the phrase “pass the key” and a nod to a plate of pasta. Arie Olshtein, a researcher at security firm Palo Alto Networks, described in a post last week how Pass-ta-key could obtain all passkeys stored in the Google Password Manager app (GPM) for Windows when it’s running on a machine infected with malware.
This came as a surprise to many people because they believed passkeys are stored exclusively in the trusted platform manager (TPM), the locked-down enclave in a hardened silicon chip that’s reserved for storing cryptographic keys and other highly sensitive information on Windows machines. If passkeys are stored in the TPM, then how was Pass-ta-key able to extract the entire set of passkeys stored by the app, they wanted to know?
Last week, a researcher outlined what he said was a “novel attack surface” in passkeys, the new authentication paradigm that offers a more secure alternative to password-based methods. In fact, the attacks demonstrated in the post are neither novel nor unique to passkeys. This distinction is important because the research has generated confusion among end users and security professionals as they assess whether this new mechanism is truly safe to use.
The attack is called Pass-ta-key—a blending of the word passkey with the phrase “pass the key” and a nod to a plate of pasta. Arie Olshtein, a researcher at security firm Palo Alto Networks, described in a post last week how Pass-ta-key could obtain all passkeys stored in the Google Password Manager app (GPM) for Windows when it’s running on a machine infected with malware.
This came as a surprise to many people because they believed passkeys are stored exclusively in the trusted platform manager (TPM), the locked-down enclave in a hardened silicon chip that’s reserved for storing cryptographic keys and other highly sensitive information on Windows machines. If passkeys are stored in the TPM, then how was Pass-ta-key able to extract the entire set of passkeys stored by the app, they wanted to know.
WebKit-based browsers on iOS and macOS can be configured to route all web traffic through proxy servers, which is how Tor browsers on iOS and our own Psylo work. We found three WebKit features — DNS prefetching, WebAuthn Related Origin Requests, and WebTransport — that bypass the configured proxy and send traffic directly from the device, which exposes the user’s real network. The same leaks also affect Apple’s iCloud Private Relay.
[…]
It must be noted that VPNs are not affected, since they tunnel the device’s entire network traffic at the system level.
[…]
We’ve addressed all three leaks in Psylo 1.3.1[…] Passkeys and WebTransport have legitimate uses, so both can be re-enabled at any time through per-silo toggles. This keeps Psylo leak-free out of the box, while users who need one of these features on a given site can opt in explicitly, with a clear understanding of the trade-off.
In an ideal world, we’d report the issues to Apple, they acknowledge the issue, and ship a fix in a timely manner. Unfortunately, our past experience with Apple tells us that reporting this issue would involve months of delays, inconsistent communication, and in some cases, denying the issue’s impact entirely.
We weren’t willing to wait months, or upwards of a year, sitting on bugs that undermine the core privacy guarantees of Psylo and iOS Tor browsers while saying or doing nothing.
[…]
Should we knowingly leave our users exposed while waiting for a system-level fix? We didn’t think that was acceptable or fair to our users. Or should we quietly ship our own mitigations without telling anyone? We didn’t think that was acceptable either. Security fixes deserve transparency, especially when they involve tradeoffs.
Soon after we published the blog, we sent a link to the blog and demo website to Apple in a security report to make them aware of it. Now the report is already in the status “We’re planning to address the issue you reported.” and a fix is planned for Fall 2026 🤯🤯🤯
Originally launched a decade ago, the ZWO ASI174MM is a planetary astrophotography camera — something you insert into the eyepiece of a telescope to take images and video of deep-sky objects, planets, the moon and the sun. This one is very much geared towards the latter, with solar and lunar imaging its goal.
Specifications
Product type: Monochrome astronomy camera
Sensor: 1/1.2-inch Sony Exmor IMX174LLJ / IMX174LQJ CMOS
Resolution: 2.3MP, 1936x1216
Pixel size: 5.86µm
Shutter: Pregius global shutter
Maximum frame rate: 164.5fps at full resolution in 10-bit mode; 128.2fps at full resolution in 12-bit mode
At first glance, the specification looks simple: a 2.3MP monochrome Sony IMX174 sensor, 5.86µm pixels, USB 3.0 connectivity and a compact red aluminum body. The important details are the sensor size, speed and global shutter. For lunar and solar imaging, where you often want to capture large areas in high frame rate videos and freeze split-seconds of steady “seeing” — when turbulence in Earth’s atmosphere doesn’t degrade an image of an astronomical object — those traits matter more than headline megapixels.
The ASI174MM is especially attractive for solar imaging with an H-alpha telescope — a filter that blocks all wavelengths of light other than H-alpha, which is emitted by hydrogen atoms. That’s because its 5.86 μm pixels match the focal ratios typical of solar telescopes, yielding sharp, efficient detail. Its relatively large sensor can cover more of the solar disc than many small planetary cameras, while its high frame rate supports the usual lucky-imaging workflow of capturing video, selecting the best frames and stacking them for sharper images.
ZWO ASI174MM astronomy camera: Design
Large 5.86µm pixels help with solar and lunar capture. (Image credit: Jamie Carter)
Compact aluminum camera body
USB 3.0 and ST4 guide port included
Useful adapter bundle
The ZWO ASI174MM has a compact, lightweight and practical design that’s ideal for use as a camera attached to a telescope. Its small cylindrical aluminum body adds very little strain to a focuser, solar diagonal or off-axis guider, which is particularly useful when working with solar telescopes.
The compact aluminum body weighs just 140g. (Image credit: Jamie Carter)
Usefully, the camera includes a high-speed USB 3.0 connection, which is important because the ASI174MM’s main strength is capturing and transferring many video frames very quickly. It can also be used over USB 2.0, but doing so gives up much of the performance that makes the camera appealing in the first place.
The 2.3MP resolution is modest, but well suited to bright solar system targets. Jamie CarterIt’s a tough, practical performer for imaging the sun and moon. Jamie Carter
An ST4 guide port adds extra flexibility. Although the ASI174MM is primarily sold as a planetary camera, it can also be used as a guide camera (mounted on top of a main imaging scope to capture a wide field of view), especially with off-axis guiders (a device that sits between a main camera and the telescope to precisely track stars), where the larger sensor helps find guide stars more easily than smaller-chip models.
ZWO ASI174MM astronomy camera: Performance
A mono image of the sun using data captured by the ZWO ASI174MM. (Image credit: Jamie Carter)
Excellent for solar and lunar video capture
Global shutter is a real advantage
Large pixels favor longer focal lengths
A prominence on the sun captured using the ZWO ASI174MM. (Image credit: Jamie Carter)
The ASI174MM’s combination of a relatively large 1/1.2-inch sensor, 5.86µm pixels, and fast video capture makes it particularly well-suited to imaging the sun and moon. Compared with planetary cameras built around smaller sensors, it records a considerably larger area of the telescope’s field of view, reducing the number of panels needed for mosaics and making it easier to locate and frame a target.
At full resolution, the ASI174MM can capture over 100 frames per second. (Image credit: Jamie Carter)
That larger sensor is especially useful for solar imaging, which is what we tested it with. The exact field of view depends on the telescope’s focal length, but the ASI174MM can capture larger active regions — and, with some setups, most or all of the solar disc — without immediately requiring a mosaic. For example, we tested it with the Sky-Watcher Heliostar 76Ha solar telescope, for which it is a natural match, where prominences, filaments, sunspots and rapidly changing structures on the solar surface need to be recorded at high speed.
A mono image of the sun using data captured by the ZWO ASI174MM. (Image credit: Jamie Carter)
The camera’s global shutter is another advantage for solar imagers. A rolling shutter (the standard choice for deep-sky imaging) records an image progressively, one row of pixels at a time, to produce a low-noise, high-dynamic-range image. However, atmospheric turbulence, which slightly shifts the image, can cause distortion. A global shutter exposes the entire sensor simultaneously, helping the ASI174MM preserve the shape of solar and lunar features more accurately from frame to frame.
The ASI174MM works well with solar telescopes, lunar rigs and longer focal-length scopes. (Image credit: Jamie Carter)
High-speed capture also supports lucky imaging. Instead of trying to produce one perfect exposure, the camera records thousands of short exposures in rapid succession. Software then identifies and stacks the sharpest frames — the brief instants when Earth’s turbulent atmosphere becomes relatively steady.
A colorized image of the sun via the ASIStudio software. (Image credit: Jamie Carter)
While it’s ideal for solar imaging, the ASI174MM is much less convincing as a conventional deep-sky camera. Long exposures can reveal pronounced amp glow towards one side of the frame, while the uncooled sensor becomes increasingly noisy as exposure times increase. Calibration with dark frames can reduce these effects, but it adds complexity and cannot turn the ASI174MM into a modern cooled deep-sky camera. It can be used for short-exposure imaging, guiding and some specialist applications, but solar, lunar and planetary video remain its natural strengths.
ZWO ASI174MM astronomy camera: Functionality
The sun through the ASICap software. (Image credit: Jamie Carter)
Captures good data
ZWO software works well
Little guidance available
The ASI174MM fits neatly into the established workflow for solar, lunar and planetary imaging: capture a high-speed video, identify the sharpest frames, align and stack them, then sharpen and process the image. Its fast USB 3.0 connection enables high data transfer rates, while region-of-interest controls allow the user to record only a selected portion of the sensor. Reducing the size of the recorded area can substantially increase the frame rate, which is particularly useful when imaging an individual sunspot.
USB 3.0 connectivity allows fast frame rates for lucky imaging. (Image credit: Jamie Carter)
Several free applications can control the camera and record these videos, including SharpCap and FireCapture. AutoStakkert! is widely used to analyze, align and stack solar, lunar and planetary frames, while programs such as ImPPG, RegiStax, Siril, Adobe Photoshop and GIMP can be used for sharpening, contrast adjustment and final processing. Windows users have the widest choice of third-party astronomy software.
However, ZWO also provides its own free ASIStudio software suite. For the ASI174MM, the most relevant applications are ASICap, which controls the camera and records lossless SER or AVI video, and ASIVideoStack, which analyses and stacks the resulting frames (and can also be used for post-processing). ASIStudio is available for both Windows and macOS.
A sunspot on the sun through the ASICap software. (Image credit: Jamie Carter)
The basic capture process is straightforward. After connecting the ASI174MM to ASICap, exposure time and gain are adjusted until the brightest areas of the sun or moon remain below saturation. Because this is a monochrome camera, the live view can be shown either in grayscale or with false color applied for easier viewing. A video containing around 1,000 to 3,000 frames is then recorded, though the ideal number depends on the target, seeing conditions and available storage.
Storage requirements are significant. Uncompressed high-frame-rate video from the full sensor can consume several gigabytes in a matter of seconds, so a fast computer, a USB 3.0 connection and plenty of free drive space are essential.
Stacking using the ASIVideoStack software. (Image credit: Jamie Carter)
Once a video is loaded into ASIVideoStack, the software can assess frame quality, align the image and combine a chosen percentage of the sharpest frames. The finished stack can be exported in formats including JPEG and FITS. JPEG is convenient for immediate sharing, but FITS preserves more of the original image data and is better suited to serious post-processing.
Image editing using the ASIVideoStack software. (Image credit: Jamie Carter)
The workflow is functional rather than polished. There is relatively little guidance for beginners and obtaining the best results requires experimentation with exposure, gain, frame rate, focus, stacking percentages and sharpening settings. It can take many attempts to determine which combination works best with a particular telescope and observing conditions. For that reason, it’s wise to archive the video files, which can be revisited and processed later as processing skills/software improves.
How we tested the ZWO ASI174MM
Its Sony IMX174 sensor gives a wider field than many smaller planetary cameras. (Image credit: Jamie Carter)
We tested the ZWO ASI174MM planetary camera for two weeks and used it in conjunction with the Skywatcher HelioStar 76mm solar telescope and Solar Quest mount to image the sun in H-Alpha (Hα).
Should I buy the ZWO ASI174MM?
Buy it if:
✅ You mainly image the sun or moon: The ZWO ASI174MM astro cam excels in solar, planetary and lunar imaging, so if these are your main astrophotography targets, it's the perfect choice.
✅ You have an H-Alpha telescope: If you have a solar telescope and want to move on from observation to start imaging the sun with it, you will need a monochrome astrocam like the ZWO ASI174MM.
Don't buy it if:
❌You want a dedicated deep-sky imaging camera: This model exhibits severe amp glow for exposures longer than a few seconds and lacks thermoelectric cooling (TEC) needed for noise reduction.
❌You need high megapixel resolution: The low resolution is another reason it fails as a deep-sky imaging camera as you would want a higher resolution model for detail in star clusters and galaxies.
Buy the ZWO ASI174MM if your main targets are the sun and moon, especially if you want a monochrome camera with a larger-than-average sensor, fast frame rates and a global shutter. It remains particularly suited for H-alpha solar imaging, where monochrome capture, speed and sensor area matter.
If this product isn’t for you
If you want a cheaper first planetary camera, a smaller-sensor ZWO ASI120-series-style camera may be enough for basic lunar, planetary and guiding use, though it will not offer the same field of view.
If you want a more modern planetary camera, look at newer monochrome planetary models like the ZWO ASI585MM with lower read noise, smaller pixels or higher resolution, depending on your telescope’s focal length.
If your goal is deep-sky imaging, a cooled astronomy camera is a better choice than the ASI174MM. We have reviewed the ZWO ASI533MC Pro and the ASI183MC Pro and gave both of them nothing less than four and a half stars for beautiful deep-sky astrophotography.
Lord Sumption was a hero during Covid, standing up against the pandemic tyranny. But his recent attempt to paint Donald Trump as a despot of totalitarian bent couldn't be wider of the mark, says Professor James Allan.
Power: 8x AA batteries (not supplied)/external 12V DC via adaptor panel
Mount head weight: 2.9 lbs/1.3kg
Total weight with optional tripod: 8.8 lbs/4.05kg
Tripod: 31.7-59.8 inches/80.5-152cm adjustable aluminum tripod with accessory tray, bubble level and 3/8-inch screw fitting
Finding the sun sounds easy, right? Many people think of the sun as big and bright, but it’s actually rather small in the sky — it’s got an angular diameter of just half a degree, in fact, the same as the moon. Put an all-important solar filter on a telescope, and you’re left with the challenge of finding a tiny orange or white circle in a sea of black. Even if you manage to find the sun, nudging a solar telescope back into position every few minutes to keep it in the field of view quickly gets irritating.
Dual-axis alt-az tracking keeps the sun in view during observing sessions. (Image credit: Jamie Carter)
Cue the Sky-Watcher SolarQuest mount, a simple grab-and-go product that exists to solve exactly that problem. Costing around $585/£259-£359 (the latter with a tripod), it is not a general Go-To astronomy mount and it is not trying to be one. It is best understood as a dedicated solar tracking platform for small solar telescopes. That could range from regular telescopes wearing solar filters, most likely during a solar eclipse, to dedicated solar telescopes such as white-light-filtered refractors and H-alpha (Hydrogen-alpha) telescopes designed specifically for viewing the sun.
Sky-Watcher SolarQuest mount head: Design
Its 8.8-lb payload suits compact white-light and H-alpha solar scopes. (Image credit: Jamie Carter)
Lightweight and compact mount head
Simple controls make it beginner-friendly
Vixen-style saddle suits small solar scopes
The SolarQuest mount head weighs just 2.9 lbs/1.3 kg, accepts standard 45mm Sky-Watcher/Vixen-style dovetails and can be fitted to a tripod using a 3/8-inch screw. Meanwhile, the optional tripod is lightweight and easily adjustable, with a bubble level and accessory tray. Whatever tripod you use, it’s imperative to get it stable before using the SolarQuest because its ability to track the sun successfully depends on it.
The Sky-Watcher SolarQuest comes with an optional sturdy tripod.Jamie CarterThe tripod comes with a handy accessory tray.Jamie CarterThe optional tripod includes grippers to keep the rig steady.Jamie Carter
With the optional aluminum tripod — which we used in our review — the total setup is still only around 9.9 lbs/4.05 kg, making it easy to set up inside and carry into the garden. Eclipse chasers travelling abroad will easily be able to store it in a carry-on camera bag.
HelioFind technology makes solar alignment fast and beginner-friendly. Jamie CarterA Vixen-style saddle accepts many small solar telescopes and spotting scopes. Jamie Carter
The mount itself has very few controls: A power button and an 8-way sliding switch. A long press of the power button finds the sun, with the second used to make manual adjustments. There are no menus and no alignment tasks.
Sky-Watcher SolarQuest mount head: Performance
Its job is simple: Find the sun and keep it centered. (Image credit: Jamie Carter)
Finds the sun automatically in clear conditions
Fine-tuning controls keep the sun centered
Works well with solar telescopes
At first glance, the promise of the Sky-Watcher SolarQuest mount head is so simple: you level the tripod using its built-in bubble or spirit level and point the attached telescope somewhere to the left of the sun. You then long-press the power button and step back. The built-in GPS calculates the date, time, and location, as well as the sun’s altitude and azimuth. The mount levels the telescope, pauses, then slews to the right altitude. Then its photodiode solar sensor (a small camera) hunts for the solar disc and locks on. In practice, the system gets impressively close to that ideal — but with some small caveats.
A colorized image of the sun taken with a ZWO planetary camera on an H-Alpha telescope mounted on the SolarQuest. (Image credit: Jamie Carter)
The sun needs to be in a clear sky, but it doesn’t have to be high. We reviewed the SolarQuest during a summer heatwave, when getting up very early was the only sensible way to observe the sun. Having got up early to take advantage of the cool morning air before the sun rose too high, we feared the SolarQuest would fail to find such a low sun. Luckily, there were no such issues, with SolarQuest taking just under 60 seconds to be perfectly aligned with the sun.
The solar sensor uses four photodiodes to lock onto the sun. (Image credit: Jamie Carter)
For visual observing, that’s transformative. Instead of spending the first part of a session aligning, shadow-aiming and nudging a scope into position, you can be looking at the sun within minutes. However, we did have to use the joypad on the SolarQuest to center the sun. Happily, the controls are very sensitive and move slowly, so we were able to have a perfect view of the sun in under two minutes from pressing the power-on button. That’s impressive.
Sky-Watcher SolarQuest mount head: Functionality
Built-in GPS calculates the sun’s position automatically. (Image credit: Jamie Carter)
Accurately tracks the sun
8x AA batteries are old-fashioned
Payload is a limiting factor
Tracking accuracy is very good, with a tiny adjustment on the joypad required perhaps every few hours. Since it largely follows the sun’s path through the sky, it should be suitable for a total or deep partial solar eclipse, when a crescent sun could confuse the sensor (to be sure, you could cover the sensor during totality so it doesn’t hunt for the sun and try to realign during an eclipsed crescent sun).
However accurate it is, this is an alt-az mount. It can track the sun well but it cannot remove field rotation during much longer imaging sessions. For visual use and almost all solar use — including casual video capture — that is not a major issue. However, for long-duration solar imaging and creating time-lapses, it’s a limitation to keep in mind.
The battery compartment takes eight AA batteries, though external power is available. (Image credit: Jamie Carter)
One practical complaint is the battery compartment. Pop open the door (which detaches and becomes easily lost) and inside is a small plastic cradle that takes eight AA batteries. As if needing to take a trip to a store before being able to use the SolarQuest wasn’t annoying enough, it occurred to me that if I was going to an eclipse, I would need to travel with at least eight more AA batteries as spares — and possibly another 16x for true peace of mind. Not a pleasant prospect. Should any gadget like this be AA battery-powered in the age of Lithium-ion and USB-C? A resounding no. The box includes a 12V DC connection but there’s no cable. It all seems poorly thought through and old-fashioned.
The mount head weighs just 2.9 lbs, making it easy to carry outside. (Image credit: Jamie Carter)
However, the main practical limitation of the SolarQuest is its 8.8 lbs (4 kg) payload, which sets it apart as an accessory for small solar telescopes. At its best when speed and simplicity matter, SolarQuest is a travel-friendly mount ideal for beginners and eclipse chasers seeking to remove a common frustration from solar observing — finding and tracking the sun — without adding complexity. It almost totally succeeds.
How we tested the Sky-Watcher SolarQuest mount head
We tested the Sky-Watcher SolarQuest mount with the Sky-Watcher Heliostar 76mm H-alpha solar telescope. (Image credit: Jamier Carter)
We tried the SolarQuest for about two weeks with both a Celestron Regal M2 spotting scope (with a solar filter attached) for white-light observations of the solar disk and a Skywatcher HelioStar 76mm solar telescope. The latter was used to get some images of the sun in H-Alpha (Hα), in conjunction with a ZWO ASI174MM planetary camera.
Should I buy the Sky-Watcher SolarQuest mount head?
Buy it if:
✅ You want to get into casual backyard solar observing: The SolarQuest mount is great for those who have a small solar telescope or a regular telescope with a solar filter and want to start observing the sun more.
✅ You want fast, automatic solar finding and tracking: The SolarQuest mount makes solar observation super easy and super quick so finding the sun isn't a chore and allows you to focus on observation.
Don't buy it if:
❌You want a mount for nighttime astronomy as well: It has one job, to find the sun, and doesn't work for finding any targets in the dark night sky.
❌You don’t want to travel with lots of spare AA batteries: The mount is powered by eight AA batteries and if you are carrying spares, this means a lot of extra weight to carry around when travelling to observation locations.
If you need something to support a solar or solar-filtered telescope under 8.8 lbs/4kg, the SolarQuest should be on your radar. It quickly finds the sun and tracks accurately, removing the need for manual alignment. It’s also really compact, operates quietly and has very simple controls.
The included instructions are poor, the way it’s battery-powered is far from ideal, and it’s limited by its payload capacity, but it’s so easy to use and quick to work that it’s hard to criticize the SolarQuest too harshly — it’s a slick and simple accessory.
If the Sky-Watcher SolarQuest mount head isn’t for you
There are very few dedicated solar trackers like the Sky-Watcher SolarQuest. However, some star trackers do have a mode where you can choose the sun as the star to track, including the Benro Polaris. Once you’ve entered the sun in the frame using the virtual joystick, the Polaris can automatically track it. Another alternative is an equatorial mount, which, when well aligned, can handle solar observing for longer periods and/or for making time-lapse sequences.
Solar observation can be tricky or underwhelming when trying to observe with handheld methods such as using solar eclipse glasses and solar binoculars. Hunting for the sun with binoculars can be tricky due to the essential ISO 12312-2 rated solar filters on the glass blocking all vision except for the solar disk itself. This is where a smart telescope like the entire Unistellar range can help; it automatically finds and tracks the solar disk from a few presses on your smartphone.
With some light adjustments in Adobe Lightroom, the details on the solar surface really pop out on the photograph from the eQuinox 2. Harry Bennett / FutureAll it takes is a few seconds to stack frames on a smart telescope and get more detail on the solar surface.Harry Bennett / Future
All you need is to attach the correct Unistellar solar filter for your model, click Go-to on the Sun and the telescope will slew to the solar disk. If connected to a tablet or larger screen, you can get a much bigger image of the sun to share with groups and family. This also allows you to watch the observation from a shaded spot and get comfortable without needing to stay out under the beating sun.
(Image credit: Harry Bennett / Future)
Smart telescopes not only find and track the solar disk but they can image it too. Using built-in image focusing, stacking and processing, the telescope delivers a sharper image within seconds and reveals solar details like sunpots on the surface. If you don't want to miss getting a shot of the next solar eclipse, you can use the solar observation mode to capture the sun at all stages of the eclipse from your smart telescope. At the time of writing, the next total solar eclipse is coming on Aug. 12, 2026 and will be mainly visible in Greenland, western Iceland and northern Spain. Partial eclipses will be visible in some other European countries, parts of Canada and New York City.
The entire path of totality for the 2026 total solar eclipse. (Image credit: Created using MapHub.net. Source: Esri, Maxar, GeoEye, Earthstar Geographics, CNES/Airbus DS, USDA, USGS, AeroGRID, IGN, and the GIS User Community)
What to do: A generalist step-by-step for most smart telescopes
1. Turn your smart telescope on
2. Link the smart telescope to a smartphone or tablet
3. Install the solar filter if the model requires a separate attachment
4. Select the sun on the app and wait for the location
5. Focus the image if needed and then use enhanced vision for more detail
What do you need?
The eVscope 2 can easily find the solar disk once selected. (Image credit: Harry Bennett / Future)
For solar observation with a smart telescope, the first thing you will need is a smart telescope. While I'm going over how to use a Unistellar eVscope 2 for solar imaging and observation, most of the other smart telescope brands have models that are capable of this too, like the Dwarflab Dwarf Mini 3 and Vaonis Vespera II. If you are used to using a traditional telescope, bear in mind that you will need a smart device to operate the smart telescope and observe your targets. Most smart telescopes come with a tripod, so you shouldn't have to worry about getting one extra but it is an essential piece of equipment.
Make sure the bubble level on the tripod is centered so your setup is flat. (Image credit: Harry Bennett / Future)
Next, you need a solar filter for your telescope. This is to protect the image sensors in the body of the telescope and drastically reduce the amount of light entering the aperture, so that you don't get a highly overexposed image. Many brands sell these solar filters separately and in the case of Unistellar, you have to make sure you get the right one for your model. There is a solar filter for their Odyssey range and then another filter for their pro range, which features the eQuinox 2 and eVscope 2 models.
Some smart telescope companies sell their solar filters separately, like Unistellar, Vaonis and Celestron. (Image credit: Harry Bennett / Future)
Finally, you will also need access to somewhere with a good view of the sun, so a park, garden or open space is ideal. Solar imaging is best done in mid-to-late morning before the sun has heated up our atmosphere, which causes disturbance in the image. This is especially important if you are looking to get crisp shots of sunspots.
Observing and imaging the sun
The solar filter prevents the sun from damaging the image sensor in the smart telescope. (Image credit: Harry Bennett / Future)
Make sure your tripod is level, with your smart telescope properly attached, then turn it on and remove the dust cap. Open your preferred app and add your device by following the on-screen instructions.
The Unistellar eQuinox 2 is easy to set up in a yard or open space.Harry Bennett / FutureUsed with a solar filter, smart telescopes allow you to track night sky objects and grab sharp images. Harry Bennett / FutureThe solar filters are easy to attach to the aperture on the eQuinox 2. Harry Bennett / FutureWith the solar filter attached, the eQuinox 2 is ready for solar observation and photography. Harry Bennett / Future
Next, you should inspect your solar filter for any tears or holes, as any exposure to the sun without the filter can permanently damage the sensor. Installation is easy as you just clip the filter onto the end of your smart telescope.
On the Unistellar app, on-screen instructions guide you through connecting to the device. (Image credit: Unistellar)
After the device is connected, go to the list of sky targets in your app and it will allow you to browse or search for the sun. Click on it to bring up the go-to functions and if you are interested, more astronomical information about your chosen target.
In the Unistellar planetarium, you simply just select the sun and click GoTo to start target location. (Image credit: Unistellar)
Clicking on go-to for the sun brings up a series of slides to guide you through how to safely observe the sun with your device. The app also recommends positioning your telescope mount in the direction of the sun with the motor on your right to avoid any issues or delays in slewing.
While not rapid, the eQuinox 2 finds the sun within a minute or two, with extra time spent centering the solar disk. (Image credit: Unistellar)
After pressing go, the smart telescope should move and slew towards the sun. It can take a little while but it is rather exciting as you see the edges of the solar disk flash on the screen as the telescope gets closer and centers the image.
Once I found the solar disk, I saw that the sunspots were out of focus.Harry Bennett / FutureUsing the focus wheel on the bottom of the Unistellar eQuinox 2, I incrementally adjusted the focus.Harry Bennett / FutureWhen focusing the sunspots on the eQuinox 2, they only get darker and slightly sharper, but sharp focus is not achieved until stacking. Harry Bennett / Future
For smart telescopes with manual focusing, you will need to make sure that your image is in focus. Now on a bright sunny day, this can be tricky to see on a smart device screen but it is essential to getting a sharp image of sunspots. Using the wheel at the bottom of the eQuinox 2, I gradually adjusted the focus in small increments to allow for live image delay on my tablet. I used the sunspots as a guide for my focus, but it was still difficult because they don't become crystal clear during focusing, they just get slightly more defined and darker.
Selecting enhanced vision on the Unistellar app starts stacking exposures and develops enhanced sharpness on the sunspots. UnistellarBy stacking frames sunspots and surface details become sharper.Harry Bennett / Future
The real detail on the surface comes after you click enhanced vision mode or equivalent on the app, which starts live stacking of exposures of a few milliseconds and reveals a much more textured view of the solar surface. The sunspots get much sharper edges and you are able to see both the umbra and penumbra on some of them. In my imaging session, I got an image displaying the larger active regions of 4498, 4496 and 4492 as well as some smaller regions.
Observing an eclipse with your smart telescope
Using a smart telescope can make capturing a great shot of the solar eclipse easy and painless. (Image credit: Hector Knudsen / Getty Images)
You should prepare well in advance if you are planning to observe a solar eclipse and test out the kit there before the big day. You don't want to be learning how to use your device on the day of the eclipse. Practice setting it up for solar observation a good few times before the day of the eclipse.
Using one of the best stargazing apps or the official Unistellar eclipse page, you can find out where the eclipse will be visible from and the time of maximum coverage in that location, so you can plan accordingly. The Aug. 12, 2026 total solar eclipse is just before sunset will be very low on the horizon, so you would need to find somewhere with a good view of the sunset and, ideally, do a practice run a week before. Setting up a few hours before the actual eclipse is necessary to avoid any last-minute disruptions and to get your telescope trained on the sun before the lunar disk starts to eclipse it. This is assuming that the skies are completely clear and free of clouds, but this is definitely something you should check before hauling your kit to a remote location. I use the Met Office Cloud cover map for the UK but other sites offer US and international coverage such as and Ventusky, SAT24 and Astrospheric.
Our top smart telescope recommendations to suit all budgets
Quatre mois pour transcrire 32 763 manuscrits médiévaux. Un travail qui aurait occupé des générations de spécialistes. Le plus surprenant ? Les grands modèles de langage à la mode ont été délibérément écartés du projet. Voici pourquoi, et ce que ce corpus géant change pour la recherche.
On Thursday, a US District Court in Oregon ordered the US government to restart the process of approving wind projects. All new wind development in the US has been on hold since August 2025, when the Department of Defense (DoD) stopped participating in a process that allows it to compel developers to alter projects in order to limit their interference with radar equipment. The court ruled, however, that the DoD's national security claims did not allow it to opt out of a process that is legally mandated.
The Trump administration has made many attempts to block wind development, both offshore and land based. Its attempts to stop offshore wind included the same approach at issue in this case: Claim that drone developments mean that radar interference by wind turbines creates a national security risk. The courts were not sympathetic to this claim, including in cases where judges examined a classified report that the DoD was using to justify blocking offshore wind construction. As a result, the administration has turned to paying companies not to pursue wind development.
In parallel, the government was pursuing a similar approach for onshore wind. Here, a law lays out a process for the DoD to evaluate any problems posed by wind turbines and negotiate changes to planned wind farms with the developers. As laid out in the new decision, the government simply stopped participating in this process in August 2025, first by refusing to sign off on previously negotiated agreements, and later by refusing to draft agreements entirely. Eventually, it simply refused to participate in negotiations at all. This has brought a halt to all wind development in the US.
On Thursday, a US District Court in Oregon ordered the US government to restart the process of approving wind projects. All new wind development in the US has been on hold since August 2025, when the Department of Defense (DoD) stopped participating in a process that allows it to compel developers to alter projects in order to limit their interference with radar equipment. The court ruled, however, that the DoD's national security claims did not allow it to opt out of a process that is legally mandated.
The Trump administration has made many attempts to block wind development, both offshore and land based. Its attempts to stop offshore wind included the same approach at issue in this case: Claim that drone developments mean that radar interference by wind turbines creates a national security risk. The courts were not sympathetic to this claim, including in cases where judges examined a classified report that the DoD was using to justify blocking offshore wind construction. As a result, the administration has turned to paying companies not to pursue wind development.
In parallel, the government was pursuing a similar approach for onshore wind. Here, a law lays out a process for the DoD to evaluate any problems posed by wind turbines and negotiate changes to planned wind farms with the developers. As laid out in the new decision, the government simply stopped participating in this process in August 2025, first by refusing to sign off on previously negotiated agreements, and later by refusing to draft agreements entirely. Eventually, it simply refused to participate in negotiations at all. This has brought a halt to all wind development in the US.
O tvOS 27 chegará neste ano com uma leva de novidades para a Apple TV 4K que, embora discretas se comparadas às de outros sistemas da Maçã, trazem melhorias bem-vindas ao dia a dia de quem usa o aparelho — do app Podcasts redesenhado a ajustes de performance por todo o sistema.
Preparamos um vídeo reunindo e demonstrando as principais mudanças da atualização. Confira abaixo:
Entre os destaques está o novo app Podcasts, que ganhou redesenho completo com suporte a programas em vídeo, alinhando a Apple TV às demais plataformas da empresa. O Apple Music também recebeu atenção: agora conta com suporte a áudio Hi-Res Lossless e com o recurso AutoMix, que cria transições automáticas entre as faixas.
Outras novidades incluem ajuste de tamanho de texto, verificação do status do AppleCare diretamente nos Ajustes (Settings) e atualização remota da Apple TV pelo app Casa (Home). O sistema também trará suporte a legendas geradas por IA on-device e melhorias no HomeKit Secure Video, agora com suporte à resolução 4K.
No quesito performance, a Central de Controle ficará mais responsiva, o AirPlay estará mais rápido, as animações ficarão mais suaves em todo o sistema e segundo a Apple os apps abrirão até 30% mais rápido, além de o sistema vir com diversas correções de bugs.
Vale lembrar que o tvOS 27 não é mais compatível com as Apple TVs HD e 4K de primeira geração, funcionando apenas nos modelos 4K de segunda e terceira gerações.
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Apple TV 4K (3ª geração)
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Apple’s iCloud Private Relay is designed to hide users’ IP addresses from websites and even from Apple itself while browsing in Safari. But according to security researchers Talal Haj Bakry and Tommy Mysk, the feature does not always work as intended because of issues in Apple’s WebKit browser engine.
The problem centers on passkeys, the password-free authentication method that is becoming more widely used. When a user authenticates with a passkey, the request is handled outside the browser itself. Private Relay only protects traffic within Safari (as an iCloud+ feature) and does not function like a full-device VPN. As a result, the authentication request can expose the user’s real IP address to the website or service.
Because the vulnerability sits in WebKit, the engine that powers every browser on iOS, the IP leak is not limited to Safari. Privacy-focused browsers such as OnionBrowser and the researchers’ own Psylo browser can also reveal a user’s IP when passkeys are used.
Re: Responsible Disclosure
We found ourselves in a bit of a dilemma with these DNS and IP leaks in WebKit and how to handle them responsibly.
We first became aware of a DNS leak in Psylo in late June 2026 after a user reported it. During our investigation, we found two… https://t.co/5kFu0jtUsJ
The researchers have already notified OnionBrowser and the Tor Project of their findings and suggested fixes. Apple has told 404 Media that it is investigating the report. However, Bakry and Mysk noted that Apple’s response times for similar privacy issues can be lengthy; a previously reported problem with the Hide My Email feature that allowed real email addresses to leak behind aliases was not fully fixed for about a year after it was disclosed.
MacDailyNews Take: Until a fix arrives, users who rely on Private Relay for anonymity should be aware that logging in with passkeys on iOS may still reveal their IP address.
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A team of researchers from the University of Sydney and the University of Glasgow argues that dietary sugars, not animal foods, may have played the decisive role in the expansion of the human brain over the past 4 million years, as hominin brain size grew nearly fivefold, from about 300 grams in early relatives like […]
Apple faces a $32.5 billion lawsuit over how its Photos app scans and stores faces. A federal judge cleared the case to proceed as a class action late last month, allowing millions of Illinois iPhone owners to join.
The case has been years in the making, and Apple has fought to shut it down at nearly every turn. Now it heads back to the court, with the company’s privacy practices on trial.
[…]
Court records have shown that the update applies to users with iCloud Photos turned on. Those accounts also need to use at least 10GB of storage and contain at least 5,000 photos and videos. Plaintiffs say all this amounts to collecting biometric data without consent, putting Apple squarely at odds with Illinois law.
Again, I find it odd that features are apparently gated based on the capacity of your iCloud account rather than the available storage.
The lawsuit accuses Apple of collecting biometric data without user consent in the Photos app, reportsThe Times. It is alleged that Photos uses facial recognition technology to scan individuals who appear in images, creating a “faceprint” for each person in the photo library.
After collecting enough samples, an algorithm is allegedly used to identify the iPhone user. That data is then stored on the iPhone within the Photos app.
I don’t see what the issue is here. My understanding is that it only uploads vectors after you’ve opted in by enabling iCloud Photos and manually assigning names. Also, the vectors don’t seem like the sort of biometric information that the law was meant to protect.
Assuming things are working properly, what should happen is that the people you have specifically named and the photos you have specifically verified sync their info via iCloud. However, the actual face detection for the rest of the photos is done on a per device basis and is not synced via iCloud, primarily for security/privacy reasons.
So, when you first set up a new device, it will pull down the names and info for the photos where you have identified a particular person, but then it still needs to go through the entire library on-device, identify the faces in each photo, and compare them to the synced information to tell which person is in which photo. So once it’s done, you should end up with mostly the same photos identified as each person, but each device still needs to do its own face detection locally.
Apple lawsuit against OpenAI has reached its first major procedural challenge, with the ChatGPT developer asking a US federal judge to dismiss allegations that it acquired or used trade secrets taken by former Apple employees.
OpenAI submitted its 31-page dismissal motion on Wednesday in the US District Court for the Northern District of California. The filing argues that Apple has not adequately identified protectable trade secrets or alleged facts showing that OpenAI misappropriated confidential information.
Apple filed the case on July 10 against OpenAI, its io Products hardware operation, former Apple Vice President Tang Yew Tan, and former electrical engineer Chang Liu. The complaint accuses the defendants of obtaining information connected to Apple’s product development, manufacturing, components, testing, and supply chain operations.
The allegations have not been proven, and OpenAI denies possessing or seeking Apple’s trade secrets. US District Judge Edward Davila must now decide whether Apple’s complaint contains enough factual detail for the litigation to continue.
OpenAI Challenges the Apple Lawsuit
OpenAI’s motion focuses initially on how Apple described the information it claims was stolen. According to OpenAI, the complaint relies on generalized product-development categories without identifying the protected information with enough precision.
Trade secret plaintiffs face a difficult balance at the beginning of litigation. Apple must describe the protected material sufficiently to establish a plausible legal claim, but revealing the material publicly could expose the same information it is trying to protect.
Sensitive details can later be handled under seal or through a protective order. At the dismissal stage, however, Apple must still provide enough information for the court to distinguish genuine trade secrets from general engineering knowledge, employee experience, or skills acquired through years of work.
OpenAI argues that Apple has not crossed that threshold. Its motion says the complaint fails to establish ownership of a protectable trade secret and does not plausibly allege that OpenAI acquired, disclosed, or used such information.
The filing also disputes the commercial premise behind Apple’s accusations. OpenAI says it is developing products that are different from Apple’s hardware and has no need or desire to use the iPhone maker’s confidential material.
That position does not settle whether information was taken. A company can potentially misappropriate trade secrets even when its eventual product has a different design. The court’s immediate task is narrower: determining whether Apple has alleged facts that could support its claims if those facts are later proven.
Apple Park | Image Source: Google
Disputed Access to Apple Information
Apple’s complaint centers partly on Chang Liu, who spent eight years working as a senior system electrical engineer at the company before joining OpenAI in January 2026.
Apple alleges that Liu retained an Apple-issued computer and accessed confidential technical information after leaving. It claims he exploited residual authentication access on multiple occasions to obtain internal documents while already working for OpenAI.
OpenAI presents a different explanation. It says Apple employees contacted Liu after his departure and asked him to help locate files needed for ongoing Apple work. The company published redacted messages that it says support this account.
OpenAI argues that Apple’s systems and policies allowed personal and corporate information to become intermingled through iCloud accounts. Former employees, it says, could retain access to Apple files without requesting it or realizing that access remained active.
The motion maintains that Apple cannot treat the foreseeable effects of its own access-management practices as proof that former employees intentionally stole data. Apple, in contrast, alleges that its records document repeated access to restricted information rather than an accidental discovery of lingering permissions.
These competing accounts are likely to become central if the case enters discovery. Authentication logs, downloaded files, device records, internal communications, and employment timelines could establish whether access was deliberate, what information was obtained, and whether it reached anyone working on OpenAI products.
A dismissal motion normally tests whether the complaint states a legally sufficient claim. It is not a trial, and the judge is not expected to resolve every factual disagreement using competing evidence at this point.
Tang Tan and OpenAI’s Hardware Team
Apple separately accuses Tang Tan, OpenAI’s chief hardware officer, of seeking confidential information from Apple employees during recruiting conversations.
Tan spent more than 24 years at Apple and worked on products including the iPhone, Apple Watch, AirPods, and iPod. He later helped establish io Products with former Apple design chief Jony Ive and other collaborators. OpenAI acquired the hardware company as part of its effort to create a family of devices built around artificial intelligence.
Apple alleges that Tan used confidential project names, retained internal materials, and encouraged job candidates to discuss unreleased components or bring physical parts to interviews. OpenAI rejects the claim that these interactions formed a coordinated effort to collect Apple secrets.
OpenAI says Tan repeatedly instructed employees that confidential information from previous employers could not be brought into its organization. It also offers an alternative explanation for an Apple offboarding document found in his possession, arguing that Tan retained it to help incoming employees comply with Apple’s departure procedures.
Apple’s position is that the document and recruiting communications must be examined alongside the other alleged conduct. It describes the events as part of a connected campaign rather than isolated employment or administrative issues.
The dispute comes during intense competition for engineers capable of developing consumer AI hardware. Apple alleges that more than 400 former employees have moved to OpenAI, although hiring people from a competitor does not by itself establish trade secret misappropriation.
A company must generally connect recruitment to the acquisition, disclosure, or use of protected information. OpenAI is relying heavily on that distinction, presenting Apple’s lawsuit as an attempt to respond to employee departures and its difficulties competing for AI talent.
Image Credit: Getty Images
Apple Seeks Immediate Restrictions
OpenAI’s dismissal request arrives shortly after Apple asked the court for a preliminary injunction. Apple wants restrictions imposed while the lawsuit proceeds, arguing that it could suffer harm if its confidential information is used during OpenAI’s hardware development.
The requested relief would prevent OpenAI and the individual defendants from acquiring, accessing, using, or disclosing the alleged trade secrets. Apple has also requested expedited discovery and forensic examination of relevant devices and accounts.
OpenAI says those restrictions are unnecessary because it does not possess or want Apple’s protected information. It has described Apple’s request as based on false information and has offered to cooperate in addressing specific concerns.
The two companies also disagree over their communications before the lawsuit. Apple initially said its concerns had been raised with OpenAI months earlier. OpenAI responded that Apple’s outside lawyers contacted the wrong person after confusing names and incorrectly described a conversation with OpenAI’s general counsel.
OpenAI says Apple did not present the specific accusations before filing the case and that the companies had previously discussed resolving any access issues. Apple has since provided additional information in support of its injunction request, including allegations involving other former employees.
These disputes have moved beyond ordinary court filings. OpenAI published messages and emails on its website to support its version of events, calling Apple’s lawsuit aggressive and poorly investigated. Apple has primarily presented its account through formal legal submissions.
Judge Davila could dismiss some or all of Apple’s claims, deny the motion, or allow Apple to amend its complaint with more specific allegations. Even a dismissal would not necessarily end the case if permission to revise the complaint is granted.
The next scheduled public test is an October 1 hearing covering Apple’s preliminary injunction and request for early discovery. That proceeding may determine whether OpenAI faces immediate limits on its hardware work before the underlying trade secret claims receive a full evidentiary review.
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