Technologies

Facebook parent Meta reportedly facing another antitrust probe

The US Federal Trade Commission and multiple states are reportedly looking into potential anticompetitive practices by Meta’s virtual reality division, Oculus.

Facebook’s antitrust woes appear to be growing. On Friday, Bloomberg reported that the US Federal Trade Commission and multiple states, led by New York, are investigating potential anticompetitive practices by virtual reality headset maker Oculus. Facebook, which renamed itself Meta in October, owns Oculus.

Citing people with knowledge of the matter, Bloomberg said investigators have been asking developers questions about how «the Oculus app store may be discriminating against third parties that sell apps that compete with Meta’s own software.»

The FTC and the New York Attorney General’s office declined to comment. Meta didn’t immediately respond to a request for comment.

The reported investigation could create a setback for the social media giant’s plans to develop the metaverse, virtual spaces where people can work, play and socialize. It also highlights the increased US government scrutiny the company faces as it continues to grow.

This week, US District Judge James Boasberg denied Meta’s request to dismiss a revised antitrust complaint filed by the FTC, but he also signaled the agency will face an uphill battle when it comes to proving the allegations. The amended lawsuit, filed by the FTC in August, accuses the tech company of unlawfully maintaining its dominance in social networking by acquiring or eliminating companies it sees as competitive threats. Meta also owns popular photo service Instagram and messaging app WhatsApp. In the complaint, the FTC alleged that Facebook’s purchase of Instagram and WhatsApp have led to poorer services with decreased privacy and data protection, along with fewer consumer choices. Meta has said that its investment into both apps helped them grow and that «they have been good for competition.»

Last year, Boasberg dismissed a similar complaint filed by a group of state attorneys general. On Friday, the group filed an appeal brief arguing that the complaint shouldn’t have been dismissed and that the decision should be reversed.

«Mark Zuckerberg claims to be building the metaverse, but the actions of Facebook continue to cause significant harm to millions of consumers and many small businesses here in the real world,» said Attorney General Letitia James in a statement. «Time and again, the social media giant has used its market dominance to force small companies out of business and reduce competition for millions of users.»

Technologies

Premiere Pro for Free: How Adobe’s New iPhone App Will Let You Edit Videos at No Cost

Adobe Premiere users will only have to pay for extra AI credits and cloud storage.

Thanks to social media apps like TikTok and Instagram, everyone is an video editor these days. And soon you won’t have to sit down at a laptop to use one of the most popular video editors on the market.

Adobe announced on Thursday that it is releasing a new video editing iPhone app named Premiere on Sept. 30. You can preorder the app now in the Apple App Store, with an Android app currently in development.

The iOS app should feel familiar to Premiere users, with its multitrack timeline and preview screen. The app can be used for all your usual video editing: trimming clips, overlaying audio and adding synchronized captions. You can also use Adobe’s new voice-to-sound effects tool and record voiceovers.

Premiere should be a big upgrade for Adobe users who have only used Premiere Rush, a barebones version of its video editor. As more content creators become mobile-first, Adobe is hoping to draw them in with revamped mobile apps.

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You should be able to use the Premiere iOS app for free. Adobe says you may need to pay for generative AI credits and additional storage, like through Adobe Creative Cloud, though more pricing info is expected closer to the Sept. 30 launch. This is very different from the desktop app, which starts at $23 per month.

A truly free Premiere mobile app would be a win for content creators, especially for anyone who wants to explore editing in Premiere but doesn’t want to pay for another subscription.

In an era of mobile-first content creators, tech companies have raced to introduce user-friendly mobile editing apps. TikTok creators use the ever-popular CapCut, with Meta adding its own contribution, a new app called Edits. Adobe has long been the industry standard for professional content creation and editing, but its mobile offerings were usually less feature-packed versions of its flagship programs under different names.

That changed this year as Adobe released true mobile versions of Photoshop and Firefly AI. The new Premiere app helps Adobe make a competitive entrance in a crowded market, in addition to giving loyal Adobe users a new way to access their tools on the go.

Adobe has also been focused on integrating generative AI into its software. Premiere Pro got its first-ever AI tool, generative extend, which uses AI to add a few extra seconds to clips you upload. It’s meant to help smooth transitions between clips, particularly when you might have turned off the recording a smidge too early and need a few extra seconds of film.

AI is a contentious issue among creators, with some voicing concerns over the training and deployment of AI models. Adobe’s Firefly AI has been fully integrated into the new Premiere iOS app, though the company’s AI guidelines state that it never trains on customer data and that its AI-generated content is commercially safe.

For more, check out what to know about the iOS and Android Photoshop apps and good alternatives to CapCut.

Technologies

Today’s NYT Mini Crossword Answers for Saturday, Sept. 6

Here are the answers for The New York Times Mini Crossword for Sept. 6.

Looking for the most recent Mini Crossword answer? Click here for today’s Mini Crossword hints, as well as our daily answers and hints for The New York Times Wordle, Strands, Connections and Connections: Sports Edition puzzles.

Today’s Mini Crossword is extra-long, as usual on Saturdays. And a couple of the clues were stumpers! Need answers? Read on. And if you could use some hints and guidance for daily solving, check out our Mini Crossword tips.

If you’re looking for today’s Wordle, Connections, Connections: Sports Edition and Strands answers, you can visit CNET’s NYT puzzle hints page.

Read more: Tips and Tricks for Solving The New York Times Mini Crossword

Let’s get to those Mini Crossword clues and answers.

Mini across clues and answers

1A clue: U.S. prez who served four terms
Answer: FDR

4A clue: Hurry, in Shakespearean English
Answer: HIE

7A clue: Only country to have a musical instrument (the harp) as its national emblem
Answer: IRELAND

9A clue: Big name in rum
Answer: BACARDI

10A clue: She holds the record for most #1 Billboard hits by a female rapper (5)
Answer: CARDIB

11A clue: Ancient time-tracking device
Answer: SUNDIAL

12A clue: Ctrl-___-Del
Answer: ALT

13A clue: Opposite of SSW
Answer: NNE

14A clue: Used to be
Answer: WAS

15A clue: Jupiter or Saturn, primarily
Answer: GAS

Mini down clues and answers

1D clue: Small lie
Answer: FIB

2D clue: Whom Count von Count of «Sesame Street» is a parody of
Answer: DRACULA

3D clue: Takes back, as testimony
Answer: RECANTS

4D clue: 1920s U.S. president
Answer: HARDING

5D clue: Home to the W.N.B.A.’s Fever
Answer: INDIANA

6D clue: Weed gummies
Answer: EDIBLES

8D clue: Cooking grease
Answer: LARD

11D clue: Observed
Answer: SAW

Technologies

Researchers Discover 18 Popular VPNs Are Connected: Why This Matters

All are owned by 3 separate groups but CNET’s recommended VPNs are not on the list

Virtual private networks are popular ways to keep your online activity private and hide your physical location from your internet service provider and apps. But it’s obviously important to choose a safe and secure VPN.

Three university researchers have discovered that 18 of the most widely used VPNs have shared infrastructures with serious security flaws that could expose customers’ browsing activity and leave their systems vulnerable to corrupted data. These VPNs are among the top 100 most popular on the Google Play Store, comprising more than 700 million downloads.

Read more: Best VPN Service for 2025: Our Top Picks in a Tight Race

The peer-reviewed study by the Privacy Enhancing Technologies Symposium found that these VPNs, despite calling themselves independent businesses, are actually grouped into three separate families of companies.

None of CNET’s recommended VPNs — ExpressVPN, NordVPN, Surfshark, Proton VPN and Mullvad — are on the list. (If you currently don’t have a VPN, here’s why you might want to start using one.)

According to the findings, these are the three groups that contain the 18 VPNs:

Family A: Turbo VPN, Turbo VPN Lite, VPN Monster, VPN Proxy Master, VPN Proxy Master Lite, Robot VPN, Snap VPN and SuperNet VPN
Family B: Global VPN, Inf VPN, Melon VPN, Super Z VPN, Touch VPN, VPN ProMaster, XY VPN and 3X VPN
Family C: X-VPN and Fast Potato VPN

Researchers determined that the VPNs in Family A are shared between three providers linked to Qihoo 360, a firm identified by the US Department of Defense as a Chinese military company. The VPNs in Family B use the same IP addresses from the same hosting company.

Know your VPN’s parent company

It’s a cautionary tale about why it’s important to know who’s behind the VPN you’re using, says CNET senior writer Attila Tomaschek.

«It’s also crucial to know what kinds of data the VPN provider is sharing with its parent company and affiliated entities,» Tomaschek said. «Some of these companies may even be compelled to log customer activity and share it with authorities, depending on the jurisdiction in which they operate.»

Despite the warnings, Tomaschek says it’s not so easy to figure out who controls your VPN. But he says there are measures that customers can take.

«Users can do a few things to help ensure the VPN they’re using is reputable,» Tomaschek says. «Check the privacy policy — specifically for terms like ‘logging,’ ‘data sharing’ or ‘data collection.’ A Google search of the provider can help determine whether the VPN has been involved in questionable activity. Read detailed, unbiased reviews from reputable sources. Be especially wary of signing on with a free VPN, even if it’s listed as a top choice in your app store.»

The PETS researchers examined the most downloaded VPNs on Android, looking for overlaps among business paperwork, web presence and codebase. After identifying code similarities, they were able to group the 18 VPNs into three groups. The study was initially spurred by VPN Pro’s own findings, «Who owns your VPN? 105 VPNs run by just 24 companies.»

CNET’s Tomaschek has advice for anyone who has been using one of these 18 VPNs.

«I’d recommend deleting it from your device immediately,» he said. «If you suspect that any sensitive personal data may have been compromised, it’s a good idea to keep an eye on your credit report and look into services like dark web monitoring or identity theft protection.»