People aren't thrilled with Paramount these days. After all, corporate consolidation and the transformation of CBS News into state media tend to do that. But here's someone who may not have chosen the… wisest form of protest. The Straits Times reports (via Gizmodo ) that Singapore police have arrested a 26-year-old man for leaking Paramount's The Legend of Aang: The Last Airbender . The film, part of the Avatar: The Last Airbender franchise , was initially scheduled for a theatrical release. But after two delays, it was later moved to Paramount+, where it’s set to debut later this year. Naturally, hardcore fans of the franchise bristled at the prospect of the highly anticipated entry skipping theaters. Paramount's scant marketing apparently didn't help either. However, many have already seen the movie, allegedly thanks to the unnamed 26-year-old in question. Singapore police said he gained remote access to a server and downloaded the film. He then posted parts of it online. After the leak, Paramount changed the movie's name to Avatar Aang: The Last Airbender — perhaps to try to prevent casual fans' searches from turning up info about the leak. The man is being investigated for unauthorized access to computer material. He could face a maximum of seven years in prison, a fine of up to $50,000, or both. Earlier this month, The Hollywood Reporter interviewed the X account holder @ImStillDissin, who posted the clips. (Although we can speculate that this may be the man currently in custody, that’s unconfirmed.) The interview revealed a rather, shall we say, blasé approach to the incident. He said he figured posting clips from the movie was no biggie since the film is a streaming-only release. "I saw it's just a Paramount+ thing, so I decided I'd troll a little bit," the leaker said. The leaked clips spread rapidly. Despite pleas from 4Chan posters to share the entire film, @ImStillDissin resisted. However, someone else shared the full movie by April 13. Naturally, that file has since circulated far and wide. So, good luck with that official October 9 streaming release, Paramount. You're gonna need it. This article originally appeared on Engadget at https://www.engadget.com/entertainment/streaming/singapore-police-arrest-alleged-the-legend-of-aang-the-last-airbender-leaker-183954803.html?src=rss
John Ternus was unavoidable when Apple debuted the Macbook Neo. He kicked off an intimate media event for the Neo, introducing it as a transformative machine for Apple thanks to its low $599 cost ($499 for education customers) and premium build quality. He was interviewed on Good Morning America , the sort of prominent media feature CEO Tim Cook typically handles. And when I asked Apple workers about the Neo at its launch event, they almost always brought up Ternus’ vision of the laptop. For all intents and purposes, Ternus was Apple’s frontman for the MacBook Neo. Ternus is slated for his coronation as Apple's CEO on September 1, and the Neo is not only a feather in his cap, but a likely indication of the company's approach to products going forward. It’s a sign that Apple is getting more comfortable taking risks. Apple lives and dies on its own premium image. It completely gave up on making cheap iPhones like the SE and 5C, and the $599 iPhone 16e and 17e are more expensive than typical mid-range Android phones (though the $249 Apple Watch SE is admittedly one of the cheaper smartwatches around.). It was risky to shove a mobile processor into a full-fledged computer, which could have made it too weak. And it was a gamble to stick with a meager 8GB of RAM, practically sacrilegious within the Apple pantheon. It's not breaking new ground for product categories, but the Neo, in being a budget laptop at all, is surprisingly un-Apple. A citrus MacBook Neo on a table outside. Devindra Hardawar for Engadget And yet, thanks to Ternus's hardware leadership and Apple's command of its software, the MacBook Neo has been a resounding success. It has the best build quality, screen, keyboard, speakers and trackpad that I've ever seen in a $600 laptop. As I wrote in my review , "every Windows PC maker, including Microsoft, should be ashamed." While we don’t know the full build cost for the Neo, Apple’s margins for selling it will undoubtedly be far slimmer than the MacBook Air or Pro. But the Neo is more than a profit maker. It’s a device that can serve as a gateway to the Apple ecosystem for kids and students. Even better, it could easily tempt over Windows users. We can't give Ternus all the credit for the Neo, of course, there's an entire team of product managers and engineers below him doing the actual design work. But it's hard to deny the flex of building a $600 laptop that doesn't feel like total garbage. The MacBook Neo surprised me, a jaded technology reporter, on practically every level. And its existence makes me wonder how a Ternus-led Apple could continue to iterate without compromising quality or Apple's signature attention to detail. Ternus is the rare Apple engineer who has played a role in almost all of its existing products — in his 25 year tenure, he’s taken charge of building the Mac, iPad, iPhone and Apple Watch. That gives him a unique perspective of where the company could go next, as well as how Apple could stretch its own capabilities. And based on what I’ve seen of the MacBook Neo, it’ll be interesting to see how Apple reshapes itself for the future. This article originally appeared on Engadget at https://www.engadget.com/computing/laptops/the-macbook-neo-is-a-glimpse-into-john-ternuss-apple-170000842.html?src=rss
