Several popular Samsung smart TV apps contain code that share the owner's internet connection with strangers, potentially putting millions of Samsung smart TVs at risk of hijacking, according to new security research published on Monday. These apps contain software that funnels outsiders' web traffic through ordinary home and office internet connections, known as residential proxy networks (or 'resproxies'), which are increasingly being linked to cybercrime. When opened, apps with resproxy code can turn the smart TV into an always-on tunnel for outsiders to funnel their web traffic through, known as an exit node ' even when the app is no longer open. The security research by Norwegian cybersecurity company Mnemonic describes a perfect storm of problems that allows low-quality apps to proliferate across Samsung's app store, containing code that puts users at risk of having their internet connections tapped by a rogue app. Many of these apps are bare-bone shells, made from only a few lines of code, and are designed solely to load content from another website, such as a game. While such smart TV apps load content from another server, any review of these apps sees only the few lines of code within, and not necessarily the content itself....

Reddit is taking a cue from TikTok to bring viral stories to life through video. On Thursday's second-quarter earnings call, the company said it's been working on a new 'video Reddit' experience that would not only allow users to watch videos from the platform, but also listen to posts in the background. He's right ' on TikTok, for instance, there are 19.6 million posts labeled with the hashtag #reddit and another 9.9 million labeled #redditstories. Many of these feature a text-to-speech narration of a viral story published on Reddit paired with an unrelated video, like gameplay footage or cooking content. 'There is an emerging content type elsewhere on the internet of, basically, podcasts where people read Reddit content,' Huffman explained on the call. 'I think this version of, like, listened-to or spoken Reddit can be really engaging, as well,' he said. 'So that would be almost a different format entirely.' Last week, Facebook announced plans to begin testing later this year a reimagined experience that will put a subset of users into a full-screen video as soon as they open the app. Streaming apps like Netflix, Disney+, Peacock, and HBO Max have also added TikTok-like short video feeds in recent months. Amazon offers a short video feed for shopping inspiration. There's even a short video feed on LinkedIn, of all places....

Prediction market Kalshi sent Netflix a cease-and-desist letter on Friday demanding that the streaming service take down the trailer for an upcoming documentary. In the letter, Kalshi claimed the trailer is 'defamatory' and contains 'both fabricated documents and false and misleading statements.' 'Instadocs: The Prediction Games' is a documentary about the rise of prediction markets. According to Netflix, the film ' part of the streamer's 'Instadoc' series of fast-turnaround documentaries ' features interviews with both Polymarket CEO Shayne Coplan and Kalshi CEO Tarek Mansour. The trailer, however, focuses on a recent party in Las Vegas, where men who have 'made millions of dollars on prediction markets, probably eight figures, just over the course of the World Cup' have gathered to watch the World Cup final. One of the guests declares, 'I like betting on Kalshi,' while another shows off an apparent $5,000 bet on their phone. However, Kalshi is currently banned from operating in Nevada due to a court order. In its cease-and-desist letter, Kalshi said the bet shown on the phone is actually a screenshot of a bet made on May 16, 2025 ' long before the ban. But the company argued that in the trailer, Netflix 'misled its millions of customers into believing this individual was able to successfully trade sport event contracts in Nevada on July 19, 2026.'...

All the big entertainment apps are starting to look the same, and that's not an accident. For a decade, platforms fought over who would dominate a single format: music, video, podcasts, audiobooks. Now, powered by AI, they're fighting over something bigger ' becoming the app you default to whenever you have time to kill, no matter what form the content takes. There are several reasons why this is the case. The market for entertainment apps is reaching maturity, so growth has slowed, pushing companies to compete on time spent and revenue-per-user instead of new sign-ups. In addition, today's creators often work across formats, so it makes sense to provide a home for all their content, not just one piece of it. AI adds a third reason. It makes it easier for a single company to build and run several formats well, and the wider the content mix, the more time users spend in the app, which in turn drives both ad revenue and subscriptions. Netflix is one clear example of this trend, as the service over the past several years has added gaming, live sports and other events, and, more recently, short video clips and podcasts. The idea is to capture more of users' time, even when there's not a TV or movie they want to watch, as well as to find a way into the smaller bits of free time that people usually fill with scrolling social media, playing casual games, or watching TikTok or Reels....