The device in the image resembles the phone in previously leaked photos of the model’s prototype. Its rear cameras are inside one glass panel within a raised metal bar spanning the whole width of the phone. And, of course, Google’s “G” logo is at the center of the device. Based on other previous leaks — yes, there were many — the Pixel 8 Pro’s camera array is made up of a 50-megapixel main camera that lets in 50 percent more light and a 64-megapixel ultrawide Sony camera. It’s also rumored to have a flat display instead of curved ones similar to the Pixel 6 Pro’s and Pixel 7 Pro’s. In addition, it’s expected to come with a 5,000 mAh battery and a 27W max charging speed.

Google’s Pixel 8 Pro doesn’t have a launch date yet, but the tech giant unveiled the two previous generations during an event held in October 2021 and 2022.

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The breach occurred on May 10th, when the German-language newspaper Handelsblatt said it received 100GB of data from "several informants" within Tesla. The "Tesla files" reportedly contained 23,000 internal files, containing 2,400 reports of self-acceleration issue and 1,500 cases of braking function problems. The latter included 139 complaints about unintentional emergency braking and 383 incidences of phantom stops from false collision warnings.

In the employee letter, Tesla provided more information about the incident, confirming the May 10 breach date and that Handelsblatt had obtained Tesla confidential information. "The investigation revealed that two former Tesla employees misappropriated the information in violation of Tesla’s IT security and data protection policies and shared it with the media outlet."

The data also included employee names and contact information including physical addresses, email addresses and mobile phone numbers. "The outlet has stated that it does not intend to publish the personal information, and in any event, is legally prohibited from using it inappropriately," Tesla stated. It added that several lawsuits resulted in the seizure of devices thought to carry the data, and that it had "obtained court orders that prohibit the former employees from further use, access, or dissemination of the data."

Last year, the National Highway Traffic Safety Administration opened a probe into Tesla's phantom braking issue following owner complaints. And in August 2022, it was reported that Tesla is facing a class-action lawsuit over the same problem.

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The simulator (since shut down), was originally noticed by X user José Rubén, and others then posted their own images taken from the tool, as The Verge reported. It reveals blue, porcelain and black colors, along with a home screen that looks similar to the previous Pixel 7 Pro. It also shows a SIM card slot and confirms the temperature sensor we saw in an earlier leak.

It doesn't list any specs, but we already have a pretty good idea about those thanks to (yes) past leaks. The Pixel 8 Pro's camera array should include a 50-megapixel main camera that lets in 50 percent more light and a 64-megapixel ultrawide Sony camera. It's also rumored to have a flat display instead of curved ones similar to the Pixel 6 Pro's and Pixel 7 Pro's. In addition, it's expected to come with a 5,000 mAh battery and a 27W max charging speed.

The Pixel 8 Pro should be revealed at Google's next launch event, set for October 4 at 10AM ET — the leaks come just ahead of the iPhone 15 launch on September 12th, surely a coincidence. On top of the Pixel 8 and Pixel 8 Pro, we may see the Pixel Watch 2 and other hardware.

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Microsoft previously stated it has no plans for a mid-gen console refresh, but that doesn't appear to be true according to the document. In fact, the company is working on three new consoles. The first, codenamed Ellewood, is a light refresh of the Xbox Series S (set to arrive around September 2024), while "Brooklin," tentatively planned for approximately November 2024, is a new disc-less version of the Xbox Series X. Another model, called XDL, matches Brooklin's specs but will presumably offer Xbox Design Lab customization.

Microsoft's two-tone "Sebile" controller has a built-in accelerometer and haptics that "double as speakers," which would make it more like Sony's latest DualSense controller. It also features new modular thumbsticks, quieter buttons and thumbsticks and new app features, along with sustainability tweaks like a swappable battery, recycled materials and improved reparability. The company will also have an XDL version of Sebile, codenamed Igraine.

The star of this leak is the new updated Xbox Series X console, though, which Microsoft touts as "adorable" (presumably due to the cylindrical design that's less severe than the current fridge-like Xbox Series X). Along with the new design, the Series X will come with Wi-Fi 6E, Bluetooth 5.2, USB-C front port, an all-new southbridge "to modernize IO and sustainability efforts" and a 6-nanometer die shrink. That will result in a reduced (15 percent) power draw with a new low-power standby mode that's up to 80 percent less than current standby, along with increased use of recycled plastic (>30 percent) and 100 percent recycled packaging.

It'll have 2TB of storage, or double the current model, and come standard with the Sebile controller. Microsoft also notes that it'll have the "same great price" as the current Xbox Series X at $499 when it arrives (tentatively November 2024), but that's a somewhat disingenuous statement given the lack of a disc.

The Xbox Series S will have similar improvements inside, along with double the storage (1TB rather than 512GB), though the design appears relatively unchanged. It's also set to carry the same current $299 price, with availability tentatively set for September 2024.

A lot more information is laid out, including things that Microsoft would no doubt want private, like projected sales volumes, margins, funding and more. For instance, Microsoft notes that "Sebile full product vision not currently approved due to GM % (gross margin percentage), and appears to place that ball in the "Finance" court. It also outlines a "path to leadership in gaming" with a vision of cloud-first, PC-first and console-first Xbox Game Pass subscription numbers. The leak appears to be a massive screwup that will likely cause some severe fallout, so stay tuned.

Update 9/20 9AM: This article was updated after publish with more context around the leaked controller and Series X.

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All-digital Xbox Series X refresh

Over the last few console generations, we’ve seen the likes of Sony and Microsoft release updated hardware midway through the cycle (the PS4 Pro and Xbox One X spring to mind). And while there are always rumors in the lead up to those new versions, we’ve never seen legitimate leaks of this magnitude before.

Codenamed “Brooklin,” a refreshed Series X will have double the internal storage at 2TB, lower power usage, Wi-Fi 6E connectivity and other tech updates, according to a leaked document. This model will have a cylindrical design, compared with the boxy original Series X.

Critically, Microsoft is planning to ditch the console’s disc drive. It’s not yet clear as to whether there will be an external disc drive available (as is rumored to be the case for a PlayStation 5 refresh). It would mark a significant shift for Xbox to no longer offer a disc drive as standard and perhaps accelerate the death of physical game discs. What’s more, Microsoft plans to sell the updated Series X for $499, the same price as the current console.

Microsoft is planning to release an updated Xbox controller next year as well, per the unredacted filing. Codenamed “Sebile,” the peripheral is slated to have “precision haptic feedback” (perhaps to better compete with Sony’s DualSense), quieter inputs and, like some premium controllers, modular thumbsticks. There’s said to be support for “seamless” pairing and switching between devices with the help of new mobile app features.

Intriguingly, a “direct-to-cloud” feature is mentioned in a slide. That suggests Microsoft is focusing on reducing input latency for games streamed from the cloud, like Google tried with the Stadia Controller (RIP).

Sebile is slated to arrive in May, according to the documents. Microsoft is then expected to announce the new Series X (and a Series S refresh) in June, likely at its annual summer showcase. The $299 Series S refresh is now expected to go on sale around August or September 2024, with the beefed-up Series X scheduled to land a couple months later. It seems Microsoft is planning a clearance sale on the current Series S too, as a slide mentions a $199 offer for Black Friday 2024.

The next-gen Xbox could be a ‘cloud-hybrid’ console

It seems we’re not yet midway through the current console generation, but of course Microsoft is thinking about what’s ahead. The next-gen Xbox, slated to arrive in 2028, is expected to support “cloud hybrid games.”

There’s not much detail available on that, but it’s clear the company has been moving in this direction for a while. Microsoft Flight Simulator, for instance, incorporates real-time weather data that it pulls from the cloud (that’s not a pun, I swear). Xbox has been making a major push into cloud gaming over the last few years too.

There’s an implication that the next-generation Xbox will have an always-online requirement for certain games. It’s entirely plausible that there will still be a sizable digital divide by 2028, which could prevent some folks in rural areas or other regions with poor internet access from properly being able to play games on Microsoft’s next major console.

Xbox head Phil Spencer really wants to buy Nintendo

Microsoft Gaming CEO Phil Spencer thinks it would be, like, super cool if the company bought Nintendo. Spencer suggested in an internal 2020 email discussing acquisition targets that he saw Nintendo as a white whale for the company, and one that he was personally invested in snapping up. He saw that as a potential “career moment,” per the email.

The document nods toward other possible acquisition targets, including another highly ambitious one in Valve. Spencer mentioned that his team was in active talks with Warner Bros. Interactive and Bethesda parent ZeniMax Media. Both of those were seemingly open to a deal and while the WB talks didn’t work out in Microsoft’s favor, the company did scoop up ZeniMax for $7.5 billion.

It seems highly unlikely that Microsoft would ever actually buy Nintendo. Antitrust regulators would surely have a lot to say about that, particularly after Microsoft’s ZeniMax purchase and its pending $68.7 billion deal for Activision Blizzard (which could close any day now). It’s not hard to imagine that Japanese officials in particular would be none too happy about an American business buying one of the country’s best-known brands. Still, it’s nice to have dreams, eh, Phil?

Upcoming games

The leak also shed some light on Xbox’s plans for upcoming games. It seems that new Doom and Dishonored games are in the pipeline. The latter would see Arkane returning to a successful series after Redfall — its most recent attempt to branch out into fresh IP — faceplanted this year. Fallout 3 Remaster, Oblivion Remaster and a Ghostwire: Tokyo sequel were also mentioned in the leaked documents.

It’s worth noting, however, that this Bethesda roadmap ran from fiscal years 2020 through 2024. A lot has changed since then, including Microsoft buying the publisher. Games get canceled all the time, so it’s unclear whether any of these unannounced projects will actually come to light. Still, it’s hard to imagine that there isn’t some kind of Doom title in development.

This is all the tip of the iceberg when it comes to the leaked documents. There are details on everything from Game Pass revenue to Microsoft leaders’ reactions to the PlayStation 5 announcement and Spencer revealing he bought his own PS5 (he had to plump for a bundle with Horizon Forbidden West included).

The timing of this leak could not have been worse for Microsoft, as we’re going into the critical holiday period. The company was banking on Starfield being a must-have game (it isn’t, unfortunately) to help it shift consoles and Game Pass subscriptions in the last few months of the year. This news won’t help convince people who were on the fence to buy an Xbox soon either. Knowing that a revamped Series X is on the way next year will surely put some people off of buying one now (raises hand). That could result in Microsoft losing more ground against Sony and Nintendo, which appears set to debut a brand new console in 2024.

The FTC, which still has a lawsuit in the works in an attempt to block the Microsoft-Activision deal, has claimed it’s not to blame for the leak. “Microsoft was responsible for the error in uploading these documents to the court,” Douglas Farrar, director of the FTC’s office of public affairs, told NBC News. However all of this information got out there, some heads are surely rolling at Microsoft HQ today.

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The Pixel 8a should be a bit smaller and slimmer than before, but will carry the same 6.1-inch display. The rear module houses two cameras, while the front has a hole-punch camera design as before. The bezels appear to be relatively thin, with just a small chin on the bottom.

The design shown may be based on CAD drawings, but it looks identical to a leaked physical model shown last month by Abhishek Yadav. If both end up matching the real model, we're seeing a premium design on a phone that should be considerably cheaper than the $800 and $1,000 Pixel 8/Pixel 8 Pro models (the Pixel 7a cost $500 at launch). If Google follows the same script as before, it will also carry the same Tensor G3 chips as the more expensive models. As far as what other features it will share (or lack), we'll have to wait for the announcement — or further leaks.

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The publisher began by thanking supportive fans, many of whom rallied around the hacking victim in the thread’s comments, before relaying the burden the cyberattack inflicted on its employees. “We’re both saddened and angered about the recent criminal cyberattack on our studio and the emotional toll it’s taken on our dev team,” the studio wrote. “We have focused inwardly for the last several days to support each other.”

Insomniac acknowledged some of the stolen content currently making the rounds on social media and the dark web. “We are aware that the stolen data includes personal information belonging to our employees, former employees, and independent contractors,” it posted. “It also includes early development details about Marvel’s Wolverine for PlayStation 5. We continue working quickly to determine what data was impacted.”

The Rhysida ransomware group took credit for the attack, claiming to have infiltrated Insomniac within 20 to 25 minutes, according to the group’s statement to cyberdaily.au. The hackers threatened to publish the stolen content if Insomniac, Sony or anyone else refused to pay its $2 million ransom. The group suggested that some data was sold, and the public dump allegedly comprised 98 percent of the complete set.

In addition to the Wolverine gameplay, the leak included files from Marvel’s Spider-Man 2, internal HR documents (including I-9 employment forms and termination docs), screenshots from Insomniac’s Slack channels and the contents of several employees’ PCs.

“This experience has been extremely distressing for us,” Insomniac wrote. “We want everyone to enjoy the games we develop as intended and as our players deserve.”

Insomniac alluded to its leaked protagonist to signal durability. “Like Logan…Insomniac is resilient,” the publisher posted. “Marvel’s Wolverine continues as planned. The game is in early production and will no doubt greatly evolve throughout development, as do all our plans.”

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In a Boston federal court, Teixeira pleaded guilty to six counts of “willful retention and transmission of national defense information” under the Espionage Act. Federal authorities arrested the airman at his mother’s house last April.

The Air National Guardsman is accused of sharing classified documents on a Minecraft-focused Discord server in late 2022. The posted files included volumes of information about the war in Ukraine (including details about military equipment and Russian and Ukrainian troop movements), as well as Russia’s attempts to stockpile more weapons from Egypt and Turkey. The content eventually landed on 4chan, Telegram and other Discord servers.

The leaked docs also contained a report about the hacking of an unnamed American company by “a foreign adversary” and details about a plot to assault US troops serving abroad.

The government said it didn’t find evidence of deliberate espionage motives, nor did it accuse Teixeira of acting as a whistleblower in the mold of Edward Snowden. Instead, prosecutors concluded he wanted to gain status with his online friends. The New York Times reports that a senior federal law enforcement official, speaking anonymously to the paper, said the DOJ wouldn’t have agreed to the reduced sentencing if it had uncovered more malicious motives.

The judge presiding over the case, Indira Talwani, scheduled a hearing in September to finalize her endorsement of the deal. The sentencing guidelines range from 11 to more than 16 years in prison. His lawyer, Michael K. Bachrach, told reporters Teixeira’s immaturity played a pivotal role while promising he would push for the lowest sentence. “He is very much a kid,” the attorney reportedly said. “We will be able to establish why his youth played a substantial role.”

A NYT investigation of more than 9,500 of Teixeira’s messages, published last May, revealed an obsession with “weapons, mass shootings, shadowy conspiracy theories — and proving he was in the right, and in the know.”

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It's not the first time rumors of a white all-digital Xbox Series X have leaked out. Last month, Exputer also reported that Microsoft planned to release a white, all-digital Xbox Series X sometime between June and July 2024, with a retail price $50 to $100 lower than the current Xbox Series X.

Last year, a large leak indicated that Microsoft would launch an all-digital Xbox Series X with a new cylindrical design, arriving in November of 2024 for $500. The device, code-named Brooklin, was tipped to come with Wi-Fi 6E, Bluetooth 5.2, USB-C front port, an all-new southbridge and a 6-nanometer die shrink. That would allow for a reduced (15 percent) power draw, a new low-power standby mode and increased use of recycled plastic.

Much of the news around Brooklin was effectively refuted by Xbox boss Phil Spencer shortly after the leak, though. He implied that it was based on early planning and no longer accurate. "It's hard to see our team's work shared in this way because so much has changed and there's so much to be excited about right now and in the future," he stated in an X post. "We will share the real plans when we are ready."

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