A new iOS feature will make life harder for iPhone thieves

[The Morning After]( It's Wednesday, December 13, 2023. Apple is adding a new iPhone feature called [Stolen Device Protection]( which limits what thieves can do with a stolen phone and passcode. It combines location, biometric scans and time delays, allowing victims to lock out the perpetrator and safeguard their data. Stolen Device Protection defends against iPhone thieves who monitor users entering their passcode before snatching the device. With the passcode, the perpetrator could reset the owner’s Apple ID password, turn off Find My tracking, change an Apple ID password and a lot more. With this still-in-beta feature turned on, the phone will ask for a Face ID or Touch ID scan if the device is away from a familiar location, like home or work. It will also require a one-hour delay before changing the Apple ID password on the device. After the hour, it will still ask for a Face ID or Touch ID Scan before changing the Apple ID password from the iPhone. — Mat Smith ​​You can get these reports delivered daily direct to your inbox. [Subscribe right here!]( The biggest stories you might have missed [Researchers fuse lab-grown human brain tissue with electronics]( [PlayStation’s 2023 Wrap-Up recaps your year in gaming]( [Google Maps will let you store your location on your phone instead of the cloud]( [How to use Apple’s new Journal app]( [Google’s superfast 20Gbps Wi-Fi 7 Fiber plan costs $250 a month]( [Masterbuilt]( 2024 charcoal smart grill lineup offers one-button ignition and more]( [The end of E3]( It was once the biggest gaming show in the world. [[TMA] MARK RALSTON/AFP via Getty Images]( The Electronic Entertainment Expo, better known as E3, is officially dead. “After more than two decades of E3, each one bigger than the last, the time has come to say goodbye. Thanks for the memories,” the Entertainment Software Association, E3’s organizer, wrote on X. The industry trade group closed the statement with “GGWP” — good game, well played. The ESA said, after major names pulled out of this year’s planned E3, the event “simply did not garner the sustained interest necessary to execute it in a way that would showcase the size, strength and impact of our industry.” While E3 may be gone, gaming events aren’t going away. Gamescom, held in Germany, is far larger than E3 in attendance and other factors. There’s also Summer Game Fest, a sort-of E3 replacement The Game Awards producer and host Geoff Keighley started in 2020 and expanded last year to include a physical event for the first time. The likes of Capcom, Ubisoft and Xbox held games showcases in association with SGF this year. The event will return for its fifth edition in 2024. [Continue reading.]( [Netflix reveals ‘what we watched’]( It’s the first engagement report it’s ever released. [[TMA] Netflix]( Netflix has published the first of a new twice-a-year engagement report called What We Watched. It launched Tuesday as a Microsoft Excel file (!) and lists the hours viewed for every title that tallied more than 50,000 viewing hours, making it the first ultra-detailed glimpse at what people watch on Netflix. Top hits include the first season of the action-thriller series The Night Agent (nope, not heard of it), with 812,100,000 hours watched. In second place was season two of the drama Ginny & Georgia (I don’t know[her or her]( with 665,100,000 hours. Korean show The Glory (three for three…) came third with 622,800,000 hours watched. [Continue reading.]( [Apple may lift NFC restrictions in Europe to escape antitrust fines]( Rivals could use tap-and-go payments without Apple Pay. Apple is attempting to avoid another legal battle with the European Union. The company is allegedly offering its rivals access to its Near-Field Communication (NFC) technology, used for tap-and-go payments, following the European Commission’s ongoing probe into Apple’s potential antitrust Apple Pay practices. While Apple’s current proposal could get it out of a hefty fine and settle the case against it, it’s not guaranteed to move forward. It’s not just Europe, either. Apple faces a[lawsuit in the United States]( brought in July 2022 by Iowa’s Affinity Credit Union, which accuses the company of engaging in anti-competitive behavior by illegally restricting iOS users to Apple Pay for any contactless payment. [Continue reading.]( The Morning After is a daily newsletter from Engadget designed to help you fight off FOMO. Who knows what you'll miss if you don't [subscribe](. Craving even more? [Like us on Facebook]( or [follow us on Twitter](. Have a suggestion on how we can improve The Morning After? [Send us a note.]( [Twitter]( [Facebook]( [Youtube]( [Instagram]( You are receiving this email because you opted in at [engadget.com](. Not interested anymore? [Unsubscribe from this newsletter.]( Copyright © 2023 Yahoo. All rights reserved.