Latest news with #webcam
The Verge
19 hours ago
- The Verge
Logitech says all its webcams work with Nintendo Switch 2, save one
If you're looking for a webcam that works with the Nintendo Switch 2's new GameChat mode that lets you video chat with friends and see their faces within games, it looks like the biggest brand in PC accessories is still your best bet. Logitech is the first webcam maker to confirm to The Verge that the vast majority of its cameras work — all of them, in fact, save for the high-end Logitech Brio 4K. 'All of our webcams except Brio 4K work out of the box with Switch 2,' Logitech spokesperson Leila Lewis definitively tells The Verge. When the Nintendo Switch 2 launched three weeks ago, webcam manufacturers had no idea which cameras would be compatible with the new Switch, and some of the best-reviewed cameras simply didn't work. It was a weird mystery, a wild west, and webcam makers had to figure it out on their own. Many didn't even have a Switch 2 to test with, my sources tell me, and had to compete with consumers to buy the fastest-selling game console of all time. Nor did Nintendo provide compatibility guidelines, it seems, as manufacturers like Elgato and Ugreen had to reverse-engineer why their seemingly compatible cameras weren't showing up when they plugged them in. But that mystery now seems to be solved — the answers are not what we expected! — and manufacturers are now seemingly free to update any of their firmware-updatable webcams and make them compatible with the new Switch. Logitech doesn't seem to be promising an update for the Brio 4K. 'Brio 4K is built with the security features of Windows Hello that are not supported on the Switch 2 anyway,' Lewis tells The Verge. But again, all its other webcams reportedly work — which won't be all that surprising to anyone who's been following the webcam saga. When Nintendo and webcam makers weren't originally able to provide lists of working webcams, Redditors crowdsourced their own list, which includes far more working webcams from Logitech than any other manufacturer. A few Redditors say you can even get the Brio 4K working if you want, with a firmware downgrade. Do that at your own risk, though. So far, Elgato and Ugreen have committed to upgrading specific cameras to work with the Nintendo Switch 2. Obsbot has generically confirmed it will do some sort of firmware updates, and Insta360 is still looking into it. Anker is non-committal.
The Verge
20 hours ago
- The Verge
Logitech says all its webcams work with Nintendo Switch 2 — save one
If you're looking for a webcam that works with the Nintendo Switch 2's new GameChat mode that lets you video chat with friends and see their faces within games, it looks like the biggest brand in PC accessories is still your best bet. Logitech is the first webcam maker to confirm to The Verge that the vast majority of its cameras work — all of them, in fact, save for the high-end Logitech Brio 4K. 'All of our webcams except Brio 4K work out of the box with Switch 2,' Logitech spokesperson Leila Lewis definitively tells The Verge. When the Nintendo Switch 2 launched three weeks ago, webcam manufacturers had no idea which cameras would be compatible with the new Switch, and some of the best-reviewed cameras simply didn't work. It was a weird mystery, a wild west, and webcam makers had to figure it out on their own. Many didn't even have a Switch 2 to test with, my sources tell me, and had to compete with consumers to buy the fastest-selling game console of all time. Nor did Nintendo provide compatibility guidelines, it seems, as manufacturers like Elgato and Ugreen had to reverse-engineer why their seemingly compatible cameras weren't showing up when they plugged them in. But that mystery now seems to be solved — the answers are not what we expected! — and manufacturers are now seemingly free to update any of their firmware-updatable webcams and make them compatible with the new Switch. Logitech doesn't seem to be promising an update for the Brio 4K. 'Brio 4K is built with the security features of Windows Hello that are not supported on the Switch 2 anyway,' Lewis tells The Verge. But again, all its other webcams reportedly work — which won't be all that surprising to anyone who's been following the webcam saga. When Nintendo and webcam makers weren't originally able to provide lists of working webcams, Redditors crowdsourced their own list, which includes far more working webcams from Logitech than any other manufacturer. A few Redditors say you can even get the Brio 4K working if you want, with a firmware downgrade. Do that at your own risk, though. So far, Elgato and Ugreen have committed to upgrading specific cameras to work with the Nintendo Switch 2. Obsbot has generically confirmed it will do some sort of firmware updates, and Insta360 is still looking into it. Anker is non-committal.
News.com.au
a day ago
- Entertainment
- News.com.au
Woman reveals how she made a small fortune selling one item
A woman has revealed how her first brush with the adult entertainment industry led her to selling her own underwear for $350 a pop – or even more. Alix Lynx, who is based in the US, was working at a petrol station as a younger woman when she and a co-worker were approached by a male customer with an out-of-the-box proposal. Aftr hearing him out, the two women agreed to let the man buy their used underwear. As well as paying for the garments, he also gave them a Victoria's Secret gift card to replace what they had sold. 'We're both 18, making $8 (AU $12) an hour. To us, this was a big deal. There was not one shred of me that thought 'eww',' the now 36-year-old told So, Ms Lynx decided to go through with it and collected underwear from her drawers she hadn't worn in years. The next time she was working, the man returned to the petrol station for the exchange. 'Wordlessly, he gave me envelopes. As soon as he left, I looked inside and there was $300 or $400 (AU $450 to $610) in cash, plus a $100 gift card,' she said. 'It was a jackpot. I made $250 (AU $280) a week working at that place.' Ms Lynx said the duo had a handful more interactions before he stopped asking for their underwear and the 'panty operation' was paused. Eventually, they discovered the true reason why the stranger was buying women's underwear – he was wearing them. This bizarre interaction was her first brush with the adult entertainment industry, which she re-entered at 23 doing webcam content. 'I look back, and I was never promiscuous growing up. I was always more of a relationship girl,' she said. 'But, I was always open minded. Even before I had sex, I remember being around adults and seeing a mum pointing out a Playboy magazine at a petrol station and saying 'eww, it's so degrading'. But I was like 'why, who cares?' 'I've never seen sex and sexuality as a big deal, I've always seen it as a normal part of humanity.' Finding out the man from the petrol station was wearing underwear traditionally worn by women was also her first exposure to the fact that everybody is into different things when it comes to sex. Since the first evolution of the 'panty operation' Alix, who now creates adult content for a subscription platform, still sells her underwear — 'for a sh*t tonne more money'. She can get as little as five or as many as 15 requests to sell her underwear a month. She never sells for less than $150 (AU $230) a pair but 'add ons' such as a spritz of her perfume costs extra. Someone once bought a 'bulk' amount for $1200 (AU $1830). She said typically items sell for $200 (AU $380). 'I ship them worldwide — it's comical. I think the only place I haven't shipped panties is Antarctica,' she said. She said that she is thankful she doesn't get too many requests to work out in her underwear before sending them to customers. However, she is surprised about customers' specificity when it comes to requests. She said sometimes people will see images from a photo shoot or a scene, and specifically ask to buy those items.
BBC News
3 days ago
- Entertainment
- BBC News
Sexcam industry recruited us while we were schoolgirls, say models
One afternoon, as Isabella left school for the day, someone thrust a leaflet into her hand. "Do you want to make money with your beauty?" it says a studio looking for models seemed to be targeting teenage pupils in her area in Bogotá, Colombia's 17, with a two-year-old son to support, she desperately needed money, so went along to find out says when she got there, it was a sexcam studio, run by a couple in a house in a run-down neighbourhood - it had eight rooms decorated like range from small, low-budget operations to large businesses with individual rooms set up with lights, computers, webcams and an internet connection. Models perform sexual acts which are streamed to viewers around the world, who message them and make requests via intermediaries, also known as next day Isabella, whose real name we are not using, says she started work - even though it is illegal in Colombia for studios to employ webcam models under told the BBC World Service there was no written contract detailing how much she would be paid or what her rights were. "They had me streaming without teaching me anything. They said, 'Here's the camera, let's go.'"Isabella says the studio soon suggested she do a livestream from school, so as classmates around her were learning English, she quietly took out her phone and started to film herself at her describes how viewers began to ask her to perform specific sexual acts, so she asked her teacher for permission to go to the toilet and, locked in a cubicle, did what the customers had teacher had no idea what was happening, "so I started doing it from other classes", says Isabella. "I kept thinking, 'It's for my child. I'm doing it for him.' That gave me the strength." Recycled accounts and fake IDs The global sexcam industry is number of monthly views of webcam platforms globally has more than tripled since 2017, reaching nearly 1.3 billion, in April 2025, according to analytics firm is now estimated to have more models than any other country - 400,000 - and 12,000 sexcam studios, according to Fenalweb, an organisation representing the country's adult webcam studios film performers and feed the content to global webcam platforms, which broadcast to millions of paying viewers around the world who make requests of models, give tips and buy them of the models who work in studios do so because they lack privacy, equipment or a stable internet connection at home - often if they're poor or young and still living with told the BBC that studios often try to attract people with the promise of making easy money in a country where a third of the population lives in poverty. Listen to Colombia's webcam women on BBC Sounds and watch the documentary on YouTube Models explained that while some studios are well run and offer performers technical and other support, abuse is rife at unscrupulous Colombia's President, Gustavo Petro, has described studio owners as "slave masters" who trick women and girls, like Isabella, into believing they can earn good four biggest webcam platforms that stream material from the studios, BongaCams, Chaturbate, LiveJasmin and StripChat, which are based in Europe and the United States, have checks that are supposed to ensure performers are 18 or older. EU and US laws prohibit the distribution of sexually explicit material involving anyone under models told the BBC these checks are too easily sidestepped if a studio wants to employ under-age say one way of doing this is to "recycle" old accounts of models who are of legal age but no longer perform, and give them to under-age says this is how she was able to appear on both Chaturbate and StripChat when she was 17."The studio owner said it was no problem that I was under-age," Isabella, now 18, says. "She used the account of another woman, and then I started working under that identity."Other models the BBC spoke to say they were given fake IDs by studios. One, Keiny, says this enabled her to appear on BongaCams when she was 17. Milley Achinte, a BongaCams representative in Colombia, told the BBC they do not allow under-18s to perform and they shut accounts that break this rule. She added that the platform checks IDs on a Colombian government website and if a "model contacts us and we are aware that the model left the studio, we give them their password so they can close their account".In a statement, Chaturbate said it has "categorically" stopped the use of fake IDs, and models must regularly submit live images of themselves standing next to government-issued photo IDs, which are checked digitally and manually. It said it has "an average of one reviewer to fewer than 10 broadcasters" and any attempt to recycle accounts "would be unsuccessful" because "the age verification process continues as each and every broadcast is constantly reviewed and checked".StripChat also sent a statement saying it has a "zero-tolerance policy regarding under-age models" and that performers "must undergo a thorough age verification process", adding that its in-house moderation team works with third-party verification services to "validate models' identities".It said that recycled accounts cannot be used on its platform, and recent changes to its rules mean that the account holder must be present on every stream. "So, if a model moves to a new account to work independently, the original account tied to them becomes inactive and unusable by the studio."LiveJasmin did not respond to the BBC's requests for comment. Viewers 'like it when you look young' Keiny is now 20 and works from her bedroom at home in Medellín - streaming through another studio which provides a route to big international if it wasn't for the high-tech equipment - several ring lights, a camera, and a large screen - this could pass for a child's room. There are about a dozen stuffed animals, pink unicorns and teddy "really like it when you look young", she says."Sometimes I think that's problematic. Some clients ask that you act like an actual child, and that's not OK."She says she got into the business to help her family financially after her parents decided to father knows what she's doing and she says he's back, Keiny thinks she was too young when she started at the age of 17, but even so, she isn't critical of her former she believes they helped her into a job which she says now earns her about $2,000 (£1,500) a month - far more than the minimum wage in Colombia, which is about $300 (£225) a month."Thanks to this job, I'm helping my mum, my dad, and my sister - my whole family," she point of view is echoed by the studios - some of which are keen to demonstrate they look after their visited one of the biggest, AJ Studios, where we were introduced to an in-house psychologist, employed to support models' mental health. We were also shown a spa which offers pedicures, massages, botox and lip fillers at a "discount" or as prizes for "employees of the month" who may be high earners or people who are collaborative and support fellow models. Fined for a toilet break But as the country's president has pointed out, not every performer is treated well or makes good money. And the industry is waiting to see if his new labour law will pave the way for tighter and studios told the BBC that streaming platforms typically take 50% of the fees paid by viewers, studios take 20-30%, and the models get what's left. This means that if a show makes $100 (£75), the model would usually get between $20 (£15) and $30 (£22). They explained that unscrupulous studios often take much say there have been times when they logged on for sessions of up to eight hours and made as little as $5 (£4) - which can happen if a performance doesn't have many say they have been pressured into streaming for up to 18 hours without breaks and fined for stopping to eat or go to the accounts are supported by a report from the campaign group Human Rights Watch, published in December 2024. The author, Erin Kilbride, who did additional research on this story for the BBC, found some people were being filmed in cramped, dirty cubicles infested with bedbugs and cockroaches and were being coerced into performing sexual acts they found painful and degrading. Sofi, a mother-of-two from Medellín, had been a waitress in a nightclub but, fed up with being insulted by customers, moved into webcam the 26-year-old says a studio she worked for pressured her into carrying out painful and degrading sexual acts, including performing with three other explains that these requests were made by customers and agreed to by studio monitors - the staff employed to act as intermediaries between models and says she told the studio she didn't want to perform these acts, "but they said I had no choice"."In the end, I had to do it because it was either that, or they would ban my account," she adds, explaining that means her account would effectively be closed continues working in webcam studios because she says a typical salary in Colombia would not be enough to support her and her two children. She is now saving to start a law degree. It's not just Colombia that is facing these issues, says Erin found that between them, the big four streaming platforms also broadcast material from studios in 10 more countries - Bulgaria, Canada, the Czech Republic, Hungary, India, Romania, Russia, South Africa, Ukraine, and the she says she identified "gaps in platform policies and protocols that facilitate or exacerbate human rights abuses".When we asked platforms about conditions at the studios they stream, Milley Achinte from BongaCams said she is part of a team of eight women who visit some studios in Colombia "making sure that the models are getting paid, that the rooms are clean, that models are not getting violated".StripChat and Chaturbate do not visit studios and said they are not direct employers of performers and therefore do not intervene in the terms set between studios and models. But they both told us they are committed to a safe working environment. StripChat also said it expects studios to ensure "respectful and comfortable working conditions".BongaCams, StripChat and Chaturbate all said they have teams to intervene if they believe a model is being forced or coerced to do something. 'They deceived me' After two months of waking up at 05:00 to juggle webcamming, secondary school, and caring for her son, Isabella says she was eager to receive her first after the platform and the studio took their cut, Isabella explains she was paid just 174,000 Colombian pesos ($42; £31) - far less than she expected. She believes that the studio paid her a much lower percentage than agreed and also stole most of her money was a pittance, she says, adding that she used some of it to buy milk and nappies. "They deceived me."Isabella, who is still at school, only worked as a webcam model for a few months before way she says she was treated at such a young age left her deeply traumatised. She couldn't stop crying, so her mother arranged for her to see a and six other former employees of the studio have got together to file an official complaint with the state prosecutor's office. Collectively, they have accused the studio of exploitation of minors, labour exploitation and economic abuse."There are video recordings of me still online, under-age," she says, explaining she feels powerless when it comes to trying to get them removed. "It's affected me a lot and I don't want to think about it any more."Additional reporting by Woody Morris
Phone Arena
17-06-2025
- Phone Arena
Windows Hello just got its 'dark mode' disabled – here's why
In April, Windows Hello stopped working in the dark, and many Windows 11 users believed it was a bug. However, now it appears that Windows requires both IR sensors and a webcam for Windows Hello, and it wasn't a bug but a feature. Before this change, Windows Hello used only the IR (infrared) sensors to create a 3D facial scan for you so you could log in. This is pretty similar to how Face ID works on the iPhone. IR sensors also work in low-light environments, and this is why, previously, you could log into your Windows 11 laptop using Windows Hello in the dark. However, there was a vulnerability discovered in Windows Hello that had Microsoft update how it works for authentication. Now, it requires color cameras to see a visible face when signing in, on top of the IR as most webcams need a light source to illuminate your face and surroundings to "see", many people have discovered Windows Hello no longer works in the dark or in low-light conditions. Curiously enough, users have found that disabling your webcam from Windows Device Manager makes Windows Hello rely only on the IR sensors for scanning your face and is once again able to log you into your computer in the dark. However, disabling your webcam isn't an ideal solution, as this way you won't be able to use it for video calls. Apparently, the change to Windows Hello was made to fix a spoofing vulnerability. So, at least, Windows Hello should now be more secure, but it's quite sad to see that you won't be able to log into your laptop from bed. I think this change in Windows Hello is a classic example of security improvements coming at the cost of convenience. Yep, it's understandable that Microsoft had to address the spoofing vulnerability, but it's still frustrating that something as simple as logging in comfortably in the dark is no longer possible without workarounds.
