YouTube just rolled out four updates for Shorts, and they cover everything from long-requested quality-of-life fixes to changes that are going to divide opinion.

Starting with the good stuff, YouTube is adding a Clear Screen mode that strips away every overlay from the Shorts player, letting the video fill the full screen without clutter.

So what exactly is changing on YouTube Shorts?

Shorts are also getting 2x playback speed (by pulling down on the screen), something that long-form content consumers have enabled by default, especially for podcasts. I can see people using 2x speed for Shorts that are closer to the maximum duration: 3 minutes. 

Rounding out the useful additions are an easier mute option (tap to pause, then tap the mute icon) and the ability to set a Shorts timer, including to zero if you want to cut yourself off entirely. 

To me, it looks like YouTube has borrowed several pages from Instagram’s playbook, as three out of these four upgrades are already live for Reels. 

Is removing the dislike button from Shorts actually a good idea?

Then there’s the part that might spark a few conversations. YouTube is changing the thumbs-up icon into a heart, which is a cosmetic change that’s perfectly fine. 

However, it’s also removing the dislike button from Shorts entirely (similar to how it hid dislike count in 2021). So, you’ll no longer see the dislike or the thumbs-down button between the thumbs-up and the comment button toward the right side of the screen. 

That overlay menu will step down from five to four controls. If you don’t like what you see, you can still tap on the three-dot button at the top right and then select the “Not Interested,” “Don’t Recommend This Channel,” and “Report” buttons. 

The explanation sounds believable at first. YouTube says there could be numerous reasons someone dislikes a Short, from bad audio to it not being their genre, and that the available options give viewers better control over their feed. 

That logic isn’t wrong, but the dislike button has historically been one of the few ways viewers can push back on low-effort content. All updates are rolling out gradually and may take time to reach all users.

from the try-try-again dept

Well, perhaps the demise of the Stop Killing Games movement in the EU was overstated. We were just talking about how the attempt to introduce new legislation to support the goals of the movement were defeated, despite a petition with over a million signatures and a parliamentary hearing that reportedly went very well. Given that all the movement is really after is restoring the copyright bargain in the video game industry such that cultural output in the form of games can’t be disappeared into the ether when a company decides to stop supporting it, the EU’s claim that copyright itself prohibits crafting new legislation was very disappointing.

But the movement is not only not done, but appears to have anticipated the decision. They are now moving onto their secondary plan: amending legislation already in process to achieve the same end.

In messages posted to Reddit, Stop Killing Games said there was “nothing surprising to anyone” in the decision, and that “the fight goes on.”

“This movement is defined by action and we will keep acting, we owe Ross [YouTuber Ross Scott, who launched Stop Killing Games in 2024] and the millions of people that have put their trust in us,” Stop Killing Games organizer Moritz Katzner wrote. “MEPs have recognized that, the California state assembly and even the courts have. Let’s keep winning.”

Katzner also laid out Stop Killing Games’ plans for the next few months, which includes continuing work on the Protect Our Games (POG) Act in the US and adapting it for the EU, pushing efforts based on existing legislation in the EU, and building up its new Stop Killing the Internet team.

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The legislation in question is the EU’s Digital Fairness Act. The DFA has some lofty goals with some welcome aims, such as prohibitions on certain UI/UX practices online that are designed to push users to make uninformed decisions they wouldn’t otherwise make, or ending region-based restrictions on the use of technology. But there is plenty of concern about the law as well, with opportunities for it to focus on age-checks, deeper surveillance into the usership, and so on. If this thing is going to become law, it very much needs to focus on both consumer protections through freedom and not requiring corporations to take an even heavier hand in monitoring and restricting who can do what with the technology. And, above all else, it cannot curtail innovation.

But if consumer protection is a key goal of the DFA, the Stop Killing Games movement would fit nicely alongside it.

Stop Killing Games organizers, including founder Ross Scott, anticipated the Commission’s refusal and are now focusing on amending the Digital Fairness Act. They claim to have majority support in the European Parliament, with over 40 lawmakers backing the petition’s goals. The DFA, still in development, addresses broader digital rights issues, making it a potential vehicle for game preservation measures.

“We have made serious inroads in parliament. Just recently, we’ve even had an inquiry call on legislative action to the Commission signed by 45 members of European Parliament and collectively we have majority support on this issue. This means we’re in a position to pass legislation on this even without the Commission’s blessing.” – Ross Scott

Despite the recent set back, those heading up the movement believe they’re still in a good place to get something done. Alongside the legislation being proposed in California, it would be nice to see them start to stack up wins.

Filed Under: digital fairness act, eu, ross scott, stop killing games, video games

PwC’s Will O’Brien talks to SiliconRepublic.com about how Irish businesses can prepare for a heightened threat landscape during the EU Presidency.

PwC has warned businesses in Ireland to improve their cybersecurity defences ahead of Ireland assuming the EU Presidency from the start of next month.

The professional services company said that cyberthreats are expected to escalate once Ireland assumes the Presidency, during which Ireland will host EU government leaders, heads of state and the European political community for a period of six months (from 1 July to 31 December).

“This positions Ireland as the temporary routing hub for sensitive EU political, economic, sanctions and foreign-policy material, and a priority target for state-aligned threat actors, hacktivists and organised cyber criminals,” said Will O’Brien, director of PwC Ireland’s cybersecurity practice.

The heightened cyber risks of the Presidency were also recently highlighted by Ireland’s National Cyber Security Centre (NCSC).

O’Brien advised Irish businesses work on their cyber defences by prioritising two things: preparedness and resilience.

“Organisations that are resilient, and have completed appropriate cyber risk assessments, will be far better placed to defend against attackers.”

He added that AI is a “decisive factor” – not just for threat actors, but for cybersecurity teams as well.

“Threat actors now treat AI as a core platform, automating reconnaissance, crafting convincing phishing lures, accelerating malware development and scaling social engineering. The gap between an AI capability’s public release and its weaponisation is shrinking sharply, with autonomous AI agents a primary concern,” explained O’Brien.

“The encouraging counterpoint: AI is also defenders’ single greatest opportunity to match that pace, enabling faster detection, automated containment and intelligence-led decision-making.”

Will O’Brien. Image: Gerard McCarthy

With the Presidency fast-approaching, O’Brien listed a number of recommendations for Irish businesses consider – including treating the six-month Presidency window as a “high-threat period”, particularly in how businesses score and prioritise cyber risk.

“Rehearse your crisis response. Run scenario exercises tied to major Presidency events, using ENISA’s Cybersecurity Exercise Methodology,” he said.

“Fix known software vulnerabilities faster. Subscribe to NCSC Alerts & Advisories and follow its Cyber Vitals Checklist throughout the period.”

O’Brien recommended that businesses “pressure test” their IT and OT suppliers, checking they meet NIS2 standards and ensuring that remote-access systems (VPNs) require multi-factor authentication.

He also advised that businesses adopt a zero-trust approach for data and devices; train staff for “AI-driven deception” such as deepfakes and phishing emails; and pre-plan for disinformation – “work with communications now so that any incident has a ready to go public response”.

Lastly, he encouraged businesses to engage with the NCSC early to confirm the organisation’s place in national incident coordination arrangements.

‘Act now’

The heightened cyber risks of hosting the EU Presidency are an expected concern in the backdrop of broader geopolitical tension.

The current Cypriot Presidency experienced its share of cyberthreats, with the country previously reporting a rise in cyberattack frequency during the Presidency window.

And if a significant cyberattack or breach were to successfully occur during Ireland’s EU Presidency, what would that look like?

O’Brien said the fallout would be “significant on multiple fronts”.

“As Ireland is considered one of Europe’s largest data hosting clusters, and home to several transatlantic subsea cable landing points, we sit at a position where disruption carries continent-wide consequences – the impact would not be confined to our borders,” he explained.

“The NCSC has noted that incidents during a Presidency are primarily designed to inflict reputational and political damage on the host State and the EU. A serious breach would therefore carry economic cost and business disruption, alongside potential reputational damage for Ireland on the European stage.

“This is why businesses must be on heightened alert and act now.”

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Worker engagement in Singapore has stagnated since 2019

Ever taken public transport during the weekday morning rush?

Packed buses and trains. Corporate uniforms. Eyes glued to phones or staring blankly ahead. Lanyards around necks, coffee in hand, everyone hurrying somewhere that seems incredibly important.

However, according to a new report released last week, most of them would rather be anywhere else.

The inaugural Singapore Workplace Report 2026, produced by workplace consulting firm Gallup and the Singapore Institute of Directors, found that only 14% of Singapore’s workforce is actually engaged at work.

In other words, 86 out of every 100 workers are either merely going through the motions or are actively disengaged from their jobs.

What’s even more staggering is that figure has barely moved since 2019.

For workers under 35, the figure is even lower: just 10%. This paints a stark contrast with Singapore’s broader economic success.

Singapore’s GDP per capita is projected to exceed US$107,000 in 2026, according to the International Monetary Fund’s (IMF) data. We consistently rank among the world’s most competitive economies, and this year, we rose to first place for being the most competitive.

We have world-class infrastructure, one of the best education systems on the planet, and 64.2% of our workforce that’s in professional, managerial, executive and technical roles, according to the Ministry of Manpower’s 2025 Labour Force report.

And yet, the Philippines (39%), Thailand (34%), Indonesia (27%), and Malaysia (25%) all have more engaged workers than us, according to the Gallup report.

The global average is 20%, while Southeast Asia’s regional average is 25%. Singapore sits at 14%—below both, and well below what you’d expect from a country of our economic standing.

It’s costing us billions

Employee disengagement isn’t just a human resource problem, but a serious economic one.

Globally, low engagement costs the world economy approximately US$10 trillion in lost productivity last year—roughly 9% of global GDP, per Gallup’s global report. 

For Singapore, with 86% of its workforce disengaged, that translates to an estimated US$73.6 billion in lost productivity annually.

That’s a figure that becomes harder to ignore when the Ministry of Trade and Industry is already forecasting GDP growth of just 2% to 4% in 2026—down from a robust 5% in 2025. The Singapore Workplace Report warns that chronically low engagement may increasingly become a “strategic liability,” rather than just a mere corporate culture issue. 

For years, strong institutions, a stable business environment, and geographic advantages have let Singapore punch above its weight economically. But those tailwinds are masking a ground-level reality that the data keeps surfacing.

Our workers are checked out, and the bill is subtly getting more expensive.

Corporate wellness programmes don’t solve anything

Over the years, companies in Singapore have been trying to improve employee well-being in various ways, from flexible work arrangements to wellness days, mental health workshops and even subsidised gym memberships.

While these look impressive on paper, they merely help workers deal with the stress of work afterwards, rather than providing relief for the day-to-day pressure employees feel at work.

The Singapore Workplace Report surveyed 16 senior leaders across Singapore’s corporate sector and found that most of them offer exactly these things. The majority of them also admitted that none of it is making a real difference, merely “treating symptoms, not causes.”

One executive said plainly: “Every company has a mile-long employee wellbeing programme. This is standard. I am not surprised that this is not at all a differentiator.”

Another described how wellness initiatives get adopted in Singapore: “A lot of programmes are not necessarily thought through strategically. It may be everybody’s doing X, so let’s do that as well.”

Moreover, the numbers don’t lie.

When leaders rated how well their organisations prevent chronic work overload, the average score was 2.93 out of 5—the only survey item that fell below 3.0. Meanwhile, their well-being programmes scored 3.46.

In other words, companies are spending money on yoga sessions while piling unsustainable workloads onto the same employees. The wellness day doesn’t fix the root cause of work overload, but just temporarily papers over it.

The real problem might actually be your boss

Gallup’s 2026 State of the Global Workplace report also found that 70% of the variance in team engagement is attributable to the manager.

This means managers affect virtually every aspect of a team’s performance and success. Not the CEO, not HR, or the annual town hall, but the person you report to daily.

And Singapore has a serious manager problem.

Leaders rated how effective their managers were at developing and engaging their teams at just 3.32 out of 5 in the Singapore Workplace Report. Bleakly, the pipeline for future leaders scored even lower at 3.05.

Leaders across industries described how their organisations invest heavily in technical skill development but provide little structured preparation to help employees transition to people manager roles. Then they get rewarded for their personal output rather than how well their team performs.

One roundtable participant captured it perfectly: “Managers are rewarded for performance, but they’re not rewarded for being good managers.”

To become a CFO, you go through years of technical training, professional qualifications, and structured development. In contrast, to become a people manager responsible for the engagement and productivity of an entire team? Most organisations hand you the title and wish you luck.

Moreover, Gallup’s research found that companies fail to choose manager candidates with the right talent 82% of the time. So, besides being a training problem, it also starts with a problem in the managerial selection process.

However, it doesn’t have to be this way.

A regional financial services company featured in the Singapore Workplace Report decided to do things differently.

They invested in a sustained, multi-year programme to build manager capability and deliberately reduced team sizes so managers had room to actually do their jobs well. This resulted in promising employee engagement of nearly four times the national average.

While it took years, it actually worked to raise employee engagement.

Debunking the narrative of Singapore’s strawberry generation

There’s a narrative in Singapore corporate circles that often circles around younger, late millennial and Gen Z workers. They’re labelled the “Strawberry Generation”: soft, fragile, and unwilling to put in the hours that previous generations did.

However, the Singapore Workplace Report pushes back on this pretty firmly.

Workers under 35 have an engagement rate of just 10%, compared to 16% for those 35 and older. They report more daily stress (53% vs 37%), are three times as angry, and have more daily negative emotions than their older colleagues.

As such, those workers under 35 are less engaged and slightly less likely to be “thriving” in their overall wellbeing than their older counterparts. 

But when senior leaders were asked why, the overwhelming answer did not involve workers’ attitudes, but external, structural conditions they face as a generation.

Younger workers in Singapore are navigating housing costs that are significantly higher than what previous generations faced, greater job and career uncertainty, and a labour market shaped by AI disruption that’s specifically hitting entry-level roles hardest.

They’re also more likely to speak openly about burnout and mental health, which older leaders sometimes misread as fragility rather than honesty.

One management consultancy leader rejected the premise that younger workers are the problem: “They’re just different, and they need to be engaged differently, but I see more gaps on our end.” “It’s not just work environment, it’s the economic environment. The challenges are very different to when we entered the workforce.”

AI is making things worse for junior employees, specifically

In most professional roles, your first few years are essentially an apprenticeship.

You do the repetitive, foundational work—the research, the drafting, the administrative work—and in doing so, you build the skills that eventually make you valuable at a higher level.

However, AI is inadvertently dismantling that essential on-the-job training pipeline.

Multiple leaders across industries told Gallup they believe generative AI will eliminate much of the entry-level work that junior employees have traditionally relied on to develop their craft. A 2024 study by MIT and Princeton found that generative AI disproportionately affects tasks performed by newer, less experienced workers.

Employers simply need fewer fresh graduates to do the baseline legwork when AI can handle it faster and cheaper.

The cruel irony is that AI makes experienced workers more productive while reducing the opportunities for less experienced ones to become experienced in the first place.  Organisations that automate junior-level work without redesigning development paths risk producing mid-career professionals who never had the opportunity to build the foundational skills their roles and organisations require. 

Meanwhile, 85% of leaders surveyed in the 2026 Singapore Workplace Report said they were confident in AI’s value to their organisation. However, only about a third were optimistic about Singapore’s overall workforce readiness.

Leaders rated their own organisation’s AI readiness at 4.11 out of 5, but dropped to just 3.18 when asked about Singapore’s workforce direction overall. This discrepancy suggests that confidence in AI at the company level isn’t translating into confidence about the bigger picture.

The Singapore government’s SkillsFuture programmes offer some pathways for workers to reskill and adapt to AI, but the report suggests that structured AI readiness programmes at the company level, where the problem actually lives, remain the exception rather than the rule.

So what actually works?

The report isn’t just a catalogue of problems. A few Singapore organisations featured in it have actually cracked the code on worker disengagement, and it’s not as impossible as it seems.

A government healthcare innovation unit improved engagement significantly over one to two years simply by running quarterly feedback surveys, meeting with employees in small groups, and making sure that every round of feedback produced a visible organisational response.

No fancy programme, but just listening and following through.

In addition, roundtable participants also coined a concept called “career bouldering”—the idea that career development doesn’t have to be a linear climb up the ladder.

Instead, organisations can keep high performers engaged by encouraging lateral moves across different functions and teams, creating intense, varied career journeys that develop people more broadly and keep them from stagnating in roles that no longer challenge them.

The four priorities leaders in the Singapore Workplace Report agreed on to ensure interdependent components that function together within a fully integrated performance infrastructure, in order of votes, are: building manager capability; aligning culture with actual employee experience; repositioning HR as a strategic function rather than a compliance team; and maximising talent density to develop every person in the organisation, not just those on a leadership track.

None of these is even a revolutionary idea. Companies are just not doing enough.

Singapore can afford to fix these distressing numbers. It just begs the question of whether companies will decide they want to.

For workers, especially younger ones, the report is a useful reality check. If you’re in that 90% who feel disengaged, you’re not alone, and you’re probably not imagining it. 

But it also means it’s worth asking harder questions about where you work. Does your manager actually invest in your development? Does the company follow through when you give feedback? Are there real career paths available, or just the illusion of them?

The Minister of State for Manpower Dinesh Vasu Dash, speaking at the report launch at Andaz Singapore on Jun 22, noted that an engaged workforce is a “powerful engine of sustained economic growth and social cohesion.”

So, can Singapore break free from the worker disengagement crisis hiding in plain sight since 2019?

• Read other articles we’ve written on Singapore’s current affairs here.
• Read other articles we’ve written on about Singaporean businesses here.

Featured Image Credit: Shadow of light via Shutterstock

Threat actors are increasingly abusing Shop, the order-tracking app from Shopify, by adding fake purchase receipts in users’ order histories to trick them into providing sensitive data or installing remote access software.

The Shop digital shopping assistant serves as a centralized platform where users can track orders from multiple online retailers, access receipts and shipping updates, and discover and purchase products from merchants that use Shopify.

The app is very popular in North America, where support and purchasing options are more substantial. It has 50 million downloads on Google Play and 7 million ratings in Apple’s App Store.

According to cybersecurity company Gen Digital, scammers are inserting fake orders that appear alongside legitimate purchases, impersonating brands such as Norton, McAfee, Apple, and PayPal.

The threat actor also listed a phone number in the digital receipts that users can call to dispute purchases. However, at the other end is a scammer posing as a support agent.

Using social engineering tactics, the fraudster tries to convince the victim to disclose account credentials, payment card details, and temporary authentication codes (OTPs).

In some cases, the researchers say that victims are tricked into installing software that grants remote access to the device.

Gen Digital researchers note that inserting the fake receipts in the Shop app is a more effective method than using email to deliver fraudulent purchase notifications, a more common technique known as callback phishing.

Shop is a legitimate shopping app, and users inherently trust it, so orders that appear there are far more likely to prompt responses from unsuspecting users.

However, the researchers say that many of the false receipts contain poor grammar, which is an obvious red flag. Nevertheless, users may miss the mistakes when they see an invoice for a large purchase.

Despite the observed wave of fraudulent invoices, it is unclear how they are inserted into the Shop app.

The researchers say that Shop can populate orders from multiple sources, including email parsing, account association, and order workflows, but no particular one could be confirmed as the delivery channel for the fraudulent notifications.

Gen Digital underlines that they found no evidence that Shop, Shopify, or any of the impersonated companies were compromised.

BleepingComputer has reached out to Shopify with related questions, but we have not received a response as of publishing.

Until the situation clears up, users who see receipts for orders they didn’t place on Shop are advised not to call the phone number listed on them, but instead to verify any alleged charge directly with their bank.

Those who have already contacted the scammers and disclosed sensitive information should immediately reset their account passwords and contact their card issuer for cancellation.

Security teams log 54% of successful attacks and alert on just 14%. The rest move through your environment unseen.

The Picus whitepaper shows how breach and attack simulation tests your SIEM and EDR rules so threats stop slipping by detection.

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A law is only as strong as the door it actually closes, and Australia’s ban on social media for under-16s appears to have left a window open. On 26 June, six months after the world-first measure took effect, Prime Minister Anthony Albanese said he was keen to make the ban as strong as possible, after a new study found it had done little to keep teenagers off the platforms it targets.

The study, published in the British Medical Journal, is the awkward part. It found that 85% of Australians aged 12 to 15 were still using social media three months after the ban began.

Two-thirds of underage users stayed online by the simplest means available, declaring an age over 16, or posting a selfie that the platform’s system accepted as belonging to someone older. The gate exists. Teenagers have largely walked around it.

The government’s response is to harden enforcement rather than rewrite the rule. Canberra plans to stress-test the law, which bars platforms including Meta’s Instagram and Google’s YouTube from giving accounts to under-16s.

A central focus, Albanese indicated, is making sure the eSafety Commission, the country’s internet regulator, is sufficiently empowered to do the job it has been handed.

The regulator had already said Meta, TikTok, and YouTube were not complying with the ban.

That regulator is not waiting quietly. The eSafety Commission and Communications Minister Anika Wells have said they are preparing legal action against multiple platforms.

Companies found to have systemically failed to uphold the ban face a maximum penalty of A$49.5m, around $34m, a figure large enough to concentrate corporate attention without being large enough to threaten the businesses it applies to.

The numbers in the study sharpen the case the government is trying to make. The BMJ paper suggests the rule has changed where teenagers say they are rather than where they actually are.

An age limit that depends on a user honestly entering a date of birth, or on an algorithm correctly guessing an age from a selfie, is an age limit with an obvious soft spot, and two-thirds of underage users appear to have found it.

Australia’s position as the first mover gives the experiment an audience well beyond its own borders. Governments in Europe and elsewhere have floated similar age thresholds.

Norway moved to follow Australia with its own under-16 ban, the UK has weighed comparable restrictions, and several have watched Canberra to see whether a hard ban can be made to work in practice rather than only on the statute book.

The early evidence is mixed enough to be useful to both camps: proof that a law can be passed and platforms compelled to act, and proof that passing the law is the easier half of the problem. Italy’s prime minister has gone further, cautioning that such bans are easily dodged.

The deeper problem is the one the BMJ paper exposes: an age limit enforced largely by self-declaration is an age limit enforced largely on trust. Australia legislated first, ahead of the rest of the world, and is now discovering in public what enforcement of such a law actually requires.

Other governments watching the experiment will have noted both the ambition and the gap between the rule and the result.

What comes next is procedural. Legal action against named platforms, a review of the eSafety Commission’s powers, and, presumably, a second study to measure whether tougher enforcement moves the 85% figure at all. The ban is six months old. The question of whether it works is still open.

The Elgato 4K S is a powerful external peripheral that provides an easy way for Mac users to not just capture video, but also stream gameplay to Twitch, or to just about any place that will allow live video streaming.

In this day and age, the odds are very high that you, or someone you know, is livestreaming on one of the major streaming platforms.

From video games to art and crafts, to music and talk shows, streaming is ingrained into modern media. Many use services like Twitch as a way to cultivate communities, bring friends together, and share experiences.

There’s also the small chance of making a few dollars for drinks and pizza in the process.

In the early days of the livestreaming industry, the prohibitive cost of entry held back new streamers and limited the overall quality of their content.

However, in 2025, streaming hardware and software is more affordable and accessible than ever. Multiple companies are clamoring for consumer dollars with high-quality kit.

At the front of the pack is Elgato, one of the original innovators in the streaming hardware market. It has a deep catalog of quality streaming peripherals and accessories, from microphones to green screens, cameras, stream decks, and teleprompters.

In effect, Elgato has positioned itself as the one-stop shop for all things streaming-related.

The Elgato 4K S external capture card is its newest capture card, and one was sent over to put it through its paces in a Mac-specific environment.

Elgato 4K S review: An overview

The Elgato 4K S is an HDMI capture card that Elgato advertises as powerful and easy to use. Its feature list includes 4K60 support, lag-free passthrough, high resolutions, variable refresh rate support, and portability/functionality for mobile workspaces.

While the primary focus of my review is the performance of the Elgato 4KS in a macOS environment, I did conduct a quick Windows test as well.

Mac Requirements:

• OS: macOS 13 or later, iPadOS 18 with USB-C
• CPU: Apple M1 or better
• GPU: Apple M1 or better
• Port: USB 3.0 Type-C

Windows Requirements:

• OS: Windows 11 or later
• CPU: Intel Core i5 (8th gen or later) / AMD Ryzen
• GPU: NVIDIA GeForce RTX 10xx or equivalent
• Port: USB 3.0 Type-C

For testing in a macOS environment, I used my current daily workspace setup and equipment. I use an M1 Max Mac Studio with a Xencelabs 24 Pen Display as my primary screen and an ASUS VY279 as my secondary.

For streaming, I use OBS Studio, while the first Nintendo Switch serves as the console to be connected to the unit.

Elgato 4K S review: Specifications

• Connections: 2 x HDMI 2.0, 1 x USB-C
• Passthrough Resolutions: Up to 2160p60, 1440p120, 1080p240
• Capture Resolutions: 2160p60, 1440p60, 1080p120, 1080p60, 720p60, 567p, 480p
• HDR10 Passthrough: Up to 2160p60
• HDR10 Capture: Up to 1080p60 (Windows only)
• Variable refresh rate support
• Dimensions: 112 x 72 x 18mm (4.4 x 2.8 x 0.7 inches)
• Weight: 3.2 ounces

Elgato 4K S review: Opening the box

The Elgato 4K S arrived in a single, well-secured Elgato-branded box. Inside was the Elgato 4K S unit, a single HDMI 2.0 cable, a single USB-C to USB-C cable, and a quick start guide.

Elgato 4K S review: The box.

Out of the box, the Elgato 4K S is a compact, rectangular unit. It has a clean, black matte finish and a simple shiny Elgato icon on the center top.

The Elgato 4K S is only sold in black, which I do not mind personally. But with Elgato offering their Stream Decks in white as well as black, I could see some consumers wanting to keep a consistent look across their peripherals.

It would be nice to have white as an option in the future.

The HDMI input and output ports and the single USB-C port reside on the back side of the Elgato 4K S. A 3.5mm analog line input and power indicator light are on the front side.

There is no external AC port or plug required with the Elgato 4K S, as it is bus-powered over USB-C. This is a nice feature for cable management and clean workspaces in mind.

Elgato 4K S Review: In Use

Setting up out of the box is the smoothest and easiest experience I have ever had with a capture card.

I plugged one HDMI cable into the input and my Nintendo Switch dock. A second HDMI cable was connected to the output and my ASUS monitor.

Lastly, I plugged the USB-C cable into the port on the Elgato 4K S and my Mac Studio.

Powering everything on, the Nintendo Switch feed immediately appeared on the ASUS monitor with no issues.

Elgato 4K S review: In use in the test streaming setup.

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Elgato recently released its Elgato Studio software. While it is very polished and user-friendly, the app is basic, and users cannot stream directly from it the way Streamlabs, OBS Studio, and others do.

Elgato Studio is designed purely to capture gameplay. It does that task well, but that isn’t the focus of my review and testing.

I opened OBS Studio, created a scene, and added a new video input capture. The Elgato 4K S option appeared immediately, and after selecting it, the Nintendo Switch feed appeared in OBS Studio.

After that, I added a new audio input capture for the Elgato 4K S, then tweaked my sound monitoring and output settings. In less than 10 minutes, I was ready to hit “Go Live” in OBS Studio and stream Link’s Awakening if I wanted to.

To be thorough, I also tested the same setup with Streamlabs, and everything worked perfectly. I could not ask for a more seamless setup experience.

Some capture card manufacturers use proprietary apps to gate-keep the full potential of their hardware. With Elgato, the apps are add-ons that enhance the experience and provide deeper levels of control, but they never hide or restrict functions.

The Elgato 4K S takes advantage of HDMI 2.0 ports for the input and the passthrough. This is an excellent feature that allows you to get the most out of 4K at 60 fps.

Variable refresh rate support is a welcome addition to overall video quality.

Elgato 4K S review: The main ports for video.

In the time I spent playing, I did not experience any video or audio lag in the captures. That said, the Nintendo Switch is not a heavy lift for a capture card like the Elgato 4K S.

I did a bit of research outside of my own testing and didn’t discover any issues that would prevent me from recommending the use of the Elgato 4K S with beefier systems. That includes more powerful gaming PCs and consoles like the PS5 or Xbox consoles.

The capture quality of the Elgato 4K S is staggering, considering it is such a small package. This capture card is perfect for permanent residence in a home setup, or as an added component for mobile gaming and streaming.

It’s not hard to imagine seeing the Elgato 4K S making trips to gaming conventions, gatherings, and events for streamers on the go. Both for live streaming purposes and for capturing gameplay to be published later.

The only two drawbacks are the system requirements and the (obvious) inability of the device to capture HDCP-protected video.

Elgato 4K S Review: Small but mighty

At $159, the Elgato 4K S is not inexpensive, but it does not break the bank. For me, the investment is worth the cost for the quality delivered.

For streamers leaning into console play as their driving source of content, the Elgato 4K S works as intended and delivers on the claims made by the company.

This is a very good capture card, and as a part-time streamer myself, the Elgato 4K S now holds a permanent spot on my desk for future Zelda and Mario RPG streams.

Elgato 4K S pros

• Pure plug-and-play experience with no hassles
• Small workspace footprint
• Dual HDMI connections for input and passthrough
• Reasonable price for amazing quality
• Excellent for mobile streaming or capture setups

Elgato 4K S cons

• Older hardware excluded
• Elgato software is for gameplay capture only

Rating: 4.5 out of 5

Where to buy the Elgato 4K S Review

The Elgato 4KS is available in Elgato online store for $159. It’s also available from Amazon for a discounted $113.95.

Authorities in Poland have arrested four members of an organized cybercrime group accused of breaching telecommunications partners and hijacking email accounts to carry out SIM-swapping attacks.

The operation was carried out by the Polish Cybercrime Bureau (CBZC) with support from the FBI and Homeland Security Investigations (HSI) in the United States.

According to investigators, the suspects carried out sophisticated cyberattacks to obtain data used in SIM-swapping attacks.

They hijacked victims’ phone numbers, intercepted SMS messages and email communications, and ultimately gained control of accounts at cryptocurrency exchanges.

It is estimated that millions of U.S. dollars have been stolen this way and then laundered “via a distributed financial network.”

“Using specialized software and social engineering, the perpetrators gained unauthorized access to the infrastructure of entities cooperating with telecommunications operators and employee email accounts,” reads CBZC’s announcement (automated translation).

“The data obtained in this way enabled so-called SIM swap attacks, which involve the illegal cloning and takeover of victims’ phone numbers.”

Polish authorities comment that the actors treated these activities as “a regular source of income,” using multiple bank accounts across various countries and digital wallets to transfer the stolen funds.

“It is estimated that the total value of the funds laundered in this manner exceeds several tens of millions of Polish złoty,” mentions CBZC, which would translate into at least $5 million based on the current exchange rate.

The four arrested individuals, who have all been placed in pre-trial detention, now face offenses of participation in an organized criminal group, hacking into IT systems to commit theft, and money laundering.

The maximum penalty for these offenses is 25 years in prison.

Although CBZC didn’t name any of the threat actors arrested in this action, blockchain crime investigation ZachXBT identified one of them as Wojtek Kulisz, aka “Merry,” based on the images the authorities released from the police raid.

Security teams log 54% of successful attacks and alert on just 14%. The rest move through your environment unseen.

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