Asos was hit by an extortion hack that may have compromised customer data, Ultrahuman now offers on-demand heart rhythm scans, and Google's experimental Playground platform uses AI to create games for you

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Asos was hit by an extortion hack that may have compromised customer data.

Ultrahuman now offers on-demand heart rhythm scans.

And Google's experimental playground platform uses AI to create games for you. It's Wednesday, October 7th. And here's a quick look at some of the news that's happening in the sphere of tech this morning from Engadget.

UK-based fashion retailer Asos is doing damage control after its customers were sent a push notification, claiming that its cloud services had been hacked. According to The Guardian, Asos users received mobile alerts that were addressed to the company's data protection officer and IT personnel. The notifications read, Dear Asos DPO and IT, We have fully compromised the Snowflake instance. Engage with us or we will leak it. Snowflake is a cloud service that handles push notifications as well as managing data about transactions and customer demographics. A link in the message sent users to a Telegram channel, claiming to be operated by a Shuanyi group, a reportedly unknown name among most cybersecurity circles. The company said it's investigating unauthorized activity involving third-party platforms that it uses to communicate with customers. The company said it took immediate action to restrict access to the notification platforms, and were working with internal and external specialist advisors, as well as all relevant authorities. Asos said that although customers names and contact info may have been accessed in the hack, it did not believe payment details or passwords had been compromised. The company added that its app and website were operating as usual.

Ultrahuman is teaming up with FibriCheck to launch HeartScan, enabling Ring Air and Ring Pro users to check their heart rhythm on demand. It's an extension of the company's existing Atrial Fibrillation add-on, which keeps an eye on someone's heart rhythm while they sleep. Partnering with FibriCheck, an app which uses a smartphone's camera to run an optical test, Ultrahuman says users can now get a spot check whenever something feels off. If someone is concerned about the state of their heart, they can open the Ultrahuman app and run a dedicated scan. They will need to sit still for 60 seconds while the test runs, with the data then analyzed by FibriCheck's algorithm. The results are then collated in a PDF which you can share with a health care professional, enabling them to see the recording of what actually went on rather than a summary. Sadly, the feature is only available in supported markets across the UK, Europe, the Middle East and Asia Pacific. On the upside, HeartScan is being folded into the existing Afib power plug, so if you are already paying, you will not have to pay anything more.

Google has launched a new AI-powered experimental gaming platform called Playground, which lets you create games without needing to know how to code or draw. It has an interface similar to most AI chatbots, where you can type in a prompt for the kind of game you want to build. You can also choose whether to create a 2D or 3D game, and for select genres, whether it's single player or multiplayer. While you can write your prompt from scratch, you can also remix some starter prompts or use guided support. After the initial output, you can shape the game mechanics, physics and graphics with further prompts. For example, if you're making a platformer, you can tell Playground to let the player double jump so they can reach higher platforms a single jump can't reach. Of course, a platform like Playground that lowers the barrier to game creation could lead to low quality titles. But it doesn't sound like you have to worry about them flooding Google Play, for now anyway. If you want to share your game, you can either drop a shareable link to Friends or publish it to the Playground Explorer Gallery that the community can enjoy. You can also keep your game private. Games you publish will support in-game leaderboards. Playground will soon offer Unity Spark integration as well. Google says, Spark unlocks robust professional level mechanics, high fidelity 3D capabilities, and the flexibility of the Unity runtime to help you create better, higher level games. And since Playground is still experimental, the company expects to roll out more changes in the future. The platform is now available on the official Playground website. If you are in the US and 18 or older, however, access will be tiered based on your Google One membership.