AI Weekly Malaysia

Researchers from the University of Birmingham and Fuzzware presented a toolkit called CATANA at USENIX WOOT that exploits proactive SIM functionality—specifically the RUN AT command—to hijack cellular modems. Testing 26 devices (18 smartphones, 8 IoT modems), they found 9 exposed an AT command interface to the SIM, enabling code execution, file theft, denial of service, and forced 2G downgrades. Demonstrated attacks include code execution on an Autel EV charger via a Quectel EC25-AFX module and 198 AT commands accessible on an Oppo Reno14 F 5G, including one that forced a stubborn downgrade to 2G that couldn't be reversed by toggling airplane mode or changing network settings.

Why: If you ship IoT devices with cellular modules (especially Quectel modems, which are common in Malaysian IoT and fleet deployments), audit whether your modem exposes the AT command interface to the SIM and whether you can disable proactive SIM commands. The Oppo Reno14 F 5G is a consumer device sold in Malaysia, so the 2G-downgrade and shutdown attacks are directly relevant to local mobile users—worth flagging if you build mobile apps or advise on device security.

A modder attached two desktop CPU coolers to a ZTE Nubia Z70 Ultra smartphone (Snapdragon 8 Elite SoC, 24GB RAM) and successfully ran The Witcher 3 at 1080p ultra settings, effectively using the phone as a gaming PC. The cooling modification was necessary to sustain peak SoC performance without thermal throttling.

Why: Demonstrates that current flagship mobile SoCs paired with adequate cooling can deliver desktop-class gaming performance, which is relevant if you are building or evaluating mobile-first game streaming, cloud gaming edge clients, or Android-based compute workloads. The Snapdragon 8 Elite with 24GB RAM is now in the same conversation as low-end discrete GPU setups for 1080p gaming.

Block Blast!, the most downloaded mobile game of 2025 with 725-868 million lifetime installs and 70 million daily active users, is getting an ad-free version called Block Blast!+ on Apple Arcade starting September 3. Downloads have fallen from a late-2024 peak of nearly 50 million per month, suggesting the title is maturing and making it a candidate for Apple's $6.99/month subscription service.

Why: Minimal practical impact for this audience. The only useful signal is the business model shift: a hyper-casual game with massive ad-driven revenue is moving to subscription as downloads mature, which could inform mobile game monetization strategy for founders in that space. No relevance to AI, agents, developer tooling, or Malaysian tech infrastructure.