The Minnesota and District of Columbia attorneys general are suing Target-owned Shipt delivery service over worker misclassification, CBS News has reported. The lawsuits accuse the company of designating its "personal shoppers" (who pick and deliver grocery orders) as independent contractors to avoid paying benefits like state unemployment insurance and worker's compensation.
"Increasingly, we’re seeing companies abuse hard-working District residents by fraudulently calling them independent contractors and, as a result, denying them wages and benefits they are legally owed," said DC AG Karl Racine in a statement.
Shipt said it disagrees with the allegation and that most of its workers prefer being able to set their own hours. "Shoppers with Shipt are independent contractors, and the flexibility that comes with being an independent contractor is the primary reason Shipt Shoppers choose to earn on our platform," spokesperson Evangeline George told CBS News. Citing its own survey, it said that 80 percent of its workers named such flexibility as a key priority.
However, Minnesota attorney general Keith Ellison said the company controls "virtually every facet of a shopper's work" despite claiming the workers are independent. "Unlike other employees, these workers have no clarity on how much they will be paid day to day, and they often don't receive the minimum wage and overtime they're entitled to," he added.
The suits seek to recover paid sick leave owed, unpaid wages, payments owed for unemployment insurance, penalties and more. Other delivery companies including DoorDash have faced similar actions, and Instacart recently agreed to pay $46.5 million in a settlement with the city of San Diego over misclassified workers. Earlier this year, Massachusetts sued Uber and Lyft for identifying drivers as contractors.
Sony has launched the $3,900 A7R V, its latest mirrorless camera designed to shoot portraits, landscapes and other subjects that require as much resolution as possible. The new model carries the same 61-megapixel resolution as the A7R IV, but has a much more powerful new Bionz XR processor that allows for improved AI autofocus, better shake reduction and 8K 24p video.
The key improvement is in the autofocus, as the A7R V is Sony's first camera to introduced something called "human pose estimation." The system can see 20 different points in the human body and and thus figure out where the eye is supposed to be. That allows it to accurately track someone who might be moving and turning away from the camera, and keep tracking them even if they disappear from view for a moment. On top of that, it can now pick out different subjects like cars, trains, plains, animals and insects.
Though the A7R V is primarily targeted at photographers, it's much better at video than ever, too. Where the A7R IV was limited to 8-bit 4K at 30fps with either cropping or line-skipping, the A7R V now shoots 8K video at up to 24 fps, along with 6.2K without line-skipping or pixel binning. With the same heatsink as the A7S III, it allows for unlimited 4K recording and up to 30 minutes of 8K capture.
It can also handle supersampled 10-bit 4K video using the entire sensor width at up to 30 fps, or at 60fps with a 1.2x crop. You can also capture 16-bit RAW video to external recorders at up to 4K 60p.
Sony has upgraded to the in-body stabilization (IBS) system from 5.5 to 8 stops, now matching what Canon can do with its similarly-priced EOS R5. And in lieu of the tilting display used in the A7R IV, the new model has a fully articulating screen that makes it more useful for high-angle shooting, video and more.
The A7R V shoots at the same 10fps speeds as before, which is impressive for such a high-resolution camera. However, it can now shoot compressed RAW files rather than just uncompressed as before. The buffer can also handle up to 583 shots, letting you shoot for a large amount of time in a burst.
Sony
It has a long list of other attractive features, including a class-leading 9.44-million-dot electronic viewfinder (EVF) and dual card slots that accept either speedy (but expensive) CFexpress Type A or UHS-II cards. Another new feature is pixel shift multishot (tripod use only) for compositing 16 shots into one 240.8-megapixel image using AI processing to automatically detect and correct movement between frames.
The list continues with AI-powered white balance, focus stacking of up to 299 frames for increased depth of field, Sony's Cinetone color profile for a more film-like look, an updated body with dials and controls similar to the A7 IV, USB-C charging with Power Delivery and native webcam compatibility. The Sony A7R V is set to arrive in December for $3,900.
OM System has launched its first camera that doesn't carry the Olympus name, the $1,200 OM-5 — and it looks a lot like the Olympus OM-D E-M5 Mark III, other than a few tweaks. It has the same sensor and video specs, but wears a new weatherproof body and updated processor that delivers improved autofocus and other features.
Other than the new body, the OM-5 looks nigh-on identical to the past model. That's not necessarily a bad thing, as the E-M5 III has good handling with a generous complement of mechanical controls in a relatively light body. But it's also three years old, so a bigger grip would have been welcome, for instance. On the plus side, OM System has given it IP53 dustproof and splashproof protection, so you can use it in more extreme conditions.
It also carries the same 20.1-megapixel Micro Four Thirds sensor, 121-point hybrid phase and contrast-detect AF system and 2.36 million-dot electronic viewfinder. The rear 1.05 million dot fully articulating display, battery and single card slot are also identical to the last model. Shooting speeds match the previous model at 6fps/10fps in mechanical/electronic shutter modes with autofocus enabled — somewhat anemic compared to the competition.
OM System
However, the updated TruePic IX processor and better IBIS unit gives the OM-5 updated image processing, with image stabilization now up to 7.5 stops compared to 6.5 before. OM System also introduced a 50-megapixel handheld high-res shot mode, live ND mode and "Starry Sky" AF. Plus, you get improved face and eye detection for more distant subjects, but it lacks the new AI subject detection smarts of the OM-1.
On the video side, it still shoots 4K 30p video as before, but can now handle super-slow-mo 1080p at 120 fps. It also adds the OM-Log400 Profile for improved dynamic range. OM System got rid of the 30 minute recording limit, so you can now shoot video for as long as your card or battery will hold out.
Overall, it's a pretty tame upgrade for a three-year-old camera and is in tough against rivals like Canon's $960 EOS R10, which has a bigger sensor, better shooting speeds and superior video specs. Still, if you're set on mid-range Micro Four Thirds camera, it arrives in November for $1,200 (body only) or $1,600 with the 12-45mm F4 PRO lens.
Spotify launched its audiobook business just last month with 300,000 titles, but is now saying that Apple is engaging in "anticompetitive" behavior that is impinging the new business, the company wrote in a blog post. It said that Apple rejected its audiobook purchasing system three times due to a violation of its rules. To comply, it had to hide the price of the audiobooks and do sales outside of the main app via an email link.
All of that makes it harder for Spotify to compete, as users can't easily compare prices. "[This] harms not only consumers, but, this time, also authors and publishers who now find themselves under Apple’s thumb." It's also highly inconvenient for buyers used to simply clicking on a link to buy an audiobook.
Spotify's audiobooks could have easily been accepted if the company had followed the App Store rules, Apple told The New York Times. "We provided them with clear guidance on how to resolve the issue, and approved their app after they made changes that brought it into compliance," an Apple spokesperson said.
Spotify could also have sold its audiobooks through the App Store's purchasing system, but Apple would then take a 30 percent cut — putting Spotify's audiobooks at a considerable disadvantage against Apple Books. "With our Audiobooks launch, Apple has once again proven just how brazen it is willing to be with its App Store rules, constantly shifting the goalposts to disadvantage their competitors," said Spotify CEO Daniel Ek.
Spotify is already in a battle with Apple over music subscriptions, having said that its 30 percent commission harms consumers. The European Commission issued Apple with a Statement of Objections after concluding that Apple was in possible breach of EU laws, but has yet to reveal a final verdict. "Almost four years. That’s how long it’s been since Spotify filed a complaint against Apple with the European Commission, and we are still waiting on a decision," said Ek.
Last June, NASA announced that it would convene a panel to study "unidentified aerial phenomena" (UAP), aka UFOs — while saying it doesn't believe they're "extraterrestrial in origin." Now, the space agency has unveiled the 16-member panel that will focus on "unclassified sightings and other data collected from civilian government and commercial sectors."
Chairing the panel is David Spergel, former head of astrophysics at Prince University. Other members include Anamaria Berea, a research affiliate at the SETI (Search for Intelligence Life) Institute in Mountainview, California; retired NASA astronaut and test pilot Scott Kelly; and others ranging from oceanographers to astrophysicists to science journalists.
The panel is separate from a Pentagon group investigating UAPs reported by military pilots and investigated by US defense and intelligence officials. Now, the US government is effectively running two tracks of UFO probes after keeping such work behind closed doors for years.
Conspicuously absent are special effects experts like Corridor Crew skilled at spotting fake and altered clips. In a recent video, the group debunked a number of famous videos UFO clips, even from the Pentagon, ascribing them to ordinary occurrences like a camera's iris, a bird and an infrared lens flare.
NASA itself doesn't seem to believe there's much going on with these videos and sightings, either. However, it said the panel can still serve an important role in determining how to classify them — even if there are no aliens involved.
"Understanding the data we have surrounding unidentified aerial phenomena is critical to helping us draw scientific conclusions about what's happening in our skies," said NASA associate administrator Thomas Zurbuchen. "Data is the language of scientists and makes the unexplainable explainable."
Though the Pixel 6a may not be top of mind now that the Pixel 7 is out, it only came out in July and is still a darn good budget phone. You can now grab one at Amazon for just $299, for a savings of $150 (33 percent), the lowest price we've seen by far. It appears to be part of a mini sale, as Google has also discounted the Pixel Buds Pro by 25 percent and a bunch of Nest routers by up to 45 percent. And on top of all that, B&H Photo Video also has the Google Nest Audio on sale for half price.
The Pixel 6a is a top mid-range smartphone pick. It offers the same Tensor chip as the Pixel 6 and 6 Pro, while giving you the purest Android experience possible. At the same time, you get excellent camera quality for the price, thanks to the two 12-megapixel rear cameras and 8-MP front sensor delivering bright, colorful pictures and video. It also comes with a distinctive design, sharp 6.1-inch OLED screen covered with Gorilla Glass 3, long-lasting battery, IP67 water/dust protection and more. It does have a slower 60Hz refresh rate than the Pixel 6/6 Pro models, less storage and no wireless charging, but it's still a real steal at $299.
Meanwhile, Google's Pixel Buds Pro are one of our preferred sets of true wireless earbuds, having earned a review score of 87 earlier this year. They offer effective active noise cancellation (ANC), responsive on-ear controls, a solid seven hours of continuous playback time with ANC on (and up to 11 or so hours with it off), and a powerful bass-forward sound that works especially well with hip-hop and modern pop tracks. At the $200 full price they have some serious competition, but are a very solid deal at at the $150 sale price.
If you're in the market for Google Nest routers, Amazon has you covered there two. The AC2200 models (not the new WiFi 6a models) are on sale in a variety of configurations, including the router only, extender only, and router with one and two extenders. As a reminder, the extenders also double as smart speakers with Google Assistant. They're on sale from $99 to $199, with the best deals (up to 45 percent) on the router and extender combos.
Finally, if it's a nice smart speaker you're looking for, Google's Nest Audio is down to just $50 at B&H Photo Video. The speaker has an unassuming yet attractive design, plus great audio quality that's made even better if you pair two of them together and use them in stereo mode. Since you can get two for the price of one right now, that might be a good option.
Remember back in 2014 when U2 gave away an album's worth of songs to every iTunes user in the world? And it turned out that a large number of them didn't want said album anywhere near their music library — to the point that Apple had to release a special tool to remove it? That was completely my bad, U2 lead singer Bono wrote in an article for The Guardian.
When Bono approached Tim Cook, along with Eddy Cue and Phil Schiller about the idea, he was met with some incredulity. "Are you talking about free music?" Cook said, according to Bono. "But the whole point... is to make sure musicians get paid."
"'No,' I said, 'I don’t think we give it away free. I think you pay us for it and then you give it away free, as a gift to people. Wouldn’t that be wonderful?'" Bono wrote.
"Tim Cook raised an eyebrow. 'You mean we pay for the album and then just distribute it?' I said, 'Yeah, like when Netflix buys the movie and gives it away to subscribers.' Tim looked at me as if I was explaining the alphabet to an English professor. ‘But we’re not a subscription organization,'" Cook said in the excerpt. "'Not yet,' I said. ‘Let ours be the first.’ Tim was not convinced. ‘And this is just to people who like U2?' ‘Well,’ I replied, ‘I think we should give it away to everybody. It’s their choice whether they want to listen to it."
It was clearly a humbling lesson for the band when they realized that many people not only didn't want to listen to it, but didn't want it there in the first place.
"As one social media wisecracker put it, ‘Woke up this morning to find Bono in my kitchen, drinking my coffee, wearing my dressing gown, reading my paper.’ Or, less kind, ‘The free U2 album is overpriced.’ Mea Culpa," he wrote. "'I take full responsibility. Not [U2 manager] Guy O, not Edge, not Adam, not Larry, not Tim Cook, not Eddy Cue. I’d thought if we could just put our music within reach of people, they might choose to reach out toward it. Not quite.'"
Bono also recalled a happier tie-up with Apple on the iPod, which feted its 21st anniversary just yesterday. It was U2 that convinced Steve Jobs to let them be in those famous iPod silhouette ads for the first time, and also talked him into building the U2 edition iPod in black with a red click wheel — marking the first time it wasn't white. Amusingly, they also asked Jobs for some Apple stock, even a symbolic amount — which he refused, in his typical direct style. "'Sorry,'" said Steve, according to Bono. "'That’s a dealbreaker.'"
On the one hand, Ultra Short Throw (UST) projectors offer a top-notch home theater experience at a fraction the cost of a comparably sized TV. On the other, features like Dolby Vision that you expect on a good 4K TV are nowhere to be found on any projectors, UST or otherwise.
That just changed with the launch of the Formovie Theater home projector. At a street price of $3,000, you get up to a 150-inch picture, a triple-laser 4K DLP projector with Dolby Vision, Dolby Atmos, speakers tuned by Bowers & Wilkins and Android TV. With Formovie’s color management system, it also promises color accuracy we’ve only seen on $5,000+ models like Samsung’s Premiere.
I’ve had a chance to test the Formovie Theater in a variety of scenarios, including Netflix, Prime, Disney+ and other streaming services along with a Blu-ray UltraHD player. Cutting to the chase, it was very impressive, apart from one or two issues.
Design and features
Steve Dent/Engadget
Though you may have never heard the name Formovie, it’s a joint venture between two better-known entities, Xiaomi and Appotronics. The latter makes the ALPD laser engines used in a number of projectors, including Barco commercial movie theater models. The Formovie Theater is based on the Fengmi T1 sold in China, but adds Dolby Vision and a color management system (CMS).
It has a nice-looking, discreet design that would fit into most living rooms. The rectangular dark-gray-and-black body is relatively small, with a pair of fabric-covered main speakers on the front and two tweeters on the side. As usual on UST projectors, the triple-laser light source and lens element are located in a trough at the top, with a sensor designed to shut off the powerful light should you poke your head in front of it (which I did, multiple times). It’s cooled by a fan that can be mildly distracting during very quiet passages.
It uses a 0.47-inch Texas Instruments XP DLP chip with a 1080p native resolution and 4X pixel shifting that effectively delivers a true 4K image. With 2,800 lumens of light power, it’s in the mid-to-upper-range of UST brightness levels. The triple laser allows it to cover 113 percent of the Rec 709 and 107 percent of the HDR BT.2020 color gamuts, while delivering an excellent 3,000:1 contrast ratio.
It also eliminates the rainbow effect that happens with single lasers and a color wheel. The $3,300 Hisense PX1-Pro and $3,500 Vava Chroma are some of the few other models in this price range with a triple laser engine – others (LG’s CineBeam HU915QB, the Samsung LSP9T and AWOL Vision LTV-3500) are $5,000 and up.
Steve Dent/Engadget
The Formovie Theater is also the only model for sale in the US with official Dolby Vision certification. As you probably know, Dolby Vision is an advanced form of HDR (high dynamic range) that uses dynamic metadata programmed by content creators on a frame-by-frame basis. To that end, brightness, color and contrast levels are generally superior to the HDR10 found on most projectors.
Keep in mind that projectors, even the latest UST models, generally aren’t as bright as 4K TVs – so you lose some impact of Dolby Vision. However, the Formovie can display more colors than any TV and even most monitors out there, so you do get the HDR benefit of a wide gamut and billions of colors. Other models like Samsung’s Premiere support HDR10+, which is similar to Dolby Vision but much less widely supported.
Another key feature is Android TV 11.0 support. Unlike with some other projectors, it supports 4K and Dolby Vision HDR streaming, so you can get the most out of Disney+, Apple TV+ and other supported services. It also comes with YouTube and numerous other apps, along with Google Assistant voice control. And you get a decent remote to access all that content, adjust picture settings and more.
You’ll notice that I didn’t mention Netflix there. As it stands, the Netflix app isn’t supported by Formovie’s Android TV implementation. “At this time we are negotiating with the Netflix team, however, we can't commit that Netflix will work on our device in the near future,” a spokesperson told me. Sure, you can use a $30-50 4K streaming stick, which I did, but it’s unfortunate that the world’s most popular streaming service isn’t available natively.
Steve Dent/Engadget
Other than that, however, the Android TV experience is good, with every other streaming app (Disney+, Prime Video, YouTube, etc.) working well. It has Chromecast built-in so you can cast from your phone, tablet or PC. The remote is basic but functional, with dedicated buttons for YouTube and Google Assistant. The latter can be activated by the usual “Hey, Google” command that’s picked up by the projector’s far-field microphone.
In any case, Formovie is still ahead of some rivals in terms of its smart TV implementation. Optoma’s latest UST projector, the CinemaX D2, only offers smart TV features through an external dongle, for which they charge a cool $200.
It comes with three HDMI inputs at the back, including one with eARC enhanced audio capabilities. It also offers SPDIF digital output, a 3.5mm line out, two USB-A ports and an ethernet input. The 42-millisecond lag time (according to Projector Central), is sufficient for light gaming, but not anything beyond that.
Finally, the Formovie Theater has a fairly impressive audio implementation. The built-in speakers are tuned by HiFi company Bower & Wilkins, and it supports Dolby Atmos surround sound if you have a compatible soundbar or 5.1 system.
Image and sound quality
Steve Dent/engadget
Setting up the Formovie Projector was fairly straightforward on my 100-inch ALR screen. At that size, the bottom of the screen sits 14.6 inches from the bottom of the projector at a distance of just nine inches away. Once the projector is roughly in place, you use the thumbwheel controls on the feet to level it front to back and side to side. It’s best to avoid keystone correction as it can distort the picture, but it’s there if needed. Some focus adjustment may be required the first time you use it, but it’s best to wait until the projector has warmed up.
I had high expectations for the Formovie Theater’s image quality, and I wasn’t disappointed. I started by testing it in an environment with daylight coming in to see how it would function as a TV substitute.
With just “Movie” mode selected in SDR (standard dynamic range) mode, I saw a vibrant 4K image with natural-looking colors and accurate skin tones. Sharpness was good, though not quite up to what I’ve seen with Samsung’s much more expensive Premiere models. It’s likely that the lens (a critical piece of gear on a UST projector) isn’t quite as good, though something obviously has to give on a projector costing less than half as much.
Color accuracy is lower “Sport” or “Vivid” modes, but they offer the most brightness and highest contrast levels, well over 3,000:1 – the best of any UST projector. So these are good settings for watching regular cable TV, sports and so on, even with a fair amount of ambient light coming in. Other settings include “Standard,” “Game” and “Child,” designed to work well for kids’ shows and cartoons.
Steve Dent/Engadget
Next, I switched over to Dolby Vision mode, with the projector displaying the Dolby Vision logo when it detects a source. I found it best to use this mode with the room as dark as possible.
I watched desaturated scenes of Netflix’s Queen’s Gambit, detailed segments in Prime Video’s LOTR: Rings of Power and the bright and punchy F1: Drive to Survive from Netflix. I also watched MIB International, Thor: Ragnarok, Loki, and other movies and series, along with Aquaman and Earth on Blu-ray UltraHD.
Right out of the box, colors in Dolby Vision HDR mode looked accurate through a variety of sources, with much better detail in the shadows and bright sections than in SDR mode. Colorful scenes in MIB International and Earth showed off the wide range of colors and gamut available. Skin tones were pleasing and colors generally looked accurate. However, contrast was slightly reduced compared to the SDR. Another very small issue is that very bright scenes lacked detail, possibly because the projector isn’t tone-mapping them correctly.
I also looked at HDR10 content from Prime Video (which mostly supports HDR10 and HDR10+, and offers just a few Dolby Vision shows), including Bosch and The Boys, along with some 4K HDR10 YouTube content from Mystery Box. Again, Everything looked very punchy and bright, with colors that seemed to pop out of the screen.
Steve Dent/Engadget
The Formovie Theater has a slight blue bias out of the box, but it has a wide array of controls to correct that (white balance, grayscale and a Color Management System). Using an Xrite i1 Display Pro, I was able to get a nearly perfect white level, but frankly, it was a tiny adjustment – something hard to see by eye. However, you should definitely turn on the “Color Space” mode (it’s off by default) or it won’t read the correct gamut from your source.
As for audio quality, the Formovie’s sound was crisp and free of any distortion, matching some soundbars I’ve heard. Dialogue was clear, whether from deep or high voices, so I never missed any key moments. It even offers good soundstage that projects out to fill out the large screen.
It lacked bass as you’d expect, but overall, sound was surprisingly good for built-in speakers. I’d imagine that most people springing for a product like this would also invest in a 5.1 home theater setup to get the best out of the projector’s Dolby Atmos support – but the Formovie’s speakers do the job very well if you don’t.
Wrap-up
Steve Dent/Engadget
The $3,000 Formovie Theater offers features and image quality not found in any other UST projector even remotely in this price range. With a triple-laser engine and Dolby Vision, it delivers a bright picture, high contrast and accurate colors. And if you’re not quite satisfied with the picture right out of the box, there are a wide range of controls to adjust and calibrate it.
When you’re not in movie purist mode, it’s also a great projector to use with some daylight streaming in for sports and regular TV. And the audio capabilities are a strong bonus, giving you a very minimalist setup if you don’t feel like splurging on a 5.1 surround sound system. The main disadvantages are the lack of Netflix support and a slightly noisy fan.
Best of all, the pricing is on the low end for a UST projector, and spending an extra couple of thousand dollars doesn’t give you a lot more. In fact, if you really want Dolby Vision, the Formovie Theater is the only UST projector option available.
Snap has introduced a number of features for its Snapchat+ subscription app, including a new "Story Expiration" feature, along with custom notification sounds, camera borders and more. The Story feature looks useful, and appears designed to tempt hardcore users to sign up for the $4 per month service.
With story expiration, subscribers can choose to let their stories expire for lengths of time between one hour and one week. That could allow creators to, say, draw interest with a short story, or let one stay for a longer period to draw the more eyeballs. As it stands now, all stories expire after 24 hours and must be saved or they'll be gone for good.
Snap
Paid users are also getting access to custom notification sounds, letting them set different tones for different friends so they tell who Snapped them without checking their phone. And the new custom camera color borders option allows users to just what it says, using different hues while capturing content. And finally, Snapchat is bringing custom "exclusive, seasonal and spooky Bitmoji backgrounds" that they can use in their profiles for Halloween.
Snapchat+ made a strong start, with the company boasting a million subscribers just a couple of months after it debuted. At the time, Snap described it as a service for "passionate" users, and though that's a fraction of its 347 million daily users, it's a significant injection of additional revenue. Snapchat also sells hardware like glasses and recently came out with the Pixy Drone, though Snap had reportedly given up on that product.
Blackmagic Design is bringing it's popular DaVinci Resolve video editing app to the iPad, promising support for RAW, cloud collaboration and more, the company announced on Twitter. It won't be a full version of the PC/Mac app, as it will initially feature just the Cut and Color pages. Otherwise, though, "it will be similar to the desktop version," Blackmagic said.
The iPad app will support file formats including H.264, H.265, Apple ProRes and Blackmagic RAW, with clips available from the "iPad Pro internal storage and Photos library, externally connected iCloud or USB-C media disks," the company wrote on Facebook.
In addition, you'll be able to open desktop projects on the iPad version, including shared collaborative projects via Blackmagic Cloud. "This means DaVinci Resolve for iPad is the same professional tool, and the same codebase as used on major Hollywood feature films," Blackmagic pointed out.
There are some changes to the UI because of the screen size, as the menu bar will be removed, for instance. In addition, there's no plan to bring the Edit page to the iPad version, as it's essentially designed for a keyboard and mouse. "This makes it very difficult to move to the iPad without changing it in a way that would cause problems for professional editors who rely on the edit page for their work," the company said. Because of that, the Cut page will gain new features, including "enhanced audio support, key framing , split edits and more."
The Fusion effects and Fairlight audio tools aren't available yet either, "because their software code has not yet been redesigned for the iPad." However, the company plans to work on those pages and include them in a future release.
DaVinci Resolve is a popular app with professional editors, in part because of its powerful color correction tools — making Engadget's list of the best editing apps. In addition, there's a powerful free version of the app and the paid version costs just $300, with all future updates free. That has proven tempting for editors who don't want to pay a monthly fee to use Adobe's Premiere, After Effects and Audition tools.
