After confirming its existence last week, Google has formally introduced the Pixel Fold, its first stab at a foldable phone. Like past foldables, the new Pixel has a vertical hinge that lets it unfurl like a book. When it's folded, you get a more traditional form factor with a 5.8-inch display. Open it up, and you get a wider 7.6-inch screen for multitasking or watching videos. Both OLED panels have 120Hz refresh rates, and the device runs on the same Tensor G2 chip found in last year's Pixel 7 line. Google is pushing the phone's thinness (12.1mm folded, 5.8mm when not), battery ("over 24 hours") and weight (10 ounces) in particular as selling points. It also claims that the near-gapless hinge is built to last over time.

We'll have to review the Pixel Fold before we can speak to that. For now, though, we've laid out how the Fold compares on paper to the most prominent book-style foldable on the market today: Samsung's Galaxy Z Fold 4. No, specs can't tell the whole story with a form factor like this, and both Samsung and OnePlus are expected to launch new foldables in the coming months. But if you want a sense of what the Pixel Fold's $1,799 starting price will get you, here's a quick rundown. The phone is available to pre-order now and will ship in June. For more impressions, check out our initial hands-on.

Google Pixel Fold vs. Samsung Galaxy Z Fold 4

Follow all of the news from Google I/O 2023 right here.

Google is ready to give Android tablets another go. Nearly five years after launching the ill-fated Pixel Slate, the company has fully taken the wraps off its latest large-screen device, the Pixel Tablet. Google had teased the device a couple of times over the past year, but now it's official: This is a 10.95-inch tablet that doubles as a Nest Hub-style smart display with an included speaker dock. That dock also charges the tablet, and the slate itself runs on the same Tensor G2 SoC you'd find in a Pixel 7 phone. 

The Pixel Tablet starts at $499 and is available to pre-order starting today, with shipping starting next month. We'll have a full review in the future, but for now, we've laid out how the device compares on the spec sheet to a couple popular alternatives in Apple's 10th-gen iPad and Samsung's Galaxy Tab A8. The $599 iPad Air and $630 Galaxy Tab S8 are notable options here, too, but since the Pixel Tablet is really two devices in one, we've stuck to sub-$500 options below. You can read our initial hands-on for more impressions.

Follow all of the news from Google I/O 2023 right here.

Nikon has announced the 45.7-megapixel Z8, a powerful full-frame mirrorless camera with up to 8K60p RAW video, 20fps RAW burst speeds and more. It's effectively a slimmed-down version of Nikon's Z9, and shares the latter's stacked, backside-illuminated (BSI) sensor and complete lack of a mechanical shutter. The main thing the Z8 lacks next to the Z9 is unlimited video recording, but it's also $1,500 cheaper.

Nikon is best known for photography, but the Z8's headline feature is the 8K60p N-RAW video. There's an interesting story there, as the cinema camera company RED has used its patents to stop other camera companies from using RAW video in the past. However, RED's lawsuit against Nikon was dismissed late last month, allowing Nikon to use N-RAW (a compressed 12-bit RAW codec developed in conjunction with a company called intoPIX) in any of its cameras. It can also capture 12-bit ProRes RAW video. 

Nikon

Along with 8K60p, the Z8 supports 4K capture at up to 120fps and 10-bit ProRes, H.264 and H.265 formats. It also offers exposure tools like waveforms, customizable autofocus and more. As mentioned, the smaller body means it can't record all video formats for an unlimited time like the Z9. Rather, you're limited to 90 minutes for 8K30p and two hours for 4K60p without overheating. With the stacked sensor, rolling shutter should be very well controlled, just like on the Z9.

In terms of photography, the Z9's burst speeds aren't restrained by a mechanical shutter, because there isn't one. As such, you can capture 14-bit RAW+JPEG images at up to 20 fps, mighty impressive for such a high-resolution camera. It comes with settings designed for portrait photographers like skin softening and human-friendly white balance. 

Nikon

It offers face, eye, vehicle and animal detection autofocus, promising AF speeds at the same level as the (excellent) Z9. It can recognize nine types of subjects automatically, including eyes, faces, heads and upper bodies for both animals and people, along with vehicles and more. 

The Z8's magnesium-allow body may be smaller than the Z9, but it's equally as dust- and weather-resistant. It's also much the same in terms of controls, with a generous array of dials and buttons to change settings. Battery life is good at 700 shots max (CIPA) and two-plus hours of 4K video shooting, but if you need more, you can get the optional MB-N12 battery grip ($350). 

Other features include 6.0 stops of in-body stabilization with compatible lenses, which is good but not as good as recent Sony, Canon and Panasonic models. The electronic viewfinder (EVF) has a relatively low 3.69 million dots of resolution, but also very low lag and a high 120Hz refresh rate. Unfortunately, the 3.2-inch, 2,100K dot rear display only tilts up and doesn't flip out, so the camera won't be suitable for many vloggers — a poor decision on Nikon's part, in my opinion. 

It has one SD UHS-II and one CFexpress card slot that supports speeds up to 1,500 MB/s required for internal 8K RAW recording. That differs from the Z9, which has two CFexpress card slots. On top of the usual USB-C charging port, it has a super-speed USB communication terminal for rapid data transfers. It also comes with a full-sized HDMI connector for external video recording and monitoring, along with 3.5mm headphone and microphone parts. 

The Nikon Z8 goes on sale on May 25th, 2023 for $4,000. That's $1,500 less than the $5,500 Z9, $2,500 less than the Sony A1 and $700 more than Canon's R5 — with far less serious overheating issues. 

Nikon

Japanese developer Game Freak is best known for a little franchise called Pokémon, but throughout the years it has dabbled in other genres, like the strategy title Little Town Hero and the rhythm-based platformer HarmoKnight. Now, the company is betting big on a brand-new action adventure IP codenamed Project Bloom.

Game Freak is teaming up with a Take-Two Interactive publishing label called Private Division. You may not recognize the company by name, but it’s been behind a slew of well-regarded titles throughout the years, like Outer Worlds, Kerbal Space Program, Rollerdrome and OlliOlli World, among others. As for Game Freak, last year’s Pokémon Legends: Arceus proved it could handle open worlds and action-heavy gameplay. The company says Project Bloom is a “bold and tonally different” IP from its prior work.

Not much is known about the game, other than some concept art and a short video announcing the partnership between the two developers. Also, we won’t be playing this anytime soon, as the “sweeping new action-adventure game” isn’t slated for release until Take-Two's 2026 financial year, which runs from April 1, 2025, to March 31, 2026.

It might be surprising to hear that Take-Two Interactive is publishing the game, and not Nintendo, which has been Game Freak's partner on Pokémon for over 25 years. While Pokémon is co-owned by Nintendo, Game Freak is an independent developer. To that end, no gaming console has been mentioned as a home for the forthcoming title. As the game won't be released for three years, the home console landscape is likely to look different than it does now. At the very least, the long-rumored followup to the Switch should be out by then.

With an instantly recognizable hook and effervescent melody, Vanessa Carlton’s debut single A Thousand Miles hit the 2002 Billboard Charts like a neutron bomb, earning nominations for the Grammy Award for Song of the Year and the Billboard Music Award for Top 40 Track of the Year. Featured prominently in 2004’s White Chicks, Terry Crews credits the undeniable smash with helping launch his acting career. 

The accompanying music video saw Carlton and her piano rolling through Newbury Park, California, and portions of downtown Los Angeles. Twenty-one years later, a team of hobbyist roboticists have brought Carlton’s music back to the public ear — this time, to the streets of San Francisco with an animatronic performer and remotely deployable disco ball.

The robot, which currently doesn’t have much of a moniker from the team beyond “The Robot,” is the brainchild of San Francisco-based aerospace engineer Ben Howard, electrical engineer Noah Klugman, lawyer Lane Powell (with additional assistance from local puppeteer, Adam Kreutinger). “This is just a thing that we've done together, the three of us, to try to create some joy,” Klugman told Engadget during a recent video call.

The trio first collaborated during the pandemic. “Kids couldn't really trick or treat properly,” Howard explained. “So we put together a kind of spooky Halloween candy dispensing robot that could drive around the streets and any kids who were brave enough could walk up, have a conversation with it and get some candy.” That project inspired them to look into developing a robot with year-round appeal. A “piano playing Muppet seemed like a good thing to do,” he continued, and from that the Thousand-Mile Machine was born.

The team started with an outdated food delivery drone model, obtained from “a friend of a friend,” as the mobile platform on which to build out the rest of the construct. “When companies get rid of these things, if they're cool pieces of hardware, there are plenty of engineers around the city who like to modify them and turn them into fun projects,” Howard explained. “There's a big community of people who are sharing cool hardware around.”

“I came to acquire [the wheeled base] and we wanted to do this music playing robot.” he added. “Then, when you think about piano player that roams around the city, immediately that [Vanessa Carlton] video comes to mind. It's so iconic.”

The nearly 400-pound robot measures roughly five feet long on a side and about four feet tall, narrow enough to fit on a sidewalk and into the TEU container workshop in which it was built at San Francisco’s Box Shop. The wheeled base is controlled remotely and manually, while the puppet’s performance — from the hand and head movements to the big disco ball reveal — are all part of a prerecorded act, akin to Chuck E Cheese’s animatronic Pizza Players band. A single button press is all that’s needed to start the performance.

Vanessa Carlton herself reportedly met the robot during a recent event in Petaluma, “it seemed like she enjoyed it,” Klugman noted. “Everyone we've met in San Francisco has seemed to really love it. I think the response has been overwhelmingly positive.”

“That was very much [the case with] everyone we encountered when we were out filming,” Lane added. “Just really happy to watch it and excited to talk to us about it and just 100 percent positive from all ages and all walks of life all over the city. It was a really cool experience.”

Bluesky, the Jack Dorsey-backed decentralized social network, isn’t publicly available yet, but it’s already become one of the hottest Twitter alternatives. Grabbing an invite to the service, which has been in a closed beta for barely two months, has become a digital status symbol, with invite codes selling for hundreds of dollars on eBay. The iOS app has been downloaded more than 375,000 times, according to analytics from data.ai – which is interesting considering the app only has about 65,000 users. Bluesky isn’t the first Twitter alternative to take off and see a surge in interest from former Twitter power users. Read on for a closer look at the latest attempt to replace Twitter in your life.

– Mat Smith

The Morning After isn’t just a newsletter – it’s also a daily podcast. Get our daily audio briefings, Monday through Friday, by subscribing right here.

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Bank of Canada asks for public feedback about a national digital currency

Although it says ‘a digital Canadian dollar is not needed’ right now.

The Bank of Canada wants the public’s opinions on a potential digital Canadian dollar. Although the country’s central bank says a national digital currency isn’t yet needed, it wants to remain flexible and ready should that ever change. The bank cites the diminishing use of cash, potential competition with cryptocurrencies and national economic stability as reasons to prepare for the potential shift. “A digital Canadian dollar would ensure Canadians always have an official, safe and stable digital payment option issued by Canada’s central bank,” the bank says. But it also emphasized that, even if it eventually launched a national digital currency, it would still issue bank notes for anyone who wants them. “Cash isn’t going anywhere,” it unequivocally states.

Continue reading.

Watch the first trailer for Chris Nolan's 'Oppenheimer'

The movie focuses on the birth of the atomic bomb.

Universal

Universal has released a trailer for Oppenheimer, Christopher Nolan's biopic of the physicist who played a key role in developing and testing the first atomic bomb. While the team hopes nuclear weapons will end World War II and usher in a new era of peace, they're also worried about sparking an apocalyptic arms race. The adaptation of Kai Bird and Martin Sherwin's American Prometheus book stars Cillian Murphy (Peaky Blinders) as its namesake scientist, with Emily Blunt as Oppenheimer's wife, Katherine.

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The Ayaneo Air Plus is the next would-be Steam Deck killer

Great hardware can't hide that this isn't a pure console experience.

Ayaneo, a relatively unknown player, has become one of the more prolific names in the handheld gaming PC world. Its newest handheld, the Air Plus, is the third iteration of Ayaneo’s Air series, and it has a choice of either AMD or Intel chipsets. The model we tested is the Ryzen 6800U processor, meaning it’s technically very similar to the Ayaneo 2 we reviewed a few months ago. The Air Plus is a shade smaller than a Nintendo Switch (albeit somewhat thicker), unlike the Ayaneo 2, which has a profile closer to the Steam Deck. While the entry-level 64GB Steam Deck will set you back $400, the base Ayaneo Air Plus costs $790 for early birds before it eventually retails for $979.

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Sony's latest portable party speaker also works with your TV

The SRS-XV800 lasts up to 25 hours and has karaoke features.

Sony

Sony's X-Series party speakers typically have a few tricks up their sleeves to power your gatherings. The company's latest model, the SRS-XV800, packs in a lot, but it also has an additional handy tool. Besides a built-in light show, karaoke mode and more, this speaker can connect to your TV through its optical port. Sony says you can expect up to 25 hours of battery life on the XV800, but that's with the customizable built-in light show turned off. This speaker may be portable, but it's also a beast. Sony added wheels and a handle, so you don't have to carry this behemoth when you need to move it.

Continue reading.

Volvo has revealed the name for its upcoming fully electric small SUV in a teaser showing its official launch date. The vehicle is called EX30, and a previous report from the Auto Express suggests that it's targeting MINI's electric vehicles. Volvo first teased the compact SUV when it announced the EX90, which the company calls its "safest car ever," last year. Apparently, it shares several design components with the EX90, including its sharply angled hatchback form factor and its tail light. 

The EX30 will reportedly use the electric vehicle platform developed by Volvo parent company Geely. Smart, an automative brand established as a joint venture between Mercedes-Benz and Geely, already used the platform for its compact electric SUV called the #1. That's why Auto Express expects the EX30 to be available as a 268-horsepower single-motor vehicle like the #1 or as a 400-horsepower four-wheel drive vehicle similar to Volvo's older EVs.

Like other automakers, Volvo Cars aims to go fully electric by 2030 and unveiled its first electric vehicle, the XC40 Recharge SUV, back in 2019. It also launched a curvier version of it, the C40 Recharge, in 2021. The automaker will officially unveil the EX30 on June 7th, when the vehicle will also be available for pre-order in select markets. 

If you’ve been following the handheld PC craze of late, you’ll know it’s a very kinetic category. And with ASUS throwing its hat in the ring, expect to see even more gaming handhelds trying to steal a bit of the Steam Deck’s lunch. Ayaneo, a relatively unknown player just a couple of years ago, has become one of the more prolific names in this space and its newest handheld - the Air Plus - is its latest effort to tempt folk over to the warm waters of portable PC gaming.

If the Air Plus looks familiar, that’s because it’s the third iteration of Ayaneo’s “Air” series and it comes with a choice of either AMD or Intel chipsets. The model we’re looking at here has the Ryzen 6800U processor meaning it’s technically very similar to the Ayaneo 2 we reviewed in Spring. Why make two handhelds with very similar specs? Because many people want the performance of the Ayaneo 2 in a more portable formfactor. While both are portable in the broadest sense of the word, the Air Plus is a shade smaller than a Nintendo Switch (albeit somewhat thicker), unlike the Ayaneo 2 which has a profile closer to the Steam Deck.

We should clarify right up top that this generation of Windows-based gaming handhelds don’t come cheap. While the base/64GB Steam Deck costs $400, the entry level Ayaneo Air Plus will set you back $790 for early birds before it retails for $979. That’s a lot more money - even if you chose the Steam Deck with the same internal storage (512GB), that would still only cost $649. That said, a lot of people really don’t like the size and weight of Valve’s handheld and appreciate the extra flexibility and power most of these alternatives offer. The success of Ayaneo’s last Indiegogo campaign tells us there’s an appetite for these devices regardless.

Photo by James Trew / Engadget

While size is a key selling point here (the Steam Deck is over 2 inches wider and an inch taller), perhaps more importantly, Valve's handheld is over 5oz (145g) heavier. That extra heft does allow for more controls — there are no touchpads or rear buttons here. That said, the Ayaneo sneaks in a few clever controls along the top and on the lower edge for tasks like bringing up the onscreen keyboard or jumping out of Ayaspace to the desktop. The Air Plus also sports two USB-C ports which opens up the possibility to use peripherals at the same time as charging it.

The Air Plus isn’t quite a straight processor upgrade from the Air Pro — there’s also a larger battery (46.2Wh up from the Pro’s 38Wh and the original Air’s 28Wh), along with a new 6-inch 1080p display. There are also some other minor cosmetic tweaks that put the power button and headphone jack on the left and right respectively - the inverse of the models before them. The Plus is also about half an inch (13mm) wider than the original Air and Air Pro, which means if you had a case for one of those, it won’t fit the new model, sorry.

The first time you turn on the Ayaneo Plus, you’ll go through a minor bit of Windows setup. After that you’ll be dumped into Ayaspace, the company’s launcher that is designed to make the experience feel a bit more like a console than a tiny PC. It’s worth pointing out that Ayaspace is functional but you’ll regularly find yourself dealing with Windows. Navigating it is easy enough, with the left analog stick controlling the mouse aided by a physical shortcut button up top that brings up the on-screen keyboard. But it’s also not the smoothest experience if you’re coming over from something like the Steam Deck.

Photo by Aaron Souppouris / Engadget

For the most part, compatibility with the Air Plus should be greater than that of Valve’s rival, just by virtue of it running vanilla Windows. And as true as that is, you can still find yourself hitting a few bugs and glitches. When I installed Red Dead Redemption 2 (RDR2) I had to google around to find out how to enter full screen mode (hint: change the graphics API in advanced settings to DirectX 12). When I tried to install Hotline Miami, I was prompted to install the .NET framework, which is about as fun as it sounds and then it loaded in a window far too big for the display (using Ayaspace’s resolution picker and then alt-tabbing out and back into the game fixed).

Quirks like this are definitely the exception not the rule, but common enough that if you’re looking for that dedicated gaming console experience, know that it’s not quite there yet. You can disable Ayaspace if you wish and use something like Steam’s Big Picture mode if that’s where your games are. You could also just launch things right from the desktop, too. But for all its shortcomings, Ayaspace does have some handy features and is a decent experience most of the time. Some industrious folks have even managed to get SteamOS running on Ayaneo devices, but the compromises still don’t make it an attractive alternative. After all, once you’re in a game you soon forget about the OS behind it.

However you get there, once launched, everything look great on the 6-inch IPS display. It’s a shame that it’s not an OLED panel like the one on the Air Pro, but the larger size more than makes up for it, and it’s nice and bright with a decent contrast ratio and color reproduction. Side by side with the equally-sized display on the Ayn Odin, the two are pretty close, but the Ayaneo is a little more vibrant.

Photo by James Trew / Engadget

I’ve been chipping away at Disco Elysium for too long now, but having the chance to bring it with me on my travels with the Air Plus has exponentially increased my play time. While it’s not the most processor-intensive game, its unique art style looks fantastic here, and it runs at a full 60 fps at720p using just 10W TDP (thermal design power) - broadly speaking the setting that determines the amount of power you’re willing to give to the CPU at the expense of battery life. With these settings I was typically getting about three hours of play time per charge.

With something more intensive, like RDR2, you’ll have to jack the TDP up as it won’t run smoothly at 10W. With medium settings and even just 12 TDP I was enjoying 40-50 fps and about 2.5 hours of battery life. If I wanted Arthur’s expeditions up into the snowy mountains to look extra slick, 15- or 20W TDP would make 1080p and 60 fps possible but with a severe hit on play time - dropping down to about 1.25 hours. This can reach back up to 2 hours if you sacrifice either fps or drop back down to 720p.

So yeah, that’s not a fantastic outlook for more demanding games on higher settings, but with a few minor concessions you can still have a great experience, one that will see you through a good chunk of a flight or kill a lazy afternoon without having to hangout near an outlet. If you’re into less demanding games like Persona 4 Golden or certainly things like Hotline Miami, Trine or Celeste you can likely get away with a lower TDP and flirt with around four hours of play time. There’s enough anecdotal evidence that the Steam Deck can often run games well at lower TDPs, giving it longer play times for certain titles, but either way these machines are all power hungry right now.

Photo by James Trew / Engadget

For the brave, the Plus will go up to a maximum of 28W TDP, which means it can run quite a lot of AAA titles at higher settings, but you’re going to want to do that while plugged in. And, arguably, that defeats half the purpose of a portable device. But if you want to bring your games with you when you travel, rather than rely on WiFi for streaming, or simply prefer to play on something like this even when at home on the couch (which is me, to be fair), this is obviously less of an issue. In fact, right now, one could argue that these handhelds are most attractive to those looking for a hybrid option that allows them to break free from the PC even if that is just to play in the lounge and take on the odd flight.

Regardless of your motives, if you’re excited by handheld gaming PCs, then the Air Plus is a competent, if decadent alternative to the Steam Deck that offers generally higher performance. If Ayaneo can refine the software experience and, (at least going forward), the price, then this whole category could get a lot more interesting.

Samsung has revealed that the US Food and Drug Administration has approved the Health Monitor app's irregular heart rhythm notification (IHGN) feature for Galaxy Watch devices. The company says that, along with the wearable's electrocardiogram (ECG) capabilities, the feature can help to identify signs of atrial fibrillation (AFib), a type of arrhythmia.

AFib is widely believed to be an alarm bell for potentially major cardiovascular issues that can lead to increased risk of stroke, heart failure and other complications. In some cases, those with AFib are asymptomatic. 

The Galaxy Watch's BioActive Sensor will look for irregular heart rhythms in the background after the wearer activates the function in the Samsung Health Monitor app. If the sensor picks up several irregular measurements consecutively, the watch will alert the wearer to possible AFib activity. The notification will suggest that the user takes an ECG reading for a more accurate measurement. If the reading detects signs of AFib, the watch will urge the wearer to consult their doctor.

Except for the original model, every Apple Watch has offered an IHGN feature in certain markets since 2019. Samsung says that availability of its IHGN feature will depend on the market, carrier, model and the paired smartphone.

Samsung will include the IHGN feature in the One UI 5 Watch update. It will first be available on the next lineup of Galaxy Watch devices, which will arrive later this year. Owners of Galaxy Watch 4 series and later models will have access to the feature at a later date. One UI 5 Watch will also introduce new sleep monitoring functions and a personalized heart rate zone feature for workouts.

Sony's X-Series party speakers typically have few tricks up their sleeves to power your gatherings. The company's latest model, the SRS-XV800, packs in a lot those but it also has an additional handy tool. Besides a built-in light show, karaoke mode and more, this speaker is also equipped with an optical port to connect to your television. 

Thanks to a TV Sound Booster feature, the SRS-XV800 can add "deep bass and room-filling sound" to any TV. Sony says the speaker's two rear tweeters and X-Balanced Speaker units combine to offer "realistic" highs and upgraded low-end tone to movies and shows. The company explains that sound from the XV800 bounces off the walls to "surround the listener" and enhances things like live performances. To use TV Sound Booster, you'll need to connect your TV to the speaker with an optical cable, so you'll need a display with that connection in order to employ the tool. This feature is currently available on the SRS-XV900, but that larger unit will cost you $150 more. 

In terms of core party speaker features, the SRS-XV800 offers omni-directional sound that Sony says can deliver audio to "every corner of the room." There are five tweeters total, sending "clear" treble to both the front and the back of the unit. Two X-Balanced drivers pump out "higher clarity, less distortion and punchy bass" to complete the sound profile. As a reminder, those X-Balanced speakers are rectangular instead of round or square, which Sony says not only increases area but also increases sound pressure that leads to improved bass and overall clarity. My colleague Jon Turi has observed "big and bassy" sound on Sony's party speakers in our best portable Bluetooth speaker guide, noting that the SRS-XP700 is a good option for "loud, thumping beats." 

Sony says you can expect up to 25 hours of battery life on the XV800, but that's with the customizable, built-in light show turned off. If you find yourself in a pinch, a 10-minute charge will give you up to three hours of use. This speaker is portable, but it's also a beast. Sony added wheels and a handle so you don't have to carry this behemoth when you need to relocate it. In terms of entertainment, the XV800 has inputs for a karaoke mic and guitar alongside the ability to manage playlists, karaoke voice effects and more inside the Music Center and Fiestable apps. Lastly, the speaker's IPX4 rating protects your investment from errant splashes (IPX2 when horizontal).

Sony

Sony is also debuting a new, tiny portable speaker today. The SRS-XB100 replaces the SRS-XB13 in the company's compact Bluetooth lineup with a familiar design. The short, cylindrical unit has a Sound Diffusion Processor to spread sound further in any environment, powered by a passive radiator and an off-center diaphragm. Sony says these components muster big sound that remains clear even at higher volumes. And yes, you can use two of these for a stereo pair or connect even more for a louder setup. The XB100 is IP67 rated so you don't need to worry even if you drop it in the pool. The company says the speaker will last up to 16 hours on a charge and a built-in microphone can be used for calls. Sony explains the mic is equipped with Echo Cancelling tech so that two people can talk at the same time without being cut off.

Both the SRS-XV800 and the SRS-XB100 will be available for pre-order starting today. The XV800 is $649 and ships on May 15th while the XB100 is $59 and ships on May 22nd.