"A $3,000 podcasting kit, in this economy?" That was my first thought when I learned about Nomono's portable recording setup last year. Since then, the price has dropped slightly to $2,490. But my main concern remains: Who needs this thing when you can get a small audio recorder and lavalier mics for far less? Still, I was intrigued.

Nomono's kit includes four wireless lav mics, as well as a space recorder for room tone and spatial data, all of which charge in a portable carrying case. Your recordings are automatically uploaded to Nomono's cloud service, where you can optimize their audio quality (and eventually edit them in your browser). As someone who's been podcasting regularly since 2008, the notion of an all-in-one kit that can easily tackle local recordings sounds like an absolute dream. Nomono's kit has the potential to be something the podcasting industry has needed for years, but can the company justify its incredibly high price?

Clearly, this isn't a product aimed at everyone — it's certainly not for beginners, and I'd argue it's far beyond the scope of what most podcasters actually need. But after testing Nomono's kit for a few weeks, I can see how it could be helpful for recording studios and companies that need flexible podcasting solutions. It doesn't require much training to use, it delivers high quality recordings, and it can be deployed just about anywhere. For those folks, spending $2,490 on Nomono's kit may make more sense than having an engineer dedicate time to every single recording. Add in a cloud subscription, which can cost as much as $29 a month, and it definitely doesn't seem like something for mere podcasting mortals.

You can tell Nomono is striving for Apple-level design simply by looking at its hardware. Even though everything is made of plastic, nothing feels cheap. The egg-like charging case has a cloth handle at the top as well as a USB-C port. Its two halves snap together with secure clasps — flip those open, take off the top and you're presented with four lavalier microphones around the space recorder. It's like an adorable podcasting bird nest.

Photo by Devindra Hardawar/Engadget

The space recorder serves as the hub for the entire Nomono experience: It's a rectangular device featuring omnidirectional microphones for capturing room tone with spatial information (it can tell where everyone is located during a conversation). There's a small screen at the top displaying the battery levels of all the connected lavs, as well as prominent recording and directional buttons. On the side, it features a USB-C port and a 3.5 millimeter headphone jack. As you're capturing audio, the space recorder takes in data from the lav mics and uploads it to Nomono's cloud once your session is done.

The lavaliers aren't nearly as unique: They're small, indiscrete square pucks featuring four LED colors (helpful for distinguishing each track). They grip onto your clothes with small magnets — making them easy to put on, but potentially just as easy to slip off. The lavs never fell off during my testing, but I constantly worried about knocking one off and losing the tiny magnet. (Nomono includes some additional magnets in its bundled accessory kit, which also has windscreen sleeves for the lavs and space recorder.)

Photo by Devindra Hardawar/Engadget

Setting up Nomono's hardware was relatively straightforward: After charging the case, I downloaded the Nomono Companion app, created an account, and paired the kit to my phone. The app shows battery levels for the lav mics and space recorder. To capture audio, you just need to remove the space recorder and at least one lav, then hit record. That process was surprisingly fast and reliable — I was typically able to get recordings started in under 30 seconds.

Wrapping up a session is mostly dependent on your internet connection. It took under 60 seconds for a 90-minute recording to get uploaded, and then I had to wait a few more minutes for Nomono's cloud to process the upload. It was far faster for short recording tests, just be prepared to wait a bit if you're planning to push lots of audio. Nomono’s hardware delivers 16-bit 48kHz WAV files for each lavalier, as well as an ambisonic WAV file (with up to four tracks) from the space recorder.

The quality of those recordings are crisp and detailed even in slightly noisy outdoor spaces. The lavs don't sound nearly as rich or nuanced as a premium dynamic or condenser microphone, but I didn't really expect them to. I'd consider them on-par with other wireless lavaliers I've used during video production (our podcast editor, Ben Ellman, described the sound as being ideal for video shoots). A conversation with my wife also sounded surprisingly clear, with none of the crosstalk issues or echoes I've encountered with cheaper multi-mic solutions.

Nomono

To give your recordings a bit more polish, Nomono also offers three levels of enhancement through its cloud platform: on the light end, it features a high-pass filter, cross-talk reduction, notch EQ filter, de-noising and de-essing (for removing harsh "S" sounds and other sibilants). Medium enhancement adds loudness normalization, a tone-shaping EQ and adaptive level, while full enhancement goes even heavier on the latter two features. While you can still download pure, unfiltered tracks, these enhancements are useful for the less audio savvy.

Eventually, you can choose to spatialize your recording through Nomono’s online platform, which makes each audio track sound like they’re coming from different directions (depending on where the space recorder was placed during the session). That feature wasn't available while I was testing the kit, and to be honest, it's also not something I'd ever consider using in a podcast. 

Nomono's full audio enhancement did a decent job of cutting down highway sounds and other street noise while I was recording in front of my local Starbucks (see above), but it also made my voice sound a bit tinny and compressed. Basically, don't expect any miracles. While It's useful to have simple ways to cut down background noise, you'll still need to find a relatively quiet recording space to capture the best audio. (Otherwise, why even buy such an expensive podcasting kit?!)

The company plans to launch its online editor by the end of 2023, which could also potentially include the ability to edit spatial recordings. Since this isn’t exactly a consumer solution, I’d bet that most people buying Nomono’s hardware already have more sophisticated ways to edit audio.

Here's a comparison of Nomono's lavalier versus the Rode Procaster XLR microphone: 

While Nomono’s hardware mostly impressed me, its online platform made it tough to deal with larger files. It took over five minutes for it to prepare a 90 minute track for download (including its bundled spatial audio file). And that didn’t include the time it took to actually grab the file, which would be dependent on your internet connection. I understand the appeal of a seamless online audio solution, but it’s annoying when I know it would be faster to just grab a file from a device sitting right on my desk. 

The space recorder didn’t show up on my Mac or PC when I connected to it, unfortunately. Nomono representatives say the company is planning to make offline features available next year, but for now, it's focused on a cloud-based workflow because they believe it's the "most convenient and time-efficient" solution for users. That also means livestreaming is out of the question with this kit, though it may show up in a future Nomono product, the company tells me.

I’d have a much easier time justifying Nomono’s high price if I knew I could use its hardware without relying on a website. This isn’t my first time at the gadget startup rodeo: What good is this $2,490 recording kit if the company goes out of business in a year or two?

Photo by Devindra Hardawar/Engadget

It’s clear that Nomono has developed something special, but it’s hard to imagine this recording kit being the only solution for an audio-savvy company. You’ll still need to have a dedicated podcasting space with hard-wired microphones. What Nomono offers is flexibility: What if you need to record in another room, in someone else’s office, or at a hotel? In those situations, a self-contained $2,490 podcasting kit might not seem so wild.

Viewers might see a new option in YouTube's dropdown resolution menu on the web if they're paying for the video hosting platform's Premium subscription service. According to The Verge, YouTube's 1080p playback option with "enhanced bitrate" is now available on desktop around the world. It's located above the ordinary 1080p option in the menu, and clicking on it will prompt users to pay for Premium if they're not currently a subscriber. 

YouTube started testing 1080p Premium earlier this year, describing it as a "version of 1080p which provides more information per pixel that results in a higher quality viewing experience." The higher bitrate, which is used as a measurement for the amount of video data transferred within a certain timeframe, it provides could give viewers a better quality without having to watch in higher resolution. Yes, 4K is available for some videos, but that means having to stream a larger file that not everyone's connection can handle and could eat up a significant portion of some people's data allowance. 

The service also rolled out enhanced 1080p on iOS a few months ago, but now more people will have access to it. That said, YouTube recently raised the prices for a Premium subscription from $12 a month to $14 and from $120 a year to $140. It does eliminate ads from the viewing experience, though, and it comes with features other than enhanced 1080p, including offline viewing and background playback. 

Threads users will soon get one of the most requested features for the text-based social network: A web version. Meta chief Mark Zuckerberg has announced on the app that in the next few weeks, Threads is getting both a web version people can use to access the service on desktop, as well as a proper search function.

While it's possible to view Threads posts on desktop at the moment, clicking on the reply, repost, like and send buttons merely brings up a QR code that links to the app. Similarly, Threads' search function is currently limited. As 9to5Mac notes, it can only surface other accounts and can't be used to look for particular posts.

Meta pushed Threads out the door at an opportune time, when X users were reeling from major changes to the platform formerly known as Twitter. It became available shortly after X restricted the number of posts users can see on the website/app due to "extreme levels of data scraping [and] system manipulation." Non-paying users were the most affected and were initially limited to seeing 600 posts a day.

People flocked to Threads after it came out, and it easily reached 100 million users in under a week. However, Meta released Threads without a bunch of features people have come to expect from a social network like it. The company's higher-ups promised that the Threads team was working on those features, and over the past couple of weeks, it released a chronological feed and built-in translations. Threads' engagement has plummeted from that blockbuster first week, but the new features coming out could entice those early adopters to take a peek and become active users. 

Biogen and Sage Therapeutics' collaboration to develop Zurzuvae has proved fruitful. The FDA approved the oral pill specifically for the treatment of postpartum depression (PPD), making it the first of its kind in a class of antidepressants intended specifically for new mothers. According to research by the CDC, one in eight women will experience symptoms of postpartum depression. Symptoms of PPD can occur quite intensely after birth and can be dangerous because it can interfere with a new mother’s ability to function. The long-awaited approval comes thanks to two randomized, double-blind studies that proved the efficacy of the drug.

A key hallmark of Zurzuvae is that the medication is expected to work within just a few days and is meant to be taken for up to two weeks. Before this once-daily oral pilll, the most common treatment plan for PPD required an IV injection. That meant administration by a healthcare provider in a hospital or healthcare facility was necessary. With this approval, Zurzuvae will be able to expand access and reach to more women on their way out of hospitals.

The catch is the drug can impact a patient's ability to drive and cause extreme drowsiness. Additionally, the warning label for the drug highlights that, like most antidepressants, the drug can cause an increased risk for suicidal ideation. To top it off, Zurzuvae may also cause fetal harm. Patients on the drug should use contraception while taking the pill and for one week after taking Zurzuvae.

Google just won a partial reprieve in one of the antitrust cases leveled against the company. Federal Judge Amit Mehta has ruled that the Department of Justice (DOJ) and key states can't claim that Google is protecting a monopoly by promoting its own products in search results over alternatives. The plaintiffs haven't proved there's an "anticompetitive effect," according to the decision. Judge Mehta also tossed antitrust allegations regarding Android's compatibility and anti-fragmentation agreements, Google Assistant, internet of things devices and the Android Open Source Project.

The DOJ can still make its remaining arguments, Judge Mehta says. Notably, officials claim Google is abusing its power through deals that require Android manufacturers to both pre-load Google apps and make Google the default search engine in their mobile browsers. The DOJ and states are concerned this prevents rivals like Bing and DuckDuckGo from gaining significant adoption.

In a statement to Engadget, Google President of Global Affairs Kent Walker says the company welcomes the judge's "careful consideration" when dismissing the search issues. He maintains that people choose Google only "because it's helpful," and that the firm would show at trial that its other practices are both competitive and lawful. We've asked the DOJ for comment and will let you know if we hear back.

The DOJ and partner states filed the lawsuit in 2020. They didn't advocate for specific penalties at the time, but punishments could include fines, business restrictions and splitting divisions into separate companies. At the time, Google defended itself by arguing that it still had to negotiate partnerships and had competitions from services like Twitter (now X) and Expedia.

This isn't the only antitrust case against Google, including in the US. An alliance of states sued Google in 2020 over allegedly anticompetitive ad pricing. However, the narrowed scope might make the case more difficult, not to mention limit the potential damages.

Devolver Digital has cultivated a name for itself over the years as a publisher with an offbeat approach to marketing games. To that end, it has announced a Devolver Delayed event, which it calls the "first-ever showcase celebrating games that are courageously moving into 2024." It seems Devolver will try to have things both ways by pushing back some release dates and, at the same time, poking fun at the never-ending spate of game delays. You'll be able to watch the stream below at 11AM ET on August 7th.

The publisher has a bunch of intriguing games currently slated for the rest of the year. I'm really looking forward to Skate Story, which has already blown many people away with its ultra-stylish visuals, so I hope that one isn't pushed back until 2024. The same goes for The Plucky Squire, an utterly adorable-looking adventure game that sees you switching between 2D and 3D environments.

Other titles on Devolver's books for 2023 include "gritty noir-punk action-adventure" Gunbrella. The publisher confirmed that game hasn't been delayed, but will feature in the showcase. The fate of the likes of Wizard with a Gun, The Talos Principle 2 and Pepper Grinder remains to be seen. However, Baby Steps (which looks like a 3D version of QWOP with a man-baby for a lead character) is already scheduled for a 2024 debut.

Google thinks it has a way to get more hybrid workers into the office: eliminate the commute when they do need to leave home. CNBC says it has learned of a summer promotion that lets full-time staff book stays at the Bay View campus' hotel for $99 per night through September 30th. The offer is meant to help employees "transition to the hybrid workplace," according to the offer. Workers can theoretically have the benefits of both the office and home while never having to travel far.

We've asked Google for comment. A spokesperson talking to CNBC says the firm routinely offers employee specials for its facilities.

The catch, as you might guess, is that employees have to pay for the hotel stays themselves. While the roughly $3,000 per month needed to take up the offer isn't out of line with apartment rentals and includes full service, it still amounts to paying to live at work without a substantial discount. Google team members have to either forego a home of their own or effectively pay rent for two places. The hotel offer is also only truly useful for people working at Bay View, which primarily houses ad-related teams. Those who still have to work at the older campus can't benefit.

The hotel special comes as Google steps up pressure on remote workers it wants to come back. The tech giant started returning some employees to its offices in 2022, when it mandated three days a week for affected people. Some balked at the prospect, though, arguing that in-person work led to high living costs and reduced productivity. Google wasn't deterred, though, and this June started considering office presences in performance reviews.

The escalating tensions now come with the prospect of regulatory action. YouTube contractors who voted to unionize have accused Google and its contracting firm Cognizant of abusing return-to-office policies to stifle labor organization, and filed a complaint with the National Labor Relations Board.

Global ransomware attacks are on the rise, according to a report issued by Malwarebytes. The study shows a massive surge from July 2022 to June 2023, with the United States bearing the brunt of these attacks. The organization noted that of the 1,900 reported ransomware attacks collected, over 43 percent originate in the U.S, an increase of 75 percent from last year’s findings.

Germany, France and the UK also experienced an uptick in deployed ransomware, but at a lower rate than the United States. The report details 48 separate ransomware groups that attacked American companies, governmental organizations and garden variety consumers during the aforementioned time period. Even worse? Healthcare and educational institutions were disproportionately impacted. For instance, dental insurer Managed Care of North America (MCNA) experienced a breach back in March and the New York City Department of Education was hit in June.

It’s worth noting that the study conducted by Malwarebytes shows only reported incidents, so the actual number of attacks could be much higher than 1,900. The whole point of a ransomware attack is to, well, exact a ransom, so some organizations make the payout and keep things quiet.

What exactly is a ransomware attack? It’s malware expressly designed to deny users and organizations access to files on a computer. The software locks everything up tight and when you pay the ransom, you receive a decryption key to regain access to the files. It’s a digital shakedown.

The biggest global offender is a ransomware gang called Clop, long-suspected to have ties to Russia. The criminal organization has evolved in the past year, capitalizing on zero-day software vulnerabilities to amp up the scope of its attacks. Back in June, the group took advantage of one of these vulnerabilities in enterprise file transfer software to breach the servers of hundreds of companies, including the largest US pension fund.

Malwarebytes says this transition to zero-day software exploits, instead of phishing emails and virus-laden downloads, could “signal a change in the game” and explain the increase in reported incidents.

As for the rest of the world, France’s numbers doubled in the past year, with a disproportionate number of attacks levied at governmental institutions. The UK experienced 200 attacks from 32 separate groups with an alarming uptick in frequency. Last year, the country reported a single ransomware attack per month. In this most recent year, it was eight per month.

While Motorola’s pricier Razr+ beat Samsung’s Galaxy Z Flip 5 to the punch with its expansive external display, the Razr (named the Razr 40 in other regions like the UK) was pitched as a more budget-friendly foldable. For now, pricing and availability in the US haven’t been confirmed, but in the UK it’s priced at £800 (roughly $1,025) while the Razr+ retails at £1,050 in the UK and $999 in the US.

The new Razr is cheaper, but it’s also more limited. In screen terms, it's comparable with foldable phones from a few years ago. But it has a bigger battery and seemingly better cameras. As the fanfare from Samsung’s Unpacked reveal dies down (and we get to grips with the Z Flip 5), the Moto Razr begs the question: What do you really get from a cheaper foldable phone?

Design and displays

Let’s start with some Razr family resemblances. Both the Razr and Razr+ have the same body and internal flexible 6.9-inch display, and there is no more Razr ‘chin’ on either device. No corners have been cut on the foldable screen, with a crisp 413 pixels per inch and up to 1,400 nits of brightness. This is a flagship display. Internally, at least.

However, the cheaper Razr has a much smaller 1.5-inch external panel, which puts it somewhere between Samsung’s original Z Flip and the Z Flip 3. You know it will feel constrictive when it’s smaller than the first two Samsung flip smartphones. This is all exacerbated by the fact that its own sibling the Razr+ has a 3.6-inch external screen. 

The Razr’s panel takes up about 20 percent of the lower front of the device, with a 64-megapixel and 8MP camera duo to its right. It has an IP52 rating, which is better than nothing, but won’t protect against more than a weak splash or light rain.

I do like the Razr’s vegan, faux leather texture, so much so that despite my fear of breaking or damaging foldable devices, I risked using the phone without the hard shell case that came in the box. I particularly liked the grey-green sage colorway, too. Like the Razr+, Moto’s middleweight phone folds completely closed, with no gaps when looking at it from the side.

Photo by Mat Smith / Engadget

The small external screen is limited to basic phone functions. You can swipe sideways through your calendar, weather forecasts, while a drag up from the clock will show all your notifications. Swiping down gets to quick toggles for things like WiFi and Bluetooth. It’s functional, but a little dated. This is what we got with the very first flip smartphones; I need a little more. Even compared to last year’s Z Flip 4 — likely to be discounted to a similar price as this Razr now that its successor is here – Samsung’s device offers more to do and see on its external screen.

The Razr’s second screen is most helpful when you’re using exterior cameras for selfies. Double pressing the power button quick-launches the camera app, and you can tap to capture images with a timer, swipe up and down to switch between the ultra-wide and standard lenses and swipe sideways to swap between video, photo and portrait modes. You can even summon a cartoon character to distract children when taking photos, in both unfolded and folded modes.

The Razr’s 2,640 x 1,080 screen can refresh at up to 144Hz, a little shy of the Razr+'s 160Hz. That said, if you’re coming from smartphones with refresh rates of 90Hz or less, you’re still going to sense the improved smoothness. The panel is bright, responsive — it’s a smartphone screen. Anyone serving in the Crease Police, yes it’s there, but compared to older foldables, running your finger over it doesn’t feel like it's testing the screen’s durability. Foldable hinges (and the screens covering them) continue to get better but if you’re looking for visible hints of a folding display, they’re still there.

Performance and software

With a Snapdragon 7 Gen 1 chip, the Razr shows its midrange hand a little. It’s not a flagship processor, but this is not a flagship foldable. I noticed the Razr lagged a little when I was trying to edit a lengthy video file, but it eventually managed to complete the task.

A pleasant surprise with this Razr was its 4,200mAh battery. This is much larger than the 3,800mAh battery in the Razr+ and the Galaxy Z Flip 4’s 3,700 mAh cell. In our video rundown test, it lasted just beyond 18 hours, a good three hours longer than the Razr+ and better than last year’s Z Flip 4.

Photo by Mat Smith / Engadget

The Razr can also fast-charge at 30W with the included adapter included (outside of the US at least). I was able to get the Razr to reach 100 percent in under an hour. There’s also support for slower 5W wireless charging, but alas, no reverse charging, if you were hoping to top up any wireless earbuds.

I’ve already noted the limited utility of the Razr’s external display, but software-wise it’s just not good enough. Customization options only extend to different fonts and colorways for the clock. It’s especially jarring given that we know Motorola is capable of more, thanks to the Razr+.

Cameras

One of the big spec differences between Motorola’s duo of foldables this year are the cameras. While the Razr+ has a pair of 12MP cameras like the Galaxy Z Flip series, the standard Razr has a 13MP wide-angle lens alongside a 64MP primary lens with optical image stabilization. Ah, so this will be where the Razr shines, right? Sadly, no.

In almost every shot I took, the Razr didn’t reach the standards of the Razr+ or even last year’s Galaxy Flip 4. Motorola's claims of ultra-fast and accurate laser auto-focus don’t really bear out in reality, especially with video. The Razr twitches and struggles to keep consistent focus. I struggled to see many images where the 64MP sensor outperformed the pricier devices, either. I wasn’t getting notably more detail, in fact I was getting less. Turns out, unless you activate high-res capture mode (which is hidden away in the furthest reaches of the camera’s menu), the primary 64MP sensor is aggressively pixel-binned, stripping away detail without improving overall image quality all that much.

Wrap-up

Photo by Mat Smith / Engadget

Are foldables going to be the new smartphone normal? Doubtful. Motorola’s bid for a cheaper (if not that much cheaper) flip phone tries to broaden their appeal, but sadly misses the mark. Its external display simply lacks enough utility in 2023. And I’m not sure who is willing to spend this much money on a phone that's already two years behind the curve.

However, Motorola has yet to announce pricing or a launch date in the US. If the Razr were to cost $800 or lower, which would be closer to a Galaxy S23 or iPhone 14, it could find an audience. But for most people intrigued by a foldable flip-phone, they would be better served hunting down a discounted Galaxy Z Flip 4.

Coinbase has filed a motion to dismiss a Securities and Exchange Commission lawsuit in which the agency accused the company of illegally running an unregistered national securities exchange, broker and clearing agency. Coinbase claims that, because it doesn't deal in securities, the SEC has no authority over its operations.

"Our core argument is simple — we do not offer 'investment contracts' as that term has been construed by decades of Supreme Court and other binding precedent," Coinbase's chief legal officer Paul Grewal wrote in a series of tweets. "By ignoring that precedent, the SEC has violated due process, abused its discretion and abandoned its own earlier interpretations of the securities laws. By ignoring that precedent, the SEC has trampled the strict boundaries on its basic authority set by Congress."

The SEC filed its lawsuit in June. It said Coinbase raked in billions of dollars since at least 2019 by "unlawfully facilitating the buying and selling of crypto asset securities."

In its motion to dismiss, Coinbase cited a separate SEC case. A judge ruled in July that Ripple Labs’ XRP was not considered a security when sold on exchanges (though institutional sales of XRP fell under securities regulations, the judge determined).

However, that particular point may not work in Coinbase's favor. This week, a different judge disagreed with the Ripple ruling and said the SEC could proceed with a case against Terraform Labs and its CEO Do Kwon. That includes claims involving sales made on exchanges and allegations of a multi-billion dollar fraud. As Bloomberg notes, neither the Ripple nor the Terraform suit is a controlling precedent in the Coinbase case.

Intriguingly, Coinbase has argued the cryptocurrencies that are sold on its platform are more like baseball cards than securities. It makes the case that baseball cards are commodities that people buy and sell in the hope they will grow in value.