Yamaha is releasing high-end headphones with adaptive audio tech and an eye-catching design to help them stand out in a crowded marketplace. The $499.95 YH-L700A are the latest over-ears to join the exclusive head tracking audio club. Like the Dolby Dimension before them, Yamaha says its new headphones can identify where sound is coming from and re-orientate what you hear on the fly.
Working in tandem with the 3D audio, the tech aims to deliver an immersive experience that lets you track individual sounds. It all sounds similar to Apple's Spatial Audio or Samsung's rival 360 Audio. Yamaha's feature is called "3D Sound Field" and essentially leans upon its Cinema DSP processing to convert stereo sound into multi-channel audio.
Yamaha
Overall, the headphones tick a number of boxes. There's "advanced" active noise cancelation (ANC) that can be switched on and off. Here, the system uses an algorithm and internal mics to adaptively remove ambient noise from the playback music signal.
Plus, there are a range of audio modes that you can enable via an accompanying mobile app, which (along with the advanced ANC) are also available on the $350 YH-E700A headphones. They include a "listening optimizer" that can adjust the sound based on how you wear the headphones; "listening care" that promises a fuller range of audio at lower volumes; and "ambient sound" that uses the mics to capture external sounds and present them in the background of your audio. Yamaha claims you'll get an ambitious 34 hours of listening time per charge, though the jury's out on whether that will withstand rigorous testing.
While they retain some features from Yamaha's other headphones, they don't look like company's prior efforts. Yamaha has switched from round to rectangular earcups that can swivel and fold. Like the headband, they're covered in a foamy fabric. The new headphones are out now at select retailers and on the Yamaha store.
Last year, Peloton introduced its new lower-cost Peloton Tread to the market, which is around $1,800 cheaper than the original Tread+ ($4,295). It was then sold for a short period of time in the UK, Canada and the US (where it had only a limited invitation-only release). Then, however, the company had to halt sales of the Tread and recall both its connected treadmills after reports of several injuries and one fatality. The Tread in particular had to be recalled because its touchscreen console could detach and fall. The issues have since been fixed, but the incident obviously delayed the broader sale of the Tread.
Now, the company is ready for a redo of sorts with a much wider release. Peloton announced today that the newer, safer Tread will be available in the US, Canada and the UK on August 30th, while those in Germany will have to wait until later this fall. The Peloton Tread is priced at $2,495 USD ($3,295 CAD / £2,295 GBP / €2495 EUR).
As a reminder, the Tread has many of the same features of the Tread+, albeit in a more affordable package. It has a 23.8-inch HD touchscreen instead of the 32-inch on the Tread+, and it has a traditional running belt instead of a shock-absorbing slat belt. The Tread also has a slightly smaller footprint; it’s 68 by 33-inch rather than 72.5 by 36.5-inch.
Peloton also emphasized software and hardware safety features in the new Tread, which helps address the recall concerns. One of them is Tread Lock, which is a four-digit digital passcode that is required of each authorized user. Tread Lock will be available for both All-Access members as well as those without. There’s also a physical safety key that can help a runner quickly stop during a class when pulled.
On top of that, Peloton said that all Treads from here on out will have installed the fix that resulted in the recall. That means that the touchscreen console is now securely attached to the Tread at all times according to the company. As was announced previously, existing Tread users can have this repair done for free.
It’s the weirdest cryptocurrency heist so far. On Monday, Poly Network, a cryptocurrency finance platform, was hacked by “Mr. White Hat” who exploited a vulnerability in its code to steal $610 million in Ethereum, Shiba Inu and other cryptocurrencies. The company now says it has recovered all the money it lost in the theft.
Less than a day after stealing the digital currencies, the hacker started returning millions saying they were “ready to surrender.” They subsequently locked more than $200 million in assets in an account that required passwords from both them and Poly Network. They said they would only provide their password once everyone was “ready.” At that point, Poly Network offered the hacker a $500,000 reward — a fraction of what they had stolen.
It’s not entirely clear why the hacker surrendered, but it may have been difficult to cash out the millions. The hacker says they were trying to contribute to the security of Poly Network. Maybe they just didn’t want to get caught. Poly will breathe a sigh of relief as will those that were doing their crypto trading through the platform.
Security researcher Jon Hat posted on Twitter that after plugging in a Razer mouse or dongle, Windows Update will download the Razer installer executable and run it with SYSTEM privileges. It also lets you access the Windows file explorer and Powershell with "elevated" privileges, which means nefarious types could install harmful software — if they can get to your USB ports.
Since this vulnerability requires someone plugging in a mouse, it's not nearly as dangerous as a remote attack, but it's still not great for Razer. The company's security team said it’s working on a fix.
Esports is most commonly associated with high-octane competitive games, usually with guns. That’s not the vibe in Stardew Valley, where you literally tend to crops. It’s more agrarian, less aggro.
But soon, some of the world's finest Stardew Valley players will face off for thousands of dollars. Creator Eric Barone said the first official Stardew Valley Cup event will take place on September 4th. “It’s a competition of skill, knowledge and teamwork, with a prize pool of over $40k.”
More than 100 challenges have been created for competitors to tackle, with four teams of four players each having three hours to complete as many of the tasks as they can. Best start sharpening that hoe.
NASA’s Jet Propulsion Laboratory released a breathtaking panorama of the inside of the Gale Crater, as snapped by the Curiosity Rover. It shows off where the rover has been and where it’s going. Apparently, on a clear day when there’s no dust in the air, you can see up to 20 miles away.
PayPal is bringing the ability to buy, hold and sell cryptocurrencies across to the other side of the pond, the better part of a year after it launched in the US. In a statement, the company said that UK-based users would be able to buy, hold and sell Bitcoin, Ethereum, Litecoin and Bitcoin Cash via their PayPal account. The company adds that users can buy as little as £1 of cryptocurrency, and while there are no fees to hold the currency, users will have to pay transaction and currency conversion fees. And hey, it’s not Poly.
Twelve Minutes managed to hook several Engadget editors when it was revealed back in 2015. Even before it gained an all-star cast including Daisy Ridley, James McAvoy and Willem Dafoe, the pitch was easy to understand: a time loop point-and-click adventure. I made a note to keep an eye on the title, and Devindra Hardawar, who reviewed the game, did the same.
Unfortunately, the need to push the story in any — most! — directions leads to some grim choices by the player, and what Devindra calls “mind-numbingly dumb” twists. Tell us how you really feel.
“We’ve exhausted all internal avenues,” the group says.
A group of current and former Apple employees are calling on colleagues to publicly share stories of discrimination, harassment and retaliation at the company. The collective has started a Twitter account called Apple Workers.
"For too long, Apple has evaded public scrutiny," the group says on its website. "When we press for accountability and redress to the persistent injustices we witness or experience in our workplace, we are faced with a pattern of isolation, degradation and gaslighting." In August, the company put Ashley Gjøvik, a senior engineering program manager, on paid administrative leave. Apple hasn’t yet commented.
Being a student is hard, but just because you’re holed up in a dorm room doesn’t mean you should settle for mediocre entertainment. Our updated Student Buyer’s Guide has everything you could possibly need to upgrade from mindlessly watching Netflix on your laptop. That includes deals for TVs, audio gear and the best streaming devices.
Netflix's live-action adaptation of classic anime Cowboy Bebop has been a long time coming, and the show finally has a release date. The 10-episode first season will start streaming on November 19th. There’s still no trailer, but we get some stills of the iconic crew, played by John Cho (Spike Spiegel), Mustafa Shakir (Jet Black) and Daniella Pineda (Faye Valentine). There’s a corgi, too.
Virgin Orbit, the less glamorous half of Virgin’s space adventures, has announced plans to go public on the Nasdaq stock exchange through a special purpose acquisitions company (SPAC) merger. The deal with NextGen Acquisition Corp. II values Virgin Orbit at $3.2 billion.
The combined company is expected to pull in up to $483 million in cash when the deal closes, and it plans to scale up its rocket manufacturing. The first spaceflight company to go public through a SPAC, and the company that really kicked off the SPAC trend was Virgin Galactic back in 2019, which sought to fund its tourist trips to space. Yeah, the more exciting facet of space companies.
Facebook has started testing a feature that gives users a way to place voice and video calls from within the main app itself, according to Bloomberg. Like with any of the social network's experiments, it will only be available to a limited number of accounts. But those who do get access to the test will be able to call friends on the platform without having to fire up the Messenger app.
As the publication notes, this looks like a move Facebook is exploring to further streamline its services that include Messenger, which became a separate app in 2014, and WhatsApp. Connor Hayes, director of product management at Messenger, told Bloomberg that it's meant to reduce the need to jump back and forth between the company's main app and its Messenger service.
Facebook already has plans to unify its messaging apps. In September 2020, it enabled the ability to chat and send messages between Instagram and Messenger, and the social network previously said that WhatsApp would also get inter-app messaging capabilities. The company tested putting a simpler version of Messenger within the main app last year, as well. That's something the social network been considering since at least 2019 when Jane Manchun Wong found an experimental feature that takes users straight to a "Chats" section when they tap on the messaging icon. Currently, doing so automatically opens the Messenger app.
Hayes told the publication that Facebook now considers Messenger as a service instead of a standalone app. We may see more of its technologies across the company's other apps in the future — in fact, Instagram, Oculus and Portal devices already use Messenger's technology for voice and video calls. "You’re going to start to see quite a bit more of this over time," he said.
Oculus is rolling out an update to its Quest VR headsets that includes several tweaks and improvements. The highlight is the ability to auto sync your saved photos and video files directly to the Oculus mobile app. That way, you can manage and share those in-game captures when you're outside of the headset.
The feature can be activated by opening the Files App from your Quest app library and selecting the cloud icon in the top-right corner of the panel. Your saved files will then be available in the the “Synced Media” section under the Devices tab in the mobile app. Oculus says that media will be unsynced and automatically removed from the app after 14 days.
The improvement is the latest aimed at saved media. In the v29 update earlier this year, Oculus introduced a Browser app that let you download and upload files to websites, making the task more seamless than plugging the headset into a PC.
Additional features include the option to gift games directly from the headset — a process that was previously limited to browsers or the Oculus mobile app. You can now also interact with your Facebook and Oculus friends from the People tab in Messenger.
Finally, Oculus is changing up its fitness-oriented Move feature. It's moving to weekly workout goals instead of daily ones, which will be viewable on the redesigned calendar. Keeping the focus on long-term targets, you'll now see revised suggested calorie goals and move minutes. Plus, you'll be able to share your workout stats to Facebook, including Groups, Messenger, and your timeline.
EA won't be filing any lawsuit against other developers that use the patented accessibility mechanics it uses in its games. The video game giant has announced that it's making a Patents Pledge, which gives rival developers free access to any of its accessibility-related technologies. While not all gameplay mechanics are patented, some companies have taken to making sure competitors aren't legally allowed to use their technologies. Critics condemn the practice, accusing the companies of stifling creativity and innovation in the industry. EA at least won't be suing anybody that incorporate its accessibility features in their games, including Apex Legends' "ping" system.
The feature gives players in the same team a way to communicate with each other without using voice chat. They can simply tap buttons to tell their teammates where they are on a map, to alert others of a threat or to tag targets. Supposedly, Epic Games borrowed Apex's ping system for Fortnite. The Patents Pledge also covers at least four more EA features, three of which make video games more accessible to players with vision issues. Those technologies, already in use in the Madden NFL and FIFA franchises, can automatically detect colors and then modify their brightness and contrast to make them more visible.
The last patent in the five EA specifically mentioned covers a technology allowing players with hearing issues to modify or create their own music. EA says it will add any future accessibility patents to the pledge and that it hopes the move can "encourage others to build new features that make video games more inclusive."
Chris Bruzzo, EA's EVP of Positive Play, Commercial and Marketing, said in a statement:
"At Electronic Arts, our mission is to inspire the world to play. We can only make that a reality if our video games are accessible to all players. Our accessibility team has long been committed to breaking down barriers within our video games, but we realize that to drive meaningful change, we need to work together as an industry to do better for our players.
We hope developers will make the most of these patents and encourage those who have the resources, innovation and creativity to do as we have by making their own pledges that put accessibility first. We welcome collaboration with others on how we move the industry forward together."
Starlink has already shipped 100,000 satellite internet terminals before it has even achieved global coverage. SpaceX chief Elon Musk has revealed the figure on Twitter, where he also listed the 14 regions where the service is currently available. "Our license applications are pending in many more countries. Hoping to serve Earth soon!" he said in a follow-up tweet.
SpaceX launched Starlink as a beta service in late 2020, offering potential testers at the time the chance to be the first ones to it for $99 a month. The terminal itself isn't included in the monthly fee: Starlink sells its starter kit with the user terminal or antenna dish, its stand and power supply, as well as a WiFi router for an additional $499, which customers will have to pay up front. You can see what the terminal looks like in the image above, showing a dish installed on the roof of a school in Chile.
Starlink was designed to serve customers in remote locations where internet options are typically limited or even non-existent. Perhaps that's why customers are willing to pay the rather steep upfront cost. According to CNBC, the company reported having 90,000 users in July, indicating that it signed up 10,000 more customers within just a few weeks.
The service uses thousands of small satellites in orbit to provide internet connection to its customers. SpaceX already deployed almost 1,800 satellites for the Starlink constellation, but it has plans to launch up to 42,000 small internet satellites in the future. Company president Gwynne Shotwell previously said that Starlink will be able to offer continuous global coverage once all the deployed satellites reach their operational orbit, which could happen as soon as September.
Whether you’re an Android or iOS user, there’s a good chance you look at user reviews and ratings before you decide whether to download an app to your device. In hopes of making those more useful for everyone, Google plans to make two tweaks to the Play Store.
Starting in November, the ratings you see will be based on where you live. So, for example, if your device is registered to Japan, you will first see what other Japanese users think of the app you’re about to download. Then, sometime early next year, Google plans to further tweak Play Store ratings to better reflect the device you’re using, be that a phone, tablet, foldable, Chromebook or smartwatch. “This will give users a better impression of the experience that they can expect for the device they’re using,” the company says of the change.
In part, Google is making these tweaks to help developers. It wants to avoid a situation where ratings in one area impact the global perception of an app. This can happen in cases where a bug only affects one localized version of the software. Of course, that compartmentalization means you can learn of those same bugs before you download an app.
While Panic's pint-sized Playdate handheld won't make its way to early adopters until the end of the year, iFixit got a chance to look inside the device early. "Unfortunately it didn't come with any games, so a teardown was about all it was good for," iFixit said, for those who might be jealous the company got a unit before they did.
Panic
Taking apart the handheld, iFixit found a console with mostly modest internal components. The Playdate has a 180MHz CPU supported by 16MB of memory and 4GB of flash storage. Powering everything is a 2.74 Wh battery with about 25 percent of the capacity of the power cell you'll find inside the iPhone 12.
But what you want to know about is Playdate's signature fold-out crank. According to iFixit, Panic and Teenage Engineering embedded a cylindrical magnet into the shaft of the component. That magnet works in conjunction with a Hull effect sensor to trigger an input from the crank. It's a simple but effective design that should last. "One thing this crank won't do? Drift. There's no wiper or spring or sensor surface to wear out," the company says, referencing the Nintendo Switch's well-known controller issue.
Panic
While it's no Framework laptop, it's clear Panic and Teenage Engineering designed the Playdate with at least one eye toward repairability. A charming sticker iFixit found upon opening the device said "breaking," not removing, the components would void the warranty. Many of the internals most likely to fail first, including the battery and headphone jack, were either modular or easily accessible. Components like the display and USB-C port will be more challenging to replace, but the Playdate looks DIY friendly enough that it could enjoy a modding scene like the Game Boy Advance.
A group of current and former Apple employees are calling on their colleagues to publicly share stories of discrimination, harassment and retaliation they experienced while working at the company. The call to action went up on Monday when the collective started a Twitter account called Apple Workers.
"For too long, Apple has evaded public scrutiny," the group says on its website. "When we press for accountability and redress to the persistent injustices we witness or experience in our workplace, we are faced with a pattern of isolation, degradation and gaslighting."
Apple workers are coming together to talk openly about issues we want addressed in our workplace.
Discrimination, harassment, and retaliation happen at #AppleToo.
If you work or worked for Apple, or a third party, connect with us at https://t.co/sQMQ22Thvf.
The protesting workers say they've exhausted all internal avenues for a remedy from the company, which is why they're going public with their complaints. "We've talked with our leadership. We've gone to the People team. We've escalated through Business Conduct. Nothing has changed," they say. "It's time to Think Different."
According to The Verge, about 15 individuals were involved in organizing the effort. Earlier today, they shared the news on a 200-person Discord server for Apple employees and contractors. We've reached out to Apple for comment.
The action comes as Apple faces questions over its handling of sexism in the workplace. In August, the company put Ashley Gjøvik, a senior engineering program manager, on paid administrative leave. In a series of tweets, Gjøvik shared several interactions with the company's employee relations team. One of those details is an episode in which a manager referred to her "tone" in presentations and said, "I didn't hear you going up an octave at the end of your statements." Apple is currently investigating Gjøvik's allegations.
"There is much more information about my story and my concerns about Apple work conditions that I have not made public yet," Gjøvik says on a website she created to chronicle her experience at the company. "I only resorted to this because everything I tried internally has failed."
