Nura might be a relatively new name in headphones, but the personalized-audio specialist is already revealing its third model: the Nuratrue. As the name suggests, the latest member of the family is a true wireless set (and the company’s first model without a wired option). As you might expect, Nura’s flagship automatic hearing test (for sound tailored to your hearing) is here, along with many other features the company has already made synonymous with its brand. But with a smaller form factor, are compromises inevitable?

The Nuratrue ($199/£199) is a simplified version of the Nuraphone over-ears and the Nuraloop wireless (but tethered) sports buds. As mentioned, the audio customization feature is present, as is the “ambient” mode — which Nura calls “social mode.” There’s even Active Noise Cancelling and “immersion” mode, which simulates the feeling of being at a live event. The last two are a little simplified compared to their bigger siblings, though.

The original Nuraphone’s immersion mode delivers tactile bass with transducers creating a sensation of volume and presence similar to being in front of a large speaker. On the Nuratrue, it feels more like a bass “boost” feature you might find on an equalizer. Active Noise Cancellation on the Nuratrue works pretty well, but is tied to the social mode feature which means they are activated as a pair. This makes no real functional difference, but something to bear in mind. Battery life is estimated at six hours here and seems accurate, which can be extended to around 24 hours via the charging case.

James Trew / Engadget

If you were a fan of the Nuraloop, you might have expected the Nuratrue to be broadly the same, minus the connecting cable. But you’d be wrong. The new buds barely share any visual or physical DNA with their cabled sibling. Instead the Nuratrue has a much larger, circular body which sorta looks like you’re wearing “plugs,” but in the middle of your ear. This extra size might sound like a negative, but it makes them easier to touch (for controls) and likely helps keep them wirelessly connected to each other.

That “touchability” is important, as, like most TWS earphones, it’s how you’ll interact with them — in particular, for activating things like immersion or social mode. (ANC can only be toggled via the app it seems, and as mentioned disables social mode with it). In my testing with them the touch was more responsive than most other TWS headphones I’ve tried, especially the tricky double-tap which I find often requires a few attempts to register correctly. As with all Nura headphones you can easily assign different tasks to either side for both single and double taps, making it easy to have the controls you use the most at hand (or finger, technically).

Obviously, the main selling point here is Nura’s proprietary audio personalization. The ability to create personal hearing profiles is kinda Nura’s whole thing. It’s a feature you see on other brands, too, but Nura’s is the simplest and, in my experience, the most reliable. Mostly, because it doesn’t involve any subjectivity. Just pop the buds in your ears, walk through the profile creation process in the app and the headphones do everything else. Most other similar “tests” require you to tell the app how well/if you heard something. As someone who’s done more than their fair share of hearing tests, I always start imagining phantom sounds and worry that affects my results.

James Trew / Engadget

Cool features are… cool and all, but you probably just want to know how they sound? I guess the smart answer is, that will depend on your ears. The slightly more helpful answer is that, for me, the personalized audio definitely puts the Nuratrue above most of the TWS headphones I have tried. It’s not that they have better bass or polished treble, although those would be fair statements, it’s more that they feel neutral and balanced.

Whereas “unpersonalized” buds may be technically balanced on a graph, I know that my hearing isn’t perfect and thus might be slightly worse at certain frequencies. With Nura’s personalized tuning, it’s hard to know what frequency curve I am getting, or even if that’s what my hearing really “needs” but what I do know is that I like it!

Now, I guess I should also say that I am never sure just how effective Nura’s hearing test really is. The company claims that it uses otoacoustic emissions to determine the characteristics of your hearing. The same test is sometimes used to determine cochlear hearing loss in newborns. That said, every time I’ve been to an audiologist (which is more times than I would like) I have asked them about using OAE tests for headphones, and all of them have been skeptical it can be done on hardware at this price. When I asked Nura about this, they gave the following reply:

“The OAE signal produced by a person's ears is indeed faint - much like the signals of GPS satellites are faint by the time they reach the Earth's surface. That's why GPS-enabled devices of 20-15 years ago were much larger, less accurate, and took longer to acquire a signal than today's smartphones or even smartwatches. Similar advances in signal processing have enabled the huge improvement in GPS device performance and the quick & reliable measurements of OAEs in devices as small as Nuratrue.”

In short, the company claims that advances in technology have allowed for the test to be practical in small, consumer devices.

James Trew / Engadget

Back to the physical design briefly. It might not be for everyone, but it feels very much in keeping with Nura’s apparent mission to do things a little bit differently. I’ve never really found a TWS design that I think has fully cracked it (although Jabra’s Elite 75t comes close?), and that’s true here. But, as mentioned earlier, I do appreciate the large surface area for controlling playback or activating/deactivating the extra features. Extended wear remains comfortable, and the fit works well for my ears.

If I had one minor gripe, it’d be the maximum volume. It’s not low. In fact, for me, it’s more or less ideal for comfortable, extended use. It’s just that, “comfortable” is the maximum, so when a song comes on that I really love and I decide that, heck, I can crank this one up a bit before going back to normal levels… there’s nowhere to go. Again, this might not be an issue for you. I’ll be the first to admit I probably haven’t done my ears any favors over the years, but it was something I noticed fairly quickly in my time with the Nuratrue.

In an ocean of true wireless headphones, it’s hard to stand out. But Nura’s personalized audio is certainly enough to do just that. Of all the “customizable” headphones I’ve tried, Nura’s are still the ones to beat. And with the Nuratrue priced at least $80 cheaper than the flagship models from Sony, Sennheiser and Bose, that’s just another easy way for the company to garner attention.

The Nuratrue is available starting today.

Your archived WhatsApp chats will no longer resurrect themselves — unless you let them. The messaging giant is rolling out a settings change that will keep those conversation threads tucked away in the Archived Chats folder by default, even if someone sends a new message. You'll have to remove a thread from the archives if you want to make it active again.

If you prefer the old behavior, you can restore it through the relevant settings in the Chats tab.

This could prove frustrating if someone wants to bring back a discussion you wouldn't mind revisiting, such as a classmate chat or a party planning session. However, it could easily be worthwhile if it prevents someone from dredging up bad memories or otherwise hijacking control of archives you'd rather keep hidden.

Gaming promos are getting zanier all the time. The days of grabbing a Mountain Dew or a pack of Doritos for a chance to win an Xbox One are long gone. In our attention-zapped world, it has to be new or else it's DOA. With that in mind, Krispy Kreme has come up with the "Nexus Level" doughnut as part of a new Xbox cross promotion in the UK and Ireland. That's it above in all its icing-covered glory.

Buy a box of the Xbox-branded doughnuts between August 2nd and 22nd for a chance of winning an Xbox Series S and a month of Xbox Game Pass Ultimate (if you're a new subscriber). To check if you've snagged the console, you need to scan the QR code on the box and enter your unique code. 

It's not as madcap as the Destiny toaster or KFC's bucket-shaped gaming PC, or even the Xbox Mini Fridge. But, you can't actually eat any of those. Krispy Kreme is clearly in on the joke. An accompanying video features actors as the team behind the doughnut, with corporate titles like "product innovator" and "quality assurance guru," touting its "revolutionary design" and "ergonomic form." 

The curse of buying new tech at the wrong time will get us all. In the last year, I’ve seen fellow Engadget employees buy a Nintendo Switch just before the OLED model broke cover, take the plunge with the iPhone SE just before the iPhone 12 mini was unveiled and make several more shopping missteps. Now, I might have done the same.

I picked up Sony’s vlogging camera, the ZV-1, earlier this month. I was looking for an agile video setup for the occasional time I have to record footage at Engadget without a skilled member of our video team. It’s very easy to make it work, with great face tracking capabilities and even a product showcase mode that helps me really show off whatever gadget I’m handling and I was happy with it. 

For a couple of weeks.

Sony

Then I heard the rumors that Sony was about to expand its vlogging camera family, and my heart sank. Here it is, then. The ZV E-10, a new vlogging camera that fuses the tiny frame of the ZV-1 with interchangeable lenses. 

The two major improvements seem to be a larger 24-megapixel sensor and an interchangeable mirrorless mount. The latter means you can use one of the 60-plus E-mount lenses, while that larger sensor should offer improved light sensitivity and a shallower depth of field. The ZV-E10 will launch by the end of August and will cost $700 for the body or $800 in a bundle with one of Sony's power zoom lens. The price is roughly level with how much I paid for the ZV-1 earlier this month. It’s probably too late to ask for a refund, right? 

— Mat Smith

iPhone sales were up 50 percent year over year

Another record-breaking quarter for Apple.

Despite the pandemic, Apple has spent most of the last two years relentlessly upgrading its product lineup, and its moves are definitely paying off. During its fiscal year third quarter, all of its product segments (the iPhone, Mac, iPad, services and wearables/home/accessories) increased in revenue year over year, leading to total revenue of $81.4 billion. iPhone revenue of $39.6 billion made up almost half of that figure, likely thanks to an unusual four devices making up the iPhone 12 lineup. Continue reading.

Tesla pushes back Semi truck release to 2022

The company delayed its launch due to battery cell shortage and supply chain issues.

Tesla

Tesla has revealed during its most recent earnings call that it has pushed back the truck's arrival — yet again — to 2022, three years after its original launch target in 2019. Last year, the company announced it had to delay the vehicle's release to 2021 but didn't elaborate on why. Now, the company has told shareholders the delay is due to the limited availability of battery cells and global supply chain challenges. Continue reading.

Nothing's Ear 1 wireless earbuds arrive on August 17th

A limited-edition online drop will take place on July 31st.

Nothing

The new hardware startup from the co-founder of OnePlus is almost ready to show off its first product — and I hope you like wireless earbuds. Taking a leaf out of Carl Pei’s former company, the dripfeed for Nothing’s Ear 1 hasn’t left much to reveal, although we’ve gleaned an eventual US launch date, mid-August, and some battery estimates. Rumor has it, we’ll have some first-hand impressions on these see-thru wireless buds very soon. Stay tuned. Continue reading.

Activision Blizzard employees walk out today after harassment lawsuit response

They're demanding the company improve working conditions.

After sharing an open letter decrying the company's "abhorrent and insulting" response to a harassment lawsuit from the California Department of Fair Employment and Housing (DFEH), Activision Blizzard employees plan to hold a walkout.

According to Kotaku, at least 50 employees will protest the company's recent actions in person and call on it to improve working conditions for women by at least temporarily leaving their posts today. In the open letter, the employees call on Activision Blizzard to end the use of forced arbitration for all current and future employees, adopt new hiring policies designed to increase representation across the company, publish transparency data on compensation and hire a third-party firm to conduct a review of the studio's HR department and executive staff. Continue reading.

But wait, there’s more...

'The Simpsons' gets a home arcade cabinet for its 30th birthday

Discord finally adds threaded messaging

Microsoft's profits skyrocketed by 47 percent in Q4

Waze will warn you about traffic jams and detours before you drive

Netflix turned a Twitter account into an animated show

Google parent Alphabet made a whopping $61.9 billion last quarter

Facebook recalls Quest 2 foam inserts over skin irritation issues

US government sells 'Pharma Bro' Martin Shkreli's one-off Wu-Tang Clan album

AZIO's colorful IZO collection looks great (and that's about it)

After a series of setbacks, a small batch of beta testers will be among the first to play Halo Infinite. From tomorrow, July 29th, until August 1st, a bunch of Halo Insiders will get to try the sequel's multiplayer preview. The invite-only test will see players sample gameplay including bot slaying in four-player teams across three maps, with the action growing fraught as players wipe out more enemies. 

Bots aren't the only first in the new Halo. Beta testers will also sample the new Academy experience at a firing range, where they'll try out a dozen weapons on strafing bots. As a taster of the customization on offer, players will be get a set amount of in-game credits to spend on items. This is so they can get accustomed with the Battle Passes, check their Challenges, use the Store, and apply their changes in the Armor Hall. However, these items won't carry over into the full game. 

Finally, chosen Insiders will also go hands-on with the Halo Waypoint web and mobile app experiences on iOS and Android. Offering some more insight into the invite process, 343 Industries' Brian Jarrard said the developer is targeting a large number of testers across platforms (including Xbox One, Series X/S, and different PC configurations). 

To meet that goal, preference may also be given to Insiders with valid profiles, those opted in to comms and the DXDIAG diagnostics tool, he added. The developer is also looking at tenure, with preference for long-standing Insiders. You can still sign up to the Halo Insider program. Though it may be too late to jump on this test, more Halo previews are planned in the lead-up to the game's launch this fall.

Three months ago, Spotify predicted that user growth would start falling, because COVID-19 had prompted so many people to sign up than expected. Today, the audio giant was proved right, as new signups fell to nine million new users in the most recent quarter, but slower growth isn’t always a bad thing. Of that nine million figure, seven million users signed up for Premium, versus just two million who went ad-supported. It means that Spotify was also able to announce a second successive quarter of profitability after a long period of losses.

The total number of Spotify users now stands at 365 million, of which 165 million are paying for Premium, while the remaining 210 are ad-supported. Converting more of Spotify’s vast ad-supported user base into Premium users is one way to ensure the company remains profitable. Another, of course, is to boost its growing advertising business, which has been bolstered by Spotify’s numerous podcast offerings. The company said that it saw “triple digit” year-on-year gain in ad-sales for the company’s owned podcast outlets, including The Ringer, Parcast and Gimlet.

The last three months has seen Spotify intensify work to push users toward cheaper forms of audio content than music. It says that Joe Rogan’s podcast has performed “above expectations,” while shows out of The Ringer saw big bumps in listenership as the NBA headed into the playoff season. No mention this month of how many people are tuning in to listen to former President Barack Obama and Bruce Springsteen hang out, which was the second biggest podcast on the platform from the start of the year.

As for the future, Spotify says that it’s hoping to add at least 12 million more users in total, and at least another five million more paying customers. It is still expecting to reach the coveted 400 million user figure by the end of the year, although given the uncertainties still present with COVID-19, you never can be sure.

Cassie, a bipedal robot that's all legs, has successfully ran five kilometers without having a tether and on a single charge. The machine serves as the basis for Agility Robotics' delivery robot Digit, as TechCrunch notes, though you may also remember it for "blindly" navigating a set of stairs. Oregon State University engineers were able to train Cassie in a simulator to give it the capability to go up and down a flight of stairs without the use of cameras or LIDAR. Now, engineers from the same team were able to train Cassie to run using a deep reinforcement learning algorithm.

According to the team, Cassie teaching itself using the technique gave it the capability to stay upright without a tether by shifting its balance while running. The robot had to learn to make infinite subtle adjustments to be able to accomplish the feat. Yesh Godse, an undergrad from the OSU Dynamic Robotics Laboratory, explained: "Deep reinforcement learning is a powerful method in AI that opens up skills like running, skipping and walking up and down stairs."

The team first tested Cassie's capability by having it run on turn for five kilometers, which it finished with a time of 43 minutes and 49 seconds. Cassie finished its run across the OSU campus in 53 minutes, 3 seconds — it took a bit longer, because it included six-and-a-half minutes of dealing with technical issues. The robot fell once due to a computer overheating and then again after it executed a turn too quickly. Jeremy Dao, another team member from the lab, though, said they were able to "reach the limits of the hardware and show what it can do." The work the team does will help expand the understanding of legged locomotion and could help make bipedal robots become more common in the future.

Rumors swirled last week that LG would start selling iPhones in some of its South Korean stores, since it has stopped producing its own smartphones,. Now, LG has confirmed that it will start selling iPhones and other Apple products next month, ZDNet has reported. 

LG and Samsung agreed in 2018 to only sell their own smartphones at their respective stores so they wouldn't compete with smaller phone distributors. As such, when LG started to consider selling iPhones, it reportedly faced resistance from a smartphone reseller trade organization. Now that it has stopped making its own phones, however, that group has reportedly signed a new contract that allows LG to sell phones from other manufacturers. 

On top of selling iPhones starting next month, LG will reportedly sell the Watch and other Apple products. The company has 400 stores in South Korea, so the move could provide a significant boost to Apple. It could be to the detriment of Apple's arch-rival Samsung, though, which has essentially had the local smartphone market to itself since LG dropped out. 

Apple supposedly started negotiating with LG to sell phones in its retail spaces after the Korean company announced it would end production of its own devices. Both Samsung and Apple have been offering to pay LG smartphone owners up to 150,000 won ($135) to trade in their phones. 

At the start of June, Vivaldi released its 4.0 update, which added features like a translation tool to the privacy-focused browser. Its new 4.1 update is a smaller release but still adds a handful of handy features, including a new way to organize tabs.

Like Chrome, Vivaldi allows you to group multiple tabs to restore some semblance of order to your tab bar. In Vivaldi, those groups are called stacks. Before 4.1, you had two ways of using them. You could opt for either the compact view or the two-level one. In the latter case, the browser adds a bar that displays the tabs you have in that stack. The compact view, by contrast, only hints at the number of websites you have pinned to the same group.

Vivaldi

The new "Accordion" stacks Vivaldi is introducing today give you a third option that is something of a compromise between its two siblings. The icon that represents the group will automatically expand when you click on it. Instead of on a second bar, you’ll see all the included tabs to the right of that icon. In that way, you can get context about your tabs without them taking up an entire extra element of the interface.

The other major feature the company is adding with 4.1 is called command chains. In Vivaldi, you can press “F2” (or “Command E” on Mac) to bring up a command-line interface, allowing you to quickly access most features without digging through the menu for the relevant option. Command chains allow you to group multiple actions and assign a name to them. Typing the name of the chain in the command interface will execute the included actions in a sequence. With more than 200 actions available, you have a lot of flexibility. For instance, you can create one that enables both fullscreen and reading modes at the same time. You can also assign the sequences you make to a custom keyboard shortcut or mouse gesture.

Outside of those features, 4.1 adds a timer in reader view that estimates how long it should take you to work your way through an article. Lastly, the browser’s Windows client will now install new features in the background automatically. There’s an option to turn off “silent updates” in the settings menu. You can try Vivaldi 4.1 today.

Last week, news leaked out that Rivian was planning to build a second US manufacturing plant for its electric vehicles and batteries, and now more details have leaked out. The company plans to invest $5 billion initially in the second plant, dubbed Project Tera, with construction slated to start in the fall of 2021, according to Reuters. The aim is to begin production by the second quarter of 2023. 

The second plant will reportedly include a 50 gigawatt-hour (GWh) battery cell production operation and a product and technology center. There's no word on where it'll be built, but the company is reportedly looking at land east of Mesa, Arizona, near Gold Canyon, according to Reuters' sources. Rivian Chief Executive R.J. Scaringe has reportedly spoken with Arizona Governor Doug Ducey about the project.

Rivian previously acknowledged that it's looking to expand. “The company has recognized that future production and product plans will not be fully met by the current capacity at Rivian’s Normal, Illinois facility,” it said in the document seen by Reuters. 

The plant would supposedly support around 10,000 jobs, though many of those could come indirectly. For a startup that has so far not produced a single vehicle, however, the investment and job figures would be impressive. Rivian is backed by Ford, Amazon and other companies and could reportedly soar to a $50 billion value in a possible public listing later this year, according to Reuters' previous story.