Less than a year after introducing Mode II, its first pair of true wireless earbuds, Marshall is expanding its lineup of Bluetooth headphones to include two new true wireless models: the Motif ANC and Minor III. As you can probably guess from the name, the former includes active noise cancellation, a feature you won’t find on Marshall’s Mode II earbuds.
Marshall
With ANC turned on, the company claims you can get four-and-a-half hours of playtime from the Motif ANC earbuds on a single charge, and an additional 20 hours of battery life from the included charging case. The ANC feature is fully customizable, allowing you to set your own level of noise cancellation and transparency. Other notable features include IPX5 moisture protection, support for wireless charging, dual microphones for calls and touch controls.
Marshall
Marshall is positioning the Minor III as a no-frills pair of headphones. They feature 12mm drivers custom-tuned to deliver the company’s signature sound, in addition to touch controls, IPX4-certified water resistance and an open fit for claimed all-day comfort. On a single charge, you can expect five hours from the earbuds and an additional 20 with help from the included charging case, for a total of 25 hours of playtime. You can recharge the case using either a USB-C cable or by placing it on a Qi-compatible charging pad.
The Motif ANC earbuds are available to pre-order today from Marshall’s website, with general availability to follow on September 30th. They cost $199, €199 or £180. As for the Minor III earbuds, you can purchase them today for $129, €129 or £119.
Sony has revealed a second color option for its Pulse 3D headset: Midnight Black. It complements the Midnight Black DualSense controller Sony released for PlayStation 5 in June — the products share the same color scheme.
The headset's original white and black colorway matches the PS5's design. Here's hoping Sony is working on first-party black plates for the console to mirror the look of the newer peripherals.
The latest version of the headphones will be available on October 22nd. Pre-orders for the $100 headset are open on PlayStation Direct.
The company created the headset to take advantage of the PS5's spatial audio tech, which aims to place sounds in places that match what you're seeing on screen. There are dual microphones built in, which will come in useful for speaking with your teammates or if you're streaming your gameplay (though a dedicated mic is probably a better option).
The headphones are primarily designed for PS5 and will work with PS4, PCs and Macs via the wireless USB transmitter. There's no Bluetooth, but you can connect the headset to other devices through a 3.5mm headphone port or by using an adaptor.
Sony is rolling out a major update for PS5 today that not only unlocks the console's expansion slot, but adds equalizer settings for Pulse 3D. There are three presets: Standard, Bass Boost and Shooter. The latter puts more emphasis on shots being fired and footsteps. You can craft your own presets and save up to three for easy access. You'll be able to change the equalizer settings through the Control Center, so you don't need to access the console's main menu system to switch things up.
Meanwhile, the latest PS5 system software adds support for 3D audio through built-in TV speakers. So, if you prefer to play without headphones and don't have a surround sound audio system, you may still get some of the effects of spatial audio.
Your Fitbit smartwatch might just let you know if you or your partner is snoring too loudly. 9to5Googlenotes Fitbit is rolling out a promised "Snore & Noise Detect" feature that uses the microphone on a Sense or Versa 3 smartwatch to detect both "snore-specific" sounds as well as the overall noise level. In theory, this might explain why you keep waking up or otherwise feel less-than-rested .
There are a number of requirements beyond the watch. You'll need a Premium subscription at $10 per month or $80 per year. You'll also have to keep your device reasonably well-charged. Fitbit notes the sampling occurs every few seconds, and recommends at least a 40 percent battery level before you go to sleep. You'll also have to be comfortable with saving your snoring data, although you can delete it at any point.
The narrow hardware and service requirements dampen the usefulness of noise detection. All the same, it could be helpful if you're already invested in the Fitbit ecosystem. It also gives Fitbit a potential advantage over rivals whose sleep tracking seldom accounts for noise.
Razer is known mostly for its high-end gaming devices, but it also has a diverse collection of accessories. It just launched a very weird one for mobile, the Gaming Finger Sleeve. It's designed to absorb sweat and thus reduce friction on the screen to help you max out performance when playing Fortnite and other mobile games.
The sleeves, which can go on your thumbs or forefingers, are woven from nylon, spandex and conductive silver fibers — meaning they'll work with most mobile devices. It also helps them to absorb sweat while allowing your fingers to breathe, keeping keeping them relatively cool and dry. They're pretty thin at 0.8mm (and hand washable), so they should still give you some sense of touch.
In the words of one of my colleagues, "thumb hyperhidrosis is real, fam," so the Gaming Finger Sleeve could be genuinely useful for some folks, silly as it seems. It could also be a big help in particularly hot or humid environments. In any case, it will certainly mark you as a very, very serious mobile gamer. It's now available for $10.
Xiaomi has released its latest high-end smartphones aimed at creators with a list of features that puts many brands to shame. The marquee device is the Xiaomi 11T Pro, the first smartphone to use the company's proprietary 120W HyperCharge technology. That lets you charge the 11T Pro's 5,000 mAh battery in just 17 minutes with 34 safety features including real-time temperature monitoring. It also uses technologies like dual charge pumps, a dual-cell battery structure and graphene tech.
That's just the start of the impressive laundry list of features, though. It comes with a triple-camera setup including a 108-megapixel wide angle, 2x tele-macro and 120 degree ultra-wide angle lens. Around the front, there's a 16-megapixel, f/2.45 in-display (pinhole) selfie camera. For video, it can record 8K using Samsung's HDR10+ system with AI cinema modes that allow for one-click recording.
Xiaomi
The 6.67-inch, FHD+ (2,400 x 1,080) AMOLED flat display is a technological tour de force, with features like a 120Hz refresh rate, TrueColor, Dolby Vision, HDR10+, 1,000 nits of peak brightness and Corning's tough Gorilla Glass Victus. Sound-wise, you get Dolby Atmos audio with dual Harman Kardon speakers. Watching movies at those settings might eat the battery pretty quickly, but again, you can fully recharge the thing in just 17 minutes.
Inside, there's a Qualcomm Snapdragon 888 processor, up to 12GB of LPDDR5 RAM and max 256GB of UFS 3.1 storage, along with 5G, Bluetooth 5.2, WiFi 6 and dual SIM slots. It will launch soon in gray, white and blue, with prices in Europe starting at €649 and going up to €749 for the 12GB/256GB model — but don't expect to see it in the US.
Xiaomi
Next up, the 11T model shares many of the 11T Pro's features, including the camera setup and 6.67-inch 120 Hz flat AMOLED display with HDR10+. However, it lacks Dolby Vision and a few other display features. The biggest difference is the processor: It uses a MediaTek Dimensity 1200-Ultra 6-nanometer chip rather than the 5-nanometer Snapdragon 888. It also "only" offers Xiaomi's 67W wired turbo charging, rather than the 120W HyperCharge system and is limited to 8GB of LPDDR5 RAM and 256GB of storage. The 11T will also come in gray, white and blue and start at €599 when it arrives in Europe from "official Xiaomi channels."
The last device is the Xiaomi 11 Lite 5G NE, a smaller but still well-spec'd phone. It achieves a relatively tiny size with a thickness of 6.81mm and weight of 158 grams, or 5.57 ounces. At the same time, it still comes with a 6.55-inch AMOLED display with 10-bit TrueColor and Dolby Vision support. You get a triple-camera 64-megapixel main camera, 8-megapixel ultra-wide angle camera and a 5-megapixel tele-macro camera. Inside, there's a Qualcomm Snapdragon 778G 5G mobile platform and 4,250mAh battery with 33W fast charging. The Xiaomi 11 Lite 5G comes with up to 8GB of RAM and 256GB of storage and starts at €369.
Xiaomi has also launched a new tablet, the Pad 5, and an NFC version of the Mi Smart Band 6 today, in addition to its new Xiaomi 11 smartphones. The Pad 5 was designed with productivity in mind, specifically as a tool meant for people working or studying from home. It comes with the company's Smart Pen, which can be used to take notes or to quickly take screenshots with its function keys. The tablet has an 8-megapixel front camera that supports 1080p video for meetings and classes. It also has built-in capability to scan documents for later use or for sharing using its 13-megapixel rear camera.
Since the manufacturer wants the tablet to double as an entertainment center, it equipped the device with an 11-inch WQHD+ display that has a 120Hz refresh rate and added support for Dolby Vision and Dolby Atmos. The Xiaomi Pad 5 is powered by a 7nm Qualcomm Snapdragon 860 processor announced earlier this year, which XDA Developers previously described as a revised version of the Snapdragon 855 that powered most flagships in 2019. It'll be available in Gray and Pearl White and in two configurations: One with 6GB of RAM and 128GB of storage and another with 6GB of RAM and 256GB of storage, with prices that begin at EUR349 (US$412) and EUR399 (US$472), respectively. Release dates vary per region, and those interested will have to check availability in their location.
Xiaomi has also launched a new version of the Mi Smart Band 6 that was originally introduced in March 2020. The new band still has the health-focused features of the old one, including an SpO2 function, but it now also comes with the ability to make contactless payments via NFC. Xiaomi says it teamed up with Mastercard to add the feature to the wearable, which now also comes with built-in access to Amazon's Alexa voice assistant. The smart band will set buyers back EUR55 (US$65).
Xiaomi
Aside from the Pad 5 and the new Mi Smart Band 6, Xiaomi has also launched the EUR599 (US$708) Mi Smart Projector 2. It's a portable projector running on Android TV that has built-in access to Google Assistant and the capability to show images in 1920 x 1080 Full HD resolution. Finally, the company has introduced a two-pack mesh system that can offer dual-band WiFi 6 network coverage of up to 4,000 square feet, which will set buyers back EUR149 (US$176).
Microsoft says everyone can remove the password from their Microsoft account and use other methods to sign in starting today. The company rolled out the option to enterprise users earlier this year, and it plans to remove passwords from enterprise accounts completely.
Rather than having to remember a password or using a password manager, you'll be able to use the Microsoft Authenticator app, Windows Hello, a security key or SMS or emailed codes. You'll be able to sign in to services such as Outlook, OneDrive, Microsoft Family Safety, and even Xbox Series X/S without a password. Microsoft is rolling out the option to everyone over the next few weeks as it gears up for the launch of Windows 11 on October 5th.
Once you have installed the Authenticator app and linked it to your account, you can switch off your password. Go to your Microsoft account settings, then Advanced Security Options and Additional Security. From there, you can switch your account to a passwordless one. Then, follow the prompts and approve a notification on the Authenticator app to seal the deal.
You can re-activate your password at any time, but other login methods may be far more convenient and secure. Not only are passwords a cybersecurity minefield, they're time-consuming to enter and, at best, annoying to deal with.
It'd be welcome to see other services ditch passwords if they can offer users alternative, secure methods of logging in. Until then, turn on two-factor authentication wherever possible, and get a password manager and use unique passwords for all of your accounts.
Amazon has a good bundle deal going on right now for Samsung fans. You can get a free SmartTag when you buy the Samsung Galaxy Buds 2 from the online retailer, with the final cost being $150. That's $30 off the normal price of the bundle, so those looking to add a few new accessories to their setup can do so for a bit less.
Samsung only just came out with the Galaxy Buds 2 in August, and they act as the company's affordable option in its wireless earbud lineup. We gave them a score of 84 because they pack a lot of value for $150. They have good sound quality with active noise-cancellation and an adjustable ambient sound mode. Unsurprisingly, the ANC isn't as powerful here as it is on pricier earbuds, but that's to be expected. However, the Buds 2 will do a decent job blocking out environmental noise around you. They also support wireless charging with their included case, and you should get five hours of use with ANC turned on before they need more juice.
As for the SmartTag, it's Samsung's answer to Tile trackers and Apple's AirTags. You probably won't use it to keep track of the Galaxy Buds 2, as it's better suited as a keychain attachment or something you slip into your wallet or backpack. You can then monitor the location of your things from your smartphone and force the SmartTag to chime whenever you need to find a misplaced item.
It goes without saying that this bundle is best for Android users, particularly those with Samsung smartphones. SmartTags aren't compatible with iOS devices, and while you could use the Galaxy Buds 2 with an iPhone, you won't get all of the customizable features in the companion app that you get when using them with an Android device.
Follow @EngadgetDeals on Twitter for the latest tech deals and buying advice.
Yes, Apple is calling its newest iPhones the iPhone 13 series. Unlucky numbers, be damned. We’re getting four new devices, from the 5.4-inch iPhone 13 mini through to the 6.7-inch iPhone 13 Pro Max. Apple also revealed a long-time-coming iPad mini, which looks very cute, if a little pricey, while the Apple Watch reaches Series 7, with a more expansive screen and faster charging.
It’s not a year of major device redesigns or left turns, which might make it a trickier upgrade for current iPhone 12 owners, unless they were thinking of upgrading to a bigger, more powerful pro model (or shrinking to a mini).
As was the case last year, Apple’s bleeding edge tech is in the Pro models — we’ll break down the features below — but the company is promising major battery gains across the family. It’s claiming hours more runtime, depending on the model, which will be a notable improvement, and it’s one of the (admittedly dry) improvements I am always begging to see in new iPhones.
The decision remains: Do I want the mini (now Apple has upgraded the battery) or all the camera marvels of the Pro Max? Pre-orders start Friday September 17th.
— Mat Smith
Everything you might have missed at Apple’s iPhone 13 event
Featuring adaptive screens and up to 6x optical zoom.
Apple
The iPhone 13 Pro and Pro Max have faster screens, smaller notches and new colors compared to the 12 Pro series of last year. It seems the models have evened out, too, with not much to differentiate between them, barring size, screen and battery.
They include a new Super Retina XDR display with 1,000 nits of brightness for better outdoor reading. The company said this is the brightest screen on an iPhone ever. It also features 120Hz refresh rates and will adapt when you need it that smooth. If you’re all about that battery life, the iPhone 13 Pro Max will last 2.5 hours more than last year's model, making it the longest-lasting iPhone ever. Read on for more details on that camera array.
Say hello to the iPhone 13, which is nearly identical to last year's iPhone 12. There is a 20-percent smaller notch on the front for Face ID, as well as a redesigned back camera module — but by and large, it's visually nearly identical to last year’s model.
The iPhone 13 also has a bigger battery, something that should be welcome for both phones, particularly the iPhone 13 mini. All of the new iPhones feature Apple's latest A-series chip, and this year, it's the A15 Bionic processor. It's a 5nm chip with nearly 15 billion transistors that Apple says is 50 percent faster than its competition. Apple kept prices the same this year: The iPhone 13 mini starts at $699, while the iPhone 13 starts at $799.
Even Croesus is looking at that and wondering if it’s a bit much.
LG
LG has revealed it isn’t going to leave Samsung a clear run at the “TVs so massive they occupy a whole wall” market. It has announced the new Direct View LED TV, which can span up to sizes of 325 inches in various configurations. When assembled, the screens can offer up 2K, 4K or even 8K picture quality, driven by a separate WebOS box off to one side. And yes, before you ask, LG isn’t revealing how much it costs, putting this at the pinnacle of products that you just know you can’t afford. Thankfully, LG has also revealed its rollable OLED R TV will set you back $100,000 if you just want the fanciest 65-inch TV money can buy. I’d like to remind you all, as well, that projectors exist.
It’s now a more premium model than the standard iPad
Apple
As part of Apple’s glossy iPhone 13 event, the company announced a refresh to the iPad Mini, which sees the dinky slate become a much more premium device. The 8.3-inch tablet has gained narrower bezels and a new “all screen” design, a TouchID sensor on the power button and USB-C. It will now also work with the second-generation Apple Pencil, which magnetically attaches to the side of the device. These changes put the new iPad Mini on the same level as the medium-tier iPad Air, especially since the mini now packs the high-end A15 Bionic SOC. Long story short, this probably isn’t the device you’re buying for your small kids as a “safe” device — unless you’re planning to steal it back the day after they unwrap it.
Sony will finally unlock the PS5's SSD slot for everyone tomorrow
The Remote Play app will work over mobile networks, too.
After beta testing the second major PlayStation 5 firmware update over the past few weeks, Sony is ready to roll it out to everyone. Ten months after Sony released the console, the company is finally unlocking the internal storage expansion slot for everyone. There is some fine-print about where you can install your next-gen games, however.
The speaker has a lot of new features, but it's also $50 more than the old one.
Sonos
The new second-generation Beam goes on sale today for $449 and will be available on October 5th. That’s $50 more than before, in line with the other price increases Sonos announced last week. Alongside support for Dolby Atmos, it has a new perforated polycarbonate grille instead of the cloth front and more audio processing power.
In fact, this sound bar now supports the same home theater audio formats as the Arc (including Dolby Atmos, Dolby Digital Plus, Multichannel PCM and more), which costs twice as much as the new Beam model.
To my horror, the GameCube has just turned 20, making me feel real old. It is, however, a great excuse to showcase our favorite games from Nintendo's slightly troubled home console. And we didn’t just go for Mario and Zelda. In fact, we got weird.
On Monday mornings, I send out a story via email: ultra-brief tales of 1,000 words or more, usually in genres including science fiction, horror, and the supernatural. Those stories collectively are called Once Upon A Time. I’ve also published four ebooks and one paperback anthology of those stories so far.
I’d love to have you as a subscriber to the weekly free story. You can subscribe via email here, or use the form below. Unsubscribe any time, from the link in every issue.
The US Defense Department's ambitions beyond Earth just grew a little clearer. SpaceNews has learned the department recently put out a call for privately-made nuclear propulsion systems that could power small- and mid-sized spacecraft. The DoD wants to launch missions venturing beyond Earth orbit, and existing electric and solar spacecraft are neither suitable for that job nor suitable to smaller vehicles, the department's Defense Innovation Unit said.
The nuclear propulsion system will ideally offer "high delta-V" (above 33ft/s) while scaling down to less than 2,000kg in dry mass (4,409lbs on Earth). On top of providing electricity for the payload, the technology will hopefully keep the spacecraft warm when in shadow and minimize radiation both on the ground and to other components. Responses are expected by September 23rd, with contracts handed out as quickly as 60 to 90 days afterward.
Officials acknowledged they were making the request as a matter of expediency. NASA and other agencies are already developing or backing nuclear spacecraft, but those won't be ready for a long while. The DoD is hoping for a prototype within three to five years — this technology would serve as a stopgap that puts nuclear propulsion into service relatively quickly for near-term projects.
While the request didn't provide clues as to what spacecraft were in the works, the focus on smaller spacecraft suggests it could involve probes, satellites or other vehicles with modest goals. You won't see this power human trips to Mars. All the same, it's clear the DoD is frustrated by the limitations of existing spacecraft engines and wants a fast track to more powerful designs.
Epic may have scored a notable victory in its lawsuit against Apple, but it's dissatisfied enough to keep the legal battle going. The Vergereports Epic has filed an appeal against the ruling. The initial notice didn't explain how the Fortnite developer was challenging the decision, but there were a number of areas that left the company unhappy.
Judge Yvonne Gonzalez Rogers' ruling determined Epic had to pay $3.65 million in damages for violating Apple's rules barring third-party in-app payment systems, plus 30 percent of whatever Epic earned through its in-house payment system from November 2020 onward.
More importantly, Rogers found Epic's monopoly allegations didn't hold up under scrutiny. While Epic did succeed in forcing Apple to allow links to third-party purchasing systems, it didn't receive concessions on allowing third-party app stores or obtaining "fair competition" for in-app purchasing. Apple largely gets to preserve its existing business model, preventing access to the Epic Games Store or similar App Store alternatives.
Apple isn't completely satisfied, either, and is expected to appeal Epic's one win in the case. This fight isn't likely to end any time soon, regardless of how courts rule in the near future.
Android 12 has taken longer to bake than many of its predecessors, but the end might finally be in sight. XDA editor-in-chief Mishaal Rahman claims Google plans to release the AOSP (Android Open Source Project) version of Android 12 on October 4th. As the company often releases polished public releases at the same time as AOSP, that hints Pixel owners may get their upgrade starting that day.
If the timing holds up, this also sets expectations for the Pixel 6 launch. Google can't really ship its new range-topping phones without Android 12, so it's unlikely to formally debut the Pixel 6 before that date. We wouldn't be surprised if the hardware only surfaced sometime later in October.
Be prepared to wait if you aren't using a Pixel. While some phone makers tend to be quick and release major Android updates within weeks, many others take months. Samsung didn't start deploying Android 11 until December 2020, three months after Google officially released the OS. As much as Google has done to shorten update delays with efforts like Project Treble, it still takes time for companies to both adapt Android to heavily-customized interfaces and test the software with customers and carriers.
The Android 12 stable update may be released on October 4, as that's when Google plans to release to AOSP. This tentative release date was also mentioned by a 3PL. pic.twitter.com/PMN802gQj0
Fusion energy just had its second breakthrough in as many months. Motherboardnotes an MIT- and Commonwealth Fusion Systems-led research team has successfully demonstrated a high-temperature superconducting electromagnet producing a field strength of 20 tesla — the most powerful field of its kind on Earth. The technology could be the key to SPARC, a fusion device due in 2025 that could foster a plasma field producing more energy than it consumes.
Systems based on superconducting electromagnets aren't new. The under-construction ITER device in France will use low-temperature superconductors. However, the MIT-CFS hardware's high-temperature technology (built using a ribbon-like tape material) allows for much stronger magnetic fields. It can match the field of a low-temperature magnet system 40 times its size, according to MIT.
SPARC and its net positive energy output would be just the start. MIT and CFS still plan to develop a fusion power plant, ARC, that might go online as soon as 2033. Should that happen, fusion energy would finally become a practical reality — just in time to help a world transitioning to electric vehicles that demand more from power grids.
The imminent iPhone 13 series promises more than a few upgrades, but one of them may answer a common problem: the never-ending desire for more storage. As 9to5Macreports, well-known analyst Ming-Chi Kuo claimed the iPhone 13 Pro and Pro Max will be available with up to 1TB of storage alongside 128GB, 256GB and 512GB options carried over from the iPhone 12 Pro family. While that's bound to be expensive, it could be appealing if you capture a lot of video or want that much more futureproofing.
Kuo also believed the base iPhone 13 and 13 mini would start at 128GB versus the (frankly inadequate) 64GB of their outgoing counterparts. You'd also see a new 512GB tier — you'd no longer have to splurge on a Pro model just to get more than 256GB.
There might be other ways to save money. The analyst also said he expected the current AirPods to stick around and sell alongside the third-generation models poised to debut at Apple's September 14th event. He wasn't certain how this would affect pricing, but the most likely scenario is a price drop that lets the third-gen AirPods occupy the existing space. Apple might sell the new wireless earbuds at a higher price, but there wouldn't be much of a gap between them and the (normally $250) AirPods Pro.
If leaks are accurate, the new AirPods will more closely resemble their Pro counterparts and support spatial audio, but won't include the higher-end buds' eartips or active noise cancellation. That could make the current, no-frills AirPods the 'budget' choice for those who want alternatives to the Pixel Buds A, Nothing Ear 1 and other value-focused rivals.