GoldenEar Technology Aon 2 review – CNET
The Good The GoldenEar Technology Aon 2 is a slice of audiophile performance you don’t need to mortgage your house for. The soundstage is unlike anything else under $1K with a very detailed performance. The speakers are unobtrusive yet nicely finished.
The Bad Rock music can sound forced and confused. If you like the look of exposed drivers, the “grille sock” is sadly not removable.
The Bottom Line The GoldenEar Technology Aon 2 bookshelf speaker offers soundstages that would give John Williams the chills but it’s no rock and roll brawler.
Visit manufacturer site for details.
If you have limited space in your living area, a set of bookshelf speakers makes good sense. They’re able to be mounted on top of existing furniture — such as an eponymous bookshelf or, better yet, an AV unit. That’s exactly the sort of environment where models such as the GoldenEar Technology Aon 2s are designed to shine.
Originally conceived as professional near-field monitors — the type of speakers you’d find in a recording studio — the Aon 2s preceded the larger, well-received Aon 3 and offer a more affordable price ($799 versus $999). Despite their control room origins, GoldenEar is selling the Aons as consumer speakers.
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Golden Ear’s sleek new Aon 2 speakers are beautifully designed.
Sarah Tew/CNET
The Aon 2s are quite unobtrusive to behold, as they are bound almost entirely in acoustically transparent material — only a piano-black plastic cap and wooden base alert you that there’s a physical speaker in there. The unique truncated pyramid design is said to reduce pesky internal standing waves.
Though the grille “sock” is not removable — you can only cinch it down — underneath it lies a “folded ribbon” tweeter and a 6-inch cast frame bass/midrange driver. Instead of the traditional bass ports there are twin, 6.5-inch planar low-frequency radiators mounted on the speaker’s side panels.
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The speakers are rated at up to 200W per channel and the passive bass drivers help them reach down to a claimed 42Hz. Meanwhile the tweeters can reach up to a dog-bothering 35kHz.
Despite the provision of the passive bass drivers, the Aon 2 isn’t as capable with bottom end as the larger Aon 3 — a model that our own Audiophiliac Steve Guttenberg prefers. If you listen to choral, orchestral, jazz or acoustic music, the Aons are for you. The speakers themselves completely disappear and offer a wide soundstage in which individual elements are tantalizingly imaged.
Kingdom Hearts: Unchained X now available on Android in North America
Kingdom Hearts fans rejoice: developer Square Enix has brought its mashup of the Final Fantasy and Disney characters to Android users in North America with Kingdom Hearts: Unchained X. The title, which was originally released for Android in Japan in late 2015, acts as a prologue to the rest of the Kingdom Hearts series. Players will get a chance to go back to the beginning of the Kingdom Hearts story and see what led up to the Keyblade War.
Here’s a look at what you can expect from Kingdom Hearts: Unchained X:
- Battle against the Heartless using your legendary Keyblades. Tap to attack, swipe to hit multiple enemies, and flick medals to unleash their special abilities.
- Strategize to defeat enemies in fewer turns for greater rewards by using your special attacks and finding the right balance of power, magic, and speed medals.
- Customize your hero by changing your avatar’s outfits to match your style of fashion. Be on the lookout for outfits based upon popular Disney, FINAL FANTASY and KINGDOM HEARTS characters, as well as seasonal clothing!
- Collect and evolve hundreds of character medals, which contain the harnessed power of popular Disney and FINAL FANTASY heroes and villains.
- Team up with friends to challenge and take down monstrous Heartless raid bosses for even greater rewards!
- Survive the challenges in the Olympus Coliseum, where the strongest heroes can brave additional bosses and unlock the rare medals.
If you’re a big fan of the Kingdom Hearts series, you can grab the game for free on Google Play now.
Samsung now sending approvals for free Gear VR with Galaxy S7 promo
Samsung has now started sending out approval emails to customers who took advantage of the manufacturer’s promotion offering a free Gear VR (or Gear S2 for Verizon customers) with the purchase of a Samsung Galaxy S7 or S7 edge. And while it’s been a bit of a wait for some already, the email indicates shipping times may be pushed back as far as this summer due to demand. From the email:
Congratulations! Your submission has been approved. We will ship your Samsung Gear S2 to the mailing address you provided when registering for this Offer. Please note that due to the high level of interest in the Verizon Offer promotion, delivery times for Gear S2 are now extending into May and potentially Summer 2016.
While the shipping date may be up in the air, Samsung says that it will send out another email with tracking information once your Gear VR or S2 has indeed shipped.
HTC Vive demos headed to select GameStop and Microsoft stores in U.S. and Canada
If you’re eager to try out the HTC Vive before plopping down a hefty sum to purchase it, HTC has announced that customers can demo the VR headset at select GameStop and Microsoft Store locations across North America. To kick things off, HTC says the first demos are available now in the following Microsoft Store locations:
- Microsoft Flagship store in New York
- Microsoft at Bellevue Square in Washington
- Microsoft at City Creek Center in Utah
While that initial list is small, HTC says that demos will continue to roll out to a total of 30 stores across North America, starting with Microsoft’s Meadows Mall location in Colorado later this week. As for GameStop, while HTC didn’t provide a list of locations, it did say demos will be available at 10 GameStop stores by mid-April.
So what will the demo entail? According to HTC, you’ll have a chance to try out a variety of SteamVR content running on an Alienware Area-51 PC. And if you decide you’d like to buy a Vive for yourself, both Microsoft and GameStop will be taking reservations for June orders, HTC says.
For more, including updates to the list of retail locations where Vive is on display, you can keep an eye on the HTC Vive website.
Uber settles background check lawsuit in California
Uber promises never to describe its service as the “safest ride on the road” or call its background check process “the gold standard” again. That’s one of the terms it agreed to when it hashed out a settlement agreement with the San Francisco and Los Angeles District Attorney’s offices. They filed a lawsuit against Uber back in 2014 over “false and misleading statements to consumers,” specifically its claims that it conducts very thorough background checks. Unlike taxi operators, the company doesn’t vet its drivers’ fingerprints. If the ridesharing provider is caught breaking the DAs terms within the next two years, it will be legally obligated to pay $15 million on top of the $10 it has to hand over in 60 days.
Besides making sure the language it uses doesn’t get it in trouble, Uber also swears only to operate at California airports where it’s allowed to pick up and drop off passengers. The startup used to operate at airports where it didn’t have explicit permission to do so, and even charged a $4 airport toll fee. Further, it says it will continue working with the Division of Measurement Standards (DMS) to ensure the its app’s fare calculation based on GPS data remains fair.
These DA’s offices also sued Uber competitor Lyft for the same reason — making misleading statements about its background check process — a few years ago. Lyft agreed to pay $500,000 to settle the case. That’s much, much smaller than $10 million, but don’t forget that Uber is valued at over $60 billion. We’ll bet it’ll be just fine.
Via: SFGate, Uber
Source: Uber
State-run healthcare websites aren’t as secure as you’d think
Health insurance websites in California, Kentucky and Vermont apparently aren’t as secure as they should be. According to the Associated Press, based on the vulnerabilities found by the Government Accountability Office, other states’ health care websites could be just as ripe for intrusions. Without naming names, the GAO reported that one state didn’t encrypt passwords, another didn’t have the right type of encryption server-side and the last anonymous state failed to “properly use a filter to block hostile attempts” to visit its site.
The scary part is that some of the issues still exist, even though the GAO’s examination concluded last March. Former Kentucky governor Steve Beshear says that no information was compromised and there were never any security breaches, however. The GAO says that Healthcare.gov isn’t much better about security either, but, that like Kentucky, private data has not been lost or pilfered despite numerous “security incidents.” Comforting!
It isn’t all unsettling news though. From the sounds of it, the Golden State’s Covered California site is trying its best to prevent intrusions and fix any new holes since the GAO’s investigation concluded. There’s a joke that could be made here about the government’s attitude toward encryption given current events, but I’m going to let the comment section sort that one out.
Source: Associated Press
BMW to bring the HTC Vive into the vehicle development process
Luxury car manufacturer BMW has announced that it will begin using the HTC Vive as a part of its vehicle development process. According to BMW, employing the HTC Vive will allow it to iterate on vehicle designs much more quickly, enabling developers around the globe to quickly implement and test changes.
BMW notes that, while it has been using virtual reality systems as part of its development process since the 1990s, the HTC Vive is a much more cost-effective solution than previous systems while offering adequate power. BMW’s decision to implement the HTC Vive in its design process follows an evaluation period that occurred throughout 2015, with the company noting several developer kits have already been used in pilot projects since last autumn.
Press Release
BMW opts to incorporate HTC Vive VR headsets and mixed reality into the development of new vehicle models. Computer images instead of laboriously constructed draft models: greater flexibility, faster results and lower costs.
Munich. BMW has become the first car manufacturer to introduce a mixed reality system into vehicle development that has been devised entirely using components from the computer games industry. This offers some significant advantages over the VR systems that have existed to date, and is the first step towards making virtual reality a very real part of many developer workstations in the not-too-distant future.
The adoption of this computer system makes it possible to save a great deal of time and effort, especially during the early stages of development. VR investigations could previously only be conducted at costly specialised facilities. By incorporating consumer electronics, the developers gain an unprecedented degree of flexibility, because any modifications can be implemented and tested very quickly. In addition to this, developers around the globe will be able to take part in the decision-making process from their own office without having to travel too far. Only once the draft designs have been approved with the help of the 3D headsets will they actually be built for further testing.
BMW has been employing VR systems in the development process since the 1990s. It is now reaffirming its pioneering status by systematically implementing technology from a sector which has not previously been the focal point of industrial applications. Since this spring, components from the computer games industry have been allowing engineers and designers to immerse themselves more and more often in virtual worlds that are increasingly realistic. The shorter innovation cycles of consumer electronics result in a far wider scope of functions together with lower costs. This thereby enables more vehicle functions to be translated to a VR model in ever more realistic fashion. It is furthermore possible to scale the system to many different developer workstations with little effort.
This lends itself ideally to the BMW strategy with its focus on innovative technologies and digitisation. Vehicle functions and new interior designs can quickly be modelled with the aid of the visual experiences. This makes it possible to simulate drives through a city while testing what the all-round view of the surrounding area is like or whether a display is poorly legible or awkward to reach depending on the viewing angle or seat position. All the time, the development engineer has the impression of sitting in a real car in a real driving situation.
Following thorough evaluation over the course of 2015, BMW has opted to implement the most powerful solutions currently available. Thanks to the timely support provided by mobile computing manufacturer HTC, several HTC Vive developer kits have already been in use in pilot projects since autumn 2015.
This headset’s core components consist of two high-resolution screens and a laser-based tracking system that covers an area of 5 x 5 metres in the BMW application. The graphics are computed by software that normally serves to produce the very best computer gaming graphics. BMW uses Unreal Engine 4 from Epic Games for this task. This enables stable rendering of 90 frames per second while achieving photo-realistic quality too. The computation is performed using high-end gaming computers with water-cooled, overclocked components (including Intel Core i7 and two Nvidia Titan X graphic cards). Further advances are expected in terms of both the headset hardware and software, and these will be evaluated at regular intervals.
Visual sensations alone are not enough though. For this reason, BMW employs a reusable interior assembly which, thanks to the use of rapid prototyping, further enhances perception by producing a mixed reality experience. Precise, stereoscopic acoustic playback, e.g. for the characteristic BMW engine sound, further intensifies the immersive experience. This, combined with the VR model enables to experience the vehicle in different environments. The completely realistic vehicle impression produced by this method is so far unique in the automotive industry.
The HTC Vive Lighthouse tracking system that is used floods the room with an invisible light field that is tracked by sensors on the VR headset and the controllers. The system’s lasers refresh the tracking field at intervals of just a few milliseconds, thereby enabling ultra-precise tracking of every body movement and even the slightest alteration in the viewing direction. It is thanks to this supremely accurate and stable tracking that the wearer is able to move around in the virtual environment with zero interference – this is essential not just for creating a spatial impression that is as true to life as possible and maximising the level of immersion, but also for making the VR headset easy to get accustomed to. The overall mixed reality system that was developed in-house by BMW ensures optimum interaction between the individual devices and components, such as the VR model, rapid prototyping, VR headset and tracking.
Facebook Messenger will soon let you scan profile codes to start chats
Facebook Messenger is evolving into a new type of messenger that’s not just for chatting with friends.
Facebook’s messaging service can double as a customer service center, digital wallet, cab-hailer, and more. With these types functionality being offered through the Messenger mobile app, it makes since that Facebook would want to make it even easier for users to find and begin chatting with anyone and everyone. It wants Messenger to be a one-stop-shop communication tool for both people and companies.
So, it’s rolling out new ways to initiate chats. Starting now, all Messenger accounts have dedicated links located at m.me/[username]. Every Facebook account has its own dedicated link, and now Messenger accounts do too. If you type in a friend’s username after m.me/, it’ll open up a chat with them on the Facebook Messenger website. Usernames on Messenger are the same as Facebook usernames.
Facebook is also rolling out “Messenger Codes”. They’re a lot like Snapchat’s snapcodes in that you can scan one with your camera to, from what we can tell, either add that person as a contact or start a chat. These codes appear as dots and dashes circling a profile photo, and the button to scan them seems to be buried under the People tab within the Messenger app. Go there, then tap Scan Code, and that’s it.
Keep in mind Facebook announced yesterday that Newegg will begin offering customer support through Facebook Messenger. It also recently added the ability to order Lyft and Uber rides, get flight updates and boarding passes from KLM Royal Dutch Airlines, and share Spotify playlists. There are over 50 apps integrated with Messenger, meaning the service is rapidly expanding beyond a simple communication client.
Facebook said Messenger Codes are rolling out gradually. Alongside these announcements, David Marcus, a leader at Messenger, said the service now has 900 million monthly active users. It had 800 million just three months ago.
Dyson’s new V8 cordless vacuum has double the battery life of predecessors
Dyson is launching a new cordless vacuum known as the V8.
The V8 has a digital motor and lithium-ion batteries, both of which allow the floor-cleaner to deliver more power over a longer runtime.
Dyson is positioning this compact machine as something different from every other cleaner that uses a motor to generate suction. Some cordless vacuum cleaners use small motors, which Dyson has described as weak, while others rely on heavy motors that can “compromise versatility”. But the V8 is unique and stands out from the competition because it has a digital motor that can spin at up to 110,000rpm.
The Dyson V8 also has something called a “fade-free suction” and can quickly transform between handheld and stick modes. Weighing just 2.6kg, the vacuum provides up to double the run time of its predecessor and features an even more powerful suction and less noise generated compared to its predecessors. It also has a hygienic dirt ejector system that prevents debris from being trapped in the bin.
“As the bin is emptied, a rubber collar slides down the shroud, scraping dirt off. This enables the user to hygienically drive out trapped dust and debris in a single action, with no need to touch the dirt,” explained Dyson. “Additionally, the bin has larger capacity than previous machines.”
Going back to the runtime for a moment, Dyson said the V8’s battery is a key component of the vacuum, as it offers up to 40 minutes, compared to 20 minutes on previous-generation machines. The battery is a “fade-free lithium-ion”, which supposedly equals a suction that starts strong and stays strong. In fact, it provides 115AW of suction, compared to a max of 100AW on previous-generation machines.
There’s a new battery runtime indicator too, which gives you a visual indication of cleaning time remaining. The Dyson V8 is also 50 per cent quieter than previous-generation machines. And of course there is no cord. So, there’s nothing to unravel, plug in, or drag around.
Instead, the V8 is equipped with a docking and charging station, allowing you to grab and clean whenever.
This could be Motorola’s 2016 flagship smartphone
It appears as though Lenovo-owned Motorola has been working on a new flagship that’ll likely release this year.
HelloMotoHK is known for publishing leaked photos of yet-to-be-announced Motorola products, and now it’s at it again with what seems to be a leaked photograph of an unknown Motorola smartphone spotted in the wild. The image looks like it was taken on a subway train or bus, leading us to believe it was snapped in a busy city like Chicago, where Motorola US is headquartered.
The picture is blurry because the photographer probably had to zoom in from a distance, but we can still make out the Motorola batwing logo in the top left corner of the phone, as well as sensors and a camera on the top and more. There might even be a fingerprint sensor on the front and maybe even a USB Type-C charging port below that. It’s hard to tell, so this is speculation for now.
All we know is that this phone is unknown and likely a Motorola flagship based on some of the hardware features that are recognisable. And this is one of the first leaks to suggest the company is even working on a new, high-end smartphone. Expect many more months to pass before we hear anything official from Motorola, as the company typically releases phones near autumn.
Also, keep in mind a new Motorola device referred to as the Moto X3 recently surfaced on shipping website Zauba.
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