Papa John’s Announces Pizza-Ordering App for Apple TV

Pizza chain Papa John’s today announced the launch of its own app for the fourth generation Apple TV, which will let customers create and order pizzas within the app with a special discount price of 25 percent on each order placed on Apple’s set-top box. The app marks the first of its kind on Apple TV for a national restaurant brand focusing on placing food orders.

The app includes Papa John’s full menu of pizzas, sides, drinks, and desserts, with a full customizable pizza topping creator available as well. In order to provide an easy check-out process, users can sign into an existing Papa John’s account to automatically provide an address, payment information, and gain access to saved favorite meals.

“Pizza and entertainment are a natural fit,” said “Papa John” Schnatter, Founder, Chairman and Chief Executive Officer of Papa John’s. “With the launch of our Apple TV app, we’re hoping to make family movie night and friend gatherings around the TV even more enjoyable by delivering the same quality product and experience our customers expect in a convenient and interactive way.”

Once users begin ordering on the app, they can revisit past orders to simply re-order the same thing, or start an all-new meal selection process with Papa John’s aim for creating a “conversational” food ordering experience in the living room. The app is compatible only with the fourth generation Apple TV, and will begin rolling out wide today.

Related Roundups: Apple TV, tvOS 10
Tag: Papa John’s
Buyer’s Guide: Apple TV (Neutral)
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Apple Expects Appeal of Irish Tax Ruling to Take ‘Several Years’ With No Impact on Near-Term Financial Results

Following the European Commission’s ruling that Apple received illegal state aid from Ireland, and must pay $14.5 billion in back taxes to the country, the company has published a new FAQ that addresses potential concerns investors may have about the decision and the effect on its bottom line.

Apple started out by confirming the decision is not final and that it plans to appeal. The company is “confident” the ruling “will be overturned” by courts in the European Union, but it notes the process is “likely to take several years.” In the meantime, Apple does not expect any near-term impact on its financial results.

How does this decision impact Apple’s near-term financial results?
Will you take a tax charge? Does this alter your previous guidance?
We do not expect any near-term impact on our financial results nor a restatement of previous results from this decision. We have previously accrued U.S. taxes related to the income in question. The tax rate guidance for Apple’s fourth fiscal quarter that we provided on July 26, 2016 does not change as a result of this decision.

Apple added that it does not currently expect the decision to have an impact on its tax rate or cash balance going forward, but the company anticipates it will place an unspecified amount of cash in an escrow account. Apple expects the amount will be reported as restricted cash on its balance sheet.

The European Commission’s ruling followed a three-year inquiry into Apple’s tax arrangements in Ireland, where it paid between 0.005% and 1% in taxes from 2003 through 2014, compared to the country’s headline 12.5% corporate tax rate. Apple insists it “follows the law and pays all of the taxes” it owes.

Note: Due to the political nature of the discussion regarding this topic, the discussion thread is located in our Politics, Religion, Social Issues forum. All forum members and site visitors are welcome to read and follow the thread, but posting is limited to forum members with at least 100 posts.

Tags: AAPL, corporate tax, European Commission, Europe, Ireland
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What’s new for Intel Core 7th Gen? Kaby Lake processors explained, 4K media focus

Year on year Intel is committed to updating its Intel Core processors, with the latest seventh-generation chip even bearing a “7th Gen” badge its visual marketing and on-shelf positioning.

Perhaps that’s no surprise when you hear people talking about the product’s Kaby Lake codename – preceding was Skylake in 2015, Broadwell in 2014 – and wondering “what the heck?”.

So what’s Intel Core 7th Gen Kaby Lake all about, which processor arrangement is right for you, and is it that much better than last year’s Skylake chipset?

Intel Core 7th Gen: Speed gains

The goal of new processors is, typically, to go one faster than the previous generation. Kaby Lake is built on the same 14-nanometre (nm) architecture as Skylake, so the performance gains are only marginal this time around: with a 300-400mHz gain anticipated by the company increasing the range of several frequencies.

It won’t be until the next push in architecture, with the 10nm Cannonlake, that we’ll see additional performance increases.

Intel Core 7th Gen: 4K media handling

What is really new about Kaby Lake is the addition of a dedicated media engine. This is a new aspect to the processor, designed for power-efficiency and additional performance, is targeted particularly at better experiences with 4K content.

Intel says it will deliver “improved media experiences with HEVC 10-bit and VP9” – both of which are the codecs that handle 4K content.

Intel Core 7th Gen: Battery life

Intel cites “adaptive performance” as a key function of 7th Gen, the ability to take read inputs from simple factors – say, ambient temperature, or orientation to acknowledge when a device is in a docked position – to determine how long it can sustain Turbo Boost (faster speed), to improve overall performance. That’s not a brand new feature, but it’s a wider implementation, says Intel.

Battery life for 7th Gen is said to be “similar” to 6th Gen, but should show considerable improvements for 4K consumption: stream YouTube 4K for 7-hours rather than 4-hours, for a 1.75x improvement, is Intel’s claim.

Intel Core 7th Gen: What of Core M?

Intel’s fanless (and thus silent) Intel Core M is designed for low-power mobile use. Until now it’s been available in M3, M5 and M7 configurations – the higher the number the greater the performance – but the top-end M7 is getting axed for 2016’s 7th Gen run. Instead we’ll see a fanless 4.5W Core i7 Y in its place.

Intel Core 7th Gen: Which processor is right for you?

Key to 7th Gen is that it’s a “scalable and adaptable” architecture. There are multiple aspects to consider here: clock speed performance, which increases up the range of i3, i5 and i7 processors; cores, with single-core, dual-core, quad-core (and potentially more paired for higher-performance arrangements – but Intel is saying nothing more just yet); and the letter-based market segmentation – Y, U, H, S and X – which defines a product’s positioning and form factor (often a balance of performance to heat output to power consumption, as suited).

Y targets 2-in-1s, tablets for mobile-based use (low-consumption 4.5W), with 7th Gen available from September 2016; U targets ultra-slim laptops and portables; H is a more powerful step-up again, typically with additional cores; S, is designed for desktop iterations (hence its 65W draw); and Extreme Edition (X), which is the premium, gaming-targeted super-processor, available from 2017.

Intel Core 7th Gen: Wrap-up

In summary, then, Intel Core 7th Gen processors are Intel’s bid for 4K media consumption.

As Kaby Lake architecture is the same 14nm as the previous-gen Skylake, however, don’t expect huge speed improvements this time around. Instead it’s a focus on media and gains in efficiency.

Hopefully it’ll be the end of choppy, stuttery 4K playback, making a better world for all. And come 2017 we’ll get to see the gains made in top-end setups too.

Android 7.0 Nougat tips and tricks: Get your teeth into Google’s gooey goodness

Unlike previous OS upgrades, Android 7.0 Nougat was released before any new Nexus phones this year, and will likely hit the market first with the LG V20, rather than Google’s own handsets. 

Nougat has also made its way to several Nexus devices already out. They include the two latest Nexus phones (5X and 6P), as well as the Nexus 6, Nexus Player, Nexus 9 and Pixel C. If you’re feeling a little lost, or want to unlock Nougat’s secrets, read on to discover an in-depth guide so you can find all those sweet features.

It’s worth remembering that manufacturers will have their own take on Android 7.0 Nougat. Some features might be reserved as they are here, and some will not.

Android 7.0 Nougat general tips and tricks

Android has long been known for its customisation capabilities, but with Nougat, the options are even greater. You can change the way a number of features appear and how the system works. 

Adjust icon/screen size: In Settings>Display there’s a new option to adjust the size of onscreen content and icons. Simply select the Display size option and move the slider until the icons are the size you want them to be. 

Enable developer settings: To turn on the developer settings, head into Settings > About phone. Scroll to the bottom and repeatedly tap on the Build number. After a number of taps, you’ll unlock the developer options.

Unlock System Tuner UI: This is a clever hidden setting that offers a range of options you can’t otherwise get to. You have to first enable the developer settings (as above). Then you swipe down the Quick Settings and press and hold the settings cog at the top next to the battery. After a long press, the System Tuner UI will be unlocked, and a new option will appear in the settings menu.

Show the battery percentage: Once you’ve unlocked the System Tuner UI (as above), you have the option to show the battery percentage in the battery icon at all times. (Most third-party skins have this as a default option.)

Turn on ambient display: A feature of Android Wear and Motorola devices, it’s now on Android 7.0. Head into Settings > Display and you’ll be able to glance at monochrome notifications. 

Quick launch the camera: Head into Settings > Display and there’s the option to quick launch the camera with a double press of the standby button. It’s much faster than unlocking your phone and hitting the icon.

Play Android Nougat easter egg: Marshmallow’s Easter Egg is a little different to previous Flappy Bird style games. Instead, you’ve got to try and catch cats by selecting a tasty treat. Head into Settings > About phone/tablet > Android version. Then tap the Android version repeatedly until it changes to the Marshmallow screen.

Once you have the full Android ‘N’ logo visible, tap repeatedly, then press and hold, then you should see a little cat icon appear on the screen. Watch the video below to see an overview on how to play the game. 

Search settings: Rather than rooting through everything, you can search the settings. Just open up the Settings menu and hit the magnifying glass and type what you’re looking for.

Use Now on Tap: Just press and hold the home button. If you’re looking for the settings, go into Google Now > Settings > Now cards and you can enable or disable Now on Tap.

Find the Google Settings: There was previously an app to handle Google settings, in Nougat this is now in the main Settings menu. This is where you’ll find settings for accounts and services, backup, and transferring content to a nearby device.

Use adoptable storage: If you have Nougat and a microSD card slot, you can turn that external storage into integrated internal storage. Head to Setting > Storage & USB. At the bottom you’ll see the SD card details, with the option to format and use as internal storage. You then get to manage and move content to this partition once done.

Use the native file explorer: There’s now a file explorer in Android. Head to Settings > Storage & USB (or just Storage on some phones) and scroll to the bottom of the list. Tap Explore and you can view folders, open files, delete and share.

Android 7.0 Nougat app tips and tricks

Since phone screen sizes have been on the increase, it makes sense to make better use of that real estate. Along with a number of other additions, you can now have two apps running side-by-side on the same screen. You also get the same granular controls on apps that you got in Android Marshmallow. 

Split-screen multitasking: Android 7.0 is the first version of the OS to feature built-in split-screen multitasking. You can activate it a number of ways (as detailed in the video below), but the easiest is just to press and hold the recent apps button. You can also reposition where the split appears onscreen. 

Stop adding new app icons to homescreen: If you don’t want new apps you install cluttering up your homescreen, head into Play Store > Settings and uncheck the box.

Clear all apps from your recent memory: Tap the recent apps button to see all the apps running, scroll to the top of the screen and choose ‘clear all’. 

Add Yahoo! Mail or Exchange to Gmail: You can add Yahoo!, Exchange or other mail services to Gmail. Tap the icon to open the sidebar, scroll all the way to the bottom and hit Settings > Add account. You have the option for Google, IMAP/POP3 services (like Yahoo, Outlook.com) and Exchange.

Attach anything to Gmail: Tap the attachment button and you can attach local files, things in Drive, Photos, Dropbox files, OneDrive box and so on. It’s really flexible.

Customise Google Now: Go to your Google Now screen and access the sidebar menu. Find settings and use it to customise which cards appear, what language you use as well as privacy settings. 

Turn off backgrounds in Calendar: Don’t like the seasonal backdrop in your new calendar? Head into Settings and tap the slider to turn it off.

Change the default app: Android lets you decide which is the default app, if you have more than one that will do the same thing. Under Apps, select the app, and hit “open by default”. Here you can clear defaults so you can change to another app for those tasks.

Control app permissions: Nougat, like Marshmallow did, lets you manage all the permissions for each app on an individual basis. Go to Apps and select the app and hit Permissions. This will let you toggle permissions on and off, so you can disable location access, for example.

Android 7.0 Nougat notifications and volume tips and tricks

Notification fine-tuning has been ramped up a notch with Nougat. It’s no longer a case of just having priority or non-priority, but you also get to choose which exact level of priority an application should have, as well as replying directly from a notification. 

Enable power notifications: Go to System UI Tuner in your settings (having enabled it using the method near the top of this article) and choose other>Power notification controls. On the next screen switch the toggle to the on position. Once enabled you can fine-tune the priority level of any app’s notification. 

Direct reply: With Android N, you’ll be able to direct reply from any app that has it built in. Swipe down on any notification card and if there’s a “reply” option, hit it and type away without leaving the screen. 

Quickly switch to vibrate alerts: If you want silence, but are after vibration alerts still, then push the volume button and tap the bell on the pop-up. This will switch to vibrate.

Turn down media volume: Hit the volume up or down button, and the volume slider will appear. Tap the down arrow on the right-hand side, and you can change the ringer, media or alarm volumes.

Engage Do not Disturb: Swipe down Quick Settings and tap the Do Not Disturb button. This gives you the option to have total silence, alarms only, or priority only. You can choose if this is for a time period, or until you turn it off.

Schedule Do not Disturb: Swipe down Quick Settings then press and hold the Do Not Disturb button. Choose Automatic Rules and customise which times the Do not Disturb feature should activate automatically. 

To mark an app as a Priority app: Head into Settings > Apps. Tap on the app you want. In Notifications you get app controls, and you can set an app as a priority so you always get notifications from that app.

To turn off notifications on an app: Go to Settings > Apps > Tap on the app you want. In Notifications you can block all notifications for any app on your device.

To turn off peeking on an app: Go to Settings > Apps > Tap on the app you want. In Notifications you can turn off peeking, so you don’t get a toast notification for that app.

Instant access to lockscreen notifications: Just tap a notification twice and it will open up the app. Want to dismiss it? Just swipe it away.

Pinch to expand: Got a stack of notifications? You can pinch to expand them, both on the lockscreen and in the notifications area.

Hide sensitive information in lockscreen notifications: You can have lockscreen notifications without too much information being revealed. Head to Settings > Sound & notification > App notifications, to manage apps with sensitive information.

Then go to Settings > Notifications > When device is locked, to change the information revealed. This will then ensure that all apps you’ve marked up don’t give anything away.

Android 7.0 Nougat Quick Settings tips

Quick settings were good before, now they’re even better. There are more options and there’s far greater customisation.

Manage Quick tiles: In Android 7.0 you can manage the order of the quick settings tiles by dropping down the usual shade from the top of the screen and hitting ‘edit’. Now you can re-order, and even add new quick access toggles for things like Google Cast, night mode, data saver and such. 

Enable night mode: Using the method above, add the night mode tile to your quick settings tiles. Once it’s there, just tap to activate it or press and hold to access night mode settings to customise. 

Enable data saver: Just like above, you can add the data saver toggle to your quick tiles. In essence it helps you limit how much of your data the phone consumes by limiting how much data apps use in the background. 

Quickly select a Wi-Fi network: Swipe down for Quick Settings, then click the network name beneath the Wi-Fi icon. This takes you through to the Wi-Fi settings. 

Quickly manage Bluetooth: The same applies to Bluetooth. Click beneath the Bluetooth icon in Quick Settings and you’ll head into settings to select your device.

Turn on torch/flashlight: There’s no need for a separate app, just tap the button in Quick Settings to turn on your flash as a torch. Or just say “Ok Google, turn on torch/flashlight” and it will turn on.

Cast your screen: Want your Android device on your TV? Just swipe down and tap Cast screen and it will be sent to your Chromecast. If it’s not there, add the Cast tile to your Quick Settings using the method mentioned above. Not all apps are supported though.

READ: When is Android 7.0 Nougat coming to my phone?

Android 7.0 Nougat battery tips and tricks

Having brought Android Marshmallow’s Doze mode across, Nougat is already great at conserving energy, but now it’s even easier to get a picture of what your battery is doing and how you can optimise its use further. 

See your battery percentage: Open Quick Settings with a two-finger swipe. Your battery percentage is displayed in the quick settings screen. Tap the icon to see a more detailed overview. 

Time till fully charged: Charge time is displayed when connected to a charger. Look at the bottom of the lockscreen and in the battery status screen, but it takes a little while for Android to calculate how long charging will take. If you’re fast charging, it will say “charging rapidly”

See what’s eating battery: Swipe down Quick Settings, tap the battery icon. You’ll go to the battery status page and see how long you have left and what apps are eating your battery.

Turn on battery saver: Drop down the Quick Settings, tap the battery icon and toggle Battery saver to the on position. If you want to set it up to switch on automatically when it hits 5 per cent or 15 per cent, hit ‘more settings’ and tap the battery saver option at the top of the screen. 

Android 7.0 Nougat multiple user tips

Whether you want to add new user profiles or make it easier to get to your emergency information, Nougat has you covered. 

Add emergency information: Go to Settings > Users then select Emergency Information. Here you can add contact details, medical conditions and any medication you’re currently taking.

Guest profile: In the same area (Settings > Users) you can create a Guest profile. While it is setup, you’ll get the option to access as a guest from the lock screen.

See how much storage they’re using: If you want to know how much space is being used up by another profile, head into Settings > Storage. At the bottom of the list it says how much other profile and the guest is using.

Android 7.0 Nougat Security tips

Manage fingerprints: Head into Security > Nexus Imprint and you’ll be able to add or remove fingerprints that will unlock your device. A pro tip is to register fingers on both hands so you can unlock your phone with whichever hand you have free.

Bluetooth unlock: Again in Security > Smart Lock, you have the option to nominate trusted devices, so your Android will unlock when connected to something else. You can nominate Bluetooth devices (like your smartwatch or car Bluetooth) or select an NFC tag.

Android 7.0 Nougat keyboard and language tips

Typing should always be easy and personally tuned to your needs, and with Nougat, that’s even easier thanks to the ability to support multiple languages and customise the keyboard. 

Add multiple languages: Go to settings then languages & input, tap languages and then “add a language”. There are dozens of languages available to use (including Welsh). 

Change themes: Head to Settings>Languages & input>Virtual keyboard, then select Google keyboard at the top of the page. Select theme and choose one of the available colours or just add your own image as a background. Toggle the key border if you want one. 

Enable one-handed mode: When the keyboard is onscreen, tap and hold the return key. Select the icon that looks like a hand holding a phone. Switch the keyboard to the left side of the screen by tapping the chevron on the left side.  

Change keyboard height: Once again in the virtual keyboard settings, select the Google keyboard and choose Preferences. Find Keyboard height in the list and adjust the slider until the keyboard is at your required height.  

Kwikset’s second-gen Kevo is ready to lock up your smart home

When it launched in 2013, Kwikset’s Kevo smart lock was the first to allow users to unlock their front door with just a tap on the deadbolt. Today, Kwikset is launching the second generation Kevo with the same touch-to-open feature that made it The Wirecutter’s pick for best smart lock, plus some added security features and a refined design.

The UniKey-powered Kevo app allows homeowners to remotely manage door access, receive lock notifications and view activity history. The lock is engineered to work with a wide range of smart home products, and can be unlocked with either a smartphone, compatible wearables or a contactless key fob. Like its predecessor, the second-generation Kevo fits standard residential exterior doors, but the interior side now boasts a sleeker design that reduces some of the bulk. For anyone who doesn’t consider themselves a locksmith, Kevo offers an in-app, interactive installation guide to help you with the setup, and the hardware comes with a lifetime warranty on the moving parts, a one-year warranty on the electronics and dedicated customer support.

The Kevo 2nd Gen is on sale now for $229 and comes in Satin Nickel, Venetian Bronze and Polished Brass finishes.

Source: Kwikset

Uber gives you ride discounts for shopping with a Visa card

Uber is no stranger to promos that discount rides when you use a specific credit card, but it’s kicking things up a notch. It’s introducing a permanent Local Offers feature that, in its current incarnation, offers ridesharing discounts when you shop at participating stores using a Visa credit card linked to your Uber account. Every dollar you spend counts as a point, and 100 points will give you a $10 discount for an Uber trip. While it’s not the same as getting a free ride, the deals could add up quickly if you regularly break out your Visa when out on the town.

Local Officers is initially launching in Los Angeles and San Francisco, where it’ll be available in stages. The first wave of stores are mostly eateries, such as Peet’s Coffee, Barcito, PizzaRev and Uno Dos Tacos. You probably won’t score many points quickly in the near future, unless you’re fond of eating out. There’s a good chance that the store list will expand, however, so you may soon get free rides on a regular basis.

Either way, it’s a pretty shrewd move from both companies. Visa gives you a better reason to pull out your credit card instead of turning to debit or cash. Uber, meanwhile, might just get you to regularly depend on its service instead of competitors like Lyft.

Source: Uber Newsroom

The wireless FIIL Diva headphones are gorgeous but flaky

In a world where everything is increasingly wireless, most of us are still tethered by our headphones. Manufacturers have produced wireless headsets of all types, but they’re still limited by issues like their control schemes and battery life. The FIIL Diva, which hits Kickstarter today, is a compact over-ear headset that hopes to create worry-free experience, but its finicky nature creates new headaches instead.

Out of the box the FIIL Diva certainly lives up to its name: It’s gorgeous. The headset comes packaged inside a hard traveling case stamped with the logo of the company, in a typeface that makes me alternatively read it as “Fiii” and “Fili.” The name is also on each side of the Diva, glowing a soft white when the device is on. When the lighting effect is off, the logo looks like silver metal, so it doesn’t look cheap or incomplete like so many other products do when you deactivate their bling. No one would ever know these were supposed to light up.

The Diva is simple and classy, with rounded cups about two inches in diameter. The band is unadorned, and can be adjusted about an inch to accommodate larger heads — but not that large. I was astonished at how small the whole package is, but delighted at how light it felt on my head and how little room it took up.

It also feels super premium. The ear cups and headband are lined with soft leather that’s nice to touch and didn’t make my ears sweat — key to using these for a full work day. I even took them to the gym and worked my butt off on the elliptical, but my ears were fine. The softness is also great if you wear earrings: I put these on over some dangly hoops I was wearing and completely forgot I had jewelry on.

The right ear cup has a multifunction button that turns the headphones on and off, controls music playback and will also activate a voice telling you the current battery level. There’s a little toggle switch next to it that controls the special “MyAudioFiilter” mode, which feed you surrounding audio so you can stay aware of your surroundings. I ended up pushing it by accident a lot. Luckily, a light push won’t do much; it takes a double press to activate the filter, which lets in outside noise.

One of the Diva’s big draws are the touch controls. There are no buttons other than the ones I’ve already described, but you can control music playback via a series of finger swipes on the right ear cup. Up and down will raise or lower the volume; right and left will skip tracks. The swipe has to start at the edge and go all the way across for a good shot at succeeding; even so, I found myself futilely pawing at the cup, trying to get it to register. When it worked it was great. But it takes a bit of practice.

To get more out of the headphones it helps to download the FIIL+ app for iOS or Android. Oddly enough the app asks you to log in with a social media account. As I had no desire to let FIIL access my Facebook or Twitter accounts just to use a pair of headphones, I logged in as “guest.” The app will automatically detect the headset and display important info like battery life right on the first screen, including playback and standby hours. The battery on the Diva is great: When fully charged the app was listing 30+ hours of music playback, and even after using the headset for three full workdays I still had 30% left in the battery.

The app is the only way to access the 3D sound feature, which simulates the experience of listening to music in different sized rooms. The biggest of these is “hall,” which I guess is sort of like being at a concert. But I don’t go to live performances because I crave a distant echoey sound to my favorite songs, so this feature really didn’t appeal to me.

Standard music playback is bright and crisp, and I found myself noticing details I often miss when using my earbuds. I listened to the entirety of Arcade Fire’s Funeral, and I was surprised how clearly I could hear the chimes I had never even noticed before against the more aggressive guitars and drums.

I also experimented with My AudioFiilter at the office and on the street, and found no measurable difference in audio quality. The voice prompt when you push the button should let you know which mode you’re currently on, but the voice was too low, meaning that if I had music on I couldn’t make out what was being said. Also, one of the recordings on my demo unit was still in Chinese. I figure this will be fixed in the final version, but it made figuring out which mode was active even harder.

There’s also an opposite “Windy” mode that filters out wind noise; I tried this in a room with multiple fans and an AC and it screened out the sound quite well. But it won’t help the constant pounding of your steps when you’re walking or running, which felt more pronounced on the Diva than other headphones.

I eventually ignored these odd modes completely and stuck with the standard settings.

Outside of these audio tricks, the Diva is designed for convenience. That means the good battery life and the touch controls, but it especially applies to the voice control and motion sensing capabilities. The motion sensing is perhaps the marquee feature of the Diva headset. When you take the headphones off the music pauses, and when you put them back on the music should resume. It’s a great idea: How many times have you taken headphones off and left the audio running because it took too long to fiddle with an app or find a tiny button? (The multifunction button on the Diva is pretty small.)

In practice, the motion-sensing is finicky. I would take the Diva off and put it down, only to find music still playing when I returned a few minutes later. It takes a little practice to get it right: The instructions say to pull the headphones apart when you take them off, but I also found it helped to snap my wrist a bit when I took them off, and to take them off quickly. If I took them off slowly and carefully, the Diva never really seemed to get the message. But if I was a little rough, the motion sensing was more likely to respond.

After some practice it became more reliable, but I can’t say the same of putting the headphones back on. I tried pulling them, snapping them, praying; it didn’t behave consistently and I often just used the multifunction button to turn them back on. I also had some issues with the music cutting out for no discernable reason, or skipping tracks. The problems were more likely to occur when I was walking around, which makes me think it might be an issue with the motion sensing in my demo unit.

Another thing that needs to work: The voice controls. In theory, I should have been able to say “Hey FIIL, play Arcade Fire,” and it would play a track. I never got it to work. There was at least one instance where I was holding the Diva in my hand and I heard a voice say, “I’m sorry, I didn’t quite catch that.” I was talking to my roommate at the time, and at no point did I say “FIIL” or even “hey” so I don’t know what the headset thinks it heard.

The FIIL Diva promises a certain level from freedom: Not just from wires, but from fiddly controls and constant charging. And the potential is certainly there. Like its namesake, the Diva was lovely to look at and performed beautifully. But also like some real divas, it could be incredibly temperamental and unreliable.

If you want to try out some luxurious headphones and don’t mind a few growing pains, the FIIL Diva is on Kickstarter today for an early bird price of $129, with a final retail value of $149.

Intel’s 7th generation Core CPUs will devour 4K video

4K video is finally gaining a foothold in home theaters this year, but for most PCs it’s practically kryptonite. Even if you’re lucky enough to have a powerful computer, dealing with such high-resolution video is a surefire way to spike your CPU usage and gobble up battery life. So it’s little surprise that Intel made 4K performance the centerpiece of its long-awaited seventh generation Core processors, which were officially announced today. You can also look forward to a slew of other speed-enhancing features when the new chips hit laptops in September.

So just how good are these new batch of Core processors? How about a CPU utilization rate of around 5 percent and power usage of 0.5 watts on the new Core i7-7500U while playing local 4K video. That’s compared to 40 to 70 percent CPU usage and a 10.2 watt power draw on its predecessor, the i7-6500U. And when playing 4K VP9-encoded video on YouTube, the new seventh generation i7 clocks in at 10 to 20 percent CPU usage while drawing 0.8 watts of power. The previous chip, on the other hand, ate up 70 to 80 percent of the CPU while taking up 5.8 watts of power.

Even as a computer geek, it’s been hard to get excited over new processors over the last few years. Intel, for the most part, has focused on steadily improving its lineup instead of aiming for dramatic performance gains. (My fourth-generation quad-core desktop chip can still go toe-to-toe with sixth-gen offerings.) But when it comes to 4K, Intel has delivered an evolutionary upgrade. And while it might not sound that important yet, it sets the stage for laptops and desktops that need to drive the new video standard.

Specifically, Intel added hardware encoding and decoding capabilities for both 10-bit HEVC 4K video and 8 to 10-bit VP9 video. There’s also HDR and wide color gamut support, but Intel says it’s up to manufacturers to implement the two competing HDR standards, Dolby Vision and HDR10. On top of just letting you watch more 4K video, the new chips’ encoding performance could be a huge deal for anyone editing media, with speeds between 1X and 3X real-time for 30FPS 4K.

Intel’s seventh generation Core processors (codenamed “Kaby Lake”) are basically a refined version of the company’s Skylake design from last year. Once again, they’re built on a 14 nanometer process, and they rely on Intel’s Speed Boost feature, which pushes the chips to their maximum speed faster than previous generations. Unfortunately, the company isn’t saying much about its seventh gen desktop lineup yet, but we’ll hopefully hear details early next year.

The new laptop chips are divided into two groups: the “Y-series” for thin designs using up to 4.5 watts of power, and the “U” series for faster performance (or just about every other type of laptop). And while there’s still a Core M3 processor in the new lineup, Intel has dumped the M5 and M7 models in exchange for the power efficient Y-series. Base clock speeds range between 2.4 GHz and 2.7 GHz for the U-series chips, with boost speeds up to 3.1GHz on the Core i5 and 3.5GHz on the Core i7. And for the more efficient Y-series, base speeds run between 1GHz and 1.3GHz, with larger boost figures between 2.6GHz and 3.6GHz.

When it comes to typical web browsing, Intel claims the new i7-7500U is 19 percent faster than the i7-6500U, while i7-7Y75 chip is 18 percent faster than the M7-6Y75, as measured by WebXPRT 2015. And when it comes to productivity, the company says the new CPUs are around 12 percent faster than their predecessors, based on SYSmark 2014 figures. Sure, they’re not exactly exciting upgrades if you have a fairly new laptop, but if yours is getting long in the tooth, you’ll definitely notice the difference. And while I didn’t get any exact figures on battery life, you can expect some sort of improvement (especially when watching videos).

So what do these new chips mean for you? Basically, if you’re in the market for a new laptop, it’s worth waiting for new models featuring the seventh gen CPUs in September. And if you’re planning to build or buy a new desktop, sit tight until January.