Intel takes two big steps to push Thunderbolt 3 on PCs

Do you have Thunderbolt 3 on your PC? No? It’s not surprising. Your system needs a separate (read: expensive) chip to handle the ultra-fast connector, and Intel hasn’t made the specification available to other companies. You’re more likely to see the USB-C port that it’s based on. You might just see a lot more of Thunderbolt 3 in the future, though. Intel has unveiled plans to not only build the technology into its processors, but to open the spec through a non-exclusive, royalty-free license. Yes, you could theoretically see future AMD-based PCs with Thunderbolt 3 ports, not to mention more (and more affordable) Intel systems, peripherals and cables.

Intel is quick to point to growing adoption of Thunderbolt 3 as it is today. There are over 120 PCs that include both Thunderbolt 3 and a 7th-generation Core processor (the first platform to make the port widely available), and there should be just short of 150 by the end of 2017. However, there’s little doubt that the technology has been struggling. Outside of Apple, which helped create Thunderbolt, it tends to be limited to higher-end systems, and often with just one port. In a sense, this move was absolutely necessary — while Thunderbolt 3 is much faster than USB-C and is designed to usher in a future where one cable can do everything, it risks becoming a niche format compared to its slower counterpart.

The question is whether or not other companies will take up Intel’s offer. Just because they can easily use Thunderbolt 3 doesn’t mean they will, and they may decide that there aren’t enough peripherals to justify the technology. If AMD and others like the idea (we’ve asked AMD for its initial thoughts), the port could become relatively ubiquitous. If they’re cautious or avoid it altogether, though, this may be more of a symbolic gesture than a practical one.

Via: Wired

Source: Intel Newsroom

Amazon’s iOS app inexplicably adds photo stickers

Back in February, Amazon added its product- and barcode-recognition technology, “Flow,” to its iOS shopping app. The feature had its own standalone app, but bringing it to the main one let users scan items using their smartphone’s camera and add to their account’s lists. The latest version, updated yesterday, added something a little extra: Stickers. You know, the ones all the messaging services and social mediums are adding. Except these are stickers of actual products that you can click on to buy.

To find them, open the app, tap the camera icon to the right of the search bar and find the “Amazon Stickers” button on the left of the bottom bar. This opens up a menu of stickers organized by categories, and every one links to that product on Amazon. Simple. Once you place the sticker, click the “i” button to go its page. (The click-through feature is disabled when you save the image — and then it’s just a regular ‘ol goofy image with a big white border.)

Seeing the internet titan try to integrate social media trinkets into its shopping app is as amusing as it is bizarre, especially since the rest of the app is dedicated to price-matching or adding items to a buy-later list. You could obviously aim the app at your empty living room and drop a product’s sticker in to see how it would look, though the thick white border makes it awkward to get a real feel. It’s not a terribly elegant mix of Amazon’s product-hunting app and conversational gimmick, but if you have to look to fads for new functionality, perhaps that’s better than not trying at all.

As if there weren’t enough stickers in all the places, now @Amazon’s iOS app has’em too! And they’re shoppable products!! /tip @Techmeme pic.twitter.com/S2w32kd2XW

— Chris Messina 🦅 (@chrismessina) May 23, 2017

Via: TechCrunch

Source: App Store

Facebook will court ‘millennials’ with its original videos

Facebook’s dreams of pushing original video shows may be delayed, but that’s doing little to stop its ever-growing ambitions. Reuters sources claim that Facebook has landed deals with a slew of “millennial-focused” internet media companies, including BuzzFeed, Vox Media, ATTN and The Dodo operator Group Nine Media. The material would include both short clips under 10 minutes (owned by the individual providers) and longer videos over 20 minutes (owned by Facebook), and they’d naturally have ad breaks. You’d initially find the videos exclusively on Facebook’s website and apps, but they’d eventually migrate to other sites.

Not surprisingly, Facebook isn’t commenting on the apparent leak.

It doesn’t take much divination to understand why Facebook would sign up these brands: if it’s going to make a big deal out of original videos, it needs to cater to the audiences that already spend lots of time on its pages. And they may well be receptive, too. Although it’s still uncertain just how much money they’ll really make (Facebook is reportedly promising a 55 percent share from ads on shorter clips), they may be reassured knowing that they’ll make money even if people steal their videos. Whatever short-term uncertainty they face could easily be worthwhile given the many, many potential viewers.

Source: Reuters

Elgato Thunderbolt 3 Dock coming in June to relieve MacBook Pro dongle woes

Why it matters to you

If you’ve been struggling with dangling dongles on your MacBook Pro, then Elgato might have an answer.

The newest version of Apple’s MacBook Pro, released in 2016, offered some nice updates to the line including the OLED Touch Bar and a thinner, lighter chassis. Along with the welcome enhancements came some less-than-well-received subtractions, including the loss of all the legacy connectivity support and a complete conversion to USB Type-C.

In fact, customer complaints were so significant that Apple had a limited-time discount offer on its own dongles for MacBook Pro buyers who need legacy support. That deal ended weeks ago, and now users are likely looking for other options. Elgato announced a new Thunderbolt 3 Dock to help out, and it now has an official ship date, 9to5Mac reports.

The Elgato Thunderbolt 3 Dock is a color-matched docking solution that connects to a MacBook Pro via a USB Type-C Thunderbolt 3 port and provides for significant connectivity without all of the dangling dongles. The dock provides connectivity for a wide range of external storage, displays, and network connectivity, and also provides for pass-through charging to keep things particularly simple.

The Thunderbolt 3 dock comes with two Thunderbolt 3-enabled USB Type-C ports with the full 40Gb/s bandwidth, PC charging up to 85 watts, USB 3.1 Gen2 speeds of up to 10Gb/s, and DisplayPort support. In addition, the dock offers a dedicated DisplayPort 1.2 connection, a gigabit Ethernet port, and three USB 3.0 Type-A ports for legacy connections. 3.5mm headphone and microphone input jacks round out the options.

Up to 4K external displays are supported via DisplayPort, and users can plug into 5K displays using the Thunderbolt 3 ports. External charging for devices up to 15 watts is also supported.

The Elgato Thunderbolt 3 dock will be available in June from a variety of retailers. Pricing will be set at $300, which is a bit more expensive than purchasing a few dongles but definitely represents a real increase in convenience.

Google Photos’ latest update lets you hide your most sensitive shots

Why it matters to you

We’ve all got pictures we’d rather keep to ourselves, and one of the world’s most popular photo management apps finally offers a way to keep them hidden.

You’d think it would be easy to hide incriminating photos on your smartphone — it’s 2017 after all, and the internet is a thing that exists. Until recently, however, keeping your most private images shielded from the public was actually quite difficult.

Among the available options, you have Samsung with its robust Secure Folder app, which lets you lock everything from pictures to emails, documents, and even apps behind password protection. Then there’s Apple’s somewhat clunky system of letting you “hide” content from your general Photos tab, while leaving it perfectly visible in Albums. Better yet, Google had no such feature at all — until now.

At long last, the latest version of Google’s Android photos app makes it extremely easy to hide images, with just three taps. Open or long-press a photo, tap the menu button at the top right, and select “Archive.” Those pictures will be concealed in a separate folder accessible from the hamburger menu, though much like Apple’s method, they will still appear in Albums view and search results.

The new feature was first revealed by 9to5Google, and is now live for devices with version 2.15 of the app installed. It likely isn’t the lock-and-key solution some users might want or need, but it’s better than nothing. Besides, there are many third-party apps on both iOS and Android made specifically for keeping pictures private that do a better job of it. Archiving is also useful for those who would simply prefer to de-clutter their photo library, or have many multiples of the same shots.

May has been a busy month for Google Photos, and this is just one of several new features to arrive on the app in recent weeks. For Mother’s Day, Photos gained the ability to make personalized videos using facial recognition to identify your family members. Not long after, at Google I/O, the company debuted enhancements designed to make sharing easier, and unveiled the ability to make printed books. And just yesterday, Google added Family Groups support, allowing users to instantly send photos to as many as five of their loved ones with a single tap.

Build a futuristic-looking gaming PC with Cougar’s new Conquer case

Why it matters to you

If you’re planning a new gaming PC this summer and want a futuristic design that stands out, the Conquer case has you covered.

For many people, half the fun of building a new gaming PC is injecting some personality into the design. Short of making your own custom case, the best way to do that is to pick up a retail case that adds some design flair of its own.

Case manufacturer Cougar is known for offering same case designs that go beyond the usual black box and it recently announced a new futuristic case that will be launched at the upcoming Computex 2017. Dubbed the Conquer, the new case offers an interesting blend of design and materials, Tom’s Hardware reports.

The Conquer is a mid-tower chassis that measures 23 inches by 10 inches by 30 inches. In other words, it is not the smallest mid-tower case on the market. It is made from a mix of machined aluminum and tempered glass that makes for a futuristic design and offers an interesting twist on thermal management with an aluminum tunnel up top that channels air over the three included 120mm fans.

The two 5mm tempered glass panels on the side provide an open air flow and a direct view into the Conquer’s interior. Thermal management is rounded out with support for radiators and up to 360mm coolers on top and 240mm on the front.

Connectivity includes dual USB 3.0 Type-A connections and HD audio and microphone jacks on the front of the case. Motherboard support includes mini-ITX, micro-ATX, and full-size ATX motherboards, along with seven expansion slots and GPUs up to 350mm long.

The Cougar Conquer will retail for $250 and will ship at the end of June or beginning of July. Anyone looking for a fun summer project building a new gaming PC, therefore, has a nice new case option to consider that offers a futuristic design at a bit of a steep price.

JLab House Party wireless speaker review

Research Center:
JLab House Party

Wireless multiroom speaker systems are seriously cool, but they do have their drawbacks. For one thing, they can be pricey — often running hundreds of dollars for each speaker. For another, they can be difficult to use. Multiroom systems usually require connection to your home network and a complicated app to operate, and even finding compatible streaming applications can sometimes be difficult. They’re Finally, they’re rarely portable, requiring power and internet connection to spin their home-filling sound.

JLab tackles many of these issues with its new portable multiroom speakers, the House Party and Block Party. The pair ditch network-based multiroom setup in favor of good old fashioned Bluetooth, along with a self-contained 5.8Ghz wireless network to communicate with one another. That means they can travel with you to far-off places, free from the bonds of Wi-Fi.

The House Party is the smaller of the two, and while it serves as a relatively impressive micro-footprint option, with especially solid bass response for its size its small soundstage make it best suited to bathrooms, bedrooms, or backpacks. With its big brother offering some of the best sound in its class, we’d be more inclined to pick up a House Party as part of a Block Party-anchored setup — or even as an affordable portable option – rather than a foundational speaker for a multiroom sound system.

Out of the Box

The House Party comes in a simple rectangular box with almost nothing in the way of accessories. You’ll find a user guide, and a bright blue micro USB cable, but no wall adapter. Most of us have a USB wall adapter on hand these days, but it’s a bit of an oversight for a speaker that could occupy its own permanent spot in a multiroom setup.

Features and Design

If the Block Party looks like a scale model of the Borg base from Star Trek NG, the House Party looks more like a smaller version of the cube from the Portal video game. A 2.5-inch x 4-inch x 4-inch rectangle with metal mesh on three sides and rubberized black plastic on the remainder, the House Party’s design is simple and petite enough to blend in well with its surroundings. The only standout design traits are a thin JLab logo on the bottom front and a LED-backlit multifunction button on the top. Unlike the Block Party, there’s no handle for carrying the speaker around.

Bill Roberson/Digital Trends

A rubber seal at the back covers a 3.5 mm aux input, a USB port, and the charging port; the House Party has an IPX4 water resistance rating, making it splash proof, but not suitable for actual dunks in the water.

The House Party’s attractive design is simple enough to blend in well with its surroundings.

Along with the multifunction button, the top of the speaker boasts raised rubber buttons for power, volume, and Bluetooth pairing. Each of them are easy to find by sight or touch, but blend in easily with the background. As with the Block Party, one of our favorite design cues is the inclusion of step-by-step setup and pairing instructions on the bottom side for easy access.

Pressing the two volume buttons together for a short period indicates battery life. Pressing and holding the volume keys for three seconds allows you to change EQ settings between Indoor and Outdoor, invoking a blue LED flash for indoor listening, and a green flash for outdoor.

Audio playback is accomplished via Bluetooth or the 3.5 mm input when using single-speaker playback, while JLab’s built-in 5.8Ghz wireless connection comes into play when connecting another House Party or Block Party speaker. Battery life is nine hours, which is pretty solid for a device this size and price – especially one that gets this loud.

Bluetooth setup

As with most speakers, pairing the House Party to your phone via Bluetooth is easy. After hitting the power button, the multifunction button will pulse blue for Bluetooth connection or white for “Share” mode. If the speaker is in Bluetooth mode, simply locate it on your device’s Bluetooth menu and connect. If it is in Share mode, press and hold the Bluetooth button on the top of the device for three seconds to switch to Bluetooth mode.

Multiroom Setup

To set up two or more speakers in multiroom mode for the first time, Bluetooth pair with the speaker you intend to keep within 33 feet of your device (the master), then press and hold the multifunction button on the top of the speaker until it blinks blue, indicating you’re sharing to other speakers.

Bill Roberson/Digital Trends

Once your master speaker is sharing, make sure the slave speaker(s) is in Share mode, and hold the multifunction button until it blinks white. The speakers (up to eight) will auto-connect, and the multifunction buttons will become solid white or blue, depending on which are in Share mode and which is in Bluetooth as your master. Once connected, you can move your slave speakers wherever you like within a 100-foot radius, while keeping your master speaker (and its Blue LED) within 33 feet of your phone or other Bluetooth playback device.

Putting the speakers in standby mode, accomplished by holding the power button on the master speaker for two seconds until red, retains your setup settings. Holding the button again takes the system out of standby, at which point the speakers will immediately reconnect and continue broadcasting.

Multiroom performance

When placing synced speakers around our home, office, and even outdoors, everything within the network’s 100-foot range worked just as advertised. The most impressive feature when connecting the House Party and Block Party speakers in tandem was the absolute lack of audible latency. Every sound we played between the two devices was in sync, even when stacking the speakers on top of each other. We’d be interested to see how the system performs when more speakers are added to the mix, but we can’t imagine performance will be much different given the dedicated streaming signal.

JLab House Party Compared To

Ultimate Ears Wonderboom

Fugoo Go

Creative iRoar

Cambridge Audio Bluetone 100

Denon Heos 5

Denon Heos 3

Braven BRV-X

Bose SoundTouch 20

Carbon Audio Pocket Speaker

Altec Lansing the Jacket iMW455

Boombotix Boombot Rex

Cambridge Audio Minx Air 200

Carbon Audio Zooka

Bowers & Wilkins Zeppelin Air

Bowers & Wilkins Zeppelin

The 33-foot range restriction between source device and of your master speaker is a limitation, but there are ways around it. For instance, we Bluetooth paired our master JLab speaker to a desktop computer in the main area of our home, and then used the Spotify App on our phone to select the computer as a playback device, allowing us to change the music remotely in other rooms. Of course you can also take a speaker out of Shared mode and stream Bluetooth at any time.

Audio Performance

Especially when considering its tiny footprint and affordable price point, the House Party offers some pretty solid sound performance. A pair of 2-inch, 10-watt drivers push the audio on the left and right sides of the device, providing a good amount of stereo imaging, with dual 2-inch bass radiators spreading the low end love. As with the Block Party, we highly recommend listening only in Outdoor mode, as the sound with the Indoor EQ engaged is boxy and somewhat lifeless.

Battery life is solid for a device this size and price – especially one that gets this loud.

The House Party’s volume level is significantly less than that of the larger Block Party, but still remarkable for its size. The speaker was able to fill medium sized bedrooms with loud versions of folk classics like Dylan’s Like A Rolling Stone, which can be a struggle for smaller speakers.

Still, while we would recommend a single Block Party for even larger rooms, we’d recommend keeping the House Party contained to smaller environments, like a bathroom or bedroom. The max volume just isn’t powerful enough to fuel an impromptu living room dance-off like the Block Party.

The House Party’s sound is full and balanced, but the soundstage is fairly concise. On songs like Run The Jewel’s Oh My Darling Don’t Cry, the House Party shows off ample bass response, providing an enjoyable rumble for smaller spaces, but we didn’t get the wide stereo image we enjoyed from the Block Party.

Bill Roberson/Digital Trends

The 2-inch drivers do well to highlight the upper register, but sometimes struggle with midrange frequencies, providing a scooped sound at the center. This was especially evident when listening to Whitney’s No Woman, which came off sounding more sterile than usual. That said, these audio gripes are not deal killers for an affordable and extremely small Bluetooth speaker, especially when used as part of a larger multiroom system with Block Party speakers in play.

In fact, in terms of overall sound, the House Party competes well with many other speakers its size, and is only all the more formidable when its multiroom functionality is taken into account.

Our Take

The House Party is a solid portable Bluetooth speaker, and would do well to supplement the larger Block Party in a multiroom setup, but at just $50 more, we’d prefer the Block Party when pressed.

Is there a better alternative?

If your budget can’t handle the pricier Block Party, there are many excellent Bluetooth alternatives hovering around $100, including the Sony SRS X5 and JBL Flip 3, but this is one of the very few speakers at this price with multiroom functionality, making the House Party an intriguing new option.

How long will it last?

The build quality of JLab’s speakers appears to be quite high, and with the IPX4 rating, we imagine the speaker will last for several years of moderate-to heavy use — provided you don’t drop it in the tub.

Should you buy it?

Yes, with some caveats. The JLab House Party has relatively impressive sound and a whole lot of functionality for a very low price. That said, given that the larger Block Party is only $50 more, we’d use the House Party to supplement the sound of Block Party speakers in smaller rooms, rather than as the foundational speaker in a multiroom setup.

JLab Block Party wireless speaker review

Research Center:
JLab Block Party

Wireless multiroom speaker systems are seriously cool, but they do have their drawbacks. For one thing, they can be pricey — often running hundreds of dollars for each speaker. For another, they can be difficult to use. Multiroom systems usually require connection to your home network and a complicated app to operate, and even finding compatible streaming applications can sometimes be difficult. Finally, they’re rarely portable, requiring power and internet connection to spin their home-filling sound.

JLab tackles many of these issues with its new portable multiroom speakers, the Block Party and House Party. The pair ditch network-based multiroom setup in favor of good old fashioned Bluetooth, along with a self-contained 5.8Ghz wireless network to communicate with one another. That means they can travel with you to far-off places, free from the bonds of Wi-Fi.

The larger Block Party speaker easily offers some of the best value on the market. A powerful, portable cube of sound, the Block Party blankets its environment with warm and balanced audio that rivals much more expensive speakers. Add in extras like water resistance, and multiroom playback that’s easy to setup on the go, and the Block Party is well deserving of our Editor’s Choice badge.

Out of the box

The Block Party arrives in a simple rectangular box with just a few accessories, including a user guide, a power cable, and a bright blue micro USB cable. No cable is provided for its 3.5mm aux input at the back, but that’s not all that surprising considering the speaker’s price and loaded feature set.

Features and Design

The Block Party looks a bit like a Star Trek’s Borg station, but with rounded edges. A 6-inch x 5.5-inch x 5.5-inch rectangle with metal mesh on three sides and rubberized black plastic on the remainder, the aesthetic is simple and elegant enough to blend in almost anywhere.

Apart from a thin JLab logo on the bottom front and a LED-backlit multifunction button on the top, the only bit of flash onboard is a rubberized handle on the rear in bright blue. The burst of color isn’t particularly noticeable once you’ve setup the portly 5.6-pound device for playback, but it does make it easier to find the handle in a dark room or moonlit backyard.

Bill Roberson/Digital Trends

The Block Party has an IPX4 water resistance rating, making it splash proof, but not suitable for full-on submersion. A rubber seal at the back covers the 3.5 mm input, a USB port, and the charging port.

Along with the multifunction button, the top of the speaker boasts raised rubber buttons for power, volume, and Bluetooth pairing. Each of them are large enough to find by touch or sight easily, while melding into the black background when you don’t need them. Another great design cue is the inclusion of step-by-step setup and pairing instructions on the bottom side for easy access. Smart thinking.

Under the grill a 50-watt amplifier powers two 3-inch, 15-watt woofers and a pair of 1-inch, 7.5-watt tweeters on the left and right sides, joined by a pair of 3-inch passive radiators for bass on the bottom and front.

Battery life is a somewhat middling nine hours per charge, […] but it’s not a detraction

Audio playback is accomplished via Bluetooth or the 3.5 mm input when using single-speaker playback, while JLab’s built-in 5.8Ghz wireless connection comes into play when connecting another Block Party or House Party speaker. Battery life is a somewhat middling nine hours per charge, but considering the multiroom functionality and the sheer volume the speaker can produce, it’s not a detraction.

Pressing the two volume buttons together for a short period will let you know how much battery life is left. Pressing and holding the volume keys for three seconds allows you to change EQ settings between Indoor and Outdoor, invoking a blue LED flash for indoor listening, and a green flash for outdoor.

Bluetooth setup

As with most speakers, pairing the Block Party to your phone via Bluetooth is easy. After hitting the power button, the multifunction button will pulse blue for Bluetooth connection or white for “Share” mode. If the speaker is in Bluetooth mode, simply locate it on your device’s Bluetooth menu and connect. If it is in Share mode, press and hold the Bluetooth button on the top of the device for three seconds to switch to Bluetooth mode.

Multiroom setup

To set up two or more speakers in multiroom mode for the first time, Bluetooth pair with the speaker you intend to keep within 33 feet of your device (the master), then press and hold the multifunction button on the top of the speaker until it blinks blue, indicating you have started sharing to other speakers.

JLab Block Party Compared To

JBL Authentic L8

Braven BRV-X

Bose SoundTouch 20

Carbon Audio Pocket Speaker

Altec Lansing the Jacket iMW455

Boombotix Boombot Rex

Cambridge Audio Minx Air 200

Nocs NS2 Air Monitors

Carbon Audio Zooka

Logitech UE Air

iHome iP4

Bowers & Wilkins Zeppelin Air

Klipsch iGroove SXT

Bowers & Wilkins Zeppelin

mStation 2.1 Stereo Orb

Once your master speaker is sharing, make sure the slave speaker(s) is in Share mode, and hold the multifunction button until it blinks white. The speakers (up to eight) will auto-connect, and the multifunction buttons will become solid white or blue, depending on which are in Share mode and which is in Bluetooth as your master. Once connected, you can move your slave speakers wherever you like within a 100-foot radius, while keeping your master speaker (and its Blue LED) within 33 feet of your phone or other Bluetooth playback device.

Putting the speakers in standby mode, accomplished by holding the power button on the master speaker for two seconds until red, retains your setup settings. Holding the button again takes the system out of standby, at which point the speakers will immediately reconnect and continue broadcasting.

Multiroom performance

When placing synced speakers around our home, office, and even outdoors, everything within the network’s 100-foot range worked just as advertised. The most impressive feature when connecting the Block Party and House Party speakers in tandem was the absolute lack of audible latency. Every sound we played between the two devices was in sync, even when stacking the speakers on top of each other. We’d be interested to see how the system performs when more speakers are added to the mix, but we can’t imagine performance will be much different given the dedicated streaming signal.

Bill Roberson/Digital Trends

The 33-foot range restriction between source device and of your master speaker is a limitation, but there are ways around it. For instance, we Bluetooth paired our master JLab speaker to a desktop computer in the main area of our home, and then used the Spotify App on our phone to select the computer as a playback device, allowing us to change the music remotely in other rooms. Of course you can also take a speaker out of Shared mode and stream Bluetooth at any time.

Audio performance

Considering its small footprint, the Block Party offers an extremely revealing soundstage with a surprising amount of stereo imaging, and a healthy dollop of bass to boot. At max volume the speaker is very loud for its size, easily providing enough noise to fill a dance-crazed living room.

There is one major caveat worth mentioning when it comes to overall audio quality: We vastly preferred everything we heard through the Block Party in Outdoor mode. In fact, the difference was so drastic that we actually wonder just who or what Indoor mode is designed for.

We vastly preferred everything we heard through the Block Party in Outdoor mode.

While listening to Allen Touissant’s Last Train in Indoor mode, the piano’s shimmery high end and the drummer’s hi-hats were totally buried beneath the midrange and bass. When we switched to Outdoor mode, it sounded as though a box surrounding the music had been removed, giving each register more room to breathe in the soundstage, and providing a much more pleasurable listening experience.

In Outdoor mode, the Block party really impresses for its price point, even without the added value of multiroom functionality. While it does utilize digital signal processing for each driver, the Block Party’s driver layout helps to create a natural balance, without over processing — something that can bother your ears over long listening sessions, and plagues many speakers this size.

Even without dedicated low-end drivers, the passive radiators provide plenty of oomph for instrumental hip-hop like J Dilla’s Detroit Madness, while showcasing the warm sub-bass frequencies of Radiohead’s House of Cards in perfect balance with the bright tones of Thom York’s reverb-laden vocals.

Given how well it handled standard pop music, we found ourselves gravitating toward more difficult genres like jazz and folk in testing, just to see if we could find cracks in the facade. Especially when considering its portability and low price point, we couldn’t find many. It’s hard not to love a speaker that offers thoroughly enjoyable reproductions of saxophone player Joshua Redman’s Elastic album while you’re deep in the redwoods, miles away from the nearest Wi-Fi signal or power source.

Our Take

Whether you are looking for a loud and capable Bluetooth speaker, or the foundation of an affordable multiroom listening system, JLab’s Block party is a top performer.

Is there a better alternative?

Those looking for a great Bluetooth speaker will find plenty of options hovering around the $150 price point, with favorites like the JBL Charge 3 providing a more rugged alternative for a bit less money, and speakers like the Marshall Kilburn offering more style and better battery life for a bit more.

Those looking to build a multiroom system also have plenty of options, but most of the industry leaders are a bit pricier. Sonos’ quieter, mono-channel Play:1 is $50 more than the Block Party, for instance. And while the Play:1 offers higher-resolution music streaming, and more playback options via the app, you give up the Block Party’s portability.

How long will it last?

The Block Party’s build quality appears to be quite high, and with the IPX4 rating, we imagine that the speaker will last several years of moderate-to heavy use — provided you don’t drop it in the pool.

Should you buy it?

Yes. The JLab Block Party is a great sounding Bluetooth speaker that fits a particularly interesting niche in the world of multiroom speakers, making it a worthwhile purchase for multiple reasons.

Google Photos for Android now offers easy archiving

Help eliminate the embarrassment of bad angles by archiving what you don’t care for others to see.

Launching Google Photos can become a practice in vulnerability. The app tends to showcase the last batch of pictures you took, and if any are just plain bad or unflattering, it can leave you feeling exposed.

The latest update to Google Photos helps eliminate this kind of embarrassment. Discovered by 9to5Google, now you can archive photos from appearing on the main screen. Simply tap on the ability in the overflow menu, or select the ability from the navigation drawer. Archived photos will remain in your albums and search results, as well as on the Archive page — just as you would archive a batch of notes in Google Keep, for example.

Easily archive any or all selfies in Google Photos.

Granted, there are even more features coming to Google Photos in the near future — a majority of which were teased at Google I/O — but this will certainly help anyone looking to get their photo albums in order for when those machine learning tricks do make it to the photo-sharing suite. The feature is currently rolling out for Android; iOS users and web app users might have to hang tight for the moment.

Android Pay expected to come to Canada on May 31

Canadians have been waiting a long time for Android Pay, and it looks like the wait is almost up.

Android Pay is set to come to Canada on May 31, according to internal documents received by MobileSyrup. Google made the announcement earlier this month at its annual developer conference, but neglected to spell out a specific date. If the leak is to be believed, Canadians should be able to use their Android phones to pay at contactless-enabled retailers starting early next month.

It’s not clear which banks and payment processing systems will support Android Pay, but like Apple Pay it will likely be Visa, MasterCard, American Express and Interac, with all five major banks on board from the beginning.

Rumor has it that Android Pay took so long to come north of the border because Interac, Canada’s de facto debit standard, required significant internal restructuring to support Google’s payment system. A similar reason was given for Apple Pay’s delay, which was more than a year after it launched in the U.S. Samsung Pay is already available in Canada, but is limited to CIBC credit cards.

In the meantime, Canadians have been using their banks’ apps to make mobile payments; currently three of the Big Five banks — TD Canada Trust, Scotiabank and RBC — support mobile payments through the app, but Android Pay will negate the need to open a third-party app at all, and will enable fingerprint-enabled payments.