Netflix adds Dolby Atmos support, but you probably can’t use it yet

Netflix is adding Dolby Atmos support, but it’s not coming to Android or Chromecast anytime soon.

It’s often said that video streaming services like Netflix, Hulu, Amazon Prime Video and even YouTube focus too much on video enhancements at the expense of audio. As we’ve moved from 1080p to 4K to HDR to wide color gamut, we’ve remained stubbornly adherent to audio standards that are approaching 10 or 15 years old.

Netflix wants to change that with the introduction of Dolby Atmos support for some of its titles, beginning with the acclaimed (and reportedly very weird) film Okja.

The requirements to actually experience Dolby Atmos on Netflix are quite restrictive at the moment: it’s limited to the Xbox One or Xbox One S (and soon, LG OLED TVs) along with a “4 Screens + Ultra HD” streaming plan and, of course, a compatible receiver and speaker configuration.

Atmos is here, but you may not have the hardware for it yet.

I have admittedly fallen behind the times when it comes to surround sound codecs — the last 5.1 setup I had was probably 10 years ago — so I had to look up exactly how to take advantage of Dolby Atmos the way the company intends, and it’s intense. The idea behind the setup is to create a 360-degree soundscape by augmenting a traditional 5.1 or 7.1 surround sound setup with between two and four ceiling speakers or, barring that, upwards-facing satellites.

There are easier ways to get Dolby Atmos, though: the company has worked with a number of companies to add support in a number of phones, headphones and, perhaps most importantly, sound bars that do a decent job emulating the surround experience.

More Netflix titles will get Atmos support in the coming months, including BLAME!, Death Note, Bright, and Wheelman.

Shine bright with these fireworks-filled wallpapers!

“Look at the fireworks, look at the fireworks light up the night sky!!”

Fireworks add an extra pop of excitement to any holiday that features them. Whether you’re watching a magnificent, professional fireworks spectacular or some backyard sparklers, fireworks are wonderful and should be observed (safely) with wonder and respect. And while we can’t have fireworks every day, we can have firework wallpapers every day at least.

When there are fireworks displays going on all across the country on one night, places that normally have fireworks have to step it up. Take Illuminations at Epcot. They kick things up after their unity-focused fireworks, with a five minute finale of — I kid you not — solid pyrotechnic booms. I thought I was gonna go deaf at one point. And while the booms in this lovely image are significantly less eardrum-bursting, they’re nonetheless beautiful.

Illuminations

This weekend Americans will be shooting off fireworks by the bushel, but fantastic firework displays are found all over the world. This show in Singapore is magnificent, and while most of us might never see their National Day display, wallpapers like these can remind us of the spark of adventure… and phosphorus.

Fireworks by nuic

While fireworks wow in every color, there’s something about red fireworks that’s special. It’s the color we celebrate in the Star Spangled Banner, the rocket’s red glare. It’s a deeply patriotic color in countries around the world, from America to France to Germany to Russia to China, where these red rockets cast the castle at Hong Kong Disneyland in a brilliant silhouette.

Disneyland Hong Kong Red Skies by sleekpixels

There are many different kinds of fireworks and while most of them get macho, patriotic names, some are more whimsical. Take this impressive display right here, with a name Roger Rabbit could get behind: Exploding Flower Bed fireworks. They do kinda resemble a bed of exotic fire-red flowers… expect that picking one would probably lost you some bones…

Exploding Flower Bed

Fireworks come in just about every shape and size imaginable, and the level of chemistry and artistry that goes into crafting their colors, shapes, and type of burn is quite impressive. Each color here requires a different metal or metallic compound to achieve its particular hue, from Stronium red rockets to Cesium blue bombshells.

Fireworks

Fireworks are fantastic, but without people to enjoy them with, it’s just a quick burn and a loud bang. People (And music) can turn fireworks from a noise complaint into a full-fledged show, and no one puts on firework shows quite like Disney. As one of the largest fireworks purchasers in the world, it should be no surprise that the mouse puts on quite a show for its guests… and everyone within a few miles of the property.

Awesometacular Disney Fireworks

This $8 grid organizer is a must-have for every gadget lover

Keeping organized is not something that comes naturally to everyone, but staying on top of it makes finding what you need much easier. With how many gadgets, chargers, headphones, and other accessories we have in our life, it is hard to keep them all easily accessible. What usually ends up happening is they all turn into a huge ball that you have to try and untangle, which never works out.

Grid organizers are a great way around that, and UGreen is currently offering its large organizer for just $8.13 with coupon code YUVFNAO8 at Amazon. This is a savings of around $3 from its regular price and marks the lowest we’ve seen on it.

The board has anti-slip elastic bands to help keep your cables, chargers, flash drives, keys, and more in place and easily accessible. There are a bunch of different size slots, so each gadget can have an appropriate location, and the organizer is backed by a lifetime warranty.

See at Amazon

For more great deals be sure to check out our friends at Thrifter now!

Best microSD Cards for Galaxy S8

What are the best microSD cards for the Galaxy S8?

Following in the footsteps of the Galaxy S7, the Galaxy S8 offers support for microSD cards so you can increase the storage of the phone. This time around, however, Samsung has increased the onboard storage from 32GB up to 64GB, so many people may find that more than enough. But if you’re worried about filling that 64GB up with music, video or pictures, you should grab a microSD card and put it all there so you can easily access it.

Here are some of the best options to put in your new Galaxy S8, divided into performance and value options.

Performance options

These cards are all rated U3, which is a speed classification shorthand for UHS Speed Class 3, offering a minimum sequential write speed of 30MB/s. Why does this matter? Because without a card this fast, the Galaxy S8 can’t record 4K video to an external card.

SanDisk Extreme 32GB

If the 64GB that Samsung gives you inside the Galaxy S8 isn’t enough for your daily needs, adding a bit more doesn’t have to cost a ton. SanDisk’s high-performance card offers transfer speeds of up to 80MB/s and with its U3 rating it is capable of handling 4K video. To make syncing files to and from your computer easy, Lexar includes a USB 3.0 reader in the packaging.

Adding 32GB of storage to a 64GB phone may seem a bit weird, but if you aren’t looking to spend a lot this may be the way to go at under $20 for the card.

See at Amazon

PNY PRO Elite 128GB microSD

If you’re planning to do a lot of 4K video recording, you’ll want a fast and reliable card in your phone. PNY’s PRO Elite 128GB card adds plenty of storage, and the speeds you need. Being U3 it is great for video, and it is capable of up to 95MB/s on the read, and 90MB/s on write. At around $70, this isn’t a cheap option but it is a highly-rated, reliable one.

See at Amazon

Samsung 256GB EVO Select microSD

Samsung’s own 256GB option is one of the best to go for if you are ready to just go all out on storage. With read speeds of up to 100MB/s and write speeds of up to 90MB/s you can quickly and easily transfer files to and from the phone. It’s also U3 classified which means it’s great for 4K video.

With the speed and storage capacity comes a larger price tag on this card, but if you want the biggest on the market this is the way to go.

See at Amazon

Value options

If you don’t care about 4K video capture and just want a card that stores media for playback, or captures exclusively 1080p video on the Galaxy S8, these cards cost significantly less than U3-speed options.

Samsung EVO 128GB microSD

This is not Samsung’s top-end offering but it comes with decent speeds and a price tag to match. With up to 48MB/s for read and write you can keep the card updated easily, and it can handle 1080p video without a problem. If you want a Samsung-branded card that doesn’t break the bank, this is the one to go with.

See at Amazon

SanDisk Ultra 200GB microSD

If you’re looking to add a ton of extra storage at a relatively low cost, SanDisk’s 200GB microSD card is the way to go. This card from SanDisk provides transfer speeds of up to 90MB/s and can record Full HD video. If you like to keep your digital library with you at all times, you’ll want one of these.

We’ve seen the price drop significantly over the past year, and most of the times you can find it for under $80.

See at Amazon

SanDisk Ultra 128GB microSD

SanDisk is a well-known company when it comes to memory cards and storage products, and cards like this show you why. It comes with a 10-year warranty and has quick transfer speeds (up to 80MB/s), so it should check many of the boxes that you look for in a microSD card. The price is great as well at just over $40 most of the time.

See at Amazon

Your favorite?

Do you have a favorite microSD card that isn’t listed here? Be sure to drop a comment below and let us know which card it is, and why you like it!

Update June, 2017: Divided the article into Performance and Value sections based on card speeds. Exchanged Samsung Evo+ 256GB with Evo Select since the former is no longer available.

Samsung Galaxy S8 and S8+

• Galaxy S8 and S8+ review!
• Galaxy S8 and S8+ specs
• Everything you need to know about the Galaxy S8’s cameras
• Get to know Samsung Bixby
• Join our Galaxy S8 forums

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Snag this Galaxy S8 launcher update to fix some of its lag

Always take these types of updates.

If you’ve been using the Galaxy S8’s default TouchWiz Home launcher and noticing some unfortunate slowdowns, Samsung has just pushed out an update you should know about. The new version of TouchWiz Home is 6.1.09.2, and the changelog is pretty simple:

• Added an information screen to Samsung TouchWiz Home.
• Fixed the lag issue when swiping up and down to switch between the home and apps screens.
• Improved the visibility of app names under icons.

The app update is available both from the Galaxy Apps store and also the Google Play Store, though it’s not clear how it’s determined which one you get it from. On one of our Galaxy S8s, the app was updated from Galaxy Apps but doesn’t show as even being installed in the Play Store. Check both places, and also refer to your phone’s settings to see if “TouchWiz Home” has actually already been updated.

This update may not fix all of your Galaxy S8 lag concerns, but the fact that Samsung is directly addressing slowdowns in its app update shows it knows that it’s happening.

Samsung Galaxy S8 and S8+

• Galaxy S8 and S8+ review!
• Galaxy S8 and S8+ specs
• Everything you need to know about the Galaxy S8’s cameras
• Get to know Samsung Bixby
• Join our Galaxy S8 forums

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Google Photos’ improved (and potentially creepy) sharing features are here

Google Photos just made sharing much easier and potentially more intrusive.

Google launched its photos platform at I/O two years ago, but at its recent developer conference in Mountain View it gave an overview of some new features that would be coming over the summer.

Well, the first round of those updates is here, including proactive suggested sharing and, perhaps more interestingly, automatic photo sharing on an opt-in basis.

As of today, people on Android will see a new tab at the bottom right of the Google Photos app called Sharing. Tapping on that gives an overview of recently-shared albums and, if created, suggested albums to share with friends and family based on existing facial recognition.

Other features to come include suggested sets of photos based on events — Google suggests a wedding or a summer barbecue — as well as proactive suggestions from friends for adding their photos to your albums from a shared event.

Finally, Shared Libraries allow couples or family members to share their entire photo gallery with another person, which can be risky but Google is playing it smart, allowing photos from only a certain time forward — say, the day you met your partner — to be seen.

These updates are rolling out over the next few days on Android, iOS and the web. What do you think? Will you use these features? Let us know in the comments!

Apply now for Engadget’s $500,000 immersive art program

We’re just two days away from the official deadline to apply for Engadget’s unreal arts program for unreal times. But what is time, really?

In the spirit of breaking with convention, we’ve extended the deadline to apply for Engadget’s Alternate Realities grant program an entire week. If you’re an artist working with emerging technologies like AR, VR or AI, you have until July 7th to apply for one of five grants of up to $100,000 a piece. If you hadn’t heard, we’re funding immersive art projects (no, they don’t have to be AR or VR specifically) that focus on the theme of Alternate Realities. Those projects will debut at the Engadget Experience, a one-day event exploring the future of creativity at the historic United Artists Theatre in downtown LA on November 16th, 2017.

For more information you can check out our event page or apply here.

Source: The Engadget Experience