Bowers & Wilkins PX headphones pack adaptive noise cancellation

Bower & Wilkins (B&W) is dropping its latest pair of premium wireless headphones. How are these £330 ($437) cans any different from the company’s alternatives? The “PX” are the first to pack adaptive noise cancellation (which allows you to pick from three different modes through a companion app). The “city” option, for example, will let in traffic noise, so you’re less likely to get hit by a car while jamming to Rage Against the Machine. And, there’s the responsive interaction feature that auto-pauses your tunes when you remove the headphones. They’ll even return to standby mode when you put them down (which should be a boon for battery life).

That’s all well and good, but it’s not enough to differentiate them from the other products out there. As far back as 2009, Sony had integrated a similar sensor into its MH907 earbuds, with the likes of Parrot’s feature-packed Zik 2.0 over-ear headphones, and Apple’s AirPods following suit. Plus, these days, everywhere you look an audio company is sneaking some sort of tech into its headphones. And, much of it is a lot more impressive than what B&W is offering (if that’s your sort of thing). Throw a stone and you’ll hit a pair of wireless earbuds that share your music. And, soon enough, voice-powered cans with integrated AI (like Bose’s new QC35 headphones with Google Assistant built-in) could become much more common.

But, as B&W fans will attest, its brand has its own pulling power. Aside from the premium design, which is also present this time round, the sound quality of its devices tends to be top-notch. In the case of the PX headphones, the ability to manipulate the noise cancelling aspect (to block ambient car sounds, or let in chatter) is attention-grabbing. And, then there’s the battery life: 22 hours of playback in wireless mode, and 33 hours when wired. Speaking of the design, the PX boasts a leather headband, and an etched-aluminum finish. You can grab them in either grey or gold starting today. Is that enough to make you part ways with 37 bucks more than what you’d pay for the (solid) B&W P5 wireless headphones? Well, that’s your call.

Stormtrooper bot with facial recognition guards against intruders

We know what Star Wars fans will be wishing for this Christmas — aside from Sphero’s R2-D2 and BB-9E toys. Ubtech, the company behind the dancing Lynx robot, is releasing a Stormtrooper bot. Although it can’t teach you yoga, you can use voice commands to instruct it to ward off intruders (hopefully not with an actual blaster). Its facial recognition tech also allows it to store up to three faces in its memory bank. That way, it can shout at any uninvited guests that keep barging into your room. And, its accompanying mobile app packs an augmented reality game that lets you fight off the Resistance and launch First Order attacks. The robot is available for pre-order from Ubtech right now, and will ship in November. It will set you back $300.

Those keen to snap up the Stormtrooper should be aware that its manufacturer has previously come under fire from the security community. In August, cybersecurity firm IOActive claimed that Ubtech’s Alpha series models did not encrypt the data they stored, making it easy for hackers to steal the info. Tinkerers even managed to turn the cute little bots into screwdriver-wielding, stab-happy maniacs. Not exactly stocking filler material, then. But, no such claims have been made about the Star Wars First Order Stormtrooper.

Waymo might launch its own ride-sharing service this fall

People in select areas might be able hail Waymo’s self-driving cars (with no human drivers!) as soon as this fall, according to The Information. In a piece talking about the Google spinoff’s internal issues, the publication has revealed that it’s gearing up to launch an autonomous ride-hailing fleet. The first self-driving vehicles in the service are even expected to start picking up passengers in Phoenix, Arizona, where Waymo has been testing its technologies, sometime this month.

Waymo is apparently pushing through with those plans despite internal conflict between John Krafcik, the industry veteran Google hired in 2015 to lead its autonomous vehicle division, and its engineers. The company’s tech personnel are reportedly unhappy about Krafcik’s lack of technical knowledge about autonomous vehicles, which contributed to his decision to side with Alphabet head honchos Larry Page and Sergey Brin regarding unrealistic launch deadlines and hiring freezes.

Page and Brin, for instance, wanted to launch an independent autonomous ride-hailing service with no human safety drivers back in 2016. Waymo’s engineers knew it was a tall order, and they had to convince the management that a mixed fleet would be more realistic. Cars with human drivers could be used for longer drives or to go to destinations Waymo’s cars haven’t previously mapped. As a compromise, the company teamed up with Lyft with the intention of having its manned fleet operate under its partnership with the more established ride-hailing firm.

Source: The Information

Philips Extends HomeKit Support to Hue Tap, Dimmer Switch, and Motion Sensor

Philips today extended support for Apple’s HomeKit platform to the Hue Tap switch, Hue dimmer switch, and Hue motion sensor.

The trio of Hue accessories can now be controlled with Apple’s Home app on iOS 10 or later, and configured as part of HomeKit scenes.

Philips Hue is extending its Apple HomeKit compatibility for Hue accessories: Hue tap, Hue dimmer switch and Hue motion sensor. Meaning with a press of a button, or movement of your body, you can activate your favorite Apple Home app scenes. To set up automations, you need an Apple TV (4th generation) with tvOS 10 or an iPad with iOS 10 or later.

The compatibility was added in an update to the Philips Hue app for iPhone, iPad, and Apple Watch, available now on the App Store [Direct Link].

Tags: HomeKit, Philips Hue
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LG Screen Manager App for UltraFine Displays Updated for macOS High Sierra

Alongside its UltraFine 4K and 5K displays developed in partnership with Apple, LG offers an LG Screen Manager app for Mac that serves to manage various functions of the display, including handling firmware updates for the display itself, accessing windowing features such as automatic splitting of the desktop into up to four sections, and more. LG Screen Manager includes a menu item for quick access to its desktop splitting features, as well as a full app for more advanced features.

Recently, LG released an updated version of LG Screen Manager for macOS High Sierra, ensuring compatibility with the latest Mac operating system and debuting a new notification system that will automatically alert you whenever there are updates for your display.

In addition to the new compatibility and update notifications, the latest update to LG Screen Manager includes tweaks and enhancements for the display firmware that were rolled out earlier this summer. Among those tweaks is fine tuning of the volume curve, which addresses some early complaints about the volume control not being fine enough at the low end of the range with a significant increase in volume between even the first and second levels. The new volume curve allows for much finer adjustment at the low end.

Other features in the display firmware update include improvements to low-light performance of the camera and better compatibility for devices connected to the three downstream USB-C ports on the rear of the display.

The updated LG Screen Manager app, version 2.08, is available for download from LG’s support site.

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‘Nuraphone’ Adapts to Your Ears and Automatically Adjusts Music Playback for Better Quality Audio

The Nura headphones were funded on Kickstarter last year, surpassing a $100,000 goal and earning around $1.8 million from backers who were interested in the device’s personal music calibration abilities. Today, the company is officially launching the $399 “Nuraphone” to backers from the Kickstarter campaign and to any new buyer through its website, with a pair of headphones that use a self-learning engine to automatically adjust to your own “unique hearing” and ensure each song you listen to is the highest quality possible (via The Verge).

Nuraphone plays a range of tones into your ear, measuring a faint sound that your ear generates in response to the tones, and this process begins the calibration of the headphones to your own profile. The returning sound is “encoded” with data about how well you heard the noise that entered your ear, with the device’s self-learning engine analyzing the information and creating a custom “hearing profile” with a unique color and shape. All of this happens in approximately 60 seconds.

Images via The Verge
Once your hearing profile is in shape, Nuraphone filters all music playback through your profile settings to “sonically mold” and adjust songs and deliver a greater degree of detail. Nura CEO Kyle Slater told The Verge that the Nuraphone is meant to “do for your ears what glasses do for your eyes.”

Kyle Slater, Nura’s CEO, compares what the Nuraphones do for your ears to what glasses do for your eyes. They’re supposed to figure out which frequencies of sound you’re good at and not so good at hearing, and then mess with the amplification so that you hear every song precisely how it was mixed. “We assume that we all hear the same,” Slater says. “Hearing offers no point of comparison like vision does.” Our hearing gradually degrades as we age (and listen to loud music…), so it’s reasonable to think a lot of people could use this

Once connected to an iPhone or Android smartphone through Bluetooth (the headphones also support Lightning, USB-C, micro-USB, and 3.5mm analog cables), Nuraphone can begin playing and adjusting songs to your hearing profile. Nura has decided to use a proprietary charging cable, meaning to use any of these wired connections you’ll have to buy extra accessories from the company (one USB cable is included in the box).

The headphone’s design is that of an over-ear headphone mixed with in-ear buds, and on the outside there is a programmable touch panel for controlling features like playing and pausing songs.

A few sites have gotten to go hands-on and review Nuraphone, mostly coming to the consensus that Nura has taken a unique approach to designing headphones and providing a new user experience, but the first iteration of the product is still lacking. The Verge pointed out that someone with hearing issues could see great benefits from using Nuraphone, “but the end result isn’t as revolutionary as the general idea.”

But my initial impression is that the sound improvement isn’t night and day over other pricey headphones. Maybe the difference would be larger for someone who Nura detected more hearing issues with — though there’s no way of telling whether Nura is doing a little or a lot for me. (I tried listening to high-pitched sounds that I can’t or can barely hear, but Nura didn’t seem to help me hear them substantially better.) I like the effect the headphones create when playing music, but the end result isn’t as revolutionary as the general idea.

TechRadar mentioned that the fundamentals for a quality set of headphones are there, but the “benefits of sound personalization are subtle” and the user experience is sometimes “over complicated.” Despite a few design quirks, Engadget called the headphones “impressive” and “polished,” saying that that they will “likely only get better” through software updates.

Nuraphone is available to purchase today on Nura’s website for $399, including a case for the headphones and a USB charging cable.

Tag: Nuraphone
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Google’s new Advanced Protection Program could replace two-factor codes

Why it matters to you

Google may be set to make all of our digital information more secure, using something as traditional as a physical key.

In the never-ending battle with hackers and crackers around the world, Google is looking to improve the security of its users beyond current two-factor authentication practices. According to one reported rumor, the search giant is planning to introduce a new hardware solution called its “Advanced Protection Program.”

Having good personal security is a major part of keeping yourself safe online. Having a strong password is part of it, but two-factor authentication is considered far safer than a passcode alone. Bloomberg’s report though, suggests that Google may have developed something even safer: hardware ‘keys.’

The system makes use of twin USB devices termed security keys. These would act as their own secondary identifying marker, thereby only letting you log into your Gmail account or equivalent by inserting them into the system you wanted to use. Reportedly you’d need to use both to log in, effectively making it three-factor authentication.

The big advantage of a system like this rather than using your phone is that they are far less conspicuous. Although smartphones have their own security, hackers targeting a high-profile individual would know to go after their smartphone — a device that features remote access — in order to steal their identity. It’s much harder to gain access to a physical device which has no wireless connectivity.

Another big part of the new Advanced Protection Program is that it prevents any third-party applications from accessing your data. Although that’s quite an extreme measure, it’s designed to cater to politicians and executives who should value security over ease of use for sensitive data. One cited example in Bloomberg’s report is the hack of the Democratic National Committee emails in 2016, which could potentially have been prevented with improved security from some of those who had access to them.

It’s not clear as of yet if Google will offer this new security system to everyone, or if it will simply market it privately to business heads and politicians. If it proves popular, however, it wouldn’t be a surprise to see this sort of service appear for other providers in the future.

Whatever it ends up becoming, Google’s new Advanced Protection Program is expected to debut within the next month.

In the meantime, if you need help improving your security, consider a password manager.

HMD promises Android P update to all current Nokia Android phones

HMD Global is committing to two platform updates for its Android phones.

HMD Global has done a fantastic job when it comes to rolling out monthly security updates to its Android phones, and the company said earlier this year that it’ll deliver the Oreo update to its entire portfolio of devices: the Nokia 3, Nokia 5, Nokia 6, and the Nokia 8. HMD is now going one step further and stating that it will deliver the Android P update — once it becomes available next year — to its entire lineup.

HMD made the announcement during the launch of the Nokia 8 in the Philippines (via GSM Arena), with even the entry-level Nokia 3 confirmed to receive the update. You’re guaranteed to receive one platform update from most manufacturers (if you’re lucky), so it’s great to see HMD Global committing to two platform updates for its entire lineup.

As for the Oreo update, HMD is internally testing a beta build for the Nokia 8, with a stable build likely to roll out to the device by the end of October. The other phones are set to pick up the update before the end of the year, and it looks like HMD is also open to unlocking the bootloader of its devices.

The Morning After: Tuesday, October 3rd 2017

This Tuesday morning, PlayStation’s boss steps down, Roku makes a 4K streaming stick and Google Street View offers one artist relief from anxiety.

New levels.
Andrew House steps aside as the boss of all things PlayStation

When Andrew House took over PlayStation in 2011, the brand was in rough shape, but he’s leaving it looking much stronger. The days of the PS3 and PSN hack are (almost) forgotten as the PS4 dominates its competition in system sales and exclusive game releases. That’s why it came as a surprise when Sony announced that the exec is no longer CEO of Sony Interactive Entertainment and will leave the company at the end of this year.

$10 per month for monitoring and cloud storage.
Ring launches its own DIY home security system

Ring is expanding its product offerings beyond video doorbells, with a new security system. Ring Protect promises effective security at a fraction of the cost of regular setups, with a price starting at $199 for the base station, keypad, a contact sensor (for a window or a door), a motion detector and a range extender.

The Roku Ultra is just $100
Roku’s latest hardware refresh includes a 4K-ready stick

Roku’s capable family of media streamers is expanding, with several new options — including its $70 4K-capable Stick+. The cheapest option is the $30 Roku Express, while the top-of-the-line Roku Ultra brings its 4K chops home for $100. All will support the new Roku OS 8 with new voice control features, a smart guide and single sign-on that can log in to all of your cable TV apps at once.

Confronting anxiety with Google Street View.
Agoraphobic photographer Jacqui Kenny captures the world without leaving home

And her Manhattan exhibition opened last month.

The first of many?
Open data from the Large Hadron Collider sparks new discovery

Back in 2014, CERN released Large Hadron Collider (LHC) experiment data on an online portal called the Open Data portal. It’s not completely up to date; there’s a three-year embargo on results, so, generally speaking, the most recent data is from 2014. This was the first time results of any particle collider experiment have been released to the public, and now it’s produced results. This is revolutionary because there’s been a reluctance in particle physics to make information available publicly. Jesse Thaler, one of the scientists on the project, told Phys.org, “The worry was if you made the data public, then you would have people claiming evidence for new physics when actually it was just a glitch in how the detector was operating.”

Just credit.
New York’s next Shake Shack doesn’t want your cash

Later this month in New York City, Shake Shack is opening a new location that will play host to a few logistical quirks. Its Astor Place burger joint is going the self-checkout direction and will have digital kiosks rather than staff to customers’ orders. Whatever — I’ll take a Smokestack and a vanilla milkshake.

But wait, there’s more…

• Facebook: 10 million people saw Russian political ads
• What we’re listening to: Rayana Jay, ‘Destiny 2’ and Cobalt
• HP Enterprise let Russia review the Pentagon’s security software
• Scientists made the first ‘unhackable’ quantum video call
• GM will have 20 electric car models on the road by 2023
• Parrot’s Mambo FPV puts you in the mini-cockpit

The Grow connected planter is the ultimate no-fuss gardening kit

Horticulturalists looking to go high-tech will find no shortage of smart sensors to stick in their soil, sending data to their phones on particulars like water level, temperature and soil pH. However, even systems that hold your hand as much as possible still make a few assumptions — namely, that you already have a garden. After all, no budding gardener is really going to make a set of sensors their first purchase. More likely, they’ll buy plants, dirt and a pot and then have no idea what to do next. The new Grow Duo offers something a lot less piecemeal: Drop your $200 on the company’s site, and get a connected planter, soil and even the seeds. It’s everything you need to jumpstart your gardening ambitions within minutes.

Grow wouldn’t be the first connected gardening product that claims to sell you everything you need; last year the SproutsIO microgarden promised to sell you seeds and a pot that would let you grow your own herbs and vegetables hydroponically. But that’s an indoor system, and it’s also a lot more expensive. Grow is for people who have access to some kind of outdoor space like a roof, deck or small garden, and don’t have the time or expertise to cultivate and manage it. I used to live in a house with flowers and a small vegetable garden and yes, it’s a lot more work than dealing with some potted indoor plants. Temperature becomes a bigger concern, as does pest control.

Each Grow Duo is a little over two feet wide, a foot deep and 16 inches tall. The plastic container is light enough to pick up and move around, even when it’s filled with soil. Hopefully you won’t have to shift the Duo around too often, though, given that it needs to be connected to a hose so the planter can water itself. But still, that flexibility will come in handy if you plant something that requires a bit more (or less) sun and needs to be relocated.

A big part of Grow’s system is being aware of things like light levels and temperature, and the Duo will monitor those along with the water levels and humidity. Thanks to the app it’s also generally aware of the local climate so you won’t try to grow something seasonally inappropriate. For example, in colder climes tomatoes should be grown as soon as possible after last frost, while root vegetables can endure at least two harvests.

The Grow app will feed you all this information, gathering the latest data from the planter via Bluetooth Low Energy. This keeps the power draw of the planter rather miniscule: Each Grow device is powered by two AA batteries, which last about a year. The planter will sync with your device every time you’re in range. The downside is that you can’t check on the planters from afar, like when you go on vacation. But Grow will at least make sure they’re properly watered while you’re gone, so you don’t have to rely on flaky friends or relatives to keep an eye on your kale.

While multiple units can be daisy-chained together for watering purposes, each Duo is a self-contained system when it comes to gathering data and monitoring its crops. The planters can accommodate the equivalent of two Grow seed packets at a time. Each packet contains a biodegradable sheet embedded with seeds, positioned according to how much space is needed for the grown plants.

You can mix and match different crops; the app will make suggestions on what to grow but ultimately it’s your choice. The system will warn you when two crops are incompatible and shouldn’t be planted together, as well as other advice throughout the season. The app also makes it easy to reorder soil and seeds from Grow as needed, though you always have the option of picking up your own materials as you become more comfortable with gardening. However, Grow would rather you use the soil sent with each planter since the watering system is designed with that proprietary mix in mind. As for the seed kits, they run between $6 and $20, while packets at your local Home Depot usually cost less than $3. You’re definitely paying a premium for the convenience.

The seed kits span a range of edible greenery, from herbs and leafy greens for salad to more substantial fruits and vegetables like berries, cucumbers and eggplant. When there isn’t enough time left in the season for a full crop to mature, Grow will offer seedlings give you a headstart The app will recommend the best plants for your particular climate but doesn’t limit you to local produce: Grow CEO Idan Cohen mentioned there were certain greens from Israel that he missed and couldn’t find in the United States. Grow plans to offer its customers a diverse selection of seeds, making them a lot easier to care for while still keeping your environment in mind.

The Grow Duo is available for pre-order now, with early bird buyers able to snag one for $199, discounted from the retail price of $249. That includes a $20 credit for buying your first few plant kits. If October seems a little late to start gardening, the Duo isn’t actually set to begin shipping until January 2018, giving you plenty of time to get ready for spring.