The Glitch Mob spent a year making a VR experience as otherwordly as their music

Daniel Johnson

Watching electronic dance music (EDM) group The Glitch Mob perform would seem to be the perfect greeting after being abducted by aliens.

The group’s current stage design is a space-inspired work of art known as The Blade 2.0, and the trio of musicians perform in glowing pods with thick Dell touchscreens at their fingertips, like Star Trek pilots. But the elaborate design isn’t only about aesthetics. The touchscreens are there for the group to precisely re-create their complex music live, and the pods are partly so the crowd isn’t staring at the back of laptops for an hour.

“The technology is just there for us to be able to perform our music.”

“The important thing, really, is that the technology gets out of the way,” Glitch Mob member Justin Boreta told Digital Trends. “The technology is just there for us to be able to perform our music.”

Boreta spoke with Digital Trends after Glitch Mob brought The Blade 2.0 to this year’s Governors Ball Music Festival in New York City. He discussed how the band’s latest album entered virtual reality, the group’s influences as “children of music technology,” and why they think Windows-based hardware is better than Apple’s.

Digital Trends: Explain to me exactly what this spaceship-looking stage design called The Blade 2.0 is and who came up with the idea? How is it an improvement on 1.0?

Justin Boreta: I’ll give you a brief bit of context here. We all used to be DJs. The way that we came together as a group was that we were individual DJ’s, and we decided to play at the same time. So we started by connecting our computers and having a sort of DJ jam-out. Then at some point, we decided to make original music, and then it continued from there. Collaboration has always been in the DNA of what we do.

At one point, we wanted to figure out a way to perform electronic music but not with instruments and keyboards, and stuff like that. We wanted to actually play music like a rock band, and have the live performance aspect on stage. So we started taking these touchscreen controllers at the time called Lemur, which are not even around anymore. This was right around the time iPads came out, or right before iPads. We would tilt them toward the crowd and remove the laptop from the equation. So when you’re up there DJing, and you’re looking at a laptop, it’s hard to really connect with people. So, we tilted these touchscreens toward the crowd and started triggering all of our sounds off Ableton, which is the software that we use to write and perform it.

A stage design isn’t just about function, it’s also about form. What were the compromises you made to make sure The Blade 2.0 not only performed well but carried a certain aesthetic?

An interesting thing about doing a show like this is that it has to get taken down and put up every single night. So, there’s a special skill set of our crew, team, and the designers that have to know how to fit in all these different stages right. We played Bonaroo last week in front of 30,000 people, or something like that, on this massive stage. Then sometimes we’re traveling around the country playing very small stages where we have to shrink down. So the whole thing can really telescope out and become larger. There’s a lot of compromise that happens there, just spatially. I mean, if we had all the space in the world to play with, we would do a lot more stuff.

Simon Bonneau

EDM, unlike most other forms of music, has its progression tied largely to the technology used. What have been some technologies that didn’t exist, or weren’t as popular in 2010, when you debuted with your ‘Drink The Sea’ album, that have come out in the years since?

Yeah, absolutely. I think that it’s part of our ethos, to use technology to get up there and perform. It’s an important part of what we do because we are children of music technology. Everything that we do is pushing the boundaries of the computer. We’re always using the fastest computers and always breaking them. [Laughs]. We have 20 controllers plugged into one laptop. Just what we can do right now, on stage with The Blade, wouldn’t have been possible even a couple of years ago. In the very beginning, it was totally different.

“What we can do right now, on stage with The Blade, wouldn’t have been possible even a couple of years ago.”

So, mainly, the software we use for everything is based off of Ableton, Ableton Live. We have a laptop running this massive session with all of our songs in there. We have a documentary about the craziness of it. But, there’s really a lot that’s going on behind the scenes to make everything feel reliable so that everything doesn’t crash. But really, what we do wouldn’t even have been possible a couple of years ago, or without all of the sort of music tech stuff. … The important thing really is that the technology gets out of the way and the touchscreen turns into something else. The technology is just there for us to be able to perform our music.

Your new album, ‘See Without Eyes,’ has such a wide variety of sounds meshed together. In some cases, I’ve never heard anything like them before. What are some of your favorites, and were there any weird or accidental ways you’ve discovered a new sound?

Absolutely. The way that we work, there’s a lot of found sounds that go in there into the music. There’s a lot of custom sounds. There’s field recording from our life that go into there. There’s also a lot of experimentation and happy accidents. So, some of the songs started off at one tempo, and they changed to be another. Or we recorded vocals for one song, and then use them for another.

So for instance, the vocals on Take Me With You were actually recorded for a different song on the album. We have all this material that we treat like samples, almost as if they’re samples we’ve taken off of vinyl, but they really are vocals that we recorded. Then we take it, chop it up, mix it, recontextualize it, and put it in there. So, there’s a lot of that sort of mosaic work that goes into the record, and there’s tons of sound design that is really just there to add another layer of narrative and a cinematic texture to everything.

You’re also putting out a VR experience in support of your new album. What are the benefits of VR for musicians and how long did it take to create your experience? Who did you work with?

We collaborated with a company called The Wave, Dell, and Alienware to create this VR experience. VR’s really exciting, even though it’s something that is just all happening right now, and the technology is getting there. But there’s some really crazy stuff that’s possible. This is an entirely new way to experience the album. It’s a music video times a million.

This is an entirely new way to experience the album. It’s a music video times a million.

You get to get inside of the music and interact with it, and you’re on that trip through this four-song — I think it’s four songs right now — journey. It’s an entirely new way to experience music because you actually get to go into a literal narrative through it. I mean, I heard it in an entirely new way, and we have a lot of visual cues that we use to create the album art, to create all of the videos. We collaborated with The Wave and this guy named Strangeloop and his studio, who we’ve collaborated with a lot, because they understand the ethos and the DNA behind the project. They were able to create a whole world around it, easily.

How long did it take? How involved were you guys in the final design?

Took about a year. It’s actually interesting because we were very, very involved in the whole process. We didn’t do any of the actual programming ourselves, but we’re getting constant contact, texting, calling, and going to the studio all day to look at stuff. But if you go on YouTube right now, you can see that we have a video for every single song in a sort of visual accompaniment for the album. So, Strangeloops Studios created that using game engine software used for VR. … He created the video mainly in Unity and Cinema 4D, then he went and made the VR version of it because he had created the world using gaming engine software. So, already it was easy to turn it into a VR experience.

This is your first album in four years. Why such a long gap in between albums? How has the group changed?

Well, it took us about a year to a year and a half to write the album, and we had an EP come out in 2015, mid-2015. So basically, we were just on tour. When we released the album, we did a two-year tour cycle. Pretty much all 2015, we were on tour. Then 2016, we started writing the album … . So, it’s really sort of like pausing the whole tour life and coming back to really do the work it takes to write a full album like this and everything around it.

With such complex music, it must be common for songs to go through numerous iterations before they’re released. For the new album, what was the most difficult song to complete in terms of how many different versions you had and the hardest to put together?

How Could This Be Wrong, I think was the one that had so many versions. It was up into the hundreds. [Laughs]. We had actually got rid of that song and deleted it, and then at one point, we thought, “Wait a second. We want a song that has this particular vibe.” So, we brought it back, and we had met Tula, who is the vocalist on there.  She was also on the Keep On Breathing track. She did vocals on Keep On Breathing, which we loved.

So, we took the song out of its grave, sent it to her, and she sent the vocals over, and we actually revived it. So, that was the last addition, but it took a lot of wrangling to change everything, and take it from where it was to a completely different song.

See Without Eyes is your second consecutive album to hit No. 1 on the Dance/Electronic Album chart after your first few records failed to reach the Top 5. How much of your recent success do you attribute to new distribution technologies like streaming?

I mean, clearly, I think that a lot of that has to do with the fact that the algorithms that measure what becomes No. 1 change over time. To be quite honest, we don’t stay too focused on that. I mean it’s nice that we have a No. 1 song and a No. 1 album, and the fact that really our fans are out there listening to music over and over again. We’re an independent label, we don’t have a major label behind it, we did it with our own machinery here. We’re pretty DIY. It’s a great sort of hat tip to the music and the fact that we try to make music that’s classic and timeless, and that people will grow with.

The Blade 1.0 was used in promotion of your 2014 album Love Death Immortality, and 2.0 is for the most recent album. Will you continue this trend for your next album? And if so, what do you think it’ll look like?

It’s an interesting progression because, as technology gets stronger and there’s the ability to create more immersive shows, we’ll be constantly finding new ways to tell a story with music. So, who knows? But we have some more music in the works. We have some cool stuff that’s going to be coming out soon. I think for the fall tour, we might make some updates. It might be a Blade 2.1 or maybe a 2.5. I can’t say just yet, but there’s going to be some fun updates to it. We’re all trying to figure out new ways to rock out more on stage.

Go back in time for me a bit. What was the first gadget you fell in love with?

“We use the most powerful Mac Pro, completely maxed out next to the most maxed out Alienware and it’s quite a bit more than twice as fast.”

The first gadget I ever fell in love with? Wow, that’s a really good question. You know, it would have to be my very first computer, which was an Apple IIGS, very early Macintosh. My grandfather bought it for me when I was super-young. I was like 5 years old or something like that. [Laughs]. I spent a lot of time playing games and learning how to write computer code and I always had a computer from there on out. I’m not a classically trained musician, in any way. None of us really are. We all just came into it from tinkering.

Then after that, I had a PC with Fruity Loops in high school. I would spend all of my time learning how to make jungle and drum and bass. So for me, I come into music through technology. I’m completely a student of the tech first and then sort of a music theory [student] second.

What is the current tech obsession or fascination you have right now?

I think the biggest thing is the move we made over to Windows machines, which is funny because, in the music world, people typically write on Macintosh. But … we really need the most horsepower possible, and there’s a lot of graphics and graphics cards we have in these Alienware machines. We used the most powerful Mac Pro, completely maxed out next to the most maxed out Alienware, and it’s quite a bit more than twice as fast.

So, for us, that just means we can play more music. I think that it’s going to be a really exciting time for Windows and Dell, specifically because what they are doing with allowing musicians to create stuff is going to allow some pretty next-level art to happen. It’s the same thing with VR. What we can do, all that stuff happened on these really powerful gaming machines. The gaming machine, the graphics cards, and the GPUs you need, putting that into the music tech world, we can do some really crazy stuff.

Editors’ Recommendations

• Razer Blade Stealth vs. Apple MacBook Pro
• 5 reasons why the new Razer Blade looks amazing
• Razer Blade Stealth vs. Dell XPS 13
• Mohu Blade HD Antenna review
• ZTE debuts budget-friendly Blade V9, and its first Android Go-powered phone

Bing Visual Search is a Google Lens competitor — with an extra feature

Microsoft wants searchers to be able to skip the keyboard and search not just with a photo, but within a specific part of that photo. Thanks to artificial intelligence, that feature is now arriving to the Bing app on iOS and Android. Visual Search, announced on Thursday, June 21, uses a camera or an existing photo to search or shop for objects, landmarks, and animals, or to scan a barcode. The Google Lens-like competitor is rolling out to the Bing app as well as Microsoft Launcher on Android and is also expected to head to Microsoft Edge and bing.com at a later date.

Visual Search uses a photo instead of a keyword to search the Bing platform, including both accessing existing photos and snapping a new photo in-app. Using object recognition powered by A.I., the tool can recognize a specific flower or a dog breed, along with recognizing places and landmarks. The Visual Search can also be used to shop, including taking a photo of a piece of apparel or furniture to find similar items.

Microsoft Bing

The tool is accessible from the camera icon inside the Bing app. For photos with multiple objects, the tool also includes an option to draw a box around the object that you would like to search for, instead of getting results for everything the program is capable of recognizing. That is one feature that may set the Bing Visual Search apart from other similar tools like Google Lens.

Microsoft says Visual Search expands on the A.I. already inside Bing Image Search, including a feature launched late last year for uploading a photo to find similar items in fashion and home furnishings.

Besides a photo being more descriptive than typing in keywords like “orange flower,” image-powered searches also help identify that item where the name slips your mind or that species of flower that you’re not familiar with. “Sometimes, it is almost impossible to describe what you want to search for using words,” Vince Leung, product lead for Bing Images, said in a blog post.

Bing isn’t the first platform to add the option to search with a camera — Google and Pinterest have similar image search options. Google Lens, along with flowers and landmarks, can also recognize books and album covers. The older but still young Lens can also read text in real time for tasks like taking a picture of a flyer to add an event. The iOS version inside Google Photos uses only an existing photo and not an in-app camera, however, and doesn’t have an option to specify one object in a photo of multiple items.

The Visual Search is rolling out now inside the Bing app on iOS and Android as well as Microsoft Launcher (Android only). Microsoft says the feature will also be coming to bing.com and Microsoft Edge.

Editors’ Recommendations

• Here’s what Google Lens’ Style Match, Smart Text Selection features look like
• Nikon developing a 500mm super telephoto with compact Fresnel design
• Google Lens can now identify the breed of that cute dog you just saw
• Google Lens is now available as a stand-alone app on the Google Play Store
• Sigma 14-24mm F2.8 Art review

How to download and install MacOS Mojave today

Apple’s official release date for MacOS Mojave might be just around the corner, but you can get it today as long as you’re a member of Apple’s Developer program. Here’s how to join, and how to download MacOS Mojave today.

It is important to note, before you get started, that you can only install MacOS Mojave on any Mac introduced in the middle of 2010 or later, and on any MacBook or iMac introduced in late 2009 or later. Head here to see if your Mac qualifies.

Backup first!

Before we go any further, make sure you backup your files. For anything important that absolutely cannot be replaced, be sure you send it off to the cloud – Dropbox, iCloud, and OneDrive are great for this – or create a hard copy on a flash drive or external hard drive. While MacOS High Sierra went through numerous beta test phases to make sure it’s ready for prime time, every major update brings with it the risk of bugs that don’t show up until it hits widespread release. Backing up is a vital first step.

Sign up for the Apple Developer program

Be warned, this will cost you. A subscription for the Apple Developer program will run you about $100 a year. That’s not cheap, so if you’re having second thoughts, it wouldn’t be a bad idea to just wait for the public release this Fall. If you’re still willing to shell out to join the Developer program head here to get started.

You’ll want to hit the Enroll button on the top right of the page, sign in with your Apple account, and fill out any information they request. Once you’re enrolled, you just need to head over to developer.apple.com, click on the Downloads section. Here you’ll be given a list of all the available betas and tools. Click on the MacOS Mojave Developer Beta and a download will start.

Download and install!

Once the download finishes, you’re almost there. You just have to go find that file and fire it up. It’ll act as the ‘key’ to add the MacOS Mojave Developer Beta to your App Store. By default, the file will land in your Downloads folder, so navigate over there and open up the file. It should be named something like MacOS Developer Beta Access Utility.

Opening the file will present you with a package, and you just need to open that one up, agree to the terms and conditions, and you’re almost there. Next, the App Store will automatically open to the MacOS Mojave Developer Beta page. The OS update should start downloading and installing on its own. Your system might reboot a couple times once the install gets going, but afterward you’ll be all set.

Time to check out that sweet, sweet night mode.

Editors’ Recommendations

• MacOS Mojave brings Dark Mode, stacking, and a redesigned App Store to Macs
• How to enable dark mode in MacOS Mojave
• iPhone apps are finally coming to your MacBook. Eventually. Sorta.
• Microsoft Office 365 apps will hit the revamped Mac App Store later this year
• Macs leak sensitive data from encrypted files, even after they’re deleted

In the future, potholes could be repaired by asphalt-printing drones

Driving on roads covered in potholes is no fun. At best, it can make your ride bumpier and less enjoyable. At worst, it can cause serious damage to your vehicle and, potentially, to its occupants. Couldn’t cutting-edge technology help? Quite possibly yes, claim researchers from the U.K. They have proposed an unorthodox approach to pothole repairs in which cameras equipped with image recognition technology constantly scan the streets for developing flaws, dispatch a drone to the site, and then use an on-board 3D printer to patch the hole with asphalt. Simple, right?

The concept is part of a larger, multi-university project looking at the possibility of self-repairing cities, and how robotics and other automated systems could be used to aid with repairs so as to cut down on disruptive road closures and other street works.

While it might sound like overkill to use drones, image recognition and 3D printing for a simple repair job, Phil Purnell, professor of Materials and Structures at the University of Leeds, told Digital Trends that these systems could actually save money in the long run. “When you look at interventions in infrastructure — whether it’s roads, pipes, bridges, or similar — you’re very often using ton and meter-scale solutions for problems that started out as gram and millimeter-scale defects,” he said.

In the case of potholes, that means that what begins as tiny coin-sized dents in the road can quickly grow in size as the result of weather and repeated vehicular activity. By using smart technology, the researchers think it can be nipped in the bud early on so as to avoid later problems. So far, researchers from University College London have successfully built an asphalt extruder, which has then been mounted onto a University of Leeds hybrid aerial-ground vehicle for transportation. It is capable of extruding asphalt with 1-millimeter accuracy.

The technology is certainly impressive, although Purnell noted that it’s still a long way off being deployed on roads. But what the work demonstrates is a proof of concept for how approaches such as this may be used in the future.

“From a technical view, this is like Formula 1,” he said. “Twenty years ago the idea of [technology such as] energy recovery through braking systems was something that was seen as exotic when it was used on Formula 1 cars. Now it’s commonplace in many hybrid vehicles that you can drive about on the road today. It’s the same thing here. This is all about demonstrating how we can glue the various pieces of this puzzle together. We’re academics, so it’s our job to look at the high concept approach. Through our interactions with industry, they’ll then be able to find ways of implementing it.”

Editors’ Recommendations

• 14 major milestones along the brief history of 3D printing
• Researchers can now create 3D-printed structures made entirely of liquid
• From vaping to drones, 8 tech trends we may look back on and cringe
• Awesome Tech You Can’t Buy Yet: Smart Rubik’s Cubes, diving drones, robot artists
• World’s first 3D-printed cornea made from algae and human stem cells

The Bivystick uses satellite technology to send messages from anywhere

Bivy is a website designed to help its users get outside and explore more of the remote corners of our planet. Of course, that often means wandering away from places that have modern conveniences such as a robust cell phone network that can keep you in touch with friends and family at all times. But never fear; if being out of contact sounds a bit scary, Bivy is here to help with that. The site is introducing a new device that can keep you connected with those back home, even when you’re living way off the grid.

The Bivystick is a satellite communicator that allows users to send text messages, GPS coordinates, and social media updates from virtually anywhere on the planet. The device pairs with a smartphone via Bluetooth and uses the Iridium satellite network to send and receive messages and data. That network offers 100 percent coverage of the Earth’s surface, meaning users should have a connection, even if they’re visiting the North and South Pole, or sailing across an ocean.

In addition to providing messaging capabilities, the Bivystick will make it easy for others to track the user’s whereabouts at any given time. The device can also receive detailed weather alerts and forecasts, while also providing the ability to send out an SOS signal should an emergency situation arise. It’s 6,000 mAh battery pack is enough to keep it running for days, but the Bivystick also features a USB port to help keep your phone charged, too.

All of the features and functionality of the Bivystick are accessed through the Bivy app (iOS/Android), which comes fully loaded with more than 40,000 trails, climbing routes, and waterways to explore. Detailed offline maps eliminate the need for carrying a separate GPS device as well, and the device won’t require a commitment or ongoing service plan to operate. Instead, Bivy will sell users “credits” on an as-needed basis. Want to send a text message? It will cost you a credit. Need to share your location? That’s a credit too. While that could potentially add up quickly, in theory, it should be far less expensive than paying for a subscription plan that you rarely need. Twenty credits will set you back $18.

The Bivystick just launched on Kickstarter and the goal is to raise $35,000 to get the satellite communicator into production. If successful, it should go on sale in September for $299. Early bird supporters can reserve one now at a nominal discount, however, it is important to know the risks that come with any crowdfunding campaign.

Editors’ Recommendations

• Send text messages from anywhere with the Somewear Global Hotspot
• Garmin inReach Mini satellite messenger means no site is too remote to text from
• The best hiking GPS devices of 2018
• Stay connected outdoors without cell signal or network access with GoHeart
• Spot X brings two-way satellite messaging to the masses

Apple Challenges Four Qualcomm Patents in Ongoing Legal Battle

Apple today filed petitions with the United States Patent and Trademark Office challenging the validity of four Qualcomm patents amid an increasingly vicious legal battle, reports Bloomberg. Apple is aiming to get the USPTO to cancel the four Qualcomm patents, arguing that they do not cover new ideas.

The patents in question cover camera autofocusing, a device that functions as a phone and a digital assistant, touch-sensitive displays, and circuit memory.

Challenging patent validity is one of Apple’s typical strategies in its legal battles. According to Bloomberg, Apple has filed a total of 398 such petitions with the United States Patent and Trademark Office.

For the Qualcomm filing, a trio of judges will consider the petition along with responses from Qualcomm, and will issue a preliminary decision on whether Apple’s argument has merit. If Apple has a chance of getting the patents declared invalid, the USPTO will conduct a formal review before issuing a final judgement on the matter.

Apple and Qualcomm have been embroiled in a legal battle since the beginning of 2017, with the dispute centered on how much Apple should have to pay Qualcomm in royalties. Apple claims Qualcomm has been charging unfair royalties for “technologies [it] has nothing to do with,” while Qualcomm claims its technology “is at the heart of every iPhone.” Apple has used Qualcomm LTE chips in its devices for years, but has been moving away from Qualcomm’s technology due to the legal fight.

Both Apple and Qualcomm have filed multiple lawsuits against one another, with Qualcomm also seeking import and export bans on some iPhones in the United States and China.

Apple iTunes chief Eddy Cue and Apple CEO Tim Cook will testify on June 27 as part of Qualcomm’s initial lawsuit against Apple, which accuses the Cupertino company of lying to regulators to cause trouble for Qualcomm in multiple countries.

Last week, the United States International Trade Commission began investigating whether Apple infringed on three Qualcomm patents related to power management, radio voltage, and graphics processing. A pre-trial report from the ITC’s lawyers suggested Apple infringed on the power management patent, but not the other two patents. A ruling on the ITC case, which has the potential to lead to an iPhone import ban, is expected in September.

Tags: lawsuit, Qualcomm, patent trials, Patent lawsuits
Discuss this article in our forums

JBL Reflect Contour 2 Wireless Sport Earbuds review: Step up your wireless audio

Wireless earbuds today take a lot of shapes and sizes. What started out as the around-the-neck form has turned into completely wireless earpieces. But, while the latter is more ergonomic and convenient, none have been able to really succeed, with considerable compromise to crucial aspects like battery life, connectivity reliability, and price. This is all while wired “wireless” alternative have gotten better and better, making their presence in the market still very relevant.

In light of this, we’re checking out how well JBL’s new Reflect Contour 2 wireless earbuds perform. Their solid design, that could suit active and causal users alike, and reasonable price really stood out to us. And JBL, being a Harman Kardon brand, should mean some excellent acoustics. Let’s check out if they’re good enough to deter from the true wireless alternatives.

Design

The form of the JBL Contour 2 wireless earbuds aren’t a departure from others of its type. It’s essentially two earpieces, bridged by a free-hanging cable, with an in-line 3-button remote on one side. The differentiation is those slick ear-contouring (hence the name, “Contour”) guides shooting out and around from the earpieces.

They look tight and really form-fitting. In-person you’ll see that they’re made from a soft, thick rubber material, which should equate to a secure and comfortable fit (more on usability later).

The earpiece shape reminds us of the BackBeat Go 3 we reviewed a couple years ago. That is, a cylindrical chassis, ear fin, and angled nozzle. However, JBL has a clear edge on aesthetics. Their smooth silver finish and shiny chamfered top edge look just like metal (though, we’re not sure that it is). They’re topped with a color-matching cap (in our case, blue) and logo.

The ear fins are a substantial piece of silicone that wraps around the transition point to the angled nozzle. The packaging comes with three different sizes for varying ears, as well as three different silicone tips. This is expected these days, but we would’ve liked the option of foam tips too. Many manufacturers are including these as well these days, as they superiorly isolate sound.

We really like the Contour 2’s cable. We dislike when these around-the-neck cables are too thick, where you can really feel them rubbing as you move around. This cable is very thin and non-intrusive. This also means that the whole unit is effortless to wrap in your hand and stuff in your pocket; it takes up very little space for on-the-go, despite those sizeable ear guides.

Note: if you don’t want the ear guides, JBL offers a vanilla “Reflect” model that omits them – Yay for options.

We like how the blue/silver aesthetic is captured throughout the device. For instance, the base of the 3-button remote (located near the left earpiece) is blue but the top is silver. Additionally, the cable has alternating stripes of the two colors. JBL even cuts a slit into the ear guides and lines the cable so that the silver color shows through – nice touch.

The packaging is fairly essential for a wireless earbud: silicone tips, charging cable, and a carrying case. The form of the case is unique; it’s this rubbery pouch cut open at the top. It doesn’t have a sealing mechanism (like a stiff wire lining or magnetics) but has lips to keep the contents in. It works alright, but smaller accessories could find their way out.

Function

If you’re wondering how to charge the headphone, it’s via a microUSB port behind a flap on the side of the 3-button remote. The current USB standard, Type-C, would’ve been nice, but we’re not there yet on affordable earphones.

Regarding how often you’ll have to charge, the Contour 2 promise about 10 hours of playback. This is above average for wired “wireless” earbuds, with most reaching around 8 hours. You’re getting a lot more life in one charge compared to true wireless earbuds, which usually land around 3-4 hours.

The Contour 2 is marketed as a “Sport” earbud, which can be inferred from the substantial ear hooks. We can contend that they’re great for working out.

The ear hooks hug the ear very tightly, and coupled with the ear fins, there’s no chance that the earpieces are going anywhere. However, the tight fit does make fatigue a concern. We could feel a slight ache after a long session, but not to an unusable point; YMMV. The sporty focus also means the Contour 2 have considerable sweat/water resistance – IPX5, to be exact.

The Bluetooth function worked without fault in our experience. Hold the middle power button to shut them on/off, and they’ll be ready to pair at first boot-up. The volume up/down buttons double-up to switch tracks, and the middle button can play/pause, answer/end calls, and toggle the mobile device’s virtual assistant.

The remote isn’t the easiest to use. It’s hard to know what you’re pressing, as there isn’t clear differentiation as you feel for them; the whole panel feels smooth. JBL should have a detectable texture on each, or raised separators.

Sound Quality

JBL is a highly-regarded audio manufacturer, that is backed by Harman Kardon, so we hold a higher expectation here than other, run-of-the-mill affordable earbuds. Overall, the Contour 2 don’t disappointment, but there’s some things to know.

Firstly, we really like open and full the reproduction is. It’s a slightly mid-range forward sound signature. This makes the presentation lively and engaging. Vocals, in particular, stand out, not just because their presence but airy nature. The dynamics in the mids also comes through excellently for this price-point.

The bass is somewhat a mixed bag. The sub-bass is subtlety captured, which may not be everyone’s flavor. However, we can say that it comes through with great definition when the track calls for it. Mid-bass has a nice, spacious punch but it doesn’t fair as well as the sub-bass, being a bit tubby and not as well defined. It’s fair and still enjoyable, just may be a letdown for more critical listeners.

The treble is average to our ears, having a laid-back nature. That is, it’s audible and gets the job done, but slightly recessed and not notably detailed (you don’t get much of the crisp top-end notes). But not “bad” per-se, just fair.

What the Contour 2 has going for it is a nicely balanced sound (ranges are even-leveled for the most part) and decent clarity. Our ears nitpick on the details, but we were glad to not find common issues like muddle, boomy bass, or a flat, unmoving signature. The Contour 2’s open and full sound makes it excel at this price-point.

Final Thoughts

At $99, the Contour 2 have some stiff competition to contend with. Affordable Bluetooth earbuds have come a long way, and there’s some even at the $30 range that can challenge the JBL’s solution. That said, if you want a little more “Sport” dexterity, these ear hooks and barely-there cable are hard to beat. The Contour 2 will also have an edge with overall sound quality compared to lower-priced options.

Landmark Supreme Court decision lets states force online stores to pay sales tax

The online marketplace now looks a lot more like its offline counterpart — at least, when it comes to taxes. A contentious case has reached a rather contentious ruling in the Supreme Court today, and in a 5-4 decision, the highest court in the United States ruled that states can indeed collect sales taxes from ecommerce retailers. The ruling overturns a 1992 precedent that previously prevented states from forcing businesses without a “physical presence” from collecting sales taxes. As a result of this new decision, states will be able to potentially collect billions of dollars worth of sales taxes from online retailers huge and tiny, from Amazon to Avenue.

The ruling comes down against online retailers Wayfair, Overstock.com, and Newegg. The companies have warned that, as a result of the decision, similar companies may have to face around 12,000 local tax jurisdictions, which could lead to some serious chaos. It also means that if you previously turned to the internet in order to get a lower, tax-free price for a product you initially saw in a brick and mortar store, you’ll no longer be able to save the same kind of money. In short: Party’s over.

Justice Anthony Kennedy authored the decision, with support from left- and right-leaning court members alike, including Justices Clarence Thomas, Ruth Bader Ginsburg, Samuel Alito, and Neil Gorsuch. “The Internet’s prevalence and power have changed the dynamics of the national economy,” Kennedy wrote. “This expansion has also increased the revenue shortfall faced by states seeking to collect their sales and use taxes.”

However, Chief Justice John Roberts, along with Justices Stephen Breyer, Sonia Sotomayor, and Elena Kagan, dissented, noting that this new tax structure could disadvantage smaller sellers.

“The burden will fall disproportionately on small businesses,” Roberts wrote in his dissent. “The court’s decision today will surely have the effect of dampening opportunities for commerce in a broad range of new markets.”

But don’t go panicking quite yet. As it stands, the ultimate effect of the ruling remains unclear, as online stores will have to gain more clarity on exactly what their own businesses and customers will have to do as a result. Online commerce, of course, is a booming industry, one that is expected to reach a whopping $4.5 trillion by 2021 globally. And as of 2017, 96 percent of Americans shopped online. Currently, the Supreme Court’s decision will only immediately affect South Dakota, who has been trying to collect taxes from e-commerce stores with more than $100,000 in annual sales of 200 transactions in the state.

Of course, we should point out that a majority of the most popular online sellers already collect taxes in almost all eligible U.S. states, as they have local showrooms or warehouses, or due to state laws. The 100 most popular e-commerce stores represent about 90 percent of taxes owed.

Editors’ Recommendations

• Judge rules it’s unconstitutional for Trump to block critics on Twitter
• Supreme Court ruling on sports betting may let online gambling run the table
• Google loses copyright appeal against Oracle, may owe billions
• Apple v. Pepper: The Supreme Court could rule the App Store is a monopoly
• Russia’s attempt to block Telegram crashes the country’s internet

Why can’t your Instagram upload? OpenSignal explains the upload speed gap

Summer’s (officially) here, and with it will certainly come a social media barrage, as your friends and family members snap photos and videos of their fun in the sun now that school (and hopefully work) are out, at least temporarily. And in order to share all of those Instagram-worthy moments with an adoring public (because did it really happen if you don’t post about it?), you’ll doubtless be relying on your mobile network’s upload speeds.

To help you better understand why some carriers can help you get your pics onto Instagram and Snapchat faster than others, OpenSignal has published a new explainer to help clarify why there’s such a huge discrepancy between the fastest and slowest 4G upload speeds.

In an era when content creation is just as important as content consumption, upload speeds are vital to our social media wellbeing. And in testing how well the top four national operators did in this metric, OpenSignal was surprised to find that the gap was “particularly wide.”

T-Mobile was the fastest when it came to LTE upload speeds, with an average rate of 7.5 Mbps. That’s three times faster than the 2.5 Mbps recorded by Sprint. Verizon was in second place with 7 Mbps, and AT&T came in with an average 4G upload of 4.5 Mbps in our tests.

So why is all of this the case? For starters, because T-Mobile and Verizon have significantly faster 4G download speeds, it’s not a surprise that their upload speeds are faster as well. As  OpenSignal explains, “Typically when an operator increases its 4G download speeds, its 4G upload speeds grow as well, as they’re both linked to a network’s total capacity.”

But seeing as  Sprint and AT&T have similar 4G download speeds, why the big difference in upload? OpenSignal points to Sprint’s LTE technology, which leverages something called “time division duplexing, or TDD, to transmit data to and from devices.” These networks use the same spectrum for both uplink and downlink (unlike other cellular networks, which separate these two processes). And TDD is interesting in that its operators can “adjust the proportion of time intervals devoted to upload and download as they see fit,” which means that if Sprint sees that users are downloading more than uploading, or vice versa, it can stack its networks to meet this demand.

However, as tastes begin to shift and folks begin looking to send more content to the web, Sprint may have to rethink its strategy after all. And it may start with its T-Mobile merger.

Editors’ Recommendations

• Switching to AT&T? We break down the carrier’s new unlimited and prepaid plans
• The best livestreaming TV services: PlayStation Vue, Hulu, Sling TV, and more
• Upload Stories faster — or preview the entire thing — with new Instagram tools
• Here’s how you can get your hands on a shiny new iPhone X
• Here’s our breakdown of every Apple Watch model, finish, and band available now

Nvidia hands out $3,000 Titan V graphics cards for free to A.I. researchers

You know a company must shower in money if it’s handing out $3,000 graphics cards for free. That is exactly what happened during the Computer Vision and Pattern Recognition (CVPR) conference in Salt Lake City, Utah, as Nvidia CEO Jensen Huang randomly selected 20 individuals from more than 500 attendees to receive a signed, limited-edition Titan V CEO Edition graphics card.

So why the expensive gift-giving? Call it a reward for working in artificial intelligence and related fields. According to Nvidia, Huang simply walked up to these random 20 “titans of A.I.” roaming the Grand America Hotel center courtyard and handed them a signed limited-edition graphics card. For instance, one lucky recipient was A.I. researcher Fabio Ramos from the University of Sydney who is currently working in the field of robotics. 

“My work is focused on helping robots make decisions autonomously. I hope to use this to help advance my work to help robots take care of elderly people,” he said. 

Although there are no details regarding the CEO Edition of Nvidia’s Titan V graphics card, the package shows it packs 32GB of onboard HBM2 memory versus the “vanilla” add-in card with only 12GB. The original boasts 5,120 CUDA cores with a base speed of 1,200MHz and a maximum speed of 1,455MHz. It requires a 600-watt power supply along with a six-pin and an eight-pin connector. The card ships with three DisplayPort connectors and one HDMI connector. 

The Titan V is based on Nvidia’s “Volta” architecture and is the only mainstream card (for now) based on this technology. Volta appears in two other non-mainstream products: The Tesla V100 as part of the DGX-1 system, and the Quadro GV100 for workstations. For PC gamers, the Titan V is the fastest graphics card on the planet if you’re willing to shell out $3,000. 

The random Titan X giveaways were just one of two surprises during the conference. Twelve teams of researchers that participate in Nvidia’s A.I. Labs program were brought on stage. Huang presented each team with Nvidia’s Pioneer Award for their work put into papers submitted to the CVPR and “other leading academic conferences.” Teams that received the award include researchers from Stanford University and the Chinese Academy of Science. 

“The number of problems you guys are able to solve as a result of deep learning is truly amazing,” Huang said prior to handing out the awards. “We’ve dedicated our company to create a computing platform to advance your work. Our goal is to enable you to do amazing research.” 

Nvidia certainly isn’t the game-centric company we once knew. While Nvidia still produces graphics chips for gaming, the company is currently knee-deep in artificial intelligence, cloud computing, autonomous driving, deep learning, all-in-one processors (Tegra) and more. Once known as a gaming GPU company, Nvidia is now at the forefront of an A.I.-driven world where computing is performed in the cloud and virtual assistants handle our needs. 

So far, there is no indication of when, if, or how much the CEO Edition will cost if is released on the market. 

Editors’ Recommendations

• Nvidia GeForce GTX 11 Series’ arrival is uncertain after Computex remark
• Nvidia CEO: cryptocurrency mining “is not our business”
• Nvidia may release the GTX 1180 Founders Edition in July
• Google done weaponizing A.I., will still work with military and governments
• Photo editing on old computers is slow, but this app just made it 12x faster