Beats Releases $130 Wired ‘EP’ Headphones With 3.5mm Plug
While Beats announced three new wireless headphones equipped with Apple’s new W1 wireless chip earlier today, it also quietly released the new Beats EP wired headphones with a 3.5mm headphone plug. The new on-ear headphones are built to deliver “premium” sound in a “tough” and lightweight frame.
The headphones are battery-free, allowing unlimited playback with a hassle-free fixed cable. They also come with adjustable vertical sliders so that users can personalize the fit for their head. RemoteTalk control allows users with iOS devices to take calls and control their music.
The Beats EP are available in four colors (blue, white, black, and red) and is available now on Apple.com and select retailers for $129.
Tag: Beats by Dre
Discuss this article in our forums
T-Mobile Offering Free 32GB iPhone 7 During Pre-Order With Trade-In
T-Mobile has announced that it will offer a free 32GB iPhone 7 during pre-order to new or existing customers when they trade in their iPhone 6, 6s, 6 Plus or 6s Plus. The offer is for a limited time and will be available at T-Mobile.com when pre-orders are live and T-Mobile retail stores.
The offer partially extends to other iPhone 7 models. For example, the 32GB iPhone 7 Plus is available for $120 with a trade-in, while the 128GB and 256GB iPhone 7 are available for $100 and $200, respectively.
To qualify for the offer, the trade-in iPhone has to be a 6, 6s, 6 Plus or 6s Plus and be able to turn on, have no water damage, and not have a shattered screen. Customers will also need a 24-month no-cost finance agreement. T-Mobile says that customers will see a credit on their bill every month for 24 months. After 24 months, T-Mobile says customers will have paid nothing and received a free iPhone 7.
Customers can walk away at any time by either paying their outstanding phone balance or turning in their iPhone 7.
AT&T has also announced a promo for the iPhone 7. New and existing DirecTV and AT&T U-verse customers can get a 32GB iPhone 7 on either AT&T Next or AT&T Next Every Year when they add a new line to their account from another wireless provider. Customers will receive up to $650 in monthly bill credits whey they activate their new iPhone. Similar to the T-Mobile offer, customers can choose another iPhone 7 model and pay the difference.
Related Roundup: iPhone 7
Tag: T-Mobile
Discuss this article in our forums
DirecTV now streams many more channels on your phone
AT&T is pushing hard to get you streaming DirecTV on your smartphone. An update to the DirecTV iOS and Android apps mean you can now stream many more of the TV channels you can get at home. In The Verge’s testing, the only big exceptions were most local channels and a handful of sports channels like the NFL Network. Oh, and you now have an easy way to watch recorded shows — you can either download them to watch offline or stream them directly from your DVR.
The move isn’t completely surprising. DirecTV is gearing up to launch dedicated streaming services that won’t require a satellite subscription, and a large chunk of the provider’s existing selection will be available on mobile. It only makes sense to offer a similar mix to customers who do subscribe to satellite TV.
The update doesn’t come without some concerns. AT&T is also promising that DirecTV mobile streaming won’t count toward your data cap if you’re one of its wireless subscribers. While that’s good news if you like catching up on TV during your commute it’s also bound to raise eyebrows among net neutrality advocates. They’re concerned that exemptions like this may violate net neutrality by effectively punishing customers who prefer competing services.
AT&T tells us that it’s “not treating our services differently” than other data and is merely “saying thanks to customers” who use both services (you can read its full statement below). Other companies can do the same through the Sponsored Data program, the carrier says. However, there’s no denying it — this still means that you’ll have to limit your viewing for the majority of services that don’t participate in the program, like Hulu or Netflix, and won’t face that restriction with DirecTV.
“We are not treating our services differently from any other data. This feature is simply our way of saying thanks to customers that purchase both video and mobility services from AT&T. Other content providers can do the same thing through our sponsored data program.”
Via: The Verge (1), (2)
Source: App Store, AT&T
Sony brought new PS4 accessories too
Sony didn’t talk about it much during today’s PlayStation Meeting event, but the reworked DualShock 4 (CUH-ZCT2) spotted in earlier leaks is real. The touchpad is a bit see through, allowing that line on the top to display whatever color the lightbar is showing — all the better for games that take advantage of its color-changing abilities.
Also, it’s able to send data back and forth to the PS4 over USB in addition to its Bluetooth connection for those times when wireless just isn’t working — a trick the Xbox One’s controller has had since launch. It will be available individually this fall for $59/£54/€59 and no, it does not have a larger battery.
There’s also a new Platinum Wireless headset coming for $159 with “premium” construction and materials, all ready to work with the PS VR headset. A new PlayStation Camera (CUH-ZEY2) has the same features in a cylindrical design that is easier to adjust for $59, while a new vertical stand is built for the PS4 Pro and new slimmer PS4.
Source: SIE
Apple Pay Coming to New Zealand, Russia and Japan This Fall
Apple Pay is expanding to three new countries this fall, including New Zealand, Russia, and Japan. Apple today confirmed its plans to bring Apple Pay to Japan on stage at its iPhone 7 event, while the Russia and New Zealand Apple Pay sites were updated with info on an imminent launch.
As was previously reported, Apple Pay in Japan will be implemented through a partnership with Sony and an iPhone 7 with support for the FeliCa tap-to-pay format, which has been widely adopted in the country. Apple Pay, which will work with Suica, will be coming to Japan in October.
Apple Pay is accepted anywhere Suica is available, so users can make quick everyday purchases and buy or reload a Suica card or commuter pass, all with their iPhone. Japan’s major financial brands will also support Apple Pay, so shoppers can make purchases in many of the country’s largest stores, at neighborhood shops and restaurants, and from their favorite online merchants.
Apple Pay in Japan will support credit and prepaid cards issued by AEON, Credit Saison, JCB, Mitsubishi UFJ Nicos, Orient Corporation, Sumitomo Mitsui Card, Toyota Finance, UC Cards and View Card, and carriers KDDI, NTT Docomo, and Softbank.
Apple Pay will be coming to New Zealand through a partnership with ANZ, and it will initially be limited to ANZ customers. A launch date has not been announced but it is expected to be released in October.
“Our customers in the nine markets around the world where Apple Pay is live today love how convenient it makes their day-to-day shopping, and we can’t wait to bring Apple Pay to New Zealand so customers there can start making easy, secure and private payments in their favourite stores, apps and on the web,” said Jennifer Bailey, vice president of Apple Pay, in a statement.
Details on Apple Pay in Russia are limited with no word on which banks it will work with, but the service is expected to debut before the end of the year.
Apple Pay is currently available in nine countries including the United States, United Kingdom, China, Australia, Canada, Switzerland, Hong Kong, France, and Singapore. Apple Pay vice president Jennifer Bailey has said Apple is “working rapidly” to expand the service to additional countries in Asia and Europe.
Related Roundup: Apple Pay
Discuss this article in our forums
Apple AirPods preview: Showing us a wire-free listening future
With no headphone socket on the new Apple iPhone 7 and iPhone 7 Plus, you’ve either got to go Lightning or wireless. Although the former is found in the box of the new iPhone 7 models, the company is hoping you’ll go for the later.
With that in mind it has launched a brand new product called the Apple Airpods, a pair of wireless in ear headphones.
Pocket-lint
Apple Airpods: Wireless and wirefree
The dinky Apple AirPod headphone are in-ear headphones that are completely wirefree. By that we mean there are no wires that connect to your phone, or connect the two earphones together.
Like the new wave of Bluetooth headphones starting to come on to the market, the AirPods are intelligent enough to wirelessly connect to each other and then to your phone.
The design is simple, white, and typically Apple. They sit in the opening of your ears with a small rod protruding out and down your face. That outer rod is touch sensitive to allow you to engage Siri.
With no connectors the only way to charge the AirPods is via the accompanying charging case, which is itself a battery giving you more juice on the go.
Aside from the concern of what happens if you lose the charging case, you’ll also have the fear of losing the headsphones themselves as for as good as they are small and as good as they are light, we suspect they are also as good as lost within days of getting them.
Sadly there doesn’t appear to be a lost of found feature like Tile.
Pocket-lint
Apple AirPods preview: Connecting the music
With AirPods, setting up and using wireless headphones looks to be incredibly easy. Demoed to us at the Apple Special Event in San Francisco ahead of their availability in October, connecting the AirPods to your iPhone, and in fact any of your Apple devices, is easy. Once you’ve connected it to one device, the AirPods will be available via iCloud to all your devices and automatically know which one you are listening to music on, be it the iPhone, the Apple Watch, or a MacBook.
“Just open the charging case near your iPhone and with a simple tap, AirPods are immediately set up with all the devices signed into your iCloud account, including your iPad and Mac. AirPods are connected and ready to go when you are, just put them in your ears when you want to listen. AirPods can intelligently and seamlessly switch from a call on your iPhone to listening to music on your Apple Watch,” says Apple.
And our demoed proved it was that easy too. Very cool.
Pocket-lint
Apple AirPods preview: One headphone or two?
It’s not just about listening to music in the same old way you’ve always done. The AirPods include a new wireless processor, dubbed the W1, which has some tricks up it’s sleeve. Pop them in your ear and the music starts playing, take one out and the music will pause and then rather than playing in stereo will only play on the one remaining in your ear.
Remove them completely and they automatically pause the music until you pop them back in. It’s very clever.
You can access Siri with a double tap to your AirPods to select and control your music, change the volume, check your battery life or perform any other Siri task. Yes, there are no buttons whatsoever.
An additional accelerometer in each AirPod detects when you’re speaking, enabling a pair of beam-forming microphones to focus on the sound of your voice, filtering out external noise to make your voice sound clearer than ever before.
In the crowded and noisy demo room it was hard to really put the wireless earphones to the test, but what we could tell from our brief play is that these are one intelligent pair of headphones, that work really well.
First Impressions
With the promise of 5 hours of listening time on one charge, and a case that offers a further charges to give you 24 hours of total listening time on the go, worries about running out of battery are probably moot.
The design won’t be for everyone, but what is clear is that the AirPods show us where wireless headphones could and should go.
This is Apple setting a benchmark in this area and it is very welcomed.
Of course there are lots of questions to answer, like how they sound in a much quieter environment, or what they are like when running, or what happens when you lose one or the charging case.
From what we’ve see so far the results look good and there are some great features. You’re only worry if you do buy them will be how long you can go before losing one.
The new Apple-designed wireless AirPods including charging case will be available for £159 beginning in late October. AirPods require Apple devices running iOS 10, watchOS 3 or macOS Sierra.
Vizio’s Cast-powered speakers offer an alternative to Sonos
Vizio first announced plans to bring Google Cast to its wireless speakers back in March. Now that the multi-room SmartCast Crave 360 is available for purchase, Vizio hopes you’ll give it a look instead of splurging for some Sonos gear. As you might expect, the speaker that looks kind of like an Amazon Echo is the Crave 360. The $250 circular device touts 2.1 audio, the ability to beam sound in any direction and it comes with a detachable charging base. Disconnect it and you’ve got a portable speaker with 8 hours of battery life.
The $300 Crave Pro also has 2.1 audio and it packs in a pair of subwoofers for more robust sound. This should translate to better bass over the Crave 360, but the Pro doesn’t offer the same portability. The Crave 360 and the Crave Pro are controlled with a volume knob that rotates for those adjustments. The top of that same knob accepts taps and swipes to handle play, pause and skipping tracks.
Vizio’s SmartCast speakers pack in Bluetooth connectivity in addition to WiFi, something Sonos doesn’t have on its feature list. While you’ll get better audio quality via Cast and WiFi, it’s nice to have the option and you’ll need it with the mobile Crave 360. Both speakers also have aluminum exteriors for a more sophisticated look than a lot of the other options, too.
To manage the multi-room setup, you’ll need to employ the Vizio SmartCast app. However, you can control your music and other content from any Cast-friendly applications like Spotify, Deezer and others. This is another area where Vizio differs from Sonos. Right now, you have to use the Sonos controller app to manage music, but the company recently announced that Spotify Connect and other integration is on the way. What’s more, these two Crave speakers play nice with Vizio’s SmartCast soundbars that are already on sale. Speaking of availability, you can snag the Crave 360 now directly from Vizio and at Sam’s Club while the Crave Pro is listed as “coming soon.”
Via: The Verge
Source: Vizio
Watch Apple’s iPhone 7 event in 15 minutes
Today’s Apple event was jam packed with new gear, new features and more. If you missed any of the details on the new iPhone 7 and 7s, including all of the info on the new camera tech, we’ve got a quick recap for you. Catch up on all of today’s announcements from the stage in just 15 minutes. We’ve done all of the hard work, so if you don’t have time to re-watch the two-hour event, you can still get the low down on Apple Watch Series 2, AirPods and more.
Click here to catch all the latest news from the Apple’s “See You” event.
New Colors Launch for Apple Watch Sport Band, Woven Nylon, and Classic Buckle
Along with a slew of new collections for the Apple Watch Series 1 and Series 2, Apple today introduced new first-party bands into its pre-existing band categories, including ones for the Sport Band, Woven Nylon, and Classic Buckle. Elsewhere, Apple has decided to minimize colorways for bands like Modern Buckle and Leather Loop, but it’s kept the same silver and space black options for the Milanese Loop and Link Bracelet.
We’ll go through each first-party band available for purchase below, with an emphasis on the new colors available to purchase on Apple’s website.
Sport Band
New to the Sport Band line are four colors: Pink Sand, Ocean Blue, Cocoa, and Concrete. The high-performance fluoroelastomer band has a few traditional colors carried over from the Apple Watch’s previous iteration, including: White, Midnight Blue, Yellow, Light Pink, Mint, Black with Space Black Pin, Turquoise, and Product Red.
For Sport Bands, the only discrepancy between 38mm and 42mm case sizes is Royal Blue, which is available only for 38mm. As usual, each Sport Band is available for $49.00, and some of the older colors are still facing availability issues, which have been propagating online since the summer.
Woven Nylon
There are five new colors in Woven Nylon users can choose from: Light Pink/Midnight Blue, Yellow/Light Gray, Space Orange/Anthracite, Toasted Coffee/Caramel, and Navy/Tahoe Blue. Apple Watch fans can expect to see a few old Woven Nylon colors still available in the store: Pearl, Gold/Red, Pink, Royal Blue, Scuba Blue, and Black.
Similar to the Sport Band, there’s a small difference between the Woven Nylon options available to 38mm and 42mm Apple Watch owners, with Gold/Royal Blue sold only in 38mm. Otherwise, the two sizes have the same colors. Each band is available for $49.00, and a few of the older colors are facing the same “sold out” or “currently unavailable” labels as the Sport Bands.
Classic Buckle
In the higher-quality $149.00 Classic Buckle, a new color option comes in the sole form of Sea Blue. Otherwise, in 38mm users can choose from the expected options of Saddle Brown, Midnight Blue, Black, and Red, while 42mm owners get the added options of White and Marigold.
Modern Buckle, Leather Loop, Milanese Loop, and Link Bracelet
In the rest of the bands, Apple has paired down options to only a few colors without introducing any new alternatives for buyers. Modern Buckle has the most with four options of Midnight Blue, Black, Marigold, and Red. The other three have only two: Smoke Gray and Midnight Blue for Leather Loop, and Silver and Space Black for both Milanese Loop and Link Bracelet.
Apple has also kept the same pricing scheme on each of these bands, so Leather Loop and Milanese Loop run for $149.00, Modern Buckle runs for $249.00, and Link Bracelet is priced highest at $449.00.
Anyone interested in the new bands can order them from Apple’s website, with the fastest shipping options coming in as soon as Friday, the same day that pre-orders begin for both Apple Watch Series 2 and iPhone 7.
Related Roundups: Apple Watch, watchOS 2, watchOS 3
Tag: September 2016 event
Buyer’s Guide: Apple Watch (Caution)
Discuss this article in our forums
PlayStation 4 Pro already available to pre-order!
Pre-order your PlayStation 4 Pro.
Sony’s PlayStation Meeting in NYC today turned out to be a lot more exciting than a lot of folks initially suspected. On top of a new, slim PlayStation 4 we got a ton of details surrounding the PlayStation 4 Pro. It’s going to be great for those interested in 4K and HDR gaming, and PlayStation VR gamers will find an even better experience inside the headset. As first impressions go, PS4 Pro looks to be well worth the $399 asking price.
Best of all, it’s available to pre-order now! Amazon currently has delivery listed at December 29th, 2017, but since there’s also no image for the listing at the time of this writing it’s pretty clear the order page hasn’t been fully realized just yet. Sony is planning to make PS4 Pro available on November 10th, and if history is any indicator Amazon will ship to ensure these matte black consoles arrive on that day.
See on Amazon
