Month: August 2024

Nokia mobile maker HMD has announced that the Barbie Flip Phone will be available from August 28 in the UK and October 1 in the US.

Nokia manufacturer Human Mobile Devices (HMD) has announced that the long-awaited Barbie Flip Phone is available in the UK from today, August 28.

According to The Verge, US customers will be able to pre-order the phone from September 23, with the first units shipping on October 1, while ChannelNews reports that Barbie fans in Australia can pre-order it from September 5.

The new feature phone sports a 2.8-inch inner screen, a 0.3MP camera with flash, and a 1.77-inch clock display on the mirrored outer surface.

Priced at $129 / £99 / AU$199, the special-edition phone comes with a whole load of accessories to help you live your best Barbie life. These include a jewelry box, two swappable front covers, a lanyard with charms, a sheet of stickers, and a cleaning cloth. Nearly everything is, of course, in a fabulous shade of pink.

(Image credit: HMD)

The Barbie Phone comes loaded with other iconic features like glow-in-the-dark buttons, a special beach-themed Malibu edition of Snake, and some secret software easter eggs. It even says “Hi Barbie!” when you boot it up. If that doesn’t make you feel like Barbie, we don’t know what will.

However, those looking to share their Kenergy with friends should keep in mind that HMD’s feature phones really do focus on calling and texting rather than social media.

The Barbie Flip Phone appears to be a special take on HMD’s Nokia 2660 Flip, and as such offers limited access to social media and other apps – there’s no Instagram, TikTok, or X (formerly Twitter). 

Additionally, those looking to enjoy the Barbie movie’s star-studded soundtrack will have to load up a microSD card or call in to their local radio station for their fix of Dua Lipa or Charli XCX, as the only music options are an MP3 player or FM radio. 

(Image credit: HMD)

In recent years, HMD has pivoted towards marketing its feature phones as a stress-free alternative to always-connected smartphones. The Finnish company promotes its phones as having long battery lives and strong durability, and even brands the Barbie Phone as a “real phone – without social media”.

For longtime fans and those called back to Barbie by last year’s blockbuster alike, a back-to-basics shot of Y2K style could be just what Doctor Barbie ordered.

UK buyers looking for a modern flip phone sans Barbie branding can find the 2660 Flip on sale right now for £49.99 (though we can’t imagine missing out on Malibu Snake).

We wonder if HMD also has an Oppenheimer phone on the way to complement this collaboration and cash in on last year’s massive ‘Barbenheimer’ phenomenon. Here’s hoping.

If you’re interested in taking a digital detox, you can find out how one of our writers got on when they used a dumb phone for a week. 

You might also like

The best cheap phones 2024: top budget mobiles in the UKApple’s iPhone 16 launch event – 5 things we expect and 3 things we don’tHurry! Google’s impressive Pixel 7 Pro drops to under £400 at Currys

Read More 

Netflix’s number two most-watched movie this week is Incoming but it’s a party pooper – here are three better teen comedies to watch instead.

New Netflix movie Incoming is the second most-watched title on the best streaming service‘s global top 10 list this week, with action comedy The Union taking the top spot for the second week in a row.

It’s safe to say that Incoming hasn’t been received well by the critics, given its disappointing 30% Rotten Tomatoes score. But that hasn’t stopped The Guardian describing the Superbad-style comedy as “super unfunny” and subscribers giving it nine million views worldwide. 

The Netflix teen movie follows four teenage boys who prepare for a night of chaos and debauchery at their first high school party. While Incoming wouldn’t make it onto our best teen movies list or our best Netflix movies list, here are three better highly-rated teen comedies to watch that guarantee a party to remember.

You Are So Not Invited to My Bat Mitzvah

RT Score: 91%Age rating: PG-13Length: 103 minutesDirector: Sammi Cohen

Based on the young adult novel of the same name by Fiona Rosenbloom, You Are So Not Invited to My Bat Mitzvah stars comedic mastermind Adam Sandler – if you’re after more movies with the comedian, here are five Adam Sandler movies to watch next – and his own family, including his wife Jackie and two daughters Sadie and Sunny.

In You Are So Not Invited to My Bat Mitzvah, BFFs Stacy Friedman (Sunny) and Lydia Rodriguez Katz (Samantha Lorraine) have always dreamed of having epic bat mitzvahs. However, things go comically wrong when they compete for the attention of the same popular boy and middle school drama threatens to destroy their friendship.

Sandler steps back into a supporting role and lets his daughter Sadie steal the show in this shining coming-of-age comedy that’s as joyous as it is funny. It’s clear that Sandler’s successful goofball comedy has rubbed off on his own family which makes You Are So Not Invited to My Bat Mitzvah a splendid addition to Netflix’s library.

Do Revenge

RT Score: 85%Age rating: RLength: 118 minutesDirector: Jennifer Kaytin Robinson

Sometimes in life all you need is a good old teen movie to take you back to the noughties. Well, Do Revenge will definitely help with that. After watching Mean Girls more times than I care to admit, Do Revenge is up there with one of the best Netflix Original movies I’ve seen.

Inspired by Alfred Hithcock’s Strangers on a Train, the twisted teen drama follows two wildly different students, queen bee Drea (Camila Mendes) and awkward teen Eleanor (Maya Hawke) who form an unlikely alliance to get revenge on the bullies that destroyed their lives.

Robinson pays tribute to many iconic ’90s high school movies with its aesthetic and nostalgic soundtrack, but Do Revenge manages to make its own unique mark on the genre through its satirical humor and Gen-Z self-awareness which I couldn’t help but laugh at. As our Do Revenge review writes: “Do Revenge isn’t your average Netflix teen comedy,” and it’s definitely true.

Let It Snow

RT Score: 81%Age rating: PG-13Length: 92 minutesDirector: Luke Snellin

Is it too early to add one of the great Christmas movies on Netflix? Perhaps, but Let It Snow is perfect for any time of the year. This festive teen comedy is like a young adult version of Love Actually and is adapted from the novel Let It Snow: Three Holiday Romances by Maureen Johnson, John Green, and Lauren Myracle.

Let It Snow takes place on Christmas Eve as a snowstorm hits a small midwestern town in Illinois, bringing together a group of teenagers who soon find their friendships and love lives intertwining – it certainly proves to be a Christmas to remember.

The likeable characters is what makes this a true Christmas gift with a diverse cast of up-and-comers, such as Isabela Merced, Kiernan Shipka, Jacob Batalon and Shameik Moore, all bringing warmth to the chilly winter nights set against a beautiful backdrop. 

You might also like

The Union is Netflix’s #1 movie, but here are 3 better action comedies5 of Netflix’s 10 most-watched movies are thriller flops – stream these 33 modern western thrillers on Netflix with over 90% on Rotten Tomatoes

Read More 

Look, I want them as much as the next person, but I’m struggling to believe it…

We’re strongly expecting AirPods 4 to be unveiled at Apple’s September 9th 2024 event alongside the iPhone 16 – and the new AirPods will supposedly come in two versions, including one that takes a lot of the features of the AirPods Pro 2.

But perhaps they won’t have all the limelight to themselves: leaker Kosutami (who MacRumors notes has a good recent record) says that the AirPods Pro 3 will have “much better” active noise cancellation than the current version, and and will come “soon”.

Considering that AirPods Pro 2 still rank among the best noise cancelling earbuds when it comes to sheer noise-blocking power, another leap forward could be… kind of bonkers, actually. I already had to do some retraining of my brain to get used to just how well the current AirPods Pro 2 silences low-frequency sounds, and they haven’t been massively bettered by rivals in the two years since their launch.

Which is one of several reasons why I’m skeptical that “soon” means “at the event next month.” Other reports have said AirPods Pro 3 are set for a 2025 release, and that tracks given that the original AirPods Pro were replaced after three years and the the current ones have only been around for two – and the current model got upgraded to include USB-C only last year.

However, there are also possible indicators that a new model is coming, and a few reasons why it could be logical to launch them now.

The two reasons Apple might launch AirPods Pro 3 now

The reasons Apple’s wouldn’t launch AirPods Pro 3 now are simple: the current model is too new and too popular still, and it would take the edge off the launch of the more affordable model.

But there are two things that make me think it could actually go ahead (on top of the fact that I predicted Apple wouldn’t announce the USB-C AirPods Pro 2 in September last year and I was dead wrong, so I am sensibly questioning my instincts).

First is that AirPods Pro 2 have been hitting record-low prices – the USB-C model was selling for even cheaper than the Lightning model ever did over Prime Day, as was the AirPods 3 model that we’re certain is being replaced, and I suspect that we’ll see the same record-low AirPods prices over Labor Day.

It has the vibe of a stock clear-out ahead of the new model, and it’ll definitely be hard for the new mid-range AirPods 4 model to sell well if everyone thinks that the AirPods Pro 2 will drop to a similar kind of price on Black Friday. So it would make sense that Apple is preparing to replace them all and to have a whole new pricing plan.

The second reason is around making the AirPods Pro stand out further from the regular model, and about making sure that AirPods Max 2 (also expected soon) feel high-end enough. Let’s assume that Apple is planning to put the H2 chip that powers AirPods Pro 2 into AirPods 4, unlocking features such as Adaptive Transparency.

Presumably, an AirPods Max 2 that launches at the same time would also launch with the H2 chip. But we all think that AirPods Pro 3 are coming this time next year at the latest, which will surely have a more powerful H3 chip, and so AirPods Max will feel out of date alarmingly quickly when they should be Apple’s flagship headphones for features given their price. The previous AirPods Max are nearly four years old, after all – can the new model really be in a position where they feel old fashioned after only one year at most?

So it may make sense to launch AirPods Pro 3 with a new H3 chip at the same time as everything else, to give us a clear hierarchy for the best AirPods: cheaper and mid-range AirPods 4 with the H2; then AirPods Pro 3 with the H3; and AirPods Max 2 with H3.

But this is all just me ranting at clouds about what seems like it should make sense. Apple has made plenty of surprising decisions about AirPods in the past that haven’t stopped them from being the best-selling model among the best wireless earbuds on the planet. Why mess with a winning formula now.

If I were a betting man, I’d put my money on AirPods Pro 3 not appearing at the next event. I think they’ll be a 2025 release. But I’d have lost that money on the same bet last year, and as mentioned above, there are good reasons to think Apple will do it. We’ll find out soon.

You might also like…

‘Nothing Ear Open’ earbuds listing spotted and I think it’s the best idea Nothing’s had in agesSony improves its budget earbuds by making them smaller, lighter, and cheaper4 great new wireless earbuds for all budgets arrived this week – here’s what you can’t miss

Read More 

The Pro-Ject Debut Carbon Evo is no more. There’s a brand new and even better Evo to take its crown.

There’s only one thing wrong with our current #1 pick of the best turntables: they’ve stopped making it. The Pro-Ject Debut Carbon Evo is no more, having amassed countless awards and rave reviews since the Debut launched in 1999 (the most recent update was in 2020). But don’t despair: there’s a brand new turntable to take its place at the top turntable, er, table. And it’s called the Debut Evo 2.

The Pro-Ject Debut Evo 2 is designed specifically as a replacement to the Pro-Ject Debut Carbon Evo, and it’s available in 10 beautiful finishes. I think it’s one of the best-looking turntables around, especially in its wine red incarnation – but of course what really made the Debut Carbon special wasn’t how it looked, but how it sounded. And Pro-Ject says that this one sounds even better than its predecessor.

What’s new in the Pro-Ject Debut Evo 2

There are several key upgrades here including a new Pick It MM EVO moving magnet cartridge made by Ortofon; a new low-friction tonearm bearing; a new non-magnetic aluminum platter with TPE damping; and a new machined MDF chassis with “almost no” hollow space inside. The tonearm is a one-piece 8.6-inch tonearm made from conical carbon fiber and the motor suspension has improved damping.

Where some Pro-Ject turntables required manual switching for speeds, the Debut Evo 2 is electronically switchable between 33 and 45rpm; you can also play 78s via an optional drive belt and pulley change, which is available separately. A semi-symmetrical Connect IT E phono cable is included and the RCA connectors are gold plated.

The goal with the Pro-Ject Debut range has been to deliver the best of both worlds: beginner-friendly ease of use without sacrificing upgradeability and customization. This turntable is part of that tradition, and having tested some of the firm’s other turntables I’m sure that this should be something special. In our review of the now discontinued model, we said that it delivered a “luxuriously full-bodied listen” with “plenty of the warmth and richness that’s so often held up as an unarguable vinyl virtue”.

The new Pro-Ject Debut Evo 2 will go on sale in September 2024 from Henley Audio with an official price of £599 (about $790 / AU$1,170 – we’ll update with official US and Australian pricing when we can). That’s £100 more than the Debut Carbon Evo, although of course that turntable has been around for a few years now, and inflation has been Quite The Thing since then. If the new one’s a little too pricey for you, some decent deals on the outgoing Evo should appear as retailers make room for the new model. 

Read More