Month: August 2024
The Beats Studio Pro headphones add one of Apple’s best features
A new firmware update brings audio sharing to the Beats Studio Pro. | Photo by Chris Welch / The Verge
Apple has released a firmware update for the Beats Studio Pro that finally brings audio sharing to the headphones, allowing an iPhone or iPad to stream audio to two pairs of wireless headphones simultaneously. The new feature, spotted by 9to5Mac, was noticeably missing when we reviewed the Beats Studio Pro last year, but now better positions the headphones as an alternative to Apple’s more expensive AirPods Max.
Audio sharing was added to the Beats line shortly after its debut in 2019. It’s a feature found in all of Apple’s headphones featuring the company’s W1 or H1 chips, but the Beats Studio Pro debuted with a different chip that ensured all of the headphone’s features were compatible with both Apple and Android devices.
The firmware update adding audio sharing (2C301) should be downloaded and installed automatically for those regularly using the Beats Studio Pro. Apple has an in-depth guide for using the audio sharing feature including which models support it, but it can be easily activated on iPhones and iPads as an AirPlay feature when a pair of Beats headphones in pairing mode are held close. The feature is not available when using the Beats Studio Pro with Android devices.
A new firmware update brings audio sharing to the Beats Studio Pro. | Photo by Chris Welch / The Verge
Apple has released a firmware update for the Beats Studio Pro that finally brings audio sharing to the headphones, allowing an iPhone or iPad to stream audio to two pairs of wireless headphones simultaneously. The new feature, spotted by 9to5Mac, was noticeably missing when we reviewed the Beats Studio Pro last year, but now better positions the headphones as an alternative to Apple’s more expensive AirPods Max.
Audio sharing was added to the Beats line shortly after its debut in 2019. It’s a feature found in all of Apple’s headphones featuring the company’s W1 or H1 chips, but the Beats Studio Pro debuted with a different chip that ensured all of the headphone’s features were compatible with both Apple and Android devices.
The firmware update adding audio sharing (2C301) should be downloaded and installed automatically for those regularly using the Beats Studio Pro. Apple has an in-depth guide for using the audio sharing feature including which models support it, but it can be easily activated on iPhones and iPads as an AirPlay feature when a pair of Beats headphones in pairing mode are held close. The feature is not available when using the Beats Studio Pro with Android devices.
Airbnb makes it easier to get into rentals by connecting with more smart locks
The Yale Assure Lock 2 is one of the many smart locks that work with Airbnb. | Photo by Jennifer Pattison Tuohy / The Verge
Airbnb is expanding its smart lock integration, allowing the company to generate door codes from Yale and August directly within its app. This means more guests can easily find the code they’ll need to unlock their vacation rental, while hosts won’t have to worry about generating and sending new codes to every visitor.
The smart lock company Schlage became the first to adopt the integration after Airbnb announced it last year. Once a host connects their compatible smart locks to Airbnb, the app will automatically generate unique door codes that it will send to guests ahead of their visit. The codes will only remain active during a guest’s stay, as Airbnb will automatically deactivate them when they check out. Airbnb will also notify hosts when guests check-in and if there’s an issue with the smart lock, such as if it’s low on battery.
This feature is only available to hosts located in the US and Canada for now. It’s compatible with a range of smart locks, including the Yale Assure Lock 2 Keypad with Wi-Fi, Schlage Encode Smart WiFi Lever, and the August Smart Lock with Connect. You can view the whole list of supported smart locks from Airbnb’s website.
The Yale Assure Lock 2 is one of the many smart locks that work with Airbnb. | Photo by Jennifer Pattison Tuohy / The Verge
Airbnb is expanding its smart lock integration, allowing the company to generate door codes from Yale and August directly within its app. This means more guests can easily find the code they’ll need to unlock their vacation rental, while hosts won’t have to worry about generating and sending new codes to every visitor.
The smart lock company Schlage became the first to adopt the integration after Airbnb announced it last year. Once a host connects their compatible smart locks to Airbnb, the app will automatically generate unique door codes that it will send to guests ahead of their visit. The codes will only remain active during a guest’s stay, as Airbnb will automatically deactivate them when they check out. Airbnb will also notify hosts when guests check-in and if there’s an issue with the smart lock, such as if it’s low on battery.
This feature is only available to hosts located in the US and Canada for now. It’s compatible with a range of smart locks, including the Yale Assure Lock 2 Keypad with Wi-Fi, Schlage Encode Smart WiFi Lever, and the August Smart Lock with Connect. You can view the whole list of supported smart locks from Airbnb’s website.
12″ High Pressure Rain Shower Head Combo
With adjustable extension arm & 5 setting handheld showerhead.
With adjustable extension arm & 5 setting handheld showerhead.
Rotten Tomatoes further dilutes its utility with ‘Verified Hot’ badge
Rotten Tomatoes just added a new “Verified Hot” badge that indicates an overall positive user score that will join the “Certified Fresh” badge for critic scores. To qualify for this designation, a movie or show needs to have a Verified Audience Score of 90 percent or higher.
There’s also a “Hot” badge for content with a Verified Audience Score of 60 percent to 90 percent. Finally, the dregs will be slapped with a “Stale” badge, which is for any show or movie that falls beneath 60 percent.
Rotten Tomatoes is trying to get around review bombing here by mandating that user reviews be from people who actually saw the movie in question. There are a couple of little problems with this. It verifies that a consumer saw the movie via the ticketing firm Fandango, and there are plenty of other ticketing firms out there, including, you know, the theater cashier.
Also, Comcast owns both Rotten Tomatoes and Fandango, so this seems more like synergistic advertising than an actual way to beat review bombers. Finally, this whole verification thing is only for movies. There’s no way to verify whether someone watched a TV show or not, so this wouldn’t have helped all of those trolls descending upon the recently-canceled Star Wars show The Acolyte.
From a cynic’s perspective, this move only works to further dilute the utility of the entire site. There will be more uncertainty and plenty of more badges floating around, making the whole thing, well, messy. Will an average user be able to instantly know the difference between Hot and Fresh?
The critic score average was already problematic, as reputable reviewers are weighted the exact same as purveyors of internet garbage. However, Rotten Tomatoes is addressing that by updating the minimum number of critic reviews required before a Tomatometer score will appear. For smaller films, the site mandates at least ten reviews for a score. Blockbusters will require 40 reviews.
The Hot badge has already been issued to current barn-burners Deadpool & Wolverine, Twisters, Bad Boys: Ride or Die, Fly Me to the Moon and It Ends With Us. The company says it has also retroactively awarded over 200 films.This article originally appeared on Engadget at https://www.engadget.com/entertainment/tv-movies/rotten-tomatoes-further-dilutes-its-utility-with-verified-hot-badge-163415420.html?src=rss
Rotten Tomatoes just added a new “Verified Hot” badge that indicates an overall positive user score that will join the “Certified Fresh” badge for critic scores. To qualify for this designation, a movie or show needs to have a Verified Audience Score of 90 percent or higher.
There’s also a “Hot” badge for content with a Verified Audience Score of 60 percent to 90 percent. Finally, the dregs will be slapped with a “Stale” badge, which is for any show or movie that falls beneath 60 percent.
Rotten Tomatoes is trying to get around review bombing here by mandating that user reviews be from people who actually saw the movie in question. There are a couple of little problems with this. It verifies that a consumer saw the movie via the ticketing firm Fandango, and there are plenty of other ticketing firms out there, including, you know, the theater cashier.
Also, Comcast owns both Rotten Tomatoes and Fandango, so this seems more like synergistic advertising than an actual way to beat review bombers. Finally, this whole verification thing is only for movies. There’s no way to verify whether someone watched a TV show or not, so this wouldn’t have helped all of those trolls descending upon the recently-canceled Star Wars show The Acolyte.
From a cynic’s perspective, this move only works to further dilute the utility of the entire site. There will be more uncertainty and plenty of more badges floating around, making the whole thing, well, messy. Will an average user be able to instantly know the difference between Hot and Fresh?
The critic score average was already problematic, as reputable reviewers are weighted the exact same as purveyors of internet garbage. However, Rotten Tomatoes is addressing that by updating the minimum number of critic reviews required before a Tomatometer score will appear. For smaller films, the site mandates at least ten reviews for a score. Blockbusters will require 40 reviews.
The Hot badge has already been issued to current barn-burners Deadpool & Wolverine, Twisters, Bad Boys: Ride or Die, Fly Me to the Moon and It Ends With Us. The company says it has also retroactively awarded over 200 films.
This article originally appeared on Engadget at https://www.engadget.com/entertainment/tv-movies/rotten-tomatoes-further-dilutes-its-utility-with-verified-hot-badge-163415420.html?src=rss
Lego Shows Off New Mario Kart and Animal Crossing Sets at Gamescom
2025 will bring the first Super Mario: Mario Kart Lego sets and some new additions to Animal Crossing villages.
2025 will bring the first Super Mario: Mario Kart Lego sets and some new additions to Animal Crossing villages.
Blockchain startup Story raises $80M in funding to prevent AI copyright theft; now valued at over $2 billion
Story Protocol (Story) has secured $80 million in Series B funding to combat copyright theft by AI using blockchain technology. The funding round, which was led by Andreessen Horowitz (a16z), pushed the company’s valuation to over $2 billion. Other notable
The post Blockchain startup Story raises $80M in funding to prevent AI copyright theft; now valued at over $2 billion first appeared on Tech Startups.
Story Protocol (Story) has secured $80 million in Series B funding to combat copyright theft by AI using blockchain technology. The funding round, which was led by Andreessen Horowitz (a16z), pushed the company’s valuation to over $2 billion. Other notable […]
The post Blockchain startup Story raises $80M in funding to prevent AI copyright theft; now valued at over $2 billion first appeared on Tech Startups.
Disney Plus’s new crime drama A Thousand Blows looks like it’ll fill the Peaky Blinders-shaped hole in my life, and there’s one big reason why
Disney Plus is getting its very own Peaky Blinders-like crime drama in 2025, and it’s been created by the writer behind the hit Netflix show.
Have you been struggling to fill the Peaky Blinders-shaped hole in your life since the wildly popular crime drama series ended? A forthcoming Disney Plus show might end your long search for a worthy successor.
A Thousand Blows, an epic Victorian era-set TV series that’ll star Malachi Kirby, Stephen Graham, and Erin Doherty, looks and sounds like it could replace Thomas Shelby and company as your go-to source for turn-of-the-century crime-based storytelling. Well, until the Peaky Blinders movie makes its debut on Netflix, whenever that is.
Anyway, A Thousand Blows is not only in very capable creative hands, but it’s also perfectly positioned to tide you and I over until the aforementioned Cillian Murphy-starring crime film is ready to be released. How so? Because Steven Knight, Peaky Blinders‘ creator, is also the visionary behind A Thousand Blows‘ development. Hey, I did tell you it’s in very capable hands.
BAFTA winner Malachi Kirby stars a Hezekiah in A Thousand Blows (Image credit: Disney Plus)
Okay, so what’s A Thousand Blows about? In short: illegal boxing in the 1880s. Oh, you wanted a more in-depth glimpse into its story? Alright, here you go: “BAFTA award-winning actor Kirby [stars] as Hezekiah Moscow, who finds himself thrust into the vibrant and violent melting pot of post-industrial revolution London’s East End from Jamaica.
“Drawn into the criminal underbelly of the thriving boxing scene, he meets Mary Carr (Doherty), leader of The Forty Elephants – the notorious all-female London gang – as they battle for survival on the streets. As Hezekiah sharpens his new skills, he comes up against Sugar Goodson (Graham), a seasoned and dangerous boxer, and the two are soon locked into an intense rivalry that spills out way beyond the ring.”
Teasing more of what viewers can expect, Knight said in a statement: “The love and care that went into this thrilling production is evident on screen from the first moment. What makes the story we tell all the more compelling is that it is based on the lives of real people who lived extraordinary lives in extraordinary times.”
Stephen Graham has certainly packed on the muscle to play Sugar in A Thousand Blows (Image credit: Disney Plus)
Joining the series’ lead trio on its stacked roster are Francis Lovehall as Hezekiah’s best friend Alec Munroe, Jason Tobin will play Mr Lao, and James Nelson-Joyce is on board Edward ‘Treacle’ Goodson.
On The Forty Elephants front, Hannah Walters is portraying Eliza Moody, Darci Shaw will play Alice Diamond, Nadia Albina has been hired to portray Verity Ross, Morgan Hilaire is Esme Long, Jemma Carlton was cast as Belle Downer, and Caoilfhionn Dunne rounds out this part of the ensemble as Anne Glover.
Lastly, Susan Lynch portrays Jane Carr, Daniel Mays is involved as William ‘Punch’ Lewis, Adam Nagaitis plays the Earl of Lonsdale, Gary Lewis is part of proceedings as Jack Mac, Tom Davis will tackel the role of Charlie Mitchell, and Robert Glenister will portray Indigo Jeremy.
A Thousand Blows will make its Disney Plus debut (internationally) and sister streamer Hulu (US) when its first season arrives sometime in 2025. It’ll comprise six 60-minute long episodes, too. And yes, when I say “first season”, I mean it, because a second chapter – filmed back to back with its forebear – has already wrapped production. If Knight’s work on Peaky Blinders is any indication, I’d be amazed if A Thousand Blows doesn’t quickly cement a place for itself on our best Disney Plus shows and best Hulu shows lists.
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GoDaddy launches a new tool to help SMBs with their digital marketing woes
GoDaddy’s Digital Marketing starts at $21.99 a month.
GoDaddy, one of the best website builder and web hosting platforms, recently introduced a new tool to help small and medium-sized businesses (SMBs) improve their digital marketing efforts. The tool enables SMBs to better address all the different aspects of digital marketing, and leverage advanced solutions such as Generative AI (GenAI) and other GoDaddy offerings.
The tool is simply called Digital Marketing. GoDaddy describes it as an “all-in-one product designed to manage marketing efforts and increase the accessibility of tools like SEO, social media, and email marketing.” Furthermore, Digital Marketing comes with a unified inbox to streamline the management of all customer messages, regardless of the platform.
Digital Marketing is powered by GenAI, allowing users to quickly and seamlessly create customized, AI-powered branded content. Also, the tool leverages the features baked into GoDaddy Studio and GoDaddy Airo, allowing SMBs access to email marketing campaigns, as well as branded images and videos.
Three plans to choose from
There are three plans to choose from: Essentials, Deluxe, and Ultimate. While the Essentials plan covers, well, the essentials (posting on social media, creating and managing business listings, and accessing ideas for custom social media posts), the Deluxe plan offers a robust set of tools, including digital ads. Of all the different features, GoDaddy singles out the Marketing Calendar, a tool that details hundreds of upcoming events and holidays, and can even make tailored social post suggestions that users can schedule ahead of time.
Finally, the Ultimate plan builds on the two previous plans, and offers GenAI, Airo assistant, 750,000 monthly email sends, and more.
“We know that digital marketing translates to business success, especially when coupled with generative AI technology,” said Vinod Suresh, Vice President of USI products for GoDaddy. “By making these cost-effective tools easily available, GoDaddy is supporting small businesses of any size, with any budget, succeed in their marketing efforts.”
Using Digital Marketing will set you back $21.99 a month for the Essentials plan, $32.99 a month for the Deluxe plan, and $89.99 a month for the Ultimate one.
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Bowers & Wilkins announces its latest Pi6 and Pi8 true wireless earbuds
Bowers & Wilkins has just announced the Pi6 and Pi8 true wireless earbuds. They’re available for $249 and $399, respectively. The cheaper model has preorders open and ships September 13, while the Pi8 can be purchased right now.
The Pi6 has Bluetooth 5.4 and supports 24-bit/96kHz aptX transmission. It also has the same 12mm bio-cellulose drivers as the Px7 S2e, The flagship Pi8 supports the same resolution, but can also playback audio in aptX Lossless. Its 12mm drivers are carbon cones instead of bio cellulose.
Both buds have an IP-54 rating and the company’s proprietary ANC algorithm. Bower & Wilkins claims that the new earbuds have superior noise cancellation compared to their predecessors. They support Made for iPhone (MFi) for easy iOS integration — Google Fast Pair compatibility is slated to be added shortly after launch.
At full charge, the flagship model can last 6.5 hours, while the case provides 13.5 hours more; the Pi6 earbuds are rated for eight hours, while the charging case has enough for 16 additional hours of use.
As with many true wireless earbuds, the Pi6 and Pi8 have an accompanying app, which adds a five-band EQ for the Pi8 or a simple treble-and-bass adjustment for the Pi6.
The Pi6 will be available in Cloud Grey, Storm Grey, Forest Green and Glacier Blue when it launches next month. The Pi8’s four colors are Anthracite Black, Dove White, Jade Green and Midnight Blue.This article originally appeared on Engadget at https://www.engadget.com/audio/headphones/bowers–wilkins-announces-its-latest-pi6-and-pi8-true-wireless-earbuds-161812832.html?src=rss
Bowers & Wilkins has just announced the Pi6 and Pi8 true wireless earbuds. They’re available for $249 and $399, respectively. The cheaper model has preorders open and ships September 13, while the Pi8 can be purchased right now.
The Pi6 has Bluetooth 5.4 and supports 24-bit/96kHz aptX transmission. It also has the same 12mm bio-cellulose drivers as the Px7 S2e, The flagship Pi8 supports the same resolution, but can also playback audio in aptX Lossless. Its 12mm drivers are carbon cones instead of bio cellulose.
Both buds have an IP-54 rating and the company’s proprietary ANC algorithm. Bower & Wilkins claims that the new earbuds have superior noise cancellation compared to their predecessors. They support Made for iPhone (MFi) for easy iOS integration — Google Fast Pair compatibility is slated to be added shortly after launch.
At full charge, the flagship model can last 6.5 hours, while the case provides 13.5 hours more; the Pi6 earbuds are rated for eight hours, while the charging case has enough for 16 additional hours of use.
As with many true wireless earbuds, the Pi6 and Pi8 have an accompanying app, which adds a five-band EQ for the Pi8 or a simple treble-and-bass adjustment for the Pi6.
The Pi6 will be available in Cloud Grey, Storm Grey, Forest Green and Glacier Blue when it launches next month. The Pi8’s four colors are Anthracite Black, Dove White, Jade Green and Midnight Blue.
This article originally appeared on Engadget at https://www.engadget.com/audio/headphones/bowers–wilkins-announces-its-latest-pi6-and-pi8-true-wireless-earbuds-161812832.html?src=rss