It’s been two years since Sony launched 360 Reality Audio, a format that uses Sony’s object-based spatial audio technology to deliver 360-degree sound. In that time, 360 Realit Audio has become available on Deezer, Tidal, Amazon Music HD and nugs.net, with subscribers to those services able to listen to them in all their immersive glory.
Compatible products include Sony’s dedicated SRS-RA5000 and SRS-RA3000 wireless speakers, Amazon’s Echo Studio smart speaker and certain Sony headphones (such as the WH-1000XM4) via the firm’s dedicated Headphone Connect app.
Now, however, it seems as though Sony has plans to widen compatibility for the format to more Android devices. In the Android Open Source Project, code reviews and comments from both Sony and Google have directly mentioned Sony 360 Reality Audio, as spotted by XDA Developers. The report highlights a comment by Sony software engineer Kei Murayama: “This is one of the patches mentioned in the meeting ‘Android OS 360RA support’ between Google and Sony.”
That suggests a collaboration is in the works to bring Sony’s custom decoder for the format (which is built on the open MPEG-H 3D Audio standard) to the wider Android world, presumably allowing app providers to easily offer 3D audio playback.
While 360 Reality Audio can support up to 64 channels of audio, the code mentions support for a 13-channel audio layout “which uses surround 5 channels, top 5 channels and bottom 3 channels”. It also states that a “Virtualizer can place individual sounds in a 360 spherical sound field from these channels on any headphones” – so it looks like the technology may be able to work in a psuedo capacity with any set of headphones or, indeed, speakers.
With that Sony and Google joint venture in mind, plus the fact Sony recently announced video streaming capabilities for 360 Reality Audio and 360 Reality Audio Creative Suite content creation software, we could well be seeing – and hearing – more of Sony’s immersive audio efforts in the near future. Look out, Dolby Atmos Music.
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Bravia Core is Sony’s high-end movie streaming service. It promises picture quality to rival 4K Blu-ray, the world’s largest selection of IMAX Enhanced movies and the latest box office releases from Sony Pictures. But is it right for you? And how can you get it? Here’s everything you need to know about Bravia Core…
As we reported back in January, Bravia Core claims to offer the highest bitrate of any streaming service currently available. Where Netflix streams 4K video in HDR at up to 17.2 Mbps, and Apple TV+ stretches to 40 Mbps during certain scenes, Bravia CORE claims to go one further with high-quality streaming up to 80 Mpbs.
Impressive. If Sony’s figures are correct, Bravia Core is truly an industry first. It’s not for everyone, though – we’ll explain why below. Read on as we reveal the Bravia Core price, launch date, streaming quality, movie selection and more…
Bravia Core: release date
(Image credit: Sony )
Bravia Core – the ‘Core’ stands for Centre of Real Entertainment – was unveiled at CES in January 2021 and officially launched on 6th April 2021. The service is due to launch in 50 territories in 2021, including the UK, US, Canada, Australia and most of Europe (but not Italy).
The video streaming service aims to serve the latest blockbusters from Sony Pictures Entertainment and also hundreds of the company’s classics in 4K Blu-ray-like HDR quality (provided you have a fast enough internet connection). Some content also supports DTS – but not DTS:X.
Here’s a look back at the Bravia Core launch video…
Bravia Core: price
(Image credit: Sony)
Bravia Core is available for free – but only when you buy a Bravia XR 4K or 8K TV from the 2021 Sony TV line-up. Right now, the Bravia Core app comes pre-loaded on the Master Series Z9J 8K LED and Master Series A90J, as well as other 4K LED models such as the X95J, X90J and X80J (you can find the full list here).
Don’t fancy shelling out for a brand new Bravia XR TV? Unfortunately, there’s no other way to experience Bravia Core just yet.
So will Bravia CORE will be available on older Sony TVs, or other Sony devices such as the PS5, in the future? Sony’s FAQ page seems pretty clear: “No. BRAVIA Core will be available for eligible BRAVIA XR models.”
Lastly, it’s worth noting that the more you spend on a Bravia XR set, the more free Core you get. Splash out on the Z9J or A90J and you get 24 months’ free Bravia Core plus 10 credits to spend on lossless titles that would otherwise be available on pay-per-view basis. Purchase any other Bravia XR models and you get 12 months’ access and five credits.
At this point, you might be wondering what happens when the complimentary period ends? Short answer: nobody knows. Sony has yet to announce long-term pricing but according to Core’s terms and conditions, “you may watch the movies you have redeemed via Bravia Core until February 23, 2026”. That suggests Core could shift to a paid subscription model in years to come… assuming it’s a success.
Bravia Core: free trial
The likes of Disney+, Paramount+, Amazon Prime Video and Apple TV+ all offer new users a free trial, so you might be wondering if Sony offers a Bravia Core free trial. The answer? Sort of.
Sony does offer a ‘free trial’ – a free 12- or 24-month subscription to Bravia Core – but only with the purchase a 2021 Sony Bravia XR TV. No bad thing, since the Bravia XR range could well include some of the best TVs Sony has ever made.
Bravia Core: streaming quality
(Image credit: Sony)
Bravia Core aims to “bring the cinematic experience home” using Sony’s own Pure Stream technology, which offers streaming at 30 – 80 Mbps.
“Pure Stream is the highest streaming picture quality available on Bravia XR television,” commented Bill Baggelaar, EVP and CTO, Technology Development, Sony Pictures Entertainment.
Bravia Core’s main attraction is its collection of 300 new and recent titles that can be purchased or redeemed via Core credits. These are the crème de la crème, quality-wise, and many are available to stream in up to 80Mbps (4K Blu-ray discs tend to be around 82Mbps).
Then there’s ‘Unlimited Streaming’, which offers over 100 titles from the Sony Pictures catalogue in up to 4K HDR quality. Lastly, Sony has thrown in more than 50 ‘IMAX Enhanced’ titles, each of which is remastered using IMAX’s proprietary technology in 4K HDR. Some of these titles boast DTS sound, too.
Of course, the streaming quality you achieve all depends on the speed of your broadband…
Bravia Core: broadband speed
While Netflix recommends a 25 Mbps connection for streaming 4K movies, Sony says Bravia Core “requires a minimum internet speed of 43 Mbps.”
For reference, the average broadband speed in the UK is around 64 Mbps according to regulator Ofcom. That’s nowhere near enough to max out your Core experience – especially if Sony adds 8K content later in the year, as has been hinted.
Indeed, those who want to stream the highest quality lossless movies via Core will need a minimum internet speed of – drumroll, please – 115 Mbps. Sadly, many UK households don’t have access to those kinds of speeds yet.
Bravia Core: catalogue
(Image credit: Sony Pictures)
Sony has yet to release a full list of Bravia Core movies but the Japanese giant has highlighted the following titles:
Venom
Blade Runner 2049
Peter Rabbit
Ghostbusters
Blade Runner 2049
Jumanji: The Next Level
Little Women
A Beautiful Day in the Neighborhood
Bad Boys For Life
Baby Driver
Bloodshot Hotel
Transylvania
Smurfs: The Lost Village
Expect around 450 titles in total, including the premium titles above, popular classics and an extensive selection of IMAX Enhanced film titles. Around 100 of the titles can be streamed as many times as you like, at no cost, in up to 4K HDR quality.
On top of that, there’s exclusive ‘Studio Access’ content, which offers behind-the-scenes extra footage and interviews from Sony Pictures productions.
Bravia Core: early verdict
Bravia Core will almost certainly find itself cast as “the high-end Netflix” but it’s a very different proposition. Firstly, it’s exclusive to selected Sony TVs. Secondly, it’s designed to act as a showcase for Sony’s Pure Stream technology. And thirdly, the current selection of movies is still quite limited when you compare it to some rival services.
If you’re after a next-level, cinematic experience and have a smokin’ broadband connection, Bravia Core could be a fantastic addition to your home cinema. If you don’t, a 4K Blu-ray player could provide just as good picture quality and, we’d imagine, superior sound given the lack of compatibility with high-quality audio formats such as Dolby TrueHD.
Still, there’s no doubting Sony’s ambition and we look forward to putting Bravia Core through its paces when testing compatible Sony TVs.
MORE:
Our pick of the best Sony TVs on the market right now
Our guide to the best TVs you can buy
Take a look at the best streaming services for TV and movies
A man who was falsely accused of shoplifting has sued the Detroit Police Department for arresting him based on an incorrect facial recognition match. The American Civil Liberties Union filed suit on behalf of Robert Williams, whom it calls the first US person wrongfully arrested based on facial recognition.
The Detroit Police Department arrested Williams in 2019 after examining security footage from a shoplifting incident. A detective used facial recognition technology on a grainy image from the video, and the system flagged Williams as a potential match based on a driver’s license photo. But as the lawsuit notes, facial recognition is frequently inaccurate, particularly with Black subjects and a low-quality picture. The department then produced a photo lineup that included Williams’ picture, showed it to a security guard who hadn’t actually witnessed the shoplifting incident, and obtained a warrant when that guard picked him from the lineup.
Williams — who had been driving home from work during the incident — spent 30 hours in a detention center. The ACLU later filed a formal complaint on his behalf, and the prosecutor’s office apologized, saying he could have the case expunged from his records.
The ACLU claims Detroit police used facial recognition under circumstances that they should have known would produce unreliable results, then dishonestly failed to mention the system’s shortcomings — including a “woefully substandard” image and the known racial bias of recognition systems.
The department itself has acknowledged that Williams’ arrest was based on “sloppy investigative work” and other mistakes. But the complaint calls this incident part of a pattern, pointing to a second wrongful arrest involving a Black man misidentified by facial recognition tech. That man, Michael Oliver, sued the department last year. Outside Detroit, at least one other Black man has sued for a wrongful arrest based on facial recognition.
Thousands of law enforcement agencies have allegedly used facial recognition tech to identify suspects. But a backlash has led several cities to ban the practice, while Microsoft, IBM, and Amazon have pledged to keep their systems out of police hands.
Anker has announced a new webcam as part of its new AnkerWork line of home office gear. The new webcam, called the PowerConf C300, is a 1080p webcam with a “built-in AI chipset,” which Anker says “provides a high-quality image with accurate color reproduction and unparalleled low-light performance.”
The webcam offers three field-of-view options: 78 degrees, intended for closeups; 90 degrees; and 115 degrees, which offers a wider field of view. It also has dual stereo microphones that can pick up your voice. The PowerConf C300 is available at Amazon, Anker.com, and “select retailers,” and it costs $129.99 in the US, €129.99 in Germany, and £119.00 in the UK.
Anker also announced a new portable conference speaker, the PowerConf S500. Pricing and availability will be announced at a later date, the company said.
The news of Anker’s new webcam and speaker comes the same day that Microsoft also announced a speaker designed for conference calls and a webcam of its own. Webcams have been in high demand during the pandemic as people have used them while working from home, attending remote school, or even just to catch up with friends and family, and Microsoft and Anker’s new offerings give people more options to choose from.
Mobvoi is starting to sell the TicWatch GTH today, a $79.99 fitness wearable that features sensors for skin temperature and blood oxygen that are typically reserved for more expensive watches. Mobvoi has generally focused on Wear OS devices in the past, providing a variety of options for Google’s troubled wearable operating system, but the TicWatch GTH seems more like a Fitbit competitor than anything else.
The TicWatch GTH has an Apple Watch-esque square body, a noticeably bezeled 1.55-inch screen, and only comes in “raven black.” Mobvoi claims the GTH’s 260mAh battery can last more than a week on one charge, “depending on usage,” and that the watch is also water-resistant up to 5ATM or 50 meters. Despite that, Mobvoi’s website notes that the GTH is not safe for shower use.
The TicWatch GTH has several sensors that appear on more expensive watches, like an SpO2 sensors and an electrodermal activity sensor.Image: Mobvoi
For sensors, the GTH has the usual fitness tracker standbys like an accelerometer, gyroscope, and a heart rate monitor, but also a SpO2 sensor for measuring blood oxygen level and a skin temperature sensor for… well, measuring your skin temperature. Actual uses for skin temperature data vary, however. The Fitbit Sense advertised skin temperature sensing as an indicator for stress. In its announcement for the GTH, Mobvoi didn’t specify what skin temperature should be used for. But as a rule, we urge caution for any big claims a new sensor might come attached with.
That rule also applies to measuring blood oxygen saturation. There’s been a trend of including blood oxygen sensors in smartwatches, but the wrist is not actually the best place to measure saturation, and these smartwatches shouldn’t be thought of as medical devices. Knowing your blood oxygen level mostly seems useful for serious athletic training and not much else.
But even if they might not necessarily be useful, the fact that the TicWatch includes both SpO2 and skin temperature sensors for only $79.99 is notable. The GTH undercuts the Apple Watch Series 6 at $399, the Fitbit Sense at $299.95, and even the Fitbit Charge 4 at $169.95, while tracking a lot of the same things. The TicWatch GTH is stuck in Mobvoi’s Tic-based app world, but the company does offer a variety of features like stress management, sleep tracking, automatic workout detection, audio playback controls, and basic messaging notifications if you’re willing to invest in a potentially unfamiliar system.
The TicWatch GTH is not particularly flashy, but its price might be enticing if you’re looking for an even more affordable entry into tracking than Fitbit’s entry-level watches. The TicWatch GTH is available today for $79.99 / €79.99 / £69.99 from Mobvoi’s site or Amazon.
Bravia Core is Sony’s high-end movie streaming service. It promises picture quality to rival 4K Blu-ray, the world’s largest selection of IMAX Enhanced movies and the latest box office releases from Sony Pictures. But is it right for you? And how can you get it? Here’s everything you need to know about Bravia Core…
As we reported back in January, Bravia Core claims to offer the highest bitrate of any streaming service currently available. Where Netflix streams 4K video in HDR at up to 17.2 Mbps, and Apple TV+ stretches to 40 Mbps during certain scenes, Bravia CORE claims to go one further with high-quality streaming up to 80 Mpbs.
Impressive. If Sony’s figures are correct, Bravia Core is truly an industry first. It’s not for everyone, though – we’ll explain why below. Read on as we reveal the Bravia Core price, launch date, streaming quality, movie selection and more…
Bravia Core: release date
(Image credit: Sony )
Bravia Core – the ‘Core’ stands for Centre of Real Entertainment – was unveiled at CES in January 2021 and officially launched on 6th April 2021. The service is due to launch in 50 territories in 2021, including the UK, US, Canada, Australia and most of Europe (but not Italy).
The video streaming service aims to serve the latest blockbusters from Sony Pictures Entertainment and also hundreds of the company’s classics in 4K Blu-ray-like HDR quality (provided you have a fast enough internet connection). Some content also supports DTS – but not DTS:X.
Here’s a look back at the Bravia Core launch video…
Bravia Core: price
(Image credit: Sony)
Bravia Core is available for free – but only when you buy a Bravia XR 4K or 8K TV from the 2021 Sony TV line-up. Right now, the Bravia Core app comes pre-loaded on the Master Series Z9J 8K LED and Master Series A90J, as well as other 4K LED models such as the X95J, X90J and X80J (you can find the full list here).
Don’t fancy shelling out for a brand new Bravia XR TV? Unfortunately, there’s no other way to experience Bravia Core just yet.
So will Bravia CORE will be available on older Sony TVs, or other Sony devices such as the PS5, in the future? Sony’s FAQ page seems pretty clear: “No. BRAVIA Core will be available for eligible BRAVIA XR models.”
Lastly, it’s worth noting that the more you spend on a Bravia XR set, the more free Core you get. Splash out on the Z9J or A90J and you get 24 months’ free Bravia Core plus 10 credits to spend on lossless titles that would otherwise be available on pay-per-view basis. Purchase any other Bravia XR models and you get 12 months’ access and five credits.
At this point, you might be wondering what happens when the complimentary period ends? Short answer: nobody knows. Sony has yet to announce long-term pricing but according to Core’s terms and conditions, “you may watch the movies you have redeemed via Bravia Core until February 23, 2026”. That suggests Core could shift to a paid subscription model in years to come… assuming it’s a success.
Bravia Core: free trial
The likes of Disney+, Paramount+, Amazon Prime Video and Apple TV+ all offer new users a free trial, so you might be wondering if Sony offers a Bravia Core free trial. The answer? Sort of.
Sony does offer a ‘free trial’ – a free 12- or 24-month subscription to Bravia Core – but only with the purchase a 2021 Sony Bravia XR TV. No bad thing, since the Bravia XR range could well include some of the best TVs Sony has ever made.
Bravia Core: streaming quality
(Image credit: Sony)
Bravia Core aims to “bring the cinematic experience home” using Sony’s own Pure Stream technology, which offers streaming at 30 – 80 Mbps.
“Pure Stream is the highest streaming picture quality available on Bravia XR television,” commented Bill Baggelaar, EVP and CTO, Technology Development, Sony Pictures Entertainment.
Bravia Core’s main attraction is its collection of 300 new and recent titles that can be purchased or redeemed via Core credits. These are the crème de la crème, quality-wise, and many are available to stream in up to 80Mbps (4K Blu-ray discs tend to be around 82Mbps).
Then there’s ‘Unlimited Streaming’, which offers over 100 titles from the Sony Pictures catalogue in up to 4K HDR quality. Lastly, Sony has thrown in more than 50 ‘IMAX Enhanced’ titles, each of which is remastered using IMAX’s proprietary technology in 4K HDR. Some of these titles boast DTS sound, too.
Of course, the streaming quality you achieve all depends on the speed of your broadband…
Bravia Core: broadband speed
While Netflix recommends a 25 Mbps connection for streaming 4K movies, Sony says Bravia CORE “requires a minimum internet speed of 43 Mbps.”
For reference, the average broadband speed in the UK is around 64 Mbps according to regulator Ofcom. That’s nowhere near enough to max out your Core experience – especially if Sony adds 8K content later in the year, as has been hinted.
Indeed, those who want to stream the highest quality lossless movies via Core will need a minimum internet speed of – drumroll, please – 115 Mbps. Sadly, many UK households don’t have access to those kinds of speeds yet.
Bravia Core: catalouge
(Image credit: Sony Pictures)
Sony has yet to release a full list of Bravia Core movies but the Japanese giant has highlighted the following titles:
Venom
Blade Runner 2049
Peter Rabbit
Ghostbusters
Blade Runner 2049
Jumanji: The Next Level
Little Women
A Beautiful Day in the Neighborhood
Bad Boys For Life
Baby Driver
Bloodshot Hotel
Transylvania
Smurfs: The Lost Village
Expect around 450 titles in total, including the premium titles above, popular classics and an extensive selection of IMAX Enhanced film titles. Around 100 of the titles can be streamed as many times as you like, at no cost, in up to 4K HDR quality.
On top of that, there’s exclusive ‘Studio Access’ content, which offers behind-the-scenes extra footage and interviews from Sony Pictures productions.
Bravia Core: early verdict
Bravia Core will almost certainly find itself cast as “the high-end Netflix” but it’s a very different proposition. Firstly, it’s exclusive to selected Sony TVs. Secondly, it’s designed to act as a showcase for Sony’s Pure Stream technology. And thirdly, the current selection of movies is still quite limited when you compare it to some rival services.
If you’re after a next-level, cinematic experience and have a smokin’ broadband connection, Bravia Core could be a fantastic addition to your home cinema. If you don’t, a 4K Blu-ray player could provide just as good picture quality and, we’d imagine, superior sound given the lack of compatibility with high-quality audio formats such as Dolby TrueHD.
Still, there’s no doubting Sony’s ambition and we look forward to putting Bravia Core through its paces when testing compatible Sony TVs.
MORE:
Our pick of the best Sony TVs on the market right now
Our guide to the best TVs you can buy
Take a look at the best streaming services for TV and movies
Amazon is now allowing Xbox owners to download Xbox Game Pass games using Alexa. The feature doesn’t require Alexa users to immediately install a skill, and it can be evoked by saying “Alexa, download [game] from Xbox Game Pass.”
If you’ve already linked Alexa to your Xbox, then the digital assistant will find the game and install it to the linked Xbox automatically. You can also ask Alexa what’s new or popular on Xbox Game Pass and even find out what’s leaving the service soon.
If you haven’t already linked Alexa to an Xbox, then you’ll be prompted to set up the link when you attempt to download a game with your voice for the first time. This will require the Xbox skill to be installed through the Alexa app.
Microsoft is Amazon’s first gaming partner to launch this new Alexa direct-download feature, and it arrives just weeks after a new Alexa app debuted on Xbox. The Alexa app on Xbox lets you display emails, the weather, and other visual content, alongside using the digital assistant for voice commands to launch Xbox games.
This new Alexa direct-download option for Xbox Game Pass subscribers will be available to US users today, with additional markets planned for the future.
Roku’s introducing a trio of new devices today, led by the new $39.99 Express 4K Plus streaming device. Shipping in mid-May, the Express 4K Plus basically replaces the Roku Premiere as the company’s entry-level 4K player. It now has a faster processor, dual-band Wi-Fi, and increased internal storage. Plus, Roku says you can now attach a Micro-USB-to-Ethernet adapter if you prefer a wired connection. The Express 4K Plus is also the first Roku player to support HDR10+, which will come to the Roku Ultra as well after a future firmware update.
A stripped-down “Express 4K” player will be sold exclusively at Walmart in the US for $35. This model will also make its way to Canada, Mexico, and the UK. The only real difference is that it ships with a basic Roku remote instead of the voice remote that comes with the Plus SKU.
Next up is the first Roku remote with a rechargeable built-in battery. We knew this one was coming, and you’ll be able to buy the Roku Voice Remote Pro starting today for $29.99. It includes a built-in headphone jack for private audio, two customizable shortcut buttons, TV controls, and, in another first for Roku, it features mid-field microphones for hands-free voice commands.
Image: Roku
By default, the mics will listen for the “Hey Roku” hot phrase. But there’s a slider button right on the remote that turns off the always-listening mode. (If you do so, you can still hold down the microphone button on the front of the remote and speak a command.) One reason for maybe leaving the mics on? You can call out to the remote with a “Hey Roku, find my remote,” and it’ll make a sound to reveal its location in the couch cushions.
Image: Roku
And the last of the new Roku products is what the company is calling its Streambar Pro, described as “an evolution of the Roku Smart Soundbar.” The Smart Soundbar came with Roku’s streaming software built in, and this refreshed hardware “now includes a Roku voice remote with personal shortcut buttons and private listening, Roku headphones, and the new virtual surround feature for $179.99.” (Virtual surround will also come to the Smart Soundbar with a software update.)
The Streambar Pro will be available to order from Roku’s website in late May and should start arriving at major retailers in June. Roku still doesn’t face any real competition from Amazon in this combined soundbar / streaming player category, though Apple is rumored to be experimenting with a product similar in concept.
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What makes a smartwatch “smart”? Is it the ability to show you notifications from your phone? What about the ability to track your physical activity and wellness, such as step counts, workouts, and sleep? How about providing you information about your day, such as the weather and upcoming calendar events? Or perhaps it’s the inclusion of a voice assistant on your wrist that you can ask to do things without having to use your phone?
Those are the questions I’ve been asking over the past week-plus as I’ve been testing the new OnePlus Watch, a $159 smartwatch and the first wearable from the smartphone company. The OnePlus Watch has all the looks of a modern smartwatch, but as I’ve learned wearing it on my wrist day and night, it doesn’t have all the smarts.
The OnePlus Watch is not like a Wear OS smartwatch, such as those made by Fossil, Motorola, or Mobvoi. Nor is it like a Samsung Galaxy Watch or an Apple Watch. All of those have software platforms that integrate with other apps and services, so you can download apps or watchfaces to the watch itself, just like you might with a phone. That makes them very extensible and customizable — you can easily make the watch look unique and do the things you need it to.
The OnePlus Watch, on the other hand (or wrist?), runs its own proprietary software, based on a real-time operating system. This software is very quick and power efficient, but it is not extensible — there’s no app store or third-party watchfaces to download on the OnePlus Watch. It’s similar to the software on the budget smartwatches you can get on Amazon; if you’ve ever used an Amazfit, Umidigi, or Wyze watch, you’ve used a real-time operating system. The OnePlus Watch is not very different from those in this respect.
This choice of platform affords the OnePlus Watch its greatest strength, long battery life, and also its greatest weakness: it just doesn’t do all that much compared to other smartwatches you can buy.
The OnePlus Watch looks like many other smartwatches, but most especially the Samsung Galaxy Watch Active.
OnePlus Watch software
The OnePlus Watch pairs with and is controlled by the OnePlus Health app for Android — there’s no iPhone compatibility at all. But you don’t need to own a OnePlus phone, it works with basically any modern Android device. I tested it on both OnePlus and Samsung smartphones and the experience was the same.
The app is where you can see what health and fitness metrics the watch has recorded, adjust which apps send notifications on your wrist, and view the available watchfaces. OnePlus has about 50 watchfaces so far, with some offering limited customizability in the form of selectable shortcuts or widgets, such as a weather widget, date, or shortcut to a built-in app like the timer. You can choose up to 14 faces to store on the watch and switch between them without using your phone. The company says it plans on adding more in the future, but as I mentioned earlier, there are no options for third-party watchfaces or third-party app widgets like you get with Samsung, Wear OS, or Apple smartwatches.
The watchfaces themselves are what you’d expect: there is the assortment of analog and digital styles to choose from, with some showing more information about your activity than others. I’m not a big fan of the analog options, so I settled on a digital face. Unfortunately, there’s a bug where digital watchfaces on the OnePlus Watch are stuck in 24-hour time and can’t show 12-hour time. The company tells me it is aware of this bug, and it is slated to be fixed “this month.”
The OnePlus Watch’s interface mimics Wear OS and is easy to navigate.
The watch interface has a familiar layout: swipe down for settings, swipe up to see notifications, press the side button to see your apps. You can swipe right from the watchface to access basic widgets for music control, weather, and activity tracking, similar to Wear OS or a Samsung watch. The design of the interface all looks mostly fine, and there thankfully aren’t any stutters or lags when navigating it.
I do have a few gripes with how notifications are handled. You can’t clear notifications by just swiping them away, like you can with every other smartwatch. Instead, you have to tap into each one and then press clear or scroll to the bottom to clear them all. It’s a clumsy and fiddly process. The OnePlus Watch doesn’t always sync with the notifications I’ve cleared on my phone, either, and occasionally notifications for the same messages would get duplicated, forcing me to see the same alerts more than once.
You can’t do much with those notifications, either. There are no actions you can take other than clearing them from your wrist. OnePlus supports canned message replies in just five apps: WhatsApp, Telegram, Line, Discord, and Facebook Messenger. Notably and frustratingly, that list doesn’t include standard SMS messages. On top of that, there are only four basic replies to choose from: “OK”; “Be right there!”; “In a meeting, contact you later”; and “I’m driving, contact you later.” I frequently use a smartwatch to triage notifications, delete incoming emails, or reply to messages when I’m away from my desk, but I can’t do most of those things with the OnePlus Watch.
The OnePlus Watch comes with a basic set of apps: weather, timer, stopwatch, alarm, workout, sleep tracking, etc. Oddly, it doesn’t have a calculator or a calendar app, so I can’t easily see my next meeting or appointment, something I do a lot with other smartwatches. There’s no way to get your next appointment on your watchface, either. And since there isn’t an app store, I can’t add any apps to that list.
You can forget about streaming music from Spotify or playing podcasts through your favorite app — the only thing you can do with the OnePlus Watch is control what’s playing on your phone or transfer MP3 files from your phone to the watch’s 4GB of storage. Want to track your runs with Strava or MapMyFitness instead of OnePlus’ app? Sorry, no dice. If you want to control smart home devices from your wrist, the OnePlus Watch is entirely useless unless you have a OnePlus TV, where you can use it as a remote. The OnePlus TV is only available in India.
The OnePlus Watch also lacks a voice assistant. I can’t ask it to start a timer when I’m in the kitchen and my hands are dirty, I can’t ask it to turn the lights off or open my garage door, and I can’t dictate a reply to an incoming message. How well voice assistants work varies greatly between smartwatches (Siri on the Apple Watch, pretty good! Bixby on a Samsung watch, less so), but OnePlus isn’t even trying here and I’ve missed having one available.
Lastly, even though the OnePlus Watch has an NFC radio, it does not support mobile payments. You can’t tap your wrist to pay for something like you can with an Apple Watch, Samsung watch, or Wear OS smartwatch.
The OnePlus Watch’s fitness tracking features hit the standard beats.Photo by Vjeran Pavic / The Verge
OnePlus Watch fitness tracking
The fitness tracking features are quite basic. It will track your steps throughout the day; the watch will nudge you to get up and move when you’ve been sitting for too long; you can choose between 14 different workouts for the watch to track; and if you wear the OnePlus Watch to bed, it will make an attempt to track your sleep.
I’m not a gym rat, but I did wear the OnePlus Watch on my left wrist with a Fitbit Inspire HR on my right wrist throughout this review and the OnePlus counted thousands fewer steps than the Fitbit every day. None of these devices are perfect with their step tracking, but that kind of discrepancy is going to make tracking a longer-distance run or other intense workout inaccurate or just plain hard to do. I asked a few other reviewers I know who are also testing the OnePlus Watch and each one has had the same issues with inaccurate step counting. OnePlus says a bug fix for GPS optimization and to add more workout modes will be available sometime in mid-April.
While the OnePlus Watch frequently undercounted my steps, it overestimated how much I slept each night.
Sleep tracking, oddly enough, has the opposite problem. The OnePlus Watch consistently overestimates how long I slept each night compared to the Fitbit and Google’s Nest Hub. A bug has also prevented the Watch from syncing its sleep data with the OnePlus Health app, even though other activity synced over fine. The company says this bug should also be fixed sometime this month.
As mentioned earlier, you can’t use other fitness apps on the OnePlus Watch. The OnePlus Health app provides syncing with the Google Fit platform, so it’s possible you could cobble together a syncing solution between other apps using Fit as glue, but I did not test this. In general, the OnePlus Watch’s fitness tracking is fine for basic activity trends, but any fitness enthusiasts will want something more capable and reliable.
The OnePlus Watch only comes in one size: a large 46mm face.
OnePlus Watch hardware and design
In terms of design, the OnePlus Watch is generic-looking — it reminds me a lot of Samsung’s Galaxy Watch Active line. It’s got a round face, there are two buttons on the side, and the body is made of polished stainless steel, which is nice to see at this price point. It comes in silver, black, or a gold-colored special edition — I’ve got the black model and it’s a little boring to look at. Either way, the hardware is solid and put together well — it’s not creaky or plasticky, and there are no rough edges to worry about.
OnePlus is only offering the watch in one size, 46mm, and frankly, it’s big. It’s bigger than I like watches to be on my wrist, and if you have smaller wrists than me you’re not going to have a fun time with this. On the plus side, it’s not the thickest smartwatch I’ve ever worn. Just one size band comes in the box — OnePlus says that customers who need a shorter band will be able to get one by contacting customer service.
The touchscreen is a 1.39-inch 454 x 454 OLED that’s easy to see both indoors and out. It’s colorful, like you’d expect an OLED to be, but there’s no always-on display option, which nearly every other smartwatch has now. That makes it that much more annoying to check the time, though the wrist turn gesture does work well to wake it up.
On the underside are the sensors for heart rate and blood oxygen. As usual, you should not use these sensors for medical purposes — and blood oxygen monitors on even the best smartwatches notoriously struggle with giving accurate readings. Inside the watch are the accelerometers and gyroscopes necessary to track your activity and workouts, plus GPS and Bluetooth radios. There’s no Wi-Fi or LTE here — if you leave your phone behind, you’re going to miss notifications and alerts until the watch is back in Bluetooth range of your phone.
Also missing from the OnePlus Watch are any rotating bezels or crowns — the only way to interact with it is to tap and swipe on the screen itself or push the buttons on the side.
Even though it doesn’t have a voice assistant, the OnePlus Watch does have a microphone and speaker, so you can answer calls from your wrist via Bluetooth. It worked fine in my tests; callers said I sounded clear to them, but the speaker on the watch is a bit crackly at full volume. It works in a pinch.
The OnePlus Watch has exceptional battery life and charges very quickly on its included charger.
The best thing about the OnePlus Watch is its battery life. OnePlus claims up to 14 days of usage between charges — it lasted about 10 days for me, wearing it day and night. Charging the watch is also quick and easy: just 20 minutes on the charger adds half a charge, which translates to literal days of usage. No Apple, Samsung, or Wear OS watch can last this long or charge this quickly.
But at the same time, the OnePlus Watch has such great battery life because, frankly, it just does less than those other smartwatches. The best comparison I can make is that the OnePlus Watch is a fitness tracker in a smartwatch body, which would be an acceptable premise if it were a better fitness tracker.
There are about 50 different watchfaces to choose from for the OnePlus Watch.
The OnePlus Watch may look like a lot of other smartwatches, but I can’t say it compares well to them. It’s limited in features, only comes in one size, and as I’ve gone over, there are several bugs with it that make it feel like an unfinished product. Aside from its long battery life, the OnePlus Watch’s bestselling point is its low price, which is half that of a Samsung Galaxy Watch 3 and over $100 less than the comparably sized Galaxy Watch Active 2. But if you’re looking for a smartwatch for your Android phone, it’s not that hard to find Wear OS models on sale, often for less than the cost of the OnePlus Watch.
For me, a good smartwatch is a lot like a personal assistant on my wrist. It tells me the time, when my next calendar appointment is, what the weather is like, and how active I’ve been throughout the day. I can quickly ask it to set a timer when I’m making a cup of tea or use it to reply to a message from my spouse when I’m running an errand. It also lets me customize its appearance and capabilities through third-party apps, watchfaces, or both. For others, it’s a way to track workouts and keep on top of their personal health.
In that framing, the OnePlus Watch isn’t really a smartwatch and based on my experience, it isn’t a great fitness tracker either. Instead, it’s just a clever watch, and it can be useful if your expectations of it are low. But if a smartwatch is going to take up real estate on my wrist, it has to be more useful than the OnePlus Watch.
Between the excellent operating system and solid all-round performance, this is an impressively complete package at a reasonable price
For
Excellent upscaling
Bold, colourful picture
Superb Roku UI
Against
Sonically lightweight
Colours can be heavy-handed
There are reasons why wine is dated by year. The grapes might come from the same fields, the fermentation process may be identical and the barrels alike, but the taste and quality still vary from season to season. While TV panel production is unlikely to be quite so affected by the weather, the Hisense Roku R50A7200GTUK proves that just because you use the same materials and method as last year’s excellent vintage, it doesn’t mean the results will be the same.
The Hisense Roku R50A7200GTUK is likely to be the cheapest 50in TV we’ll see on sale in the UK this year from a major manufacturer. It promises a good-sized, punchy 4K HDR image and all the major apps and services you could need, without so much as an additional box or stick in sight.
It’s a pledge that Hisense delivered so well in 2020 with its R50B7120UK model that it has decided to leave the recipe pretty much as it was for its 2021 Roku TV. While there are many Roku TVs available in the US, for the UK this Hisense model stands alone.
Pricing
The Hisense Roku R50A7200GTUK is priced at £349, although if last year’s set is anything to go by, that could drop significantly later in the year. The Hisense Roku TV A7200GTUK is also available in 43in, 55in and 65in sizes, though our review sample here is the 50in version. On paper, these other panel variants are identical, apart from that the 43in size comes with a lower-powered, twin 7W speaker system and the top-end size benefits from a two 10W speaker set-up.
These Hisense Roku TVs are only available in the UK and are Argos exclusives.
Features
(Image credit: Future / The Map Of Tiny Perfect Things, Amazon Prime)
The Hisense Roku R50A7200GTUK is simple and unassuming in style and appearance and the chassis is almost the same as the previous model. It’s a little more even on the rear, though the overall thickness remains identical. The feet are matte plastic instead of gloss, but that’s about it.
The one key improvement is on the front, where the bezel has been reduced from a basic-looking 1cm band to something closer to 4mm, giving a more contemporary aesthetic. There’s no change to the usable and fully featured remote control. There are direct shortcuts buttons to Freeview Play, Netflix, Google Play Movies & TV, Spotify and Rakuten, plus some clear navigation and media controls too.
Around the rear of the set are three HDMI 2.0-rated ports which can manage frame rates of up to 60Hz at 4K level. There’s also a USB 2.0 socket, a wired headphones connection, and ARC support for easy connection to a soundbar.
Hisense Roku R50A7200GTUK tech specs
(Image credit: Future / The Map Of Tiny Perfect Things, Amazon Prime)
HDR formats HDR10, HLG
Sound formats Dolby Audio, DTS Studio Sound
Inputs 3x HDMI 2.0 (inc ARC), USB 2.0, headphones out
Freeview Play Yes
Dimensions (hwd) 72 x 113 x 26cm (with stand)
Weight 9kg
The Roku TV smart platform is pretty close to flawless. It covers all the major streaming services as well as thousands of seriously niche ones. You want a channel dedicated to crossbow hunting? It’s there. Fancy gaining more knowledge about the cigar industry? You’ll find that here too, along with plenty of other topics.
The only gaps in its offering are Britbox, Apple Music, Amazon Music and VLC, although it does have its own Roku media app, and Airplay support means you can stream most missing content from Apple devices.
You’ll find 4K HDR content available on all the big players. Since last year’s model was launched, UHD support for Google Play has arrived as has the BT Sport app, which is good news for football fans.
It’s also well worth downloading the Roku Channel, which brings free access to over 10,000 films, TV episodes and documentaries from over 40 content partners. But it’s not just the apps that make Roku great, it’s the ease of use. The menu system is simple and clear and the universal search is excellent. Type in the name of an app, TV show, film, actor or director and it brings up all the information you need. Results pages show all the streaming services where each title is available, with the resolution and price information. That now includes the catch-up services, which is an upgrade on the platform compared to last year’s Roku TV.
To set up voice searching, you’ll need to download the handy Roku TV app allowing you to add new channels, cast content from your mobile or tablet to your TV, or just use it to control playback. We also love the Private Listening mode on the app interface; press that and the TV’s sound is routed through your device. Attach a pair of headphones to your mobile and you have a personal AV experience – perfect for late-night viewing.
For live TV, the Freeview tuner is at the helm, along with the Freeview Play homepage of curated catch-up content. At the heart of the experience is the exact same quad-core processor to do the leg work. It offers more than enough to drive the system with barely a hint of lag or frozen responses at any point. Once again, Roku TV is a pleasure to use from top to bottom, from app to screen.
Picture
(Image credit: Future / The Map Of Tiny Perfect Things, Amazon Prime)
Despite its low price, the Hisense Roku R50A7200GTUK is still a direct-lit LED TV – and it shows. Compared with others at this end of the market, the light levels are fairly even across the panel and, even if there’s a little bit of bleed, the blacks are strong with no off-putting blotchiness. Unlike pcirier direct-lit LED sets, though, there appears not to have been enough left in the budget for any local dimming zones, and that’s probably the most telling absence on the spec sheet.
We watch the opening sequences of Guardians Of The Galaxy Vol.2 on 4K Blu-ray and the Missouri cloudscape is more heavy-handed than we’re used to. The dramatic overtones are still there, with plenty of contrast to handle that, but the lack of close control to individual areas of the backlighting means that it’s missing the subtlety of a more expensive TV set.
However, Hisense seems to know where this TV’s strengths lie. It’s not trying to offer finesse, it’s aiming to land a punch. And it does so successfully. The picture is bright and colourful, and even sharper and richer than its apparently identical predecessor.
This second run of Hisense Roku TVs for the UK really comes into its own once we leave the confines of Earth and head to the Sovereign planet for the Guardians’ battle with the Abilisk and a firework display of colour and fun.
The kaleidoscope of gases spewed by the multi-dimensional, tentacled monster look terrific, and the characters flying around it are bold and well-defined in all their HDR glory. There’s no adjustment for motion processing onboard, but while there’s some judder it isn’t hard to cope with. There’s no blurring and smearing of the action to distract either.
Switching down to standard-definition material with Star Wars: The Force Awakens on Blu-ray, we are reminded of last year’s Roku TV and its brilliance with upscaling from 1080p. Fortunately, that ability remains intact.
The opening scene in the hut is as revealing in terms of shadow detail as we could hope. It’s worth adjusting the brightness slider in the picture settings until you strike the right balance. In terms of starting points, the ‘Normal’ setting gets you closest to the best results, but make sure ‘TV Brightness’ is set to max.
Both the early scenes of Rey’s desert home on Jakku and the lush green forests of Maz’s home planet of Takodana are produced with enthralling colours and so much natural detail that it’s hard to find fault with the picture. Even watching BBC News in SD, the picture is remarkably sharp and stable for a panel this size, even if the colours are more simplistic.
Our only real criticism of the image is at higher resolutions. Occasionally that punchy approach can take things too far; it doesn’t have the same chromatic complexity as more expensive TVs. The result is that every now and then, the colour of a piece of clothing or skin tone misses the mark.
For example, Quill’s overcoat ends up a little too oxblood in the throne room scene in front of Princess Ayesha. There’s also a moment when Gamora’s green face is a little too lurid, but there are relatively few of these mishaps. What this TV does with its limited technical resources is impressive.
Sound
(Image credit: Future)
According to the spec sheet, there’s no difference between the Hisense Roku R50A7200GTUK and its 2020 predecessor, but their two sonic presentations are like chalk and cheese. One favours clarity, the other authority, but ultimately neither one produces particularly better TV sound than the other. It seems there’s only so much life that can be squeezed from this modest two 8W speaker system.
As with the picture adjustments, there are only a few settings to play with – only really the DTS processing mode and a dialogue enhancer. There’s also a TruVolume mode for night-time listening which will limit the peaks and troughs of loudness at any one volume level, so that you can hear the onscreen action without waking your neighbours.
Watching the battle sequence outside Maz’s tavern midway through Star Wars: The Force Awakens, gives an excellent sense of what this speaker system can manage. Given its limited resources, this TV copes pretty well. The sound effects of the laser blasts and the TIE fighters screaming past are crisp and detailed. The battle cries and dialogue of the rebels and troopers are clear and placed effectively in the soundscape. When the X-Wings come to the rescue and chase off the Empire, the rousing score still manages to excite.
Naturally, there’s room for improvement. There’s not enough under the hood here to produce the whole frequency range with quality. Hisense has opted to prize the midrange and upper-mid sounds, which is good for voices but means that there’s not a huge amount of impact to gunshots and explosions. Equally, the sound can feel a little strained and congested in the treble. If you find it borders on being difficult to listen to, switch off the DTS.
That said, to expect much more from a TV at this price would be unrealistic. It never fails to deliver the meaning of the source material, no matter the content. You might wish for a little more fun while watching big action movies, but you’ll be thanking your lucky stars every time you opt for more character driven dramas.
Does it spread the audio all the way round the room? Does it offer height-infused Dolby Atmos sound? No. It’s a TV with small speakers and just enough processing that means you can understand what everyone is saying. Not all soundbars can manage that.
Verdict
The vintage may be different, but this is another great year. We suspect that Hisense and Roku have made the best 50in TV you’ll find for under £350 in 2021. Neither the picture nor the sound are perfect but, combined with a brilliant feature set and an unbeatable content offering, the results are a lot more than the price infers.
It’s like uncorking a £4 bottle and discovering that it’s no cheap plonk. And that’s something we can all drink to.
The Apple HomePod could soon be back from the dead. Not as another standalone wireless speaker, but rather as a built-in audio system for the next Apple TV, Bloomberg reports.
The site’s sources say this new version of Apple’s TV box will combine video streaming with a built-in HomePod speaker, a camera for TV-based video calls, and other smart home features.
It’s part of the tech giant’s latest push into the smart home space, in order to better compete with its arch rival Amazon. Apple is also said to working on a premium smart speaker with a touchscreen.
Such a device would basically be a mashup between an iPad and a HomePod. It too would have a camera for video calls, and could pan to follow the user around the room, similar to the Amazon Echo Show and Facebook Portal.
Both devices are in the early stages of development at the moment, so Apple might choose to launch one, both or neither.
Apple has lagged behind its cut-price rival Amazon in the smart home space. And its HomePod speaker struggled for sales too. Last month, Apple killed the HomePod, leaving just the smaller, cheaper HomePod Mini as its sole smart speaker.
The Apple TV hasn’t been updated in over three years. Recently, we’ve seen a slew of rumours regarding the next model – it’s been tipped to get a 120Hz frame rate and smart new Siri remote control. The Apple TV+ streaming service is also looking to ramp up production to Netflix-like levels with a recent hiring.
Apple is said to be holding its next event next week. That could be too early for a new Apple TV, but you never know…
(Pocket-lint) – The smart speaker space has really taken off this past few years, and having only given us one size speaker for a good portion of that time, Apple finally launched the little round HomePod mini in 2020. But should you buy it over an Echo Dot?
In the video below we go over some of the key differences between them, or you can read on if you’d rather:
Design
HomePod mini: 84.3 x 97.9mm
Echo Dot: 89 x 100mm
HomePod: Space Grey and White
Echo Dot: Charcoal, Glacier White and Twilight Blue
Both: Fabric coated
Both devices are small, fabric coated mini globes, and are practically the same size. Do not a lot of difference in the appearance stakes. What makes a bigger difference are other elements of the design.
For instance, the Echo Dot has four physical buttons, each different shapes. So if you’re fumbling around in the dark you can feel which button is which before you press it.
Having four distinct buttons also means you know what they do pretty much instinctively. Volume up and down is self explanatory, while the mute button is pretty easy to figure out too.
Apple has gone with a simple all touch-sensitive surface and for basic functions it works well enough. If you have music playing, you can just tap to pause and tap again to play again, or tap on the left ‘-‘ or right ‘+’ icons to adjust the volume.
In truth, when it comes to controlling music, it’s often easier just to use a voice command – which they can both do, whether you want to tell it to skip to the next track, or turn the volume up or down.
Both light up to let you know when they’re listing for a command too. So if you say “Hey Siri”, you get that nebulous glow on the top panel letting you know Siri is listening. Alexa gives you that simpler and – arguably – visually clearer blue LED ring around the base that reflects off the surface it’s sat on.
The other design choice that makes a difference is Amazon opted to put a 3.5mm port in the back. That means if you want to add Alexa smarts to an existing – but better sounding – sound system, you can plug it into a speaker or amp port you already have. HomePod doesn’t give you that functionality.
Music
HomePod: Apple Music voice control support
Echo Dot: Supports Spotify, Apple Music, Deezer + Amazon Music
HomePod: AirPlay support
Echo Dot: Supports Spotify Connect and Bluetooth
If you’re an Apple Music subscriber, it just makes sense to go with HomePod. In our experience, it’s been more reliable when it comes to responding to requests to play the music in the way that we like.
The thing that stands out in our testing is when you ask it to shuffle one of your playlists. Alexa just doesn’t do it with Apple Music, it just plays through the playlist in the order you added tracks to it, no matter if you ask it to shuffle and it says ‘ok’.
Similarly, Echo often misunderstands the request. One particular instance was when asked for ‘Space’ Orchestral Version by Biffy Clyro, HomePod played the song. Echo heard ‘Orchestral’ and decided just to play some random orchestral music.
If you have an iPhone, it’s also really easy to control music on the HomePod. You can either open up the Home app and select the speaker and control the music from there, or put your phone near the speaker and tap the popup widget that appears.
Plus, once it’s playing, a control appears on your Lock Screen automatically allowing you to control it without even opening your phone.
With Amazon Echo, the strength is in its compatibility. It does let you use your Apple Music account, but also supports more providers.
For Spotify subscribers not only does it let you use voice actions to play your Spotify playlists and albums, but also works with the Spotify Connect service, so you can control it from within the Spotify app once that music is playing. You can also control it from the Alexa app.
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If soud quality is the most important thing to you, the HomePod has it here.
In comparison we found the Echo Dot sounded noticeably more distorted, and bass wasn’t as tightly controlled as the HomePod. But then, given the price difference, that’s not surprising. They’ll both fill a small room with sound quite comfortably, but in the Alexa app you can also adjust the EQ if you want to adjust the highs, mids and bass frequencies to your liking.
Still, HomePod was the clearer and crisper sounding of the two, and coped better with lower bass notes. They didn’t seem to fall off a cliff as much as they might with the little Echo.
Smart home
HomePod: HomeKit integration
Echo Dot: Alexa Skills support
Both: Support timers, reminders, alarms and to-do lists
If you’re buying a speaker primarily as a smart home control, there’s no competition here. Apple’s is still quite limited, because you can only really control HomeKit compatible devices easily with it at the moment, and there aren’t as many of those as there are Alexa-compatible services.
In the home where both were tested side-by-side we had various smarthome products ranging from lighting to heating and robot vacuums. We had bulbs from LiFX, Wiz and Nanoleaf, a Roborock vacuum, Tado thermostat and Ring Video Doorbell 2.
In this setup, only the Nanoleaf and Tado systems were supported by HomeKit natively without any complex workarounds. Alexa could control all of it.
As for other features, both will let you set reminders, or broadcast to other Echo or HomePod devices in the house, or use them as intercom. Plus, you can set timers, alarms, or ask them the weather or make use of their various funny Easter eggs.
One thing to watch out for in future is Thread. It’s a smarthome system that makes devices interoperable without needing HomeKit or Alexa skills support. The idea being that devices can talk to eachother without that account in the middle acting as the go-between.
HomePod Mini supports Thread, potentially making it more future proof. Echo devices don’t currently support Thread.
Conclusion
When choosing between these two, it will likely come down to one of two things. If you’re want to save money, you get the Echo. If you want smart home control, you get the Echo. If you want cross platform music support, you get the Echo.
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But if the most important thing is better sounding music, or your an Apple Music subscriber with an iPhone, the HomePod mini will give you the better experience. But for most people, we think the Echo Dot is the more practical speaker.
Nvidia introduced its Arm-based Grace CPU architecture that the company will use to power two new AI supercomputers. Nvidia says its new chips deliver 10X more performance than today’s fastest servers in AI and HPC workloads.
The new Grace CPU architecture comes powered by unspecified “next-generation” Arm Neoverse CPU cores paired with LPDDR5x memory that pumps out 500 GBps of throughput, along with a 900 GBps NVLink connection to an unspecified GPU for the leading-edge devices. Nvidia also revealed a new roadmap (below) that shows a “Grace Next” CPU coming in 2025, along with a new “Ampere Next Next” GPU that will arrive in mid-2024.
Notably, Nvidia named the Grace CPU architecture after Grace Hopper, a famous computer scientist. Nvidia is also rumored to be working on its chiplet-based Hopper GPUs, which would make for an interesting pairing of CPU and GPU codenames that we could see more of in the future.
Nvidia’s pending ARM acquisition, which is still winding its way through global regulatory bodies, has led to plenty of speculation that we could see Nvidia-branded Arm-based CPUs. Nvidia CEO Jensen Huang confirmed that was a distinct possibility, and while the first instantiation of the Grace CPU architecture doesn’t come as a general-purpose design in the socketed form factor we’re accustomed to (instead coming mounted on a board with a GPU), it is clear that Nvidia is serious about deploying its own Arm-based data center CPUs.
Nvidia hasn’t shared core counts or frequency information yet, which isn’t entirely surprising given that the Grace CPUs won’t come to market until early 2023. The company did specify that these are next-generation Arm Neoverse cores. Given what we know about Arm’s current public roadmap (slides below), these are likely the V1 Platform ‘Zeus’ cores, which are optimized for maximum performance at the cost of power and die area.
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(Image credit: Nvidia )
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(Image credit: ARM)
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(Image credit: ARM)
Chips based on the Zeus cores will come in either 7nm or 5nm flavors and offer a 50% increase in IPC over the current Arm N1 cores. Nvidia says its Grace CPU will have plenty of performance, with a 300+ projected score in the SPECrate_2017_int_base benchmark. That’s impressive for a freshman effort — AMD’s EPYC Milan chips, the current performance leader in the data center, have posted results ranging from 382 to 424, putting Grace more on par with the 64-core AMD Rome chips. Given Nvidia’s ’10X’ performance claims relative to existing servers, it appears the company is referring to primarily GPU-driven workloads.
The Arm V1 platform supports all the latest high-end tech, like PCIe 5.0, DDR5, and either HBM2e or HBM3, along with the CCIX 1.1 interconnect. It appears that, at least for now, Nvidia is utilizing its own NVLink instead of CCIX to connect its CPU and GPU.
As we can see above, the first versions of the Nvidia Grace CPU will come mounted as a BGA package (meaning it won’t be a socketed part like traditional x86 server chips) and comes flanked by what appear to be eight packages of LPDDR5x memory. Nvidia says that LPDDR5x ECC memory provides twice the bandwidth and 10x better power efficiency over standard DDR4 memory subsystems.
Nvidia’s next-generation NVLink, which it hasn’t shared many details about yet, connects the chip to the adjacent CPU with a 900 GBps transfer rate (14X faster), outstripping the data transfer rates that are traditionally available from a CPU to a GPU by 30X. The company also claims the new design can transfer data between CPUs at twice the rate of standard designs, breaking the shackles of suboptimal data transfer rates between the various compute elements, like CPUs, GPUs, and system memory.
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(Image credit: Nvidia)
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(Image credit: Nvidia)
The graphics above outline Nvidia’s primary problem with feeding its GPUs with enough bandwidth in a modern system. The first slide shows the bandwidth limitation of 64 GBps from memory to GPU in an x86 CPU-driven system, with the limitations of PCIe throughput (16 GBps) exacerbating the low throughput and ultimately limiting how much system memory the GPU can utilize fully. The second slide shows throughput with the Grace CPUs: With four NVLinks, throughput is boosted to 500 GBps, while memory-to-GPU throughput increases 30X to 2,000 GBps.
The NVLink implementation also provides cache coherency, which brings the system and GPU memory (LPDDR5x and HBM) under the same memory address space to simplify programming. Cache coherency also reduces data movement between the CPU and GPU, thus increasing both performance and efficiency. This addition allows Nvidia to offer similar functionality to AMD’s pairing of EPYC CPUs with Radeon Instinct GPUs in the Frontier exascale supercomputer, and also Intel’s combination of the Ponte Vecchio graphics cards with the Sapphire Rapids CPUs in the Aurora supercomputer, another world-leading exascale supercomputer.
Nvidia says this combination of features will reduce the amount of time it takes to train GPT-3, the world’s largest natural language AI model, with 2.8 AI-exaflops Selene, the world’s current fastest AI supercomputer, from fourteen days to two.
(Image credit: Nvidia)
Nvidia also revealed a new roadmap that it says will dictate its cadence of updates over the next several years, with GPUs, CPUs (Arm and x86), and DPUs all co-existing and evolving on a steady cadence. Huang said the company would advance each architecture every two years, with a possible “kicker” generation in between, which likely will consist of smaller advances to process technology rather than architectures.
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The US Department of Energy’s Los Alamos National Laboratory will build a Grace-powered supercomputer. This system will be built by HPE (the division formerly known as Cray) and will come online in 2023, but the DOE hasn’t shared many details about the new system.
The Grace CPU will also power what Nvidia touts as the world’s most powerful AI-capable supercomputer, the Alps system that will be deployed at the Swiss National Computing Center (CSCS). Alps will primarily serve European scientists and researchers when it comes online in 2023 for workloads like climate, molecular dynamics, computational fluid dynamics, and the like.
Given Nvidia’s interest in purchasing Arm, it’s natural to expect the company to begin broadening its relationships with existing Arm customers. To that effect, Nvidia will also bring support for its GPUs to Amazon Web Service’s powerful Graviton 2 Arm chips, which is a key addition as AWS adoption of the Arm architecture has led to broader uptake for cloud workloads.
Logitech has discontinued its Harmony range of universal remotes. No new products will be produced, and once existing inventory is gone, it’s gone. The brand says it will continue to support existing products as long as customers are using them, but to what degree will be interesting to see.
Logitech was one of the biggest names in remote controls. Its products were a neat way to control your TV and AV system with a traditional button layout. But with the explosion in streaming sticks and smart home devices, expanding control through apps and voice assistants, and the likes of Apple, Amazon and Google increasingly bundling their own remote controls with their products, the idea of a ‘universal’ remote became ever more stretched.
With more streaming services such as Netflix and Amazon Prime Video coming as part of smart TVs, and the increase in HDMI-CEC support, which allows devices connected via HDMI to be controlled via a single remote, the popularity of dedicated universal remotes has waned. Indeed, Logitech considered selling off its Harmony division back in 2013. So maybe the big surprise is that it lasted another eight years.
Logitech was one of the few remaining companies making universal remotes. Now it’s left to the likes of Sevenhugs and Caavo to mop up what’s left of the market.
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Apple is reportedly developing a new TV accessory that combines elements of its Apple TV with a HomePod speaker and camera for video calls, according to a new report from Bloomberg. Alongside it, Apple is also said to be working on a smart speaker with a display, similar to Amazon’s Echo Show or Google’s Nest Hub. Development of both devices is said to be in its early stages, with plans subject to change.
The unannounced TV accessory would have the hardware to fulfill a variety of roles. As a TV accessory it could offer access to games and the streaming video services supported by Apple TV today; while its built-in speaker would likely be an upgrade over those found in most TV sets, similar to Roku’s soundbars. It would also support HomePod features like music playback and Siri voice assistant controls, much like the Sonos Beam offers with Alexa and Google Assistant. Finally, the camera would let it serve as a video calling device like a Facebook Portal TV. It’s potentially a lot of functionality in a single Apple device.
The second device is a smart display similar to what competitors Amazon and Google already offer, combining features of an iPad and HomePod. Apple’s work on the device was previously reported by Bloomberg last month. Like the TV accessory, this device would also offer video chat features, but via its built-in screen rather than a connected TV. Apple is said to have explored using a robotic arm to rotate the display and track users, similar to Amazon’s 2020 Echo Show.
While Apple’s existing smart home devices have focused on one or two key areas, the functionality offered by the two rumored devices would be much broader. Bloomberg notes that Apple merged its HomePod and Apple TV engineering groups in 2020.
Apple’s smart home lineup could use a shot in the arm. The company hasn’t updated its Apple TV hardware lineup since 2017, and it recently discontinued its high-end HomePod to focus on the more affordable HomePod mini. A hardware update for the Apple TV has been rumored for several months now, and recently discovered code suggests it might include support for 120Hz refresh rates.
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