A San Francisco-based startup called Framework has just launched an ambitious project: a thin, lightweight productivity laptop that it claims can be “upgraded, customized, and repaired in ways that no other notebook can.”
Framework founder Nirav Patel told The Verge that the company aims to address his long-standing frustrations with consumer technology companies. Patel was one of the original Oculus employees and has worked for Apple as well. During that time, he says he “saw an industry that felt incredibly broken across the board.”
“As a consumer electronics company, your business model effectively depends on churning out constant tons of hardware and pushing it into channels, and into market, and into consumers’ hands, and then sort of dropping it and letting it exist out there,” Patel explains. “It encourages waste and inefficiency, and ultimately environmental damage.”
To that end, Patel sees the Framework Laptop as more than a product — he sees it as an ecosystem.
The Framework comes with a 13.5-inch 2256 x 1504 screen, a 1080p 60fps webcam, a 57Wh battery, and a 2.87-pound aluminum chassis. Inside, you’ll get 11th Gen Intel processors, up to 64GB of DDR4 memory, and “4TB or more” of Gen4 NVMe storage.
As is the case with all kinds of consumer laptops, buyers can swap out and upgrade various internal parts of the Framework, including the RAM, battery, and storage. The company is trying to bring three additional benefits to the table. The first is that you can also customize and upgrade external components of the chassis, including the keyboard, screen, bezels (which are magnetically attached), and ports (via an expansion card system). If you’re someone who hates dongles and docks, you can select four ports from an assortment that includes the usual suspects (USB-C, USB-A, HDMI, DisplayPort, microSD, etc).
The second is that Framework will be selling its own modules in a centralized online marketplace, which is also open to third-party sellers and resellers. The idea is that if your screen cracks or you feel like changing your bezels, you can hop onto Framework’s site to find replacements that are custom-made for your laptop rather than having to search around. Framework’s components are printed with QR codes that, when scanned, will bring you straight to a purchase page for their upgrades.
The third is that in addition to a pre-built Framework system, you can purchase a “DIY” kit of your selected parts, which you can then use to assemble the laptop yourself. The DIY Edition provides some operating system flexibility: you can install “your preferred Linux distribution” on it or your pick of Windows 10 Home or Windows 10 Pro.
Image: Framework
It’s a cogent plan, to be sure. But Framework won’t be able to achieve its upgradable, sustainable future just by announcing an ecosystem — it has to actually create an ecosystem that will last. And whether Framework will continue to manufacture modules for this specific laptop model far into the future, or whether third-party partners will pick up the slack, is certainly a question mark.
If you’re any kind of PC enthusiast, you probably know that Framework is far from the first company to try a scheme like this. Intel has given modular computers a shot in the past, to little result — its Compute Card was a commercial failure, and its modular Ghost Canyon NUC (which had hardware partners on board at launch) still has yet to receive any new components. Alienware’s original Area-51m also never received its promised future-proof upgradable parts. Phone makers have tried modular devices as well: Google’s Project Ara smartphone, composed of Lego-style bricks that users could rearrange and swap in and out, didn’t go anywhere. The reality is that hardware is hard to build and modular hardware is even more challenging.
Image: Framework
Patel, for his part, believes those OEMs weren’t committed enough. “Other companies, they put it out there, and someone internally decided, ‘Eh, we’re going to focus on something else this year,’ and shut down the project,” says Patel. “This is not something we’re dabbling in. It’s not a side project for us that someone thought was interesting. This is the core of our company.”
“We are releasing new modules, and upgrades, and accessories, and so on to drive the health of the ecosystem, and we’re going to continue doing that for as long as customers want us to,” Patel adds.
Framework will be taking preorders this spring, and the device is expected to ship this summer. Pricing hasn’t yet been announced, though Patel says it will be “comparable to other well-reviewed notebooks.”
This interview was originally published by What Hi-Fi? in March 2016.
It is easy, often and now especially, to become consumed by technology. It is easy to allow the romanticism of music, the entire grounds for that technology, to be camouflaged. That is why, speaking with Stuart Braithwaite, guitarist, vocalist and songwriter of post-rock deities Mogwai, it is ultimately uplifting listening to this self-confessed non-techie discuss sound so passionately, relatively unfocused on the mechanics or mathematics behind its reproduction.
Unfocused is not to say uninterested, of course. In fact, when we speak with him, Stuart is in the process of fixing up an out-of-commission Linn turntable he’s been gifted by a friend, and can speak proudly of what is a thoughtfully and impressively pieced together stereo system.
We also speak with Braithwaite in anticipation of Mogwai’s latest record, Atomic, a soundtrack to Mark Cousins’ documentary film of the same name about the atomic age. It’s the band’s third major soundtrack, following on from Zidane: A 21st Century Portrait (2006) and for the first series of French supernatural TV show Les Revenants (2012), and we discuss how writing and recording for screen differs to a studio album, also from project-to-project, and about the process of readying a soundtrack for release as a record.
An avid reader of our reviews can hardly have failed to notice our admiration for Braithwaite’s work, nor, in a more pragmatic sense, its worth for testing hi-fi equipment, so we also take this opportunity to ask for his recommended test discs and what it is he’s listening for from his kit. In short, it’s as interesting and revealing a half-hour natter about music as we’re likely to have.
40 of the best 1990s albums to test your speakers
Collaboration outside the band
What Hi-Fi?: Well it makes sense to begin with speaking about Atomic. What’s the process when you’re writing and recording a soundtrack; how is that different to recording a studio album?
Stuart Braithwaite: Well I think the main difference is the music isn’t just for us. When we’re making our own album then the only thing we’re bothered about is the whole band being happy with the music, whereas if it’s a soundtrack then you’ve obviously got other people who are involved, who’ve got to approve and think that the music works as well. So it’s really just more of a collaboration, a collaboration out of the band, compared to an album, which is just the band members getting the music together to our satisfaction.
WHF: Do you see the footage beforehand and write music for specific scenes, or is it more about getting a few ideas together and letting directors decide what to do with it?
SB: The processes have been different. With Atomic, we wrote the music to the scenes, whereas with Les Revenants we just provided an awful lot of music and they just told us where they wanted to put it. So it depends from project to project, but usually we’ll have an idea of the sort of atmosphere of the film. Atomic was a little bit different because there were very different sections of it that have very different emotions and atmospheres to them, but with Zidane and Les Revenants they both had very distinctive atmospheres that we were kind of writing within.
WHF: Had you seen Zidane and Les Revenants beforehand, or was that from speaking with the directors?
SB: With Zidane they’d already made the film, so we came in once the thing was completely shot; they were just editing. Les Revenants we started before they’d even shot anything, it was all just from the story and the references the directors gave us. With Atomic it was kind of self-explanatory, but we were very involved with Mark Cousins, the director, discussing what he wanted, how he wanted things to feel.
In the studio
WHF: You don’t release the album of Atomic until April; what goes on in those in between months?
SB: Essentially the music is the same, but we just spent a bit more time, filled it out a little bit more, wrote a few new parts, changed different sounds; we just really developed it. I think we just wanted to take the opportunity to work on it a little bit more; that was the main motivation.
WHF: What is the recording process like for you; what’s your routine?
SB: We tend to start in the morning getting the basic sounds up; we very often record the bass and the drums together and then overdub the other instruments. [Overdubbing] gives you a bit more time to think about what to play. Usually we’re still writing parts; usually the structure and the basic shape of the music is done, but quite often we’ll still be writing parts.
WHF: Do you ever find yourself not knowing when to stop?
SB: Oh we always put too many parts on, but that’s just a decision further down the line, when we’re mixing we can pick and choose. No-one in the band really has much of an ego about things not getting used or anything like that.
WHF: What sort of things are you listening for when deciding which parts to keep and which to drop?
SB: Really just what sounds good. I mean, that sounds pretty obvious, but really just what works well with the song, what is different, what is new. We’ve made so many records and recorded so many songs that quite often you can do something and it’s not that dissimilar to something you’ve done before. So you obviously pull more towards something different.
Clinging on to CD
WHF: Let’s talk about home; what do you use?
SB: I’ve got a Moon amp, I think it’s a 250i; I’ve got KEF R700 speakers; I’ve got a Pro-Ject turntable, but my friend’s actually given me a Linn turntable that’s missing some parts, so I’ve been getting the parts and I’m going to sort that all out pretty soon; I’ve also got a little KEF Muo Bluetooth speaker for listening to music in other parts of the house.
WHF: What do you use as your main source?
SB: I’d say probably about 50 per cent vinyl, 50 per cent streaming through my Apple TV, to be honest with you. I still listen to CDs actually quite a lot, too; I’ve got a Cambridge Audio CD player. I’m kind of still clinging onto the CD era, even though I rarely buy them I’ve got a load that I bought in the 1990s.
WHF: We often play Mogwai when testing products. When you’re choosing hi-fi, what kind of music do you listen to generally?
SB: I would rather go for something that’s well recorded, like a classically recorded record rather than something really lo-fi. But one of my neighbours has got an insanely good stereo, and actually whenever you play something that was recorded in someone’s garage it sounds really horrible because it brings everything out that’s there. I really like listening to a lot of modern classical, like Max Richter, or possibly some sort of electronic music like Boards Of Canada or Aphex Twin; I think that stuff always sounds really, really good on a great system.
WHF: And what’re you listening to at the minute?
SB: I actually got this really wonderful album on Erased Tapes by a guy called Lubomyr Melnyk; it’s called Rivers and Streams. It’s absolutely brilliant, it’s a solo piano record, it’s one of the best records I’ve heard for years and I’m really, really enjoying that.
I also really like a lot of early African-American music, and I got a great box set on Dust To Digital called Art Of Field Recording Volume Two. It’s a four CD box, and the CD of religious music is absolutely amazing; one of the best things on it I’ve heard for years, I think it’s track four, it’s a piece called New Prospects, it’s just a live recording from a church, it really stopped me in my tracks, it’s one of the best things I’ve heard for a long, long, long time. It sounded absolutely amazing on the stereo, it sounded like you were there, which I suppose is the desired effect.
WHF: With such eclectic taste and the influence of that must have on your own work, is that something you just absorb naturally or are you ever listening intently for ideas for your own writing or recording?
SB: I think of ideas more than actual techniques or anything like that, I’m actually not a very techie person at all, but actually thinking about what’s happening with the music and how that could be applied to the type of instrumentation we use or the way melodies interact with each other, whether that’s something we could use. I’m just interested in how different people work.
WHF: What’s most important to you when you’re listening to hi-fi?
SB: I think space is really important, I think when you can really hear the proper sound of the instrument. I really like acoustic recordings and one of my favourite guitar players is Robbie Basho, the twelve-string player; to be able to hear the way each string resonates with the other strings, having the space to hear that kind of detail is important. I mean, there’s also a lot to be said for having so much music going on that you can’t tell what the hell’s going on as well, I think both extremes are absolutely wonderful.
Mogwai’s new album Atomic is on sale now
MORE:
10 of the best movie scores to test your system
50 great British albums to test your hi-fi system
Music for sleep: the best ambient albums to help you relax
Ever since Édouard-Léon Scott de Martinville recorded an almost undecipherable version of the French song “Au Clair de la Lune” in the mid-19th century, it’s been clear that the technology that you use to produce and listen to sounds can affect your experience. Even now, about 150 years later, the quality of your gear can mean the difference between a tinny, nearly unrecognizable noise or a fully realized aural experience.
As you can imagine, the people here at The Verge spend a lot of time listening to a variety of digital sounds — whether it’s online meetings, music, podcasts, videos, or sound checks of their own multimedia productions. We asked the staff what their favorite devices were to either listen to, enhance, or produce their digital sounds. Here’s what they talked about.
Plantronics Explorer 500 Bluetooth headset
Plantronics Explorer 500 Photo: Poly
About six years ago, I reviewed a midlevel Bluetooth headset from Plantronics (now Poly) called the Explorer 500. It was a small, nicely built, single-ear headset, and it came with a short USB cable with ends that magnetically snapped together to become a loop. I thought it was a pretty good piece of tech at the time, so I bought one — and I’m still using it. Of course, it’s not great for music (it uses only one ear, after all), but it’s incredibly convenient to have it hanging on a loop in my bag so I can grab it for a quick phone call or if I want to listen to a podcast. And surprisingly, the battery still holds a reasonable charge. One of these days, I’ll have to invest in a fully wireless headset so I can have fully mobile music as well — but until then, my Explorer 500 serves me well. — Barbara Krasnoff, reviews editor
AudioQuest Dragonfly USB DAC
AudioQuest Dragonfly seriesPhoto: AudioQuest
AudioQuest’s Dragonfly portable digital-to-analog converter (DAC) brings higher-quality audio to your devices. Most laptops, tablets, and smartphones don’t have great DACs or don’t natively support hi-res files like FLAC (nor tell you when they don’t), but with the Dragonfly, you’ll be able to listen to uncompressed audio up to 24-bit / 96kHz. There’s also an LED light on the device that changes colors to indicate which sample rate is being supported at the moment. AudioQuest makes three separate models: the basic Dragonfly Black; the Dragonfly Red, which uses a higher-performance DAC chip; and the Dragonfly Cobalt, its highest-end model.
In order to take full advantage of the Dragonfly, you’ll also need an adapter for your phone with a Lightning-to-USB-A adapter for an iPhone or a USB-C-to-USB-A adapter for an Android device. Portability is the biggest feature here — swapping between my phone and my laptop is the reason I’m recommending this for anyone who wants one gadget that will let you listen to hi-res audio on any device. — Andrew Marino, audio engineer
Audio-Technica ATH-M50 headphones
Audio-Technica ATH-M50xPhoto: Audio Technica
Alright, yes, I’m aware that these are pretty much already the internet’s favorite pair of wired, over-ear headphones. But seriously: I’ve had mine for six years now, and they’ve held up great. Sure, the pleather on the headband is starting to flake off, and I had to replace the ear cups a while back, but they sound just as good as the day I got them. I find that music just sounds fun with them — not too analytical, like my DT-770 Pros can sometimes be. The Audio-Technicas are for sure not reference headphones, but that’s probably not what most people are actually looking for.
They were also a great price, especially compared to their Bluetooth counterparts. And honestly, I’ve been falling out of love with wireless headphones for anything other than working out, though that’s probably a problem with me, not them. Either way, the newer version, the ATH-M50x (the ATH-M50 has been discontinued), has a removable cable so you don’t have to worry about being saddled with the ridiculously long cables that sometimes come with fancy headphones. (Another version, the ATH-M50xBT, disposes of the cable entirely.) — Mitchell Clark, news writer
Antlion Audio ModMic USB microphone
Antlion Audio ModMic USB microphone Photo: Antlion Audio
It seems like everyone’s getting big standalone microphones for their desks during the pandemic, but I don’t want to give up any precious real estate. A solution that works better for my needs is Antlion Audio’s ModMic USB microphone. It’s cleverly designed. First, you adhere a small circular base (about the size of a large chocolate chip) to the side of your headphones, then the microphone itself can be magnetically attached and detached at will. I like being able to quickly turn my headphones into a gaming headset, or to get ready for a meeting appearance, then back to regular headphones by detaching the mic. I use one with my Beyerdynamic DT 990 Pro open-back headphones and it helps me get more out of the kit I already own.
This particular microphone has two modes you can switch between: omnidirectional (made for broadcasts) or unidirectional, which helps to capture just your voice if you’re in a noisy environment. The sound quality of a voice recording made with the ModMic is very good — far better than most of the gaming headsets I’ve tried. The microphone is compatible with Windows, macOS, Linux, PS4, and PS5.
The downside is this model costs about $70. Also, if your headphones are wired, introducing this mic’s wire into the fray can get a little tough to manage. For me, the price is worth the effort. Antlion also makes an all-wireless rechargeable microphone for $120, if you want to go that route, which also has dual mic modes and can stick to your headphones with adhesive. — Cameron Faulkner, writer
AirPods
Photo by Chris Welch / The Verge
I love my AirPods and I have since my first pair. They’re lightweight, they charge up quickly in their case, and they sound good enough for what I need them for, which is mostly hearing notifications, listening to podcasts, and watching YouTube videos. It helps that I’m an iPhone and a Mac user, as they work really well with both devices.
I think I like the original AirPods more than the Pros, though. While the Pros offer some welcome upgrades like active noise cancellation and water and sweat resistance, they just don’t fit my ears as well. The original AirPods never fell out, but the AirPods Pro will slowly slip out if I’m talking or eating, and sometimes when I’m running. That means I’m constantly readjusting them if I’m doing anything besides sitting completely still. (To be fair, I’m sitting completely still a lot of the time right now.)
Here’s hoping that the next version of the Pros will fit my ears just a little bit better. If they do, they’ll likely become one of my favorite Apple products ever. — Jay Peters, news writer
Rode RodeCaster Pro podcast production
Rode RodeCaster Pro podcast production Photo: Rode
This four-mic input audio interface by Rode makes it significantly easier to set up a full podcasting session with a design that mimics a live mixing board. You can record multitracks onto your computer or internally on a microSD using a USB-C connection.
As someone who mostly mixes podcasts after they’re recorded, this setup is more appealing to me for live streaming on Twitch or YouTube. You also get built-in customizable sound banks, compression and EQ settings, multiple outputs for monitoring, and an intuitive design for traditional live mixing.
Fun tip: it’s also a great way to record phone call interviews by pairing the RodeCaster Pro with your smartphone via Bluetooth. — Andrew Marino
HyperX QuadCast microphone
HyperX QuadCastPhoto: HyperX
I’d been looking to upgrade my microphone for a long time, but I was unsure which product to go with. A few friends recommended the HyperX QuadCast, and that’s what I ended up buying.
Previously, I used a Blue Yeti microphone, but I felt the audio quality was unsatisfactory on my end. I wanted to make sure I was buying a microphone that was not too cheap and not too pricey and, most importantly, had a nice cable lengthy so I did not have to rearrange my desk. Compared to the Blue Yeti, I found the HyperX QuadCast had great clarity and picked up the subtle details from my audio output.
I really enjoy the somewhat unconventional design of the QuadCast; it comes with straightforward controls, a stand, and a shock mount adapter for boom arms if you want to mount the microphone closer to you. I also find it convenient that the mute button is on top of the microphone. It makes it easy to mute myself quickly while on Zoom or Discord. —Taylor Lyles, writer
Sonos Five speaker
Sonos FivePhoto: Sonos
I’ve never found a single smart speaker that sounds better, and I like that there are no microphones inside. Those are the main bullet points for why I’ve had a Sonos Play:5 — recently refreshed as the Sonos Five — on my desk for several years now. For a speaker that doesn’t have a 360-degree design, the Five still produces a very satisfactory soundstage that can fill most rooms. It can kick out ample bass without overpowering the highs and mids of your music. It takes two of most other smart speakers paired together to come anywhere close to what the Sonos Five can deliver. (Granted, it had better sound damn good for $500.)
Pretty much every audio app under the sun is supported through the Sonos app, including hi-fi options like Tidal and Amazon Music HD. The Sonos Five works with Apple AirPlay, and there’s a 3.5-millimeter aux input for wired playback. (You can also use this to get a turntable hooked into your Sonos system.)
No, there’s no built-in voice assistant like Alexa or Google Assistant included here. But some people will appreciate the absence of always-listening mics. And adding an assistant to the mix after the fact is easy, either via another Sonos speaker like the One or simply by hooking up an Echo Dot or Nest Mini.
It’s just a shame that the white and black combo Play:5 colorway is no more; I think that was the best-looking speaker Sonos ever made. — Chris Welch, news editor
(Pocket-lint) – When looking for the best running headphones or for the gym, priorities are slightly different to when you’re searching out the best headphones for casual listening.
Headphones for exercise need to be comfortable and secure fitting as well as being sweat resistant. This is important as sweat is really bad for electronics.
Best in-ear headphones: Wired, wireless and wire-free
With that said, that means the best sports earphones are the ones that will stay in your ears, are lightweight and are comfortable to wear when you’re a sweaty mess pounding your feet against tarmac.
It also helps a lot if there’s plenty of bass pumping to keep you driving on. So without further ado, let’s check out the best headphones for running, the gym and general exercise.
Pocket-lint
Beats Powerbeats Pro
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Beats has reinvented the earphone and got rid of the wire, resulting in an amazing pair of workout earphones. They ensure that they fit as comfortably as is possible while they’re light too, so when they’re in your ears, not only do they fit very securely, but you can barely tell that they’re there.
Battery life is, quite frankly, insane for a pair of wire-frees, with the Powerbeats Pro capable of lasting up to 9 hours of constant music listening outside the case. All things considered, right now, these certainly seem like the best workout headphones you can get.
Beats Powerbeats Pro review: Perfect workout companions
Pocket-lint
Bang & Olufsen Beoplay E8 Sport
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If you want sports earphones that don’t look like sports earphones, this is where it’s at. Beoplay E8 Sport is – in every sense – a premium pair of true wireless earphones, but with design and features that suits runners and gym fiends.
You get water/sweat resistance, but also a grippy secure fit from the rubber outer of the earbuds. With B&O, you know you’re getting great quality sound in a package made from high end materials. In every way, this is just as much focused on sound and premium feel as any other B&O product, but they also happen to be great for working out too. You even get the convenience of wireless charging in the case.
Bang & Olufsen Beoplay E8 Sport review: Classy workout ‘buds
Pocket-lint
Beats Powerbeats
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Imagine if you took the comfort, sound and convenience of the Powerbeats Pro and put it in a pair of earphones that’s cheaper, but connected by a slim cable. That’s essentially what the latest generation of non-Pro Powerbeats earphones is.
The sound is delivered by the same custom drivers developed by Apple to offer great control over a wide range of frequencies, meaning bass is great, and don’t get boomy or muddy, while trebles/highs are still clear. They also have the Apple H1 Chip, and that means you get easy pairing with iPhones, plus automatic pairing/connecting with any other Apple device with the same iCloud account.
Apart from the lower price, the other reason you might prefer these to the Powerbeats Pro: battery. They can get through 15 hours of music playback before needing to be plugged into a Lightning cable for refilling, and when they do charge, they charge quickly
Beats Powerbeats review: Great earphones without the ‘Pro’ price
Pocket-lint
Master & Dynamic MW07 Go
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Master & Dynamic took the sound and drivers from its awesome first pair of true wireless earphones, then put them in smaller, lighter pair of in-ears with IPX6 water resistance. The tip offers a good seal in the ear, then the soft, bristled silicone comb fin in the ear keeps the pair securely in place during exercise.
If you’re into long exercise sessions, the MW07 Go has you covered. They can go up to 10 hours in a single session before needing to be placed back in their charging case. Couple that with sound that dynamic, rich and detailed, and you have one of the best sounding and – in our opinion – most attractive pair of workout earphones out there.
Master & Dynamic MW07 Go review: Same great sound, sportier appeal
Pocket-lint
AirPods Pro
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Apple’s new kids on the block are, quite simply, the best AirPods yet. We were some of the many people who would occasionally use previous AirPods models in the gym, guiltily, and knowing that their lack of waterproofing made it a real risk. No more — AirPods Pro bring water and sweat-proofing to let you go hard, and that in-ear design makes for a way more secure fit, too.
Plus, the addition of active noise cancellation means that you won’t have to crank the volume too crazily to drown out the playlist your gym chooses, or the honking and sirens of your outdoor environment. They don’t have many dedicated fitness functions, and while the fit is secure and comfortable, the hooks from the Powerbeats Pro do make those earbuds even more safe.
Apple AirPods Pro review: Silence is golden
Pocket-lint
Jaybird Vista
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These are superb running headphone, and are extremely reasonably priced given the features on offer. They don’t boast a huge range of controls, but they’re comfortable, lightweight and sweatproof. The security of the fit on offer is best-in-class, too, which matters a lot when you’re working out vigorously.
With a good charging case into the mix, taking the earbuds’ six-hour battery life up to 16 hours without needing main power, and really decent sound, too, the Vista marks a genuinely impressive effort from the ever-improving Jaybird.
Jaybird Vista review: Affordable workout king
Pocket-lint
Jabra Elite Active 75t
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We loved the standard Jabra Elite 75t, and still do – the Active version is almost exactly the same set of earbuds, just with the waterproofing dialled up to make sure that they’re perfect for sporty uses.
One thing we loved about this pair is the ability to tailor the sound to suit the individual. They give a lot of control over tone through the Jabra app for iPhone/Android.
The earbuds are also really comfortable and secure, a must for working out, and while 7.5 hours of music playback isn’t the best battery performance on this list, it’s definitely adequate for most workout sessions or activities. The ability to switch ‘HearThrough’ on means you can hear traffic around you when you’re running at night time.
Jabra Elite Active 75t review: True wireless sport star
Pocket-lint
Bose SoundSport Free
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These fantastic true wireless headphones are comfortably some of the best sports earphones for pure music enjoyment. The disadvantage is that they don’t have some of the smart fitness features you get in the likes of the Lifebeam Vi or Jabra Elite Sport we’ve talked about elsewhere; there’s no heart-rate or cadence measure for example. They are comfortable though and crucially don’t fall out.
You get a battery life of around five hours per charge although naturally there’s extra power in the case – enough to charge the earphones twice over again. So that’s around 15 hours in total. Because they’re black, they’re also a lot more subtle than many of the other choices out there.
Bose SoundSport Free review: The best wire-free sports earphones by a mile
Pocket-lint
Samsung Galaxy Buds+
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Samsung’s newest Galaxy Buds+ are great value for money, offering a convenient wireless charging case, lots of bass and a secure fit that ensures the latest pair of Galaxy-branded earphones will stay in your years.
Like some of the other modern pairs on the list, one of the best features is battery life. You can get up to 11 hours of music playback outside the case, so that should easily see you through your longest exercise sessions. Even if that session happens to be a long hike up a mountain range and back down again.
Samsung Galaxy Buds+ review: Enough of a plus?
Pocket-lint
Philips ST702
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If you’re pretty concerned not just with getting good wireless running performance, but also making sure that your earbuds don’t just become sweaty messes over time, Philips could have a solution here.
The ST702 have a UV-lit case that cleans them after each use, which means they should be clear of bacteria – it’s a nice touch. That said, it makes the case slightly chunky.
The buds are comfortable and stay secure thanks to wing-tips, and sound quality is very solid.
Philips ActionFit ST702 review: Truly wireless sports buds that keep it clean
Pocket-lint
Adidas FWD-01
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If you don’t mind having a neckband, these earbuds are pretty impressive – right down to the nice, woven fabric finish on that cord.
They’re nicely priced and have really decent battery life, plus a punchy sound profile that’s heavy on the bass.
Selecting the right buds and wing-tips should help you get a comfy fit, although we found that we had to adjust it every so often.
Adidas FWD-01 Sport In-Ear Headphones review: Pump it up
Writing by Cam Bunton. Editing by Max Freeman-Mills.
Hoping for a free Apple Music tier in light of Spotify’s recently-voiced concerns over people turning to music piracy should streaming giants raise their prices? It may come as no surprise to learn that Apple’s senior director of music publishing, Elena Segal, has confirmed that there will never be an Apple Music free tier.
As reported by 9to5Mac, Segal made the statement at the same British government hearing attended by Spotify, set up to discuss the remuneration of artists in music streaming and to investigate whether acts are paid too little. Paul Firth, director of International music at Amazon, and Horacio Gutierrez, head of global affairs and chief legal officer at Spotify, were also present, as well as representatives from the Musician’s Union.
10 Apple Music playlists to listen to right now
Replying to the question of whether Apple might offer a free Music tier, Segal said “We don’t think that an ad-supported service can generate enough revenue to support a healthy overall ecosystem. And it would also really go against our fundamental values on privacy.” She also said that since the launch of iTunes in 2003 (or 2004 in the UK) Apple has competed with free services, and that “competing with free is always very difficult, because consumers have a choice to move to free”.
When questioned on whether paying artists slightly more per stream might affect Apple’s finances dramatically, Segal stated, “at Apple Music, frankly, we already pay more than other services and I think that’s been fairly well discussed in the past. It is a narrow margin business and yes, it wouldn’t take too much to upset the so-called Apple cart”.
11 of the best Spotify playlists to listen to right now
Interestingly, Segal acknowledged that Apple Music absolutely can tell when you’re accessing a track via a playlist or when you’ve selected it specifically – so a user-centric payment policy is possible, in principle. That’s quite important, because much of this particular hearing focused on whether the current system of paying artists and composers was fair, and in particular whether the streaming music industry should switch to a new and different user-centric policy.
What’s the difference between a user-centric model and how artists are paid today? Essentially, in a user-centric model, the more the user (ie. the subscription-holder) listens to a certain bit of music, the more the rightsholder of it gets paid. So, if you only listen to Lewis Capaldi, his music secures all of the royalties generated by you.
In the current model, if Capaldi gets 1.5 per cent of streams in a certain period, his rightsholders get 1.5 per cent of the royalties pool, but – stay with us now – that actually means that 1.5 per cent of royalties generated by every individual subscriber are going to Capaldi’s music, even if the subscriber has never streamed one of his songs.
Apple Music vs Spotify: which is better?
Segal confirmed that Apple was definitely open to a user-centric model – with the caveat that it would be very difficult to reach a unanimous agreement in order to make the shift.
“I think it’s certainly very interesting, and the key thing for us is there needs to be consensus among all licensors. It’s not a model you can apply to some licensors and not to others. Obviously the only way to reach consensus like that is to get together as an industry” she said.
As noted by Musically, the fact that Spotify, Apple and Amazon say they’re willing to explore user-centric is a step forward – but after the inquiry it still seems unclear whether this approach would actually be better for artists.
So, although we now know Apple Music won’t be rolling out a free tier to compete with Spotify, we don’t know whether the Cupertino giant will try out a premium tier to compete with those offered by Tidal and Deezer among others – and let’s not forget the hotly anticipated Spotify HiFi tier…
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A well-stocked, easy-to-navigate catalogue of new and original content that Disney fans are bound to enjoy
For
Huge, intuitive catalogue
4K, HDR10 and Dolby Atmos/Vision
Vast device support
Against
Poor 4K HDR discovery
Once upon a time, a man called Walt Disney founded Walt Disney Studios with his brother and became one of the best-known motion-picture animators in the world. Fast forward nearly 100 years, over 400 movies and more than 60 Academy Award wins and, thanks to the Disney Plus video streaming service, nearly every Disney title ever committed to celluloid is now available to stream in one place.
Disney Plus (Disney+) is a natural rival to the likes of Netflix, Amazon Prime Video and Apple TV+, available in loads of countries – US, Canada, Australia, New Zealand, the UK and several European countries. It offers a rich catalogue of films and TV shows from Disney and its subsidiaries – Lucasfilm, Marvel, Pixar and National Geographic, as well as a slate of new Disney+ Originals. As of more recently, Disney Plus subscribers in Europe, Canada, New Zealand and the UK also have access to Star, a channel that offers “grown up” content from ABC and 20th Century Fox back-catalogues, plus originals that already live on US service Hulu (which Disney has a majority stake in).
Many titles are presented in the best video and audio technologies available today – 4K, HDR10, Dolby Vision and Dolby Atmos (technologies also adopted by its rivals) – and Disney has really gone the distance where device support is concerned.
Less than a year after it launched, Disney has attracted around 95 million subscribers – not far off half of Netflix’s headcount at the time of writing. So should Disney Plus be part of your world or should you let it go? Heigh-ho, heigh-ho, it’s off to Disney’s service we go…
Disney Plus: price, films, shows and all the details
14 of the best Disney Plus movies and shows to watch right now
Price
Disney Plus launched in the States in November 2019, rolling out to other territories (including Europe and the UK) the following March. The monthly fee was £5.99 ($6.99, AU$8.99, €6.99), making it a very tempting proposition indeed.
But, partly in light of the arrival of Star in several markets, that price has now gone northwards. Since 23rd February 2021, the monthly cost of Disney Plus is £7.99 ($7.99, AU$11.99, €8.99). In the US, the Disney Plus, Hulu, and ESPN Plus bundle will also get a $1 increase to $13.99 per month. Subscribers who signed up to Disney Plus before that February date will pay the original monthly price up until August 2021, when it will change to the pricier one.
Note that an annual subscription works out cheaper – £79.90 ($70, AU$120, €89.90) – if you’re willing to pay that upfront sum.
Features
(Image credit: Disney)
Disney Plus’s catalogue comprises over 700 films and more than 400 TV series, from all-time classics to family favourites, including three of the four most profitable films ever made: Avatar, Avengers: Endgame and Star Wars: The Force Awakens.
One of the service’s biggest selling points is its slate of original shows, such as The Mandalorian, The World According To Jeff Goldblum, Clone Wars, The Imagineering Story and High School Musical: The Musical: The Series (yes, that is its real title). Disney seems willing to splash the cash, announcing it plans to spend $8bn to $9bn on Disney Plus content alone in fiscal 2024, by which it hopes to have attracted over 230 million subscribers.
That title-dropping expands to more than 30 films and 50 series from the Marvel universe, including Black Panther, Avengers: Endgame, Captain Marvel, Guardians Of The Galaxy and Marvel’s Agents Of S.H.I.E.L.D.
Disney Plus is the only place to see Star Wars: The Rise of Skywalker, Captain Marvel and all future releases from both Lucasfilm and Marvel, and is the exclusive streaming hub for every Disney theatrical release from 2019 and beyond. And yes, the service also has over 600 episodes (30 seasons) of The Simpsons, too.
The catalogue features plenty of 4K HDR content (some originally mastered, some remastered), which isn’t surprising considering Disney has been in the Ultra HD Blu-ray game for three years. When we first reviewed the service upon launch, we counted just over 100 titles in 4K HDR – including Frozen, Star Wars: The Force Awakens, The Lion King (2019), Aladdin (2019), Toy Story 4, Moana and all five of Disney’s new Original movies. But thanks in part to the Star expansion, that figure has grown considerably.
In Europe, Canada, New Zealand and the UK, Star has matured the service offering, appealing more to adults and sensibly introducing parent controls (which means parents can set limits on access for specific profiles based on content age ratings and introduce PIN locks on profiles with access to mature content). Star arrived in February 2021 as a 270-film, 75-show proposition, including four originals and plans for future premieres. Highlights include – deep breath – Modern Family, The X-Files, Deadpool 2, The Grand Budapest Hotel, The Favourite, 24, Lost, Grey’s Anatomy, Desperate Housewives, Prison Break, Scrubs,The Killing, How I Met Your Mother and Buffy the Vampire Slayer.
(Image credit: Disney)
4K support isn’t limited to just new titles, either. Toy Story is in 4K HDR, as are the original Beauty And The Beast and The Lion King. Classics such as Alice In Wonderland, Pinocchio, Cinderella, The Jungle Book and Sleeping Beauty are presented in Full HD with 5.1 audio.
The fact you can download these titles in full 4K onto a compatible tablet or smartphone is arguably one of the best-value features of Disney+, considering the cost of individual 4K movies to rent or buy.
Downloads are unlimited, don’t expire, and can be downloaded on up to 10 devices. The same treatment isn’t so abundant with TV shows, with 4K HDR material limited to a handful of new Disney Originals series.
The service not only has plenty of content in 5.1 audio, it also supports Dolby Atmos, which was probably to be expected, given Disney’s commitment to the – the very first theatrical Atmos release was Disney’s Brave, after all.
Atmos content on Disney Plus spans over 100 titles – all movies, shorts and the odd Disney Original – including The Pirates Of The Caribbean franchise, The Mandalorian, WALL-E, Thor: Ragnarok, Star Wars: The Last Jedi, Guardians Of The Galaxy Vol 2, Big Hero 6 and the Captain Americas. Those same titles are also available in Dolby Vision HDR.
Amazon Prime Video vs Netflix – which is better?
Ease of use
(Image credit: Disney)
Disney Plus’s interface is similar to Netflix’s – and just as easy to use. It hasn’t tried to reinvent the wheel with its layout, and the result is a service most people will feel comfortable navigating.
A banner of featured content heads up the home page, with titles grouped into categories such as ‘Recommended for You’, ‘Originals’, ‘Musicals’ and ‘Mickey Mouse Through The Years’. There is also a ‘Nostalgic Movies’ tab for those who wish to revisit Bedknobs And Broomsticks, Pete’s Dragon and Herbie Goes Bananas.
Above these categories – sandwiched between the featured content banner and title categories – are five blocks for Disney, National Geographic, Marvel, Star Wars and Pixar (or six in those regions that also have Star). These allow subscribers to dive right into the offerings of each of those specific Disney-owned brands.
(Image credit: Disney)
Disney Plus’s ‘Collections’ group similar content together – for example, films within the Spiderman universe or films featuring princesses. In the ‘Winnie the Pooh Collection’ you’ll find everything from The New Adventures Of Winnie The Pooh TV series (1988-1991) to 2001’s The Tigger Movie and the recent Christopher Robin feature.
A pull-out sidebar lets you view only movies, only TV series or Disney Originals, search for specific content using the search bar, and access your watchlist (titles you’ve pinned for easy access at a later date). Up to seven profiles for each family member can be made on one account too.
A nice touch is that each user can pick a character for their profile, which can be made child-friendly with bolder icons, and a more colourful, less dense interface populated with more kids’ content.
We previewed a Netherlands version of Disney Plus (launched in November 2019) prior to the European launch, and noted how useful the ‘Ultra HD and HDR’ category was for finding and accessing such content. Sadly, that category appears to be missing in the UK version.
A search for ‘4K’ doesn’t bring up any results, so it appears impossible to see what is available in 4K without going into the description for each individual title.
Logos for 4K, HDR (HDR10 or Dolby Vision) and Dolby Atmos are neatly flagged within the synopsis, alongside those for age appropriateness, year of release, genre, season count and audio format. But you will only see these badges if your device supports the technology.
Disney Plus streaming service: everything you need to know
Performance
(Image credit: Disney)
Unsurprisingly, Disney Plus has launched with exhaustive hardware support.
The service works across web browsers; iOS (iOS 11.0 and later) and Android (OS 5.0 Lollipop and later) phones and tablets; Google Chromecast, including devices with Chromecast built-in, such as select Vizio Smart TVs; Apple TV (4th gen or later) and Apple TV 4K (running tvOS 11.0 and later) streamers; Xbox One and PlayStation 4 consoles; Samsung (2016 and later), LG (2016 and later) and Android-based Sony and Sharp TVs; a wide range of Roku streaming players; Android TV set-top boxes such as Nvidia Shield TV and Mi Box; all of Amazon’s Fire TV streamers, Fire TV Edition smart TVs, and Fire Tablets (Fire OS 5.0 and later); and Sky Q.
Disney Plus’s catalogue can be streamed from an iOS device over AirPlay to Apple TV (including the 3rd- and 4th-generation boxes) as well as any TV compatible with AirPlay 2.
A note on Sky Q support, though: while you might reasonably expect Sky Q to support 4K streaming on Disney Plus, as it does on Netflix, sadly the service’s 4K titles appear only playable in HD and 5.1 audio. We hope Sky rights this in the near future.
Up to four screens can stream simultaneously on one account, which is on a par with Netflix’s pricier Premium tier and better than Apple TV+’s and Amazon Prime Video’s three-screen limit.
Here’s how to watch Disney Plus on Sky Q
Disney reduced the service’s streaming bandwidth by “at least 25 per cent” in order to ease pressure on internet service providers during the current coronavirus pandemic. Disney said: “We have instituted measures to lower bandwidth utilization, and in some circumstances streaming content in HD and UHD formats, including Dolby Atmos audio, will be limited or unavailable.”
With this in mind, our final judgment of Disney Plus’ picture quality compared to that of its rivals, which have also committed to lowering bandwidth, will be better reached at a later date. But we’re happy to report, for those considering subscribing to the service straight away, that the material is perfectly watchable right now.
We find ourselves drawn to the technically wonderful The Lion King live-action remake (a 4K HDR10 title) and are met with appropriately lush landscapes, tangible textures of lion fur, baboon skin and bird feathers, and a clean, crisp picture.
In the much darker opening scene of The Mandalorian (a 4K, HDR10 title) that crispness reveals itself again, complete with punch to lights and shine off helmets. There is enough gleam and sharpness to do justice to the series’ high production values.
Even older titles that have been remastered in Full HD, such as Pete’s Dragon (1977) and The Aristocrats (1970) display a surprising amount of clarity, coherence and richness on our 55in Samsung QLED TV.
(Image credit: Disney)
Verdict
Despite the understandable restrictions around streaming quality, we are very impressed with the Disney Plus streaming service.
As you’d expect from one that’s already been up and running for several months in some countries, this is a polished and personal streaming service that fans of Disney’s output are bound to enjoy.
With its rich, appealing catalogue, vast picture and audio quality support, intuitive usability and reasonable subscription price, Disney Plus is hoping to establish itself as a serious rival to the likes of Netflix, Amazon Prime Video and Apple TV+.
It isn’t perfect, though – the UK service currently overlooks the importance of 4K HDR and Dolby Atmos content discovery – and it is restricted to Disney content, of course, meaning that, for many, it is likely to be a second subscription alongside a more general streaming service.
But with quality Disney Originals and plenty of theatrical releases, Disney Plus seems to have found its own particular niche and be living happily ever after in the competitive streaming world.
Google TV, the search giant’s latest attempt at TV software, will include a new “Basic TV” mode that strips out a TV’s smart features in favor of providing simple access to live TV and HDMI inputs, 9to5Google reports. It’s a potential boon to anyone that ever wanted to dumb-down their smart TV because they prefer an external streamer or because they value privacy.
Google TV debuted on the new Chromecast, where it offered a new interface built on Google’s existing Android TV software, but will soon be offered as built-in software for TCL and Sony’s upcoming TVs.
According to 9to5Google, you can select the “Basic TV” mode at setup. Doing so strips out the operating system’s apps, content recommendations, and Google Assistant support. It’s possible to revert back to the standard interface at any time, but selecting the basic mode can only be done on setup. Unfortunately it’s unclear exactly what the interface will end up looking like, since the developer-focused ADT-3 dongle 9to5Google tested the mode on doesn’t have the required live TV or HDMI hardware. We also don’t know how basic mode will affect data collection.
The interface shows which features the basic TV mode strips out.Image: Google / 9to5Google
A Google spokesperson confirmed to 9to5Google that the mode is a feature of Google TV specifically, rather than Android TV 12.
There are plenty of reasons that people might want to remove all the smarts from a smart TV. Many users rely on set-top boxes from Apple, Roku, or Amazon for their streaming content, and a duplicate interface built into their TV just gets in the way. Others might want to continue using a TV long after developers have stopped supporting its software and apps, at which point it’s helpful to be able to strip it down to its bare essentials to improve performance. Or maybe you just don’t like the idea of using a smart TV given their history of tracking you everything you watch.
A new update to popular podcast player Overcast includes a major overhaul of its Apple Watch app. The Apple Watch support is notable at a time when third-party app development for the platform is not necessarily in a great spot, though the Watch itself continues to grow in popularity.
Overcast’s update reorganizes the app UI from top to bottom, adding some features that otherwise were only able to be accessed through the phone version. The main screen has large buttons for settings and syncing above a scrolling list of your shows and access to the “now playing” screen.
That screen now includes a button on the bottom right that takes you to more detailed info on the podcast and lets you adjust its playback speed, as well as giving you the ability to skip directly through chapters on podcasts that have them.
Release notes for the new iOS version of Overcast, which is dubbed 2021.1, note a couple of extra changes without going into details. Other than the new Watch app, Overcast now has “improved Siri support” and “tons of under-the-hood improvements and bug fixes.”
Overcast is available for the iPhone, iPad, Apple Watch, and now M1-powered Macs because of their support for running iOS apps. The app is free but ad-supported, with an optional $9.99 subscription that can remove the ads.
Spotify fears raising its monthly subscription above £9.99 ($9.99) could “push users into piracy”, it told MPs at a parliamentary select committee inquiry on Tuesday, despite suggestions from record labels that an increase could help struggling musicians.
The chief legal officer for the popular music streaming service, Horacio Gutierrez, claimed that any rise in the current fee, which hasn’t changed in a decade, would make music “unaffordable to consumers”, the BBC reports.
Gutierrez was giving evidence to the ‘Digital, Culture, Media and Sport’ committee inquiry into the economic impact music streaming is having on artists, record labels and the wider music industry’s sustainability.
The inquiry was established at the tail end of 2020, a year in which artists all but lost any direct income from live shows due to the pandemic but, according to the BPI, also saw UK music streams grow by 20 per cent. MPs are investigating the business models of platforms such as Spotify, Apple Music, Amazon Music and Google Play and have heard compelling testimonies from record executives and artists, including Radiohead, Elbow and Chic’s Nile Rodgers.
Music streaming provides the UK economy with more than £1 billion in revenue, however artists can be paid as little as 13 per cent of the income generated.
Alongside Gutierrez, Tuesday’s session heard testimony from Paul Firth, director of International Music at Amazon, and Elena Segal, global senior director of Music Publishing at Apple. The three representatives agreed that they would investigate alternative royalty models, including shifting to the user-centric system currently being explored by Soundcloud and Deezer, where your entire subscription fee goes directly to the artists that you listen to the most.
Gutierrez said: “We would definitely be open to looking for alternative models and considering them.” Amazon Music’s Firth concurred, saying: “We should take a look at a number of these approaches” to see whether they really benefit the artist.
Segal added that any new approach would need to be agreed upon by everyone who supplies music to the streaming services before implementing it.
Discord between the main subscription services and rival YouTube was also a key topic of conversation, with Apple Music’s Segal saying that the mere fact of YouTube’s existence prevented other streaming services from raising their prices.
“Competing with free is very difficult. It’s challenging to compete on an un-level playing field,” she said. “They don’t necessarily have licenses for all the music that they use, and they don’t need to,” she continued, referring to the ‘safe harbour’ laws that protect YouTube from legal claims when users upload copyrighted material.
Segal also highlighted the disparity between the amounts paid to artists by YouTube.
According to data from The Trichordist, YouTube pays the least of any online platform to artists: around 0.05p per stream. That compares to 0.6p from Apple and between 0.2 and 0.4p for Spotify.
Segal explained that music streaming services could not effectively compete in the same way that video platforms such as Netflix and Disney Plus do because, aside from podcasts, they do not have original content to incentivise consumers.
“Those things do make it challenging to just put prices up in a vacuum… because people can just opt to go to free or to another service that will have the same music,” she said.
In a previous hearing, YouTube defended its practises, claiming it has the potential to become the music industry’s number one source of revenue by 2025. It warned that any ruling forcing them to pay more for music streamed on their platform could backfire and have a “potentially devastating” effect on artists and songwriters’ income. This threat was challenged by BPI CEO Geoff Taylor, who said its projection “does not reflect” his experiences.
Both Amazon and Spotify offer free, ad-supported services that they admitted they would maintain even if greater restrictions are placed on YouTube.
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Sad news for those of us happily anticipating 12-hour binges through the latest Netflix craze in glorious surround-sound on our Apple headphones and iOS device: Netflix has confirmed it actually isn’t testing support for iOS 14’s new spatial audio functionality.
The news quashes claims made in a January report from iPhoneSoft, which suggested that the streaming giant had actually been testing spatial audio support on the iPhone and iPad since December, and that (citing an anonymous Netflix developer) we could even expect a rollout of support for spatial audio on Netflix by spring.
In a statement to MacRumors, a Netflix spokesperson said that the company is not currently testing spatial audio support, and it has no plans that it wants to share at this time. Instead, the streaming giant and Originals content creator said it was testing multi-channel support for built-in speakers, as part of its efforts to provide “new experiences” for its users and “improve” its offering.
Spatial audio is essentially Apple’s take on Dolby Atmos for Headphones, and Sony’s PS5 3D Audio. It is designed to deliver surround sound and 3D audio via your headphones – specifically your Apple AirPods Pro and AirPods Max. The feature arrived as part of iOS 14 in September 2020.
Netflix’s chief competition – Disney Plus, HBO Max and Apple TV+ to name but a few – will probably rest a little easier in light of this update. And if a recent job vacancy at Roku for a lead production attorney is anything to go on, competition is only getting stronger…
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If you’ve spent the day playing through Persona 5 Strikers and noticed the voice of the in-game digital assistant sounded familiar, it’s likely because it’s played by the original voice of Siri (via Kotaku). Susan Bennett originally provided the voice for Apple’s digital assistant, and now she’s playing EMMA, the in-game AI.
You can hear what she sounds like in the role in the video below, around the 9:44 mark.
If you ask your iPhone for directions to the nearest camping store, though, you may notice that its response doesn’t exactly sound like the game. That’s because, while Bennett was the original voice for Siri when it debuted with the iPhone 4S running iOS 5 (though technically Siri existed with Bennett’s voice before it was ever added to the iPhone), she was replaced with the launch of iOS 7.
Typeform has an interview with Bennett about how she became the voice of Siri, and it includes tons of voice recordings from her, which you can compare to her work in Strikers. You can also watch Apple’s ad that introduces Siri on the iPhone 4S to get a feel for what Siri sounded like back then in case its current iteration has overwritten those memories.
This is the kind of extra mile we love to see game developers go. “We need someone to play the voice assistant in the English version of the game. How about the person who played one of the first major voice assistants?” If you want to experience it for yourself, Persona 5 Strikers is out today on PlayStation, Steam, and Switch.
WandaVision’s seventh episode started to answer some of the biggest questions of the series, and — in line with its sitcom trappings — the show dropped one of its biggest reveals yet in a very spoiler-y retro-style theme song.
Since the episode was released, the track has exploded in popularity to the point that Disney seems to have noticed by dropping the official soundtrack on services like Spotify and Apple Music a few days ahead of the planned release on Friday, February 26th.
Spoilers for WandaVision episode 7 ahead.
That’s right, you can now stream the official version of “Agatha All Along” to your heart’s content. The song, like WandaVision’s other sitcom themes, was written by Kristen Anderson-Lopez and Robert Lopez (best known for their work on the Frozen soundtracks) featured at the end of the most recent episode.
“Agatha All Along” reveals that nosy neighbor “Agnes” is in fact the witch Agatha Harkness — who, as the song makes clear in an incredibly catchy manner, was behind at least some of the oddities of Westview all along as the villain of the series.
Since the episode was released, the song has already become a TikTok trend, received a trap remix, and been re-created as a soaring orchestral number. It’s the kind of popularity that brings to mind another musical streaming hit: the massively viral “Toss A Coin To Your Witcher” from Netflix’s The Witcher.
That song had similarly exploded in popularity across the internet when The Witcher was released, but it took Netflix over a month to get its act together and release an official version of the soundtrack on streaming services, almost entirely missing the moment. It’s a mistake that the streamer hasn’t made since, and the viral soundtracks to more recent shows — like Bridgerton’s pop culture covers — have been available alongside the series’s debut.
With the early release of the soundtrack, it seems that Disney has made a similar choice to ride the wave and not let “Agatha All Along” pass it by, even if it means bumping up a few release dates — until the next WandaVision theme song takes over TikTok, that is.
You know, when I think about the stock market, I don’t really think about Michael Bolton. But I guess Public — which refers to itself as “the investing social network” — was envious that Robinhood was getting all the press attention, so it hired Bolton to revamp his 1989 hit “How Am I Supposed to Live Without You.” The new version is a lament about payment for order flow, which was recently the subject of Reddit outrage and a point of inquiry in a House hearing.
Bolton is absolutely solemn in the beginning — almost to the point of convincing me that this is a hostage proof-of-life video. But his voice is as lovely as ever as he launches into song. It’s not the first time he’s lampooned his late-’80s / early-’90s image as a lovelorn crooner; he did something similar for Panera with “When a Man Loves a Woman.” In both instances, he got a paycheck and demonstrated that he has a sense of humor. Good for him!
The practice Bolton is lamenting is a controversial one, payment for order flow, which was recently the target of Reddit’s fury. A market maker pays to see some portion of retail investors’ trades; this could theoretically allow front-running of orders, but that’s illegal and also, separately, not very lucrative for the market maker. (Most of Reddit’s anger assumed front-running retail trades was the entire point of payment for order flow.) The payments are part of why apps such as Robinhood can offer trades for free.
And make no mistake, Public is taking aim at Robinhood. After the uproar around Robinhood during the GameStop debacle, Public announced it would no longer engage in payment for order flow. Last week, a day before Robinhood was quizzed about payment for order flow in a largely incoherent House subcommittee hearing, Public announced it had raised $220 million. The very next day, Rep. Alexandria Ocasio-Cortez (D-NY) asked Robinhood CEO Vlad Tenev if he would commit to sending the proceeds from payment for order flow to his customers, a question he dodged.
To continue putting pressure on Robinhood, Public is offering to cover any fees for transferring from your previous brokerage to itself.
In a second, perkier video, Bolton says, “Hey gorgeous! You did it. Congrats on breaking up with your brokerage.” He also says that once you’re on Public, you can follow him. This is true! Here’s his portfolio. He hasn’t invested in Panera — it’s on his “Watch list” — but Amazon, Apple, Disney, Peloton, and Spotify are all part of his Public portfolio. Well, investing in Spotify is probably a better way to make money off of it than waiting for royalty payments.
Anker has released a new MagSafe-compatible battery pack that can attach directly to your iPhone to offer charging without the need for a cable, 9to5Google reports. The Anker PowerCore Magnetic 5K Wireless Power Bank will launch on March 3rd for $39.99, beating Apple’s own rumored MagSafe battery product to market — with one big caveat.
The PowerCore Magnetic 5K Wireless Power Bank sports a 5,000mAh battery and Anker’s usual power bank design, including an LED indicator light to let you know how much power is left in the device. The device also features USB-C output for charging with a cable as well. An extra 5,000mAh is a meaningful boost, especially for the smaller iPhone 12 mini, but it’s limited by the device’s lack of MagSafe certification.
Anker’s new PowerCore Magnetic 5K Wireless Power Bank looks remarkably similar to its other PowerCore power banks.Image: Anker
Certified devices, like Apple’s own chargers, can charge the iPhone at 15W, while the PowerCore is stuck with slower 5W charging. Its magnets may let it stick where other MagSafe accessories go, but the PowerCore can’t offer the usual MagSafe benefits.
Apple’s been rumored to be developing its own MagSafe battery accessory for iPhones, which would likely be capable of the faster 15W charging times. Apple’s device was initially referenced in the iOS 14.5 beta, but that reference has since been removed. Until that accessory is released (if it ever is), Anker’s new PowerCore seems like a solid option for more convenient wireless charging on the go.
The $39.99 PowerCore Magnetic 5K Wireless Power Bank was available for preorder on Amazon but has since gone out of stock. The Verge has reached out to Anker about restocks of the device ahead of its March 3rd launch and will update if we learn more.
(Image credit: German Patent and Trademark Office)
Sonos is developing a pair of wireless, potentially noise-cancelling, over-ear headphones. The company hasn’t confirmed as much, but filed patents and subsequent rumours and reports all point in the same direction.
They could be officially unveiled as soon as next month – Sonos is hosting a product launch on 16th March for, as suggested by the event’s invite, a ‘portable’ product, although behind the curtain could just as likely be a smaller version of the Move Bluetooth speaker (also heavily rumoured). Alternatively, the Sonos headphones could arrive later in the year as the company’s second new product promised for 2021. Wherever they appear on our timeline, Sonos wireless headphones are almost certainly coming. The question is, does the world want them?
In short, we expect it does. The prospect of this inevitable Sonos expansion excites us, anyway. But in a wireless headphones market awash with excellent pairs, Sonos needs a unique selling point or two, not to mention competitive sound quality. Apple recently managed to separate its AirPods Max from Sony, Bose and Sennheiser rivals with Apple-centric features and a significantly higher price tag (which we found to be justified thanks to their superior sound quality).
Does Sonos have what it takes to carve out its own corner of the headphones market and garner mass appeal? Again, we believe so. And here’s how it could do it.
Sonos wireless headphones: release date, rumours, and all of the news
Sonos headphones ‘swap’
Sonos hasn’t become one of the world’s best and most popular audio brands by following the herd. It more or less spawned the multi-room speaker market nearly 20 years ago, and it continues to dominate, despite a wealth of competition. It’s maintained favour through consistent operational seamlessness, unique features and exemplar sound, and it is these strengths of the Sonos ecosystem that will need to translate into the Sonos headphones experience.
Sonos products are all about working together, so it’s impossible to imagine a beatnik Sonos outsider that sits on the edge rather than properly inside the ecosystem. Sonos users will undoubtedly want a Sonos-savvy pair of headphones – otherwise, what’s the point? – and Sonos appears to be on the same wavelength. At least in one aspect, anyway.
In the approved patent is mention of a ‘swap’ feature, which would let owners simply and easily pass the music playing on their Sonos headphones to one (or more) of their Sonos speakers. The patent reads: “For example, if a particular piece of content play is currently playing on the wireless headphone, a swap changes the playback to play that piece of content on one or more other playback devices on the local network.”
It sounds similar to how iPhones can ‘hand-off’ music to a HomePod or HomePod mini (and vice versa) by simply putting the devices close to one another, but this would mark the first implementation of this kind of feature in a pair of headphones. We imagine a similar process would work between a pair of Sonos headphones and Sonos speaker, but perhaps the headphones could even sport a button or touch gesture to initiate this.
Maybe the user could set the headphones to automatically send music to a particular Sonos ‘zone’ when they detect your home network when you step in the door. It would be a neat asset (albeit, alone, not a huge selling point) that would no doubt appeal to existing Sonos users.
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Sonos zones and app control
This Sonos system integration brings up the matter of a wi-fi network, which is how the Sonos system connects together. Now, Sonos is hardly going to launch a pair of wireless headphones without Bluetooth connectivity. This is almost essential to connect to your phone, tablet or portable music player while you’re out and about, but including wi-fi connectivity as well could open the gateway to further Sonos-centric functionality.
For one, it’d open up the possibility of including the headphones in a ‘zone’ in your Sonos system. They could be part of your ‘TV’ zone, for example, alongside your Sonos Beam or Arc, to be used simultaneously or as an alternative. Would they have support for surround sound decoding (including Dolby Atmos, as supported by the Arc) or perhaps a proprietary pseudo-surround sound feature comparable to Apple’s spatial audio?
The Sonos S2 app – the puppet-master of the Sonos system – could also step in as a useful means of headphones control. Many headphones come with dedicated apps that allow the owner to personalise their pair, alter EQ and see battery life, but the Sonos app could, if compatible with the headphones, offer wearers access to a slew of streaming services and sources – all aggregated in one place, rather than from a range of apps on their phone – offering a nifty means of control within the home environment.
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Bluetooth *and* wi-fi: better sound quality?
There’s also the potential of wi-fi offering better sound quality, too. Bluetooth has come a long way to conveniently deliver high-quality, wireless audio, currently peaking with the aptX HD standard (which supports up to 24-bit/48kHz), but if owners could connect their headphones directly to a wi-fi home network, rather than only to a phone over Bluetooth, it could potentially mean longer range a more stable connection and high-resolution audio support.
While we’re only too aware of Sonos’ neglect of the latter to date, the increase in audio bandwidth that comes with Sonos S2 app has left us hopeful for future support of hi-res FLAC and maybe even MQA music.
Again, such network reliance would surely make this feature a home-only experience, but it would perhaps make the Sonos wireless headphones the most convincing best-of-both-worlds solution out there.
Sonos Trueplay for headphones
Sonos Trueplay is an auto-calibration technology that tunes Sonos speakers for the room they live in to deliver the best sound possible. The question here is could Trueplay be adapted to customise your Sonos headphones experience?
Instead of working to ensure a speaker sounds great tucked away in a corner or sandwiched between a stack of books, could Trueplay for headphones automatically adapt their sound to your surroundings in real-time, as ‘adaptive noise-cancellation’ does? Trueplay for headphones could also go down the route of helping create a customised sound profile to match the headphones’ sonics specifically to someone’s hearing system, as headphones like nuraphones do.
Generally, with Sonos speakers, Trueplay works by using the microphones in your iPhone. The exception to this is the Sonos Move, which uses internal mics of its own. As wireless headphones tend to have mics, we think the implementation of such a feature could be a real possibility.
Why I will never own a pair of noise-cancelling headphones
Nailing everything else – including price
Naturally, while the Sonos wireless headphones have plenty of potential to stand out from the crowd, they’ll also want to stand in line with their rivals when it comes to popular features and competitive specs. That includes active noise-cancellation, a 20-to-30-hour battery life with USB-C charging (including fast-charging), and increasingly common functions like auto-pause and ‘transparent hearing’ mode.
And then there’s the price. The Sonos wireless headphones have been tipped by Bloomberg sources to launch at about £220 ($300, AU$400), which would keep them well clear of the Apple AirPods Max; undercut Sony’s range-topping class-leaders, the WH-1000XM4, plus the current crop from Bose and Sennheiser; and put them more or less in the firing line of still-popular, last-generation models like the Sony WH-1000XM3.
Really, Sonos’ experience with driver hardware and audio processing, its near-faultless history of aesthetic and usability design, and of course its nailed-on mass appeal puts it in a great position to not only enter but usefully expand the headphones world. Let’s hope Sonos makes the most of it.
MORE:
Check out the best wireless headphones 2021 you can buy
AirPods Max teardown shows the inner workings of Apple’s headphones
Sonos is working on a compact, portable Bluetooth speaker
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