Apple is delaying the launch of its upcoming Podcasts subscriptions until June, the company announced in an email sent to creators Friday (via 9to5Mac). The service was previously set to launch this month.
Apple’s Podcasts subscriptions will allow people to subscribe to participating podcasts to get extra perks like ad-free listening or early access to episodes. In April, Apple said the subscriptions would launch in 170 countries, and that initial partners include Pushkin Industries and NPR.
The shifted launch comes as some creators using Apple Podcasts have recently run into some issues, such as being unable to log in to Apple’s Podcast Connect portal or seeing a delay in the availability of new episodes. In its email sent Friday, Apple said it has fixed the “disruptions” that presented problems.
You can read Apple’s full email to creators below, which the company shared with The Verge.
We’re writing to provide an update on the availability of Apple Podcasts Subscriptions and channels. We’ve been delighted by the response to last month’s announcement and it’s exciting to see the hundreds of new subscriptions and channels submitted from creators across the globe every day.
To ensure we are delivering the best experience for creators and listeners, Apple Podcasts Subscriptions and channels will now launch in June. We will communicate further updates on availability, and best practices to help you prepare your subscriptions and channels, through this newsletter.
Over the last few weeks, some creators have experienced delays in the availability of their content and access to Apple Podcasts Connect. We’ve addressed these disruptions and encourage creators experiencing any issues to contact us.
We’ve also heard from listeners and made adjustments based on their feedback with iOS 14.6, which was released on Monday. We will introduce additional enhancements to Library in the coming weeks.
Thank you for your understanding. We can’t wait to see your new subscriptions and channels and we are looking forward to launching them to listeners around the world soon.
Apple’s AirPods Pro cleverly solve one of the trickiest parts of earbud design with a unique button — even if it’s not technically a button at all.
Officially referred to as the “force sensor” (a title that makes the button sound far more interesting than it actually is), it’s technically nothing more than an indented portion of the AirPods Pro’s stems, with some fancy hardware that measures not just capacitive touch but also pressure. But the faux-buttons solve one of the most annoying things about earbuds: how to control them.
The issue of controlling truly wireless earbuds is a relatively new one. Older in-ear headphones often included a row of buttons on their wires, which allowed for volume and playback controls to be placed in a spot that’s easy to reach and find. But in-ear wireless earbuds don’t leave a lot of space for buttons, joysticks, or control wheels to manipulate playback, forcing manufacturers to come up with alternate solutions.
Photo by Vjeran Pavic / The Verge
Touch controls, employed by headphones like the Galaxy Buds or the regular AirPods, have emerged as the most common answer. Tap, double tap, or triple tap your earbuds, and you’ll be able to play, pause, and skip around your tracks.
The problem, though, is that in-ear headphones — as the name suggests — are already nestled pretty firmly into your ear. And tap controls mean that you’re either shoving those earbuds further into your ear (painfully so, sometimes) or dislodging them entirely, at which point you’re risking loss or damage when your expensive buds plummet to the ground.
Apple avoids both of those problems with the force sensor. Instead of putting pressure on your ear, Apple has users squeeze the stem of the AirPod. It’s a far gentler movement that doesn’t move the earbud as much, reducing both the risk of discomfort and dislodging.
Photo by Vjeran Pavic / The Verge
Its controls are pretty similar to the other methods of headphone control: one squeeze to toggle play / pause, two to skip forward a track, and three to skip back. There’s also a fourth long press, which toggles the various noise cancellation modes.
The whole design guides you through how to use them, too. The indented pad makes it clear where to press to activate the “button,” while the requirement for some slight force makes it hard to trigger unintentionally.
And while there’s no physical haptic feedback from the force sensor, Apple does some masterful work in tricking your brain that there is, through clever clicking sound effects relayed through the earbuds to make it feel like you’re pressing a button.
The controls might not be long for this world — Apple is rumored to be testing a new version of the AirPods Pro that would remove the stem (and the force sensor) entirely. It’d be a disappointing change, given that the force sensor isn’t just a great control method; the AirPod stems are one of the more recognizable parts of the product, so much so that it’s the main thing copycat designs tend to replicate.
Is it a lot of engineering work for a relatively simple function? Undoubtedly. But it makes a crucial part of operating the AirPods a seamless, aesthetically pleasing, and comfortable process. And what more can you ask than that?
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There are plenty of buying guides for figuring out the best phone to buy at a given time, across a wide variety of prices. We have two of them, in fact. But if you’re a dyed-in-the-wool phone enthusiast, you don’t need a guide that’s going to give you the best rational recommendation. You need something that’s going to help you scratch your new gadget itch in the most satisfying way.
I’m here for you because, well, I’m one of you. This is the internet’s premiere buying guide for phone enthusiasts. We’re not going to focus on practical, rational choices, nor are we going to concern ourselves with budgets. These are the dream phones, the ones you buy not as a utilitarian tool, but for the fun of playing with a new piece of tech that you’ll probably sell or trade in for a loss in six months. I’m not even going to single out a specific model that you should buy, because you’re likely buying a new phone every year (or maybe more!) anyway. This is all about throwing caution to the wind, diving deep into a hobby, and buying something you don’t need but absolutely want. Budgets be damned.
Grab your cargo shorts, we’re going shopping.
The Samsung Galaxy Z Fold 2 5GPhoto by Vjeran Pavic / The Verge
1. Samsung Galaxy Z Fold 2 5G
The best folding phone because you know you need one in your collection
Folding phones are the future, right? You can’t call yourself a Real Phone Enthusiast without one in your life. Hands down, the best folding phone you can buy right now is Samsung’s Galaxy Z Fold 2 5G. It’s got everything you might want from a modern smartphone, but it also opens up into a tablet-sized screen that lets you put more than one app side-by-side or look at a giant version of Google Maps. It’s easy to justify because you can tell yourself that you will get SO MUCH WORK done on it, right after you finish watching that YouTube video. Promise.
The Fold 2 costs more than most laptops, you have to baby it, and there’s a really good chance the screen will crack or break on you even if you are careful, but that’s just the price you have to pay to be on the bleeding edge.
Apple iPhone 12 MiniPhoto by Chaim Gartenberg / The Verge
2. Apple iPhone 12 Mini
The best iPhone for when you’re double-fisting an Android phone
Look, I know that you know that everyone in the world has an iPhone and it’s the farthest thing from an “interesting” phone. But at the same time, it’s hard to ignore what Apple’s doing, and really, iMessage and the Apple Watch are pretty great. Lots of people carry an iPhone alongside an Android phone, and you could be one of them.
The best iPhone for doing this is the iPhone 12 Mini. It does everything its bigger siblings can do, but it can easily fit in a secondary pocket and isn’t a burden to carry around. The battery life is kinda lousy, but who cares, that’s why you have a second phone on you anyway, right?
The Asus ROG Phone 5 Ultimate comes with a clip-on fan and has 18GB of RAM.Photo by Cameron Faulkner / The Verge
3. Asus ROG Phone 5 Ultimate
The best phone for seeing what this “gaming phone” trend is all about
Gaming phones are so hot right now (unless they’ve got a great cooling system) — it seems like a new model is released every three months. You can’t call yourself a true phone enthusiast without being up on this trend, and the best one to dip your toes into it with is the Asus ROG Phone 5 Ultimate.
The ROG Phone 5 Ultimate has a ton of features that can make any mobile accomplisher swoon. A massive battery. A ridiculously high refresh screen. An OLED screen on the back you can customize to show whatever you want. A bunch of accessories to make gaming better. 18GB of RAM! How could you not buy this phone?
Asus ROG Phone 5
$1,000
Prices taken at time of publishing.
The Asus ROG Phone 5 is the quintessential example of a modern gaming phone. It has over-the-top specs, lots of gaming accessories, and a head-turning design.
$1,000
at Asus
The Samsung Galaxy Note 20 UltraPhoto by Vjeran Pavic / The Verge
4. Samsung Galaxy Note 20 Ultra
The best phone for pretending you’re going to use a stylus
Writing on a phone screen with a pen is so cool! It feels futuristic and is just so natural. At least, it is for the first week until you forget about it and it never leaves the little garage built into the side of the phone again.
If you’ve been telling yourself that little “I’m gonna be a stylus person” lie, you need a phone that supports one and it’s hard to see buying anything other than Samsung’s Galaxy Note 20. It’s got a low latency S Pen, a bunch of software features that can utilize the stylus, and all of the other bells and whistles of a modern smartphone, which means it works quite well long after you’ve forgotten about the stylus.
The Google Pixel 4A
5. Google Pixel 4A
The best phone for messing around with the Android 12 beta
Okay, I said I wasn’t going to recommend anything rational in this guide, but this is perhaps the recommendation that makes the most sense: if you want to mess around with the Android 12 beta but don’t want to install it on your main phone, you should just buy a Google Pixel 4A. It’s only $350 (that’s just $20 more than it costs to fix a broken screen on an iPhone 12 Pro Max) and can work with Google’s latest and greatest software even before it’s released to the public.
You know the Android betas are going to be messy — battery life is going to be bad, there will be lots of bugs, certain apps might not work correctly — so you don’t want to put it on a device you actually need to rely on. Once the beta period is over, the Pixel 4A is a great device for experimenting with the aftermarket ROM world. Get a Pixel 4A and flash those ROMs to your heart’s content.
The Microsoft Surface DuoPhoto by Vjeran Pavic / The Verge
6. Microsoft Surface Duo
The best phone for making people go “Whoa, is that a phone?”
As a phone enthusiast, you already know this harsh truth: the Microsoft Surface Duo is not a good phone. It has an old processor. The camera is worse than any iPhone of the past five years. The battery life is decidedly Not Great. It gets hot doing simple tasks. There are SO MANY software bugs. It’s got a generation-old version of Android. It doesn’t even support wireless charging or NFC payments! Oh yeah, and there’s that questionable build quality to worry about.
But there’s something undeniably cool about the Surface Duo, like it’s a device from the future coming here to bless us in the early 21st century. It’s so thin, it has two screens, the hinge is incredibly neat. Open it up in public and you’re sure to get someone to ask “wow, is that a phone?” which we all know is the ultimate goal here. You can then show them all of its cool features, right after it’s done rebooting itself for the fifth time that day.
Apple iPhone 12 Pro MaxPhoto by Becca Farsace / The Verge
7. Apple iPhone 12 Pro Max
The best phone for telling yourself that you don’t need an actual camera
For years now we’ve been told that phone cameras are so good that you don’t need an actual camera. The iPhone 12 Pro Max might be the best example of that yet. It’s got a bigger sensor! It’s got three focal lengths! It can shoot video in Dolby Vision HDR!
At the end of the day, it’s still a phone camera and can’t really hold a candle to the image quality or creative control you get with a larger mirrorless camera. But hey, it’s fun to live in that lie and you can totally see the difference between the 12 Pro Max images and other phones. When you blow them up on a big screen. And zoom in.
Oppo Find X3 ProPhoto by Sam Byford / The Verge
8. Oppo Find X3 Pro
The best phone for saying “you can’t get this in the US”
Perhaps the ultimate phone flex is pulling a phone out of your pocket that nobody else is going to have. If you’re in the US, the Oppo Find X3 Pro is that phone. It’s got features you can’t get on any American phone and a design you won’t see everywhere, like a microscope camera and softly rounded camera bump. Sure, it won’t really work great on the cellular networks here, importing it is an expensive hassle, and you won’t have any warranty whatsoever. But just think of the envy on your friends’ faces when you tell them they can’t have this phone.
Oppo Find X3 Pro
$1,178
Prices taken at time of publishing.
Oppo’s Find X3 Pro is the company’s latest flagship and it’s not sold in the US. It has a unique camera system and head-turning design that you won’t see on American phones.
$1,178
at Amazon
OnePlus 9 ProPhoto by Becca Farsace / The Verge
9. OnePlus 9 Pro
The best phone for when you realize that Pixel phones aren’t great, but you don’t want a Samsung either
Google’s Pixel phones have such great software and then… mediocre everything else. Samsung phones have incredible hardware but are laden with heavy software and actual ads inside of the stock apps. The OnePlus 9 Pro splits that difference — it has software that’s similar to Google’s on hardware that’s virtually a Samsung with a different logo on it.
The 9 Pro is just what the phone enthusiast ordered: a high-end, bells-and-whistles device with All Of The Specs but none of the cruft.
Samsung Galaxy Z FlipPhoto by Vjeran Pavic / The Verge
10. Samsung Z Flip 5G
The best weekend phone for when you’re “disconnecting”
Here comes the weekend, with all of its promises of relaxation and enjoyment. You don’t need a phone that’s going to make you more productive, you need something that’s going to slip into your pocket and won’t distract you with a colorful display unless you absolutely need it to.
The Z Flip 5G is this phone. You can flip it closed to ignore it and then pop it open and have a full smartphone inside, complete with every feature you get on non-flippy phones. You’re making a compromise without really making a compromise, because we all know that you had no intention of actually disconnecting for the weekend.
Apple’s second-generation AirPods Pro will launch next year, following the release of an updated pair of standard AirPods this year, according to a new report from Bloomberg. The new AirPods Pro will reportedly feature upgraded motion sensors to allow for fitness tracking, while the entry-level AirPods will have an updated design similar to the Pro models along with a shorter stem.
In a previous report from last year Bloomberg said that the upcoming AirPods Pro could ditch the stem entirely in favor of a more compact design similar to Samsung’s Galaxy Buds Plus or Google’s Pixel Buds. However, at the time Bloomberg noted that design challenges meant these plans could change. Its latest report says Apple has “tested” this design, which sounds like it’s not guaranteed to appear in the final model.
Alongside the two new AirPods models, Apple is reported to be developing a HomePod equipped with a screen, as well as a separate Apple TV-like device that could include a speaker and camera for video calls.
The new AirPods would be the first updates to Apple’s true wireless lineup in over a year. Apple first release its AirPods Pro in late 2019, while its entry-level AirPods haven’t been updated since March 2019. It released its first AirPods-branded over-ear headphones, the AirPods Max, in December.
It seems the new Apple TV 4K box could have few gremlins in its system. Some users have reported that the 2021 device is incorrectly labelling their favourite 4K movies and TV shows as ‘HD’, according to 9to5Mac.
The glitch seems to affect third-party apps such as Netflix, Disney Plus, and HBO Max, but it’s also been spotted in the standalone iTunes Movies and TV Shows apps. Apple TV+ seems to be unaffected.
The initial thought was that the glitch could be the result of faulty HDMI cables but several users have switched out Apple’s supplied HDMI cable and the issue has remained.
If you’re experiencing the bug, you might be wondering whether the content on your screen is appearing in HD or 4K. There’s some confusion around this point, but it seems that this is simply a labelling bug within Apple’s user interface.
According to Reddit users, the glitch is present in both in the public tvOS 14.6 release and in the tvOS 14.7 beta which was released on 19th May. Apple has yet to comment but 9to5Mac claims the tech giant is “aware of the issue”.
In the interests of fairness, we fired up our Apple TV 4K (2020) unit (keep your eyes peeled for our upcoming review) and found that the 4K content was correctly labelled.
The latest Apple TV 4K (2nd Gen) supports 4K at up to 60fps, meaning it should offer the highest video quality of any Apple TV box. It has plenty of other tricks up its sleeve, mind, including the ability to stream audio from your TV to your HomePod.
MORE:
Should you upgrade: New Apple TV 4K vs old Apple TV 4K
Check out our list of the best TVs you can buy right now
Lenovo’s Yoga Pad Pro is a new 13-inch Android tablet that can easily double as an external monitor, Gizmochina reports. It will be available to buy in China for 3,299 yuan (around $517) on May 31st.
It’s not tricky to get most tablets on the market to work as a second monitor, but for the most part you’re limited to using them with specific devices. Apple’s iPads can be used as external monitors thanks to their built-in Sidecar feature, for example, but this only works if you’re using them with a Mac. But the Yoga Pad Pro has a full-on Micro HDMI port built into its grip, meaning you can plug basically any HDMI device into it and use the Yoga Pad Pro as a 13-inch monitor. And yes, that absolutely includes a Nintendo Switch.
For use as a tablet, the Yoga Pad Pro is powered by a Snapdragon 870 paired with 8GB of RAM, 256GB of storage, and a 10,200mAh battery. It’s got four Dolby Atmos-compatible speakers arranged around its 2K, 16:10 LCD display, and it also includes a kickstand that can rotate a full 180-degrees out from behind the back of the device. Why would you want a 180-degree kickstand on a tablet? For hanging it on a wall, obviously.
Sure, there are plenty of other portable monitors out there, often available with bigger screen sizes and lower price tags. Take Lenovo’s own 14-inch ThinkVision M14 as an example, which is half the price at $249. But the Yoga Pad Pro has the advantage of being a capable standalone device in its own right, complete with stylus compatibility and an 8-megapixel selfie camera (though there’s no rear camera).
It’s unclear if the Yoga Pad Pro will ever see a release outside of China. But if it does, we’ll be ready.
Binge-watching Netflix on your smartphone just got easier. The streaming service is letting some users of its Android app try ‘Play Something’, a feature that suggests content for you to watch, Engadget reports.
The feature is already live on Netflix’s TV apps but it’s only being tested on select Android users for now, ahead of a wider rollout. If you’ve been selected, you’ll see the Play Something button appear on both adult and child profiles.
Play Something uses your viewing history and algorithms to suggest movies, documentaries, and TV shows that you might like. Hit the Play Something button and you’ll jump right in, no endless scrolling required.
Don’t like what you see? With another click, Netlfix will pick something else – this will either be from your queue, something you haven’t finished watching, or something else new based on your viewing habits.
Given the rise in rival streaming services such as Disney+, Apple TV+ and Amazon Prime Video, Netflix appears to be looking for extra ways to distinguish itself from the competition. What will it think of next?
MORE:
Streamers do battle: Amazon Prime Video vs Netflix – which is better?
Are you ready for a Netflix gaming service?
Check out the best Netflix Originals to watch right now
There’s a new Acer Predator in town: the 16-inch Predator Triton 500 SE. It has a new subtle design with a touch of RGB as well as the latest chips from Intel and Nvidia. It also has a feature that I am much too excited about: a 16:10 display.
Put this next to the previous Triton 500, and this device looks much more like something you might bring to a meeting or a lecture. It’s not quite as flashy. The last model’s glowing Triton logo has been removed from the center of the lid and squeezed into the top-right corner. The previous Triton also had “Predator” printed along the large bottom bezel, which has been replaced by a smaller and subtler Triton logo as well. The corners are sharper, the keyboard is a bit blacker — it’s a more modern, professional look.
No more logo in the center.
The biggest thing you’ll probably notice, though, is that the laptop is taller. The new 16-inch 16:10 display affords extra vertical space compared to the 15.6-inch 16:9 display on the previous Triton. I got to spend a bit of time with a pre-production unit of the Triton 500 SE, and I’m going to have trouble going back to a 13-inch 16:9. This is one of the roomiest displays I’ve ever used. I had no trouble stacking 2-3 tabs and apps alongside each other and jumping in between them. I never had to zoom out of anything.
There are three panel options: a 165Hz LCD panel, a 165Hz Mini LED panel, or a 240Hz IPS PolarBlack panel (which Acer says will cover 100 percent of the DCI-P3 color gamut). All the screens have 2560 x 1600 resolution. Mini LED, which also powers the screen of Apple’s latest 12.9-inch iPad Pro, is unusual to see on laptops. It’s designed to emulate the look of an OLED screen on an LCD panel, and it can produce excellent contrast.
The Triton has new chips as well; it’s configurable with up to an 11th-Gen Intel Core i9 processor and an Nvidia GeForce RTX 3080 GPU. (Acer hasn’t shared the clock speeds and graphics power you can expect from these chips yet, so I look forward to digging those up during the review process.) It also provides more ambitious specs for power users than previous Tritons, supporting up to a whopping 64GB of memory and 4TB of storage. (Last year’s Triton 500 maxed out at 32GB and 2TB, respectively.)
It’s a roomy screen.
The Triton 500 SE has pretty much every port you might need, including two Thunderbolt 4 ports, one on each side, in addition to two USB 3.2 Gen 2, one HDMI 2.1, one 3.5mm audio jack, one SD card reader, an ethernet port, and a DC-in for power. One of the USB 3.2 Gen 2 ports supports power-off USB charging as well.
There’s a fingerprint in the top-left corner of the touchpad. The webcam in the top bezel actually didn’t look too terrible in my testing and produced a viewable picture in low-light conditions. It doesn’t support Windows Hello, though.
Finally, Acer is also very excited about the new cooling system, which features what it refers to as its “5th-Gen Aeroblade 3D fan” in a triple-fan system with five heat pipes. Acer says this will provide up to 10 percent better airflow than the previous Triton 500. We’ll have more specific metrics once we’ve been able to write a full review of this device; my first impression is that the fans were often audible on this pre-production unit, but I never felt an uncomfortable amount of heat and never saw the CPU get anywhere close to a worrying temperature.
Power port, Ethernet, USB-A, USB-C, audio jack on the left.
I really like the keyboard, it’s nice and clicky.
You can make various fun effects with the per-key RGB keys.
HDMI, USB-C, USB-A, SD slot, and a lock slot on the right.
Altogether, a fun machine to use — but we’ll have to wait for the full review before making a recommendation.
The Predator Triton 500 SE will be available in North America in June, starting at $1,749.99. The base configuration that Best Buy will be selling for that price includes a Core i7-11800H, a GeForce RTX 3060, 16GB of RAM, 512GB of SSD storage, and the 165Hz LCD display.
Acer also announced an updated version of its bulkier, pricier, and high-performance Predator Helios 500, which also has new 11th-Gen processors and Nvidia 3000-series GPUs. This laptop can come with a 4K Mini LED 120Hz display or an FHD 360Hz display. The Helios can be configured with up to 64GB of RAM as well. That model is coming to North America in August starting at $2,499.99.
The 105th Indy 500 date is set and the race underway this Sunday, live from the world famous Indianapolis Motor Speedway. The biggest oval race of the 2021 NTT IndyCar Series will see 135,000 fans (in face masks, of course) cheer on defending Indy 500 winner Takuma Sato and pole-sitter Scott Dixon as they compete for the Borg-Warner Trophy and a bottle of ice-cold milk.
Ready to lay down some rubber at the Brickyard? Carb day (final practice) starts at 4pm BST on Friday, followed by the epic, 200-lap Indy 500 race on Sunday for an Indy 500 start time of 5.45pm BST (12.45pm ET). Make sure you know how to watch an Indy 500 live stream wherever you are in the world.
Indy 500 live stream
Start time: 5.45pm BST / 12.45am ET / 2.45am AEST
Track: Indianapolis Motor Speedway, Indiana
US streams: NBC Sports | FuboTV (free trial)
Watch anywhere: Try ExpressVPN risk-free today
UK stream: Sky Sports F1 | Now
AUS stream: KayoSports
Buy tickets: Indianapolis Motor Speedway
This year’s 500-mile extravaganza will take about 3 hours to complete, depending on pitstops, crashes and safety cars. The 33-car field will be led away by six-time IndyCar champ – the greatest driver of his generation – Scott Dixon. The Iceman secured pole last weekend by just 0.03 seconds in a thrilling Fast Nine.
“It was pretty hairy, glad it’s over. It was definitely pretty tense,” Dixon told Fox News. “I could see the mechanics working on the car as we rolled through, adjusting the wings. I asked them not to tell me. It’s definitely a roller coaster of emotions for everybody and I’m actually really relieved that that’s all over.”
Colton Herta captured second place. The 21-year-old Andretti Autosport driver put in a monster lap to bump 20-year-old Dutchman Rinus VeeKay into third place. The aptly-named Will Power smacked the wall on the final lap but will still make the race. Simona de Silvestro will get her first start since 2015 (last year’s race lacked a female driver for the first time in 20 years).
Anything can happen in IndyCar, but with Dixon set for his sixth front row start in his 19th Indy 500, the No. 9 Dallara-Honda is now odds-on favourite to the take the honours once more.
The 2021 Indy 500 presented by Gainbridge starts at 5.45pm UK time on Sunday. You can even stream the action on your TV and a host of devices including Roku, Fire TV, Apple TV, Xbox, PlayStation, iOS and Android devices.
Make sure you know how to watch an Indy 500 live stream from anywhere in the world.
Feast your eyes on the best TVs you can buy
Indy 500 live stream for only €9.99
(Image credit: Wikipedia / TPSDave – indianapolis-motor-speedway-1848561 archive copy)
Those in the Czech Republic, Slovakia, Cyprus and Israel can watch an Indy 500 live stream using DAZN, the subscription-based sports streaming service. The price varies from region to region and there’s also a free trial which means you could watch the Indy 500 for free!
Those in the Czech Republic will be able to sign up for €9.99 per month to watch the Indy 500 live stream. There’s no lock-in contract, so you can cancel anytime.
Going to be outside the CR this weekend? Simply use a VPN to access your chosen Indy 500 live stream without being blocked. Try ExpressVPN risk-free with a 30-day money-back guarantee.
Free trial available
Indy 500 live stream on DAZN for €9.99
DAZN has the rights to the Indy 500, UFC, Bundesliga, UEFA Champions League, UEFA Europa League, US Sports, Fightsports, and much more live and on demand in selected countries. Try for 1 month. Cancel at anytime.
The DAZN app is available on Roku TV, Amazon Fire TV and Fire TV Sticks, as well as selected smart TVs including Android TV, LG, Panasonic, Samsung, Sony and Philips.
If you have a games console, look for the DAZN app on Xbox One, PlayStation 3 and PlayStation 4. You can also download the DAZN app for Android and iOS mobile devices.
Watch an Indy 500 live stream using a VPN
Even if you have subscribed to the relevant Indy 500 rights holders, you won’t be able to access them when outside your own country. The service will know your location based on your IP address, and will automatically block your access.
A Virtual Private Network (VPN) helps you get around this obstacle. A VPN creates a private connection between your device and the internet, such that the servers and services you’re accessing aren’t aware of what you’re doing. All the information passing back and forth is entirely encrypted.
There are many VPN providers out there, with some more reliable and safe than others. As a rule, we’d suggest a paid-for service such as ExpressVPN which offers a 100 per cent risk-free money back guarantee. If you’re not happy with the service any time within the first 30-days, then you can cancel with no penalties at all.
Try ExpressVPN risk-free for 30 days ExpressVPN offers a 30-day money back guarantee with its VPN service. You can use it to watch on your mobile, tablet, laptop, TV, games console and more. There’s 24/7 customer support and three months free when you sign-up. Try it – you’ll be surprised how simple it is.
How to watch the Indy 500 in the USA
(Image credit: Wikipedia / Greg Hildebrand from Plymouth, IN – 2011 Indy 500874)
The Indy 500 race will air on NBC. Pre-race coverage starts at 9am ET on NBCSN, moving to NBC at 11am and finishing at 4pm. It also will be available to stream via the NBC Sports App and NBCSports.com.
Not got cable? US fans also have to option to watch the Indy 500 via FuboTV, a streaming service that carries NBC and offers a free 7-day trial.
FuboTV supports Roku, Fire TV, Apple TV, iPhone, iPad and Android phones/tablets. You can also use FuboTV to watch the Indy 500 on your TV using Google Chromecast or Apple Airplay.
After the FuboTV trial ends, you’ll be bumped onto the $65 a month plan, which includes access to a host of premium TV channels. There’s no lock-in contract, so you can cancel at any time – and before the free trial ends, if you so wish.
Can I watch the Indy 500 in 4K?
FuboTV is a great way to watch the the occasional sporting event in 4K Ultra HD, but, sadly, not the 2021 Indy 500.
How to watch the Indy 500 in the UK
(Image credit: Sky)
Sky has the rights to show the Indy 500 in the UK. You can watch live on Sky Sports F1, or via the SkyGo app. The build-up starts at 3.45pm with the race set to get underway at 5.45pm.
Not a Sky subscriber? Anyone can enjoy the Indy 500 using Sky’s pay-per-view platform, Now. Now is available on all good smart TVs and set-top-boxes. A one-day pass costs from £9.99 gets you live coverage of F1, football, golf and more.
Now Sports Pass Watch the Indy 500 from just £9.99 A day pass for sports on Now can cost as little as £9.99, with a monthly pass coming in at £33.99 for those wanting to see the Indy 500 plus a few F1 grand prix, as well as football, golf and tennis.
How to watch the Indy 500 in Australia
(Image credit: Kayo)
Fox Sports has the rights to screen the 2021 IndyCar Series down under. Aussies seeking an Indy 500 live stream should click onto Kayo Sports.
The streaming platform’s premium package costs AU$35 per month but you can grab a free 14-day trial here.
Indy 500 schedule
5am ET – Garage opens
6am ET – Gates open
6.30am ET – Tech inspection
8.15am ET – Cars pushed to pit lane
10.30am ET – Cars on the starting grid
11:47am ET – Driver introductions
12.38pmET– Command to start engines
12.45pm ET – Green flag for the 105th Indy 500
Why does the Indy 500 winner drink milk?
The tradition dates to 1936, when Louis Meyer won his third Indy 500. It’s said that Meyer used to drink buttermilk to refresh himself on hot days, and when a photographer snapper a picture of him guzzling from a glass bottle in victory lane, the picture appeared in several newspapers.
It wasn’t long before a canny marketing executive representing the Milk Federation realised that ‘winners drink milk’ was a great way to sell the American public yet more milk. Ever since then, aside from a short hiatus between 1946-55, the winner of the Indy 500 has been presented with a bottle of ice-cold milk (actually it was a whole churn last year).
There was uproar in 1993 when contrary Brazilian driver Emerson Fittipaldi mugged off the milk in favour of a bottle of orange juice. Some sections of the audience booed but Fittipaldi had the last laugh when he was revealed as the owner of a 500,000-acre orange grove in Brazil. Fittipaldi was later forced to issue an apology.
Apple, a company notorious for making its products difficult to repair, has given us a real head-scratcher of a repair situation with its next-generation streaming remote.
At issue here are a pair of screws that would appear to make repair semi-straightforward but absolutely do not. iFixit tore down the second-generation Siri Remote, which will ship with the latest Apple TV 4K streaming box, and found that these two screws on the outside of the remote do basically nothing. Do not, in other words, expect to be able to fix your new remote or its battery easily.
First off, Apple’s new wand features a one-piece aluminum outer casing design — meaning that while minimal and pretty, this thing was probably already going to prove difficult to tinker with. You might think, therefore, that a pair of tiny screws at the bottom of the remote near its charging port would offer easy access to the thing most likely to need to be repaired on this remote: the battery. You would be wrong.
The previous generation of Siri Remote (left) shown next to the newer remote (right). The newer remote has two tiny screws at the bottom. They do nothing.Photo by Chris Welch / The Verge
Instead, iFixit’s video teardown indicated that the tiny plate that covers its Lightning port — another Siri Remote sin, if I’m being honest — effectively goes nowhere. To get inside the remote, iFixit needed to use a handful of specialized tools to pop off the buttons on the remote, remove more tiny screws and tiny component parts, wriggle the remote’s inner frame out of its aluminum shell, unscrew the logic board from the remote’s skeleton, and finally, pop out the 1.52Wh battery. Oh, and its cables are soldered together with those of the Lightning port, making DIY repairs all the more difficult.
Is the lack of simple repairability on the next-generation Siri Remote entirely surprising? Well, no. Of course not. Repairing the first-generation Siri wand was similarly a whole entire thing. Apple is also notorious for lobbying against right-to-repair legislation, has been shown to be internally conflicted about its own position on the matter, and has used bad-faith arguments to shield itself from criticism about how difficult its products are to fix, particularly where it relates to proprietary component parts and repair instructions.
But for a remote with a rechargeable battery, Apple sure makes it difficult to actually get in there and access one of the things most likely to need replacement down the road. And tricking us with a pair of screws that do little for repairability doesn’t exactly curry favor on the repair front, either.
If you charge a device via USB Type-C today, the maximum you’re getting is 100W. This is set out in the specification from the USB Implementers Forum (USB-IF), but the 2.1 update, released today, punches that up to 240W.
Known as Extended Power Range, or EPR, the new spec does not mean you’ll need to throw out all your chargers, as the Type-C plug itself is staying the same, along with USB 4’s data-transfer abilities, but it does mean that we’ll start to see larger laptops with USB-C as a charging option, as current 17-inch and most gaming laptops still use dedicated charging ports due to their greater thirst for power.
Monitors, too, should benefit, with the ability to send power and video signals down the same cable to larger screens. We might also see the standard adopted to power peripherals such as printers and scanners, though laser printers can currently outstrip even 240W of capacity. The new Apple M1 iMac, by contrast, comes with a 143W power supply that doubles as an Ethernet connection, making it a candidate for a USB-C wall connection the next time it gets a facelift.
The maximum voltage delivered over the diminutive oval plugs is rising too, as 48V is required to output 240W at 5A. This has led to a small change within the connector, as pins for power delivery and USB 2.0 support can no longer short to ground to prevent the possibility of arcing when a cable is unplugged. New EPR cables will carry an electronic mark, meaning devices can interrogate them to see how much current they’re safely capable of handling without potentially producing unwanted lightning.
App developer and scam app hunter Kosta Eleftheriou’s latest discovery is a real doozy, an iOS app that refuses to function before you give it at least a 3-star review in the App Store. Although the UPNP Xtreme app — which claimed to let users stream video to their TVs — now appears to have been pulled, we were able to verify that it generates the App Store rating box the second it opens. You can’t dismiss the ratings box, nor can you tap the 1 or 2-star ratings, Eleftheriou said. We verified this behavior, but some other users report they were able to dismiss the dialog box or leave a lower rating.
This is just the latest scammy app to have been unearthed by Elefheriou, who’s been waging a war against them after his own Apple Watch keyboard app, FlickType, was overtaken by expensive apps with fake reviews. Eleftheriou says Apple has removed over 100 apps as a result of his reports, but it’s concerning that the multi-billion dollar company isn’t catching these scams during its App Store review process.
If you think you can trust App Store ratings, you haven’t been paying enough attention.
This is the iOS *system* rating prompt, not a custom look-alike one.
The worst part? This trick is EXTREMELY easy for any developer to do, and not limited to this app.
— Kosta Eleftheriou (@keleftheriou) May 25, 2021
The UPNP Xtreme app’s behavior directly contradicts one of the best practices Apple lists on its developer site, which states that developers should “avoid showing a request for a review immediately when a user launches your app.” Generally, developers are allowed to prompt for a rating up to there times in a 365-day period.
Apple’s review process has been under particularly intense scrutiny recently because of Epic Games’ lawsuit against the company. Central to the dispute is the 30 percent commission Apple takes on many App Store payments and in-app purchases. Apple argues it needs the commission to run the App Store and create a safe environment for users. But that argument gets undermined pretty quickly if obvious scammy apps are able to slip through Apple’s review process.
Apps like the ones discovered by Eleftheriou not only harm customers who end up downloading scammy software and can get tricked into paying for difficult-to-cancel recurring subscriptions. It also harms legitimate developers who have to contend with apps that are willing to play dirty to get the good reviews needed to rise up the App Store’s rankings.
Eleftheriou filed a lawsuit against Apple earlier this year, arguing it exploits its monopoly power over iOS app to make money at the expense of app developers and consumers.
Asahi Linux developer Hector Martin has revealed a covert channel vulnerability in the Apple M1 chip that he dubbed M1RACLES, and in the process, he’s gently criticized the way security flaws have started to be shared with the public.
Martin’s executive summary for M1RACLES sounds dire: “A flaw in the design of the Apple Silicon ‘M1’ chip allows any two applications running under an OS to covertly exchange data between them, without using memory, sockets, files, or any other normal operating system features. This works between processes running as different users and under different privilege levels, creating a covert channel for surreptitious data exchange. […] The vulnerability is baked into Apple Silicon chips, and cannot be fixed without a new silicon revision.“ (Emphasis his.)
He also noted that this was the result of an intentional decision on Apple’s part. “Basically, Apple decided to break the ARM spec by removing a mandatory feature, because they figured they’d never need to use that feature for macOS,” he explained. “And then it turned out that removing that feature made it much harder for existing OSes to mitigate this vulnerability.” The company would have to make a change on the silicon level with its followup to the M1 to mitigate this flaw.
But he also made it clear in the FAQ that Mac owners shouldn’t be particularly worried about M1RACLES because that covert channel affects two bits. It can be expanded, and Martin said that transfer rates over 1 MB/s are possible “without much optimization,” but any malicious apps that might take advantage of such methods would be far more likely to share information via other channels. Calling this a two-bit vulnerability would be both technically and linguistically correct. It’s a real security flaw, sure, but it‘s unlikely to pose a real threat to Apple’s customers.
So why bother coming up with a catchy name, drawing up a logo, and setting up a website in the first place? Martin addressed that in the FAQ: “Poking fun at how ridiculous infosec click-bait vulnerability reporting has become lately. Just because it has a flashy website or it makes the news doesn’t mean you need to care,” he wrote. “If you’ve read all the way to here, congratulations! You’re one of the rare people who doesn’t just retweet based on the page title 🙂 […] Honestly, I just wanted to play Bad Apple!! over an M1 vulnerability. You have to admit that’s kind of cool.“
It has become increasingly common for vulnerability disclosures to include all the elements Martin parodied with M1RACLES. Nobody cares about CVE identifiers—they care about names like Heartbleed, Meltdown, and Spectre. Researchers didn’t just say there were problems with drivers from Intel, Nvidia, AMD, and many other companies; they called their report Screwed Drivers. Early malware targeting the M1 wasn’t simply called M1_Malware_1; it was dubbed Silver Sparrow. Honestly it’s kind of surprising researchers haven’t started to sell tee-shirts alongside their reports.
M1RACLES does in some ways mean that we’ve reached a sort of meta-branding where a catchy name, logo, and website that were created ironically are effective, of course, but at least we all have our tongues planted firmly in our cheeks. More information about the flaw should be available at the Mitre listing for CVE-2021-30747 at some point in the future. Martin’s efforts to bring Linux to the M1 via Asahi Linux—whose m1n1 “experimentation playground for Apple Silicon” was used to discover this flaw—can also be followed via the project’s website.
Eight days ago we reported that Apple was working on a Beats-branded set of true wireless headphones named ‘Beats Studio Buds’, as spotted in the 14.6 iOS and tvOS codes. Now – and most likely ahead of an impending official launch – the first actual (if unofficial) product images have been leaked online.
According to gadget research destination MySmartPrice(and as reported by9to5Mac) the Indian-based website received live images of the Beats Studio Buds. Notable in the photo above – aside from the lovely pair of cashmere or merino wool white gloves – is an elliptical shaped earpiece featuring two tiny cutouts.
The image shows an in-ear design and one not dissimilar to the Award-winning Sennheiser Momentum True Wireless 2. Interestingly, it is unlike any AirPods model (known for that ‘toothbrush head’ shape) or Beats Powerbeats product currently available.
The design is similar to the one revealed in an Apple FCC listing recently and it is missing its tips. If Apple follows a similar path here as it did with AirPods Pro, the Beats Studio Buds could come with three different-sized tips for an optimum fit.
The Beats Studio Buds are likely to feature Apple’s H1 chip to offer faster connection, increased stability, improved battery life and the “Hey, Siri” feature. To clarify, this is the more advanced chip, found in the second-generation AirPods, AirPods Pro, AirPods Max, Powerbeats Pro, Beats Solo Pro and Powerbeats 4. (The W1 chip is the one found in the previous Beats X, and the 2020-release budget-conscious Beats Flex.)
Compared to the Powerbeats Pro, Beats’ new earbuds seem a much more compact proposition and will likely include noise cancelling, which the Powerbeats Pro does not feature.
When will Apple release its new Beats-branded earbuds? We can’t be sure – but if you’re a Beats headphones fan it is time to get excited. The product was found in iOS 14.6 after all. It can’t be long…
MORE:
Read all our Beats reviews
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Last week we reported on a new Spotify app for Google-powered smartwatches that gives users the option to listen offline when on the go. Today, the Apple Watch gets a new native music streaming app of its own – Tidal.
The new Tidal app for Apple Watch works without an iPhone nearby, so you can download all your favourite playlists and then listen without a wi-fi or cellular connection.
Spotify and Deezer have both announced similar offline listening features for the Apple Watch, giving you a fair amount of choice if you want to stream music when you head out for a run or hit the gym for a workout.
Tidal is known for its high-quality streams but they won’t be available through the Apple Watch app, with data rates being limited. Spotify has also confirmed that its audio streams will be limited to 96Kbps when listening via its wearable apps. It’s unclear whether Apple, which just announced plans to add lossless tracks to Apple Music from June, will follow that playbook.
Subscription to Tidal’s ad-free Premium plan costs from £9.99 ($9.99, AU$11.99) a month and includes access to 70 million songs, many of which are offered in lossless and high-resolution quality via the iPhone and other media streamers
MORE:
Level up your listening: 27 Tidal tips, tricks and features
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