Sound

Apple has a Will Smith problem.The New York Times reporting on the lose-lose situation at Apple over the release of Emancipation, a $120 million Civil War drama starring Will Smith that finished filming about a month before Smith climbed on stage during the Oscars in March and slapped Chris Rock:“If they shelve the movie, does that tarnish Apple’s reputation? If they release it, does it tarnish their reputation? ... Hollywood likes a win-win situation. This one is lose-lose.”The film is said to have generated an…

With the 3.5mm headphone jack disappearing from most phones, the TWS (truly wireless stereo) earphones segment has burst into life. Budget TWS devices from the likes of Realme, Xiaomi, Boat, and quite a few others have been making rounds in the Indian market. A new entrant in the sub-Rs 3,000 bracket is OnePlus with its Nord lineup of TWS buds. The company had earlier revealed the Nord Buds for Rs 2,799 and received generally positive reviews from the audio community. Now a slightly stripped-down version of the earbuds…

A number of trees caught fire near the Hollywood Bowl on Saturday night, just as guests were exiting the evening’s program. Los Angeles Fire Department spokesperson Brian Humphrey told The Hollywood Reporter that a fire was first reported shortly after 11 p.m. involving 10 trees at the location of Highland Avenue and the Hollywood Freeway, near the storied outdoor concert venue. Three fire companies were deployed and extinguished the blaze, with no injuries or damage to the Hollywood Bowl reported.…

The leather-wrapped headband is comfy and fits a wide range of sizes. Michael Gariffo/ZDNETFull-size Bluetooth headphones with active noise cancellation (ANC) have been a hot-ticket item for years now. The space is largely dominated by models like Sony's recently released WH-1000XM5, as well as entrants like Bose's Quiet Comfort linethat claim to provide ANC for just $60. While that skepticism turned out to be well-founded during my testing, I still found that the Monoprice SYNC-ANC Bluetooth headphones had a lot…

Once upon a time, desktop computer speakers actually mattered. That was more than a decade ago, long before gaming headsets filled the land and wireless Bluetooth headphones were any good. In the early 2000's, more people also had actual desktops computers chained to desks, so it was worth investing a bit in decent audio. SteelSeries' new Arena 9 surround sound PC speakers reminds me of that era, a time when I eagerly strung cables throughout my dorm room to connect Logitech's legendary Z-680 surround sound speakers.…

Researchers are building a database of human voices that they’ll use to develop AI-based tools that could eventually diagnose serious diseases; they’re targeting everything from Alzheimer’s to cancer. The National Institutes of Health-funded project, announced Tuesday, is an effort to turn the human voice into something that could be used as a biomarker for disease, like blood or temperature.“What’s beautiful about voice data is that it’s probably one of the cheapest types of data that you can collect from people,” says…

Image: University of WashingtonThere’s more than one reason to avoid dropping your phone in the water. Not only is it catastrophic for devices that aren’t properly waterproofed, but your device will also lose most of its wireless connectivity when submerged, leaving you unable to text message friends who’ve gone overboard too, unless you download and install a new app created by researchers at the University of Washington.Although almost every new smartphone can shrug off a dunking. Butwhile submerged, most of a…

A man of many surprises, Nottingham MC Bru-C has always prided himself on being an outlier, from his days with the CruCast family to his deal with 0207 Def Jam. The left turns continue with his new single, "Say No More", as he switches up his D&B sound with a noticeable bassline/4x4 edge. The track also comes off the back of his recent Top 20 hit, “No Excuses”.Co-produced by Shapes and Sonny Fodera, this one pits his silver-tongued, geezer chat against a rugged low-end bounce and the occasional ‘beefa-ready house…

In June, Barcelona’s marquee music festival, Primavera Sound, returned after two pandemic-thwarted years away. Headlined by Dua Lipa, Lorde, Gorillaz and Tyler, the Creator, the fest brought in 66,000 fans per day for two weeks’ worth of shows on the Mediterranean waterfront.“The return in Barcelona was special,” said Alfonso Lanza, Primavera Sound’s co-director. “The atmosphere was so excited, people were eager to party. There was a lot of joy.”When Primavera Sound makes it long-awaited L.A. debut Sept. 16-18 at the…

Look, we all use Instagram when we probably shouldn’t. We open the app and scroll through the feed or tap through Stories spontaneously — even when we’re around other people and need to do so silently. That used to not be a problem — on the iPhone, just keep the mute switch flipped down and Instagram stays silent. Except, it doesn’t anymore. No, it’s not just you: Instagram won’t stay silent anymore, even if you have your mute switch on. Infuriatingly, if you mute your phone while in the Instagram app, it’ll stop the…