Monday, August 23, 2021

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The OnePlus Buds Pro feature smart ANC and a white-noise mode

Posted: 23 Aug 2021 05:00 AM PDT

It's not exactly a secret that OnePlus has been working on new earbuds. In July, it sought fans to test an upcoming model without disclosing too many details. Fast forward a few weeks, and the company has formally revealed the OnePlus Buds Pro.

OnePlus has adopted a different design from the original Buds, which it released last year. The Buds Pro boast adaptive noise cancellation (ANC), which filters out background sound levels of up to 40dB. You can lower that to a maximum of 25dB to keep closer tabs on your surroundings. There's a scene detection feature too.

Each earbud has a trio of microphones. OnePlus says the mics work in concert with its noise reduction algorithms and a mechanical design intended to tamp down wind noise. All of those features are included with the aim of delivering clearer audio. 

There's also a feature called OnePlus Audio ID, a sound profile that customizes each song based on the wearer's sensitivity to different sounds, as established by a listening test. You can expect Dolby Atmos support too.

OnePlus Buds Pro
OnePlus

You'll get up to seven hours of use on a single charge, and five hours if ANC is enabled, OnePlus says. The charging case can add up to 31 hours of playback time, and an extra 23 hours if you use ANC. Fast charging adds 10 hours of playback after 10 minutes of charging time via a USB-C cable. The case is also Qi-certified for wireless charging.

The earbuds are IP55-rated for water and sweat resistance, while the charging case is IPX4-rated. Other features include low latency for gaming on certain OnePlus phones (around 94ms), fast pairing, voice assistant support, automatic pausing when you take the buds out of your ears and a Zen mode that can play white noise.

The original $79 OnePlus Buds didn't exactly blow us away. Engadget Senior News Editor Billy Steele found the AirPods-style earbuds delivered muddy audio and were uncomfortable to wear. Here's hoping OnePlus has upped its game this time around.

The OnePlus Buds Pro will go on sale in the US and Canada on September 1st in two colors: Matte Black and Glossy White. They cost $150.

The Morning After: WhatsApp might finally launch an iPad app

Posted: 23 Aug 2021 04:15 AM PDT

WhatsApp's end-to-end encryption requirements demand a "main device," which seemed to halt the kind of seamless messaging you'd get with Apple's messaging app and other third-party options. In July, WhatsApp said it was working on next-generation encryption that would enable a true multi-device connection without requiring a connection to a smartphone. Part of that might include a dedicated tablet app, according to tweets from WABetaInfo, an account that often reveals incoming WhatsApp features ahead of time.

WhatsApp app is seen on a smartphone in this illustration taken, July 13, 2021. REUTERS/Dado Ruvic/Illustration
Dado Ruvic / reuters

The update will apparently be part of a multi-device beta, with both iPads and Android tablets usable as "linked devices" to a WhatsApp account, with a native app in tow.

I'm a WhatsApp user. Apple's iOS Messages never caught my attention, and let's just ignore Android's equivalent. I know I should be using the more secure, less 'Facebook' Telegram app, too, but I always come back to WhatsApp, probably because it took so long to coax my family and international friends across from SMS and email years earlier.

Along with the web app, meaning I can use WhatsApp from my work laptop (sorry, boss), it's another bid to keep WhatsApp seamlessly working across my life. And make it harder to leave the Facebook-owned messaging app, even if I want to.

-Mat Smith

The best SSD for your PlayStation 5

And how to install one.

PlayStation 5 SSD slot
Aaron Souppouris/Engadget

If you're eager to expand the storage on your PS5, you'll need access to the early beta — easy enough to do — and the confidence to open up your new console and install a speedy SSD yourself.

Fortunately for you (and me) Executive Editor Aaron Souppouris, who knows a little too much about hard drives, has done the research and even installed a new SSD, sharing the process with the rest of us.

Continue reading.

Four new games land on... the Atari Lynx

What you got, Game Gear?

New Atari Lynx games
James Trew / Engadget

If you're a retro gamer, it's hard not to ignore the Atari Lynx. While it was the first color hand-held console, its small library of games (under 100 official titles) and general mishandling by Atari itself earned it little more than a walk-on role in gaming history. A few dedicated folks still hold a candle for it, however, with new titles now more common than they were a decade ago. Here are four new games you can play on original hardware, complete with cartridge and box. 

Continue reading.

The best study-from-home essentials for students

These tools may actually make you want to hit the books.

It's time to upgrade your study-at-home setup so you're not crushing essays from a corner of a couch and giving yourself neck pain. Yep, we've got several ergonomic posture savers alongside decent wireless keyboards, mice and more.

Continue reading.

Google has already discontinued the Pixel 5

The Pixel 6 should be here soon.

Google Pixel 5
Chris Velazco / Engadget

Google just released the excellent and relatively inexpensive Pixel 5a, and the company has taken the opportunity to clean house, shedding the Pixel 5 and Pixel 4a 5G from its online store. On Google's store in the US, both phones are out of stock currently, which means the only Pixel phones currently available are the Pixel 5a (which doesn't arrive until August 26th) and the Pixel 4a, which doesn't have 5G.

Google announced the Pixel 5 on September 30th last year, so it seems likely that we'll get an official release date (and price) for the Pixel 6 sometime in the next month. 

Continue reading.

Apple is reportedly releasing a redesigned, more powerful Mac mini this fall

It might run on the same "M1X" processor rumored to come to the MacBook Pro.

A redesigned Mac mini with an "M1X" chip could arrive in "the next several months." The M1X hasn't been announced, but it's been the shorthand over the last year or so for a chip that can outperform the M1 that Apple currently offers. This timeline comes from the reliable Mark Gurman at Bloomberg.

Apple is also expected to redesign the Mac mini and add more ports to the small desktop computer. This Mac mini might be more focused on power users and will also likely cost more than the current models Apple offers. The company may keep the M1 model around as a more basic and affordable option.

In addition to the Mac mini, Apple is also expected to introduce redesigned MacBook Pro models this fall. 

Continue reading.

The biggest stories you might have missed

ICYMI: We open (and close) the Galaxy Z Flip 3

Facebook releases Q1 'widely viewed content' report following criticism

Apple is reportedly releasing a redesigned, more powerful Mac mini this fall

Hitting the Books: How Tesla engineers solved the problem of exploding EV batteries

Cadillac's luxury EV debut seems like a winner

Google is shutting down the Android Auto phone app

Bethesda is releasing a 10th anniversary edition of 'Skyrim'

PayPal brings cryptocurrency trading to the UK

Posted: 23 Aug 2021 03:14 AM PDT

PayPal is bringing the ability to buy, hold and sell cryptocurrencies across to the other side of the pond, the better part of a year after it launched in the US. In a statement, the company said that UK-based users would be able to buy, hold and sell Bitcoin, Ethereum, Litecoin and Bitcoin Cash via their PayPal account. In addition, the PayPal app will enable users to view real-time cryptocurrency prices and access information about the opportunities and risks that buying such currencies entail.

Buying and selling cryptocurrencies was introduced to all users of the app in the US back in November 2020. Since then, users have been able to check out with crypto, and the feature has also been rolled out to Venmo. The company adds that users can buy as little as £1 of cryptocurrency, and while there are no fees to hold the currency, users will have to pay transaction and currency conversion fees. It's not clear, yet, if the total limit on how much you can buy is capped at the equivalent of $100,000 (£73,000), as it currently is in the US.

NASA's Curiosity rover video shows a fresh panoramic view of Mars

Posted: 23 Aug 2021 01:56 AM PDT

NASA's Jet Propulsion Laboratory released a breathtaking panorama of the inside of the Gale Crater, as snapped by the Curiosity Rover. To celebrate the Rover's ninth — ninth! — year surveying the red planet, the clip shows off where the Rover has been, where it's going, and what we've learned in the last decade. This includes the breathtaking fact that, on a clear winter's day when there's no dust in the air, you can see close to 20 miles.

The panorama, as reported by Gizmodo, shows Curiosity's journey up the side of Mount Sharp, and the detour it had to take in order to avoid a large sheet of Martian sand. As the rover has journeyed up the side, the composition of the rocks had changed from a clay-rich base to one full of sulphide. As Deputy Project Scientist Abigail Fraeman explains, researchers are hoping to learn a little more about how Mars lost its water (the Gale Crater used to be a lake, after all) and how long it took before it became the dry desert planet we see before us.

WhatsApp could soon have an iPad app for the first time

Posted: 22 Aug 2021 04:00 PM PDT

Part of WhatsApp's end-to-end encryption scheme is a requirement for users to set up the service with a phone as the "main" device for an account. The company announced in July that it was working on next-generation encryption that would enable a true multi-device connection without requiring a connection to a smartphone. As part of that, it sounds like WhatsApp is planning a fully native iPad app fro the first time.

AppleInsider noticed a few tweets this weekend from the WABetaInfo account, an unofficial source of details about upcoming WhatsApp features. The account says that as part of the upcoming multi-device beta, both the iPad and Android tablets would be able to be used as "linked devices" to a WhatsApp account for the first time. A follow-up tweet claims that it'll be a native app (rather than a web app) and that it'll work "independently" (as in it'll run if your smartphone is offline). 

There's no word on when this app and integration will arrive; the WABetaInfo account says it's under development and will be released in a "future update." But if you already have the WhatsApp for iOS beta, you'll get access to the iPad version as well. On the one hand, plenty of people who've been using WhatsApp for years have likely gotten used to the app not being available on tablets — but multi-device support seems like the perfect time to make WhatsApp work on more devices.

Apple is reportedly releasing a redesigned, more powerful Mac mini this fall

Posted: 22 Aug 2021 12:45 PM PDT

When Apple launched the first Macs with its own M1 silicon inside (the MacBook Air, MacBook Pro and Mac mini), they were essentially identical to the Intel models they replaced, aside from the new processor of course. But numerous rumors have indicted that Apple is working on major redesigns for its laptops soon, and the company already released an all-new iMac with Apple silicon inside. Now, it sounds like the Mac mini will get a big refresh soon, as well.

Both 9to5Mac and MacRumors are citing a newsletter from Bloomberg's reliable Mark Gurman that says a redesigned Mac mini with an "M1X" chip in it should arrive in "the next several months." The M1X hasn't been announced, but it's been the shorthand over the last year or so for a chip that can outperform the M1 that Apple currently offers. 

In addition to the new internals, Apple is also expected to redesign the Mac mini and add more ports to the small desktop computer. This Mac mini might be more focused on power users and will also likely cost more than the current models Apple offers, so it seems likely that the company will keep the M1 model around as a more basic and affordable option.

In addition to the Mac mini, Apple is also expected to introduce totally redesigned MacBook Pro models this fall, also sporting the more powerful M1X chip. It also sounds like Apple might take the multi-colored approach that it brought to the iMac earlier this year, as well.

Facebook releases Q1 'widely viewed content' report following criticism

Posted: 22 Aug 2021 10:50 AM PDT

Last week, Facebook released its first "widely viewed content" report, a document that essentially was the company's response to numerous reports that the most engaging content on the platform usually comes from polarizing and potentially misleading conservative figures and outlets, including Newsmax, Fox News, Ben Shapiro and Dan Bongino. The report last week contradicted that, saying that in Q2 of 2021, top domains included more innocuous content coming from YouTube, Amazon, TikTok and a cat GIF from Tumblr. 

But on Friday, the New York Times published a report saying that it had seen a "widely viewed content" report for Q1 of 2021 and that it showed different trends. For example, the most-viewed link was a story claiming a Florida doctor died from the coronovirus vaccine. Facebook has now confirmed the document's accuracy and released it directly.

Facebook spokesperson Andy Stone took to Twitter to get into the details of the report and said that Facebook withheld the report because "there were key fixes to the system we wanted to make," but he didn't elaborate on what those fixes are.

Stone also did a deep dive into the misleading story that came out of Florida, trying to explain Facebook's decisions around it. "News outlets wrote about the south Florida doctor that died. When the coroner released a cause of death, the Chicago Tribune appended an update to its original story; NYTimes did not," he wrote on Twitter. "Would it have been right to remove the Times story because it was COVID misinfo? Of course not. No one is actually suggesting this and neither am I. But it does illustrate just how difficult it is to define misinformation."

As noted by the New York Times, Facebook has been trying to counter pressure around the things shared on its platform, specifically regarding misinformation around COVID-19 and its vaccine. Much of that pressure is coming directly from the US government. President Biden memorably said last month that Facebook was "killing people" with vaccine misinformation on its site, though he walked back his statements slightly later.

AI startup Boomy looks to turn the music industry on its ear

Posted: 22 Aug 2021 09:00 AM PDT

Music publishers have been on a spending spree in recent years, buying the catalogs and copyrights for songs of famous musicians at a frantic pace. Last December, Universal Music Publishing Group bought up Bob Dylan's entire discography in a deal estimated at more than $300 million. Similarly, Stevie Nicks sold an 80 percent share of her works to Primary Wave Music for an estimated $100 million that same month. But as all this money changes hands for the industry's biggest stars, one songwriting startup has plans to open the firehose of music royalties to the everyman.

"You see these huge deals, like the Bob Dylan deal with the publishing rights and all this money," Alex Mitchell, co-founder and CEO of Boomy told Engadget. "It started with a recognition that most people are going to be left out of that and it caused us to have a conversation about equity in the music industry, 'how do we fairly remunerate artists, what's the role of labels,' there's just chaos happening in the music industry right now."

Mitchell realized that one major obstacle keeping amateur musicians from becoming published musicians was a technological one. Setting up a home recording studio is no small task, and teaching oneself how to navigate the hyper-granular control schemes of professional-grade DAWs (digital audio workstations) like Ableton Live or Pro Tools can take months, if not years, to fully master. But what if you had an AI-based co-writer to handle the heavy technical lifting instead, similar to what Tik Tok and Instagram do for their creators?

"We really started looking at what it takes to draw creativity out of somebody, what kind of tool can you put in their hands — where there's so much of the process that's semi- or fully-automated — that they can just add their own layer of humanity to it." What they came up with was Boomy.

"There's already AI being used in studios and in the music creation process," Mitchell said. "A great example of this is Ozone auto-mastering. They have used artificial intelligence to be able to create great mixes, put great final polish on tracks, things like that."

"So what we've done is we've taken a lot of those concepts and we've rewritten this stuff from the ground up," he continued. "[It's] less to think about how people usually make music, and more in the context of, if somebody doesn't have any skills at all, how fast can we get them making some stuff that they think is pretty cool?"

The web-based app is, essentially, a one-button music studio. Users can compose wholly original songs in around 5 to 10 minutes simply by clicking Create Song from the homepage, selecting the desired style of beat — whether that's rap, lo-fi, experimental or "global grooves" — and then fiddling with the composition and mix until they're satisfied. That song can then be uploaded to any of 40-plus streaming and social platforms where the song's author can earn royalties based on the number of times their song is played.

Embedded below is a loopable, meditative jingle I put together during the course of my research. Despite my inherent lack of rhythm and general disinterest in music production, I found this to be a rather relaxing and enjoyable experience. After choosing the underlying beat and waiting a half-minute for the AI to generate a mix, the production process largely involved just shuffling icons around to adjust the composition and fiddling with dropdown menus to the instrument sets until I got something that I liked and think vaguely resembles the Konami menu screen music I grew up with. The entire process took less than 10 minutes.

Unlike recurrent neural network analysis models such as OpenAI or Google's Magenta which, for example, can analyze Michael Jackson songs to be able to recreate the King of Pop's signature sound, Boomy is not trained on copyrighted works. This is due in part because of the highly-segmented nature of copyright law, which varies drastically between nations and territories, but also because of the black box nature of such systems. If the infinite monkey theorem is any barometer, there is always a chance (albeit tiny) that a system trained on Michael Jackson might randomly spit out a perfect recreation of "Thriller." And that's very bad for the system's designer.

"If I'm a music publisher and I own the rights to Michael Jackson," Mitchell said. "I'm going to look at that model I'm gonna say 'great, you know what, that's all mine'… if you're making a copy of somebody else's work, even if it's transformed, you're probably going to owe some publishing on that.'"

Instead, the team is taking a bottom up approach, leveraging previous experience in A&R research to train its AI in building beats and compositions from scratch. "We have some really advanced algorithms that are doing automatic mixing, deciding what sound should go together — what are the features of those sounds, how do those fit together, what is the perceived loudness rate of those sounds," Mitchell explained.

Those features grew from a brute-force development approach — putting together various combinations of beats and compositions, then presenting them to beta testers. "In our first iteration of our model had a 98-percent rejection rate, but a 2-percent stay rate," he continued. "And in that 2 percent, over millions of sessions, we started saying, 'okay, here are groups of features that go well together.'"

Mitchell doesn't view Boomy simply as a music creation tool, but as a means to achieve "​​the ideal world that we want to create," one which would allow creators anywhere on the planet to register themselves as a co-writer of their work alongside Boomy at their local publishing rights organization. However, because copyright law varies from country to country, Boomy has established an alternative way to ensure that songwriters get paid for their creative works.

"So what we're saying here is, a real world example would be, we just built a music studio, we filled it with great equipment, and spent millions of dollars building the studio," Mitchell told Engadget. "You can come in and use it for free, make whatever you want, and on your way out, we're assigning you to our label, and we're going to give you an 80 percent rev share on everything we collect from what you made in the studio."

"The IP vests with us," he continued, noting that Boomy has been used to create more than 3 million songs to date, "which actually makes us, ironically, the largest record label in the world." For users who are either already established musicians or otherwise want to obtain sole ownership of their songs, "they can submit a rights request, and we can basically either sell the copyright to them or come to some other arrangement."

While Mitchell could not share exact figures with Engadget, he did estimate that in the two years since Boomy's launch, the company has paid out "tens of thousands' ' of dollars in royalties to its user base.

Moving forward, Mitchell foresees Boomy's UI to add more additional control features and composition inputs, "over the next several months, we're really gonna focus and double down on vocal, melody and top line," he explained.

The company is also working on new methods to earn royalties for its users. "We've got a bunch of influencer groups lined up and we've been doing some stuff behind the scenes to place tracks into YouTube videos," Mitchell continued. "If you're a creator, or if you've got a podcast, rather than go pay for music rights, why not get paid for the music that you're using?"

Google is shutting down the Android Auto phone app

Posted: 22 Aug 2021 06:00 AM PDT

Android Auto is best-known as a way to access your phone through a car's dashboard — this lets you easily access Google Maps, music apps and data without needing to use your phone. But for years now, Google has also offered an Android Auto experience directly on a phone, for people who don't have a compatible dashboard unit. More recently, Google has also been working on an "Assistant driving mode" (pictured above) that arrived earlier this year after a few delays. Now that Google Assistant driving mode is finished, though, the company will stop offering the old Android Auto experience on phones running Android 12.

A statement from Google shared with 9to5Google confirms this plan. Google Assistant driving mode is our next evolution of the mobile driving experience," the statement reads. "For the people who use Android Auto in supported vehicles, that experience isn't going away. For those who use the on phone experience (Android Auto mobile app), they will be transitioned to Google Assistant driving mode. Starting with Android 12, Google Assistant driving mode will be the built-in mobile driving experience. We have no further details to share at this time."

Before Google confirmed this change, some Pixel owners running Android 12 received a notification when trying to run the Android Auto app on their phones. It said that Android Auto was now "only available for car screens" and recommended that they try the Google Assistant driving experience instead. Given that the new Google Assistant experience will clearly be the focus going forward, switching over probably isn't a big deal for most people. But if you don't upgrade your phone to Android 12, you'll be able to keep running the Android Auto app, at least for the time being.
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