Today, Sony announced InZone, a new gaming brand that puts its focus into audio and visual products. Sony states that the main concept of the brand is “Immersion and Victory”. The firm announced a total of five products, two monitors and three headsets.
The InZone M9 and InZone M3 are both 27-inch monitors. The InZone M9 features 4K resolution with a refresh rate of 144Hz. It also features Full-Array Local Dimming, DisplayHDR 600 certification, Nvidia G-Sync compatibility, and more. The InZone M3 features 1080p resolution with a refresh rate of 240Hz. It also offers a 1ms response time and variable refresh rate. Both monitors feature the same shape and design, with lots of space under the monitor to setup a gaming space.
The InZone H9 is a wireless headphone, featuring noise-cancelling capabilities, 360 spatial audio, and a comfortable design thanks to its use of a wide head band and supple leather earpads. Sony has likened the product quality to its highly popular Sony WH-1000XM5. The InZone H7 are also wireless, while the InZone H3 are wired – both feature 360 spatial audio and nylon materials for its earpads. Each of the headphones features a design that offers low side pressure, which means that they can be worn for hours without fatigue.
For more details about each product, you can head to Sony’s InZone product page. Although Sony did not announce pricing or availability during its presentation, the products are now available directly from Sony for pre-order in the United States and the UK. The devices are expected to ship towards the beginning of July.
Currently, pricing from the Sony UK site is as follows:
The InZone H3 is priced at £89
The InZone H7 is priced at £199
The InZone H9 is priced at £269
The InZone M3 is unavailable
The InZone M9 is priced at £999
Currently, pricing from the Sony US site is as follows:
After rolling out a massive update for the Ambient Music Mod earlier this month, XDA Recognized Developer Quinny899 has now released a fresh update for the mod. The latest release brings support for armv7 devices, several bug fixes, and a couple of new customization features.
For the unaware, Ambient Music Mod is a handy Xposed-Magisk module that brings Pixel’s “Now Playing” feature to non-Pixel devices. With the v2 release, the mod received a massive overhaul with new features and support for non-rooted devices running Android 12 or higher. Now, it has received another update with a couple of noteworthy changes. Check out the section below for a quick rundown of all the changes in Ambient Music Mod v2.0.3:
Ambient Music Mod v2.0.3 changes:
Added armv7 support
Fixed crashes on Android 10
Fixed an issue where some tracks were not showing up in the track list or in the track count (US database is actually 69k tracks, not 53k)
Added an option to change the lockscreen overlay text color
The lockscreen overlay text now has a slight shadow, improving visibility
Added coaching for updates, which should prevent rate-limit issues. You can force an update check (ignoring cache) by swiping to refresh
Enabled landscape orientation
Fixed background crashes in Now Playing, which may help download issues
Improved Magisk On Demand module overlay installing, which may fix bootloops on some devices
You can download the latest release from the developer’s GitHub page by following the link below. If you face any issues, you can share your feedback in the mod’s XDA forums thread. Check out our Ambient Music Mod v2 hands-on preview for more details on the mod.
Good news for those patiently waiting for a Steam Deck. Valve has announced through its Twitter account that it has finished the last batch of Q2 shipments and is on track to begin shipping its Q3 reservations. In addition, Valve has revealed that it will also be shipping more than double its previous pre-order volume each week in Q3 2022.
Those who reserved a Steam Deck and are in the Q3 2022 reservation window can expect an email from Valve starting June 30. On top of this exciting news, the company has indicated that the production of the device has “picked up.” This means that going forward, the company will be shipping more than double the amount of consoles every week during the third quarter of 2022.
While optimistic, the company does state to be patient, as it will take some time for the wave of Q3 emails to go out. Naturally, if you are anxious and can’t wait, you can always log in to your Steam account to check the status of your reservation. Although this is great news for those that pre-ordered the device, there is still no word about the Steam Deck Docking Station that was delayed due to a parts shortage. Hopefully, Valve will shed more light on this soon.
Valve has made strides with its console, offering new Windows drivers, despite its stance on loading unsupported operating systems on its console. The firm has also partnered with iFixit, just in case you need to repair your device, it now offers official replacement parts. Furthermore, it has updated its firmware to version 3.2, bringing improvements to fan controls, refresh rate, and frame rate controls. Finally, the firm has continually increased compatibility with its existing game library. If you still haven’t ordered your Steam Deck due to the shipping delays, you might want to order it right away if you want to get it in time for the holiday season.
The Samsung Galaxy Buds 2 and the Jabra Elite 85T are two of the best true wireless earbuds on the market, offering great sound, ergonomic designs, and effective ANC. The Galaxy Buds 2 was unveiled alongside the Galaxy Z Fold 3 and Galaxy Z Flip 3. Meanwhile, the Jabra Elite 85T came out in 2020 and is comparatively older than the Galaxy Buds 2. However, Jabra continues to promote it as the flagship product. Both earbuds have strengths and weaknesses, but which one comes out on top? We find out in this head-to-head comparison.
Galaxy Buds 2 Vs. Jabra Elite 85T: Specifications
Specification
Galaxy Buds 2
Jabra Elite 85T
Build and Weight
17 x 20.9mm (earbud)
50.2 x 50 x 27.8mm (case)
5g (earbud)
41.2g (earbud)
23.1 x 19.0 x 16.2mm (earbud)
64.8 x 41.1 x 28.5mm (charging case)
7g (earbud)
45.1 (charging case)
Audio
Dynamic 2-way speakers
11mm Woofer
6.5mm Tweeter
12mm dynamic drivers
ANC
Yes, ANC supported
3 levels of ambient sound control
Ambient sound/transparency mode
Machine Learning solutions to cut-off sound
Yes, ANC supported
HearThrough (transparency) mode
Adjustable mode
Microphone
3 microphones (each earbud)
3 microphones (each earbud)
Connectivity
Bluetooth 5.2
Bluetooth 5.1
Battery & charging
5 hours of playback with ANC
20 hours of total playback (with charging case)
5.5 hours of playback with ANC
31 hours of total playback (with charging case)
IP rating
IPX2
IPX4
Colors
White, Olive, Graphite, Lavender
Titanium Black, Gold Beige, Copper Black, Grey
Design, comfort, and IP rating
On paper, the Galaxy Buds 2 and Jabra Elite 85T both promise to be lightweight and comfortable. But looking at the numbers, the Galaxy Buds 2 have an edge here as they weigh just 5g making them 2g lighter than the Elite 85T. As far as looks are concerned, both earphones follow a similar design, but the Galaxy Buds 2 look more modern and eye-catching thanks to their rounded design that extends to the charging case.
The Jabra Elite 85T has oblong ear tips along with an earwax guard that prevents dirt, debris, and gunk from blocking the speaker grille. The Galaxy Buds 2 goes with the standard circular ear tips. To help you choose the appropriate tip, Samsung’s app also has an ear tip test.
When it comes to controls, both earbuds take a different approach; the Galaxy Buds 2 have touch gestures, so there’s a chance that they might sometimes register accidental or false taps. You’re unlikely to run into this issue on the Jabra Elite 85T as they use good old physical buttons, but that also means you need to apply a slight pressure to activate them, risking them unsettling from your ears.
Both earbuds have an IP rating for water and sweat protection, but Jabra Elite 85T fare better as they merit an IPX4 rating as compared to the IPX2-certified Galaxy Buds 2. That means they’re better suited for intense workouts and outdoor activity.
Sound quality, ANC, and calling experience
Both earbuds differ when it comes to the audio driver setup. The Galaxy Buds 2 features dynamic two-way speakers, consisting of an 11mm woofer for bass and midrange and a 6.5mm tweeter to handle high frequencies. The Jabra Elite 85T has the more traditional setup, featuring a single 12mm dynamic driver in each earbud. The Galaxy Buds 2 clearly have superior hardware, but remember that a lot depends on the audio tuning.
Should you not like the sound quality out of the box, both Samsung and Jabra give you a lot of customization options via their companion apps, allowing you to tweak the audio to your liking and play around with different sound profiles.
Coming to active noise cancellation (ANC), both earbuds claim to deliver powerful ANC performance. Samsung says the Galaxy Buds 2 can reduce the external noise by up to 98% though that doesn’t mean they can completely isolate you from the outside world — you’ll still hear people’s voices and high-pitched noise.
The Jabra Elite 85T has a dedicated processor for noise cancellation, and you can control the level of ANC from the Sound+ app. They also have pressure relief vents to reduce pressure build-up in the ear caused by the tight seal and ANC.
Both earbuds offer adjustable transparency or ambient mode to let you easily listen to surrounding sounds and people’s voices without taking off the earphones. For calling, the Galaxy Buds 2 use two beam-forming microphones and a built-in voice pickup unit. In addition, there’s a machine-learning-based solution that cuts down on external sound.
The Jabra Elite 85T use similar beam-forming microphones along with advanced wind-protection and noise reduction algorithms to cancel out wind noise and unwanted surround sound.
Battery life & other features
In terms of battery life, we’re looking at 5 hours of play time with the Galaxy Buds 2 with ANC on and 5.5 hours with the Jabra Elite 85T. While these numbers are close, the Galaxy Buds 2 lag behind when it comes to total endurance, delivering up to 20 hours of playback with the charging case. That’s 11 hours short of what the Jabra Elite 85T promises (up to 31 hours with the case). Both earbuds offer Qi wireless charging and USB-C wired charging.
Other notable highlights of the Galaxy Buds 2 include Bluetooth 5.2 support, IPX2 rating, 360 Audio, Bixby/Assistant integration, and support for SBC, AAC, and Samsung Scalable codecs.
As for the Jabra Elite 85T, you get Bluetooth 5.1 connectivity, multipoint support, SBC and AAC codecs, IPX4 rating, and Assistant/Siri support.
Conclusion
The Galaxy Buds 2 and Jabra Elite 85T are both capable true wireless earbuds with a solid set of features. But overall, we think the Galaxy Buds 2 are a better deal as they’re reasonably priced and offer the best bang for your buck. Originally launched at $149, they’re often on sale for $100-110 on Amazon (also check out the best Galaxy Buds 2 cases). The ecosystem integration with Samsung Galaxy smartphones also makes them a good option if you have a Samsung device. If you want solid battery life and are planning to use your earbuds for intense physical activity, then Jabra Elite 85T fit the bill better. They have IPX4 water resistance (Vs. IPX2 on the Galaxy Buds 2) and provide up to 31 hours of playback. Their original price is $229 but is routinely on sale for $149.
Get ready to dig into Android 13! The next major release of Google’s OS is now available as a beta. For lucky owners of the Google Pixel 6, Pixel 6 Pro, Pixel 5a, Pixel 5, Pixel 4a 5G, Pixel 4a, Pixel 4, or Pixel 4 XL, you’ll be among the first users to see what Android 13 “Tiramisu” has to offer.
Alongside the supported Google Pixel devices, Android 13 is also available for a wide range of devices from different OEMs through Developer Preview programs.
Keep in mind that the preview builds won’t give you the full Android 13 experience as it’s very much a work-in-progress. The beta is aimed solely at developers, since they need to test their apps against new Android platform APIs months before the next Android version becomes available for the general public. Installing the Developer Preview/Beta on your daily driver isn’t recommended, as you might face various system instabilities. Do back up your data before proceeding.
This page will serve as a one-stop download index for every Android 13 build released by Google. We will keep the page updated with the latest OTAs and factory images for the supported Pixel smartphones. You can learn how to install Android 13 on Google Pixel smartphones and other devices by visiting our dedicated guide.
Google showcased its latest Pixel device, the Pixel 6a, during the I/O 2022 keynote earlier this year. While the device is yet to make its way to the market, we’ve already seen plenty of leaks about it. A few weeks ago, Malaysian YouTuber Fazli Halim gave us a thorough look at the latest affordable Pixel in a hands-on video. Now, they’ve shared a full review of the device, which highlights that its fingerprint scanner is faster than the one on Google’s flagship Pixel 6 Pro.
For the unaware, the fingerprint scanner on the Pixel 6 and Pixel 6 Pro has been in the news ever since the devices hit the shelves last year. Shortly after the devices went on sale, we saw several reports suggesting that the in-display fingerprint scanner on the Pixel 6 and Pixel 6 Pro felt sluggish compared to other premium flagships.
Google also acknowledged the issue and shared some details about why the fingerprint scanner on its latest flagships might feel slow at times. Despite these claims, Google released a software update to improve the fingerprint scanner performance on the Pixel 6 series in November last year. However, the update did not make much of an improvement.
When Google lifted the covers off the Pixel 6a at I/O this year, many wondered whether the cheaper device would feature a better in-display fingerprint scanner. Turns out, it does. YouTuber Fazli Halim’s review of the Pixel 6a includes a side-by-side comparison of the fingerprint scanners on the Pixel 6 Pro and the Pixel 6a.
As you can see in the attached video, the fingerprint scanner on the newer model is not only faster but also a bit more accurate than the one on the Pixel 6 Pro. The device unlocks even with a quick tap on the fingerprint scanner, while the Pixel 6 Pro displays a “Hold a little longer” prompt at the bottom of the display. At the moment, we’re not sure if Google implemented a software fix on the Pixel 6a to achieve better results or opted for a new, more reliable in-display fingerprint scanner altogether. We expect to find out when the Pixel 6a officially goes on sale next month.
Your Wear OS smartwatch can do much more than display notifications and count your steps. Many of the best Wear OS apps can help you be productive, stay on top of your tasks, control your smart home devices, and more. While most smartwatches come packed with a bevy of fitness and wellness features, you can still add a lot of new functionality to your watch using third-party apps.
Whether your goal is to get in shape, improve strength, start running, eat clean, sleep better, or all, there’s a perfect Wear OS app for everything.
Strava
Considered the holistic app for runners and cyclists, Strava for Wear OS provides an easy way to track your runs, rides, and hikes right from your wrist. Just install the app, grant location and sensor access, and you’re good to go. The app is well-optimized for Wear OS with a clean UI and an easy-to-navigate menu. It also has an auto-pause feature for running and bike rides which automatically pauses the recording session as soon as you stop your activity. The app can also track your indoor run and ride, freestyle workout, handcycle, and Nordic Ski. You can view a detailed breakdown of your completed activity on your smartphone. Note that the Wear OS app is limited to activity recording. Features like distance tracking, training & coaching, and community features are restricted to the mobile app.
Don’t have hours to spend at the gym? No worries. Why spend hours sweating and soaking at the gym when you can squeeze a solid 7-minute workout into your busy day at home using the Seven app. The best part here is that you don’t need any special equipment. All workouts can be done with just your body. The app displays visual cues of the exercise on your smartwatch along with a countdown bar indicating how much time is left in the current set. Each set is followed by a brief rest period during which you can also see an overview of the upcoming workout. Once you complete the exercise, the training results, including your heart rate activity throughout the session, can be seen on your smartphone. You need to buy a monthly/yearly subscription to unlock all workouts and additional features.
Adidas Running is a powerful app that lets you track your fitness routines for running, walking, jogging, and cycling. In addition, you can also record more than 90 sports activities like cricket, yoga, swimming, basketball, etc. The Wear OS app can be used in two ways: in standalone mode or as a secondary display. In the standalone mode, the app uses the watch’s built-in GPS to precisely track your activity along with your heart rate data. However, in this mode, you can’t access features like Training Plans, Interval Traning, and Voice Coach. If you wish to use the watch as a second display, you’ll need to start an activity on your smartphone. Overall, it’s a great alternative to Strava.
Calm is one of the most popular apps for meditation, relaxation, and managing stress. It offers a range of guided breathing exercises to help you relax, focus, unwind, or energize yourself. Another useful feature is mood check-in which lets you track your current mood with the help of emojis and labels. The app also features a wide selection of meditation programs, sleep stories, and calming music which you listen to directly on your Wear OS smartwatch.
In addition to tracking physical activity, tracking your nutrition and calories is equally important. With Lifesum, you can track your meals and water intake right from your wrist. Your calorie goal is displayed prominently in the app, with a plus button appearing at the bottom that lets you quickly log your breakfast, lunch, dinner, and snacks. The circular green progress bar fills up as you log food/water data. In addition, the app can also keep tabs on your physical activity. Overall, the app is nicely designed but lacks some important features compared to the smartphone version.
Sleep as Android
Getting enough sleep is just as important as exercising and eating healthy. Most of the time, you’ll be perfectly fine with your smartwatch’s in-built sleep tracking. But Sleep as Android goes the extra mile to ensure you’re getting proper sleep and waking up on time. It has many additional features, including a smart alarm that wakes you up at an optimal time, CAPTCHA wake-up verification to prevent you from oversleeping, snoring detection, and sleep talk recording.
Wake up Well is a smart alarm clock that lets you wake up fresh and energized. Unlike traditional alarms, which fire off at a specified time, Wake Up Well identifies your sleep phase and tries to gently wake you up when you’re in Rapid Eye Movement sleep. Studies show that in the REM sleep stage, your brain is more active, and your body is naturally waking up thus, it’s the best phase to wake up as opposed to the deep sleep stage. Wake Up Well uses vibrations to wake you up, so your partner or other people in the house aren’t disturbed.
That wraps up our round-up of the best fitness and wellbeing Wear OS apps. As you can see, there are a lot of amazing fitness and wellness apps to get the most out of your Wear OS smartwatch. While there are tons of other apps to consider, these are the best options, in our opinion.
These apps should work well across Wear OS smartwatches. But if you are looking to make a purchase, the Samsung Galaxy Watch 4 and Galaxy Watch 4 Classic get our recommendation.
Have you ever been thinking about buying a new monitor and wishing the store had one with a 16:18 aspect ratio? Of course not. No one has. But LG thought we needed one, and here we are with the new DualUp Monitor; and I’m shocked at how easy it is to call it one of the best monitors around.
First of all, it’s actually just a good monitor, with a wide color gamut and accurate colors out of the box. It’s got a high resolution too, so it’s really not missing anything.
And then there’s the aspect ratio, which lends itself nicely to any content that scrolls vertically. You can also nicely stack two windows on top of each other.
The LG DualUp Monitor is available now for $699.99
The LG DualUp Monitor went on sale in mid-June, and comes in at $699.99. There are no options for this item, such as colors or different configurations, so that’s really all you need you know. You can get it from vendors like Amazon, Best Buy, and LG.com.
LG DualUp Monitor: Specs
27.6-inch SDQHD (2560 x 2880) Nano IPS Display
3-Side Virtually Borderless Design
DCI-P3 98% (Typ.), sRGB 135% (Typ.), 1.07B Colors
HDR 10, Color Calibrated
300nits (Typ.) Brightness
HDMI 2.0 x2, DisplayPort 1.4 x1, USB 2.0 1up, USB 3.0 2down, H/P out
USB Type-C x1 (Power Delivery 90W)
Live Color Low Blue Light, Ambient Light Sensor
PBP (2 Source, 1 Source)
Ergo Stand
Extend/Retract 210mm, Swivel -335~335°,
Height 130mm, Down Height 35mm, Pivot 90° (Counterclockwise),
Tilt -25~25° Adjustable Stand
7W x 2ch Stereo Speakers (with Waves MaxxAudio)
The screen: What can you do with a 16:18 display?
The LG DualUp has a 27.6-inch 16:18 display, which is the size of two 21.5-inch 16:9 displays stacked on top of each other
It’s really good for vertical scrolling and for putting two wide apps on-screen at once
Display quality
As far as screen quality goes, it’s really good. I wanted to come right out of the gate and say that, because it’s really easy for companies to try something radically new, and in the effort to get there, abandon all of the rest of the things on the checklist of items that are needed for a good product. That’s not what happened here. The DualUp has an all-new form factor and it’s still a great monitor.
It supports 100% sRGB, 87% NTSC, 91% Adobe RGB, and 94% P3, which is pretty great overall.
Brightness maxed out at 344.3 nits, which is impressive since LG only promises 300 nits. It also exceeds the promised 1,000:1 contrast ratio, and it well exceeds the promised 700:1 minimum contrast ratio. As far as display quality goes, there’s some underpromising and overdelivering going on here.
The LG Ergo Stand
It supports USB-C, DisplayPort, and HDMI, as you’d expect, and interestingly, it comes with the LG Ergo Stand instead of a standard desktop monitor stand. At first, I hated that it didn’t come with a traditional monitor stand that sits on a desk, since that’s just what I’m used to.
However, the Ergo Stand grew on me rather quickly. It makes the screen easy to adjust, and it doesn’t take up space on my desk, freeing up room for other things (obviously it’s junk but we won’t talk about how consistently messy my desk is).
The LG DualUp changes what I want in a monitor.
Also, it’s nice and easy to adjust the height and angle of the screen, and you can rotate it too. However
you want to use it, you can. It’s really useful if you adjust your workflow throughout the day. For example, I use a standing desk, and I use it in different positions when standing and when sitting. I also adjust it sometimes for calls, since this is a tall display, and webcam angle can be an issue.
You can also rotate the display. It’s not uncommon for someone to take a 16:9 monitor and turn it to 9:16, but this monitor is actually designed for that portrait orientation. You can still rotate it from 16:18 to 18:16 if you want something just a bit wider.
The unique 16:18 form factor
Like I said in the very beginning of this article, I never imagined that I’d like a display with an aspect ratio like this, but here we are. It’s quite good. There are two key use cases. The first that I noticed was vertical scrolling. I’m a writer, so when I have a long draft, I can see more of it at a time than I can with a standard 16:9 display. You have to remember that in any CMS, there are also other blocks of things besides just the text editor, so more space means a better writing experience.
This goes for reading too, or just general web browsing. If you’re reading this review on an LG DualUp Monitor, you’ll just be able to see more at once. It also just feels natural to read in portrait orientation; I think that’s something that we’ve figured out with phones and tablets.
I was amazed at how easily the DualUp fit into my workflow.
The other key use case is snapping windows side-by-side, meaning top and bottom. This screen is 27.6 inches measured diagonally with a 16:18 aspect ratio, so it’s the same as two 21.5-inch monitors on top of each other. The downside is that a 21.5-inch monitor is really small, so that’s the width that you’re getting here.
But what’s cool is that you can put two 16:9 apps on top of each other. Now, of course you could do that with two monitors, but thanks to how snapping in Windows 11 works, you can adjust the sizes. Maybe you want the top window to take up two thirds of the screen and the bottom one to be smaller. With one monitor, it’s easier to do that.
Ultimately, the LG DualUp Monitor is really flexible and useful. I was amazed at how quickly and easily it fit into my workflow.
Should you buy the LG DualUp Monitor?
The LG DualUp Monitor is certainly unique, but it’s definitely not for everyone.
You should buy the LG DualUp Monitor if:
You do a lot of vertical scrolling, whether that’s from reading, writing, and so on
You find stacking apps on top of each other useful, at different sizes
You should NOT buy the LG DualUp Monitor if:
You need a monitor that’s wider than a 21.5-inch 16:9 screen
You want something more traditional
As mentioned earlier, the cool thing about stacking apps on top of each other on a monitor like this is that you can resize them. For example, the app on top can take up two thirds of the screen, something you can’t comfortably do with dual monitors. Of course, the big drawback is that the LG DualUp is the size of two small monitors.
