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Amazon: Coming soon to your eyeballs

New computing paradigms are never not going to be weird, but such uncomfortability dramatically intensifies when the human body enters into the picture. There’s a sense in which the smart contact lens feels like something of an inevitability (whether it’s produced by Mojo Vision or someone is another question altogether), but that doesn’t mean each new application won’t feel a little strange. Today Mojo announced “the first major third-party consumer application on a smart contact lens,” with the introduction of Alexa Shopping List integration. This is still very much a test — a proof of concept, really — designed to demonstrate what something like a shopping list might look like on a contact lens-based computing interface. The implementation utilizes Alexa voice computing to add or remove items to the list, which pop up in the HUD interface while shopping. The user can futher navitate through the list with their eyes — and check items off when they’re in the cart. If a family member adds an item to the list remotely, it will pop up in the Mojo interface. If nothing else, the test feature demonstrates how additional interfaces like voice computing can be used to augment the limitations of this eyeball-based computing. Attempting to enter new items using the eye sounds like a bit of a nightmare, but that interface certainly makes sense for simpler tasks, like scrolling. Amazon’s team helped Mojo implement Alexa Shpping for the test feature. “At Amazon, we believe experiences can be made better with technology that is always there when you need it, yet you never have to think about it,” Alexa Shopping List GM Ramya Reguramalingam said in a release. “We’re excited that Mojo Vision’s Invisible Computing for Mojo Lens, paired with the demonstration of Alexa Shopping List as a use case, is showing the art of what’s possible for hands-free, discreet smart shopping experiences.” Mojo Vision is still reasonably cautious around whether or not such functionality is actually arriving. The company notes in the release, “The test integration shows how Mojo Vision could integrate the Alexa voice AI with Mojo Lens’ unique and powerful eye-based interface.” A demo of the technology debuted onstage today at a Wall Street Journal event in Southern California. Amazon: Coming soon to your eyeballs by Brian Heater originally published on ZebethMedia

Life360 to now integrate its service with Tile, following last year’s acquisition • ZebethMedia

Following last year’s $205 million acquisition of AirTag competitor Tile by family locator service Life360, the two companies today will now integrate their products and services. With an update arriving soon to Life360’s app, members will be able to see the location of the Tile Bluetooth trackers on the same in-app map where they also track their family members’ locations. In addition, Life360’s over 42 million members will also have the option to join Tile’s Finding Network, going forward. The Tile Finding Network is what makes it possible for people to locate their lost items when their Tiles are out of Bluetooth range. Unlike Apple’s AirTag, Tile doesn’t have a network of iPhones sold worldwide to tap into. So instead, it relies on the Tile app installed by its own customer base. When any Tile customer is in the presence of a missing item with a Tile tag attached, that information is shared across the network to allow the item’s owner to locate their missing item. Image Credits: Life360 If all Life360 members opted in to join this network, it would increase by 10x, the company says. That would make it the largest cross-platform finding network across both iOS and Android. (AirTag don’t work as a tracker with Android, so Life360 isn’t counting them here. Apple’s trackers, however, can be scanned by Android devices, because they include an NFC chip so they’re technically cross-platform in that way.) Tile members who want to track their items in the Life360 app will have to go through a few steps to get started. They’ll need to link their Tile trackers to their account in order for their “Circle” of family and trusted friends (like caregivers, emergency contacts, etc.) to be able to see the location of the Tiles on the map. They’ll also be able to track Tile-enabled products that have Tile’s functionality built-in, like various laptops and headphones. When an item goes missing or is misplaced, users can then tap “Find” in the Life360 app, which rings the item if it’s nearby. If it’s further away, users can select “Notify when Found,” to tap into the Tile network to be alerted to its location. Life360 sees the potential in tying Tile’s trackers to its broader family locator service as the small trackers are often used by families — to track kids’ backpacks, a teen driver’s keys, a parent’s wallet, a family pet, and so on. The company said the new functionality will roll out to its app over the next few weeks.  

DJI’s latest Mavic drone starts at $1,469 • ZebethMedia

Affordability is fairly malleable concept when it comes to consumer drones. We’ve seen plenty of systems positioned as affordable – or even cheap – over the years, but lowering the price point generally comes with its share of tradeoffs. It’s something DJI itself has flirted with a bit itself, with some more basic and entry-level systems. But the Mavic has long been a kind of gold standard, in terms of accessibility and build quality. Certainly its always been more affordable than many non-consumer systems, but you’d have to go out on long limb to position it as “cheap.” In this era of component shortages, inflation and just general economic headwinds, DJI’s positioning the Mavic 3 Classic as its most accessible drone to date. The system, which was announced at an event this morning, runs $1,469. That’s for the drone only. As ever, the company’s got all sorts of additional packages with added batteries, carrying cases and other accessories you can opt into (or not) and quickly drive that price up. The system is built around the 4/3 CMOS 20-megapixel Hasselblad camera as the standard Mavic 3, along with that base system’s stated 46 minutes max flight time. Image Credits: DJI The Classic is part of a growing trend in consumer electronics that finds companies cutting some features for a lower cost iteration of a flagship device. The company effectively brings the product price down by around $400, dropping the telephoto lens, but otherwise not sacrificing a ton to hopefully attract some new customers who were edged out by the price point by just a bit. It’s not an altogether trivial cut, of course. Imaging has long been the core of the line. But if a single (very good) camera is enough for your needs, the Classic ought to cushion the landing a bit. The drone is available starting today.

Everything is stupid and bad right now; maybe this $200 portable turntable will fix it • ZebethMedia

Yeah, yeah. I know. Buying a record player isn’t going to fix everything that’s broken. But it was a nice thought, however fleeting. Long before the iPod, this strange mutant existed. Too weird to live, too strange to die, as someone once famously put it. The Audio-Technica Sound Burger — as it has affectionately come to be known — has also felt like a glimpse into some alternate timeline, where vinyl records didn’t have to go away entirely to make a resurgence. Obviously the size of a 12-inch LP immediately mitigates any pretension of portability, so in the era of the Walkman, a product like this was always destined to be an evolutionary dead end. That, of course, hasn’t stopped countless companies from producing countless knockoffs in the intervening decades. Nor, thankfully, has it precluded Audio-Technica from taking another spin with the delightful AT-SB2022. The newly announced take on the form factor is priced at $199 and is — understandably — a limited edition. The release was specifically timed to coincide with the company’s 60th anniversary. Unlike its ancestor, which was built with wired headphones in mind (and shipped with a pair for that matter), this version has built-in connectivity, so you can pair it with a wireless headset or speakers. There’s also a built-in battery rechargeable via USB-C that can get up to 12 hours in a single go. So, it’s not going to make all the bad news go away, but it sure would be a lot of fun to bring along for an afternoon of crate digging. Image Credits: Audio Technica If your pockets are considerably deeper, there’s always this fully transparent limited edition AT-LP2022 available for a cool $1,200. The belt-drive-operated manual turntable sports a Shibata stylus and carbon-fiber tonearm, all for the price of six Sound Burgers. If that’s not enough, there’s always this $9,000 stereo cartridge with a lab-grown diamond. Maybe that will help drown out the news for a bit.

Google’s Nest Wifi Pro is a dead simple way to bring Wi-Fi 6E home • ZebethMedia

A quick caveat up top. This isn’t a review. ZebethMedia does reviews. This isn’t one. There are several reasons for this. First, last week was Disrupt — I was busy on the other side of the country. Second, this week is my COVID week (third round, otherwise self-explanatory w/r/t a limited output). Third, we very rarely review routers here, for a lot of reasons, including resources. Even so, the Nest Wifi Pro is available now, so I’m committing some of my initial impressions to the page, after setting it up and using it for a few days. I hope this is helpful if you’ve been eyeing one since its unveiling earlier month. If you need something a bit more substantial than my doughy brain can offer up at the moment, I completely get it. We’ve got plenty of big reviews planned over the horizon. Let’s start with what the Nest Wifi Pro is an isn’t. It’s “Pro” in the sense of where it fits in the broader Google Wifi line. It’s a home router, one that looks nice and is easy to set up. There are faster and more powerful routers out there. There are routers that are more customizable and flexible. If, however, you’re looking for a router with Wi-Fi 6E that works right out of the box, it’s hard to beat. Image Credits: Brian Heater That’s an important thing to note with products like this. At $199, this is a solid entry into Wi-Fi 6E territory. If you’re looking for a quick boost to your home internet, and the current dusty old router is starting to give up the ghost, you’d be hard-pressed to find a better “just works” system out of the box. I say this with the authority of someone who spent his own hours on the phone with terrible ISP customer support, because of some phantom ghost in the machine of the company routers. Amazing how often the fix is someone flipping a switch on their end. I was long overdue for a wireless upgrade myself, as someone who hosts a lot of podcasts and video livestreams. There are more embarrassing things that can happen to one on a live broadcast, but we won’t get into them here. Suffice it say that a strong and steady internet connection is an important part of doing my job. Another caveat I should mention before we go further is the one I often give while testing smart home-related tech: I live in New York City. That means, among other, better things, that I have a relatively small dwelling area. Specifically, I’m in a one-bedroom. Google clocks the Nest Wifi Pro’s coverage area as 2,200 square feet (4,400 for a two-pack, 6,600 for the three, etc.). One-bedrooms in NYC tend to range from around 600-800 square feet. Image Credits: Brian Heater With that in mind, a single device was plenty. Speeds can fluctuate during the day, but I found mine to be fairly consistent, regardless of how close I was to the router. If you’re on the fence about whether a single device is enough, it should be more than enough for anything below 1,000 square feet. As you push closer to 2,000 square feet, the bundle starts to make more sense. And the upshot to the UX is that it’s easy to add Google mesh routers down the road (though you won’t get those bundle savings). The setup process will prove familiar if you’ve ever set up most smart home products — Google/Nest stuff in particular, for obvious reasons. There’s not much to the device from the user’s perspective (again, this is intentional). The design is arguably even more minimal than its predecessor. It’s taller and slimmer, the matte color replaced with a shiny, plain job. Your mileage on that last bit will vary, but as with other Nest products, this one is designed — above all — to blend in with its surroundings. There are three ports: power and a pair of Ethernet — one for the modem, the other to hardwire a single device. That last bit is a potential limiter, of course, as is the 1Gbps upper limit on the built-in Ethernet (to help keep the system under $200, one imagines). That may or may not be an issue, depending on your specific plan. If you have fiber, for example, you’re going to get bottlenecked. Me, I’m stuck with Spectrum at the moment (I know, I know), so, um, no issue there. But obviously you don’t want a device that sits between you and the wall slowing down your internet speeds. Either way, the service you’re on will determine your ultimate speeds. Image Credits: Brian Heater Download the Google Home app to get started, and you’ll be walked through a straightforward setup process, sped up if you can snap a shot of the QR code on the product’s underside. The paper startup guide included in the box is three basic steps (plug in router, download app, follow on-screen instructions) and two images spread across two small pages. I’m not going to say that’s definitely all you need, but if you don’t run into any hiccups (always a consideration with networking devices), it should be plenty. Nest Wifi was a fine system, and honestly, if you bought one, you likely don’t need to rush out and upgrade. Its combined speed for Wi-Fi 5 topped out at a stated speed of 2.2Gbps versus the Wifi Pro’s 5.4Gbps. Keep in mind, those are both figured combined across the three bands. Let’s just say they are very optimistic figures. Here’s Wi-Fi Alliance CEO Edgar Figueroa from 2020 about the upgrade from Wi-Fi 5: 6 GHz will help address the growing need for Wi-Fi spectrum capacity to ensure Wi-Fi users continue to receive the same great user experience with their devices. Wi-Fi Alliance is introducing Wi-Fi 6E now to ensure the industry aligns on common terminology, allowing Wi-Fi users to identify devices that support 6 GHz operation as the

China’s smartphone shipments slumped 23% in Jan-Aug • ZebethMedia

Smartphone shipment is often seen as the bellwether of China’s consumer spending, and right now, the picture isn’t very rosy. The world’s largest market for smartphones shipped 175.1 million handsets between January and August, marking a sharp 22.9% decline year-over-year, according to research from a state-backed institution. In August alone, shipments dropped 21.9% year-over-year. The global smartphone market as a whole is experiencing a slowdown, logging a 9% decline in the second quarter due to a mix of challenges including a COVID-struck economy, inflation, and deceleration following years of frantic growth. China’s growing consumer appetite obviously played a big part in driving the boom, and now that the world’s second-largest economy is hitting a speed bump, the smartphone industry is inevitably taking a hit. The era of economic miracles is coming to a close in China. On Monday, official data reported a 3.9% GDP growth rate from July to September, which beat forecasts but was way below the double digits that propelled the country’s economy forward for three decades. China is not only the world’s largest market for hanset users but is also its largest phone producer, with home-grown brands like Huawei, Oppo, Vivo, and Xiaomi rising over the years to rival Apple and Samsung. These domestic phone markers began seeking overseas expansion well before their home market start cooling down. And they’ve successfully carved out their international market share and have in recent years consistently shared the top five spots alongside Apple and Samsung. The smartphone industry is notoriously cut-throat with modest margins, so it wasn’t unsurprising when Xiaomi and Oppo, which are long known for selling budget phones, started offering higher-end models in recent years. Huawei established a strong presence in the premium handset space before the U.S. cut off its supply of critical chipsets and key Android services. Having seen how overdependence on advanced U.S. technologies and geopolitical tensions has wrecked Huawei’s revenues, Oppo and the likes are rushing to work on their own smartphone processors. The need for Chinese firms to have their own high-end chips is getting dire as the Biden administration hit China with possibly the strictest export controls earlier this month. Analysts are still parsing the impact of the policy, but initial observation shows that the new rules will not only restrict Chinese companies’ access to high-end U.S. chips but will also bar their access to chip-making equipment, which will hobble the country’s ability to develop such advanced technologies.

Ahead of launching its third product, Nothing announces a brick-and-mortar store • ZebethMedia

Nothing today announced the upcoming launch of a brick-and-mortar retail store in London’s Soho district. The store will, of course, carry Nothing. In a less literal sense, one wonders precisely what the store will carry, given that the hardware startup has officially launched two products, with a third being revealed soon. GM Ryan Latham says in a release, “Opening our first store in the UK is a huge milestone for Nothing. Following the successful launch of Ear (1) and Phone (1), it’s the perfect time to shake things up again and offer our community a space where they can engage with each other and our products. To do this in our home market, in the heart of Soho — the home of innovative design — makes perfect sense.” Latham also notes that the shop will be down the road from a Supreme store, which certainly speaks to founder Carl Pei’s vision of creating a company that is as much fashion as it is consumer tech. And speaking from experience stepping into boutiques in New York’s own Soho, I can attest to the fact that the virtually empty luxury storefront is certainly a thing. The company is also, fittingly, playing on the sort of artificial scarcity product launch that has been a driving force in sneaker culture. Specifically, the store will make available 100 numbered Ear (stick)s — still figuring out the proper pluralization there; Ears (stick) or Ear (sticks), perhaps? — the upcoming headphone product Nothing has been teasing out for a few months now. Non-numbered versions of the product will also be available. A sign in the store’s window featuring a blown up Ear (stick) notes that it will open “before Christmas.”

Apple iOS 16.1, iPad OS 16.1 and macOS Ventura are now available • ZebethMedia

Apple has released iOS 16.1, iPad OS 16.1 and macOS 13, as it announced it would do last week. The updates include a number of new features for iPhone, iPad and Mac devices, including the introduction of Continuity Camera, which allows iPhone owners to use their device as a webcam for their Macs. The iPad and Mac updates also introduce Stage Manager, the new (and somewhat controversial) windows management feature for multitasking. iOS 16.1 also introduces a new marquee feature for iPhones that support it: Live Activities. While a couple of Apple’s native apps have been able to take advantage of this feature, which provides live updating information on your Lock Screen, and in the Dynamic Island on iPhone 14 Pro models. iCloud Shared Photo Library also comes to iPhone, iPad and Mac with these updates, meaning you can share libraries among multiple family members with contributions from all. Apple Fitness+ is also now relieved of its strict Apple Watch requirement, letting subscribers access workouts on their iPhones without having an Apple wearable of their own. All the updates should appear if you navigate to Settings > General > Software Update on iPhone or iPad, or to Preferences > Software Update on Mac.

Artiphon releases Orba 2, to make music-making even more accessible • ZebethMedia

The original Orba was a curious little baseball-sized device that invited people who couldn’t play a triangle if they tried to somehow create beats, bops and bass lines. The success of the original — and the adoption of it as a tool for more serious musicians — inspired the Artiphon team to release an updated version. With the same form factor as the original, but a lot more smarts and the ability to record and upload your own sound samples or use sample packs, Orba 2 opens the door for a new generation of musicians, whether tone-deaf talentless hacks such as myself, or musicians who want to carry a versatile synth-like instrument in a small form factor. As much as I would love to subject you to my attempts at making music, here’s an actual musician — Taetro — showing off some of the fun:   “With Orba 2, being able to be out, capturing sounds with the app and nearly instantly turning it into an instrument is empowering because, no matter your relationship with music, being able to do fun sampling things like that is huge,” says Taetro in a blog post from Artiphon. “It can open up worlds for people, and people can interact with it in the same way they would by picking up a pen and doodling on a sketchpad.” From the original Orba, the most requested feature the company received was the ability to play instruments — guitars, acoustic drum sets, pianos, etc. The company says it rebuilt the Orba from the ground up to create the Orba 2, with a new sound engine, and adding more than 100 new sounds that are all based on real instruments. “We didn’t want to change too much about the industrial design of it; we knew that people love the form factor. The insides of the Orba 2 are completely different. Being able to play these samples and being able to make your own samples is new, and the ability to have longer songs –up to five minutes on the device itself — all of that is possible because of a new computer inside of it,” Adam McHeffey, chief marketing officer at Artiphon, said in an interview with ZebethMedia. “The new engine means it could play these audio-based samples. That’s the biggest thing that’s new, but in addition, we have added two gigabytes of sample memory, so that you could add your own samples to it as well. We also improved the converter and the speaker amps, and the headphone-out on it as well. We don’t make a big deal out of the tech specs with most of our marketing materials; we focus on what you can do with it.” I’ve had an Orba 2 on my desk for a few weeks, and I can attest it’s a very compelling play-thing: Picking it up between (and sometimes during) Zoom meetings and exploring a quick musical riff is pretty awesome. I noted that to McHeffey, who laughs in agreement. “It’s the perfect fidget toy,” he says. Writing off the Orba as a toy would be a mistake, however; it’s turning out to be a powerful learning tool as well. The company claims that two-thirds of its users had never played a musical instrument before. Orba 2 is on sale today, and costs $150.

The Logitech G Cloud and Shadow are a match made in cloud gaming heaven • ZebethMedia

It’s time to accept that cloud gaming is the future of gaming. At least for some people and even though Stadia failed. But that group of people is becoming larger every year. For the past few weeks, I have been playing video games on a brand new device — the Logitech G Cloud. But my games weren’t actually running on Logitech’s gaming handheld. Instead, I relied on cloud computing service Shadow to run those games. And I have to say that this experience has completely changed how I feel about cloud gaming. Playing on the Logitech G Cloud with Shadow has been mostly a smooth experience. More importantly, I’ve had a ton of fun in the process. Image Credits: Romain Dillet / ZebethMedia An Android console designed for cloud gaming But first, what is the Logitech G Cloud? While you may be familiar with the Nintendo Switch and the Steam Deck, you may have never heard of the Logitech G Cloud. As you can see in the photos, Logitech’s device looks familiar if you own a Nintendo Switch a Steam Deck. It is essentially a 7-inch display surrounded by gamepad-like controls on each side of the display. But the comparison stops here as the Logitech G Cloud isn’t designed to run games natively. It runs Android apps and has mid-range specifications at best. Instead, the device has been created as a thin client to access cloud gaming services. That’s why it’s interesting to see that many gamers are just missing the point. For instance, this YouTube video titled “The G Stands For Garbage” mostly mentions emulation performance and Android games. Logitech is a peripheral manufacturer. And the Logitech G Cloud should be considered as such. A peripheral for cloud gaming services. A controller with a display. A physical extension of a server in a data center near you. Image Credits: Romain Dillet / ZebethMedia Now that we have defined the expectations more clearly, I can safely say that Logitech delivers nicely on its original premise. The device feels great in your hand thanks to textured, rounded grips. It feels sturdy but it’s not too heavy. In my experience playing Marvel’s Spider-Man Remastered, Rocket League, Hitman 3 or Celeste, the buttons work well. Logitech has chosen the Xbox gamepad layout with A/B/X/Y buttons, two analog joysticks, two analog triggers, two bumper buttons and haptic feedback. There are a handful of extra buttons to get back home or launch the Xbox overlay menu when you’re playing a game on Xbox Cloud Gaming. The Logitech G Cloud weighs 463g — that’s roughly 30% lighter than the Steam Deck and a bit heavier than a Nintendo Switch with Joy-Con controllers attached. I’ve had long gaming sessions without feeling any issues in my hands or forearms. Under the hood, the Logitech G Cloud sports a Qualcomm Snapdragon 720G system on a chip with 4GB of RAM. It has 64GB of storage that you can expand with a microSD card. It supports WiFi 5 and Bluetooth 5.1. There are also a 3.5mm headphone jack, stereo speakers and stereo microphones. On paper, you get just the right amount of computing power to run cloud gaming services, but nothing extra. But it’s a shame that Logitech didn’t choose WiFi 6 over WiFi 5 given how crucial latency and internet bandwidth are for cloud gaming. The USB-C port also doesn’t support video output, which means that you won’t be able to plug the device to a TV. The built-in display has a 1080p resolution, which is nice, but it doesn’t have a great viewing angle. So you have to be right in front of the device. All of this is fine and you tend to forget those details when you start playing. But my biggest complaint about the Logitech G Cloud is that it isn’t cheap — it costs $350. There are two ways to think about the pricing issue. Logitech products tend to be on the expensive side and it doesn’t seem too expensive when you compare the device to midrange smartphones. But the Nintendo Switch is cheaper and the Steam Deck is just slightly more expensive. The Logitech G Cloud runs Android 11 with a custom launcher that has been co-developed with Tencent. If you only need to go through your list of most recent apps or favorite apps, it works fine. But it’s still rough around the edges, especially in the settings and the notification menus. I hope Logitech will ship software updates to improve the launcher. If you accidentally bought the Logitech G Cloud to use it as an Android tablet, you can also disable the custom launcher entirely and get the default Android experience. Image Credits: Romain Dillet / ZebethMedia Running Shadow The Logitech G Cloud comes with a few pre-installed gaming apps, such as Xbox Cloud Gaming and Nvidia GeForce Now on the cloud gaming front, Steam Link and the Xbox app for remote play in case you own a gaming PC or an Xbox console already. You can also install any app you want from Google Play. For instance, I installed Shadow’s app to access their cloud computing service. If you are not familiar with Shadow, the French company has been working on a cloud computing service for gamers. People can pay a monthly subscription fee to access a full-fledged computer in a data center near them. It is a Windows instance, which means you can install whatever you want. Shadow starts at $29.99 per month for a machine with the equivalent of an Nvidia GeForce GTX 1080, 12GB of RAM and 256GB of storage. On October 26, Shadow is releasing a high-end configuration. For another $14.99 per month (so $44.98 per month in total), subscribers get an AMD EPYC 7543P CPU with 4 cores and 8 threads, 16GB of RAM and a recent GPU, such as an Nvidia GeForce RTX 3070 or the equivalent GPU in Nvidia’s professional GPU lineup, or a professional AMD Radeon GPU based on the RDNA

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