Technology

The U collection, a gender neutral offering from UAG (Urban Armor Gear), presents a curated collection of protection for iPhone, AirPods, Apple Watch, iPad, and AirTag. Inspired by the myriad colors and textures of outdoor environments, the U collection champions non-binary designs in various colorways and neutrals. The series features UAG’s familiar drop protection, manifested within an understated, minimalist and refined design language. The “Dot” series has an ultra-modern finish derived from the combination of premium soft-touch silicone and an all-over perforated pattern. The lineup also introduces the “Wave,” “Lucent,” and “Dip” series with custom accents distinct to each model: “Wave” features an antimicrobial body with subtle curved waves across the back; “Lucent’s” semi-translucen...

Devialet has now introduced the brand’s first-ever soundbar, helping you create the perfect home cinema setup. Named the Dione, the new offering packs a whole range of the premium audio company’s innovative tech into a sleek, matte black body measuring 1.2m wide and 16.5cm deep to accompany your TV-bingeing sessions. The 950-Watt powerhouse packs 17 neodymium drivers — including nine full-range aluminum drivers and eight aluminum long-throw subwoofers — to create a Dolby Atmos 5.1.2 experience, while four calibration microphones can scan your room and create optimal acoustics based on your environment. You’ll have four modes to choose from, ranging from Movie Mode and Spatial Mode to Voice Mode and Music Mode to find the best settings depending on your activity, and setup is done through a...

Ever since crypto mining has proliferated, graphics card prices have soared significantly, and the global chip shortage experienced during the COVID-19 pandemic only served to make matters worse, with scalpers listing GPU prices online for exorbitant prices. Thankfully, ASUS has now claimed that its RTX graphics cards will soon be seeing a price drop of up to 25% at retail. In a new press release from the tech company, it explained that the upcoming price reductions are due to the lifting of a trade tariff that was first signed by the Trump administration to impose a 25% tax on certain Chinese imports including GPUs. The Office of the United States Trade Representative announced on March 23 that there’ll be a new exemption for the tariff that will last through December 31, and ASUS expects...

While traditionally known for its guitars, Fender introduced its first “Monterey” and “Newport” Bluetooth speaker models in 2017, inspired by the ’60s Newport and Monterey Pop festivals. The Newport’s design is inspired by Fender’s iconic “Silverface” guitar amplifiers featuring a brushed metal grille, toggle switches, sapphire jewel indicators, and numbered analog volume EQ knobs that control the treble, mid, and bass. The updated Newport 2 speakers retain the introductory model’s classic shape but arrive in a range of new colorways which include “Titanium Gray/Black,” “Titanium Gray/Dakota Red” and “Champagne Gold/Black.” New tuning and sound quality upgrades have been added as well as Bluetooth 5.0, Duo Mode stereo, Party Mode, and a new fast-charging function that provides one hour of ...

On March 24th, EU governing bodies announced that they had reached a deal on the most sweeping legislation to target Big Tech in Europe, known as the Digital Markets Act (DMA). Seen as an ambitious law with far-reaching implications, the most eye-catching measure in the bill would require that every large tech company — defined as having a market capitalization of more than €75 billion or a user base of more than 45 million people in the EU — create products that are interoperable with smaller platforms. For messaging apps, that would mean letting end-to-end encrypted services like WhatsApp mingle with less secure protocols like SMS — which security experts worry will undermine hard-won gains in the field of message encryption. The main focus of the DMA is a class of large tech companies t...

Bored Ape Yacht Club NFT holders can buy new merchandise items from Yuga Labs — but they can only use the newly-launched ApeCoin to do it, according to an announcement in the BAYC Discord server. Yuga Labs, which has a large stake in the organization backing ApeCoin, will get more ApeCoin (and more control over the organization) as NFT holders pay for their merch. That is, assuming they can. Continuing cryptocurrency’s trend of “money but worse,” users complained they were having trouble checking out. Hey everyone, we’re aware of the Coinbase Commerce issues during merch store checkout. They are working on a resolution now. If you encountered payment problems we’ll be following up with next steps soon. — Bored Ape Yacht Club (@BoredApeYC) March 28, 2022 “Total shitshow,” one user said. “No...

Following a special-edition pair of “Furry” Beats Pros recently dropped exclusively for friends and family, Kerwin Frost and Beats reconnect to introduce the all-new “Cosmophones.” The space-inspired Beats Studio3 Wireless headphones are found in dark navy with star motifs and a warped image of Frost’s face across the headband, Saturn graphics decorating the Beats logos, and Kerwin Frost branding above the earmuffs. A matching headphone case and a pack of glow-in-the-dark stickers come with the Bluetooth over-ear headphones. To celebrate the launch, Frost transports viewers into his world with a dreamy campaign video starring Thundercat and musician Eddie Chacon. [embedded content] Accompanying the physical sale is Frost’s first move to the metaverse with a “Dunking Simulator” quest hosted...

The Massachusetts Institute of Technology (MIT) said Monday it’s reinstating requirements that students provide scores from the SAT or ACT standardized tests for future admissions. At the start of the pandemic, many schools waived standardized test requirements for incoming students or, like MIT, made reporting them optional. The temporary change was meant to relieve some of the unprecedented stresses and obstacles students graduating from US high schools in 2020, 2021, and 2022 were facing. In 2020, the College Board, which administers the SAT, said millions of students had been unable to take the test as scheduled in the spring of 2020 due to COVID-19 restrictions. It asked colleges and universities to be flexible in their admissions processes. The nonprofit that administers the ACT admi...

Rode, the audio company best known for its microphones, is debuting its first pair of headphones, the NTH-100. The NTH-100s are wired, over-ear headphones designed for audio and video productions. Compared to headphones made for casual listening, these deliver a flatter frequency response for more accurate mixing and monitoring. The NTH-100 aims to take on some popular models used in productions, like Sony’s MDR-7506, Sennheiser’s HD 280 Pro, Beyerdynamic’s DT 770 Pro, and Audio-Technica’s ATH-M50x. They are competitive in price, costing $149, and they have some unique features, highlighting that Rode knows what producers and audio editors need as they edit for long periods of time. Verge Score 8 out of 10 Good Stuff Very comfortable Swappable cable on either side of ear cups Good sound Du...

Most would agree that Sonos offers some of the best speakers and soundbars currently on the market. That’s because Sonos makes speakers that — more often than not — boast great sound quality, support for all the major streaming platforms, and simple multi-room functionality. Unfortunately, however, all of those perks often come at a high price. Sonos products aren’t cheap, and, outside of the occasional rogue discount, they rarely go on sale. However, that doesn’t mean there aren’t ways to save at least a few dollars on Sonos gear. If you’re comfortable buying refurbished, for example, you could save a decent amount. We also occasionally see sales on Sonos’ collaborative series with Ikea and discounted bundles that include Sonos products, which makes it easier to set up an entire home audi...

Respawn Entertainment has confirmed that Apex Legends upgrades for the PS5 and Xbox Series X / S consoles will launch tomorrow with the new Warriors collection event. Until now, the battle royale shooter has shared versions across the console generations. But when the update is released — usually around 1PM ET — console players will finally be able to join those on PC with support for natively rendered 4K (except on the Series S), HDR, better shadow maps, and greater level of detail distances. All versions on consoles are still limited to 60Hz, with 120Hz gameplay listed as an upgrade coming in the future (however, once the PS5 supports 120Hz output, it will be able to force it even on games that don’t have support built-in if you want to give it a try). When I talked to the developers bef...

Russia’s invasion of Ukraine is affecting an unexpected community: cross-stitchers who buy patterns on Etsy. Slate published a piece describing how American cross-stitchers have been “devastated” by Etsy’s recent suspension of Russian storefronts, including cross-stitch patterns shops that are — to the surprise of some crafters — heavily concentrated in Russia. Cross-stitch is a type of hand embroidery where crafters stitch designs on to fabric with X’s, often using a pattern as a reference. Designs range from fairly simple or incredibly intricate, and they start as low as $3 but can go for “much more” for complex pieces. Etsy is a popular place for cross-stitchers to find digital patterns, and a few weeks ago, cross-stitchers on Reddit began to notice that their favorite pattern shops had...