calls

For All Mankind and Calls win early Emmys for Apple TV+

By

Tinker with virtual objects in a ‘ For All Mankind: Time Capsule’ augmented-relative application.
An AR app created for “For All Mankind” scored Apple TV+ an Emmy Award.
Screenshot: Apple TV+

Two Apple TV+ shows won Primetime Emmy Awards on Wednesday. For All Mankind: Time Capsule won for Outstanding Innovation in Interactive Media while Calls won for Outstanding Motion Design.

These juried awards were announced ahead of the regular Emmy ceremony that’s happening in mid-September.

Apple TV+ delivers the shivers with Calls debut and Servant season finale

By

Calls
New on Apple TV+ today.
Photo: Apple

Thriller fans should brace for an Apple TV+ binge-a-thon this week. They can watch all nine episodes of creepy new show Calls, which debuted on Apple TV+ Friday,  or take in the first two full seasons of M. Night Shyamalan’s gripping Servant.

The Servant season finale arrived today alongside a new episode of alt-history space race show For All Mankind.

Creepy Calls is a fascinating but flawed head trip [Apple TV+ review]

By

Calls on Apple TV+
Calls on Apple TV+
Photo: Apple TV+

With new show Calls, Apple TV+ brings a French TV sensation to America and it’s three things in one. It’s a fascinating experiment, an old idea repackaged — and something of a missed opportunity.

The series, which premieres this Friday, hides its star-studded voice cast behind pixelated images and on-screen text, making it sort of an anti-event. That alone means Calls faces an uphill climb to find a new audience.

Weird series Calls brings terrifying phone convos to Apple TV+

By

New audio-intensive Apple TV+ show Calls leaves a lot to the imagination.
New audio-intensive Apple TV+ show Calls leaves a lot to the imagination.
Image: Apple TV+

Calls, the new thriller coming to Apple TV+, will depend on ears instead of eyes to get hearts pounding.

The oddball series “masterfully uses only audio and minimal abstract visuals to tell bone-chilling snackable stories,” Apple said in a description of the Calls trailer posted Wednesday.

4 clever things you can do with a burner phone number [Deals]

By

KeepSolid offers 3 fully encrypted phone lines or
KeepSolid offers 3 fully encrypted phone lines or "burner numbers", no contract required
Photo: Cult of Mac Deals

When you think about it, a phone number can be a liability — you can be reached by anyone who punches the right digits into their phone. It’s an identifying number, a source of spam, a potential avenue for identity theft or even harassment. That’s why separate “burner” numbers are gaining popularity. You probably have a junk email address, why not something similar for your phone number? Here are 4 reasons you might consider getting a burner number, followed by a couple ways you can actually get one.

SMS Street By 50 ANC Noise-Canceling Headphones: Smooth, In Every Conceivable Way [Review]

By

post-259340-image-e7685facfbf47011707f294f352b566f-jpg
Street By 50 ANC Headphones by SMS Audio
Category: active noise-canceling headphones
Price: $280

Surprise: These cans aren’t quite the flashy, youthful boombasts their outward appearance suggest (yes, that’s a good thing). And, surprise: There’s much more here than simply a nod at the term “active noise cancellation.”

SMS, which is helmed by Rapper 50 Cent, jumped into the headphone game just shy of three years ago. At that time the lion’s share of attention was directed toward their wireless Sync cans, which stream music via the somewhat uncommon Kleer technology. But that doesn’t mean the rest of SMS’s broad, diverse lineup should be ignored, and that assertion is well-supported by the performance — and, yes, dash of flash – of the wired, active noise-canceling Street by 50 ANC headphones.

The RHA MA750i Might Be The Last Best Earphones You’ll Ever Need [Review]

By

post-255574-image-b7d52787811342add80223059f4abfad-jpg
MA750i by RHA
Category: canalphones
Price: $130

There aren’t many in-ear monitors made of steel. Aluminum? Yes. Plastic? Wads. But steel-bodied IEMs — now that’s a rare find. There’s good reason for this: Though the material is solid, hard-wearing and, according to some, produces a cleaner sound, it’s heavy — which can make steel-housed IEMs often uncomfortable and annoyingly ill-fitting.

But forget all that. Scottish-based RHA have managed to make the stainless steel-bodied MA750i supremely comfortable and well-fitted, even under heavy action. In fact, RHA absolutely nailed it perfectly with these ‘phones in every single category that matters, with only two or three minor trade-offs.

Hopefully The New Cycling-Friendly Jabra Sport Wireless+ Bluetooth Earbuds Fix Its Predecessor’s Woes

By

jabra-sport-wireless-plus

Jabra made a big show of introducing their Sport Bluetooth music/phone earbuds at CES this year, even bringing in triathlete celeb and Ironman champ Craig Alexander to flaunt the buds while he sweat away the miles on a stationary bike. Unfortunately, the Sport has been plagued by reports of abysmal Bluetooth connectivity (possibly due to range) and poor fit ever since it shipped.

Jabra’s response is their new Sport Wireless+, the successor to the Sport, which Jabra says has made everything better.

Three U.K. Confirms Data Network Outage

By

post-229831-image-880f8836a75b194755f261ccae4de1d1-jpg

Having a hard time connecting to the Internet on your Three smartphone this morning? You’re not the only one. The British carrier has confirmed that it is currently suffering a glitch that is affecting data services across the whole of the U.K., but it promises it is working to fix it.

Dialing **Baconater Might Just Ring Your Phone Thanks To Sprint’s New StarStar Me Service

By

post-194850-image-ff8b4ae45e00ed7bba88fe01eaebf807-jpg

Sometimes 10-digits can be a few too many numbers to remember or too boring to want to remember. That’s why Sprint has decided to spice up your phone number with its new StarStar Me service. Forget those boring digits and have people call you using a unique name or handle. Perhaps all your friends know you as the baconater and you want to keep it that way. Simply sign up for the number **baconater and allow anyone with an iPhone or Android-powered smartphones to call you by dialing **baconater.

Cricket Announces Prepaid iPhone 5 Availability From September 28

By

Who said this was a
Who said this was a "disappointment?"

Cricket has become the iPhone 5’s first prepaid carrier after announcing today that it will be stocking Apple’s latest smartphone in “select Cricket markets” from September 28. That’s a week after the device launches on AT&T, Verizon, and Sprint, but it’ll be worth the wait if you’re determined to avoid a lengthy contract.

Incase Reflex Headphones: Like Wearing Your Favorite Pair of Jeans on Your Head [Review]

By

post-186988-image-4aadc772352d675ed9072240238d09bf-jpg
Denim never looked better.

Discovering great headphones from a company that specializes in making bags was surprisng at first, when we reviewed Incase’s Sonic headphones late last year. A month later we were less stunned when we grunted in approval at their Capsule in-ear ‘phones during our budget(ish) canalphone shootout.

This time around we played with a new denim-clad version of the on-the-ear Incase Reflex headphones ($80) — which sit between the $150 over-the-ear Sonic and the canalphone Capsules — and came away with the impression that the Reflex may very well be the best bang-for-buck of the bunch.

Motorola Elite Sliver Bluetooth Headset: Stealth Headset with a Giant Battery Backup [Review]

By

post-181736-image-49e36e75457cdea241a3e22457aa9a2b-jpg

This isn’t the smallest headset. In fact, Motorola’s Elite Sliver Bluetooth Headset ($130) is actually bulkier than many other personal BT headsets. Its trick, though, is to hide most of the bulk behind the user’s ear, leaving just a sliver — hence the name — of technology visbile.

But the Sliver isn’t just a one-trick pony; its case also doubles as a battery that will top off the Sliver when the headset is housed in the case (which actually does triple duty as a charger).

Plantronics BackBeat Go Bluetooth Earphones: Light As a Butterfly, and Just As Quiet [Review]

By

post-178373-image-2222728ecbc9bb166cd30abb73c6ede3-jpg

A long time ago, before this site was born, we reviewed the Altec Lansing BackBeat 906 Bluetooth headphones, and liked ’em. Plantronics had their own identical version of the 906, as they had owned Plantronics since 2005 (the two companies parted ways about the time the 906 was released).

The Plantronics BackBeat Go ($100) is an evolution of the 906. Same principle — wireless (meaning there’s no wire conecting the player with the headset) music and calls in a compact form via the magic of Bluetooth — but in an even smaller and more svelte form factor. Should be even more fantstic, right? Let’s take a look.

O2’s Upcoming ‘TU Go’ App Will Let You Make & Receive iPhone Calls On Your iPad

By

With TU Go, you won't need to find your iPhone in the bottom of your bag to make & receive calls.
With TU Go, you won't need to find your iPhone in the bottom of your bag to make & receive calls.

There’s no denying that the iPad is far to big to be a telephone, but there are times when it would be nice to make calls on the device. For example, I’ve previously used Skype to make a call on mine while my iPhone was being updated. But a new smartphone app called ‘TU Go’, on its way from U.K. carrier O2, will allow you to use a device connected to your iPhone — such as an iPad — to make and receive calls from your existing phone number.

The iPhone Comes To Virgin Mobile, And Here’s Why You Should Be Its Next Customer

By

Richard-Branson-Virgin-iPhone
The iPhone just got a lot cheaper thanks to Virgin Mobile.

Following the iPhone’s prepaid debut on Cricket Wireless just a week ago, Apple’s hugely popular smartphone is now available on Virgin Mobile. Like Cricket, Virgin is offering the handset on a prepaid basis, with prices starting at as little as $31 per month on the company’s Beyond Talk plan — which includes unlimited data, and unlimited texts.

Take advantage of the company’s offer and you could save yourself around $800 a year.

Klipsch Image One Headphones: The Best Little Big Headphones Around [Review]

By

post-175447-image-d1eba6bbfeac6babe86cc393e13ec18c-jpg

While other manufacturers might tart up their headphones with loud colors, obnoxious logos and frills, the Klipsch Image One ($150) drops all extraneous nonsense in favor of making you happy through its three impressive strengths: perfomance, comfort and portability — a triple threat that makes these headphones a contender for best traveling companion.

Sennheiser VMX 200 Bluetooth Headset: Lord of All Headsets, or an Overpriced Trinket? [Review]

By

post-171978-image-989ea30d1435cc3bfdb910bb381c3142-jpg

Sennheiser’s VMX 200 is one kostspielig little Bluetooth headset. Its $150 MSRP is higher than the other guys’ flagship mobile-phone headsets, like the Motorola CommandOne, Jabra Supreme and BlueAnt Q2, all of which are good-to-stellar performers, and stuffed to the gills with features.

Taking the pricing into consideration, one might expect the VMX 200 to have near-perfect manners, and at least as many bells and whistles as its competitors, if not more. Right?

Sidecar Looks To Bring Together Phone And Media Over WiFi

By

post-168813-image-1fa8463614ba23698807b6f4f4885a16-jpg

If you’re looking for another alternative to sharing media content and making free phone calls over WiFi, you might want to check out Sidecar for Android and iOS. The recently released app allows users a plethora of sharing options as long as all recepients have the app installed. If you try to make a call to someone who doesn’t yet have the app, it will send them a text message asking them to check out the app. Features of Sidecar include

Developers Say iOS 5.1 Will Not Fix Audio Issues On Your iPhone 4S

By

iphone-4s-introduction-images

A large proportion of iPhone 4S adopters have been hit by an issue on the new device that randomly mutes their audio when they make a call. Their recipient appears to pickup — or the call goes to voicemail — but they do not hear anything.

If you’re one of these users and you’re hoping for a fix in Apple’s upcoming iOS 5.1 software update, then you may be disappointed. According to developers already testing the release, it does not address this particular issue.