These headphones record audio in 3D. Photo: Sennheiser
At a time when most headphone manufacturers are embracing the wireless earbuds, Sennheiser has decided to unveil one of the smartest pairs of wired earbuds ever created.
Yes, you can listen to your tunes on the new AMBEO Smart Surround earphones and the music will sound great. But what sets the new buds apart from every other pair debuting at CES is these ones come with the ability to record 3D audio using only your iPhone.
Nuheara IQbuds work like regular wireless earbuds, but add "augmented hearing" to the mix so you can focus on a conversation. Photo: Lewis Wallace/Cult of Mac
SAN FRANCISCO — Apple packed some amazing tech into its weird-looking AirPods. But to Nuheara co-founder David Cannington, Apple’s white-hot wireless earphones are just “dumb wireless.”
Sure, AirPods let you listen to music, take phone calls and tap into Siri, but they represent a missed opportunity because they don’t solve a crucial problem faced by many people in the modern world: hearing what’s going on around them.
As you might have guessed, Cannington’s company tackled this problem with a new product that launched at CES this week. Nuheara’s IQbuds are smart, truly wireless earbuds that do more than just make calls and deliver high-fidelity audio to your ears. They make it possible to carry on conversations in noisy environments like restaurants, bars and even massive Las Vegas trade shows.
High-end gaming on macOS is finally possible. Photo: NVIDIA
Macs are ideal for many things, but gaming isn’t one of them. Apple just doesn’t have gamers in mind when designing its products. Fortunately, NVIDIA does, and its upcoming GeForce Now service will make almost any Mac fit for gaming.
Project Valerie is the coolest laptop... ever. Photo: Razer
Razer’s gaming laptops are some of the finest you can get your greasy mitts on, but none of them compare to the insane prototype the company teased today at CES in Las Vegas.
Dubbed “Project Valerie,” it’s the world’s first laptop with three screens — two of which gracefully slide away when you don’t need them.
The App Store opened 2017 with a massive bang by shattering sales records. New Year’s Day was its single busiest day ever, with $240 million raised from app purchases.
The record caps an incredibly successful 2016 for iOS developers, who earned a whopping $20 billion last year — up over 40 percent from 2015.
Twitter has confirmed that it will be shutting down Vine on Tuesday, January 17. Users have until this date to save their videos before they all disappear, while the Vine app for mobile will live on as a simple camera client.
Apple's relationship with China is complicated. Photo: Apple
iPhone users in China are no longer able to download the app for the most popular newspaper publisher in the U.S.
Chinese government officials reportedly demanded that Apple remove all of TheNew York Times apps from the App Store in China, blocking access to one of the few channels the paper has to reach readers in mainland China.
Sports photographer Brad Mangin gets a lot of assignments these days to shoot with his iPhone. Photo: Martha Jane Stanton
Sports photographer Brad Mangin used to rush to an airport after a big game to get several rolls of film on the next flight to New York for processing and editing. He never saw what he shot until it was on the cover or a two-page spread in the latest Sports Illustrated.
Now his colleagues with their heavy DSLR cameras, lenses, and a laptop to transmit photos laugh when they see Mangin with his gear – an iPhone and maybe an external battery.
A shot of the battered original iPhone belonging to a member of the design team. Photo: Leander Kahney/Cult of Mac
Next week marks 10 years since Steve Jobs unveiled the original iPhone, blowing our collective minds regarding the possibilities that smartphones presented.
Coming up on a decade later, if you’re still using the first-gen iPhone on a regular basis, we want to hear from you!
Apple invested $1 billion in Didi Chuxing last year. Photo: Tim Cook/Twitter
Apple confirmed today that is getting into the venture capital game by investing in one of the world’s largest tech funds.
SoftBank’s new Vision Fund received $1 billion from Apple, according to a company spokesperson that revealed the company is investing in the $100 billion fund to gain access to future technology.
The biggest problem with the iPhone 7 has been solved. Photo: Incipio
iPhone 7 users no longer must choose between charging their device or listening to headphones, thanks to a new case that restores the headphone jack to its rightful place.
Getting a headphone jack back on the iPhone 7 comes at the cost of some serious bulk, but with Incipio’s new OX case, at least you won’t have to carry around a dongle anymore.
Step up your home security with the new Ring Floodlight Cam.
Making its debut at CES 2017 in Las Vegas this week, the Floodlight Cam keeps an eye on your property with 1080p video recording, motion detection and the loudest siren available on an outdoor camera. What’s more, it’s incredibly easy to install.
OWC's dock adds serious bulk to the MacBook Pro. Photo: OWC
MacBook Pro owners that wish Apple included more ports alongside the Touch Bar can now have the best of both worlds — if they don’t mind slapping a huge dock on their machines.
OWC teased a new accessory called the DEC dock for MacBook Pro at CES, the monstrous gadget show happening in Las Vegas this week. The dock is comically large, but it adds a bevy of new features to the MacBook Pro, including extra storage.
The Smart Cycle comes with games that require peddle power. Photo: Fisher-Price
Many of today’s toddlers are addicted to tablets, which means they like to sit around for hours on end playing games and watching videos. Fisher-Price wants to make this activity a little less sedentary with the Think & Learn Smart Cycle.
Unveiled at CES 2017 in Las Vegas this week, it’s a stationary bike for kids with a built-in tablet stand that lets them cram in some much-needed exercise while their little minds remain focused on other things.
The Note 7 was one of last year's big debacles. Photo: Mr NiBaidu
Samsung threw away millions of dollars and took a hefty PR hit thanks to its exploding Galaxy Note 7, which it wound up recalling at great cost last year.
However, it seems that Samsung’s not ready to give up on the controversial batteries used in the smartphone, but will instead continue using Samsung SDI batteries for its upcoming Galaxy S8 flagship device.
Coming soon to a MacBook Pro near you. Photo: Elgato
Accessory maker Elgato unveiled its new Thunderbolt 3 Dock at CES, offering a way for users to connect a pair of 4K displays to their new MacBook Pro, in addition to plenty of other legacy connection options.
Costing $299, it promises to stand in for the plethora of dongles you’ll need as the tech world makes the jump to Thunderbolt 3 and USB-C.
You're brushing it wrong! Photo: Withings/L’Oreal
Every year at CES, there’s one gadget that epitomizes the crazier side of Silicon Valley’s “connected tech” smart devices mania.
In 2017, that prize may well belong to Withings and L’Oreal’s newly unveiled smart hairbrush — a device that critiques your hair-brushing technique, then feeds the results back to your smartphone.
The Apple Watch Nike+ comes with a hipster beard, apparently. Photo: Nike
Kevin Hart goes on an epic (and fictitious) 700-mile run through the desert in a great new set of Apple Watch Nike+ ads.
Focusing on the fitness-tracking aspects of the device, the creative spots chronicle the comic actor’s quest to get in shape. Apple and Nike never ran into trouble getting high-profile celebrities to endorse their products, but Hart is certainly one of the funniest spokesmen in recent memory.
Watch the Nike ads — which tell the story of “The Man Who Kept Running” — below.
Jorge Colombo drew the New Yorker cover on iPad Pro. Photo: The New Yorker
Want proof you can get “real” work done on the iPad Pro? Look no further than the latest cover of The New Yorker.
Long-time art editor Jorge Colombo drew the latest cover using the 12.9-inch iPad Pro, Apple Pencil and the app Procreate. It’s not the first time art created on the iPad has been featured by the popular magazine, but it’s certainly the best looking one yet.
Even better, you can watch Colombo draw the cover.
ExoLens, which partnered with ZEISS for a pro line of iPhone lenses last year, will soon offer a protective case for the iPhone 7 to accommodate the lenses. Photo: ExoLens
When lens maker ZEISS partnered with ExoLens to bring pro optics to the iPhone, mobile photographers had to make a choice between having great lenses or a protective case for the phone.
Now ExoLens has solved that, at least for the iPhone 7, with a protective case that will accommodate the ZEISS line of lenses. The new ExoLens Case will be on display at CES in Las Vegas this week and will be available for purchase within the next couple of months.
Help turn these awesome ideas into reality! Photo: Ste Smith/Cult of Mac
Incredible new gadgets often go unnoticed on Kickstarter and Indiegogo. We round up the best ones each week to help them get the funding they need to become reality.
This week, we’ve got an awesome handheld emulator that lets you play your favorite retro games on the go, a laser keyboard that’s super-versatile, a tiny device that adds Bluetooth connectivity to your existing headphones, and more!
Stop waiting for Apple to put a touchscreen on the Mac. Photo: Neonode
MacBook Air owners patiently waiting for Apple to come out with a touchscreen laptop can now take matters into their own hands: A new product called AirBar turns the laptop’s display into a touchscreen.
Neonode, the company that created AirBar, unveiled the new sensor — which is specifically designed for the 13-inch MacBook Air — at CES, the world’s largest electronic show taking place in Las Vegas this week.
Great offer, you think? Sadly you (probably) won't be able to participate. Photo: Apple
Apple will celebrate Chinese New Year by giving away pairs of Beats Solo3 headphones in its Product (RED) variant — which just so happens to also be a color associated with good luck and prosperity in various Asian cultures.
Unfortunately, if you’re reading this in the U.S., the giveaway isn’t available to you — but rather to customers in China, Hong Kong, Taiwan, and Singapore. Which we guess makes total sense, given the occasion!
Designed in California, made in India. Photo: Ste Smith/Cult of Mac
Apple is reportedly planning to start manufacturing its iPhones in India, and — right on cue — a new report claims that Apple supplier Wistron has applied for fast-tracked approval to expand its factory in the Indian city of Bengaluru.
“Wistron has approached us to expedite certain clearances with regards to the augmentation and expansion of its existing unit,” said a high-ranking regional government official, who declined to be identified.
Leading human interface solution developer Synaptics has announced a new “multi-factor biometric fusion” security system for mobile devices and PCs, built around a combination of both fingerprint and facial recognition.
The system would allow users to either set up extra secure logins requiring multiple forms of biometric ID, or have devices which could intelligently choose the most convenient mode for an occasion — such as opting for facial recognition when a person is likely wearing gloves.