| Cult of Mac

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

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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

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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]

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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+

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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]

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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]

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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]

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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.