Pros:
- Lively sound output after a few tweaks
- 6-band equaliser for custom presets
- Unique design, comfortable fit
- Good battery life, fast charging
- IP55 dust and fluid resistance
- Programmable controls
Cons:
- Default sound output is bass-heavy
- No wear detection sensors or volume control on the earbuds
- Bulky charging case, plasticky build
- Some features work only with select OnePlus phones
Price: Rs 2,799
Rating: 3.5/5
At first, we thought the OnePlus Nord was a phone, then a phone series, and now it seems to be headed in the direction of being a sub-brand with the addition of a new product category under the Nord umbrella. While the Nord series phones haven’t exactly cannibalised into the business of their more premium cousins, the OnePlus Nord Buds seem to have stepped on the toes of OnePlus Buds Z right from day 1. What does this new pair of TWS earphones offer and where does it fit it? Let’s find out.
OnePlus Nord Buds: Design and Comfort (7/10)
The Nord Buds take a completely different design approach and do not look like any of OnePlus’ previous offerings. The pill-shaped stems look quite unique, and though they may not appeal to everyone, it is something new. We got the white variant for review and it has a distinctly glossy finish on the buds and the case, both. While the build feels sturdy, they are too plasticky to touch.
They are not overly conspicuous, but the case does attract smudge marks. The charging case is quite bulky and far from pocketable, unless you don’t mind a big bulge in your pocket. Yes, it does host a sizable 480 mAh battery, but I have seen cases half its size do that. At 41.7 grams, its weight is not an issue though. A charge indicator LED is located at the front of the case, while a USB-C charging port along with a Bluetooth pairing/reset button are present at the back.
The buds are fairly light too at a shade under 5 grams each. The fit is snug enough and they don’t pop out of the ear during a workout or a jog. The right sized silicon tips offer decent passive noise isolation. The touch enabled zones at the back are clearly marked with a metallic paint and slight elevation. The touch sensitivity is good and the buds produce a small beep every time you tap in the zone. It’s best to go at a more relaxed pace as tapping too fast tends to miss the odd tap, especially for triple tap gestures.
OnePlus Nord Buds: Features and Specifications (7/10)
The OnePlus Nord Buds are IP55 rated dust and fluid resistant. But unlike the Buds Z2, the charging case does not have any ingress protection, which is fine given its price tag. Each earbud is fitted with a 12.4 mm Titanium dynamic driver; largest among all OnePlus TWS buds till date. They also have two microphones each for calling and AI noise reduction in calls. There is no active noise cancellation (ANC) here, which is just about acceptable in this budget. Look what you have done Realme!
Inexplicably, OnePlus has excluded the wear detection sensors on the Nord Buds. Those sensors were present on the similarly priced and over a year old OnePlus Buds Z. These earbuds are Bluetooth 5.2 compliant and support SBC and AAC codecs. There’s support for Dolby Atmos too when paired with compliant OnePlus phones. Similarly, the latency can go as low as 94 ms only on select OnePlus phones with Pro Gamer mode turned on. Mobile gamers without a newer OnePlus handset aren’t going to be too pleased with that.
You don’t need to install any app if you use these buds with a OnePlus 6 or a more recent OnePlus phone. You get access to various settings of the buds in the Bluetooth settings itself. For all other phones, you will need to install the HeyMelody app and sync the earphones with it to tweak certain features of this product. The app is available for Android and iOS both. The app lets you alter the sound profile, configure the controls and update the firmware.
Using the companion app you allocate functions to single tap, double tap, triple tap and long touch gestures for the left and right earbuds. You can assign play/pause, previous/next track, voice assistant or nothing to the first three gestures. Long touch only lets you switch between the last two paired devices; wasted potential, that. I generally like to assign previous/next track functions to the long touch gesture as I am not a fan of triple tap. Volume control cannot be assigned to any of the gestures on the Nord Buds.
OnePlus Nord Buds: Performance (7/10)
These buds are some of the loudest around and the volume level mostly stayed between 40 to 50% during the course of my testing, indoors as well as outdoors. The default sound signature on the ‘Balanced’ preset is totally bass dominated. The excess bass majorly impacts the midrange frequencies with a noticeable auditory masking. Even vocals sound muddy in bass-heavy tracks. And believe it or not, there is a separate ‘Bass’ preset for even more bass!
The ‘Bold’ and ‘Serenade’ presets tend to lower the bass and offer a more brighter sound which can be fatiguing. Had OnePlus not offered a custom equaliser here to tweak the sound manually, the ratings for this product would have plummeted like the stock market does every third day. The Sound Master EQ (Equaliser) turns things around in a big way. You get a 6-band equaliser, two each for lows, mids and highs, that lets you readjust the sound profile and create your own audio presets.
While it doesn’t make the Nord Buds sound like OnePlus Buds Pro or even Buds Z2, it does make a noticeable difference to the output. Pushing the 1KHz and 4KHz bars up by a few units adds a noticeable clarity in vocals and upper midrange sounds. Feel free to experiment with the other bars too till you get the best possible results. After those tweaks, the Nord Buds produce a lively output with a better balance, despite a bias towards the low end frequencies.
The soundstage here is not too broad but fine for the segment. While the 94 ms latency is available only on select OnePlus phones, there was no perceptible lag between the video and audio when streaming videos on other phones either. I didn’t try gaming wearing these earbuds. The wireless range is as advertised with a strong connection up to 10 metres with a clear line of sight.
OnePlus Nord Buds: Call quality (6.5/10)
The OnePlus Nord Buds’ call quality is a mixed bag. It is pretty good indoors. Though vocals aren’t the sharpest, the people on the line were clearly audible to each other. When outdoors, the AI noise reduction does a reasonable job of isolating the voice from the ambient noise, but it cannot reduce the background noise as much as I would have liked it to. I have had better experience with similarly priced OnePlus products.
OnePlus Nord Buds: Battery life (8/10)
The battery backup of the Nord Buds is quite impressive. The company claims 7 hours for the buds and 30 hours overall with the charging case. These numbers aren’t unheard of, and given that there is no ANC here, getting in that ballpark should not be too tough for these buds. With the loudness mostly under 50% during the test run, the earbuds managed to go on for close to 6 hours and the case could recharge them at least thrice more.
That translates into an overall battery backup of close to 25 hours for the buds and case combined, which is quite impressive. Even better, they support fast charging too. A 10-minute charge promises close to 5 hours of playtime, which is not bad at all. The product can be fully charged in less than an hour. The battery level of each earbud and the charging case is visible on newer OnePlus phones and in the HeyMelody app.
OnePlus Nord Buds: Price and verdict
The OnePlus Nord Buds can be purchased for Rs 2,799 with a one year warranty. For that price, you get a pair of TWS earphones with a unique design, more than decent sound quality thanks to the custom equaliser, configurable controls and impressive battery backup with fast charging. Despite that, it may not be a straightforward choice under Rs 3,000. The competition is quite stiff in this segment.
Before we move out, let’s look at the in-house competition first. The OnePlus Buds Z has always been a solid option under 3K. Other than good sound quality, it also has wear detection sensors but offers limited customisation options and lower battery backup. While the default tuning of the Buds Z is better, the Nord Buds can catch up and go a little beyond if you use the equaliser smartly.
Next up is the Realme duo which might be a little hard to beat. The Realme Buds Q2 and the Realme Buds Air 2 flaunt ANC in this budget in addition to better audio output, customizable touch controls, multiple sound profiles and comparable battery backup. The Buds Air 2 that sells for close to 3K has wear detection sensors too. The Buds Q2 is even more affordable at Rs 2,499. Though not bad, amidst such competition, the Nord Buds may struggle to carve a niche for themselves, unless OnePlus opts for a price drop.
Nvidia’s initial next-gen GPU might be the RTX 4090, followed by the RTX 4080 and 4070, if the latest rumor is right.
Actually, this isn’t a fresh rumor as such, but a purported ‘confirmation’ from Kopite7kimi, a prolific hardware leaker on Twitter, meaning it’s confirming info from their sources (of course, we have no official confirmation of anything yet, not even that Nvidia’s next-gen Lovelace graphics cards will be the RTX 4000 family).
Choose B. Confirmed.May 29, 2022
Kopite7kimi tweeted in reply to 3D Center theorizing about Nvidia’s possible staggered launch strategy for Lovelace GPUs, with two routes that Team Green is supposedly looking at taking: the RTX 4080, followed by the 4090, and then 4070, or the RTX 4090, followed by the 4080, then 4070. Kopite7kimi assured us the latter is the case.
As we mentioned, the idea that Nvidia’s first Lovelace graphics card will be the RTX 4090 is nothing new. This rumor has been floating around for a while now, and we also recently heard about the RTX 4080 and 4070 following that flagship offering – so that all lines up with this new chatter from the grapevine.
Our working theory as it stands is that the RTX 4090 could come out in September – Nvidia may pitch an initial reveal as early as July, mind, perhaps to run interference with Intel’s Arc Alchemist desktop GPU launch – followed by the RTX 4080 and 4070 in November. Essentially, the expectation is the RTX 4090 will emerge and then a couple of months later, the 4080 and 4070.
Although the way it sounds in this fresh Twitter revelation, the RTX 4080 could come before the RTX 4070 – which is entirely possible (anything is at this point, for that matter; all of these are just potential timeframes). Nothing is suggested about what kind of gap there might be between those two cards, if there is one.
Whatever the case, the rumor mill does believe that Nvidia should have all these core Lovelace offerings out before the end of 2022, in some kind of staggered launch – likely including the RTX 4060, though of course that isn’t mentioned here – and then other spins may follow later. Those may include the already persistently rumored RTX 4090 Ti, and maybe even a new Titan version for the Lovelace range.
There are still lots of unknowns, including when AMD might make its move with next-gen RDNA 3 graphics cards – with the gossip indicating that mid-range GPUs will come first from Team Red, which could give Nvidia’s rival the advantage if they’re facing off against just a very expensive Lovelace flagship to begin with.
Intel’s long-awaited entry into the desktop GPU arena will also complicate things further, all hopefully to the benefit of the consumer when it comes to competitive pricing (and the further easing of GPU stock issues).
Via Wccftech
Spoilers. In an era dominated by streaming and an ever-increasing array of social media, it's getting harder to avoid the plot twists, reveals, and cameos that are coming down the track in your favorite shows and movies.
The lengths viewers are going to dodge these spoilers are getting more and more extensive. You can mute the names of shows on Twitter, or turn off social media altogether to avoid the clips, reactions and memes that might give something away, at least until you've powered through the whole of Stranger Things.
Now, while you can't rely on social media to keep quiet about spoilers, it might be reasonable to expect that streaming services themselves could be trusted to keep spoilers out of their previews and marketing material, but, according to a new thread on Reddit, they've been found wanting. Specifically Netflix and the final season of Ozark.
In a thread started over the weekend, numerous posters revealed that two key plot points were given away in preview clips and stills they saw while browsing through Netflix's homepage. Now, not wishing to be ironic, we won't repeat the spoilers here, but if you're curious to look and you've seen the final season of the bloody drama, all the details are on the thread.
Netflix is forensic about the clips and stills they place on the homepage and change them constantly, responding to lags in viewer numbers and the increased profile of stars. Take The Crown for example; when the show's fourth season debuted, all you would be served with was pictures of Olivia Colman looking on sternly. Now it's wall-to-wall Emma Corrin, after her breakout role as Princess Diana.
Sometimes, it seems, finding a hooky clip to grab new viewers, especially when a show has been running for a while, might give away a plot point, which is rather annoying.
Fortunately, though, there is a way to stop that from happening to you...
There is a way to deactivate trailers and clips in your account setting, so all you will be served with on the Netflix homepage is a static page.
First, go to 'manage profiles', which you can find by hovering over the square smiley face in the top right-hand corner and clicking on manage profiles. Once there, click on the profile you want to change.
You'll then be presented with a list of options that include the chance to change the name of the profile and the maturity ratings. At the bottom of that page, you'll see an option named Autoplay Previews, which will automatically be set to be activated. Press the button and slide it over to the left, which will deactivate the setting on all devices. On some devices, it'll appear as a box to tick, or, in this case, untick.
Sadly not. While turning off trailers and clips does help a lot, Netflix's homepage is still populated with stills and a few of those have been flagged as spoilers too, including a key Ozark reveal that one viewer told TechRadar "...completely spoiled the final season, it gave away a massive plot point."
If Netflix wants to keep doing these two-part seasons, as they have done with Ozark and this week's Stranger Things, then the staff at the streaming service will need to keep an even keener eye on what stills they use to make sure nothing is given away. Here's hoping...
The DeLorean Motor Company has finally lifted the lid on its stunning electric reimagining of the 1981 DMC.
Presently dubbed the Alpha5, the all-electric coupé – which was first teased back in February – ditches the wedge-like chassis of its Back to the Future counterpart to instead cut a sleeker, more contemporary figure akin to the Tesla Model S.
The latter’s famous gullwing doors remain, though, and while the Alpha5 won’t be fast enough to travel through time, DeLorean has said its upcoming EV will be capable of sprinting from 0 to 60mph in just 3.4 seconds, boasting a top speed of 150mph.
Take a look at the car in action below:
Powered by a 100kWh battery pack, the Alpha5 will allegedly sport a range of more than 300 miles, which would nudge it slightly ahead of the comparable Porsche Taycan 4S and Audi e-tron GT in the endurance department.
Unlike those two premium German EVs, though, DMC’s DeLorean update won’t be going on general sale – at least to begin with. Company CEO Joost de Vries recently told Autocar that the Alpha5 will be sold in a limited run of 88 – a reference to the speed required to time-travel in Robert Zemeckis’ 1985 sci-fi classic – and be suitable for track use exclusively.
The car will, however, be tweaked for general use in the coming years, but with the track version not expected to enter production until 2024, Back to the Future fans will likely have a few more years to wait before being able to get their hands on a road-worthy Alpha5.
As part of the EV’s unveiling, DeLorean also announced that it currently has a new V8 coupé, electric saloon and hydrogen SUV in the works, with each model expected to target much higher production volumes for the mainstream market.
Incidentally, it’s worth noting that the US automaker is not the same as the one helmed by John DeLorean throughout the 1970s and 1980s. Parts of the company, including its logo and remaining inventory, were purchased in 1995 and absorbed into a new brand, DMC Texas, which continues to operate as the DeLorean Motor Company in 2022.
A couple of high-severity vulnerabilities were recently discovered in a mobile framework serving the Android operating systems, putting millions of people at risk.
The Microsoft 365 Defender Research Team, which discovered the flaws in September last year, says they could have been used to launch serious attacks on target devices, resulting in data theft and partial device takeover.
According to a new blog post, Microsoft "uncovered high-severity vulnerabilities in a mobile framework owned by mce Systems and used by multiple large mobile service providers in pre-installed Android System apps that potentially exposed users to remote (albeit complex) or local attacks".
The vulnerabilities are being tracked as CVE-2021-42598, CVE-2021-42599, CVE-2021-42600, and CVE-2021-42601, with severity scores ranging from 7.0 to 8.9 out of 10.
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Further detailing its findings, Microsoft said the mobile framework includes a service that could be leveraged to “allow adversaries to implant a persistent backdoor or take substantial control over the device".
The company notified both mce Systems and affected mobile service providers (some of which are “international”), and teamed up with them to work on a fix. All of the vulnerabilities have now been addressed, the blog states.
"We worked closely with mce Systems’ security and engineering teams to mitigate these vulnerabilities," Microsoft said, "which included mce Systems sending an urgent framework update to the impacted providers and releasing fixes for the issues. At the time of publication, there have been no reported signs of these vulnerabilities being exploited in the wild".
Google also pitched in, updating its Play Protect service to cover off the attack vectors.
While Microsoft says there is no evidence of the flaws being exploited in the wild, it did add that there could be more undiscovered providers affected by the flaw, including “several mobile phone repair shops” that might have installed vulnerable apps on people’s endpoints.
The Boys showrunner Eric Kripke has revealed which iconic DC superhero he still needs to satirize in the R-rated TV series.
Ahead of The Boys season 3's release on June 3, Kripke told TechRadar (and other media outlets) via a roundtable discussion that he was looking to find a way to parody Batman in the popular Prime Video show.
The Dark Knight may seem like an odd choice for Kripke to choose. After all, the legendary DC superhero, who has had his fair share of movie adaptations down the years – including Matt Reeves' critically acclaimed The Batman film – is the chief inspiration behind Black Noir, one of The Boys' most powerful Supes. Both characters wear all-black suits, do their best work in the shadows and as stealthily as possible, have similar abilities, and aren't afraid to dole out punishment (in more life-ending terms where Black Noir is concerned, too) when it's necessary.
However, Kripke believes that there's room to include another Batman-esque character in The Boys in a future season. As he explains, there are other parts of the Batman mythos that are ripe for exploration and mocking in the show, albeit using a different character.
"[In season 3], we have an Ant-Man character and, obviously, Soldier Boy is a Captain America reference," Kripke says. "When we're coming up with heroes, we're always thinking 'what are the archetypal heroes that we haven't done yet.
"The one we haven't figured out yet is Batman – he remains a character we still need to touch on. And we should, because he's basically a capitalist nightmare who was oppressing lower classes of criminals just to advance his family's wealth, so you'd think we should get into that! Actually, I think I'm going to get into that right now."
If Kripke and his fellow writer on The Boys find a way to infuse another character with Batman's persona and other thematic elements, it'll be interesting to see if this individual would be added to The Seven's line-up. As fans of the show (and the original graphic novel series) will know, The Seven are a satirized version of the Justice League, DC's iconic supergroup. You know, Homelander is Superman, Queen Maeve is Wonder Woman, A-Train is The Flash, and so on.
Black Noir is already on The Seven's roster, so Vought International's most popular superhero team isn't in dire need of a Batman-like character. Still, it'll be intriguing to see how Kripke and company bring other Batman aspects into The Boys' universe, especially as the series may only run for another two seasons.
For more on The Boys, find out why one of its stars was stunned to learn about what happens in the third season's most shocking episode. Meanwhile, where Batman is concerned, read up on how to watch the Batman films in order. And be sure to check in with TechRadar later this week for more exclusive content about The Boys season 3.
Much to everyone’s surprise, Google recently teased a new Pixel Tablet – one which we probably won’t see until next year. But one of the most exciting possible features wasn’t included in the tease.
That feature is a stylus, which is something there’s now significant evidence we might see included with the slate. Why? Because – as spotted by tech blog NuGiz – a Google tablet codenamed Tangor has been certified by the Universal Stylus Initiative (USI).
Of course, it’s possible that Tangor is a different device to the Pixel Tablet, but given that we’re only aware of one tablet being worked on by Google, that’s unlikely, and this certification all but confirms an upcoming Google slate will have stylus support.
That still leaves some questions though, such as whether a stylus will be included with the tablet or whether you’ll have to buy one separately, and whether stylus support will be a key focus for Google or just a handy extra.
USI support means the Pixel Tablet should be compatible with any USI-certified stylus, and those styli will also work with any other USI-certified device. So you could potentially have one stylus for many devices – or at the very least may not have to buy a new stylus when you buy a new tablet (even one from a different brand).
However, it might also mean that Google puts less effort into developing a stylus specifically suited to the Pixel Tablet – if the company develops one at all. It could potentially rely on existing USI styli and on the inevitable third-party options that would arrive following the Pixel Tablet’s launch.
Stylus support is a key feature of many iPads, yet it's not something that a huge number of Android tablets currently offer, outside of Samsung’s popular Galaxy Tab range, so this could be a major selling point of the Pixel Tablet.
USI support means styli for the Pixel Tablet might also be more affordably priced (since you wouldn’t be limited to one brand) and would be compatible with a wider range of devices than the Apple Pencil.
This is a promising development, because from what we’d seen of the Pixel Tablet previously it was unclear how it would really stand out, aside from packing a Google-developed Tensor chipset. So stylus support could help it compete.
Via AndroidPolice
Elon Musk has once again raised the issue of spambots on Twitter and stated that the social media platform has very ‘very bot friendly rules. Elon Musk has actually put the $44 Billion deal on hold indefinitely, citing this very reason.
Twitter’s CEO Parag Agrawal has stated that about five per cent of Twitter’s daily users are fake or consist of spambots. Twitter has also stated the same in a filing with the SEC or the Securities and Exchange Commission.
A Twitter follower of Elon Musk, tweeted out to him, saying that none of the limits regarding changing details about a user on Twitter, is aligned with human to human interactions. He cited that Twitter allows a user to put out 1 tweet every 36 seconds, during a 24 hour period, which, isn’t humanly possible. The user also pointed out that bots can change the email associated with their Twitter accounts 4 times in an hour because Twitter allows it to. This is something that no human being would ever need in a realistic setting.
The Tesla CEO replied, saying “Totally, these are very bot-friendly rules!”
Twitter allows about 1000 direct messages or DMs in a day. It also allows a user to send about 2400 tweets per day.
Because the takeover bid has to meet certain compliances, Musk has asked the SEC to investigate Twitter’s claim of having five per cent bots among its daily active users on the platform. Musk claims that by all logical indications, the number is at least 20 per cent.
Musk has also claimed that Twitter’s CEO, Agrawal, has refused to present any evidence that proves the platform’s claim of having less than five per cent bots.
“20 per cent fake/spam accounts, while 4 times what Twitter claims, could be much higher. My offer was based on Twitter’s SEC filings being accurate,” Musk tweeted.
“Yesterday, Twitter’s CEO publicly refused to show proof of less than 5 per cent. This deal cannot move forward until he does,” he had added.
Musk, at a conference in Miami this month, said that Twitter could have at least four times more fake accounts than what has been revealed in its filing.
People often use our Amazon Prime Day list of the best iPads to buy a brand-new Apple tablet. The slates are often so expensive that even a slight discount can result in lots of money saved.
There's a lot to be said for purchasing an iPad – they're popular, powerful and pretty, and so it isn't surprising to find a number of iPad models sitting on our list of the best tablets.
But you could save yourself huge sums of money if you pushed Apple's super-expensive slates and bank-breaking accessories from the forefront of your mind, and instead looked at the other end of the price spectrum.
The Amazon Fire range of slates are the epitome of what you'd class as "cheap tablets". They come with tacky-feeling plastic bodies, weak chipsets, and software that's so full of pre-loaded apps that most people don't even realise that, at its core, they're Android devices.
Yet for most folk, they deliver all you'll need– whether that's non-stop movie streaming, an entertainment tablet for the road, or even a portable working device.
Fire tablets – there's the 7, HD 8 and HD 10, along with a few Kids' Editions and Plus models – are closely tied with Amazon's ecosystem of apps and services. This means they come pre-loaded with Prime Video, Prime Music, Kindle and the like, although it's also possible to install rival services such as Netflix or Spotify.
This makes them a great hub for entertainment (if you have a Prime account, that is), since the Fire device will effectively become your one-stop shop for music, movies, games, books and more. Thanks to the ability to easily download content using these apps, Fire tablets are also great for on-the-go entertainment.
Amazon Fire slates tend to be lighter and smaller than most other tablets, too, which also makes them great devices for frequent travelers, or for handing to kids on a long road trip to quieten them down.
Although Fire tablets have typically been associated with entertainment, not so much business or college work, this is also now starting to change.
On Amazon, you can find plenty of stands, keyboards and even styli for Amazon Fire tablets, which let you transform these slates into portable workstations for word processing or dealing with emails.
You may have started to see more and more Fire tablets being worked on in coffee shops and libraries, with users beginning to become more aware of their use beyond entertainment.
So, unless you require lots of processing power for top-end apps, we've now established that Fire devices can match Apple iPads for work and play; but there's one key way in which they beat them.
When it comes to price, Amazon's Fire tablets undercut iPads significantly. Prices for the most recent Fire HD 10 start at $150 / £150 (about AU$195); the cheapest iPad 10.2 starts at $329 / £319 / AU$499. Unless you're stuck deep in the Apple ecosystem – and maybe even then – the Fire HD is the cheaper choice.
Fire tablets offer great battery life, equal displays to their pricier alternatives, and are far more durable than most slates, too.
Amazon's products generally are the cheapest in their sector, with Kindles usually undercutting other e-readers, and the company's TV sticks and earbuds also coming in at super-affordable prices.
Cheap products are always worth considering – especially in 2022, given that the gulf between affordable and premium products has narrowed, and the cost of living crisis.
But when you can do almost everything you'll want to on a Fire tablet, iPad models that can cost up to twice as much are far more difficult to recommend. Sure, for creative professionals or power-users the extra features that Apple's tablets bring may be preferable. For the vast majority of users, however, an Amazon tablet will deliver all you need – and will save you a pretty penny, too.
Text-to-image artificial intelligence programs aren’t anything new. Indeed, existing neural networks like DALL-E have impressed us with their ability to generate simple, photorealistic images from brief yet descriptive sentences.
But this week I was introduced to Imagen. Developed by Google Research’s Brain Team, Imagen is an AI similar to that of DALL-E and LDM. However, Brain Team’s aim with Imagen is to generate images with a greater level of accuracy and fidelity, using that same short and descriptive sentence method to create them.
An example of such sentences would be – as per demonstrations on the Imagen website – “A photo of a fuzzy panda wearing a cowboy hat and black leather jacket riding a bike on top of a mountain.” That’s quite a mouthful, but the sentence is structured in such a way that the AI can identify each item as its own criteria.
The AI then analyzes each segment of the sentence as a digestible chunk of information and attempts to produce an image as closely related to that sentence as possible. And barring some uncanniness or oddities here and there, Imagen can do this with surprisingly quick and accurate results.
If you’ve checked out Imagen or other neural networks for yourself, then you’ve probably noticed the overwhelming focus on a select few subjects. DALL-E, for example, likes to create images based on everyday household items, like clocks or toilets. Imagen, at least for now, seems to put cute animals at the forefront of its image generation capabilities. But there’s actually a very good reason for this.
Google’s Brain Team doesn’t shy away from the fact that Imagen is keeping things relatively harmless. As part of a rather lengthy disclaimer, the team is well aware that neural networks can be used to generate harmful content like racial stereotypes or push toxic ideologies. Imagen even makes use of a dataset that’s known to contain such inappropriate content.
“While a subset of our training data was filtered to remove noise and undesirable content, such as pornographic imagery and toxic language,” Brain Team notes, “we also utilized LAION-400M dataset which is known to contain a wide range of inappropriate content including pornographic imagery, racist slurs, and harmful social stereotypes.
“Imagen relies on text encoders trained on uncurated web-scale data, and thus inherits the social biases and limitations of large language models.”
This is also the reason why Google’s Brain Team has no plans to release Imagen for public use, at least until it can develop further ‘safeguards’ to prevent the AI from being used for nefarious purposes. As a result, the preview on the website is limited to just a few handpicked variables.
Ultimately, it’s the right call. There have been examples in the past of AI programs being unleashed onto the online public… with extremely undesirable results. You may remember Microsoft’s Tay, an AI Twitter account brought to the social media platform roughly five years ago.
Tay was a pretty ballsy experiment on Microsoft’s part. Its intention was to see how an AI would react to and interact with real people in a social media environment. However, within hours, Tay went from a wholesome chatbot to a dispenser of anti-semitic talking points. This was despite the bot being “modeled, cleaned and filtered” according to Microsoft (thanks, The Verge).
Given the precedent set by AI like Tay, then, it’s easy to see why Imagen has been reigned in. Clearly, even extensive filtering might not be enough.
While I was immensely impressed by Imagen, and had a lot of fun mixing and matching sentences to create all kinds of bizarre pictures, it’s definitely not something I’d consider to be overwhelmingly convincing. At least not for the time being.
More often than not, Imagen returned some frighteningly hilarious results. Animals, in particular, often appeared with all kinds of wacky proportions. Seeing a raccoon with a massive head, or human-like girthy arms gripping a bike’s handlebars was a pretty common sight. While very funny, these peculiar results blended with the photorealism often churned out disturbingly uncanny results.
The option to generate an oil painting was actually a good deal more convincing, and most of what Imagen was able to produce here wouldn’t look out of place in a school project. And I mean that in the nicest possible way. As it turns out, a Persian cat strumming a guitar translates far more convincingly to a painting than it does a realistic photo.
As noted, it’s highly likely we won’t get a public release of Imagen anytime soon. Or ever, for that matter. The risks posed by AI programs and neural networks being able to generate unsavory content are still far too great. For now, though, I’m content with Imagen being a fun little curio for those looking to spend a bit of time generating funny cowboy hat-wearing animals skateboarding down a mountain.
Microsoft Word is set to receive an update that will extend a fan-favorite feature to the web application.
According to a roadmap entry released by Microsoft, those that use the word processor exclusively on the web will soon benefit from the popular dark mode feature.
"Dark Mode in Word for Web will provide a modern look for documents while giving users the ability to reduce eye strain and accommodate light sensitivity from long hours at a computer screen," the company explains.
The roadmap says the feature is currently in development, although it lists the general availability as May 2022, which either suggests the rollout is imminent or that the release timeframe is a little longer than stated.
Microsoft Word is easily among the best office software products going right now, especially if you work at a big organization or study as a student. It's ubiquitous, with good reason.
While Google Docs is really good (and, obviously, free), Word offers so many powerful features for pros and anyone who wants to delve into settings to get their document just right.
Given how much time we collectively spend looking at screens, especially during work hours, having a dark mode is an essential feature for pretty much all software in 2022.
I've had my iPhone 13 Pro Max on dark mode since the day it arrived, even in bright sunshine, because it's a lot less strain on the eye can light mode.
Anyone pulling an all-nighter in the library or working on a document until late into the evening will appreciate this upcoming feature for Word.
We can only hope that a dark mode also makes it way to the rest of the Microsoft 365 web application suite sometime soon.
AMD might have a new graphics card planned as a super-cheap GPU, slotting under the current RX 6400, or that’s one theory being bandied about via the rumor mill right now.
This comes from Phoronix.com which reported on findings in AMD’s Linux graphics driver (for Linux 5.19) which adds a new device ID for a ‘Beige Goby’ card.
The Beige Goby family is low-end RDNA 2 (current-gen cards) built with the Navi 24 GPU, like the existing RX 6500 XT and RX 6400 graphics cards.
We don’t know for sure what a potential new Navi 24 GPU might be: it could simply be a refresh of an existing model, the RX 6400 arguably, though we’re not sure how much sense it would make to jam another GPU into the line-up here – or it could be an entirely new product.
So one theory as mentioned suggests that AMD could be preparing an RX 6300 model to sit underneath the RX 6400 at an even more wallet-friendly price point.
Plenty of salt must be added at this point, because this is obviously just speculation – the GPU in question could be anything, or indeed nothing, as code being added to a Linux driver hardly represents confirmation that a new product is inbound from Team Red. That said, we have already heard a rumor that an RX 6300 could be happening...
Let’s discuss what this might mean, bearing in mind those caveats. It perhaps makes some sense that AMD could be exploring further options in the budget GPU category if you consider that Nvidia looks to be about to make a move in this space.
Recall the rumors – and again, they’re just rumors – around Nvidia producing a GTX 1630 as a fresh low-end graphics card, perhaps to finally give folks a truly budget-oriented option (speculation contends that the 1630 could turn up in just a couple of days).
AMD could therefore be looking to make a countermove against this purportedly inbound GPU. Looking at the RX 6300M – because yes, a mobile version of the 6300 already exists – the specs of this laptop GPU are considerably weaker than the RX 6400, and so a desktop variant could pursue the same route; which might make it a bit weak sauce for gamers. That said, there are worries this might be the case for the GTX 1630, too…
Ultimately, with no clue as to what any specs might be for the AMD card, we’d be foolish to attempt to draw any comparisons with an also-rumored Nvidia GPU.
We’ll just have to see how this potential budget card battle plays out, but one thing to bear in mind is that given there’s already some disappointment around the power of the desktop RX 6400, expectations around any lower-spec RX 6300 model will naturally be tempered. Also, it’s possible that the 6300 might be OEM-only, too (at least to begin with).
Via Tom’s Hardware
Google Assistant can already recognize your voice from others and pick up what you're saying pretty well, but even more improvements look to be on the way: references to "personalized speech recognition" have started popping up in the code of the Google app for Android.
This is courtesy of some keen-eyed observations from the team at 9to5Google, who found that the latest version of the app will offer to "store audio recordings on this device to help Google Assistant get better at recognizing what you say".
While we don't have too much to go on here, it looks as though the feature could be similar to something Google already does on some of its smart speakers: processing some common queries locally on a device to speed up recognition and processing.
Based on the snippets of information found hidden in the app, if this functionality is turned off by the user then Google Assistant "will be less accurate at recognizing names and other words that you say frequently".
While it's not clear exactly what difference these improvements are going to make, it would seem that local processing on an Android phone and an ability to recognize your own vocal quirks – accent, unique contact names and all – are going to make the Google Assistant experience even more fluid than ever.
At this stage we don't know when (or even if) Google will push this out officially, but more information should be forthcoming should it become a fully fledged feature. As we heard at Google IO 2022, efforts to make Google Assistant conversations more natural are always ongoing.
Google Assistant is arguably the best digital assistant in the business at the moment, thanks to Google's innovations in machine learning and the way that it reaches into just about every part of our lives, from web search to smart home gadgets. However, that doesn't mean that there isn't still room for improvement.
The ultimate goal is to have chatting with Google Assistant be as simple and as seamless as chatting with a friend or relative – and there's still some way to go until that's the case, despite the regular upgrades that keep getting pushed out.
With the supposed new feature mentioned above focusing on "personalized" conversations, it would seem Google wants to make its Assistant better at understanding those commands and words that are most specific to you.
In other words, it won't be caught out when you mention a name or a phrase that makes perfect sense to you but that an artificial intelligence system would get confused by. It makes sense to store this data for Google Assistant on your phone too, the device that's close by you for most of the day.
Google has already officially unveiled the Pixel 7 and Pixel 7 Pro, without really telling us much about them. Now new information from the rumor mill suggests that the displays on these phones will exactly match the Pixel 6 and Pixel 6 Pro handsets.
This comes from Android code discovered by 9to5Google, which points to the 2022 flagship handsets using the same Samsung display panels as the phones that arrived in 2021 – although there might be some very minor tweaks in store.
For the Pixel 7, that means a 1080 x 2400 pixel screen with a refresh rate of up to 90Hz, and for the Pixel 7 Pro it would be a 1440 x 3120 pixel screen with a maximum refresh rate of 120Hz. Those aren't bad specs, but they'd be unchanged from the previous Pixels.
As for the reported tweaks, the Pixel 7 display might be a few millimeters smaller despite using the same panel, while the Pixel 7 Pro could come with the option of a 1080p mode for conserving power, perhaps in a low battery mode.
All of this is unconfirmed at the moment though, and based on references to display drivers in the core Android code. It's possible that the code could be misinterpreted or that Google is going to make changes between now and the launch of the Pixel 7 and the Pixel 7 Pro handsets – which should be around October time.
What we know for sure is the Google Pixel 7 and Pixel 7 Pro design, because we've seen official pictures. Google has also confirmed that there will be a next-gen Tensor chipset inside the new devices, hopefully leading to a substantial speed boost.
It's always disappointing when a new phone sticks with the same specs as its predecessor, but we are big fans of the Google Pixel 6 and the Pixel 6 Pro – and the case can be argued that the screens on these phones don't need much of an upgrade anyway.
The 6.4-inch panel on the Pixel 6 and the 6.71-inch panel on the Pixel 6 Pro are big and bright and sharp, and we wouldn't be too worried about picking up a Pixel 7 or a Pixel 7 Pro with the same screens attached on the front.
What users will perhaps be more interested in is performance, camera quality and battery life, and there's potential for the Pixel 7 and the Pixel 7 Pro to improve in all of these areas. We know that the new phones will have a new Tensor chipset, which will be crucial to its overall appeal.
In terms of release date, all Google has said is that the phones will be out later in the year, but we're expecting them to show up around October time. Until then, we can expect plenty more leaks and rumors letting us know what to expect.
When looking for the best VPN services on the market, you've surely come across several characteristics that are supposed to make the service worth your money.
Beside top-notch security features, a strict no-log policy and strong encryption, providers boast about the ability to use their VPN on many devices at once as a great advantage. In the past few years, device allowances have grown, with some top services even offering unlimited simultaneous connections to their users.
The bonus to the user, they say, is that you'll be able to use a single VPN subscription for all your tech - including laptops, PCs, smartphones, TV streamers, routers and more.
However, data gathered by TechRadar shows how this feature might not be as useful as you think. The vast majority of VPN users simply don't use all their simultaneous connections.
We asked over 2,400 TechRadar readers how they use their VPNs and discovered that only 11% use their VPN service on more than five individual devices. While roughly 3 out of 5 respondents use theirs on just three or fewer different devices.
However, when asked to rate how important having plenty of simultaneous connections was when choosing a provider, over half responded with 'important' or 'very important'.
So, while the vast majority of users don't actually use their VPN on the maximum number of devices, having more on offer still adds value when people are choosing their VPN provider.
While unlimited simultaneous connections appear to be somewhat superfluous, almost 75% of VPN subscribers agree on the importance of having a good range of apps available for different operating system - whether this is for your Android VPN or iPhone VPN, Windows, macOS, Linux, smart TV, or gaming console.
Another eye-catching finding concerns the price of a product, with almost 70% of respondents telling us that they would be happy to pay more if it meant that they were assured a higher level of privacy.
Among the top VPN services around, there's a lot of difference when it comes to how many connections are offered.
For example, our top-rated provider ExpressVPN has a limit of five devices. This is the lowest among our favorite providers, on par with Hotspot Shield and TunnelBear.
NordVPN is slightly more generous, offering six, while Proton VPN and Private Internet access (PIA) raise the bar at 10. And Surfshark and IPVanish go the whole hog, with their users having no limit on the maximum devices they can connect at the same time.
Before these results, we would've thought that consumers greatly valued this feature when choosing their product. Similarly, we thought that a service offering fewer simultaneous connections could suffer against more generous competitors - indeed, it's something that we've frequently criticized ExpressVPN and NordVPN for in the past.
But, apparently not. Time and time again, quality and functionality appear to be preferred over quantity.
While many providers seem to keep investing to enlarge their maximum device allowance to stay ahead of the competition, it looks like it would be better to focus on more pressing elements instead. Offering a more comprehensive product - like a VPN and antivirus bundle, for example - is just one of the ways to meet the needs of an ever-changing cybersecurity world.
Star Wars fans are eating well today (Friday, May 27). Not only is there a brand-new TV show set in that galaxy far, far away available to stream, but there were plenty of exciting announcements made on day 1 of Star Wars Celebration, which took place in California on Thursday, May 26.
With Obi-Wan Kenobi's standalone series arriving on Disney Plus, you're likely re-immersing yourself in the world of Star Wars after some time away. Well, once you're done checking out its two-episode premiere, plus reading our in-depth chat with Obi-Wan's showrunner-director and main cast, you'll want to catch up on the latest news to come out of Star Wars Celebration.
And there's a lot to get up to speed with. Below, we'll run you through every announcement, trailer, and other interesting pieces of news that were revealed during day 1 of Star Wars Celebration. That includes updates on The Mandalorian season 3, Andor, and other upcoming Star Wars projects that are at various stages of development.
So, what are you waiting for? Strap into your Millennium Falcon (we know you have one), engage your hyperdrive, and let's travel at light speed towards everything that was announced.
Let's kick things off with Star Wars' most popular series of recent times. Yes, The Mandalorian season 3's release is drawing ever closer – and we finally know when it'll be with us.
As announced on the official Star Wars Twitter account, the hit Disney Plus show will return to our screens in February 2023. That's further away than what Giancarlo Esposito, who plays Moff Gideon in the series, recently told fans. Still, it's pleasing to know that the countdown is truly on for the show's return.
Star Wars Celebration attendees weren't just treated to that announcement, though. Audiences were also given their first look at The Mandalorian's next instalment, with a sizzle reel giving us a tease of what's to come.
According to those in attendance, there were plenty of stunning shots and visuals to take in, but it's the hints at where season 3's plot will go that was most intriguing.
The footage showed Mando meeting with The Armorer again, who told him that "redemption is no longer possible" after the latter found out that the former had removed his helmet (on multiple occasions) in previous seasons. Meanwhile, Mando tells Grogu that the duo are bound for Mandalore – the home world of all Mandalorians – so he can be forgiven for his transgressions.
Other blink and you'll miss it scenes involved Mando and Grogu reuniting with Greef Karga, who seems to have settled into a new (and well-paying, based on his attire) profession, and a tense, verbal showdown with Bo-Katan, another Mandalorian warrior who fans will remember from the show's second season and animated series The Clone Wars. There were also plenty of action-packed moments to take in, before Bo-Katan ominously tells Grogu "Did you think your dad was the only Mandalorian?". Color us excited.
Andor, the Star Wars prequel series starring Diego Luna's rebellion hero from Rogue One, will officially launch on Disney Plus on August 31.
The series, which will receive a two-episode premiere on that date, is set five years before Luna teams up with Felicity Jones' Jyn Erso to steal the Death Star plans in order to aid the rebellion's fight against the Galactic Empire. Expect it to be a gritty, street-level affair in much the same away as Rogue One was.
And that seems to be the case, judging by the show's first teaser, which accompanied its release date announcement. You can watch the first footage from the upcoming series above, which is also the first Star Wars TV series that doesn't utilize Industrial Light and Magic's StageCraft (aka The Volume) technology. Instead, the show was set in real locations to retain that hardy, criminal underworld style that Rogue One is known for.
Andor season 1 will consist of 12 episodes, though it's unclear if the series will receive dual-episodic releases over the course of six weeks or get weekly releases after its premiere date. Oh, and why do we say that this is the show's first season? Because a second instalment – also comprising 12 episodes – is already in development and will begin shooting in November, according to Variety.
Now this was a pleasant surprise. Skeleton Crew, a new Star Wars TV series, is coming to Disney Plus sometime in 2023 – and it'll star none other than Marvel movie and Fantastic Beasts actor Jude Law. Talk about nailing down a role in three of the biggest franchises of all-time.
Little is known about Skeleton Crew, but we do have some information on its, well, backstage crew and what the show will entail.
Skeleton Crew is the official name of the series developed by Jon Watts (Spider-Man's MCU trilogy), and Christopher Ford (Chaos Walking) which previously had the working title Grammar Rodeo (a fun nod to one of The Simpsons' many, many episodes). Jon Favreau and Dave Filoni are also on board as executive producers alongside Watts, which isn't surprising, given how that duo have single-handedly (or should that be dual-handedly?) developed Star Wars' burgeoning output of TV-specific content.
According to Filoni, Skeleton Crew is an "upcoming live-action series stars kids but is as much for kids as The Clone Wars". Expect it to contain some mature concepts and themes that may not be suitable for kids of a certain age, then.
Per IGN, Skeleton Crew's story will follow "a group of 10-year-old kids from a small planet who get lost in that galaxy far, far away and must try to find their way home". The series is also set after Return of the Jedi, aka Star Wars Episode VI, so it'll be placed on the main Star Wars timeline alongside The Mandalorian and Ahsoka Tano's forthcoming live-action show. The Hollywood Reporter also claims that filming will begin this summer and that Skeleton Crew will have the feel of a 1980s Amblin Entertainment production, such as The Goonies or E.T.
In 2023, Harrison Ford returns as the legendary #IndianaJones. Check out this first look of the new James Mangold-directed film. pic.twitter.com/ALs82tsmXwMay 26, 2022
Okay, these next two announcements are not Star Wars-centric. But, considering that Lucasfilm was the company that originally brought them to the big screen, it makes sense that they'd be covered in some capacity during Star Wars Celebration.
The first of that duo is Indiana Jones 5. We already knew that the next instalment in the iconic Harrison Ford-starring action-adventure film series was coming in June 2023. However, this is the first teaser we've received about the James Mangold-directed flick – even if it is just an image.
The still, which you can see in the tweet above, shows Ford's Jones crossing a rickety old bridge – presumably in a cave looking for treasure – as the warm, yellow glow of sunlight appears through a crack in the cave's roof. Sure, it doesn't give anything away, but it's a fan-pleasing image that'll whet your appetite ahead of the movie's release.
Fleabag's Phoebe Waller-Bridge, Fantastic Beasts' Mads Mikkelsen, Logan's Boyd Holbrook, and Uncharted's Antonio Banderas among the supporting cast. Mangold also serves as co-writer alongside Jez Butterworth and John-Henry Butterworth (Flag Day, Edge of Tomorrow), with Indiana Jones' legendary director Steven Spielberg and Lucasfilm president Kathleen Kennedy among the film's executive producers.
Arriving nearly 35 years after the cult favorite 1988 dark fantasy film, a Willow TV series will be released on Disney Plus on November 30.
The show, which is set 20 years after the events of the original movie, will see Warwick Davis (Rogue One, Harry Potter) reprise his role as the Nelwyn dwarven wizard known as Willow Ufgood, who joins Ruby Cruz's Princess Kit (and a band of other warriors) on a journey to rescue Kit's twin brother from an as-yet-revealed villain.
As the teaser trailer (which you can watch above) shows, the TV series looks to have retained the whimsical, dramatic, and ominous tones and style from the Willow flick. Fans of that late 80s movie, then, are sure to be counting down the days until the live-action show makes its grand debut on Disney's streaming service.
Ron Howard, who directed the original film, is on board as an executive producer alongside Kathleen Kennedy, Jonathan Kasdan, and Bryan Glazer among others. The eight-episode series has been developed by Kasdan (Dawson's Creek, Solo: A Star Wars story) and Wendy Mericle (Arrow).
One of the harshest realities of social media is the hostility that women face on any given platform. From incessant trolling to rape and death threats for speaking out, to unsolicited messages and dick picks - the list goes on and on. Well, one tech company is looking to change the dynamics of how a traditional Web2 based social media platform like Facebook or Instagram functions.
‘Coto’ or ‘Coming Together’ is the latest offering from Eve World, a Web3 women-only social community platform that seeks to build a positive and valuable digital experience for women. Coto promises to “narrow the gender divide” on social media, where men outnumber women and therefore, only allows women and transgenders to be users on the platform
“In order to make the internet empowering and inclusive, it is imperative to have a safe space where we can freely express ourselves. Women don’t get the chance to have intimate conversations, which leads to self-censorship,” says Aparna Acharekar, co-founder of Eve World.
Rampant sexism, misogyny, and trolling have become almost synonymous with social media for women. On top of that, we really don’t have many actionable laws that would safeguard women and transgenders. And even social media platforms like LinkedIn, where the entire premise is to inculcate professional connections, have failed women and transgenders miserably.
“The platform will enable members to freely create, curate, consume and own content. The decentralised nature of blockchain will help in overcoming issues with privacy,” says Tarun Katial, CEO, Eve World. “Think of this as WhatsApp into Instagram or WhatsApp into Reddit or Reddit into Instagram but only for women,” he added.
The platform will be based on Web3, or third generation internet, which, using blockchain technology and the principles of decentralised ownership, meaning the members on the platform will be able to freely create, curate, consume and own content, all the while overcoming issues with privacy. Furthermore, members on the platform will not be bogged down with data breaches, algorithm based manipulation, and identity theft which actually is a major problem that women face.
Despite the fact that the internet has forever changed the manner in which we interact with the world and with each other, how information is disseminated and ideas are exchanged, women, especially in India, unfortunately, have not had a level playing field where they could take advantage of that.
One of the main things Acharekar felt was missing from “legacy social media platforms” is intimate conversations.
“Women tend to feel restricted as there is always a concern regarding abuse and harassment. Hence, no one feels free to talk about issues like menopause, motherhood and sexual problems. We want to open them up and have women make their own groups and talk about such issues,” she said.
While women will be allowed to post anonymously on ‘coto,’ safeguards have been put in place that kicks in during the registration process.
In order to set up an account on 'coto', a user will have to go through a basic KYC process, that will involve facial recognition. This is done so that the platform knows if a user is a woman or a trans person. If a person does not want to be discovered at all, they can choose to withhold their identity while engaging with other members of the community, once they register.
The platform also intends to monetise and help members showcase their business products via online marketplaces for women entrepreneurs on the platform.
