Tag: audio

Apple’s next iPhone reportedly ditches the headphone jack

Apple’s quest for ever-thinner , ever-smarter devices may produce another casualty: your iPhone’s headphone jack. A rumor at MacOtakara claims that the next iPhone might drop the 3.5mm port and use the Lightning port for audio instead. The move would let Apple slim its phone even further (reportedly, over 1mm thinner than the iPhone 6s ) and take advantage of Lightning’s features, such as headphone-based DACs and app launching. You’d have to use an adapter for any conventional wired headphones, or else make the leap to Bluetooth. Via: MacRumors Source: MacOtakara (translated)

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Apple’s next iPhone reportedly ditches the headphone jack

Firefox 42 Arrives With Tracking Protection, Tab Audio Indicators

An anonymous reader writes: Mozilla today launched Firefox 42 for Windows, Mac, Linux, and Android. Notable additions to the browser include tracking protection, tab audio indicators, and background link opening on Android. The new private browsing mode goes further than just not saving your browsing history (read: porn sites) — the added tracking protection means Firefox also blocks website elements (ads, analytics trackers, and social share buttons) that could track you while you’re surfing the web, and it works on all four platforms. The feature is almost like a built-in ad blocker, though it’s really closer to browser add-ons like Ghostery and Privacy Badger because ads that don’t track you are allowed through. Read more of this story at Slashdot.

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Firefox 42 Arrives With Tracking Protection, Tab Audio Indicators

Sennheiser’s Built Probably the World’s Best Headphones—But They Cost $55,000

In the ‘90s, Sennheiser asked it engineers to make the best headphones ever and the result was 300 sets of the legendary Orpheus , each pair of which sold for $16, 000. Now, Sennheiser has created an ever better-sounding successor to those luxurious cans—but they’ll set you back $55, 000. Read more…

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Sennheiser’s Built Probably the World’s Best Headphones—But They Cost $55,000

VLC’s media player app will launch on Apple TV

Plex isn’t the only one bringing a fan-favorite media app to the new Apple TV . Jean-Baptiste Kempf has quietly revealed that VLC , VideoLAN’s signature media player, will reach Apple’s latest set-top box. It’s still early, but this could open up your playback options for music and video — you may have more choices for formats and sources than you get out of the box. While you aren’t going to get total freedom (you certainly won’t be playing DVDs on an Apple TV), this beats having to rely primarily on streaming services. Filed under: Home Entertainment , Software , HD , Apple Comments Via: VentureBeat Source: Jean-Baptiste Kempf Tags: app, apple, appletv, hdpostcross, internet, streaming, videolan, vlc

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VLC’s media player app will launch on Apple TV

Pandora’s One Day Pass is 24-hours of ad-free listening for 99 cents

If you find yourself in need of 24-hour access to ad-free music streaming , Pandora now offers an option with its new One Day Pass. For 99 cents, you’ll gain access for the Pandora you know and love without all of the distracting advertisements the free tier includes. This means that for under a dollar, you can switch over to the one-day option for times ( dinner parties , etc.) when you’d rather not have tunes interrupted by the occasional marketing pitch. Pandora’s One Day Pass will be available for listeners in the US Thursday, September 10th through the streaming service’s Android and iOS apps . Filed under: Software , Mobile Comments Source: Pandora Tags: audio, internet, internetradio, mobilepostcross, music, musicstreaming, onedaypass, pandora, software

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Pandora’s One Day Pass is 24-hours of ad-free listening for 99 cents

The next Apple TV is reportedly much more expensive

Do you recall the early days of the Apple TV , when you could expect to pay over $100 to put an Apple-powered media hub in your living room? They might come roaring back. Sources for 9to5Mac claim that the next Apple TV should cost between $149 to $199 (the final price is still up in the air) when it ships, which is reportedly sometime in October. That’s still less than the original cost when it was new, but you could be in for sticker shock if you were expecting Apple to keep the price to $99 or less . It could make the Fire TV and Roku 3 look like relative bargains, depending on how attached you are to Apple’s ecosystem. Not that such a hike would be entirely surprising, mind you. Many of the rumors swirling around Apple’s next set-top suggest that it’ll be a much more powerful device with an A8 processor, more storage, Siri voice recognition, an app store and (in recent rumors) motion control . It wouldn’t so much be a sorely overdue update as a redefinition of what the Apple TV is — instead of focusing almost exclusively on streaming video, it’d be a Shield TV-like box that can handle gaming and other tasks suited to the big screen. And if that’s too rich for your blood, you may not have to worry. The insiders say that the third-generation Apple TV will stick around, and that it’ll get the company’s long-fabled streaming TV service . You’d miss out on the app store, Siri and other features that would likely require new hardware, but you wouldn’t have to scrounge for extra cash just to see how Apple tackles streaming media in the future. Filed under: Home Entertainment , HD , Apple Comments Source: 9to5Mac Tags: apple, appletv, hdpostcross, Set-topBox, streaming, television, tv

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The next Apple TV is reportedly much more expensive

Quantum VJ puts a glitchy audio visualizer around your neck

Do pendants and other wearable ornaments lack pizzazz for you? Alexander Zolotov has a way to spice things up… if you’re fond of 8-bit graphics gone haywire , at least. His Quantum VJ is small enough to hang around your neck, but clever enough to turn audio into wonderfully glitchy visuals on its 128 x 64 OLED display. As you’ll see below, the result is at once modest yet mesmerizing — plug in some tunes and you’ll have a tiny, synchronized light show several inches away from your face. It runs for 20 hours on a typical coin-sized battery, too, so it can distract passers-by all day long. This is currently a one-of-a-kind device that doesn’t even have video out, but Zolotov tells The Creators Project that future models might have output. If so, you may one day have a dance party backdrop dangling around your chest. Filed under: Misc , Wearables Comments Via: The Creators Project Source: WarmPlace.ru Tags: alexanderzolotov, audio, glitch, music, necklace, quantumvj, video, visualizer, vj, wearable

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Quantum VJ puts a glitchy audio visualizer around your neck

DJs can buy remix-friendly ‘Stems’ music files starting today

Back in March, Native Instruments — the company behind the ubiquitous Traktor DJ software — announced Stems : a music format that lets DJs and remixers to control individual parts of a track. Today Stems launches to the buying public on a number of popular music stores including Beatport and Traxsource have them listed already, Bleep, Juno, whatpeopleplay, and Wasabeat will also be selling them. For years DJs and producers’ only chance of finding a cappella versions of songs was to hope a vocal-only recording existed. The advent of the internet made finding these a little easier, but they were still rare. Expensive software can sometimes help you surgically remove parts or a track, or isolate vocals, but the results aren’t always very clean. Stems makes all that a thing of the past. The new file-format allows DJs to turn the separate parts of a track on and off at will. Importantly, Stems is open, so anyone will be able to export music as a compatible file (Native Instruments will release tools for this later in the year), and big artists and labels are already on board. A Stems file will break a song into four parts; usually drums, vocals, bass and lead, each of which can be manipulated independently with compatible hardware (Native Instruments’ Kontrol S8 , D2 , and F1 for example). Beatport, will even let you audition tracks as separate parts in the browser (as seen below). It’s unlikely most casual listeners need to worry about Stems — it’s definitely more for performers — but, if there’s a killer track, with a really annoying vocal , there might just be a workaround at last. An update for Traktor that adds Stem compatibility is available via NI Service Center today. Filed under: Misc , Home Entertainment Comments Source: Stems , Beatport

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DJs can buy remix-friendly ‘Stems’ music files starting today

Spotify’s Discover Weekly uses your habits to recommend new music

Spotify just added a load of new features with a recent update and now it’s looking to help you find new music. To do just that, a new tool called Discover Weekly builds a two-hour playlist of suggestions based on your listening habits and those of folks with similar preferences. What’s more, the collection of tunes — basically a mixtape — is refreshed every Monday so that you’re greeted with new material on the regular. In fact, my collection was updated early this morning. Spotify says the more you use it, the better it’ll get, adapting as your musical taste evolves. Soon, Discover Weekly with appear at the top of your saved playlists for easy access. And yes, you can save individual songs you like or share the whole lot with your pals. I’ve had access to the tool for a few days, and based on the first set of tracks Spotify selected, I’m cautiously optimistic. Meek Mill, Run the Jewels, Of Monsters and Men and Miguel are getting the bulk of my attention these days, so the tool built my first playlist of songs from Caribou, Modest Mouse, Action Bronson, Flying Lotus and more. Understandably, this group of initial picks is a bit of a mixed bag — similar to my tastes — but I’m looking forward to seeing how the feature changes during weeks when I lean more towards one genre. In this morning’s update, for example, I received mostly hip-hop picks as my listening last week centered around that genre during workouts. While Apple Music touts its human-curated playlists, Spotify is relying on its software here, and it seems to work just fine. You’ll be able to try it for yourself soon enough, as the curated playlist should appear across all of Spotify’s apps shortly. Filed under: Portable Audio/Video , Internet , Software Comments

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Spotify’s Discover Weekly uses your habits to recommend new music