Best noise-cancelling headphones When it comes to noise-cancelling headphones, there are two types to look out for: active and passive. Passive means that when the headphones are pressed against your head, some sound is cut out in the process of closing your ears off to the world outside. It’s not high-tech. Lots of headphones claim that this is some sort of advanced technique, but it’s nothing more than a few
New rumours have emerged about the anticipated Apple Watch 2, with several sources hinting at a number of new features – the most interesting being that the watch won’t need an iPhone to work. Apparently Apple has a “tether-less” initiative which will allow the second generation Apple Watch to work better when not connected to an iPhone. The current Apple Watch allows its wearers some limited functionality when not connected
Last year, Sony announced that it would phase out repairs for its robotic ‘Aibo’ dogs that were introduced in 1999. Now, owners are facing up to the fact that their robo-canine companions won’t live forever. The New York Times has published a video where several Aibo owners are interviewed and asked about how they feel about the decision. You might want to have some tissues handy, it’s a bit of
At the Paris Air Show, airline seat manufacturer Thales has been showing off a prototype for a business class seat that knows when its occupant falls asleep. The design uses iris-tracking technology to detect whether your eyes are open or closed, or just if you’re looking away from the screen for a moment. That means that your in-flight entertainment system could pause your movie or turn the screen off if
HP has refreshed its mainstream, aspirational Envy range with a sleeker design and metal surfaces, not unlike its flagship Spectre X360, while managing keep the prices fairly reasonable. AMD’s A10 sixth generation APUs will be used for the cheaper models (which start at £500, about $750, AU$1000) with Intel procuring fifth generation Core i5 and Core i7 for the more expensive models. Customers will be able to choose between the
By Julia Love San Francisco (Reuters) – Nearly 20 percent of Apple Watch buyers are not only shelling out hundreds of dollars for the timepiece but are springing for a spare band too, giving the tech giant a profitable second dip into customers’ wallets, according to data provided exclusively to Reuters. The data from Slice Intelligence, a research firm that mines e-mail receipts, offers a rare window into the money-making
China’s Ant Financial Services Group, e-commerce giant Alibaba Group Holding Ltd’s internet finance affiliate, closed a private placement valuing the unit at about $45 billion, a person familiar with the matter said Thursday. Ant Financial sold stakes to external investors, including China Development Bank Capital Co and a holding company affiliated with David Yu, the co-founder of Alibaba Executive Chairman Jack Ma’s private equity firm Yunfeng Capital, the person said,
Nokia, once the world’s biggest maker of mobile phones, plans to start designing and licensing handsets again once an agreement with partner Microsoft allows it to in 2016, its chief executive told Germany’s Manager Magazin. “We will look for suitable partners,” Rajeev Suri said in an interview published on Thursday. “Microsoft makes mobile phones.
A driver for Uber is an employee, not a contractor, according to a California ruling that eventually could push up costs for the smartphone-based ride hailing service and hurt the closely watched start-up’s valuation. The California Labor Commission’s decision could ripple through the burgeoning industry of providing services via smartphones, with potential implications for other “crowdsourced” services such as Uber rival Lyft, chore service TaskRabbit, and cleaning service Homejoy. The
TOKYO (Reuters) – Japan’s SoftBank Corp said on Thursday that it was setting up a joint venture with Alibaba and Foxconn Technology to sell its human-like robot Pepper to consumers around the world. The robots – which the mobile phone and Internet conglomerate envisions serving as baby-sitters, medical workers or even party companions – are already being used at stores including SoftBank’s own mobile phone shops, but the companies said
