Beats is expanding its lineup with two new products: the Beats Solo Buds and Beats Solo 4. The latter is the successor to the company’s most popular headphones, the Beats Solo 3.
Both offerings won’t rival Apple’s AirPods lineup, but if you frequently switch between Android and iPhone, you might like Beats’ new options.
Beats Solo Buds passively block noise
Beats Solo Buds comes in a Transparent Red color. Photo: Beats
The main highlight of the Beats Solo Buds is its long battery life, though this comes at the expense of Active Noise Cancellation (ANC). Instead, they block noise passively. Beats claims the Solo Buds feature “ergonomically designed acoustic nozzles” with vents helping relieve pressure during extended uses. The earbuds ship with four ear tips, including XS, to help you get the perfect fit.
Each earbud ships with a claimed custom-designed microphone and an advanced noise-learning algorithm for crystal-clear call quality. You can customize the ‘b’ button to control music playback, trigger your phone’s voice assistant, or control music playback. It is also possible to customize the button’s long-press action. Other features of the Solo Buds include one-touch pairing for both iOS and Android and Find My or Find My Device integration.
While the Solo Buds won’t win any awards for sound quality, it stands out with its battery life. Beats says the earbuds offer the longest battery life in its lineup, with up to 18 hours of playback. While there’s no wireless charging, the charging case supports fast wired charging over USB-C. This means a 5-minute top-up is enough to provide an additional hour of music playback.
The Beats Solo Buds will launch in black, gray, purple, and transparent red colors in June for $79.99.
Beats Solo 4
The Beats Solo 4 comes in three colors. Photo: Beats
The Beats Solo 4 arrives nearly eight years after the Solo 3 and packs some meaningful upgrades. The 217-gram heavy headphones feature UltraPlush cushions for top-notch comfort and durability. Internally, the Solo 4 features custom 40mm transducers for improved clarity and minimal distortion. You also get Personalized Spatial Audio with dynamic head tracking.
Like the Solo Buds, the Solo 4 works with Android and iOS and features Find My/Find My Device integration, one-touch pairing, and a customizable ‘b’ button. In addition to Bluetooth, the headphones have a USB-C port for lossless audio playback and charging. There’s also a 3.5mm port, which will work even when the headphones are low on battery power.
The Beats Solo 4 offers a claimed battery life of up to 5o hours. You can order the headphones starting today in the US for $199.99 in black, blue, and pink colors.
When we watched the teaser trailer for Jennifer Lopez’s new sci-fi movie Atlas, we said that it looked like a cross between Terminator and The Creator with Neon Genesis Evangelion-like mechs thrown in for good measure. And now that a longer trailer has dropped, we’re thinking much the same.
The new Netflix movie looks very entertaining, with lots of big robot suits (similar to the powered exoskeletons you see in films like Edge of Tomorrow) and explosions – always a good thing unless you’re watching a period drama. It also has a “can we trust AI?” plot, which is very timely.
In Atlas, Lopez is Atlas Shepherd, a genius data analyst who’s trying to save the human race from a rogue AI – but when she crash lands on a hostile alien planet, she finds herself having to team up with a renegade robot that she doesn’t trust in the slightest. You can watch the official trailer below.
What to expect from Atlas
It’s hard not to notice the sci-fi tropes in this new trailer, from what are (deliberate?) echoes of Sigourney Weaver’s Ripley in Alien and Aliens to some distinctly Terminator 2 scenes of AI-powered destruction. And that means our very own Tom Power’s worries appear to be valid: “I pray it isn’t another generic Netflix film offering,” he wrote, adding: “I live in hope it’ll be better than I expect.”
It certainly looks like it’ll deliver some impressive spectacle, and with director Brad Peyton (Rampage, San Andreas and of course, Cats & Dogs The Revenge) on board there’s likely to be plenty of eye candy on-screen. And there’s some impressive talent over the typewriters too, with the writing courtesy of Leo Sadarian (StartUp) and Aron Eli Coleite (Star Trek: Discovery).
I’m hoping this is going to be more than just some CGI mechs walloping each other. As The Creatoron Disney Plus and Hulu recently demonstrated, you can have thrilling action, amazing FX and still tell a compellingly human story even in the most sci-fi settings; that too wore some of its influences (notably District 9 and Avatar) on its sleeve but was very much its own movie. And let’s face it, in the canon of Jennifer Lopez movies it’s unlikely that Atlas is going to be ranked alongside Gigli. So it’s got that going for it at least.
CD Projekt Red has released a playtest version of The Witcher 3: Wild Hunt‘s official mod editor on Steam.
In November, the studio announced that its popular 2015 role-playing game would finally be getting an official mod editor for PC called REDkit that would “allow you to create your own experiences in the game by making something completely new or editing existing quests and content.”
Although a release date has yet to be revealed, it’s scheduled to arrive in 2024, but ahead of time, Steam users can now download the playtest version of REDkit today for free (via Eurogamer).
If you head over to The Witcher 3 REDkit official Steam page, you can “Request Access” and you’ll be notified via email when the developer is ready for more participants. If you gain access, the tool will appear in your Steam library, ready for download and users must also have The Witcher 3 installed for the editor to work.
With REDkit, users can customize and expand The Witcher 3 which offers “advanced features and unparalleled flexibility, enabling you to unleash your creativity by crafting new quests, characters, animations, and more.”
“Unleash your creative spirit to bring your own unique Witcher experience to life and share it with the world,” the description reads. “Whether you’re a seasoned developer or just starting out, The Witcher 3 REDkit offers exciting opportunities for creation – the only limit is your imagination.”
The developer calls the modding tool “a love letter to our community” and since it’s currently in beta, players can encounter some issues.
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Ranga Dias, the physicist at the centre of the room-temperature superconductivity scandal, committed data fabrication, falsification and plagiarism, according to a investigation commissioned by his university. Nature’s news team discovered the bombshell investigation report in court documents.
The 10-month investigation, which concluded on 8 February, was carried out by an independent group of scientists recruited by the University of Rochester in New York. They examined 16 allegations against Dias and concluded that it was more likely than not that in each case, the physicist had committed scientific misconduct. The university is now attempting to fire Dias, who is a tenure-track faculty member at Rochester, before his contract expires at the end of the 2024–25 academic year.
Superconductivity scandal: the inside story of deception in a rising star’s physics lab
The investigation report (see Supplementary information) and numerous other documents came to light as the result of a lawsuit that Dias filed against the university in December last year. Dias submitted a grievance to Rochester over its decision to remove his students last August, but the university refused to hear the grievance on the grounds that it did “not relate to academic freedom”. The physicist’s lawsuit claims that this response was unreasonable. A university spokesperson declined to comment on the specifics of ongoing litigation and personnel matters, but emphasized that Rochester is “vigorously defending its course of action”.
In March, Nature’s news team uncovered details about how Dias distorted data to make claims about room-temperature superconductivity in two now-retracted papers published in Nature1,2, and how he manipulated his students to keep them in the dark about those data. (Nature’s news and journal teams are editorially independent.) Soon after, the Wall Street Journal reported that Rochester’s investigation found evidence of misconduct.
Now, Nature’s news team can reveal the details of that investigation. Documents filed by Rochester with the Monroe County Supreme Court show that the investigation was ordered by the National Science Foundation (NSF), a major funder of US academic research that in 2021 awarded Dias a prestigious US$790,000 CAREER grant. The NSF Office of Inspector General declined to comment to Nature’s news team on the investigation’s findings or the agency’s future actions.
The 124-page investigation report is a stunning account of Dias’s deceit across the two Nature papers, as well as two other now-retracted papers — one in Chemical Communications3 and one in Physical Review Letters (PRL)4. In the two Nature papers, Dias claimed to have discovered room-temperature superconductivity — zero electrical resistance at ambient temperatures — first in a compound made of carbon, sulfur and hydrogen (CSH)1 and then in a compound eventually found to be made of lutetium and hydrogen (LuH)2.
Capping years of allegations and analyses, the report methodically documents how Dias deliberately misled his co-authors, journal editors and the scientific community. A university spokesperson described the investigation as “a fair and thorough process,” which reached the correct conclusion.
Dias did not respond to requests for comment. His lawyer referred Nature’s news team to documents filed with the lawsuit. In one of those, Dias said: “It is imperative to reassert the foundational integrity and scientific validity of our work amidst the criticisms and accusations.”
A trio of inquiries
The NSF-ordered investigation wasn’t the first time Rochester examined possible problems in Dias’s laboratory. Between 2021 and 2022, the university conducted three preliminary ‘inquiries’ into the CSH Nature paper1 — some details of which are now revealed by the investigation report. Any of the inquiries could have decided that a full misconduct investigation was warranted, but none of them did.
The first inquiry was initiated after Jorge Hirsch, a condensed-matter theorist at the University of California, San Diego, sent complaints to Rochester. The university asked three unnamed internal reviewers, and Dias contacted one external reviewer to examine Hirsch’s claims. Information in the report suggests that the external reviewer is Maddury Somayazulu, a physicist at Argonne National Laboratory in Lemont, Illinois.
Hirsch alleged that there were problems with the paper’s magnetic susceptibility data — evidence crucial to Dias’s claim that CSH is a room-temperature superconductor. The inquiry came to the conclusion on 19 January 2022 that there was “no credible evidence to warrant further investigation”.
Students on campus at the University of Rochester in New York.Credit: Libby March/Bloomberg via Getty
The second inquiry was prompted by Dirk van der Marel, editor-in-chief of Physica C, a journal for superconductivity research. Van der Marel sent Rochester his own concerns about the same CSH data on 20 January 2022 — just a day after the first inquiry ended. Another reviewer took up the case and judged no formal investigation was warranted on 6 April of that year. Their work was checked by a second reviewer, who appears to be Russell Hemley, a physicist at the University of Illinois Chicago, based on identifying information in the report. Although the reviewers did not support an investigation, they said that the paper was “verging on misleading due to omission of details”. They recommended that an erratum be applied (none was).
Rochester’s investigation notes that two reviewers — apparently Somayazulu and Hemley — have collaborated with Dias on several papers, including a study5 in 2021 about the properties of CSH. Rochester’s academic misconduct policy states that “no individual who has an unresolved personal, professional or financial conflict of interest … should participate in the proceedings” of an inquiry.
A spokesperson for Argonne denied that Somayazulu was an inquiry reviewer, but did not respond when asked why a footnote in the investigation refers to “Report of Somayazulu_Review of NSF 2020 (CSH) Paper”. Hemley did not clarify whether he was an inquiry reviewer.
Nature‘s journals team conducted its own investigation into the CSH paper using independent reviewers, two of whom found evidence that the magnetic susceptibility data were probably fabricated. When the journal indicated that it would retract the CSH paper, and in response to another complaint from Hirsch, the university conducted a third inquiry. Despite having access to Nature’s findings, the single reviewer assigned to this inquiry — the same anonymous reviewer from the second inquiry — concluded on 19 October 2022 that any oddities in the data could be attributed to how they were processed, and that no investigation was needed.
Rochester’s inquiries “should be ‘Exhibit A’ about how not to run one of these things,” says Peter Armitage, a condensed-matter experimentalist at Johns Hopkins University in Baltimore, Maryland.
Under investigation
Rochester was finally forced to launch a full investigation to determine misconduct by the NSF. In October 2022, James Hamlin, a physicist at the University of Florida in Gainesville, submitted concerns about Dias’s work to the NSF. These included “data discrepancies that cannot be attributed to data processing”, according to a 16 March 2023 letter from the NSF to Stephen Dewhurst, the then-interim vice-president for research at Rochester.
Within weeks, Dewhurst assembled a committee of three physicists external to Rochester “to ensure that this investigation would be credible”: Marius Millot and Peter Celliers, both at Lawrence Livermore National Laboratory in California; and Marcus Knudson, at Sandia National Laboratories in Albuquerque, New Mexico.
Nature retracts controversial superconductivity paper by embattled physicist
Nature’s news team asked several superconductivity researchers to review the investigation report. At first, they were concerned by the university’s choice of committee members. The three physicists are specialists in shock-wave physics, not in superconductivity. Millot and Celliers were also co-authors with Dias on a 27-author review paper published earlier this year6.
However, those doubts evaporated when the researchers read the report. “I couldn’t help but be incredibly impressed,” Armitage says. Paul Canfield, a physicist at Iowa State University in Ames, says: “There should be a good German word that’s 50 letters long and is simultaneously ‘impressive’ and ‘depressing’” to describe the report. Brad Ramshaw, a physicist at Cornell University in Ithaca, New York, concurs. “This is a great sacrifice of their time,” he says. “The whole community should be grateful that we have colleagues who are willing to go to these lengths.”
The three investigators did not respond to requests for comment.
The investigation committee secured records, including data on computer hard drives, e-mails and physical notebooks, in the course of their work. They also conducted interviews with 10 individuals connected with the case, including Dias and some of his former students, and met at least 50 times to deliberate.
‘A very disturbing picture’: another retraction imminent for controversial physicist
Notably, the investigators confirmed previous analyses by van der Marel, Hirsch, Hamlin and Ramshaw — all of whom found apparent evidence that Dias fabricated magnetic susceptibility data in the CSH paper.
The report clarifies the extent of this misconduct: first Dias fabricated CSH data and published it. Then, when its origins came under scrutiny, Dias and his collaborator and co-author Ashkan Salamat, a physicist at the University of Nevada, Las Vegas (UNLV), released a set of fabricated raw data.
Questions about discrepancies between the raw and the published data continued to mount, so Dias crafted an explanation — he claimed to have used an elaborate data-processing method for the published data. This provided “a veneer of plausibility, by focusing critics’ attention on background subtraction methods” instead of on the raw data, the investigation committee wrote.
Salamat did not respond to a request for comment.
Fact finding
At any time throughout the investigation, Dias could have dispelled many allegations if he had provided genuine raw data — data taken directly from a measuring instrument and containing details such as timestamps. “The absence of certain raw data files does not inherently indicate their non-existence or suggest any misconduct on my part,” Dias wrote in response to the investigation findings. Yet he promised to deliver raw data multiple times and never did, according to the report.
In several instances, the investigation found, Dias intentionally misled his team members and collaborators about the origins of data. Through interviews, the investigators worked out that Dias had told his partners at UNLV that measurements were taken at Rochester, but had told researchers at Rochester that they were taken at UNLV.
Dias also lied to journals. In the case of the retracted PRL paper4 — which was about the electrical properties of manganese disulfide (MnS2) — the journal conducted its own investigation and concluded that there was apparent fabrication and “a deliberate attempt to obstruct the investigation” by providing reviewers with manipulated data rather than raw data. The investigators commissioned by Rochester confirmed the journal’s findings that Dias had taken electrical resistance data on germanium tetraselenide from his own PhD thesis and passed these data off as coming from MnS2 — a completely different material with different properties (see ‘Odd similarity’). When questioned about this by the investigators, Dias sent them the same manipulated data that was sent to PRL.
Source: James Hamlin
How exactly Dias distorted data was clearest in the report’s findings about the LuH paper2. With the aid of Dias’s former students, the investigation committee pinpointed raw data on the lab’s hard drives. These data showed that Dias frequently made selective omissions to conceal “erratic drops and jumps in the resistance data, the presence of which would undermine the claim of superconducting behavior in LuH”, the investigation committee wrote.
Dias, the investigation committee found, “repeatedly lied” about data during Nature’s review of the paper after concerns came to light. But perhaps the most egregious instance of misconduct, which the report refers to as involving “profuse manipulations” of data, occurred when Dias inverted a set of LuH data so that it demonstrated the Meissner effect — a sharp change in the magnetic properties of a material that is a hallmark of superconductivity. On 27 August 2022, Sachith Dissanayake, a co-author who was then a faculty member working with Dias at Rochester, explained to Dias that the data had been improperly manipulated, but Dias ignored the warning, according to the report. In his response to the report, Dias claimed Dissanayake misunderstood the data. Dissanayake did not respond to a request for comment.
These manipulated data were key to the LuH paper’s acceptance. And the investigation committee concluded that Dias fabricated data “to convince Nature editors and pre-publication referees that LuH exhibits superconductivity at room temperature”.
Previous stories in Physics Magazine and Science reported allegations of serial plagiarism by Dias, including that he copied more than 20% of his 2013 thesis from other sources. The Rochester investigators uncovered another, more recent instance: on 30 July 2020, researchers, including Dias’s colleagues at Rochester, submitted a scientific manuscript7 to the preprint server arXiv. Twelve days later, Dias submitted an NSF grant proposal that included paragraphs copied from that manuscript, as well as two identical figures. That proposal later won Dias the CAREER grant from the agency. In his response to the investigation, Dias admits to “instances where references are inadvertently missed”.
Closing arguments
The investigation committee sent Dias a draft copy of its report on 22 December last year. In a two-part response totalling hundreds of pages, which was revealed in the lawsuit, Dias attacks the expertise and integrity of the investigators. The physicist asserts that the investigators’ approach displays “traits that could sometimes be seen in the realm of conspiracy theories” and that it is “lacking a robust logical foundation”. Dias also claims that Salamat convinced Dias’s former students to oppose him when they sent a letter to Nature asking to retract the LuH paper. The opposite is true: Nature’s news team previously reported that it was the students who initiated the letter.
Why superconductor research is in a ‘golden age’ — despite controversy
Nowhere in the response does Dias provide the raw data requested by the committee. In their final report, the investigators respond to Dias’s accusations, saying that the “invocation of baroque explanations to interpret, and therefore justify, the omission of these data does not alter the Investigation Committee’s reasoning or findings”.
Ultimately, the committee found that the Rochester students and Dissanayake were not culpable, but victims. The committee did not have access to resources at UNLV to clear those researchers, including Salamat, from blame, but it concluded that those parties too were deceived, and did not find “substantial evidence of wrongdoing”.
As a result, the investigators recommended that Dias should not be permitted to teach or to carry out public or privately funded research. They added: “Evidence uncovered in this investigation shows that [Dias] cannot be trusted”.
DJI has released a teaser for a launch event on April 11
The teaser shows an FPV drone that looks a lot like the leaker DJI Avata 2
The Avata 2 is expected to be launched alongside a new DJI Goggles 3 headset
Just a week after a wave of leaks revealed hands-on videos and retail packaging for a new DJI Avata 2 drone, the drone giant has all but confirmed that the FPV (first-person view) flying machine will be launching on April 11.
A new ‘Ready to Roll’ teaser (below) posted on DJI’s social media and website shows that it’ll be launching a new drone on April 11 at 9am EDT / 2pm BST (or midnight AEST on April 12).
While DJI doesn’t name the incoming drone as the Avata 2, its teaser’s graphic does show one that looks identical to the Avata 2 leaks we’ve seen in recent days. So barring a truly strange turn of events, we’ll see its follow-up to the DJI Avata in just under ten days.
Ready To RollApril 11, 2024 | 9 AM (EDT)Learn more 👉 https://t.co/lCfoVrRSQC pic.twitter.com/ceR8TvoqTLApril 2, 2024
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FPV drones differ from traditional drones like the DJI Mini 4 Pro (which currently tops our guide to the best drones) by connecting to a headset, which gives the pilot a live view from the drone itself. This means you get an incredible flying experience and also much finer control of your drone’s movements, which helps create impressive videos like this Red Bull’s FPV drone vs a Formula One car video.
No one is expecting the DJI Avata 2 to be as speedy as the 350kph (217mph) drone in that video (the original Avata topped out at 97kph [60mph] in manual mode), but it should be a better option for beginners looking to get a taste of FPV flying than its predecessor, which landed in August 2022.
The image in DJI’s teasers suggests a more streamlined design, while the latest rumors are pointing towards better image quality thanks to a larger 1/1.3-inch CMOS sensor. One detail we won’t likely get until the full announcement is the DJI Avata 2’s price, but hopefully it won’t differ too much from the original model which cost £499 / $629 / AU$799 (without accessories) or $1,388 / £1,229 with the DJI Goggles 2.
DJI Avata 2: what to expect
DJI’s Avata series aren’t pro-level FPV drones like the speedy ones used in the Red Bull video above, but the original was a solid introduction to the genre – and its sequel should round off some of its rough edges.
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Our DJI Avata review praised the drone’s image quality, robust design, and Goggles headset, but criticized annoyances like the placement of its microSD card slot (inside one of the blade rings) and its relatively steep learning curve.
While it still looks like DJI will only be bundling the Avata 2 with its Motion Controller – which means buying the incoming FPV Controller 3 separately to fly in ‘acro’ mode – the drone should be easier to fly, thanks to some rear sensors seen in leaks from the likes of Quadro_News.
Other leaks suggest image quality should get a boost from the new 1/1.3-inch CMOS sensor, which will apparently shoot 4K video and 48MP photos, and your footage will also apparently benefit from new stabilization tech like RockSteady 3.0+ and HorizonSteady.
Further leaked leaked images of the Fly More Combo’s retail packaging suggest the Avata 2 will also be quieter in flight than its noisy predecessor. And we’re particularly interested to see what DJI does with its new Goggles 3 headset, which appears to have two cameras on the front.
Could this mean augmented reality powers for the Avata 2? We don’t know for sure yet, but we’ll find out for sure on April 11.
For some time now, rumors about Samsung re-releasing the Galaxy Tab S6 Lite a second time have been floating around. It sounded unexpected, but it turned out it was all correct. Samsung kicked off the week with a surprise launch of the Galaxy Tab S6 Lite (2024) tablet in Europe.
The re-refreshed Galaxy Tab S6 Lite (2024) tablet popped up on the official Samsung online store in Romania today. It’s not yet available for purchase, so there are no pricing details. However, the tablet and all its specifications are now confirmed.
In the marketing material, the Galaxy Tab S6 Lite (2024) is showcased in two familiar-looking colors, Chiffon Pink and Oxford Gray, and one new Mint option. However, only the Gray and Mint options are selectable at the online shop in Romania
Spec-wise, the tablet features 64GB or 128GB of storage, 4GB of RAM, and a newer chipset that’s actually been around for some time.
Same old tablet with a newer chip
Samsung’s official store page for the refreshed Galaxy Tab S6 Lite (2024) doesn’t specify exactly which chip the “new” tablet has, but the 2.4GHz and 2.0GHz frequencies reconfirm we’re looking at an Exynos 1280 SoC. It’s not exactly new, but it is newer than the original Exynos 9611 used by the 2020 Tab S6 Lite version or the 2022 model’s Snapdragon 720G/732G.
Aside from the new chip, nothing else appears to have changed about the re-refreshed Galaxy Tab S6 Lite (2024). It has a 10.4-inch TFT display with a resolution of 2000 x 1200, an 8MP primary camera, a 5MP selfie camera, and a microSD card slot. It even has a 3.5mm headphone port, which is seldom seen on mobile devices nowadays.
Another benefit of the newer chip is that the refreshed 2024 tablet model has improved connectivity, including Bluetooth 5.3 instead of 5.0. However, it has LTE connectivity and doesn’t boast any 5G capabilities.
The battery has the same 7,040mAh capacity as before, and the tablet ships with an S Pen included in the box. Furthermore, the 2024 Galaxy Tab S6 Lite ships with the latest One UI 6.1 version from Samsung, but there’s no mention of any Galaxy AI features. The Exynos 1280 SoC is probably not powerful enough to handle Samsung’s Advanced Intelligence.
Speaking of the Exynos 1280, it’s worth noting that it’s almost as old as the original Galaxy Tab S6 Lite refresh released in 2022. The chip debuted in March 2022, and the most recent device that uses it, apart from this tablet refresh, is the Galaxy A25.
The Nothing Phone (2a) emerges as a remarkable advancement in the realm of smartphones, meticulously crafted to meet the demands of the modern user by merging innovation with practical utility. This device is not merely a successor to its predecessor but a leap forward, setting new benchmarks in technology, design, and user experience.
Processor Excellence
At the heart of the Nothing Phone (2a) lies the Dimensity 7200 Pro processor, a result of a collaborative effort with MediaTek. This processor is built using TSMC’s advanced 4nm process technology, which is a testament to the strides being made in chip manufacturing, prioritizing power efficiency alongside performance. The octa-core processor, clocking up to 2.8 GHz, coupled with a mammoth 20 GB of RAM that employs RAM Booster technology, indicates a significant performance uptick—13% over its predecessor, with 16% enhanced efficiency. This improvement is not just a numerical upgrade but a tangible enhancement that users will experience in everyday tasks and intensive applications alike.
Battery Life and Charging
The battery and charging capabilities of the Phone (2a) are noteworthy, boasting a 5,000 mAh battery. This capacity is designed to extend device usability to up to two days, addressing one of the most common pain points for smartphone users—battery life. Furthermore, the battery’s longevity and sustainability are highlighted by its ability to retain over 90% of its capacity after 1,000 charging cycles. The 45W Fast Charging feature, which can deliver a 50% charge in just 20 minutes, is a critical aspect of user convenience, significantly reducing downtime.
Camera Capabilities
Photography on the Nothing Phone (2a) is powered by dual 50 MP rear cameras, enhanced by the TrueLens Engine for capturing life-like images. The integration of Ultra XDR improves highlight and shadow accuracy, demonstrating a commitment to high-fidelity photography. Moreover, the capability to capture eight frames at different exposures in RAW format for every shot ensures that users can achieve the perfect image in post-processing. The 32 MP front camera’s 27% improvement in light sensitivity over its predecessor underscores the emphasis on quality across all camera functions.
Display and Design
The device features a 6.7″ flexible AMOLED screen, showcasing 1.07 billion colors and achieving a peak brightness of 1,300 nits. This display, supporting a dynamic refresh rate from 30 Hz to 120 Hz, embodies a balance between visual quality and battery efficiency. The minimal 2.1 mm bezels contribute to a 91.65% screen-to-body ratio, encapsulating the essence of modern smartphone design. Moreover, the unique design aspects, such as the 90° angle unibody cover and innovative camera placement, not only create a new visual icon but also contribute to the device’s durability.
Software and Unique Features
Running on Nothing OS 2.5 with Android 14, the Phone (2a) guarantees three years of software updates and four years of security patches. This commitment to longevity and security is vital in today’s rapidly evolving digital landscape. Unique features like the new Recorder widget and AI-powered Wallpaper Studio enhance the user experience by offering personalization and efficiency.
The Glyph Interface is a standout feature, offering intuitive interactions through light and sound patterns. This not only enhances the functionality of the phone but also adds an aesthetic dimension that distinguishes it from other devices on the market.
You can find out more details about the new Nothing Phone 2a smartphone over at the Nothing website at the link below, the handset starts at £319 in the UK.
Source Nothing
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If you would like to learn more about using and troubleshooting the Raspberry Pi mini PC you’ll be pleased to know that the latest and official Raspberry Pi magazine MagPi issue 139. Features a full Raspberry Pi troubleshooting guide allowing you to sort out most problems that you will come across when setting up the nifty little computer that fits in the palm of your hand.
Maybe it’s a glitch with the new Raspberry Pi 5 or you’re just looking for some fresh ideas to spark your next project. Well, there’s good news for you. The latest issue of MagPi, issue 139, is like a Swiss Army knife for Raspberry Pi enthusiasts—it’s got everything you need to troubleshoot problems, get inspired by community projects, and supercharge your device with the latest storage tech.
If you’ve ever found yourself scratching your head over a stubborn Raspberry Pi 5 problem, you’re not alone. But with MagPi issue 139, you’ll have a trusty guide at your side. It’s got a section dedicated to solving those pesky issues that can pop up. We’re talking about power supply hiccups, HDMI headaches, networking nuisances, and GPIO gremlins. The instructions are clear and straightforward, so you can fix the issue and dive back into your projects without missing a beat.
Raspberry Pi Troubleshooting Guide
Now, let’s talk about the MonthOfMaking 2024. It’s an event that brings together Raspberry Pi fans from all over the globe. In this issue, you’ll get a glimpse into some of the coolest projects out there. Picture an interactive climbing wall that makes exercise feel like a game, or a digital Flux Capacitor that’ll make any ‘Back to the Future’ fan’s heart skip a beat. These aren’t just fun and games; they’re a source of inspiration and a chance to learn from fellow makers, no matter your experience level.
But wait, there’s more. Have you ever wished your Raspberry Pi could handle more data at lightning speeds? The answer lies in M.2 SSD drives. MagPi issue 139 walks you through how to give your Raspberry Pi 5 a serious boost with NVMe Base interface storage solutions. This isn’t just a minor upgrade; it’s a major leap forward that can help your Raspberry Pi keep up with more demanding tasks.
The creativity doesn’t stop there. This issue also features projects that will make you see your Raspberry Pi in a whole new light. Imagine turning a giant SNES controller into a playable console or giving an old Sonos speaker a new lease on life as a smart radio. These aren’t just projects; they’re adventures that show off the Raspberry Pi’s incredible flexibility and potential to turn the ordinary into the extraordinary.
So, whether you’re a seasoned pro or just starting out, MagPi issue 139 is your go-to resource. It’s packed with knowledge to help you troubleshoot, it connects you with a community brimming with creativity, and it guides you through upgrades that will take your Raspberry Pi to the next level. Get ready to join the MonthOfMaking 2024 and be part of a community that’s all about technical skill and creative solutions. Grab your copy, and let’s make something amazing. Here are some other articles you may find of interest on the subject of new Raspberry Pi 5 mini PC :
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Meizu has launched its latest smartphone, the Meizu P21 Pro and the handset comes with a .79” LTPO AMOLED display, boasting a resolution of 1,368 x 3,192 pixels. This marks a transition to a more cinematic 21:9 aspect ratio, providing users with an expansive and immersive viewing experience. The display’s peak brightness reaches 1,250 nits, ensuring clarity and visibility even in brightly lit environments. One of the most noteworthy advancements is incorporating LTPO technology, which enables a dynamic refresh rate adjustment from 1 to 120Hz. This enhances the visual experience during various content consumptions, such as smoother scrolling and more responsive gaming but also optimizes power consumption, contributing to longer battery life.
Under the hood, the Meizu 21 Pro is powered by the cutting-edge Snapdragon 8 Gen 3 chipset, representing the pinnacle of mobile processing power. This processor ensures that the Meizu 21 Pro delivers top-tier performance across all applications, from demanding games to multitasking between complex apps. It comes standard with 12GB of RAM, with an option to upgrade to 16GB, catering to power users seeking extra memory headroom. Storage options are generous, ranging from 256GB to a whopping 1TB, providing ample space for apps, media, and documents without the need for constant management.
The camera setup on the Meizu 21 Pro is a comprehensive suite designed for versatility and quality. The rear camera array features a 50MP main sensor, complemented by a 72mm 10MP telephoto lens capable of 3x optical zoom and up to 30x digital zoom, and a 13MP ultra-wide lens with a 122° field of view. This combination allows for a wide range of photography, from detailed portraits to expansive landscapes. A Time-of-Flight (ToF) sensor enhances autofocus capabilities, making capturing sharp images quicker and more reliable. Notably, the main camera supports 8K video recording, along with Optical Image Stabilization (OIS) and Electronic Image Stabilization (EIS), providing smooth and high-quality video capture. The front camera maintains a high standard with a 32MP sensor, ensuring detailed and vibrant selfies.
The Meizu 21 Pro houses a substantial 5,050mAh battery, an upgrade that promises extended usage times, catering to the demands of modern smartphone users. Charging capabilities have also seen an improvement, with the device supporting 80W wired and 50W wireless charging. This means users can expect rapid charging times, minimizing downtime and enhancing convenience.
Pricing for the handset in China will start at CNY 5,000 which is about $700 at the current exchange rate, you can find out more details about the device over at the Meizu website at the link below.
Source Meizu, GSM Arena
Filed Under: Android News, Mobile Phone News
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Maserati has officially pulled the veil off its latest masterpiece, the GranCabrio, and it’s a sight to behold. As the open-top sibling of the acclaimed GranTurismo coupe, the GranCabrio is designed with the driving enthusiast in mind, offering an unmatched blend of comfort and style. If you’re passionate about hitting the open road with the wind in your hair, you’ll be pleased to know that the GranCabrio is here to elevate that experience to new heights.
At the heart of the GranCabrio is the Trofeo trim, powered by the 6-cylinder Nettuno engine, a marvel of engineering that delivers an impressive 542 hp. This powerhouse places the GranCabrio at the pinnacle of Maserati’s performance range. But it’s not just about raw power; this car is a testament to Maserati’s commitment to combining high performance with luxurious comfort and the pure joy of open-air driving, making it the perfect companion for long-distance adventures.
Crafted entirely in Italy, the GranCabrio embodies the essence of luxury, performance, driving comfort, and sportiness, all without compromise. Its fabric roof, which can be neatly tucked away into the trunk in just 14 seconds even at speeds of up to 50 km/h, ensures that there’s ample space for four passengers to enjoy the journey in style.
The GranCabrio’s design and engine sound are meticulously tuned to enhance the open-top driving experience, a tradition that Maserati has been perfecting since the debut of the 3500 GT convertible in 1959. This latest model continues the brand’s legacy of luxury and style, aiming to deliver an immersive driving experience that harmonizes with the landscape and the spirit of travel.
For those who appreciate attention to detail, the GranCabrio does not disappoint. It boasts an array of exclusive design elements and cutting-edge technology, including state-of-the-art infotainment and driver assistance systems, ensuring both safety and entertainment on the go. Comfort is paramount, with features like a soft top available in five colors, controlled via a touch button for easy operation. Additional amenities include a neck warmer for chilly open-air drives and an optional wind stopper that reduces turbulence and enhances aerodynamics.
The Maserati GranCabrio represents the perfect blend of efficiency, beauty, traditional Maserati elegance, and modern technology. The interior showcases the pinnacle of Italian craftsmanship and luxury, inviting passengers to indulge in an unparalleled driving experience.
Whether you’re a long-time Maserati enthusiast or simply someone who appreciates the finer things in life, the GranCabrio is designed to impress. Its combination of performance, comfort, and style makes it a standout in the luxury convertible market, promising an unforgettable driving experience that’s both exhilarating and refined.
Source Maserati
Filed Under: Auto News
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