From streaming music and audiobooks to live audio rooms and podcasts, every major player in tech is trying to own a chunk of the listening experience. Spotify is expanding beyond music streaming, YouTube is becoming an audio-only destination, and Apple Music is hoping to stand out with spatial audio while Tidal, Pandora, SoundCloud, and so many more scramble to set themselves apart.
The Pocket Scion isn’t just a rad portable synthesizer that creates soundscapes from organic matter (but it is that!) — it’s a vision of a better world, where the tech industry is a little less evil, and a lot more weird.
Sly Mr. Fox:
This is the exact kind of crazy we need more of. Less late-capitalist “AI”, more mushroom synths.
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Anker calls its Soundcore Nebula X1 Pro the “world’s first mobile theater station with 4K laser projection and 7.1.4 spatial sound.” I call it impressive.
The Dolby Atmos-certified projector on wheels creates a 7.1.4 soundscape with 7 horizontal channels, 1 subwoofer, and 4 overhead height channels with the help of these wireless speakers that detach from the unit. I already loved the mobile projector this is built around, so I can’t wait for Jen and Jess to get a listen from Anker’s booth at IFA.
As legal wrangling over generative AI and copyright continues, ElevenLabs has launched its latest AI audio product with Eleven Music. There are many AI music generators out there, but the company claims this one “is cleared for nearly all commercial uses, from film and television to podcasts and social media videos, and from advertisements to gaming.”
However, except for podcasts, most of those uses are banned for most listed service plans.
ChatAI will help other headphone brands quickly add wake words or button shortcuts to talk to an OpenAI-powered assistant.
Bragi was once one of the most exciting earbud manufacturers itself, but quit making hardware in 2019 with grand ambitions to sell audio AI instead.
Stop me if you’ve heard this one before: Google’s Pixel 10 range has leaked. This time Evan Blass did the honors, sharing images of the 10 Pro and Pro XL, the Watch 4, and our first look at the Buds 2A.
This week we’ve seen repeated leaks of the phone designs, the Watch 4’s new charger, and even an official tease, so there won’t be much left to tell when everything launches on August 20th,
Our friends over at Switched on Pop just did a fun episode about the history of the way podcasts sound. The Grateful Dead is in there, as is the infamous Breakmaster Cylinder, who wrote the theme for every podcast ever. Including ours! It’s fascinating — and a good combo listen with this Vergecast episode from last year. It also might have ruined podcast jingles for me, forever.
[Switched on Pop]
It looks nearly identical to the original, but Marshall’s new $ 329.99 Middleton II Bluetooth speaker has been upgraded with two 3-inch woofers, two 0.6-inch tweeters, and a pair of passive radiators to improve its bass performance. Battery life also gets a boost to up to 30 hours, and the speaker is still waterproof.
Marshall also improved the Middleton II’s controls with a redesigned multidirectional knob that can be used to adjust volume, control playback, and answer calls.
