DJI’s pocketable microphone system is tailored for content creators on the move
DJI is renowned for its drone products with a successful foray into action cameras and gimbal cams too. Now Chinese technology company wants to try its hand at audio tech too with debut of the first dedicated audio recording gear. Taking a leaf out of Apple’s success handbook, the DJI Mic is looking to attract vlogging, podcast, and content creation individuals. The Apple association comes to my mind from the wireless charging case the microphone system comes in which is similar to the AirPods or other wireless earbuds on the market.
Although the size comparison is unjust, this is a good start for such a product given the need for content creators to formulate professional omnidirectional audio sans all the clutter. The bulky case (compared to the standard earbuds case) holds two wireless microphones (clip-on mics) which pair with a universal receiver for easy handling. Two mics because you’ll come across situations where one mic will not be enough, for example, while recording one-on-one interviews.
Connectivity to this useful gadget is going to be important, hence, it is compatible with USB-C, Lighting, or the trusted 3.5mm jack. Each one of the wireless mics weighing 30 grams has a battery life of 5.5 hours which can be further extended to a total of 25 hours which is quite impressive. The red cherry on top is the 8GB of built-in storage in each of the clip-on mics which equates to almost 14 hours of recording done at 24-bit/48 kHz quality. The microphones come with a range of 250 meters in direct line of sight, so vlogging is going to be rather fun with the DJI Mic.
Options with the pocketable microphone system include audio adjustments from -12dB to +12dB and variable gain control and input/output sensitivity toggle. There’re included two furry windscreens to eliminate noise as the audio needs to be crystal clear even on a blustery day. The niche gadget is compatible with DJI OM 5 and Action 2 cam which is understandable. Both the receiver and the two mics are auto paired by default, and when placed back in the case they’ll reconnect.
This interesting audio recording system can be bought right away for a price tag of $329, and is majorly targeted toward professional content creators who will take the convenience of compact recording equipment without a doubt. The long-distance range of the DJI Mic is one advantage that’ll make it an irresistible prospect indeed.
Samsung’s next flagship could come with a MediaTek chip
Samsung has launched its flagship smartphones with Qualcomm’s Snapdragon and its own Exynos chips until now, but a new media report claims the Korean conglomerate is considering using MediaTek’s chipsets for its upcoming flagships, meaning we could see the Galaxy S23 have a MediaTek SoC at the helm.
Samsung Galaxy S22
However, the source says that not all the Galaxy S23 units will have a MediaTek SoC under the hood. These will be used by Samsung only on the Asian models. The report further claims that about half of the Galaxy S22 Fan Edition (FE) units will also be powered by the Taiwanese company’s chips.
It’s not clear at this time which MediaTek chips Samsung will be using for these phones, however it is worth noting that Samsung previously used MediaTek chipsets in its lower-end smartphones.
Samsung has released the Android 12-based One UI 4. 1 update for the Galaxy Tab Active3 announced in September 2020 with Android 10 and One UI 2.5. It comes with a refreshed UI, new features, and March 2022 Android security patch.
The new firmware has version T575XXU3CVD1 and is seeding in Switzerland, but it shouldn’t be too long before the rollout expands to other countries.
If you live in Switzerland and haven’t received the Android 12 update on your Samsung Galaxy Tab Active3 yet, you can navigate to its Settings > Software update menu to check for it manually.
Olive Max is like the AirPods Pro for the hearing-impaired, with a truly wireless design and enhanced listening
Expanding its range to now include the Olive Max, Nevada-based Olive Union is quickly becoming the Apple of hearing-disabled-specific tech. Designers often forget that not everyone is interested in owning the product. Take for instance the Apple Watch. The wearable debuted in 2015 and over the years evolved into an Apple-made smartwatch that could track your heartbeat, sleep, exercise, fitness, heart rhythm, steps, and a variety of body metrics. However, the ability to track one’s period (a pretty useful application for Apple’s female audience) wasn’t introduced until 2019, likely because it didn’t occur to Apple that the smartwatch could serve this purpose. The same goes for the AirPods. The AirPods have as many microphones and as advanced processing power as Apple. They can analyze real-world sounds, calculate noise cancellation algorithms and even function as hearing aids. But it’s unlikely that this was ever thought of by Apple’s marketing or design team. Luckily, in a meeting room somewhere on the other side of the planet in Tokyo, the idea came to Owen Song, founder of Olive Union.
The Olive Max are an inclusive pair of TWS earbuds designed to suit people who have normal to severe hearing loss. For starters, the Olive Max come with a major boost in their volume capabilities, with now the ability to be 150% more loud, so people with hearing loss can easily listen to audio. Simultaneously, the Olive Max’s noise reduction algorithm comes with its own improvements, bringing stray noise down by 13 decibels, so you can focus on just the right sounds without any of that annoying background noise.
150% volume up from Olive Pro. Much louder and clearer than ever before.
The Olive Max can be used as both hearing aids and audio playback devices. It is compatible with any smartphone. The Olive Max pairs with your phone using the Olive app, guiding you through a short, 5-minute hearing test. During this time each individual earpiece gets calibrated to suit your hearing (some people with hearing loss in only one ear can easily make one earpiece louder than the other to compensate). Once you’re done calibrating the Olive Max, they’re intuitive and easy to use, whether you’re listening to music, conversations, the world around you, or all of them combined! You can control music playback and adjust volume for external noises, voices and music. The app also allows you to configure noise cancellation according to your preferences.
While the Olive Max gives you advanced control over what you hear, its standout feature is what the company calls ‘Adaptive Hearing’. Olive Max can now automatically adjust the noise level based on where you are. These earphones can capture outside sound with their microphones, and will identify various noises depending on where you are, whether it’s at home or in noisy restaurants, the office, on the street, etc. The earphones then analyse the sound and determine which sounds are important and external chatter. They isolate/amplify important noises and muffle/attenuate unimportant ones.
The Olive Max is able to detect the differences between you and your colleagues while you are presenting. It can also adjust the focus of the Olive Max’s microphones so that they either drown out the noises or concentrate on what the people talking about. The earphones are exceptionally good at picking up on human voices, and whether you’re listening to someone talk to you in person, or your podcast host talk to you from across the internet, the Olive Max’s audio drivers help deliver crisp, clear vocal audio. The Olive Max, like all TWS earbuds, allows you to make phone calls and perform voice searches.
The Olive Max, which is third in Olive Union’s ‘hearables’ catalog after the Olive and Olive Pro. Designed to be powerful hearing-assisting devices in the avatar of incredibly sexy wearables, the Olive Max cleverly turn a ‘medical aid’ into a fashion-forward product that people will love to wear and perhaps even flaunt. The Olive Pro last year was subtly designed to look like the AirPods Pro. This year’s Olive Max is larger and has a bigger battery. It also comes with ear hooks, which provide a snug fit. Earpieces are also fitted with silicone tips, which allow the Olive Max to be worn in any active environment. This makes it the most sport-friendly and modern-looking smart hearing aid.
While their internal tech is pretty impressive, I can’t help but keep going back to their design, which shines across as a beacon for inclusivity. Pop the Olive Max on and there’s absolutely no way you’ll know that they’re hearing aids. They are truly hearing aids, and it would be too restrictive to call them that. The Olive Max’s cost is a further proof of this inclusive attitude. Unlike hearing aids that can easily go into thousands of dollars, the Olive Max are priced like your average pair of TWS earbuds, with a 45% discounted tag of $299 USD. The Olive Max is currently crowdfunding on Indiegogo, and the company hopes to have production begin soon after, with worldwide deliveries in November 2022.
Back in October, Apple made its new AirPods 3 official, following many months of leaks, rumors, and speculation. These being the newest in a line that started with the original AirPods, the first mainstream true wireless earbuds, you’d think that they’d be incredibly successful, sales-wise – but apparently not.
According to famed analyst and connoisseur of all things Apple Ming-Chi Kuo, the AirPods 3 are part of a “failed product segmentation strategy” for Apple. Demand for them is allegedly “much weaker” than it is for the AirPods 2, and as such, Apple is said to have cut orders of AirPods 3 from its suppliers by over 30% for the second and third quarters of this year (April to September time frame).
Apparently Apple may discontinue the original AirPods Pro immediately after the AirPods Pro 2 are going to be launched (sometime in the second half of this year), in order to avoid “repeating the same mistake”.
The AirPods 2 have remained on sale after the AirPods 3 launched, and are still available to this day. Unsurprisingly, they’re also cheaper, by $50 – $129 compared to $179. This leaves the AirPods 3 in a weird middle ground between the AirPods 2 and the AirPods Pro – sure, the Pros are even more expensive, but at least they offer an in-ear fit and active noise cancelation.
So we’re willing to speculate that those who want the ultimate Apple earbuds go for the Pros, while those who want a cheap pair of Apple earbuds pick the AirPods 2. Can you see the problem?
Apple’s WWDC will take place from June 6 to June 10
Apple just sent invites to its forthcoming WorldWide Developer Conference, also known as WWDC. This is an annual event generally taking place in June, and while it is developer focused, it’s interesting for consumers too, as it is where new iOS versions get unveiled.
This year’s WWDC will take place from June 6 to June 10. All developers are welcome to the conference, which will again be held online. Expect to hear details about new versions of iOS, iPadOS, macOS, watchOS, and tvOS.
Apple boasts that its developer community is now 30 million strong. In addition to the online conference, Apple will host a special day for developers and students at Apple Park on June 6 where they will be able to watch the keynote and State of the Union videos together, along with the online community. There’s also a Swift Challenge to partake in if you’re a student – you’re invited to create a Swift Playgrounds app project on a topic of your choice and submit it by April 25. All the details are to be found at the Source linked below.
The Samsung Galaxy Z Fold4 might get a 3x telephoto camera
Samsung is working on several improvements for the Galaxy Z Fol4, if rumors are to be believed. This includes improved cameras to bring the phone a little closer to the S22 models.
The phone will adapt a 10 MP telephoto camera with 3x optical magnification, reports GalaxyClub. Presumably, this is the same 3x camera that all three Galaxy S22 models have. It will replace the current 12 MP 2x camera on the Z Fold3.
There may be another change on the cards – a 10 MP selfie camera. Unfortunately, the leak doesn’t make it clear if that is for the selfie camera on the cover display (which already has a 10 MP sensor) or if it’s for the under display camera inside.
The Z Fold3 UDC camera has only 4 MP resolution, which produced okay-ish results, though they still left a lot to be desired considering the price of the foldable flagship. Under display camera technology is still very young.
Camera setups: Samsung Galaxy S22 * Galaxy Z Fold3
Despite the fact that the UDC camera isn’t getting a lot of improvement, it will have better photos on the cover and better pictures if you take selfies with the main camera.
Speaking of the main cameras, we haven’t heard much about the wide and ultra wide modules, so we don’t know whether the Galaxy Z Fold4 will use the 50 MP main camera from the S22 and S22+ or not, for example. The new foldable flagship should be unveiled soon (the Z Fold3 and Z Flip3 launched in August of last year), so we should get a better picture soon.
Samsung has announced a partnership with ABB, the industrial technology giant. This will allow SmartThings to be integrated with ABB’s free@home solution.
This means that people and businesses will be able to control the multitude of smart home devices from ABB’s automation fleet with Samsung phones.
ABB makes all sorts of hardware from solar panels, automated locks, refrigerators, washers, dryers, lights, cameras and security devices to heating equipment and remote control blinds.
SmartThings features a neat device control tab that’s easily accessible from your Samsung phone’s drop-down shade.
ABB smart home solutions work already with Amazon Alexa and Google Assistant. Adding SmartThings support will likely open the door to Bixby control as well.
OnePlus is expected to launch a smartphone called Nord CE 2 Lite – a device that previously leaked with Snapdragon 695 chipset and 5G support. Now a tispter has shared an image of the phone along with an extended list of its specs.
According to the source, the phone will not have an alert slider, similar to its bigger sibling Nord CE 2. The fingerprint will be sitting on the side on top of the power key, and the 6. 58″ LCD will have 120Hz refresh rate.
The rest of the specs mentioned are corroborating previous leaks – a 64MP main camera, coupled with two 2MP shooters, and a sole 16MP sensor for selfies. The user interface will be OxygenOS 11, based on Android 11, and the source claims the battery will be 5,000 mAh, although we saw reports about a 4,500 mAh cell.
This at-home sanitation device disinfects your dishes using ultraviolet rays
The Desktop Disinfection Cupboard is a minimalist at-home sanitation micro solution for disinfecting kitchen dishware and utensils.
Sanitizing our household items has become a top priority since the pandemic sent us deeper into our home spaces. Sometimes it feels like our shelves can never be stocked enough with Lysol wipes and disinfectants. In addition, there have been many new sanitation products in the last few years to ease any anxieties.
Designer: Wenhua Xu (Xu Wen Hua ) & Top Design (Tuo Di She Ji )
Ushering in a new wave of household cleaning routines, designers have created their at-home solutions to make them feel a bit more manageable. A new disinfection cabinet designed to clean dishware is now available from industrial designer Wenhua Xu. It can be mounted on a utility shelf or kitchen counter and fits perfectly in the space of a desktop.
Wenhua Xu’s desktop disinfection cupboard appears to be about the same size as a toaster oven, equipped with enough space to store some plates, a couple of bowls, and an accessory dish. The device maintains an inviting look with rounded corners and a convex glass covering. The slight incline of the control panel also enhances the device’s usability, allowing users to access the device’s control buttons without having to bend down or look for the panel.
The control panel reveals the device’s array of features, which include hot drying and ultraviolet disinfection functions. Outfitted with 6 UVC dual-modules, the desktop disinfection cupboard is small but mighty. The desktop disinfection cupboard is small but powerful. Wenhua says that it has both a hot air drying and UV disinfection function. It also features an inclined control panel, which makes it easy to use.
The device is also made from stainless steel to be able to refract ultraviolet rays to all corners of the internal space. Wenhua also goes on to describe the device’s minimalist appeal, “the appearance is simple and can be well integrated into various furniture environments.”
The device’s control panel is designed to be intuitive and easy to use.
A concealed drawer is integrated into the device’s side for users to access at any time.
The convex glass covering retracts behind the dishrack to provide full access to the dishes and utensils.
