Report: Microsoft is jumping onto the wireless earbud bandwagon

It appears that a trend is developing.

Microsoft's Surface Headphones. Its on-device dial controls are great. Battery life and noise-cancelling, not so much, for the price.

Enlarge / Microsoft's Surface Headphones. Its on-device dial controls are great. Battery life and noise-cancelling, not so much, for the price. (credit: Jeff Dunn)

It appears that Microsoft is going to expand its range of audio hardware. Last year the company released the Surface Headphones, a pair of premium-priced wireless noise-cancelling headphones with integrated microphones. They will be joined by a set of wireless earbuds, according to a report by Brad Sams at Thurrott.com.

Apple's AirPods have made wireless earbuds the must-have accessory. Amazon is expected to release its own Alexa-connected earbuds, and Samsung has its own Galaxy-branded earbuds. Distinguishing them from traditional earbuds, these all contain microphones so you can talk to Siri, Alexa, or Bixby. For Microsoft, Cortana would be an option, but it's more likely that you'd be talking to Siri or Google Assistant, given Cortana's diminishing presence.

Microsoft has shipped earbuds before: the Zune media player came with earbuds with a feature that sounds simple but is actually ingenious: the earbuds were magnetic and would stick together back to back. The result? Much less cable tangling when you put them in your pocket or bag. Surface Headphones seem to be competitive with other noise-cancelling over-the-ear headphones: their wireless range is great, the noise cancelling is solid, and their volume and noise-cancelling dials are a joy to use, but their battery life and Bluetooth audio standard support are both weak. As such, Microsoft is not totally without experience in this area and has shown that it can engineer thoughtful, compelling designs. How the putative earbuds will stand out from the crowd remains to be seen, of course.

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United Internet: 1&1 Drillisch könnte bei 5G-Auktion am Limit sein

Geht 1&1 Drillisch bald das Budget aus? Seit vergangener Woche zeigt sich der neue Netzbetreiber zurückhaltender bei den Geboten, dennoch könnte die 5G-Auktion noch lange so weitergehen. (5G, Mobilfunk)

Geht 1&1 Drillisch bald das Budget aus? Seit vergangener Woche zeigt sich der neue Netzbetreiber zurückhaltender bei den Geboten, dennoch könnte die 5G-Auktion noch lange so weitergehen. (5G, Mobilfunk)

Dealmaster: A bunch of Amazon devices are back on sale this week

Plus a ton of video game deals, iPad and iPad Pro discounts, and more.

Dealmaster: A bunch of Amazon devices are back on sale this week

Enlarge (credit: Ars Technica)

Greetings, Arsians! The Dealmaster is back with another round of deals to share. Today's list is headlined by a new handful of discounts on Amazon devices.

The deals here cover just about all of Amazon's Fire TV lineup, with the highlight likely being the Fire TV Stick 4K streaming dongle available for $40, which is a $10 discount. The 1080p Fire TV Stick is $10 off as well, while the Fire TV Recast over-the-air DVR is down by $40. If you feel like buying in bulk, there are also discounts on three-packs of the company's Echo Dot speakers and Fire tablets. Finally, nearly the entire product lineup of its Ring subsidiary is on sale as well.

At this point, you probably know where you stand with regard to these things. If Amazon's handling of personal data makes you uncomfortable—and there are perfectly good reasons to feel that way—we have loads of additional deals on video games, laptops, iPads, headphones, and the like. If not, then these are all capable devices at prices that are relatively low for a period outside of the major holiday season. Either way, have a look at our full selection below.

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Daily Deals (4-16-2019)

Rakuten is selling the Google Home Hub for $75 today, which is the best price for the Google Assistant-enabled smart display to date. You’ll need a Rakuten membership to get that price, but you can sign up for free. Or if you’re looking for…

Rakuten is selling the Google Home Hub for $75 today, which is the best price for the Google Assistant-enabled smart display to date. You’ll need a Rakuten membership to get that price, but you can sign up for free. Or if you’re looking for something a little different, Amazon is selling the Lenovo 10″ smart […]

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Louisville: Google Fiber reißt sein Gumminetz ab

Google Fibers Plan, in einer Stadt FTTH mit extrem flachem Trenching zu verlegen, endet mit Schadensersatzzahlungen. Das Unternehmen schnitt Gräben von fünf Zentimetern Tiefe, die mit einer gummiartigen Flüssigkeit gefüllt wurden. Doch Shallow Trenchin…

Google Fibers Plan, in einer Stadt FTTH mit extrem flachem Trenching zu verlegen, endet mit Schadensersatzzahlungen. Das Unternehmen schnitt Gräben von fünf Zentimetern Tiefe, die mit einer gummiartigen Flüssigkeit gefüllt wurden. Doch Shallow Trenching kam wieder an die Oberfläche. (Google Fiber, Google)

Demonoid Founder ‘Deimos’ is Believed to Have Passed Away

The founder of Demonoid, one of the most iconic torrent trackers in history, is believed to have passed away. Deimos suddenly disappeared without a trace last summer. According to information reviewed by Demonoid’s staff, he was likely the victim of a tragic accident.

Source: TF, for the latest info on copyright, file-sharing, torrent sites and more. We also have VPN reviews, discounts, offers and coupons.

As one of the oldest torrent communities, the Demonoid tracker has gone through many ups and downs over the years.

The site has disappeared for months, more than once, but always reappeared.

Early last year things were looking quite positive for the site. Founder and operator ‘Deimos’ was committed to rebuilding the site back to the thriving community it once was, but at the end of the summer new problems emerged.

Initially, there were some technical issues and isolated downtime. However, as the weeks passed on, the site disappeared completely. All the while, Deimos was nowhere to be found.

This was particularly unusual as some staffers chatted with him nearly every day but that changed abruptly. Months went by without a word from Deimos. Meanwhile, some of Demonoid’s domains started to expire.

Roughly two months ago, TorrentFreak received an anonymous tip which came as a complete shock. The short email pointed to information that suggested Deimos had passed away following a tragic accident. 

The information we received included several pointers that we could indirectly link to Demonoid’s founder. However, despite overwhelming circumstantial evidence, we were unable to confirm 100% that it was the same person. 

We shared this information with Demonoid staffer ‘phaze1G,’ who discussed it among the team. Slowly but steadily, the realization started to sink in that all signs indeed suggested that Deimos was no longer alive. 

Although there’s no complete certainty, phaze1G decided to inform the Demonoid community about the findings this morning. This wasn’t an easy decision and took weeks of consideration and attempts to get more clarity.

“With great sadness, I want to announce that Deimos, the founder of Demonoid known as someone who was one of the earliest and influential people on the torrent scene since it’s beginning has died in an accident back on August, 2018,” phaze1G writes.

The date of the accident, which was the result of a panic attack, coincides with Deimos’ disappearance. In addition, there were further signs that suggest that Deimos was indeed the victim. 

Phaze1G and other Demonoid staffers are devastated by the sad news and have put up a commemoration page to remember Demonoid’s founder.

“Our comeback kid Demonoid will now rest after years of fighting along with his father,” the commemoration page reads. 

After the initial disappearance, there were reports that someone logged in to the site under his account. In hindsight, phaze1G believes that this may have been a friend or family member, who wiped the server, perhaps after making a backup. 

“It was someone with enough tech skills such as friends, family or Umlauf, so currently there is at least one person who holds the database of Demonoid and if it ever comes back that person will not be Deimos,” phaze1G notes. 

For now, the remaining staff have no idea where to go next. They created a temporary forum a while ago to keep the community going, but without Deimos, the spirit of the site is gone.

“Demonoid Fora was formed as a reminder of Demonoid and Deimos, but I have no idea what to do next, or what to do regarding Demonoid at all. Demonoid is and always was Deimos’ child. Umlauf was there to help when it was hard, so without those 2 giants, there is no Demonoid.

“Even if we recreate it from the ground with 99% identical look and features, it will not be it without Deimos and won’t have that feeling of home it once had,” phaze1G adds.

Deimos started the site in his early twenties. While he handed over the reins to outsiders for a few years, he took over the helm again two years ago, hoping to return the site to its former glory

In the months leading up to his disappearance, he worked on the site continuously to achieve this goal, showing the passion and commitment many staffers knew him for.

“Many things were happening behind the scene, he cared so much about users’ privacy and replied almost to everyone who private message him and asked how he was and stuff. He was really a friendly person,” phaze1G says.

“I’m glad that I had a chance to know him and I will miss him dearly, not because of Demonoid only, but because of the person, he was,” he adds.

Source: TF, for the latest info on copyright, file-sharing, torrent sites and more. We also have VPN reviews, discounts, offers and coupons.

HP ZBook 14u G6 is a 3.5 pound mobile workstation

Mobile Workstation computers are basically expensive laptops with support for high-end graphics cards, a lot of memory, and other features you might want in a PC that you use for graphic design, video editing, or a lot of number crunching. Traditionall…

Mobile Workstation computers are basically expensive laptops with support for high-end graphics cards, a lot of memory, and other features you might want in a PC that you use for graphic design, video editing, or a lot of number crunching. Traditionally they’ve been big, heavy machines. But HP has been selling a line of relatively […]

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HP launches EliteBook 800 G6 laptops Whiskey Lake chip, optional AMD graphics

HP is updating is business laptop family with the new EliteBook 800 G6 series laptops featuring slim bezels, updated processors, long battery life, and new enterprise features including support for HP Sure Sense, a new anti-malware solution that uses a…

HP is updating is business laptop family with the new EliteBook 800 G6 series laptops featuring slim bezels, updated processors, long battery life, and new enterprise features including support for HP Sure Sense, a new anti-malware solution that uses artificial intelligence to help identify threats and protect against zero-day attacks. The new EliteBook 800 G6 […]

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Google Fiber exits Louisville, pays city $3.8M to clean up the mess it left

Louisville will clean up exposed wires itself over next 20 months.

A Google Fiber van in Louisville.

Enlarge / A Google Fiber van in Louisville. (credit: Google Fiber)

Google Fiber yesterday shut off service in Louisville, Kentucky, and has agreed to pay the local government $3.84 million to remove exposed fiber cables left behind by the ISP's failed nano-trenching experiment.

Google Fiber service was scheduled to be shut off at midnight last night, according to a Louisville Metro Government (LMG) announcement of the exit agreement. Google Fiber had announced its intention to leave Louisville two months ago, admitting that it did such a bad job with fiber installation that it would have to "essentially rebuild [the] entire network" in order to fix the problems.

In Louisville, Google Fiber reportedly was burying cables in nano-trenches that were just two inches deep. The method was supposed to speed up deployment, but it didn't work as Google Fiber expected.

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Apple will dramatically expand iPhone production in India

Local manufacturing will allow Apple to dodge Indian import duties.

Apple will dramatically expand iPhone production in India

Enlarge (credit: Samuel Axon)

After years of building the iPhone primarily in China, Apple is preparing for a major expansion of iPhone manufacturing in India. Terry Gou, chairman of contract manufacturer Foxconn, says the company is planning to invest $300 million to expand iPhone manufacturing capacity there—with much more investment possible in the future.

Taiwan-based Foxconn has long been the main company Apple has relied on to manage iPhone assembly in China. Bloomberg reports that Apple already has a limited manufacturing presence in Bangalore, producing older iPhones. But now Foxconn will be dramatically expanding iPhone manufacturing in the country, producing the latest iPhones near the southern city of Chennai.

Producing iPhones in India will give Apple some regulatory advantages in the large and fast-growing Indian market. According to Bloomberg, it will allow Apple to dodge 20 percent import duties and enable Apple to open its own stores in India.

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