Apr 20
The ban excludes highly ranked Russian players, including No. 2 Daniil Medvedev, the reigning U.S. Open champion.
Apr 20
Apple Music’s spatial audio is now available for those who’d rather spend their nights at the club than the concert hall. The service is now offering DJ mixes in Dolby Atmos that promise a more immersive dance music experience — not quite like sweating through an all-night rave, but considerably closer. The initiative kicks off today with an enhanced One Mix set from Detroit techno legend Jeff Mills (above) as well as 15 Boiler Room sets from stars like Boys Noize and The Blessed Madonna.
You can expect more spatial audio mixes throughout the year, including monthly One Mix episodes and Boiler Room albums. Apple hasn’t teased future artists, although it is promising the “finest DJs” from the dance and electronic music realms.
Spatial audio is only automatically enabled for AirPods and some Beats headphones. You can use capable third-party gear, but you’ll need to manually enable support and forego head tracking.
It’s not surprising to see Apple expand Atmos support to the mix-and-scratch crowd. Spatial audio is a selling point for Apple Music and AirPods, of course, but electronic artists were also some of the first to embrace surround sound — just ask anyone familiar with Amon Tobin’s gigs. In theory, you’re more likely to keep your Apple Music membership knowing that a favorite DJ might produce an Atmos mix you won’t get at rival services.
Apr 20
Problematic callers can be blocked on a per-number basis on an iPhone — the process is simple. But how do you unblock a number if you’ve made a mistake?
Apr 20
Wonderfully Over-Engineered Kitchen Timer Makes Any Chef Look as Cool as Guy Fieri
Posted in: Today's ChiliIt isn’t a fear of failure, or of accidentally giving dinner guests food poisoning, that keeps people from learning to cook. It’s obviously a lack of kitchen tools that make you feel like a futuristic anime hero wielding a cool-looking blaster. Well, one maker has solved that problem by creating the most wonderfully…
Apr 20
Now we’re getting into the thick of it. Marvel’s Moon Knight picks up right where we left off last week on Disney+, with the sky being wondrously manipulated into the coolest light show. It opens on Khonshu turned to stone in an altar surrounded by other figures after sacrificing himself so Layla (May Calamawy) and…
Apr 20
After taking a break amid sexual assault allegations, fashion designer Alexander Wang’s comeback to the runway was greeted with adoration.
Apr 20
BMW isn’t letting Mercedes’ EQS go unanswered. The German marque has introduced its first completely electric 7 series, the i7 xDrive60. The long-wheelbase luxury sedan offers solid performance, with a dual-motor setup providing 536HP, a 0-60MPH sprint in 4.5 seconds and a preliminary EPA range of 300 miles. As with the conventional 7 series, though, the focus is on creature comforts — this is designed as much for chauffeured executives as it is for drivers.
That driver will see a curved dual-display interface that includes a 12.3-inch instrument panel and a 14.9-inch infotainment screen. BMW is touting a smartphone-like interface, but you’ll also find a new “Interaction Bar” that provides touch-sensitive controls for common features like climate settings and hazard lights. You can even customize the bar’s lighting to react to certain events, such as incoming calls or invoking BMW’s Intelligent Personal Assistant (including from the rear seats, for the first time).
As we mentioned, though, the best experience is likely in the back. Spring for the optional Theater Screen and you’ll get a 31-inch, 32:9 ratio 8K rear display with a Fire TV interface. Rear window shades will even close when you switch the system on. Each rear door has its own 5.5-inch touchscreen for climate, media and seating controls, while a standard panoramic LED roof can produce a light show in addition to showing the sky above. You’ll have access to 5G, including a “Personal eSIM” that can migrate between cars.
Other tech upgrades include an optional Highway Assistant (part of a Driving Assistance Professional Package) that provides hands-free driving up to 80MPH, a smarter Parking Assistant Professional with remote control and a Maneuver Assistant that can replicate tricky driving scenarios (such as a tight parking garage). An augmented reality view on the instrument screen merges video with directions and similar info, while the doors will both detect potential hazards and (with another option) automatically open by touching the handles or Interaction Bar. Owners of recent, UWB-equipped iPhones can also use Digital Key Plus to automatically lock and unlock the doors, and eventually open the doors or activate the alarm system.
Unsurprisingly, this excess will cost you. The i7 xDrive60 will start at $120,295 ($119,300 plus a destination fee) when it reaches the US in the fourth quarter of the year, and that’s before you add extras like the 36-speaker Bowers & Wilkins Diamond Surround Sound System. That’s not an outlandish price for BMW’s target audience, though, and it undercuts the $125,900 of the EQS 580.
Apr 20
The Lord of the Rings Has Never Been More Precious Than This Super-Limited Set
Posted in: Today's Chili
If you’re reading io9—and it would be truly wild if you weren’t—you most likely have a copy of J.R.R. Tolkien’s Lord of the Rings somewhere around your place. I regret to inform you unless you act very quickly, chances are you’re not going to get your hands on this unbelievably high-quality, extremely limited edition…
Apr 20
Jordan Klepper Spotlights Far-Right Leader Who Shares Trump’s ‘Butthurt Mentality’
Posted in: Today's Chili“The Daily Show” comedian headed to Hungary to find out why Trump supporters are so obsessed with the Eastern European country.
Apr 20
With self-driving vehicles possibly arriving on UK roads later this year, the government is starting to put rules in place to accommodate them, the BBC has reported. As part of that, it will allow drivers in autonomous vehicles to watch TV from an infotainment screen in self-driving mode, as long as they’re ready to take back control. That’s a modification of a law that has been on the books since 1986 that prohibits drivers from viewing a “television-receiving apparatus” when behind the wheel.
It will still not allow the use of mobile phones, which were officially banned in the UK last year. That’s because automakers can implement technology to stop a car’s built-in screen from displaying content when the driver needs to take back control, but can’t do the same on a smartphone. The government also decided that insurance companies and not people will be liable for accident claims in a number of circumstances. The changes will be an “interim measure” until an all-new set of rules can be put in place by 2025.
Self-driving cars are not yet legal in the UK, but the Department for Transport (DfT) said they may be ready later in 2022. A year ago, the government announced that basic self-driving cars with automated lane-keeping systems could arrive on British roads by the end of last year.
The UK government predicted that self-driving tech could “improve road safety across Britain by reducing human error, which is a contributory factor in 88 percent of all recorded road collisions.” In the meantime, though, self-driving tech has gone nowhere over the last few years, apart from a few exceptions like GM’s Cruise offering public driverless taxi rides in San Francisco.
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