The Morning After: We test Sonos’ first wireless headphones
Plus: Make your own smart ice cream, and wither Humane AI?
It’s been a long time coming, but Sonos’ first pair of wireless headphones are now in the hands of our tame audio expert. The Sonos Ace takes all of the company’s audio know-how, packaged in a more skull-friendly way. As well as the usual noise cancellation you’d expect with a pair of high-end cans, they also have some home theater-friendly tweaks.
Billy Steele was deeply impressed with the headphone version of its TruePlay tuning, called TrueCinema, which maps your location for better virtual surround. If you already own a Sonos soundbar, you’ll be able to pull the sound to the Ace in a heartbeat for those late-night movie sessions. Plus, Sonos’ ability to upscale audio that hasn’t been mastered in 7.1.4-channel Dolby Atmos should make even the most mediocre sound, uh, sound good.
Billy’s a fan, and you might be too once you’ve read his write up — so much so that we’ve got all the details for how you can pre-order right here.
— Dan Cooper
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Wearable AI Pin maker Humane is reportedly seeking a buyer
Yours for the knock-down price of… around a billion.
Humane, makers of the AI pin that made the wrong sort of splash on its debut, is reportedly up for sale. The underbaked hardware and software was greeted with poor reviews that ensured it probably wouldn’t become a best seller. Now, the startup has called in financial advisers, hoping a deep-pocketed soul will pick it up for between $750 million and a cool billion. There’s an old saying that we die twice in this world, and I think it goes something like this: First, when your major product flops, and second, when someone picks you up for patent-licensing scraps.
Ninja Creami review: This machine makes your frozen dreams come true
It’s the dawn of the smart ice cream age.
Ninja has launched a new smart ice cream maker that leverages a recently expired patent used by high-end chef companies. The Creami is, as Sam Rutherford explains, a kitchen-sized drill press that “spins” frozen ice cream bases with your choice of flavors. It may be big and noisy, but he says the quality of product you get out the other end is worth the aggravation.
Paper Mario The Thousand-Year Door review: A Switch remake (mostly) befitting a masterpiece
It’s been in the wilderness for more than a decade.
Paper Mario: The Thousand-Year Door is a GameCube-era RPG regarded by many as the best title in the series. Sadly, it was never ported to any successive console until now, as lamented by our Devindra Hardawar. He’s put the updated version through its paces to tell you if it’s worth exploring for a first, or second, time.
