Author: alex

Marshall launches Heston 60 soundbar and Heston Sub 200 — pre-orders open Marshall has expanded its Heston TV audio family with two new products now available for pre-order: the Heston 60 compact soundbar and the Heston Sub 200 subwoofer. Both ship September 23 and will reach select retailers on September 30. Available colors: Cream and Black. Pricing Heston 60 soundbar — $700 Heston Sub 200 subwoofer — $600 Heston 60 Key Specs 7 Class D amplifiers (two 25W + five 5W) — total 56W output Two woofers + five full-range drivers Dolby Atmos & DTS‑X support Connectivity: Bluetooth 5.3, Wi‑Fi, HDMI 2.1 (eARC), 3.5mm aux, RCA IN, USB-C Streaming: AirPlay 2, Google Cast, Spotify Connect, Tidal Connect Heston Sub 200 Key Specs Two 5.25" subwoofers Two 120W Class D amplifiers…

Zens launches USB‑C cables with integrated Qi charging pucks Dutch accessory maker Zens has introduced two new USB‑C cables that include built‑in Qi charging pucks, allowing you to charge a laptop or tablet and wirelessly top up an iPhone or Apple Watch at the same time using a single USB‑C cable. Highlights Integrated Qi puck in the cable for wireless charging of phones or watches Base model: “Zens Charging Cable USB C‑C Pro 2” — combines USB‑C power delivery for laptops/tablets with an extra wireless charging surface Designed to reduce cable clutter and add convenience when traveling or working on the go Possible use cases This solution is useful for users who want to keep charging simple — one cable to power a high‑wattage device while also topping off a…

Apertus: Switzerland’s open-source national LLM Switzerland has released Apertus — a fully open, publicly developed large language model built by EPFL, ETH Zurich and the Swiss National Supercomputing Centre (CSCS). Designed as a public AI infrastructure, Apertus aims to offer a transparent alternative to closed models. Key facts Model sizes: 8 billion and 70 billion parameters Training scale: ~15 trillion tokens Multilingual: trained on data from 1,000+ languages (≈40% non-English, including Swiss German and Romansh) Open release: code, model weights, training recipes and datasets publicly available Access: distributed via Swisscom and hosted on Hugging Face Compliance: built to respect Swiss data protection and copyright law Why it matters Apertus is positioned as a public-good AI: fully auditable, reproducible, and intended for research, education, and commercial adaptation. By releasing datasets and…

Labor Day Tech Deals — Top Picks & Where to Buy Labor Day sales are still active and you can score notable discounts on laptops, headphones, robot vacuums and more. Below are top picks, short notes and quick Amazon search links (affiliate tag included). Top deals Apple MacBook Air (13-inch, M4) — $799 Popular lightweight laptop with long battery life. Exact M4 listings are limited on Amazon; search here: Apple MacBook Air M4 on Amazon. Apple AirTag (4-pack) — $80 Great Bluetooth trackers for Apple users. Available on Amazon: Apple AirTag 4-pack. Apple iPad (11-inch, A16) — $299 Entry-level iPad with A16 chip. Exact model/prices vary; search here: iPad 11-inch A16. Sony WH-CH520 wireless headphones — $35 Affordable on-ear headphones with long battery life. Available on Amazon: Sony WH-CH520. Dyson…

AVM launches FRITZ!Repeater 1700 (Wi‑Fi 7) and FRITZ!Mesh Set 1600 AVM has introduced two new products aimed at improving home WLAN: FRITZ!Repeater 1700 — Reported to support Wi‑Fi 7 (802.11be) with potential peak speeds around 3.6 Gbit/s. Details on exact specs and availability are limited; AVM showcased Wi‑Fi 7 technology in its recent press coverage. FRITZ!Mesh Set 1600 — A Wi‑Fi 6 (802.11ax) mesh pack that typically includes two or three FRITZ!Repeater 1200 AX units. Designed for seamless home coverage with dual‑band 2x2 MIMO, up to ~2400 Mbit/s on 5 GHz and ~600 Mbit/s on 2.4 GHz, and a Gigabit LAN port per unit. Key points FRITZ!Repeater 1700: announced in AVM communications as part of the vendors Wi‑Fi 7 rollout; full specs and retail availability TBD. FRITZ!Mesh Set 1600: available…

ExpressVPN moves to tiered Basic / Advanced / Pro pricing ExpressVPN has switched to a tiered pricing model with three levels — Basic, Advanced and Pro — each available as monthly, 1-year or 2-year subscriptions. That means nine possible ways to subscribe, starting today. What’s changed Features are now tied to tiers instead of subscription duration. Previously, the full feature set required a 24-month plan. Some Identity Defender features (identity monitoring, credit reports, data removal) are rolled into higher tiers. ID protection features remain US-only. Device limits increase up to 14 simultaneous connections on Pro plans. Legacy plans remain active for now and current customers won’t be downgraded. Tier breakdown (high level) Basic — Core VPN (Lightway), no ad/tracker/parental blockers, 10 devices. Pricing: $12.99/mo, $74.85/yr, $97.72/2yr. Advanced — 12 devices,…

Dolby Vision 2 announced at IFA 2025 Dolby Laboratories revealed Dolby Vision 2 at IFA 2025 — a next-gen update to its HDR format designed for today’s TVs and new creative tools. The company says Dolby Vision 2 goes beyond HDR with a more powerful image engine and new AI-driven Content Intelligence. Key features Content Intelligence: AI tools that adapt the picture to the content and viewing environment — including Precision Black for darker scenes and Light Sense for ambient-light detection. Bi-directional tone mapping: Lets premium TVs deliver higher brightness, sharper contrast and richer colors while preserving creative intent. Authentic Motion: A creative-driven motion control tool Dolby calls the world’s first of its kind to make scenes feel more cinematic. Sports & Gaming Optimization: Upgrades like white point adjustments and…

SwitchBot Meter & Meter Plus — compact thermometer + hygrometer with display and app Short summary: The SwitchBot Meter and Meter Plus are compact temperature and humidity monitors with a built-in display and app connectivity. A recent report lists the SwitchBot Meter at €9.99 and the Meter Plus at €11.99, but those prices could not be independently confirmed at the time of posting. Key features Compact design (about 55 x 55 x 24 mm for the Meter) Temperature and humidity sensors (SwitchBot uses high-quality sensors) On-device display for quick readings App connectivity for history, alerts and remote monitoring Long battery life Prices The article reports: Meter ~€9.99, Meter Plus ~€11.99. We could not independently verify those exact prices across major retailers; actual current prices may vary by region and retailer.…

JBL Grip: Portable Bluetooth Speaker that Doubles as a Night Light JBL has unveiled the new JBL Grip, a compact portable Bluetooth speaker designed for on-the-go use — and yes, it also works as a cozy bedside light. Key features Price: $100 Portability: Built-in rope hook to clip onto backpacks, ski gear, or other kit Ambient lighting: Customizable lighting modes that JBL touts as ideal for bedside reading Audio: “Pro sound” at a fuller volume vs. some rivals; Auracast multispeaker connectivity for easier source switching Battery life: Up to ~14 hours per charge Durability: IP68 waterproof/dustproof rating and drop-proof design (claimed to survive a hard fall onto concrete) Availability: Pre-orders are open; shipments begin Sept 28 Official product page: JBL Grip on JBL.com Who is this for? The Grip looks…

Tech roundup: DJI Mic 3 & YouTube TV-Fox deal DJI Mic 3 — Quick overview The DJI Mic 3 brings a major redesign: much smaller, lighter transmitters (16 g vs 28 g on the Mic 2), a rotating clip for easier/more discreet mounting, improved sound quality and noise reduction, and support for up to four transmitters and eight receivers for multi-camera shoots. Kits are priced around $219 for a single-transmitter kit and $329 for a two-transmitter kit with charging case. Buy/search on Amazon: DJI Mic 3 on Amazon Quick specs Transmitter weight: ~16 g (0.58 oz) Up to 4 transmitters & 8 receivers Improved noise reduction and sound quality YouTube TV & Fox — What happened YouTube TV and Fox reached a renewal that keeps the full Fox portfolio (Fox…