Social media/video-sharing apps are thought of as the next frontier in e-commerce, but Instagram is walking back some of its shopping ventures. The company has been stepping further away from its live shopping feature. Now, Instagram will stop letting people tag products in live streams.
Instagram has become a home for business owners to sell their products. However, the company seems to be backtracking on some of its shopping features. Not too long ago, a new UI change removed the shopping tab from the bottom bar. This moved it to a less accessible location in the app. This was the first hint that the app wanted to make some changes.
Instagram will get rid of live shopping
Live shopping is a pretty interesting feature on Instagram. It allows you to tag products during a live stream. So, if your favorite influencer has a certain shirt or gadget that they want to promote, they can tag it so that the users can buy it then and there. It’s not something that’s revolutionary, as this is something that TikTok has been trying to popularize in the States. Also, it’s something that Amazon also did.
However, this feature is on its way out, according to The Verge, Instagram will remove live shopping on March 16th. Since February is already halfway done, that gives the feature only one more month.
While live shopping is going away, Instagram isn’t getting rid of all shopping. Companies can still run their own stores on the platform, and the company isn’t going to be shutting that down. This change will only affect the live aspect of shopping.
At the moment, we’re wondering what Instagram is planning on doing with shopping as a whole. A bunch of big-name brands have their shops on the platform. We don’t Instagram will be getting rid of shopping altogether. We’ll just have to wait and see what the company has up its sleeves.
Robot vacuums have come a long way in the past few years. No longer do you have to take out your regular vacuum to clean up what it left behind. But we also have robot vacuums at all sorts of price points. From under $100 to over $1,000. So it’s hard to gauge which of these robot vacuums are the best. Well, we have tested and reviewed a good number of robot vacuums, so we are here to help you decide on the best one you can currently buy.
There are generally three tiers of robot vacuums. The lower tier is really basic, it doesn’t even have WiFi and uses it’s own remote. The middle tier has WiFi and a compatible app, along with Google Assistant/Amazon Alexa compatibility and most likely a way to map out your home. Then there’s the higher-end tier that uses cameras to see obstacles and might even have a way to empty its own dustbin. This list of the best robot vacuums have entries from all of these tiers and ones that meet different needs.
So without further ado, here is our list of the best Robot Vacuums available right now.
Best Robot Vacuums
Robot vacuums can be pretty fun. As you can watch it zoom around the house picking up everything and even put your cats on them for a ride too. Not to mention the fact that it means you no longer need to vacuum your floors.
But, not all robot vacuums are created equally. And not all of them are good. So here are the best robot vacuums.
As an honorable mention, the Roborock S8 was announced at CES in January 2023. However, it is not yet available to buy, so it’s not actually on this list.
The Roomba Combo j7+ is the company’s first robot vacuum that also has a mop built-in. Typically, iRobot would make a mop that was separate. But not this time around. This is based off of the j7+ that is listed below, but now with mopping.
What iRobot did here was create a dustbin that was also a water tank. The water tank looks rather small, but it’s actually not that small. Just be careful to fill the right section with water – there are instructions. Now with the mop, iRobot will lift up the entire mop over the robot vacuum, so that your carpet won’t get wet. That’s a really cool way to solve this problem. And also explains why this is so much more expensive than the j7+.
The ECOVACS Deebot X1 Omni is the most expensive robot vacuum we’ve ever had on this list, at an eye-watering $1,549. The X1 Omni has dual mops on the bottom, that do a really great job of cleaning up your hardwood, vinyl and tile floors. However, it cannot lift the mop up off of the floor to clean carpets, like some other vacuums.
The X1 Omni also comes with the full empty station. That includes the ability to refill the water reservoir, as well as cleaning the mops. And it can also empty the dustbin.
This robot vacuum is from Anker (eufy is a sub-brand of Anker), so you already know what to expect with this one. It’s a relatively inexpensive robot vacuum, that does pretty well. Now unlike the iRobot and Roborock vacuums already listed, this one does not map out your home, or go in a specific pattern. It goes in a random pattern. Which might sound like a bad idea, but it does still do a good job at getting every inch of your home – it may just take a bit longer.
The name of this one is the RoboVac 11S, and the “S” is for slim. That is because this robot vacuum is not quite as tall as the others out there, allowing it to go under your furniture without hitting it. That might sound like a small thing, but it’s actually a big deal. As some others can’t get under your couch to clean, normally.
eufy says that the RoboVac 11S will run for about 120 minutes before it needs to head back to its dock. If it hasn’t finished cleaning before the battery starts dying, it’ll start up again once the battery is fully charged.
The Neato D7 Connected has been a fan-favorite here at Android Headlines for quite some time. We’ve been really impressed with the way the D7 Connected is able to navigate around the home. And this is thanks to it using lasers. Now it’s not the only one that uses lasers – most iRobot and Roborock vacuums do too. But this one does a better job, actually.
With the D shape, the D7 Connected is able to edge clean much better and get into all of those corners in your home. That’s actually a bigger deal than it might sound like.
This robot vacuum is perfect for those that have pets. Thanks to the extra suction here, the D7 Connected is going to be able to get all of the pet hair up and out of the carpet in your home, which is also a big deal. Especially if you are allergic to those pets, but still love them.
Neato made sure that with a robot vacuum that has “connected” in the name, that it is going to be well connected. It is of course connected through the Neato Robotics app, so you can control this robot vacuum with your phone. But it is also connected to Amazon Alexa and Google Assistant, so you can control it all with your voice as well.
Robot vacuums that can empty their own dust bins, is one of the newer features that we are starting to see on robot vacuums these days. It’s a really cool feature, because you don’t need to worry about forgetting to empty it, or spilling it on the ground after it has cleaned up. iRobot was first to do this, and now it’s bringing it to even cheaper models.
With the new Roomba i3+, you get the ability to self-empty the dustbin. But you also get improved cleaning with the longer brushes and better suction.
Even though there is no LiDAR module on the top of the i3+, there is still connected mapping, as well as Amazon Alexa and Google Assistant available.
Shark isn’t a name you’re probably familiar with for robot vacuums, but they have been making vacuums for decades. And the IQ R101AE is a really good option if you want a self-emptying robot vacuum, without spending $600.
The R101AE actually backs up onto the base to empty itself. And it does it really well. It still offers up some incredible suction, and won’t miss any of the dirt, dust and other debries. It also can be controlled via your smartphone and use Amazon Alexa or Google Assistant to control it.
iRobot just came out with a new robot vacuum, the Roomba j7 and j7+ – the difference is the inclusion of the auto-empty dock. The new Roomba j7 uses a camera in the front, which is able to identify obstacles better, in your home. Obstacles like cords, shoes and even pet waste. In fact, iRobot is so sure that it will avoid pet waste, that it is guaranteeing that it will avoid it.
It does come with a new auto-empty dock that can still hold up to 60 days of dirt and debris. It’s a great option for hands-free cleaning, as it can empty itself and avoid other obstacles around your home.
The Ecovacs Deebot N8 Pro+ is quite the mouthful of a name, but it does quite a bit too. It takes what you already expect from Ecovacs, which is a superb cleaning experience and takes it to the next level. The Deebot N8 Pro+ has pretty powerful suction at around 2600Pa. That’s the best on the market right now, but that won’t last long.
It also has a pretty good mopping experience here. Though it does not have the Ozmo Pro mopping system. It does a good job of getting up all of the dried on messes with ease.
Now, since the Deebot N8 Pro+ is a plus model, that means that it also includes a self-empty dock. So when the Deebot N8 Pro+ is done cleaning and heads back to the dock. It will automatically empty the dustbin.
Most people want to spend as little as possible on something like a vacuum, but also want it to work well. And the Roborock S4 fits that bill. It’s under $300 right now, but still offers a really great experience.
It uses LiDAR to map out your home still, so it can clean everywhere without missing any spots. It offers some pretty powerful suction at 2000Pa, that’s strong enough to pick up AA batteries.
Roborock also includes the ability to do selective cleaning, so you can choose to clean a specific area, and not the entire house. Or set no-go zones.
With the Roborock S4, you’re going to get about two and a half hours of cleaning time. Before you need to recharge it. Which is pretty nice. Finally, it is compatible with the Roborock app, for automated cleaning and ability to use Amazon Alexa or Google Assistant.
This is the latest and greatest from Roborock. With the S7, the company focused more on the mopping functionality, than on previous models. And debuted a couple of new mopping features. Like VibraRise, which allows the vacuum to pick up the mop off of the ground when it is on carpet. Keeping your carpet from getting wet. And then there’s Sonic Mopping, allowing customers to get a more deep clean out of their robot vacuum.
Of course, all of the usual features are here. Including the same 2500Pa suction that the S6 MaxV has. As well as support for the Roborock app. However, the stereo camera is not available on the S7, so there’s no obstacle avoidance. Which is why we are keeping the S6 MaxV at the top of this list as the best robot vacuum that you can buy right now.
Technically, this is not a robot vacuum. But we’d thought we would include it since a lot of the mopping on these robot vacuums is just not that great.
The Braava Jet M6 on the other hand, is pretty incredible. It has a precision jet spray, which is good for getting up tough grease and other dirt off the floor. It still uses the smart mapping that other iRobot Roomba’s use, so it can run back and forth until it has cleaned the entire house.
Finally, this is really great for open spaces. Obviously, it is not something that a lot of people are going to buy, unless the majority of their house is not carpeted. If just your kitchen and bathroom are not carpet, then it’s not really worth it to buy this.
Nowadays, you can’t help but notice all the Twitter drama. But it’s maybe a good thing, as the more popular a social media platform is, the more users need to be sure that it’s a safe place to hang around on. Weather that should come at a cost and result in a blue checkmark — you’ll have to be the judge. In a further attempt to improve Twitter, Musk’s team allegedly already have a new feature planned: ID verification. This will surely help Twitter users become informed about whether the person they are following is actually someone real.
This will also help the platform combat impersonators, with the attempt likely being tied to the everlasting conflict to end internet misinformation. That being said, real people can lie too, so in the end, users will still have to apply their common sense for final judgment.
An example screenshot shared by the leaker.
TechRadar managed to spot a Tweet from a reliable leaker, who’s been known in the past for spilling tea about upcoming features and changes to the social platform. The post also has an image to go along with it, but fair warning: it seems to be in German.
The contents of the Tweet detail an allegedly upcoming flow that will allow users to upload their legal ID along with a selfie, so that the platform can verify their identity. While this is indeed a step towards combating toxicity on the platform, seeing the internet lose another bit of its coveted user anonymity will likely bum some users out.
From the leaker’s Tweet, it would appear that a third-party company will handle the verification process, in order to ensure protection over user data. Despite all of this sounding like a done deal, you should keep in mind that it is just a rumor. A logical rumor, but a rumor nonetheless. Time will tell if it becomes a reality and if Musk is still head of Twitter by then.
The Google Pixel lineup has never been an incredible success for Google. It was recently uncovered that Google has only sold 27.6 million units since the Pixel’s inception in 2016. However, the number of phones sold have been jumping each year. In May it was reported that Google sold 1.2 million units in 2021, that’s up from around 200,000 from the year before. So Pixel is growing, but is the Pixel 7 the pinnacle for Google? Is this where the Pixel finally really starts to make Samsung and Motorola scared? Let’s find out.
Table of contents
Google Pixel 7 Review: Hardware & Display
Last year, Google unveiled a new redesign with the Pixel 6. Finally getting away from the design that it has basically had since the Pixel 2. It morphed over the years, but the design was mostly the same all these years, up until the Pixel 6. That’s where Google introduced the camera bar that goes across the top of the back of the phone. Well, now in 2022, Google is refining that design. And dare I say, it looks even better.
So Google actually showed off the Pixel 7 series at Google I/O back in May. So we knew what the phone was going to look like back then. Including the new redesigned camera bar. I wasn’t a fan of the camera bar at first. I preferred the Pixel 6 camera bar which was all glass. Whereas the Pixel 7 is metal with cut outs for the cameras and the flash. Now that I’ve seen it in person and used it for a week, I love it.
The back is curved a little bit, making it easier to hold in the hands. The sides and the camera bare are also matte. Which is something I wish Google had used on the Pixel 7 Pro. So it does feel and look better in the hands than the Pixel 7 Pro does.
The back and front are using Gorilla Glass Victus, which should keep it from getting destroyed as easily. But that does typically mean the glass is a bit softer, so keep that in mind for scratches. The Pixel 7 still has a flat display, and the edge is a bit sharp. Nowhere near as sharp as the iPhone has been in recent years. And if you pop on a case for it, you’ll be just fine.
Now that display. It’s a FHD+ 90Hz AMOLED display, and it looks amazing. It’s 90Hz, which is a step down from the Pixel 7 Pro and most other Android phones. But it’s still faster than the 60Hz that the iPhone 14 and 14 Plus use, which starts at $799 – $200 more than the Pixel 7. This display is amazing. It’s vibrant, and very contrasty. It is not quite as bright as the Pixel 7 Pro’s display, but it’s still plenty bright for outdoor viewing. I’ve had no issue using it outdoors on sunny and overcast days.
Google Pixel 7 Review: Battery
If you look at the specs of the Pixel 6 versus the Pixel 7, you’ll notice that the battery is actually smaller this year. It went from a 4614mAh battery in the Pixel 6 to a 4355mAh battery in the Pixel 7. About a 5% decrease in capacity. But you also can’t forget that the Pixel 7 is also smaller this year, compared to the Pixel 6. Which is why it is important not to put a lot of faith into specs like that.
The Pixel 6 sported a 6.4-inch display, while the Pixel 7 has a 6.3-inch display. Going from dimensions of 158.6 x 74.8 x 8.9mm to 155.6 x 73.2 x 8.7. So it’s smaller in every aspect. Meaning a smaller battery was needed here.
So how good is that 4355mAh capacity battery? As it turns out, pretty good. I was able to squeeze over 8 hours of on screen time on this phone a couple of times. And hit 7 hours pretty consistently. Now one of the battery life cycles shown below is in the 6 hour frame, and I believe that was mostly due to how much I used the camera that day. I used it a lot to shoot pictures of the changing leaves, since it is fall now. And naturally, the camera does use a good amount of battery.
It’ll get you through a full day without any issues. And for some lighter users, you may even get two days out of it. But then there’s the charging. Google has been very conservative with charging speeds for quite some time now, and it’s rather unfortunate. The Pixel 7 charges at 21W wired and wireless. That’s pretty decent for wireless charging, but pretty terrible for wired. I used the OnePlus 10T a few months ago, which has 125W charging in the US, it can charge from empty to 100% in under 30 minutes. That’s about how long it takes the Pixel 7 to go from empty to around 30%. That’s a huge difference.
Google has battery life down, now they need to work on the charging speed.
Google Pixel 7 Review: Performance
Let’s get this out of the way. Tensor G2 is not a powerhouse. It is not going to beat the Snapdragon 8+ Gen 1 or the A16 Bionic chipsets in benchmarks. The Tensor G2 was designed specifically for the Pixel 7, and therefore prioritizes what Google wants. Which is machine learning and AI. Don’t get me wrong, the processor is plenty fast. I never noticed it really slowing down. And it really only got warm with long periods of using the camera or gaming. Which is the case on basically every phone.
But many are wondering why benchmarks are so low on the Tensor G2, and well, that’s why. It’s not as fast as a Snapdragon 8+ Gen 1. Because Google is looking to make a great overall experience, and not the fastest possible chip.
There’s 8GB of RAM paired with the Tensor G2 here, which is pretty decent. Of course, more RAM would always be better. I did notice that some apps were taken out of memory and had to be reloaded when I reopened them. And this happened a bit more often then on the Pixel 7 Pro, which does have 12GB of RAM. If that’s something that will annoy you, then you may want to look at the Pixel 7 Pro.
Google Pixel 7 Review: Camera
If you have ever used a Pixel phone before, then the camera here won’t be a big surprise to you. It takes some incredible looking images, and with its computational photography, it does have some neat tricks up its sleeve. Like the new Photo Unblur feature, which is exclusive to the Pixel 7 right now. This works on any photo, even ones that Google Pixel did not take. Essentially, it can unblur faces in the image. The one caveat here is that the face does need to sorta be in focus. It can’t be totally blurry. It’s not a magic fix for those old photos, as expected.
The camera on the Pixel 7 is basically the same as the Pixel 7 Pro, with the only features missing being Macro and the Telephoto lens. That means that you don’t get the 5x, 10x or 30x zooms here. It only goes to 2x. Technically, you can zoom in further, but it only offers 0.7x, 1x, and 2x stops in the camera app. There’s also no macro here, which is annoying since it has the hardware – it uses the ultrawide sensor – but Google needed more reasons for you to buy the Pixel 7 Pro.
Portrait mode, which is still one my favorite modes on a Pixel camera right now, has also improved since the Pixel 6 series. Noticing that it does a much better job with edges. Though it still has trouble with the edges of my glasses, when taking a selfie. Which is the case with just about every phone.
Below, we have posted a ton of photos taken with the Pixel 7. And since it’s fall, many of them are of the falling leaves.
Google Pixel 7 Review: Software
The Pixel 7 comes with Android 13 installed, which is what you’d expect. Since that is the latest version of Android right now. Of course it does also come with a bunch of Pixel exclusive features, which we will be talking about here. If you want to see what’s new in Android 13, you can check out guide here.
Google spent a good bit of time on the actual phone part of the Pixel this year. We have features like Call Screen and Direct My Call, which aren’t really new. Call Screen has been around for a while, allowing you to screen calls when they come in. This is especially useful for telemarketers and scam callers. Direct My Call will show you the menu for automated calls. Say you called Comcast, and you need to press 1 to get to where you’re going. Google will show you the entire menu on the screen, so you don’t have to wait for the voice to tell you all the options. It’s a very simple thing, but extremely useful. Direct My Call does not work for all businesses. But the big ones, it does.
Continuing with phone calls, there’s also Clear Calling. Basically, it’s able to block out the background noise, and make it easier for those on the other end to hear you. This works well if you’re in a club, or a noisy restaurant and get a call that you need to take. It’s actually really useful, and done really well.
Another favorite app of mine that is only on the Pixel is the Recorder app. I attend a lot of briefings ahead of products being announced, and other meetings, so having the Recorder app open and transcribing everything is so very helpful. And now, with the Pixel 7, the Recorder app is able to identify multiple speakers. It will label them, and later on, you can go back through and identify who Person 1 was and who Person 2 was. Making it even cleaner. Somehow this app continues to get even better.
Google is also providing the Google One VPN for free to all Pixel 7 users, though it’s not yet live. I have used it, since I get it with Google Fi and Google One already. And it works just like a regular VPN. Though it’s worth noting that if you use sportsbetting apps like DraftKings or Fanduel, you will need to turn off the VPN first.
Otherwise, it’s the usual Pixel experience that you have come to know on the Pixel 7. Google has also added the ability to see notifications from the Nest Doorbell in the At A Glance section. Ring doorbells will be supported soon.
Finally, Google is promising three years of Android updates and five years of Security updates. That means the Pixel 7 will get Android 14, 15 and 16, at the least. Google could also opt to keep it supported even longer.
Google Pixel 7 Review: Should you buy it?
The Google Pixel 7 is the new default Android smartphone that everyone should consider. It’s just $599 (or $699 if you’re on Verizon, due to mmWave 5G). Which is super cheap for a flagship smartphone. Considering Apple’s cheapest iPhone 14 model is $799, and Samsung’s cheapest S22 model is also $799. Making it super competitive.
Google has checked just about every box with the Pixel 7 here. The only major drawback is really the charging speed. And if you’re only charging at night, then it’s not really a big deal.
You should buy the Google Pixel 7 if:
Your phone is two years or older
You don’t want to spend a ton of money on a new phone
You enjoy Google’s take on Android
You want a good camera in your pocket, but don’t need telephoto
You just need a phone that works
You shouldn’t buy the Google Pixel 7 if:
You want a larger phone
You want faster charging
You want a faster refresh rate (120Hz is available on the Pixel 7 Pro)
You can also check out review on the Pixel 7 Pro here, to find out which one is the better option for you.
As ChatGPT increasingly becomes popular, appearing more of a threat to human writing capabilities, OpenAI has now decided to create a balance. For this, OpenAI has released AI Text Classifier – an AI-text detection tool, to help users detect AI-generated texts.
OpenAI’s “AI Text Classifier” Tool To Detect AI-Text
The American tech firm OpenAI has recently announced the release of an AI-text detection tool – the “AI Text Classifier.” The firm claims that this tool can detect AI-generated texts from different tools including ChatGPT; though, it currently lacks the necessary precision.
OpenAI has been working on artificial intelligence for quite some time, recently disrupting the industry with ChatGPT – an AI text generator. While OpenAI’s GPT-3 has already empowered numerous AI text-writing assistants like Copy AI and Jasper, the ChatGPT seemingly appeared as a one-stop solution for creating texts.
According to its blog post, OpenAI’s latest AI text classifier tool can detect AI-generated text with 26% precision. However, it is currently in its early stages and has many limitations. OpenAI even admitted the tool generated up to 9% of false alarms (detecting human-written text as AI-generated). Nonetheless, it still works better than its precious classifiers and can be improved with users’ feedback.
Regarding the tool’s working, the classifier works relatively well with texts longer than 1000 characters. However, it produces unreliable results for shorter texts. Also, OpenAI recommends using the tool for the English language only (at present) as it is unreliable for other languages yet.
The tool is now available to the public, and OpenAI seeks feedback from different user groups, especially educators. The firm is also keen to improve the tool to better serve users like journalists and information/disinformation groups.
The first injection redirected users to a spammy sports website, whereas the second one boosted the authority of a spammy casino website in search engines.
Cybersecurity researchers at Sucuri have shared their research on how WordPress vulnerabilities can jeopardize the system’s security and that usually already discovered flaws are used to compromise WordPress sites with multiple infections.
Researchers noted that outdated websites are highly likely to be exploited by multiple attackers, or the same hacker can target them using multiple channels. The latter scenario was recently identified by Sucuri’s researchers, who detected a database injection featuring two different malware embedded together to achieve two entirely different goals. Both the malware could be found scattered over a WordPress database.
The first injection redirected users to a spammy sports website, whereas the second one boosted the authority of a spammy casino website in search engines. As per Sucuri, nearly 270 websites were impacted by the first injection, and the second impacted 82 websites.
One of the compromised WordPress websites (Image credit: Sucuri)
The first injection’s domain performs the redirecting process. The browser is instructed to wait for 60 seconds, after which a redirect is made to the domain “hxxp://redirect4xyz.” The user is redirected again, and they arrive on this spam domain: hxxp://pontiarmadacom when the first redirecting process is complete. This spammed site has iframes that disseminate malware to clueless users.
The second injection’s domain, “hxxp://nomortogelkuxyz,” is a gambling casino site that uses a common methodology to boost its authority in search engines. This attacker used a black hat SEO tactic and placed an invisible link throughout the compromised sites to improve its domain authority and appear genuine.
It is worth noting that, according to Sucuri’s blog post, both injections use the ‘.xyz’ domain extension, which attackers commonly use in such campaigns. These domains are available at cheaper rates for the first year, which explains why it is used extensively.
However, the presence of two different infections on the same website shows how attackers can disseminate various malware on the same site and how different bad actors can exploit a single flaw to infect the site.
Threat actors can easily monetize the same outdated sites with different malware to get full access. The problem lies in vulnerable WordPress plugins/themes, which allow multiple threat actors to exploit and distribute malware.
To mitigate the threat, keep your WordPress site plugin themes and software up-to-date by enabling auto-updates so that vulnerabilities are patched on time. Moreover, a web application firewall can block attacks caused due to vulnerabilities and add another layer of protection for a vulnerable site.
Additionally, the admin user count should be low, and securer passwords should be created for all accounts. Lastly, it is essential to enable two-factor authentication (2FA) to secure the WordPress admin accounts from unauthorized access.
Content creators on YouTube can now access a plethora of various songs through Creator Music. The feature is a part of the YouTube Partner Program and allows creators to select and purchase song licenses for their videos without worrying about copyright violations.
The licensing problem of commercial music has always been a source of annoyance for content creators on YouTube. These creators often find their ad revenue is given away to song license holders. YouTube wants to solve this issue with Creator Music as a straightforward method for purchasing song rights and preventing copyright infringement.
The Creator Music has been around since last September. While many YouTube content creators rely on third-party marketplaces to purchase songs, Creator Music provides an in-house marketplace. It also includes songs with a revenue-sharing option to benefit both the creators and rights holders.
YouTube Creator Music encourages content creators to purchase songs rights
If you’re a member of the YouTube Partner Program, you can now browse through available songs. On the related dashboard, you can also search for your favorite songs and choose them based on criteria like moods, genres, and collections. There is also a feature for searching songs based on rights costs, which is handy for those on a tight budget.
Creators have two ways to pay for the song. First is the conventional method that proceeds to a checkout option and downloads the song. A second way is a revenue-sharing option, meaning the creator should split his ad revenue with the song rights holder. Of course, this option might not be available for all songs.
YouTube already offers the Audio Library of free tracks, and the good news is Creator Music isn’t going to replace it. To access the free songs on the Creator Music dashboard, you can set the price filter to $0.
Besides benefits like preventing copyright infringements and managing video production costs, Creator Music allows YouTube to compete better with TikTok, especially for Shorts. The competition between YouTube and TikTok can benefit the music industry and help novice artists to get recognition.
Google Fiber is beginning to push its 5 Gig service out to customers today. The service plan, which costs $125 a month, promises download and upload speeds of 5Gbps each. Making this the perfect plan for anyone with a huge demand for high amounts of internet usage and bandwidth.
Think multi-person households where everyone has at least one to two devices that are constantly connected to the internet. Which, isn’t that uncommon these days with all the different gaming consoles, gaming PCs, streaming TV boxes and more that can be under one roof. And that’s without factoring in a plethora of smart home appliances. The Google Fiber 5 Gig service was initially announced back in October of 2022. So there’s been a bit of a wait for those who will have the option to check out this plan.
That brings us to the downside of the roll out. It’s limited. Though this shouldn’t be too surprising as Google Fiber itself is limited and has been from the beginning.
Google Fiber 5 Gig services are rolling out to four cities across the US
While Google Fiber itself is available in more than four cities, the 5 Gig service plan will be limited to four. Those include both Salt Lake City and Provo in Utah, as well as West Des Moines, and finally Kansas City. Customers in those locations can sign up for the 5 Gig service plans today.
For anyone not in those four cities, Google does confirm that it will expand the 5 Gig to other cities in the future. It doesn’t way when though. Nor does it mention which cities it will come to next. That being said, if you live in a city that currently has Google Fiber, keep an eye out for the new plan.
Google will surely notify its current customers when things become available.
When Musk sat upon the blue-cushioned, faux-gold Twitter throne, he vowed to offer amnesty to users who’ve been suspended in the past, seemingly regardless of reason. He’s already restored the accounts of numerous infamous personas, even such ones that have been known to start a bit of an online riot. This act was a display of confidence in Twitter’s new regulation and to take things further, the social platform now has a public appeal process too. Any user with a locked, blocked, suspended or banned Twitter account can initiate the flow through this online form.
This is an effective realization of the company’s own announcement of the process, which happened earlier this week. While it’s good that they were quick to make that promise a reality, we can’t help but wonder what that may lead to, and would it include repeated instances of users getting banned?
Well, supposedly not. The Twitter Safety account shared that the plan is to take “less severe” actions against rule breakers from here on out. For example, offenders may have their reach limited or they may even get outright asked to delete certain tweets that don’t comply with the currently established rules.
That isn’t to say that we won’t see Twitter users getting banned, though. That esteemed status is reserved only for those who truly test the limits of Twitter’s policy, or become repeat offenders, despite becoming witness to the warning signs.
One must, however, ask: how does the appeals process work? Well, given that we don’t have a banned Twitter account lying around, we can’t really say. There’s basically no info about it as of now either. The company expects a high volume of requests to test their “new criteria” though, so maybe after some users emerge on the other side, they can let everyone know how it went.
Let’s just get one thing out of the way from the start so there’s no illusions. The SteelSeries Arctis Nova Pro Wireless isn’t perfect, and we think our review reflects that. That being said, this is probably about as perfect as a gaming headset can be. For now. Let me put it another way. The Arctis Nova Pro Wireless is a shining example of how good a gaming headset can be when your primary objective is excellent sound quality.
But it’s not just the sound quality that makes this headset stand out from virtually every competitor. The headset comes with many of the features available on other high-end options. Plus a few rare and/or unique features that you won’t find anywhere else. No matter how hard you try. SteelSeries really did nail this one. And for us, at least, a lot of that is owed to the design as much as the other excellent features.
But like I said. The Arctis Nova Pro Wireless isn’t perfect. It’s expensive, and I’ve run into the occasional hiccup during my time with it. I still love it though, and it quickly and easily has become my favorite gaming headset to use for everything. So let’s get into why.
The Arctis Nova Pro Wireless is the battery life king
One of the biggest issues with wireless headsets has always been battery life. Even now, wireless headsets still struggle with it. With the Arctis Nova Pro Wireless this is a non-issue. SteelSeries has kept the same battery design as its older Arctis Pro.
With removable batteries that can be swapped out when one gets low enough to need a charge. This ensures you’re always keeping one battery charged up at all times so it’s ready to go. Then when you need to swap the one in the headset out for the charged one, you simply slide the dead battery into the side of the game DAC and repeat the cycle.
What I really liked about this is that I never had to actually charge the headset. There’s always a powered-up battery good to go which means I just have to turn the headset on and use it. I never worry about battery life anymore. The batteries on the Arctis Nova Pro Wireless are also hot-swappable. You have about 5-8 seconds from the time you take the battery out of the headset to pop in the new one before it disconnects.
Which is extremely useful for when you’re in voice chat. In my time with the headset so far, I’ve had to hot swap the battery about 10 times. And each time it became more apparent how useful it is to have a feature like this. More or less, this gives the Arctis Nova Pro Wireless what feels like a nearly infinite uptime. As long as you always have one battery charging/charged up. This is also quite possibly the best thing about this headset. Though, it’s hard to say because there are so many other good features here.
Use it with all your platforms
Does it annoy you when you have to disconnect your wireless headset dongle from one platform and move it to another? While having a single headset for all your gaming platforms is great, this is one problem I’ve ran into for years.
The Arctis Nova Pro Wireless solves this problem as well. And it’s all thanks to the game DAC. It lets you keep two devices plugged in at once. There are two USB ports on the back so you can keep one plugged into your PC and another plugged into your console, in my case the PS5. Then anytime you want to use the headset with one or the other, all you have to do is use the game DAC to change the audio input to the device you’re playing on.
It can even simultaneously connect to mobile via Bluetooth while you’re connected to PC or console wireless audio using the game DAC. I will typically use this feature when I play on PS5 but want to be in a voice chat on Discord. For example, during the Call of Duty: Modern Warfare II Beta last month. I was playing on PS5 with friends who were on PC, and we all hopped into Discord. Then I connected the headset to my phone and hopped into the call through the Discord mobile app.
I also tend to play Final Fantasy XIV on PS5 but many of my friends are on PC. Which always left me with choosing what audio to hear. I could either listen to Discord or the game. Sometimes both, if I wanted to slip one of the headset earcups off. But that became uncomfortable pretty quickly. With the simultaneous connection, you don’t have to choose. And trust me, it’s amazing.
The best-looking headset SteelSeries has ever made
SteelSeries headsets have always offered pretty good sound quality. But I have never been a fan of the ski goggle headband design the company used to use on all of its headsets. It just felt like it didn’t provide enough support and the ears were never extendable. The only way you could adjust the length to account for larger heads was by shortening the ski goggle strap. Honestly, to me this was a bad design that was way less efficient.
Now, though, SteelSeries has switched things up and is changing the design on all of its headset models. Starting with the Arctis Nova Pro Wireless and a couple of others. Thankfully, gone is the ski goggle headband. In its place is a stretchy strap that provides a little tension support. The strap tension can also be adjusted using little snaps on the inside of the band.
Another detail that’s changed is the metal band itself. The band is now uncovered (meaning no ski goggle strap running across the top of it) and has some soft-touch plastic on the underside to help with the structural build. Additionally, the earcups also now extend, and the band has a slight angular look to it starting from the earcups, flattening out as it gets towards the middle.
I’m also really loving the gunmetal color, and because the mic is retractable and fits into the left earcup, the headset can easily be used as a Bluetooth headset on-the-go. To round things out, you have all the necessary buttons and dials on-ear. Power, mute, and volume on the left, and Bluetooth on the right. The power button also serves as your ANC button with a quick click. And both earcups have removable covers for accessing the battery and a USB-C port for software updates.
Some of the better active noise cancellation on a gaming headset
While I don’t think the active noise cancellation on the Arctis Nova Pro Wireless is the best of any gaming headset, it’s certainly up there. In fact, for the most part it does what it sets out to do. And I can tell you that even in cases where I was playing games on a laptop in a noisy cafe, I rarely heard anything other than my game. This was without having to increase the volume to extremely high levels mind you.
Should you want to hear things around you, you can by turning on the transparency mode. Though in most cases I’m not looking to hear the outside world while I game, sometimes I’m playing while also trying to have a conversation with a friend sitting near me. It’ll also be useful if you wear these out and about and need to talk to other people without taking the headset off.
The headset has four mics to help with ANC with two positioned on the outside of the ear and two on the inside. And there’s an additional fifth mic on the actual microphone you use for chat. That way your friends only hear your voice and nothing else.
Overall the active noise cancellation works pretty well. It’s not going to hold a candle to the Sony XM4. But I’m willing to bet most people’s experiences would be close to mine and the headset would be capable of blocking out most if not all sound.
Endless sound customization options with SteelSeries Sonar and GG software
The headset sounds great without doing much to it, but if you want to really fine tune things you can using the SteelSeries GG software suite. One of the better audio features of the headset is the Sonar software that’s built in. And in conjunction with the GG software you can adjust all kinds of things to personalize the sound. You can set up different game profiles, and adjust sub bass, bass, low mids, mid range, upper mids, and highs to get things perfect.
Or you can go the easy right and select from a dropdown of pre-set custom game profiles like Apex, Valorant, CoD: Warzone, Rainbow Six Siege and more. There’s also a toggle for spatial sound which I highly recommend turning on as this makes the game audio that much more immersive. Another really cool feature is the ‘Smart Audio’ toggle. When enabled, this automatically keeps the audio in a range that prevents it from being too loud or inaudible. And it has an associated slider that lets you increase or decrease the effect. These are also just the settings for the Game tab.
You’ll find a bunch of tweaks you can do with the Chat and Microphone segments too. And there’s a “test sound” button at the top of each tab so you can see how things sound before committing.
For the most part, the software works well. But I have had times where the audio cuts out when using it. The software did also have a tendency to lock up from time to time and block me off from using certain features. A quick reset of the software usually fixed this. In the end the Sonar and SteelSeries GG suite definitely enhance the headset. But you do really have to sit down and spend a little time tweaking things to make the most of it.
Should you buy the SteelSeries Arctis Nova Pro Wireless?
Not everyone is going to want to spend this kind of money on a gaming headset. And I totally get that. I do however think it’s worth the investment. That being said, not everyone is going to need all these features. Some players won’t need something wireless. Some won’t need the ability to swap batteries and don’t mind plugging the headset in when it needs a charge. But if you do want a high-end gaming headset with lots of bells and whistles, I say this is the only one to consider.
Its ease of use, excellent audio quality, stylish design, and hot-swappable batteries are a feature combination you just won’t find on other peripherals. So, should you buy this headset? It depends. Here’s who I think it’s perfect for.
You should buy this headset if:
You want a high-end gaming headset with tons of features
You want long battery life
You play games on multiple platforms
You should avoid it if:
You don’t want to spend a ton of money
You prefer wired headsets
You like wireless headsets but just want something simple
Overall this is an excellent gaming headset and truly the cream of the crop. If you want the best, this is it. If having the best doesn’t matter to you, there are plenty of good options at lower price points with decent features and sound.
