Here they come, over the ridge, it’s Onkyo’s midrange receivers! The TX-NR585 and TX-NR686 bring with them the features you want, including Dolby Atmos and almost every type of music streaming option. Both receivers offer 5.1.2 (with front height) surround amplification in both Dolby Atmos and DTS:X. The TX-NR686 ($649) offers a bit more power …

Essential has admitted that its inaugural Essential phone failed to please Android enthusiasts and general buyers, according to Business Insider.  “In general, one thing that we got hit hard with was the quality of our camera,” the company’s design lead, Linda Jiang, told the outlet. “We can say, we heard you and we’re going to do it better on the second-gen …

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To the casual observer it would appear that streaming media is the killing blow for the humble MP3 player. Why tote something else around when you can listen to whatever you want with your phone, including music services? To the budget-minded music fan, however, a product like the HiBy R3 is kind of a holy grail. The device, which has already amassed more …

App developer Brain.fm has received a $225K grant from the National Science Foundation (NSF) to research the effect of music on people who suffer from inattention at work, as well as attention deficit hyperactivity disorder (ADHD). Brain.fm is a mobile app that uses AI to generate music according to four different moods: “focus”, “meditate”, “sleep” and “nap”. The company says …

It’s almost springtime. The first buds have begun to sprout. And like this time every year, there’s new receivers on the way! The first of these is Onkyo’s entry-level TX-SR383. The receiver receives a mild feature bump compared to last year’s TX-SR373, with the main additions being an extra two channels of amplification — now at 7.1 — and a …

The smart speaker competition is getting fierce. Voice-powered digital assistants — Amazon Alexa, Google Assistant and Apple’s Siri — appear in more standalone audio products every day, from tiny Dots and Minis to more expensive Echos, Homes and Maxes.  For people willing to pay extra for better sound quality, though, only a handful are worth considering. Two of the most …

Facebook could be readying a News section on its Facebook Watch video service, in an apparent attempt to curb the spread of “fake news.”  That’s the word from Axios, which reports that Facebook is in talks with 10 publishers to launch the dedicated news section. The section will reportedly run for 12 months, with Facebook requiring publishers to submit videos of …

Amazon is recalling about 260,000 AmazonBasics portable power banks due to a danger of fire and chemical burns, according to the Consumer Product Safety Commision. Amazon had received “53 reports of the power banks overheating in the U.S., including one report of chemical burns due to contact with battery acid and four reports of property damage, including fire and smoke …

Google and LG are expected to unveil the highest-resolution OLED VR display yet at Display Week in May, according to the event’s program guide (as noted on Monday by Digital Trends.) The two companies are heading a session at the conference entitled “An 18-megapixel, 4.3inch, 1,443 ppi, 120 Hz OLED display for wide field-of-view, high-acuity, head-mounted displays.” That spec equates to …