This story is part of Gift Guide, our year-round collection of the best gift ideas. Streaming device manufacturer Roku offers some of the best AV gear for some of the best prices — from its insanely affordable Roku Express to the Roku Streambar speaker. Easy-to-use Roku TVs are also excellent value for money, even when …

Apple says its new MacBook Pro models feature “the best audio system in a notebook” with better microphones and improved bass.   Both the 14-inch MacBook Pro and 16-inch MacBook Pro feature a six-speaker sound system with 80% more bass. The speakers include two, larger tweeters and four force-canceling woofers that Apple says can go half an octave (or “so la ti …

With the right movie or TV show, a soundbar with Dolby Atmos onboard can help transport you out of your living room and into another world — from the nuclear wastelands of the Outback to the battlefields of Europe. Yet not all Atmos soundbars are created equal. Some include physical, upfiring drivers and some, like the Sonos Beam Gen 2, …

The 20th anniversary of the iPod is upon us, and one of the most iconic iPod speakers — the Bowers & Wilkins Zeppelin — has now been rebuilt with streaming in mind. The biggest change over the most recent Zeppelin is that the speaker now has Amazon’s Alexa voice assistant on board, meaning it can act as part of a smart …

Are you sick of watching videos on a tiny screen? Or do want to play your music over your stereo instead? Apple’s AirPlay 2 allows you to do this and more, and it’s baked right into every iPhone and Mac. The original Apple AirPlay is a proprietary system for streaming audio or video from one Apple source — typically an iPhone, iPad …

DirecTV Stream revealed Tuesday that it will begin broadcasting local PBS stations later this year, joining competitor YouTube TV.  The two companies said that participating PBS member stations will become available over the next few months, and the full launch will be completed in 2022. The livestreams will be accompanied by a PBS video-on-demand library. DirecTV Stream, which changed its …

This story is part of Gift Guide, our year-round collection of the best gift ideas. Amazon is only days away from the release of its newest streamer, the $55 Fire TV 4K Max, and in readiness the company is discounting two of its most popular models, the Fire TV Stick and the Fire TV Stick 4K. The sale is a …

Nov 2021 Dolby Atmos surround audio may have been with us for some time, but it wasn’t until streaming services like Netflix and Disney Plus got on board that manufacturers finally took the format seriously. There are a lot of Atmos soundbars on the market now, many of which are quite affordable, but just because they support the standard doesn’t mean …

Eagle-eyed observers may have noticed that last week’s Sonos price increases, by 10% on most products, didn’t include the Beam. Now we know why. The company has taken the wraps off a new Beam (Gen 2) soundbar, which offers a number of upgrades over the original, including compatibility with Dolby Atmos and better performance, according to Sonos. The speaker retains the design of …

Apple’s new Watch Series 7 will be released sometime this fall and may have fallen victim to the COVID-related manufacturing delays the company had signaled earlier in the year. Now playing: Watch this: Apple Watch Series 7: Here is what’s new 5:40 Apple announced its $399 Watch Series 7 during a livestreaming event Tuesday. The device will feature a 20% …