Tech Trends puts Blackmagic’s most compact plug-and-play control panel through its paces. 

The DaVinci Resolve Micro Panel is incredibly small but professional. It fits perfectly next to a keyboard for simultaneous editing and color grading, and is great for use with a laptop for on location grading! 

Tom Atkinson is a Digital Producer & Photographer at R3Digital and Reviews & Dept. Editor at Tech Trends. Connect on LinkedIn and follow him on Twitter @R3Digital

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The post Product Review: Blackmagic DaVinci Resolve Micro Panel appeared first on Tech Trends.

By Laura Kobylecky

In an online session entitled “CES 2022 Tech Trends to Watch,” Steve Koenig VP of Research at the Consumer Technology Association (CTA) talks about the behaviors, global trends, and emerging technologies to watch out for this year.

Consumers Level Up

One trend that Koenig observes is consumers “leveling up” their technology in a sort of “home makeover.” situation. He describes this overall trend by saying that consumers “want a 21st-century lifestyle.”

Consumers leveling up their technology in a sort of home makeover situation #TechTrends #CES2022
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This lifestyle may include “smart technology.” People are purchasing more IoT technology in order to have a connected home that serves their needs and wants more efficiently. These smart technology devices may have “attached services” instead of being “just a simple, dumb, device.”

These devices include things like “connected fitness.” Products like this can track progress of individuals with IoT tech or be connected to online experiences.   Koenig explains that “research has shown if you buy one or two products you tend to want more.” So, after these smart home purchases are made, these customers may continue to expand their ownership in that area. Koenig emphasizes that this trend is a worldwide phenomenon.

The average consumer now subscribes to 8 streaming services #TechTrends #CES2022
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More growth has also occurred in the field of “premium brands.” Koenig describes this as a “simmering” trend that has risen over time. He points to Beats headphones and Nintendo Switch as good examples of premium brands that has been embraced by consumers. According to Koenig, consumers want that premium brand experience, and “maybe we’re willing to open our wallets a little bit wider to get that,” he says, adding that this trend increased with the pandemic as more and more people decided to level up their tech.

Another area of growth is the increasing use of subscription services. Koenig says that “customers’ zeal for services” is growing in the socially distant world. The average customer is subscribed to eight services. These “pandemic pivots” are a “product of this season of the pandemic” and according to Koenig, this increasing use of subscription services is set to continue into the future.

Fixing Problems

One pandemic trend that Koenig hopes will end soon, is the issue of the “supply chain.” He shows a chart highlighting how this issue has increased during the pandemic.

Technology could help address future supply chain issues so that they don't affect the industry so badly as they have done during the pandemic #TechTrends #CES2022
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The chart also shows that shipping costs are already going down, so the trend may not remain so severe in the future. He mentions some technology solutions that could relate to this issue, like the possible use of “autonomous trucks.” He says that several companies at CES may be relevant to that future.

Another issue in the supply chain is the “chip shortage.” Koenig says that some semiconductor fabrication plants are responding by increasing their productivity, adding additional shifts to increase production. He also mentions that new chip fabs are being built, but that this solution will take years to address the issue. Rome wasn’t built in a day and neither are semiconductor fabrication plants.

Trends in Innovation and Industry

 Koenig also sees some larger, relevant, and potentially-positive trends. 5G is a part of this vision. He explains that 5G will “provide the connective tissue for a lot of innovation in this decade.” This 5G wireless generation will be a bit unique in that it is turning away from the previous generations’ “consumer focus.” 5G is “the first wireless generation that will be led by the enterprise and not by the consumer” according to Koenig.

The “real value of 5G” is “the enterprise quotient” and the possible use of this technology in things like industrial IoT #CES2022 #TechTrends
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He says the “real value of 5G” is “the enterprise quotient” and the possible use of this technology in things like industrial IoT. Industry can use IoT to keep their production connected in real-time using the increased connectivity made possible by 5G. Also, data centers are increasingly pushing more things to the cloud and 5G will be crucial in making that happen efficiently.

Another big trend that Koenig mentions is the growth of AI. He says that it’s getting better and better, and that this may allow for transformative new applications and use cases. He uses the “see and spray” function of the new John Deere tractor presented at CES 2022 as a good example of this: This function uses AI to differentiate between plants and weeds and targets pesticides at the weeds, reducing the overall pesticide use.

And of course, the Metaverse

Koenig sees the Metaverse as “the next generation of the Internet that will convey increasingly immersive digital experiences.” This Internet will “become inextricably linked with our physical reality,” he says.

According to Koenig, “the metaverse is closer than you think” and “the building blocks are already present and in place.” According to his reckoning, haptics and volumetric video technology will help make the metaverse more realistic and immersive. Cloud technology combined with the “robust connectivity” of 5G will make this world more possible. He cheekily reminds the audience that “Ready Player One was set in the year 2045,” so perhaps we should begin to anticipate that future.

The Metaverse is the next generation of the Internet that will convey increasingly immersive digital experiences #CES2022 #TechTrends
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CES 2022 may be over, but the online content and video on demand sessions remain available until January 31. And CES remains an interesting place to become aware of the future of technology. Keep your eyes wide open to see which of these trends continue and which of these predictions come true in 2022.

Laura Kobylecky is a contributing writer to Tech Trends. She is particularly interested in new and emerging technology and culture. Connect with her on LinkedIn 

The post #CES2022 Tech Trends to Watch appeared first on Tech Trends.

By Gordon Midwood, CEO of Anything World.

Now that I have your attention (or mild disgust depending on your predilections) there is a big issue around any notion of Metaverse that we urgently need to address. In true optimise an article for SEO style, however, I won’t be telling you what that urgent need is in the second paragraph though. That would be amateurish .

Of course, the notion of what the Metaverse could be is currently in its formational stage and is the subject of much debate. So why not throw our own definition onto the pile?

There is a big issue around any notion of Metaverse that we urgently need to address
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The Metaverse is a series of persistent 3D worlds that accompany every aspect of our lives.

Property development is full of sharks

The Metaverse is a series of persistent 3D worlds that accompany every aspect of our lives
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The Metaverse would ideally just be one massive 3D environment, but I think we are a long way off singing that communal chorus just yet. Interoperability is the best we can hope for at the moment whilst the big players jostle for power in their big power jostling pants. In any case, I digress.

There are many excellent toolmakers and service providers in a great position to connect, empower and enable the growth of many aspects of the Metaverse, many of whom are good friends of ours, for example:

• ReadyPlayerMe — A cross-game avatar platform for the Metaverse
• Volograms — Easy volumetric video capture
• Oorbit — Publish and play interactive worlds
• Crucible — Tools for the creation of the open metaverse
• Volta XR — Design mixed reality experiences

Interoperability is the best we can hope for at the moment in the Metaverse whilst the big players jostle for power
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However, the Metaverse need that we feel most urgently at Anything World and have been grappling with for a couple of years is where all the content for these rich 3D worlds is going to come from.

Or, tenuous link and cheap play on words though it is undoubtedly is:

Who will write the chorus for the Metaverse?

We, in our entirely impartial and unbiased view, would strongly argue that A.I. smart services like Anything World are going to power a revolution in content creation, one in which anybody can be a 3D content creator.

There are many toolmakers and service providers in a position to connect, empower and enable the growth of many aspects of the Metaverse
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A.I. smart services like Anything World are going to power a revolution in content creation, one in which anybody can be a 3D content creator
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Thanks to the Machine Learning expertise that squarely resides in members of the team not called Gordon, we can empower anyone to create living 3D worlds with no technical knowledge. We have 7 proprietary ML steps that can turn any static 3D model into a living object with behaviours and animations applied. We automate the sourcing and bringing to life of models from the likes of Free3D and in particular Sketchfab and have ingested all the models from Google Poly. From next month you’ll be able to add your own private collections to our animation systems too.

So do whatever you want: create animated objects and living worlds and build out apps, add them to the Metaverse platform of your choice, or even mint them on a chain of blocks if you want some NFT freshness.

We are available in Unity right now so come and join the ~4,500 others creating with us! If Roblox is more your thing get in touch with us straight away, we have something top secret in the works! Well, it was top secret.

Gordon Midwood is the co-founder & CEO at Anything World, a service that uses Machine Learning to empower everyone to be a living 3D content creator. In his spare time he likes to think about why he doesn’t have enough spare time. Hit him on Discord, Twitter, Instagram, TikTok or Facebook 

The post Metaverse: But Where’s The Chorus? appeared first on Tech Trends.

By Caspar Thykier, Co-founder and CEO of Zappar

It’s been a week now since the end of AWE, which is enough time to reflect and get a healthy sense of perspective after the euphoria of the first large in-person gathering for the XR community in some time. And I have to say that the afterglow still lingers and the cynicism hasn’t kicked in!

Now I should say that the folks in and around XR are an endlessly positive bunch which you would expect for people pioneering a new computing platform: panhandling for digital gold comes with a degree of optimism generally, but with that comes a sense of camaraderie and a collegiate approach to problem solving where, although we might be competitive, the amount of blue ocean is so vast that in our group endeavour the tide rises for all (to continue the water-based analogy).

Folks in and around XR are an endlessly positive bunch which you would expect for people pioneering a new computing platform: panhandling for digital gold comes with a degree of optimism generally @ZapparApp
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An Open Forum

This means that AWE is an incredibly open forum for discussion around new product developments and software solutions, best practice, creating standards from every aspect of the ecosystem from top to bottom.

The tone is undoubtedly set up by the ever ebullient personality of Ori Inbar who always kicks off AWE with his special brand of positive energy and off-beat humour. It immediately takes the shackles off and opens up the room and event to informal discussion.

John Hanke’s keynote from Niantic and launch of Lightship brought so many important themes together of how AR can play a positive benefit in our lives and deliver those missing elements for immersion from accurate location mapping, occlusion, and collaboration to deliver heightened experiences. His words about the time for AR being now certainly resonated with our sense at Zappar of where the market is for mobile AR after ten years of foundation building.

What crystallised in my mind during the event and countless conversations with both old and new voices across the industry, was a sense that we are at a point where the stars have somewhat aligned for AR @ZapparApp
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In many ways what crystallised in my mind over the two and a half days of the event and countless conversations with both old and new voices across the industry, was a sense that we are at a point where the stars have somewhat aligned for AR: when it comes to the performance of devices; the speed of networks; the capability of the software and developer tools; and the greater understanding, amongst the business and brand community, of the power of AR to drive positive results for different use cases.

AR Coming of Age

There are of course many exciting new developments still to come but we’re now at a level of maturity in AR with enough data points to see that spatial computing really delivers a level of engagement, positive brand experience, and conversion to sale that many other media cannot provide. Sure, buy your usual digital media if you want reach, but what is reach without engagement? And how real are those impressions? Spatial computing and AR deliver a digital content experience that is active, lean-in, and commands attention with levels of engagement that other channels can only dream of. Looking at the level of creativity on display at the Auggie Awards you can see why. (And OK, yes we did win the Best Campaign Award for our work with Countdown in New Zealand alongside their shopper marketing agency Craze so I might be a bit biased!).

Spatial computing and AR deliver a digital content experience that is active, lean-in, and commands attention with levels of engagement that other channels can only dream of @ZapparApp
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Now it would be hard to write a piece on AWE without mentioning the Metaverse given how soon after the Facebook (sorry, Meta!) announcement the event fell. I can’t speak for everyone but my sense was that overall people see the ambition of Meta as being positive in terms of the firepower it will put behind the exploration of the next computing platform but probably don’t thank it for the level of confusion and misunderstanding it now brings.

Déjà Vu?

The late noughties and early teens saw a lot of work trying to explain what AR isn’t as much as what is and its potential benefits for brands, businesses, and end-users. Back then, as now with the Metaverse, there was a fairly clear consensus on the direction of travel required for AR to become more everyday and useful to people, and over time that came to pass (from tech to tool). The Metaverse is in a similar position of becoming a reality in time, as long as we don’t confuse people, make it overly complex and ensure the community works together to deliver the right safeguards, security, interoperability and standards that everyone will benefit from and learn the lessons and mistakes from the web. I think Tony Parisi’s Seven Rules is a pretty great start point if you want to get into the weeds of it. I look forward to seeing how it all lands at AWE in 2030.

My sense was that overall, people appreciate the ambition of Meta as being positive in terms of the firepower it will put behind the exploration of the next computing platform but not the confusion and misunderstanding it brings
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Raising the Bar

Finally, I must also give the bar at the Hyatt a special mention. The hotel is pretty unassuming and the bar is too but for two days and nights, it becomes its own microcosm. If you happened to be passing through and not attending AWE as a guest, the array of headsets people were wearing and the snippets of conversation you’d pick up would make you feel as if you’d landed on another planet! But it’s here, as always with events, that the real connections get made and new opportunities germinate and partnerships formed.

What the bar at the Hyatt Santa Clara lacks in character and color it provides as a blank canvas that is painted on in glorious technicolour by this wonderfully eclectic assortment of coders, creatives and clients at AWE 2021
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There is no Zoom call or virtual lobby that can get you down these weird and wonderful rabbit holes created by organised serendipity and unconstructed conversations. What the bar itself lacks in character and color it provides as a blank canvas that is painted on in glorious technicolour by this wonderfully eclectic assortment of coders, creatives and clients at AWE. It’s a rare thing but luckily we will be back again before we know it in June ‘22 as AWE hopefully returns to its original slot in our calendars.

A big thank you to the organisers and all the attendees for making AWE a singularly special event.

The post Building the Metaverse Community appeared first on Tech Trends.

Looking back at the past week it feels surreal to think that I was sharing indoor spaces with hundreds of people. Let’s just say it’s been a while since I’ve interacted with this many (responsibly vaccinated and masked) folks IRL.

At #AWE2021, everywhere you looked there were familiar faces behind the masks. It really felt like coming home to family, and there just weren’t enough hours in the day to catch up with them all
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But this wasn’t just any old bunch of people. This crowd was a heady mix of up-and-coming start-ups mingled with Fortune 500 companies. Artists and coders swapped notes with the pioneers that brought us to a place where the average person on the street now (sort of ) knows what you mean when you talk about the Metaverse. In fact, the Tweet below marks what might well become a historical moment in the industry, where one said legend – Unity’s Head of AR/VR Ads and E-Commerce and Metaverse OG Tony Parisi – started using “Metaversing” as a verb.

https://t.co/bJQr8m88FJ

— Tony Parisi Il Padrino Metaversale (@auradeluxe) November 11, 2021

Everywhere you looked there were familiar faces behind the masks. It really felt like coming home to family, and there just weren’t enough hours in the day to catch up with them all.

It’s been a while since I’ve interacted with this many (responsibly vaccinated and masked) folks IRL #AWE2021
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“The most exciting thing about AWE isn’t the technology, it’s the people,” says Alan Smithson, CEO of Metavrse (not to be confused with the lesser-known CEO of Meta).

Smithson believes this is the last year when the event will feel so intimate. “The cat is out of the bag now, and this is going to blow up in a big way,” he says, adding that we’re going to look back on this as a very special conference, and something of a tipping point for immersive tech.

“What we can do now with XR is truly amazing, and it works!” adds Caspar Thykier, CEO and Co-Founder of Zappar, an Augmented Reality company that has been around almost as long as AWE itself.

The best thing about #AWE is not the technology, it's the people
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“AWE is 12 years old now and what I think is really interesting is this incremental joining of the dots we’ve seen every year of all the constituent parts of immersive technology, of hardware and software that are just beginning to mesh beautifully together and I think what’s really exciting – apart from the fact we’re all in the same space together – is the richness of the experience we’re starting to get.”

Zappar – which aims to democratize access to Augmented Reality through its WebAR platform ZapWorks also won the “Best Campaign” award at this year’s Auggies for their “Countdown Super Insects” retail loyalty campaign that helped children learn about New Zealand’s native insect world.

What we can do now with XR is truly amazing, and it works
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Nobody really knows what the Metaverse will look like, and that's a good thing
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To see these veterans enthused about where we are – and what is to come – is exciting, because for those who know where to look, there is real substance behind the hype, as real use cases for the technology build-up, in turn uncovering even more possibilities. As Thykier sums up when asked about his vision for the Metaverse:

“I think that nobody really knows what that will look like, and I mean that in the most positive way,” he says. “There are so many possibilities and that’s why AWE is so great, because that’s where the conversation starts. This is where we start joining the next set of dots like we have done over the past decade in AR, and to understand what those dots look like for the Metaverse.”

Tech Trends offers a broad range of Digital Consultancy services to guide companies, individuals, and brands in effectively leveraging existing and emerging technologies in their business strategy.

Alice Bonasio is a XR and Digital Transformation Consultant and Tech Trends’ Editor in Chief. She also regularly writes for Fast Company, Ars Technica, Quartz, Wired and others. Connect with her on LinkedIn and follow @alicebonasio on Twitter.

The post Wrapping Up #AWE2021 appeared first on Tech Trends.

At the start of 2020 (remember those giddy, carefree times before the pandemic struck?) Unity asked more than a dozen industry experts – including yours truly – to share their thoughts on how immersive technologies would be embraced for a report entitled Top 2020 Trends: Enterprise AR & VR.

All signs were pointing to 2020 being a breakout year for immersive tech, and, as it turned out, this was one of the few things not to have been derailed by COVID-19.

With the widespread need for social distancing and shift towards remote work, companies turned to immersive technology tools such as real-time 3D, AR, and VR to connect employees for remote collaboration, replace events and exhibitions, and allow teams to work in offices, labs, and sites from afar. As the need to support employees remotely grew more urgent, this was reflected in the accelerated adoption of XR across the board.

Microsoft, for example, has seen a 13x increase in remote assistance usage over the past 12 months, and Unity believes that this general trend is likely to continue in 2021.

All signs were pointing to 2020 being a breakout year for immersive tech, and, as it turned out, this was one of the few things not to have been derailed by COVID-19
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Some of the key findings from the report include:

The use of mixed reality will expand to enable more human connections

Mixed reality has traditionally been used to aid in task completion, however, the pandemic has sparked the need for tools that mimic human connection and proximity to create more productive work environments and collaboration.

Cross-functional collaboration across immersive media will grow

2020 has seen more users looking for ways to collaborate remotely from multiple geographic locations, using media that mimic real life. Expect that to continue into 2021.

VR will prove even more useful in the workplace

The disruptions of COVID-19 have led many to look for creative ways to solve new and old problems across the workplace, such as keeping skills fresh, engaging learners without in-person training, improving employee productivity, and fostering collaboration and connection among teams.

Jeremy Dalton, Head of AR/VR PwC believes that in 2021 and beyond we will see a wider range of businesses across numerous industries become more comfortable with emerging technologies that they would otherwise have left on the sideline until pressured to innovate.

While computers will never fully replace the value of in-person connection, Fleckenstein believes there is a tremendous opportunity for more immersive collaboration, and 2021 will see mixed reality evolve beyond task completion and emerge as the ideal medium for human connection.

As the need to support employees remotely grew more urgent, this was reflected in the accelerated adoption of XR across the board
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Futurist and author Cathy Hackl, predicts volumetric video will be a key factor in sustaining this evolution and widespread adoption.

Volumetric video, she explains, can help companies overcome pain points caused by the sudden shift to remote work, since the technology makes it possible to record employees, projects, or scenarios in three dimensions, instead of digitally rebuilding them from scratch for virtual reality simulations.

“The digital video can then be edited and manipulated to be viewed on everything from flat screens to virtual reality simulations,” she explains, adding that experiencing something in 3D with real-life physical movement is shown to increase viewers’ retention of the information being taught.

According to Matt Fleckenstein Senior Director, Mixed Reality at Microsoft, the ROI for firstline workers when adopting mixed reality in enterprise has been significant:

“We’ve seen 90% of touch labor eliminated, errors reduced to zero, and increased employee satisfaction.”

Elizabeth Baron, Enterprise Solutions Executive at Unity Technologies, says “Immersive realities provide probability spaces for enterprises to study any potential reality, or the art of the (im)possible,” with a host of relevant data that is brought to life and experienced rather than merely presented.

“Storytelling with immersive XR can simultaneously bring a spreadsheet to life for an artist and bring a design to life for an engineer,” she explains.

You can access the e-book for free here

For companies looking to get into Immersive technologies our VR Consultancy service offers comprehensive support in strategic deployment of Virtual, Augmented and Mixed Reality

Alice Bonasio is a VR Consultant and Tech Trends’ Editor in Chief. She also regularly writes for Fast Company, Ars Technica, Quartz, Wired and others. Connect with her on LinkedIn and follow @alicebonasio on Twitter.

The post 2021 Immersive Tech Trends appeared first on Tech Trends.

By Laura Kobylecky

CES is a yearly technology trade show and conference, owned and operated by the Consumer Technology Association (CTA). Last year, it snuck in under the wire, on January 7-10^th in Las Vegas, before 2020’s wave of coronavirus-related cancelations. This year, like many other conferences, it happens in an online-only format.

The event features a combination of video and some interactive elements. When you log into the website, you are greeted by a short video, explaining the basic functions of the website and accompanied by a jaunty little melody. The Exhibitor showcases begin on Tuesday, January 12. On Monday the 11^th there are live videos available.   Closed-captioning is one of the bonuses of the digital experience.

This year, like many other conferences CES happens in an online-only format
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One of these live videos is the “CTA’s Tech Trends Live Q&A,” with Steve Koenig, VP of research, and Lesley Rorhbaugh, director of research for CTA.

When asked about what technologies they find exciting for this year, Rorhbaugh mentions that smartphone technology interests her. Koenig mentions Mercedes Benz new high-tech MBUX dashboard.

When asked about expectations for smart glasses, Koenig expresses enthusiasm. Saying “this is definitely the year for AR. He emphasizes that the future maybe be found in “discrete solutions” and “degrees of immersion.” The discretion can be found in wearables that you can wear “all of the time.” These sorts of glasses won’t look out of place in the day-to-day.

The “degrees of immersion” can be found by moving past the segmented world of VR (virtual reality), AR (augmented reality), and MR (mixed reality). Really, these terms describe only how much the “virtual” has replaced or overlaid the “real” world. With this sort of easy-wear wearable, more easily integrated in the day to day, the level of immersion is not perfectly defined and might vary based on your personal usage.

This is definitely the year for AR
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Rorhbaugh is excited about voice technology. She envisions this as something that could help in-vehicle tech, particularly autonomous vehicles. From her perspective “safety plays a really key role” in that sector and voice technology might contribute to that.

In regard to another hot topic, remote learning, Koenig is optimistic to an extent. He believes in the positive side of “extending opportunities” and feels that universities may “lean into these spaces.” In a “post-crisis” world they will have “manifold options” to continue using this technology to their benefit. He believes that some of the current “friction” in the online learning world will be improved when the world is not in a “panicked rush online.”

Koenig believes that 5G networks will become significant in the near and distant future. He believes they will reach “dense urban areas first.” After that “we’ll be talking about this at CES’s in the next few years, how 5 g is just gonna really overlay the entire global economy.”

5G networks will become significant in the near and distant future
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The CTE trend forecasting session at CES is a bright take on a complicated year
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Televisions are another subject of optimism. In Koenig’s opinion, “there’s always something next for TV at CES.” Unfortunately, CES 2021 will require a bit more imagination than years past. There’s really no way to judge the crystal clear realism of a TV when it’s viewed through the window of another screen. But Koenig remains positive that these “massive, massive, TVs” being showcased will delight the public. With 4K and HDR being standard fare at the moment he believes that “we’ll see more 8k displays” and even greater resolution. He also thinks there will be more competition in the “OLED” (organic light-emitting diode) space.

In his opinion, smart TV is another thing that “continues to get better and better.” Touch-less technology will allow greater and simpler command and control. He also has believes AI applications will learn our viewing patterns and enhance the viewing experience as they “serve up content to us.”

There's always something next for TV at CES
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Other ideas mentioned in this session are smart masks, data dashboards, smart filtration systems, and emergency alert systems that create a more connected world or leverage the Internet of Things.

The CTE trend forecasting session at CES is a bright take on a complicated year. These ideas may serve as inspiration for those curious about what’s new and next for the world of consumer technology in 2021.

Tech Trends’ Digital Consultancy services offer support for companies looking to enhance brand strategy with immersive technologies such as Virtual, Augmented, and Mixed Reality

Laura Kobylecky is a contributing writer to Tech Trends. She is particularly interested in new and emerging technology and culture. Connect with her on LinkedIn 

The post CES: The Online Experience appeared first on Tech Trends.

Qobuz – high res music streaming

While a large segment of music lovers still cling to vinyl and CDs the younger generation and those who live an on-demand, minimalist, and on-the-move lifestyle have embraced streaming for most of their movie and music needs. By now we are all familiar with Spotify, iTunes, and the evolving Google options and they are great for those who like music, but might not love it. True music lovers are the demographic Qobuz targets, streaming Hi-Res, and high-quality audio via some very well realized apps that will deliver a sublime listening experience no matter your lifestyle. For those running home music servers, Qobuz also provides a download shop so you can purchase and fully control the hardware streaming of your digital music.

Take a deep dive into the world of music and sound. Rediscover music’s history, its secrets, its roots and its influences, with original editorial content, available exclusively to our subscribers (articles, reviews, interviews, videos and more).

What impressed me most about Qobuz were the apps and web interfaces, all of which were pleasingly designed and packed full of engaging supporting content. Some offer digital booklets that accompany albums for those that miss the days of sleeve notes. Generally, the content and images offered are of excellent quality and paired well with recommendations for similar artists and albums. You can also subscribe to emails of music news and new releases or they offer a very nice online magazine covering well-curated industry news plus album and stereo hardware reviews.

The written recommendations provided by our discographers are not texts copied from record company blurbs, but original texts that aim to enlighten you, and to help you re-discover the world into which that album was born. At Qobuz, we love the album format. We celebrate more than a century of discography culture!

This being an audiophile product I expected a focus on classical and jazz but was so happy to find I could also find my favorite metal, pop, blues, country, and even 60s psychedelia. This is not a limited catalog by any means and I merrily jumped between Country Joe & the Fish, Dylan, Metallica, John Coltrane, Creedence, AC-DC, and Bach causing some odd looks from my coworkers.

Not all tracks are available in Hi-Res but depending on your needs you can seamlessly switch between different bitrates. This is a good feature for those switching between devices on data plans and those on fast broadband or home systems where every musical detail can be extracted and enjoyed. The interface really is great. It is very attractively laid out and easy to manage your library and connected devices. It recognized my external USB DAC and connected speakers and output a smooth and well-balanced sound even over good old fashioned wired earbuds.

Every week, the record industry delivers hundreds, sometimes thousands, of albums to our door. Our work is thus twofold: Every day, beyond the media hubbub, outside of the incessant stream of music news, we cherry-pick what is really interesting. We do this across every musical genre. This, again, does not sum up all that we do. Albums of the past constitute a huge, living museum that we work every day to curate and document.

It is a little more expensive than Spotify but at only $14.99 per month or $149.99 a year for the basic Studio Premier plan I think it is an incredible service. More plans are available for families or those wanting to mix streaming and downloads but the basic one serves up studio quality streaming up to FLAC 24-Bit up to 192 KHz, a surprisingly vast library and excellent apps for most devices. Sign up and enjoy a free 1 month trial with no strings attached here.

Kingston DataTraveler Locker+ G3 Encrypted USB Flash Drive

Sorry if this is a bit ranty but wow! I genuinely, maybe naively, though this kind of bad design didn’t happen anymore. The user experience and practical usability of this drive are terrible – simply terrible. Let me frst explain how a USB drive should work for a busy user: You plug it in and it pops up in your finder window as a drive. If there is a software encryption feature, you plug in your USB drive and a password entry window opens, you enter a password, and then it pops up as a drive in your finder window. Oh if only life were so simple!

DataTraveler Locker+ G3 is easy for anyone to setup and easy to use, with no application installation required; all the software and security needed is built in. It works on both Windows systems and Macs so users can access files from multiple systems, without installing a program on every computer used.

Yes, I understand about hidden drive partitions, ISOs, and limitations with auto-running apps on certain computers but the Kingston DataTraveler Locker+ G3 claims to be “Compatible with: Windows® 10, Windows 8.1, Windows 8, macOS v.10.12.x – 10.15.x“ and in my judgment, this is true but misses the point. You can make it work, but wasting your time making it work is not what consumers expect anymore. Tech is supposed to do the work for you. I also found it odd that they do not provide any info on the encryption level or standards you get, only the below information.

Features:

– Hardware encryption — the best in personal security to keep your data safe
– Superior password protection — user sets a password to prevent unauthorized access
– Versatile — works interchangeably between Mac OS X and Windows systems
– Secure — drive locks down and reformats after 10 invalid login attempts
– Stylish — durable metal casing with built-in key loop
– Optional cloud backup — access data stored on DataTraveler Locker+ G3 from your personal cloud storage
– Co-logo program available1 — customize DataTraveler Locker+ G3 by adding your logo and/or digital files and instantly increase your organization’s brand recognition. The Customisation Programme offers unique packaging, custom profiles, colour adjustments, content loading and more, all with easy and convenient ordering

The first time I plugged the new Kingston G3 into my MacBook Pro nothing happened. Nothing happened the second or third times either, so I looked in my Finder settings to see if I could find out the problem. Yes, the box to show ‘External Disks’ was checked. WTF? At a loss, I tried ticking all the boxes for connected devices and wow, after ticking the ‘CD, DVD and iPod’ box a CD icon appeared labeled as ‘DTL+G3’. CD stands for Compact Disc for the younger readers out there. The ‘DTL+G3’ link finally got me into the drive! OK, I thought, I’ll cut Kingston a break as this must be a first-time setup quirk, and manually installing the encryption software will prevent this happening again.

DataTraveler Locker+ G3 offers cloud backup as an optional feature. Users can chose to automatically back up data from their DataTraveler Locker+ G3 to Google Drive, OneDrive (Microsoft®), Amazon Cloud Drive, Dropbox or Box, so if the drive is lost or stolen, their data is in a safe place.

I dutifully set up the software encryption, formatted it as exFAT and linked the drive to my Dropbox account for backups. So far so good, and the USB now showed up as an external drive called Kingston. I copied a file to the drive and it synched. I went to my Dropbox to check it was working and…. no new folder called Kingston or G3 USB or anything logical. Nothing. After some hunting around I found the new folder to which all my files synch in a folder abstractly called “Apps” and then inside a second folder called “USB-to-Cloud”, no mention of Kingston. I copied a second file to the drive and yes it appeared in this folder. Not ideal I thought, but I can get used to that.

Time to test the post-setup functionality; surely it will now be intuitive and user friendly. I ejected the USB in Finder and plugged it in again. No, it did not show up as Kingston or as an external drive. It showed up as a CD again and was called DTL+G3 again. No pop-up password prompt or anything to get me access to my files. I opened DTL+G3 and was presented once again with the install files for the encryption software. Out of pure frustration, I opened the software installer as I had done only minutes before and here, at last, was a password prompt. Yes, my password worked and the USB showed up as it should. Interestingly the CD named DTL+G3 was still there in Finder and accessible as a separate partition, which is exactly what it is. For your average user this process is unnecessarily confusing and for any user, it is a waste of time. For God’s sake why make using your USB complex in a world of “it just works”?

Put a lock on your personal data with Kingston’s DataTraveler® Locker+ G3. It’s a safe and convenient way to secure receipts, bank statements and other sensitive documents with hardware encryption and password protection for a double layer of data security. The drive locks down and reformats after 10 failed login attempts, so users can rest assured their data is safe even if the drive is lost or stolen.

To be fair to Kingston I borrowed a Windows 10 laptop and to my surprise found that all of the above seemed to apply to Windows too. To access an already set up USB you still had to enter a partition labeled as a DVD to then open the ‘DTLplus_Launcher’ app which then opens the password prompt which only then allows access to the drive. I checked that Autorun was enabled in Windows in the hope that it might automatically launch the password prompt next time I inserted it but… No this did not work. Nobody wants tech that doesn’t work easily anymore and especially if it actually makes your life harder, plus nobody wants a USB drive that requires a 26-page manual to use. I could not even wipe the drive and just use it as a regular USB.

Any Pros at all? Yes, the metal case is nice and solid but the cap is not very secure and will fall off and get lost within a week. Oh, and the LED looks like they forgot to cover it, just strange. A quick speed test with Blackmagic Disk Speed Test brightened my mood with 154 MB/s reads and 133 MB/s writes, which is very fast. I’m going to wrap this up now before I bore you all to death and sorry Kingston but I can’t recommend this device for anyone who wants to remain calm and peaceful while at work. I know that third-party hardware manufacturers face problems with both Windows and macOS but if you have a product design that doesn’t “plug and play” like this one doesn’t, then don’t make it!

If you decide this kind of pain is what you want in your life then check out the Kingston DataTraveler Locker+ G3 here and they sell for between $19.99 for 8GB up to $143.00 for 128GB.

Apricorn Aegis 3NXC

I have reviewed Apricorn’s excellent and user-friendly devices before but am particularly happy to balance my review of the 128GB Kingston DataTraveler Locker+ G3 with a review of Apricorn’s brand new 128GB Aegis Secure Key 3NXC a versatile 256 Bit AES XTS Hardware-Encrypted USB flash key – the first with a built-in C-type connector. Basically this is a USB-C version of their 3NX Secure Key and is a worthy update in response to a market that’s moving towards smaller and thinner laptops and tablets that can’t accommodate a USB-A port.

The Aegis 3NXC is the most versatile hardware-encrypted USB on the market: it is compatible with PCs and Macs, as well as any operating system, including Windows®, Mac®, Linux, Android and Symbian. This provides an effective way of safeguarding data across today’s remote workforces, where employees are using a diverse range of business and personal devices to carry out their work. The device automatically encrypts all information as the user uploads it, with military-grade AES XTS hardware encryption.

Both the Kingston and Apricorn devices offer hardware encryption, 128GB storage capacity and fast transfer speeds so apart from the different USB connections we can only compare their usability and looks. First a note on encryption, Kingston does not provide any information on their website about levels or standards for the G3’s encryption while Apricorn provides abundant detail. The 3NXC features FIPS 140-2 Level 3 validation (pending Q4 2020). NIST FIPS 140 is the cryptography standard program required by the US federal government for the protection of sensitive data. Much more detailed security info can be seen on the product page here. Far too much to list here so take a look for yourself and below is a summary.

The security and operational advantages of the Aegis Secure Key 3NXC include:

– No software – so there’s nothing to keylog or to hack.
– OS agnostic – the device is completely cross-platform compatible.
– Onboard keypad – all authentication takes place within the device itself.
– All data, passwords and encryption keys are 256-bit encrypted at rest.
– No host computer is involved in setup, authentication or encryption.
– Forced enrollment – no default PINs ensures that data is not put at risk by employees who fail to change a factory set PIN before deployment.
– IP-68 validation against water and dust damage.
– Separate administrator and user access.
– Read-only options that can be enforced by the administrator or set by the user if allowed by policy.
– Highly configurable with policy such as time out values, Data recovery PINs, and programmable PIN lengths.
– Brute force PIN attack protection.
– Ability to automatically configure multiple devices remotely using Apricorn’s Aegis Configurator tool.

The Kingston looks like any other sleek little USB and offers no hint that it might feature encryption while the 3NXC looks like it is designed to provide exactly what it does, secure, pin protected data storage. Its integral keypad is a bit old school in a time of fingerprint ID but it is super practical and sturdy as hell with robust hardwearing keys and an all-metal build. Due to the keypad, the whole package is bigger than your average USB key but it is so damn usable that these observations are moot. Sensibly, Apricorn has shunned a losable cap for the USB-C connection and instead goes for a simple if unglamorous rubber sheath. But again practical wins the day and the sheath is easy to use and provides an extra level of protection for your valuable data.

Jon Fielding, Apricorn’s managing director EMEA, says: “Even before the COVID-19 pandemic, remote and mobile working was on the rise, along with the associated risks to data. As the global workforce shifted from office to home practically overnight, the demand for our encrypted secure keys skyrocketed, as did the demand for our A-to-C adapters. We accelerated the release of the Aegis Secure Key 3NXC to provide an efficient way of ensuring that employees using MacBooks, iPads and Android devices can securely store and move sensitive data, wherever and however they’re working.”

The double-sided instruction sheet that comes in the box provides very clear info on how to set up a new admin passcode and separate user accounts on the device, and worked flawlessly for me. A full and easy-to-follow manual in several languages is also preloaded onto the key. One feature I love is that you can easily unlock the device in one hand before you plug it into a computer. This is just genius and means there is no fiddly pushing of buttons while the key is connected to the side or back of your computer.

This also means that you never have to enter the passcode on the actual computer, eliminating the possibility of someone getting hold of it via a keylog or other hack. A rechargeable internal battery means unlocking is a joy, simply hit unlock, enter your passcode and hit unlock again and it is ready to go in almost any device. This whole keypad thing might put some people off but compared to the confusing and overly complex way the Kingston manages access via software it is a winner and colored LEDs make it clear if the device is locked or unlocked when in use.

Despite the USB-C connection data the 3NXC’s transfer rates are limited to USB 3.0 speeds in the region of 80 MB/s read and 70 MB/s write but as I had to use an adaptor I only got 41 MB/s reads and 38 MB/s writes, still no slouch for everyday use but not as blistering fast as the Kingston. No doubt this would be faster in a native USB-C port with no adaptor in the way.

“USB-C is the first truly universal standard for transferring data between devices, and is set to take over from USB-A as the new standard on computers of the future. While most computers and laptops still offer both A and C connector ports, the number of manufacturers exclusively committing to type C is growing. We’re developing our products with this next generation of computers in mind – but we will continue to manufacture USB-A compatible devices for those who need them for the foreseeable future.” Fielding continued.

Another great feature of all the Apricorn USB keys I have tried is that they are compatible with PCs and Macs, as well as any operating system, including Windows®, Mac®, Linux, Android and Symbian. This incredible flexibility addresses the diverse security requirements of today’s remote workforces, with PC, MacBook, iPad and smartphone compatibility. Seeing as this device has the USB-C connection needed I plugged the 3NXC straight into my Samsung Galaxy S9+ running Android 10 and it connected seamlessly. I transferred about 8GB of video files off the phone and on to the USB in under a couple of minutes. Seamless greatness! When I say plug and play, this is what I mean.

Particularly suitable for highly regulated sectors such as defense, finance, government, manufacturing and healthcare, the Aegis Secure Key 3NXC allows businesses to support safe and productive remote working on a large scale, ensuring that all workers follow information security best practice and comply with regulations such as GDPR.

While not small the 3NXC is not big either, and I had no problem adding it to my keyring and toting it around in my pocket all day. The 3NXC comes in a range of seven storage capacities from 2GB to 128GB, allowing IT departments to closely align deployments with the storage needs of each employee. Prices range from £48 to £145.

Livescribe Symphony Smart Pen and Journals

I have been waiting for a product like Livescribe for years, and so enjoyed testing out the Symphony pen and special Livescribe journals. I am now a devotee. Easy-to-use with seamless connectivity, Livescribe enables you to take notes, draw up plans or doodle on real paper in a real notebook with a real ink pen, and immediately have every letter, number and stroke instantly backed up on your phone or tablet. Several similar products have come across my desk but none have ever got the job done as well as this.

You need to charge up the pen every day or so if used regularly, and enable Bluetooth on your device, but that’s it. The pen transmits your writing to the app instantly where you can store, review, share, and backup your notes to the cloud as PDFs, Text, Docx, or images. The smartpen can carry up to 8 lined journals (No.1 through 8) at the same time between synchs, but be sure to not use two identically numbered lined journals at the same time as your smartpen might muddle the two. You can even review your notes as a feed that breaks each comment down by time and date so you can backtrack more easily if your pages are a bit of a mess.

Symphony Smartpen:

– Transcribe your notes in 27+ languages.
– Auto-sync your notes to your favorite cloud services.
– Store up to 1200 A4 pages on our pen before you need to sync.
– Our pens give you access to our Livescribe+ application that syncs to your pen and opens the doors for your handwriting to go everywhere with you.
– Access to our free Livescribe+ app.
– 90-day standby battery life.

Via the app or a shortcut printed on every journal page, you can also activate audio recording that will synch together with your notes as you go. This is genuinely awesome and just like writing, is easy to use while brainstorming or during an important meeting where you don’t want to miss a word. As a journalist, this is incredibly useful. No need to start recording on your phone and then struggle to match the recording back to your notes later – it is all just there in the app.

A pen for every occasion. The pen that fits into your day like a cup of coffee. With you always, but lasting longer and doing so much more. From taking notes in your meetings, to the idea that came on the way to the next. Mix your writing and audio together to relive that moment of inspiration, using just your pen. Save time, the pen makes your handwriting searchable giving your more time to brew another cup.

The Symphony pen itself is a little bit chunky but feels good in the hand. The USB charging port is discreetly hidden in the butt end and the fine ink point is a pleasure to use. The journals are good quality and much like any standard notebook your company might hand out. The special thing about them is the unique lines, dots, and symbols on the pages that enable the pen to track your writing and the symbols act as short cuts for media recording and playback in the app as well as bookmark options. They are purchasable in numbers 1 through 8 so you can progress from book to book and keep building up an archive of notes with a possible max of eight hundred pages before you have to start over.

Livescribe Journals:

– Hardbound journal with rounded corners and an elastic closure strap
– Scientific, financial and statistical calculator
– 5.5″ X 8.25″ dot paper
– Includes a ribbon bookmark
– 100 lined sheets
– When you’re done with a journal, you’ll need to archive it from your smartpen or application before you use another journal with the same index number. For information on archiving, please visit the Tips & Tricks section of our website.

The ease of use is what endeared the Livescribe solution to me. Without even reading the instructions I charged the pen, installed the app and was off to the races. In summary, it just works and is very intuitive. It syncs with the cloud well and is now in my bag everywhere I go. The Symphony pen is $109.95 here and a pair of journals will set you back $24.95 here.

Petsafe Drinkwell® 2 Gallon Pet Fountain

If your dog is bored with still water in a good old-fashioned bowl, then try out the PetSafe® Drinkwell® 2 Gallon Pet Fountain which, much like a self-contained garden waterfall system, cycles water from the main reservoir, up through a pump and trickles it back down into the main bowl again. If your dog likes to drink from taps then this will be a big hit.

System Includes:

– 2 Gallon Pet Fountain
– Carbon Filter
– Foam Filter
– Fountain Pump with Adaptor
– Quick Start Guide

The free-falling water stream has an adjustable flow control so you can go from little trickle to a pretty impressive stream of deliciously cold water. It’s nearly silent circulation on the lowest setting but ramps up to a more splashy stream on the highest.

The free-falling stream of water encourages your cat or dog to drink more which can help prevent urinary and kidney diseases. The large capacity fountain is perfect if you have multiple pets or a big dog. The square fountain design is large enough for several pets to drink out of at the same time with minimal splashing.

Features:

– 2-Gallon Water Capacity – This BPA-free fountain is the perfect size for cats, dogs and multi-pet households
– Encourages Hydration – A free-falling stream of water entices pets to drink more and helps prevent urinary and kidney diseases in pets through increased hydration
– Filtered Water – Replaceable carbon filter removes bad tastes and odors while the foam filter catches pet hair and debris
– Customizable Water Flow – Adjustable water flow allows you to customize the stream for you and your pet, or turn it off for a quieter operation
– Easy to Clean – The pet fountain is top-rack dishwasher safe (excluding the pump) and specifically designed with no hard to reach places
– Compatible Filters and Pump – Fountain uses PetSafe® Drinkwell® Carbon Filter #6 (PAC00-13906), PetSafe® Drinkwell® Foam Filter #5 (PAC00-13711) and Drinkwell® Replacement Pump (PAC00-16977)

The pump also uses a carbon and foam filter to remove bad tastes and odors from your pet’s water keeping it fresh for longer. The main bowl is top-rack dishwasher safe and specifically designed to have no hard to reach places to make cleaning easy. PetSafe® has come up with a cracker here. One of my dogs is addicted to it, so much so that he will drink, paddle with his paws, and blow bubbles in the bowl for an hour at a time. Let me just say that he is definitely hydrated after a play session in the Drinkwell Pet Fountain, if his frequent visits to the bushes are anything to go by!

Self-assembly is super easy and the PetSafe® Drinkwell® 2 Gallon Pet Fountain is available for $64.95 and I guarantee your dog will have a great time but keep a mop handy just in case he dives in like my Holmes 😉

Evutec & Mutrics Audio Sunglasses

This summer’s latest cool gadget is a pair of wireless audio sunglasses, and this sleek-looking offering from Evutec & Mutrics promises the cool Roy Orbison look combined with banging tunes. The younger generation might not want to look like Mr. Orbison (or know who he was) so they might opt for the white or red options rather than the black I received. They are surprisingly comfortable to wear considering the arms are quite thick in order to accommodate the technology. Charging was super easy via a magnetic connection and the battery life was impressive. I got a full seven-hour day of listening out of my pair with a mix of music and radio. For such a lightweight device, this is great.

Specs:
– Hear the word around you Open Ear Design – The open-ear design Allows full awareness of your surroundings while you’re enjoying music. The unique design keeps you safe when you’re outdoors.
– Near-field Surrounding Sound System – Feel like “Dolby” surround effect with a special sound cavity and dual built-in micro speakers.
– Bluetooth connectivity for various devices – With built-in Bluetooth 5.0, the glasses can pair with devices with Bluetooth 4.2 or lower. They are compatible with multiple IOS/Android devices.
– Built-in microphone – Offer access to hands-free calls and Google/Siri assistance
– Interchangeable lenses – Replaceable lenses to meet your daily needs
– High-temperature resistance, sweat-resistance, safe driving – Adapt to various environments, can be used normally from -20°C to 70°C. Block up to 99% of UVA/UVB rays. IP55 sweat resistance.
– Long Battery Life – Charging one hour, use one week
– Comfortable to Wear – Ergonomically Redesigned Foldable Earphones for Easy Travel / Listening Comfort
– Ultra Slim Design – Mobile Phone Thickness Design, Flexible Material Frame and Very Light Like a Normal Sunglasses Weight. Exclusive US Style Design, Neat, Unisex, and Very Comfortable to Wear while Relaxing and Exercising
– Evutec Audio Sunglasses

The key feature of these glasses is the open-ear audio system. Music plays down and out of the arms and it is the proximity of the speaker to your ear canal that means you can hear the world around you as well as the tunes. For cycling or driving, this is a much safer solution than earbuds or over-ear headphones. The compromise is unfortunately sound quality though, and these glasses don’t sound amazing. They work fine but the lack of fidelity and bass means you don’t feel as immersed in the music as much as you might hope. Talk radio, however was much better, and listening while driving was great. Spoken-word is obviously not as dynamically demanding as music and worked a lot better for me with this open-ear system.

Cycling or driving alone is one thing, but if you want to use these on crowded public transport then be aware the open ear system means your neighbors will be forced to share your music taste. I know a lot of people are happy to share their tunes with a whole carriage of commuters but I don’t want to be that person. Bear this in mind if you pick up a pair of these.

Choose the look that best fits you. Featuring a selection of limited-edition colors – each sold separately – these replacement lenses are easy to interchange for a look that’s all your own with polarized options available. And they’re forged from premium materials to ensure they won’t easily scratch or shatter.

Connectivity was good and I had no problems hooking up via Bluetooth 5.0 to Android, iOS, and macOS devices and the on-arm controls are simple and work well. You can access Siri and incoming calls with the built-in microphone. Interchangeable lenses are also available so you can pop out the dark lenses for a polarized set if that kind of look appeals to you. Summing up, they are pretty good for private listening but unless you want to be unpopular, avoid wearing them in crowded social spaces. Take a look and pick up a pair from Evutec’s site for $129.99.

Tom Atkinson is Reviews & Dep. Editor at Tech Trends. Follow him on Twitter @techtrends_tech

The post August 2020 Product Reviews appeared first on Tech Trends.

The newly launched Neo 2 & Neo 2 Eye headsets from Pico Interactive are lightweight, untethered, deliver 4K, and look most like a beefed-up Oculus Quest. “Great!” I can hear VR enthusiasts and gamers around the world exclaim, but hold your horses. Closer inspection reveals these headsets are very definitely industry-only, at least for now.

To be fair, Pico never said otherwise, and that doesn’t mean the package doesn’t present a value proposition for developers, and maybe a teaser of what that big consumer headset we are all waiting for will look like.

The newly launched @PicoInteractive Neo 2 & Neo 2 Eye headsets from Pico Interactive are lightweight, untethered, deliver 4K, and look most like a beefed-up Oculus Quest
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Compatible with a wide variety Android peripherals, the Neo 2 features a comfortable and hygienic all-PU facial interface. A unique counterbalanced design allows for extended use, with plenty of room for prescription glasses. There’s also an SD slot for expanding memory and adding additional content.

Pico’s Neo 2 line includes two headsets: the Neo 2 and the Neo 2 Eye. Both are all-in-one (AIO) devices with 6 degrees of freedom (DoF), head and magnetic controller tracking, wireless & wired streaming from a PC, spatial stereo audio, and BT 5.0 compatibility. The slightly more expensive Neo 2 Eye offers integrated Tobii eye-tracking and foveated rendering powered by their Spotlight Technology. This system scans your eyes 90 times a second and uses your own retina position for cursor control.

Quality eye-tracking in an untethered headset is a big deal and enables companies to follow and learn a customer’s in-app behavior, enhance training efficiency, and improve productivity
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Quality eye-tracking in an untethered headset is a big deal and enables companies to follow and learn a customer’s in-app behavior, enhance training efficiency, improve productivity, and possibly increase user safety in busy, shared work environments. Along with the eye-tracking comes dynamic foveated rendering, another big deal for a high resolution untethered headset. This translates into improved battery life through refined graphics performance, reducing shading load in some applications by up to 72% while increasing the possible frame rate by a supposed 66 percent.

“Over the last two years, we have seen Tobii eye-tracking become a foundational technology that makes XR devices better and improves the user experience,” said Anand Srivatsa, Division CEO of Tobii Tech. “It is fantastic to partner closely with Pico on the extraordinary Neo 2 Eye and to enable enterprise and professional users to unlock greater operational efficiency, provide powerful user insights, enhancing training, simulation and product development capabilities.”

Pico Neo 2 Specs:

– Display: 4K resolution, 101 FOV, 75 Refresh.
– Components: 845 Snapdragon, 128 GB Storage, 6GB RAM, Micro SD Card Slot.
– System/SDK: Android8.1/Pico XR SDK/Qualcomm XR SDK.
– Design: 2 Electromagnetic Controllers (6 DoF), Hygienic Replaceable PU Face Inserts.
– Weight: Less than 340g without a headband, Counterweighted Battery for Maximum Comfort.
– Audio: Integrated Spatial stereo speaker, Dual Mic EC/NR, 3.5mm Jack.
– Connectivity: USB-C, BT 5.0, Wi-Fi 802.11a/b/g/n/ac, 2X2 MIMO Dual Antenna.

Using Qualcomm’s 845 Snapdragon processor with Boundless XR, the Neo 2 also allows content streaming from a VR-ready PC and existing PC VR platforms over wireless 2X2 MIMO 802.11ac 5G link with a common MIMO 5G router. I was also pleased to see they also integrated Firefox Reality and Hubs by Mozilla. Firefox Reality is an open, accessible, and secure browser built specifically for mixed reality (including WebXR support) to create a better immersive web browsing experience. Mozilla’s Hubs allows users to collaborate online around virtual objects, spaces, and tasks – all without leaving their headsets.

Using Qualcomm’s 845 Snapdragon processor with Boundless XR, the @PicoInteractive Neo 2 also allows content streaming from a VR-ready PC over wireless 2X2 MIMO 802.11ac 5G link with a common MIMO 5G router
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Before I get into how the Neo 2 Eye performed during my hands-on, it is important to address the inevitable comparison with the game-changing Oculus Quest as all my feedback – both good and bad  – is framed around that comparison. To be blunt, the Neo 2 feels like a Quest with upgraded hardware and capabilities. However, when you first start it up and are presented with a Quest-like environment and menu system, it quickly becomes apparent that the Neo 2 isn’t the most consumer-friendly headset. But that is only because the available content is not there – yet.

While the Quest may feature less powerful hardware, the content and software are what makes the device so damn user-friendly. It’s incredibly easy to jump in and start having fun. The Neo 2, on the other hand, is marketed as an enterprise headset, and while I have no doubt it would serve as a fantastic platform to build 4K resolution apps that can make the most of its impressive eye-tracking, rendering, and connectivity, the low-quality software and demos that are now available make the headset feel like a letdown when compared to the Quest. Most of the Neo 2 apps aren’t even in 4K, so apart from the menus, most of the content looked visually underwhelming.

the @PicoInteractive Neo 2 Eye is a very exciting, professionally supported, blank slate. It's an evolutionary step forward in untethered VR headsets on to which companies can build their own technology.
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I was disappointed that Pico sent this for a review missing any preloaded software, links, or instructions to demo apps that might have exposed the true capabilities of this impressive headset. But that frustration aside, the Neo 2 Eye is nothing to be dismissed, as it is clearly a very exciting, professionally supported, blank slate. Essentially, it’s an impressive evolutionary step forward in untethered enterprise VR headsets on to which companies can build their own technology.

“Few non-tethered headsets offer this level of visual quality, design and support,” said Henry Zhou, CEO of Pico Interactive. “We’re focused on ‘user first’ in all sense of the term and are constantly looking for ways to improve our product offering,” he added.

I did come across a few hardware niggles in my testing that might present an issue for some. For instance, there is no manual IPD adjustment, and I could not find the digital one in the settings. This was a persistent annoyance and it made me feel a bit like my head was stuck inside a glass jar, with my vision compressed slightly on both sides. If IPD adjustment is digital, however, this issue could be addressed by software updates so might not be a deal-breaker as the product rolls out.

Both the controllers and the headset are ‘functionally’ designed, which means they are bulky and practical while not being ugly. They are hard-wearing and meant for constant heavy use, but it is worth noting that after 30 minutes I did start to feel some discomfort, specifically in my cheeks and ears.

The battery is part of the adjustment strap, and the fact the weight is at the back of the head counterbalances the screen at the front nicely. I didn’t notice any neck strain at all while using the @PicoInteractive Neo 2 Eye
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On the plus side, the battery is part of the adjustment strap, and the fact the weight is at the back of the head counterbalances the screen at the front nicely. I didn’t notice any neck strain at all while using the Neo 2 Eye. The padding is also composed of a super hygienic design that is comfortable, easy to clean, and replaceable.

USB-C charging ports on the controllers and headset are practical and the firmware updates were quick and easy to install. The easy-access SD card slot will be a real time-saver for software testing or the quick swapping of demo content in a sales environment. All around the Neo 2 Eye is a practical solution for businesses, not a toy or gaming device.

When you consider that the Oculus Quest for business platform costs roughly $1000, the @PicoInteractive Neo 2 models actually offer more bang for your buck
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I have read some criticism of the high cost of the Neo 2 and the Neo 2 Eye, but as an enterprise solution, they offer great value for companies seeking a sturdy, visually-impressive headset that’s easy to use in a busy work environment – from a shop floor to an architectural office. When you consider that the Oculus Quest for business platform costs roughly $1000, the Neo 2 models actually offer more bang for your buck.

The Neo 2 is now available for purchase at $699 USD and the Neo 2 Eye for $899 USD. More information on both headsets is available here. As Pico focuses on enterprise, these headsets are only sold directly to companies via a dedicated sales team spread across the globe, including offices in San Francisco and Barcelona. For more information visit Pico Interactive.

This article originally appeared on VRScout.

Pico Neo 2 Eye Review: Untethered 4K VR In A Tidy Little Package via @R3Digital https://t.co/5qrpKKpQea pic.twitter.com/zhBOFywT7L

— VRScout (@VRScout) August 5, 2020

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Tom Atkinson is Reviews & Dep. Editor at Tech Trends. Follow him on Twitter @techtrends_tech

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As our lives have moved online, Internet traffic has boomed and affiliate marketing has become a huge business – worth more than $12 billion to brands and publishers. However, the online world is still a bit of a “Wild West,” with analysis suggesting that e-commerce merchants lost over $9 billion in affiliate marketing fraud in 2017 alone. It is also estimated that over 40% of ad traffic is generated by bots, with 1 in 5 websites visited exclusively by non-humans (hopefully not this one!).

The bottom line is that the marketing industry as a whole struggles with inflated and inaccurate traffic data (critical for setting publisher revenues and brand spend) thanks to fraudulent click traffic, bots, and simply out of date or incompatible data shared between publisher and brands. To tackle this problem, one of the industry’s largest agencies, PartnerCentric, has just launched a new set of tools packaged into what they call the Control Suite, a revenue and metric-focused platform that directly addresses the issues of traffic fraud, disparate attribution and provides new competitive insights.

“Early testing has delivered some impressive results with 135% increase in return on ad spend (ROAS), a 20% reduction in fraudulent traffic and time savings of hundreds of employee hours monthly in manual handling of coupon codes, retired content and more,” says PartnerCentric CEO Stephanie Harris.

These are rather impressive numbers, and as Tom Rathbone – VP of Strategic Initiatives for PartnerCentric and Control Suite – explains, they spell out some major disruption to stagnant legacy systems:

“A lot of the big names in affiliate marketing right now have been around in one form or another since the early days of the Internet, and really established the rules for how online marketing exists now,” says Rathbone. “But we don’t want to play by those rules, because we don’t think they are in the best interest of our clients and it doesn’t truly solve their problems. And in some cases, has created brand new ones. We see ourselves as bringing a new approach with Control Suite and we want to work with young and forward-thinking start-ups and companies who are interested in a fresh new way of marketing online and don’t want to be held back by established practices and the rules of the status quo.”

This disruptive approach also spills over to their software, and Control Suite represents multiple proprietary and patented new technologies which PartnerCentric have developed to shake things up in affiliate marketing and help their clients push the boundaries of what brands and online companies can do to better control and manage their marketing footprint online.

According to Rathbone, the company’s core differentiator is the creation of technologies that aim to solve industry problems that have always been considered “just the way it is.” and aim to go beyond the status quo. Control Suite takes this innovative approach and looks beyond those existing industry platforms, to where they are not focusing, adding value to clients’ campaigns.

“Control Suite is a package of tools that really sprang from the changing needs of our clients,” Rathbone continued. “As COVID hit, the entire industry felt the pressure to operate more quickly and more responsively to the fast-changing behaviors of online shoppers and customers. We saw an opportunity to roll out our newly developed technologies covering attribution control with Fuse, more brand awareness control with Top Rank, and the increased content and compliance control our Block & Filter and Content Monitoring tools offer into one package.”

There are a lot of useful tools packed into Control Suite, and these tools become all the more powerful and insightful for being integrated into a single platform where they can feed off the same data sets and combine their analytical strengths for better, more focused output.

“We want to offer more than the entrenched players in the market and help clients better build their brands online. PartnerCentric is working to gain a deeper level of understanding into the value that we can provide and that publishers, in turn, provide to our clients, so what we offer is a much better level of control over that. We say to our clients, you are a brand, you have these needs, we want to meet those needs by providing an actionable, ground-breaking level of insight, control, and understanding that you just don’t get from the status quo,” Explained Rathbone.

First off the bat is TopRank, a tool that provides competitive analysis of your presence on publisher sites and its effect on your conversion metrics. You can also use the tool to identify new competitors in the market and opportunities for new publisher partnerships. TopRank enables users to keep a closer eye on their competitors and be smarter about marketing spending and strategy. For a small, new company seeing where your big competitors are spending on advertising – and how that is working for them – is a powerful tool to guide a new brand’s disruptive marketing strategy. This in-depth knowledge gives you the ability to make every marketing dollar go further and to successfully negotiate better commission terms and placements.

“A great use case for TopRank is to track and quantify the correlation between publishers, share of voice, and performance. We want to show what moves the needle for a client, where the true value is. Should they directly push to compete on certain loyalty sites or market product discounts directly against a competitor in a certain month of the year? TopRank helps inform clients where their resources are best spent to get the maximum return – be that sales or brand awareness. We don’t just want insights, we are driving towards predictive and prescriptive actionable steps for our clients,” enthused Rathbone.

TopRank also offers the power to spot shifts in the market or competitors positioning for a big new release. Take credit cards, for example: when you see a credit card drop off the radar across multiple sites it could indicate they are preparing for the release of a new offering and have pulled marketing for compliance reasons, or maybe they need to refresh content with a new product and a new message. By inferring the reasons a competitor might have just pulled all their offers, it allows a brand using TopRank to plan accordingly: time their own releases differently so as not to get drowned out by the moves of the competition, for example.

The value for that brand is in spotting the trends as they’re happening, and being able to make their calculated moves accordingly. In other use cases, PartnerCentric uses TopRank to negotiate with publishers to increase a brand’s share of voice on targeted pages where they are underrepresented compared to competitive brands. That ability to do this at scale is a benefit to working with PartnerCentric and gives the brand more targeted exposure and reach. TopRank gathers a huge amount of granular data that can be leveraged strategically by clients across marketing, branding, and market surveillance.

Next up is Content Monitoring, a critical job that must be done to keep track of your content, monitoring it for accuracy and FTC compliance plus making sure it is up to date and positioned alongside suitable content on publisher sites. Nobody wants to advertise Caribbean cruise holidays alongside news of a recent shipwreck, and the coronavirus pandemic gave us plenty of examples of adverts that were perfectly appropriate in January (remember those carefree times?) but sounded tone-deaf or downright insulting amid the challenges that rocked the global community since COVID-19 hit. This is the sort of tool that helps you keep a handle on such things.

“Our Content Monitoring solution provides real-time actionable feedback that identifies and helps resolve any deviations from affiliate marketing messages and misuse of coupon codes,” Rathbone explained. “This job is so necessary that everyone has to do it, albeit manually, but our clients have saved over 300 hours a month by using this to automatically and more accurately identify and resolve outdated advertising, factually inaccurate copy or inappropriate placements. For example, if you are a phone company you can see if the publisher is placing you alongside content or other adverts for pre-owned phones when your promotion is actually for new handsets.”

The last key component of Control Suite is Block & Filter, a tool that pre-emptively identifies and eliminates fraudulent traffic and bots from reaching a client’s website. Brands typically see a 20% reduction in fraudulent traffic in the first month, eliminating payments for fake traffic.

“Poor quality traffic leads to skewed analytics, increased costs from retargeting, and an increased likelihood of fraudulent conversions. We’re committed to providing value to our clients above and beyond the rest – and we cannot do that while hand-waving away bots, crawlers, and fraud as a necessary reality of digital marketing.” Rathbone continued

A key function is to stop and redirect these clicks away from a client’s site so only clicks from real potential customers are logged. This keeps the data gathered pure and therefore more usable and insightful. This is not only useful for clients to individually monitor the quality of traffic a specific publisher delivers but then PartnerCentric also has the option to take action against a publisher who provides a lot of suspect or fraudulent traffic on behalf of all of their clients.

“We are tracking hundreds of millions of data points and are advancing our platform to use predictive analytics and machine learning to better track the correlation between variables and provide actionable outcomes that add value. We will also loop the results of those actions, back into our system, evolving our service, and ultimately providing better, more valuable insights to clients. It enables you to quantify aspects such as how much return you can expect from increasing your share of voice with various publishers. It takes us beyond AB testing, – valuable as that is – towards actions that can be recommended with a high degree of confidence in the outcomes, Rathbone concluded.

Tom Atkinson is Reviews & Dep. Editor at Tech Trends. Follow him on Twitter @techtrends_tech

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