Technology - Google News

Nothing’s Ear 1 wireless earbuds are an ambitious start - Engadget
Google is kicking ‘sugar dating’ apps out of the Play Store - The Verge
The global chip shortage is starting to hit the smartphone industry - CNBC

Nothing’s Ear 1 wireless earbuds are an ambitious start - Engadget

Posted: 29 Jul 2021 05:56 AM PDT

Image Credit: Engadget, Mat Smith

At this price, they predictably don't stack up against more expensive earbuds like Sony's WF-1000XM4 ANC buds or Apple's AirPods Pro. But, perhaps thanks to the silicone tips, they definitely sound better than the original AirPods. The Ear 1s are plenty loud, too.

Each bud weighs under five grams, making them lighter than those more expensive options, while still packing active noise cancellation — something Google's similarly priced Pixel Buds A lack. After several months using the AirPods Pro, Nothing's debut earbuds definitely feel more comfortable to me.

Despite the lightness, Nothing claims you should get four hours of listening with ANC on, and up to 5.7 hours (340 minutes) with ANC off. The case — which is wider but slimmer than most charging cases — can add up to a total of 34 hours of listening. There's some fast-charge tech, too: After 10 minutes in the case you can get about another hour of listening time.

The case can be charged through USB-C or Qi wireless charging — another notable addition at this price. The earbuds are also rated IPX4 for sweat and dust resistance, so they can handle workouts that don't involve too much rain or perspiration. There are touch controls on both buds, and you can slide your finger up and down the stem for volume control, while a single tap will play/pause and a triple tap will skip a track.

Nothing's buds are compatible with both Android and iOS devices, and you don't gain or lose anything depending on which mobile OS you prefer. That is, apart from fast pairing, which is coming to Android devices but isn't yet enabled at the time of writing.

As much as I love the aesthetics of the Ear 1, my first impressions of these earbuds weren't great. When trying to connect to my iPhone, pairing was a struggle. Once the buds were eventually connected to my phone, Nothing's headphone app said that the fully charged case was empty — or not even detect it at all. Similar chaos ensued when I tried to shift pairing to my PC and Android phone. Bluetooth connections can be messy — this just seemed like a messier than it should be. The case itself seems to have its own Bluetooth profile, separate from the buds. That might be what makes pairing the headphones so frustrating.

Nothing's companion app not only offers a different way to switch between noise cancellation modes, but also a way to reassign touch controls on the Ear 1. It's a refreshing, uncomplicated app. Having wrestled with other headphone apps from Sony and the rest, though some audiophiles might find it a little restrictive.

There are four equalizer presets: balanced, more treble, more bass and voice. However, you can't adjust the equalizer manually. The Ear 1 does offer a little more flexibility with noise cancellation with light and maximum settings you don't often see on earbuds.

The Ear 1 has three high-definition mics for voice calls, with Nothing's own "clear voice technology," which utilizes algorithms that apparently help isolate and amplify your voice on calls. It should also help cut out wind noise.

I had a mixed experience with the Ear 1 for phone and video calls. With my handset, the three built-in mics coped with the noise of coffee shops and busy streets fine — in fact the people I talked to said my voice sounded particularly clear. When pairing with my Mac, however, audio quality seemed notably worse than other wireless buds and even the MacBook's built-in mic.

The Ear 1 buds are an impressive debut device. Nothing's first product launch is all about selling you on its cool — the company offered a limited run of hardware on StockX that seemed plainly targeted at Hypebeasts and early adopters. The design is compelling, and even the specifications are impressive at this price point. Nothing needs to improve on connectivity hiccups and sound quality if it wants to be mentioned in the same tier as Apple, Samsung and Sony, but it's a bold start.

All products recommended by Engadget are selected by our editorial team, independent of our parent company. Some of our stories include affiliate links. If you buy something through one of these links, we may earn an affiliate commission.

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Google is kicking ‘sugar dating’ apps out of the Play Store - The Verge

Posted: 29 Jul 2021 02:58 AM PDT

"Sugar dating" apps will not be allowed on the Android Play Store from September 1st, Google has announced as part of a series of policy changes for the platform. The change, which was first reported by Android Police, specifically prohibits apps relating to "compensated sexual relationships." Other changes coming to the platform include a new crackdown on inactive developer accounts, Google says.

Traditionally, sugar dating relationships involve older, wealthier individuals dating and showering younger partners with gifts. As Android Police notes, there's no shortage of apps on the Play Store designed around setting up "sugar daddy" relationships. None of them explicitly say that older men are expected to compensate younger women for their affection, but many emphasize the wealth of the men on their services.

Google's Play Store policies already prohibit apps that promote "services that may be interpreted as providing sexual acts in exchange for compensation." But the updated wording expands this definition to explicitly include "compensated dating or sexual arrangements where one participant is expected or implied to provide money, gifts or financial support to another participant ('sugar dating')."

Google's announcement doesn't explicitly say why the apps are being banned now. But it comes amidst a crackdown on online sex work by platforms following the introduction of the FOSTA-SESTA legislation in the US in 2018, which removes Section 230 protections for content that "promotes or facilitates prostitution." A representative from Google did not immediately respond to a request for comment.

Beyond the dating app rule changes, the search giant is also introducing a new policy which will see it delete developer accounts if they've remained inactive for a year. Google says it will make exceptions for accounts behind apps with over a thousand installs or with recent in-app purchases, but if a developer hasn't uploaded an app or signed into the Google Play Console over the course of 12 months, their account is at risk of deletion. In a video outlining the change, Google says it will notify developers of an impending deletion 60, 30, and 7 days before it takes place.

The policy updates also offer more information on Google's previously announced changes regarding Play Store spam and opting-out of the use of advertising IDs. It's updating its store listings and promotion policy on September 29 to ban "spam text and graphics in app titles, icons and developer names" and its ads policy is being updated to reflect the advertising ID changes on October 4th.

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The global chip shortage is starting to hit the smartphone industry - CNBC

Posted: 29 Jul 2021 04:00 AM PDT

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A store window in Dublin, Ireland, with iPhones and Samsung Galaxy handsets on display.

Artur Widak | NurPhoto | NurPhoto via Getty Images

A global shortage of computer chips has impacted everything from automobiles to video game consoles. And smartphones are looking like they're next on the list.

Semiconductors have been in short supply this year, due to a number of reasons including factory closures resulting from the Covid-19 pandemic and heightened demand for consumer electronics.

Automakers have been especially impacted by the shortage, with companies like General Motors and Ford reducing or even halting production of certain vehicles.

Video game consoles are also being affected, with gamers struggling to get their hands on the new Microsoft Xbox Series X and Sony PlayStation 5 systems.

Smartphones have so far been mostly shielded from the fallout, thanks to manufacturers like Apple and Samsung stockpiling critical components.

"The automotive industry doesn't run at the same cadence as the smartphone business," Ben Wood, chief analyst at CCS Insight, told CNBC. "They saw the problems more slowly than the smartphone guys."

Carmakers rely on bigger, older chips while phone makers are using the latest processors, Wood said. Smartphones are also sold in far higher volumes than vehicles, making them a preferred customer of suppliers.

Meanwhile, "smartphone companies didn't drop their demand for chips as the automotive sector did when they expected a drop in demand for cars" at the start of the pandemic, Syed Alam, Accenture's global semiconductor lead, told CNBC.

"In fact, smartphone companies benefited from the extra capacity left behind by automotive businesses, which led the automotive sector to experience a chip shortage when demand for cars rose faster than they anticipated," he added.

However, mobile manufacturers are now starting to feel the impact of the global chip shortage.

"Now that the automotive sector and others are catching up and starting to reclaim the capacity they had given up, there is a fierce competition for semiconductor supply," Alam added. "This has created supply pressure for smartphone chips."

Demand for smartphones waned in 2020 as the coronavirus pandemic raged, with sales declining 12.5% according to Gartner. However, that demand has been quickly recovering this year, as several countries lift their Covid lockdown restrictions. Gartner says that global smartphone sales grew 26% in the first quarter.

Apple warning

On Tuesday, Apple CEO Tim Cook warned that silicon supply constraints will affect sales of the iPhone as well as other products like the iPad.

The shortages aren't in high-powered processors that Apple manufactures for its devices but chips for everyday functions like powering mobile displays and decoding audio, Cook said.

"Although Apple is one of the 'big dogs' that gets top priority from chipmakers, it is vulnerable to silicon shortages like everyone else," Glenn O'Donnell, VP and research director at analyst firm Forrester, told CNBC.

"While everyone focuses in on CPUs (the high end of chips), every device (including an iPhone) contains a whole lot more and without these supporting chips, the phone is nearly useless."

Still, Apple "has proved remarkably resilient so far throughout the pandemic," CCS Insight's Wood said. "that's testament to its tremendous focus on supply chain."

It is smaller manufacturers like China's Lenovo and TCL, and Finland's HMD Global, that are likely struggling with supply, Wood added.

HMD, which is launching some new Nokia smartphones this summer, warned the semiconductor shortage could prove challenging for smaller device makers.

"We see there is definitely overall tightness" in the supply chain, Florian Seiche, HMD's CEO, told CNBC. "We might see a certain imbalance across the market," he said, adding that demand for low-end models is quite high.

Like Apple, Samsung benefits from its size and bargaining power. However, analysts say the company is not out of the woods yet.

"Samsung seems the one under greater impact" in the first half of 2021, Dale Gai, semiconductor analyst at Counterpoint Research, told CNBC.

The South Korean electronics giant was hit with a month-long shutdown of its semiconductor fabrication plant in Austin, Texas, earlier this year after a snowstorm led to power outages. Meanwhile, Samsung's Vietnam factories suspended operations after detecting cases of coronavirus.

In March, the company said there was a serious imbalance in supply and demand of chips in the IT sector, and that it may skip the launch of its next Galaxy Note handset.

On Thursday, Samsung said it saw a 54% jump in profit in the second quarter as chip prices soared. The company forecast a recovery in the mobile market to pre-pandemic levels, but warned a shortage of non-memory chips posed a risk to its forecasts.

Higher prices

In terms of the overall impact on smartphones, Gai said he expected the shortage to shave 10% off of device makers' production forecasts.

"I don't believe the shortage will have a severe impact, but it will have an impact," said Forrester's O'Donnell.

So what does this all mean for you, the consumer?

"The likely outcome here is higher prices for phones and deeper shortages for certain models," according to O'Donnell.

"In Apple's case, you might be able to get the high end iPhone 12, but not the lower-end iPhone XS," he said. "Other smartphone makers like Samsung, LG, and the Chinese makes like Xiaomi and Huawei will all feel the pinch."

- CNBC's Sam Shead and Kif Leswing contributed to this report.

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