Having recently impressed us with their mid-range FiiO M11S portable digital audio player, Chinese audio firm FiiO is back with a decidedly high-end offering for its next on-the-go device.
The new M15S portable player comes packed with two desktop-grade ES9038PRO digital-to-analog converters, with individual DAC chips dedicated to the left and right stereo channels.
Each chip makes use of four D/A converters for what FiiO claim to be extremely high-quality decoding, with the device able to support playback of audio files up to 384kHz/DSD256.
The new M15S also supports MQA, allowing listeners to directly stream TIDAL Masters as well as MQA files stored locally, while further Hi-Res audio options come in the form of aptX HD Bluetooth, alongside LDAC and LHDC wireless codecs.
There's onboard 2.4GHz/5GHz Wi-Fi allowing for support of Apple AirPlay and DLNA streaming, as well as compatibility with the increasingly popular multi-room music software platform Roon.
(Image credit: Fiio)
Weighing 345g, the device runs on Android 10, which allows for lossless access to Tidal, Qobuz and Apple Music, and it's powered by a Qualcomm Snapdragon 660 processor - the same CPU which features on FiiO's flagship M17 hi-res audio player.
Along with a regular 3.5mm headphone jack and both 2.5mm and 4.4mm balanced headphone outputs, there's a 5.5-inch multi-touch HD display with 64GB of onboard storage that can be expanded up to 2TB of extra storage via the microSD card slot.
The FiiO M15S is available now to order for $999/£979 from the FiiO website, and set to ship later this month.
We can't wait to put it through its paces and see how it matches up to best MP3 players currently out there. Watch this space…
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Okay, Gen Z, you’ve discovered vinyl records, find them cool, and maybe even bought one of the best turntables to play them on. But how much do you know about the proper handling and cleaning of your precious vinyl stash?
If the answer to that question is “I didn’t know I had to clean it,” here’s some news that will help set the record straight.
Spin-Clean, manufacturer of the long-running Spin-Clean record cleaning system, has announced a consumer outreach program to teach vinyl newbies about proper vinyl LP maintenance. According to the company, the program’s launch coincides with the first major upgrade to the Spin-Clean system in 50 years, and will include “digital and print ads; pop-up banners on vinyl user forums and record collector sites; and social media that specifically targets young vinyl enthusiasts.” There is also a white paper with info on vinyl care and playback basics.
The inspiration for the consumer outreach program apparently stems from recent research conducted by US-based MusicWatch, with a press release issued by Spin-Clean to announce its updated system citing the following statistics:
18 million consumers purchased vinyl in 2021, a 27% boost over the previous year
46% of these were between 18 and 34 years of age
43% of respondents to the MusicWatch survey said “they want to preserve or keep [records] in pristine condition for their collections”
This is all obviously music to the ears of a record cleaning system manufacturer, which may have been at one time worried about its primary market – boomers – aging out, and a lack of new customers for its products as the best music streaming services started to overtake physical media.
But a vinyl revival has been a real and ongoing thing over the past few years, with record sales experiencing record-breaking year-over-year increases in 2020 and 2021 – the height of the pandemic. That meteoric rise stalled out in 2022, however, when sales rose a mere 4.2% according to the U.S. 2022 Luminate Year-End Music Report, with a good chunk of it driven by the release of Taylor Swift’s Midnights.
So, what’s new about this upgraded Spin-Clean system that the company is targeting at the next generation of LP collectors?
Along with simple snap-in rollers for 7-, 10-, and 12-inch records, it has a new streamlined basin design that’s easier to clean, a higher-precision brush alignment, and improved stability from new self-adhesive rubber feet. The company says these changes should make the record cleaning process more approachable for newbies, and they apparently won’t come at an increased cost since the new Spin-Clean will sell at the same $79 / £79 / approximately AU$120 price as its predecessor.
(Image credit: Spin-Clean)
Analysis: The vinyl revival keeps on spinning
If the growing number of record stores in my hometown is any indication, vinyl continues to be very much a viable medium. There are regular events like Record Store Day that drive consumer demand and interest, and major artists like Taylor Swift continue to max out the capacity of existing record-pressing plants in the US with their new releases.
For many newcomers to collecting, playback apparently isn’t an issue – that same Luminate 2022 year-end report cited that 50% of consumers who had bought vinyl over the previous 12 months don’t even own a record player. Reading into that data, some people are buying vinyl LPs simply to own a physical token that gets them closer to their favorite artists. Streaming may be convenient, but it’s clearly not enough of an experience for serious music fans.
As someone who owns a record cleaning machine and uses it to scrub the LPs that I pick up from garage sales, record fairs, and on occasion those local record stores, I can vouch for the sound quality improvements proper record cleaning brings. At $79, the Spin-Clean system counts among the more affordable options on the market, and with a 50-year history, it’s obviously one that has plenty of satisfied users.
New vinyl records can be expensive (and sometimes not exactly what you expect in the case of reissues of older titles). Gen Z, Millennial, Boomer, whomever, if you are actually playing LPs on a turntable, you will benefit from giving them a semi-regular cleaning. Spin-Clean is on the right track with its outreach program, so let's hope it locks in groove with its target market.
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Criminals have been discovered distributing fake Tor browsers that are designed to steal cryptocurrency, and so far, have been quite successful, raking in roughly $400,000 in various tokens from unsuspecting victims, experts have warned
Cybersecurity researchers from Kaspersky are warning users to watch out for Tor browser installers from third-party stores.
They’ve spotted one such executable sitting in a password-protected RAR archive which, when extracted and installed, monitors the Windows clipboard for cryptocurrency wallets. If it spots one, it will replace it with one controlled by the attacker.
Complicated addresses
When a person tries to send funds from one address to another, they would usually copy and paste the recipient’s address, as these are a long string of seemingly random characters which are almost impossible to remember.
If the malware replaces the copied address with a different one, chances are the victim won’t see the difference and will just send the funds to the wrong address.
The method actually works quite well, as these attackers stole some $400,000 from roughly 16,000 users, just this year. Most of the stolen cash is in Bitcoin ($380,000), Litecoin ($10,000), Ethereum ($4,800), and Dogecoin ($517). Due to the way the malware is designed, the researchers can’t be absolutely certain about the amount of money stolen, and speculate that the final figure is probably even bigger.
While the victims are scattered all over the world (52 countries) the bulk of them reside in Russia, followed by Ukraine, and the US. The researchers believe Russians were the biggest targets as Tor was first banned, and later censored, in the country. That made Russians look for alternative places to grab the famed browser from.
"The Tor Project called to help keep Russian users connected to Tor to circumvent censorship," said Vitaly Kamluk, head of Kaspersky's Global Research and Analysis Team for APAC. "Malware authors heard the call and responded by creating trojanized Tor browser bundles and distributing them among Russian-speaking users."
Siri’s 11-year reign may be drawing to a close as a new generative AI rival called Perplexity has just landed on the Apple App Store.
Note that Perplexity is not based on ChatGPT and has its own AI. However, it does function in a similar manner to ChatGPT. You ask it a question, like who designed the Golden Gate Bridge, and it’ll churn out a response in a few seconds. From there, you can either type in a follow-up question, use the voice command feature to verbally ask questions, or choose one from the generated selection. Responses can then be shared via a messaging app or social media platform. It’ll even save “your thread history so you can pick up where you left off,” according to the App Store listing. But unlike ChatGPT, Perplexity actually provides the sources it used to generate content. Underneath, you will see citations from Wikipedia, local news sites, and national newspapers like NPR accompanied by a brief piece of text providing context.
To use Perplexity, you will need an iPhone supporting iOS 16 or later to install the app or an M1 Mac sporting macOS 13.0 or later.
As for an Android version, it doesn’t appear the developers behind Perplexity have any plans to make one at the time of this writing. We reached out to the team via the official PerplexityAI Discord channel, but haven’t heard back yet. The closest thing you can do is use the AI through a web browser on your Android device or Windows computer. There’s also a Chrome extension available if you prefer more direct access.
Perplexity on an iPhone(Image credit: PerplexityAI/Twitter)
Siri's future
With the introduction of Perplexity on iPhone, you essentially have some form of ChatGPT-like AI on every Apple platform and we don’t mean accessing the generative AI through a web browser. Mac computers have MacGPT, a native app offering quick access on desktops that saw a big update recently. A couple of weeks ago, the Apple Watch got Petey as an easily accessible, on-device assistant to replace Siri.
So we can’t help but wonder what’s cooking behind the scenes at Apple Inc. The company has been suspiciously quiet, allowing the likes of ChatGPT to roam on its platform unfettered as third-party apps. It's unlike Apple to just leave this new trend in the tech industry alone so it must be up to something. The closest indication we currently have is Apple enacting some new rules on its App Store for generative AI. According to a report by CNBC, it recently rejected an update to the BlueMail app due to concerns about the software’s ChatGPT feature not including a filter to protect minors from inappropriate content.
The date for Apple’s Worldwide Developer Conference 2023 has been set for June 5. We’re looking forward to seeing what changes, if any, Siri may get. It'll be interesting to see if the long-standing virtual assistant will get a revamp allowing it to go toe-to-toe with its newfound rivals or be thrown out for a brand new AI model.
Investment bank Goldman Sachs has echoed the fears of worker around the world that generative AI, like ChatGPT and Google Bard, could very soon replace our jobs.
Despite the technology having a respectably healthy effect on global GDP, the bank's report highlights that 300 million jobs are at risk, and that “significant disruption” is on the horizon as artificial intelligence becomes more accurate.
Some hope is portrayed in the mention that generative AI can ultimately boost workers’ productivity, making the news more of a shift in work patterns rather than total redundancy, however how the world adapts to AI remains pivotal to the livelihood of millions.
Will AI take my job?
As we have come to expect, AI’s effects are far-felt, extending to an estimated two-thirds of US and European jobs, with office and administrative support, and legal both likely to be heaviest affected. Building and grounds cleaning and maintenance; installation, maintenance, and repair; and construction and extraction are all among the least likely to be affected.
A smaller, but no less worrying, percentage of people are deemed to be working in high-risk roles. As many as 7% of US workers could see at least half of their work replaced by generative AI, presenting a significant risk to their roles.
Goldman Sachs’s predictions haven’t come from nowhere, though. OpenAI, the company behind popular generative AI ChatGPT, recently announced the findings of a study on the effects of such models on the labor market. It found that four in five workers would see at least 10% of their work tasks affected by GPTs, while almost one in five would see at least half of their work affected.
While many have likened this new era to the transition from industrial to technological, others argue that even more people are at risk of being left behind, highlighting the urgency for countries and organizations to carefully consider - and even reconsider - the implications of AI.
Considering a career change? Here are the best job sites
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Cybersecurity researchers have shared details on a North Korean state-sponsored hacking group that’s been operating in the shadows for five years now.
Called APT43, the group was seen targeting governments, and high-profile individuals in the West (the US, Europe), but also in its neighborhood (Japan, South Korea).
The findings were shared by experts from Mandiant, which described APT43 as a “moderately sophisticated” group that mostly goes after sensitive information, but sometimes also is just after money, with stolen funds usually going to fund additional cybercrime operations.
Laundering cryptos
When stealing money, APT43 mostly targets cryptocurrencies. The researchers spotted the group using fake crypto investment apps for Android, tricking people interested in crypto loans, and stealing their funds, which are later laundered through hash rental and cloud mining services.
When stealing sensitive information, it mostly targets government and military agencies from North Korea’s adversaries:
"The group is primarily interested in information developed and stored within the U.S. military and government, defense industrial base (DIB), and research and security policies developed by U.S.-based academia and think tanks focused on nuclear security policy and nonproliferation," Mandiant says in its report.
"APT43 has displayed interest in similar industries within South Korea, specifically non-profit organizations and universities that focus on global and regional policies, as well as businesses, such as manufacturing, that can provide information around goods whose export to North Korea has been restricted."
Mandiant’s key argument that APT43 is a government player is the fact that it’s been seen “abruptly” switching targets, most likely after getting orders from higher echelons.
"More specifically, Mandiant assesses with moderate confidence that APT43 is attributable to the North Korean Reconnaissance General Bureau (RGB), the country's primary foreign intelligence service," the company said. The researchers have been tracking the group’s activities since 2018.
After suffering through multiple delays, Apple Pay Later is finally touching down as it begins rolling out to randomly selected users across the United States.
Originally, the service was supposed to launch alongside iOS 16 back in September 2022, but developers ran into a variety of “technical setbacks”. Apple Pay Later allows people to apply for loans from $50 up to $1,000 to purchase whatever they want while avoiding paying the full price up-front. From there, users will pay off that amount in four separate payments across six weeks with no interest or extra fees slapped on top. $1,000 is a decent chunk of change, however, it's not a guarantee. Eligibility depends on your credit score; a history with low numbers will qualify for smaller loans.
The feature will have its home in the Apple Wallet which comes with a detailed calendar that'll notify you of upcoming payments. If you're having a hard time paying, Apple will work with you to make up a new plan. And if you still can't pay off the bill, you won't be eligible for future loans. Customers must connect either a bank or debit card to their account to use the money. Credit cards cannot be used in order to, as Apple notes in its release, “prevent users from taking on more debt to pay back loans”.
Basic requirements
Before applying, you'll need to meet some basic requirements first. Currently, the feature is unavailable in Hawaii, Nevada, New Mexico, North Carolina, and Wisconsin plus all US Territories. Currently, Apple Pay Later is available in 45 states. People living in Hawaii, Nevada, New Mexico, North Carolina, Wisconsin, or any of the US territories do not have access to the feature, at this time. You have to be at least 18 years old (19 if you live in Alabama) and living in a supported state with a valid physical address.
As for hardware, all you need is an iPhone or iPad updated to iOS 16.4 and iPadOS 16.4, respectively, with two-factor authentication enabled.
Once everything is squared away, you can apply through Apple Wallet via an option at the top. Be aware the company will run a “soft credit pull” to see if you’re in a “good financial position” to borrow the money. Those rejected will get an email from Apple explaining why you didn't make the cut.
Money rules
There are some rules regarding how you can spend the loan, however.
The money will appear on the checkout page of a purchase under the Pay Later option where you’ll have 30 days to use everything. Past that time, you’ll have to reapply all over again. Whatever you get has to be used on one big order as leftover money can't be reused somewhere else. Additionally, the loan will only be accepted by online retailers and apps supporting Apple Pay, but you won't be forced to just buy Apple tech. It'll work for multiple products bought from a single retailer. Apple cannot see the details of that transaction (your purchase of an Xbox Series X and Sonic Colors Ultimate at Target.com will not be judged).
Pay Later is not currently supporting in-physical-store payments.
Apple Pay Later customers won't pay any fees, but Apple will be making some money off this program through its cut of the fees installment payment plan provider, Mastercard, charges retailers.
The company is pretty set on maxing out the loan at $1,000. For more expensive purchases, say a MacBook Pro, Apple recommends using something like the Apple Card to have payments across months instead of weeks. There are plans to expand support to all eligible customers in the US later this fall when Apple Financing, LLC, begins reporting to American credit bureaus. Unfortunately, there are currently no plans for a global launch.
Hopefully, there will be. Until then, check out TechRadar's list of the best iPhone models for 2023 if you're looking for a new device.
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