☕ Good morning this Wednesday! All week I’ll be reminding you that the DGiT Daily is moving and changing name, as we head across to join Android Authority properly, and with a shiny new name and logo The Daily Authority.
👉 From Monday next week, you'll get the same newsletter focusing on personal tech, but with a few new bits. It’ll still arrive in your inbox. It’ll still be the same team getting it done each day. All you have to do is wait, and consider adding hello@androidauthority.com to your email whitelist so the newsletter shows up in your Inbox.
Apple announced its new AirPods Max yesterday, likely the company’s last product for 2020.
It's a brand new set of first-party, over-the-ear headphones from Apple, as has been rumored for months now.
The new cans direct join the space where the Bose NC700 ($339 RRP) and Sony XM4 headphones ($349 RRP) have been super popular recently, for their high-quality sound and leading noise-canceling performance.
Features:
Apple’s announcement didn’t coincide with any reviews or an event - just a quietish press release on Apple.com, where the company focused on “incredible high-fidelity audio, Adaptive EQ, Active Noise Cancellation, and spatial audio.”
And, they’re $549:
Some elements I don’t like:
Reviews should be coming soon. Expect the price tag to be a major factor, but I'm super interested in just how good they are compared to the current Sony XM4/Bose range.
📺 Samsung’s official teasers for the Galaxy S21, S21 Plus and S21 Ultra have leaked, revealing a two-tone design, and confirmed lack of of the camera circle, January 14th date firming up (Android Authority).
📜 Samsung Galaxy S21 filing hits the FCC for certification, confirms Snapdragon 888, wireless technology support, and 4,000mAh battery (Android Authority).
📈 This OnePlus 7T deal makes it cheaper than the Pixel 4a (Android Authority).
🎶 On that note: What OnePlus co-founder Carl Pei is doing next — spoiler: something with audio, has raised $7M to make it happen (Wired).
📺 The top trending TV shows and movies in 2020, according to Google (Android Authority).
📅 Halo Infinite is now officially launching “fall 2021,” which is almost a full year after the original date for the launch of the Xbox Series X. That’s a big bad delay, but the demo from the Xbox showcase back in July was so disastrous (Craig meme!) that a huge rebuild is required (The Verge).
😬 CD Projekt Red plans to address Cyberpunk 2077's epilepsy triggers, after reports of seizures (Engadget).
📈 Also, Cyberpunk 2077 pre-loads via Steam on PC have caused huge spikes in downloads, with a bandwidth record of 23.5 Tbps recorded (Twitter). Live data here (Steam).
👀 The hard-to-find PS5 and RTX 3090 have each inspired dramatic thefts, fraud, and a hijacking of a truck full of PS5 consoles in the UK (The Verge).
😬 Pornhub ends unverified uploads and bans downloads after the New York Times expose, meaning it is no longer a “tube” site (Engadget).
🔋 Bill Gates and VW-backed startup QuantumScape released data yesterday announcing its “solid state” batteries for EVs may crack significant challenges in the space: faster charging, hold more power, and lasting longer. The downside: only ready by 2024, not verified yet, uncertain manufacturing, and $/Wh unknown (The Verge).
🔓 FireEye, one of the largest cybersecurity companies in the US, says “nation-state” hackers accessed and stole its internal hacking tools. No evidence that the tools have been used, but a black day for FireEye (Reuters).
🗻 Everest gets a growth spurt as Nepal and China revise official elevation upward: now 8,848.86 meters, or 29,031.69 feet above sea level, two feet more than the previous consensus. Everest is growing naturally each year, although earthquakes and shifts can change things overnight (NPR).
🚀 Yesterday’s SpaceX Starship SN8 prototype test launch was aborted at the very last second. Next launch date could be as soon as today or tomorrow (Space).
🤔 “What is clearly a scam but is so normalized people don’t notice?” (Back to base security system monitoring, arcade games, printer ink, Scientific journal memberships… it’s a long list) (r/askreddit).
VR meetings are weird, but they beat our current reality, writes Wired, as a new VR app called Arthur joins the working from home app list in VR, allowing you and distant colleagues, clients, and partners, to jump on a Zoom call, but within a 3D meeting space, assuming everyone owns a VR headset.
Arthur looks pretty weird, and there are significant limitations and workarounds.
But, there’s something to it! Quote:
Cheers,
Tristan Rayner, Senior Editor
©2021. DGiT. All rights reserved.