Technology

Suunto’s new headphones finally made me appreciate bone conduction

Published

2 hours ago

July 21, 2024

Suunto’s new headphones finally made me appreciate bone conduction

As a city runner, I never thought too hard about wearing noise-canceling earbuds. I’d dabbled with open-ear buds in the past but mostly ran in well-lit parks where my biggest danger was dodging goose poop. It’s different in the suburbs. Recently, I was nearly pancaked by a Range Rover going at least 10 over the speed limit. I never heard it coming, even though my headphones were in ambient mode.

Which is why I’ve spent the last two months testing the $199 Suunto Wing and $149 Suunto Sonic.

Both the Wing and Sonic are bone conduction headphones — a category that’s long been dominated by Shokz (formerly AfterShokz). The Sonic is the more basic, entry-level device, while the Wing adds a few more flourishes — namely, LED lighting, a portable power bank, and head motion controls. The Wing also has slightly better IP67 water and dust resistance compared to the Sonic’s IP55 rating.

Bone conduction headphones vibrate sound waves into your skull. It helps you stay more aware of your surroundings.

Bone conduction works by sending sound vibrations through your cheekbones instead of traveling through the air and into your ear canal. Some athletes swear by bone conduction because it keeps your ears open, meaning you’ll stay more clued into your surroundings compared to any transparency mode. (As a bonus, it can help people with hearing loss listen to audio.)

I’ve known all that for ages, but I’ll admit — I’ve never cared much for bone conduction in the past. My old AfterShokz headphones weren’t comfortable at all, but the real problem was that I rely on bass-heavy running playlists. And bone conduction? It’s not the best at bass. Even so, almost getting flattened by a speeding Range Rover was as a good reason as any to give bone conduction another go.

I generally don’t love wraparound headbands, but this was more comfortable than I expected.

On that first point, I was pleasantly surprised that the Sonic and Wing were both comfy to wear. My old AfterShokz headphones had a wraparound neckband that dug into my skin, hurt my smallish ears, and never sat quite right. These headphones also have a wraparound design, but I felt no discomfort. The headphones were stable and secure during my runs and walks. Plus, the part that sits over the ear was thin enough that it didn’t cause issues when wearing glasses or headbands — a problem I’ve had with other open-ear headphones like the chunky Bose Sport Open Earbuds.

Bass still isn’t amazing, but I was stunned at how much better it sounded on the Wing and Sonic compared to my first foray into bone conduction headphones. The rumbly intro on Stray Kids’ “Megaverse” didn’t sound nearly as cool as it would’ve on my Beats Fit Pro, but it was good enough to keep me pumped. After a few weeks, I stopped noticing the difference. (It helps that Suunto offers various sound profiles, including an outside mode that boosts bass a bit.)

The powerbank holds an extra 20 hours of charge. Kylo Ren would wear these if they could fit under his helmet.

But while the audio was better than I expected, these are still bone conduction headphones, which means they’re not great in loud environments. I was hoping these would double as passable everyday, commuter headphones, but unfortunately, listening to audiobooks or podcasts while on a loud subway or walking past honking taxis wasn’t a great experience. I had to crank up the volume, which, in turn, cranked up the vibrations until the front pieces were buzzing on my face. These wouldn’t be the first headphones I reach for if I were to run a race with cheering crowds, either. That’s a bit of a bummer, given that Suunto’s headphones are on the pricier side at $149 and $199. For reference, Shokz’s headphones range from $80–$180.

Price is also partly why, of the two, I reached for the cheaper Sonic more often. Not only is sound quality the same, but I wasn’t sold on the Wing’s extra features. The LED lights are neat, but I felt they were hard to see against my hair. (Plus, I didn’t love the Wing’s gamer Kylo Ren vibes.) As for the Wing’s head motion controls, I could never get them to work reliably. You’re supposed to be able to answer or dismiss calls, as well as skip tracks, by either nodding or shaking your head. Instead, people looked at me funny when I’d run past, furiously shaking my head because I wanted to skip to the next song.

$200

The Suunto Wing are bone conduction headphones that have 10 hours of battery life, an extra power bank, head motion controls, and LED lighting.

$149

Suunto’s entry-level bone conduction headphones. They have IP55, 10 hours of charge, and pretty decent sound quality.

The Wing didn’t win me over with battery life, either. Both devices have an estimated 10 hours, but the Wing also has a power bank that holds an extra 20 hours of charge. It’s nice, but is it $50 extra nice? For me, not really. I mostly stick to 30–45 minute runs, three to four times a week. The Sonic lasts me around a month before needing a charge. As for water resistance, the Sonic’s IP55 is good enough for sweat and getting caught in the rain, but the Wing’s IP67 rating isn’t good enough for the pool. (Another bummer for swimmers — neither has onboard storage, and Bluetooth doesn’t work underwater.)

Ultimately, my personal hunt for a pair of open-ear workout headphones to replace my Beats Fit Pro continues. Don’t get me wrong — my time testing the Sonic and Wing has given me a greater appreciation for bone conduction headphones and why so many people go to bat for them (to the point where I called in the latest Shokz to give them another go, too). I’m just too addicted to the bass drop to say my search ends here.

Technology

How to make it easier to use your phone one-handed

Published

9 hours ago

July 21, 2024

Press Room

How to make it easier to use your phone one-handed

There are going to be times when you’ve only got one hand free to use your phone. You may be walking the dog, carrying groceries, hanging on to a subway pole, or you just don’t have another hand available. But with just about every modern phone sporting a screen at least six inches corner to corner, using one hand to work your phone could be a difficult balancing act.

Luckily, both Android and iOS phones come with integrated features to make one-handed phone use less tricky. There are also some helpful options inside individual apps you can turn to.

Methods for Android phones

One-handed mode

Android has a dedicated one-handed mode that lets you shrink any app down to the bottom half of the screen to make it easier to reach. The way to enable that mode can be slightly different, depending on the manufacturer.

From Settings on a Pixel phone (or most other Android phones), go to System > Gestures > One-handed mode and enable the toggle switch.
From Settings on a Samsung Galaxy phone, tap Advanced features > One-handed mode and enable the toggle switch.

Either way, you can then simply swipe down on the screen to pull the top half of an app into reach. Make sure you swipe down close to the bottom of the screen, as otherwise, you’ll simply refresh the screen in whatever app you’re in. Tap anywhere above the app to go back to a full-screen view.

Android comes with a dedicated one-handed mode.

Screenshot: Google

You can adjust the Gboard keyboard to be more toward the side of the screen.

Screenshot: Google

Enable a one-handed keyboard

Whatever app you’re in, you can make sure Android’s default Gboard keyboard is easier to get to for one set of fingers and a thumb. With the keyboard on screen:

Tap the four-box icon above the keyboard to the left.
Choose One-handed from the pop-up menu.

The keyboard then pushes up against one side of the screen. Tap the arrow button to switch it to the other side or the expand button (four arrows) to go back to normal. (You don’t get this on the default Samsung keyboard on Galaxy phones, but you can always install Gboard on any Android phone.)

Make homescreen apps easier to access

It helps if the app shortcuts you rely on most often are down towards the bottom of your home screen, rather than up at the top. You can organize this manually, but on Pixel phones you can also have a row of your most-used apps pop down to the bottom.

Open Settings then tap Apps > Default apps.
Tap the gear icon next to Pixel Launcher.
Tap Suggestions and enable Suggestions on Home screen.

Make browsing easier

If you’ve got a Samsung phone and you use the Samsung Internet Browser, you can move the web address and search bar down to the bottom of the screen as well. (Weirdly enough, Chrome for Android doesn’t currently let you do this, though Chrome for iOS does — go figure.)

Tap the hamburger menu (bottom right) then Settings.
Choose Layout and menus.
Enable Show toolbar at bottom and Show address bar at bottom.

(Note: Some Android phones will not have the Show toolbar at bottom feature listed.)

You can find the same option inside Firefox for Android: tap the three dots (top right), then Settings > Customize and choose Bottom for the toolbar.

Methods for iPhones

If iOS is your mobile platform of choice, you can do many of the same tricks as you can on Android.

One-handed mode

The one-handed mode that covers the whole of iOS is called Reachability. You can find it from Settings on your iPhone:

Tap Accessibility > Touch.
Turn on the Reachability toggle switch.

A downward swipe toward the bottom of the screen will then shrink down whatever app or system menu you have on screen, making it easier to get at with one hand. Tap the arrow at the top of the window to go back to normal.

You can place the address bar at the bottom in Safari on iOS.

Screenshot: Apple

The Reachability mode on the iPhone helps with one-handed operation.

Screenshot: Apple

One-handed keyboard

The iOS keyboard has a one-handed mode as well. With the keyboard on screen:

Long -press on the icon in the lower left corner (it’ll show a globe or emoji symbol, depending on the keyboards you’ve got installed).
Tap on the left or right keyboard layout to pin the keyboard to that side.

You can use the white arrow that fills the space left by the keyboard to go back to the normal layout again.

Make browsing easier

As mentioned above, Chrome for iOS lets you move the address and search bar down to the bottom of the screen:

Tap the three dots (bottom right).
Choose Settings.
Tap Address bar, then (at the top of the screen) Bottom.

This is the layout Safari for iOS uses by default. If it’s been changed for whatever reason, you can reset it via Safari in iOS Settings, under the Tabs heading.

Technology

The Gamma PS1 emulator for iOS now supports 4-player games

Published

17 hours ago

July 20, 2024

Press Room

The Gamma PS1 emulator for iOS now supports 4-player games

The Gamma PS1 emulator has gained a number of significant updates since it launched as one of the first console emulators for iPhones in May. Recent updates added a new “Enhance Audio” feature and better multiplayer support, joining other key updates over the last few weeks.

Developer Benjamin Stark (aka ZodTTD) told The Verge in an email that the Enhance Audio feature in his most recent update improves audio “using reverb and interpolation effects.” He also “added Multitap emulation” for games that used Sony’s adapter that expanded the PS1’s controller port count from two to four. (That was used for games like Crash Team Racing, NBA Jam: Tournament Edition, and more.)

In other recent updates, Stark added analog stick support for games that used the Sony Dual Shock controller and the ability to switch discs without going back to the main menu for multidisc games like Metal Gear Solid. He also introduced a new “Pro” upgrade for $4.99 that turns ads off entirely.

Technology

CARMEN the robot companion can help boost your memory and cognition

Published

17 hours ago

July 20, 2024

Press Room

CARMEN the robot companion can help boost your memory and cognition

Have you ever walked into a room and forgotten why you’re there? Or misplaced your keys for the umpteenth time this week? If you’ve been noticing these little memory hiccups more often, you’re not alone.

As we age, our cognitive functions can start to slow down, and for some, it might be a sign of mild cognitive impairment.

But don’t worry. Help is on the way in an unexpected form. Say hello to CARMEN, a new robot designed to give your brain the workout it needs.

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Carmen AI robot (University of California San Diego)

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What’s CARMEN, you ask?

CARMEN stands for Cognitively Assistive Robot for Motivation and Neurorehabilitation. Fancy name, right? But don’t worry, CARMEN’s job is simple — to help people with mild cognitive impairment (MCI) sharpen their mental skills from the comfort of their own homes. This small, tabletop robot was developed by researchers at the University of California San Diego.

Think of CARMEN as a personal trainer for your brain, ready to guide you through exercises that can boost your memory, enhance your attention and improve your problem-solving skills. What makes CARMEN special is that it’s the only robot out there that focuses on teaching compensatory cognitive strategies. In other words, it helps you find clever workarounds for cognitive challenges.

2-CARMEN the robot companion can help boost your memory and cognition

Carmen AI robot (University of California San Diego)

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Why CARMEN is a game-changer

Here’s the deal. About 20% of folks over 65 have MCI, which is like a middle ground between normal aging and dementia. It’s not just a minor inconvenience. Up to 15% of people with MCI transition to dementia each year. While there aren’t any miracle pills to stop MCI from progressing, behavioral treatments can make a real difference. That’s where CARMEN comes in.

As Laurel Riek, a professor at UC San Diego and the project’s senior author, puts it, “We wanted to make sure we were providing meaningful and practical inventions.”

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3-CARMEN the robot companion can help boost your memory and cognition

Carmen AI robot (University of California San Diego)

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What can CARMEN do for you?

Imagine having a personal trainer for your brain right on your tabletop. CARMEN leads you through fun, interactive games and activities designed to boost your memory, attention and problem-solving skills. If you need help remembering where you put your keys, CARMEN can teach you to create routine places for important objects.

If you’re struggling to keep track of appointments, CARMEN’s got note-taking strategies for that. These aren’t just random exercises. They’re part of a well-validated compensatory cognitive training (CCT) intervention, which CARMEN delivers autonomously.

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4-CARMEN the robot companion can help boost your memory and cognition

Carmen AI robot (University of California San Diego)

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The brains behind CARMEN

CARMEN wasn’t born in a vacuum. The clever folks at the University of California San Diego teamed up with doctors, people with MCI and their caregivers to create this little robot. They wanted to make sure CARMEN would be truly helpful in real-life situations.

The team designed CARMEN with some key features in mind. It’s plug-and-play, with few moving parts, so you can use it without supervision. It works even with limited internet access. It communicates clearly and shows empathy. It gives you breaks after tough tasks to keep you engaged.

5-CARMEN the robot companion can help boost your memory and cognition

Carmen AI robot (University of California San Diego)

CARMEN in action: What do users think?

After spending a week with CARMEN, users reported trying out new strategies they thought were impossible before. Most found CARMEN easy to use and understand, though one user did find it a bit challenging. The best part? Everyone wanted more time with their new robotic pal.

“We found that CARMEN gave participants confidence to use cognitive strategies in their everyday life, and participants saw opportunities for CARMEN to exhibit greater levels of autonomy or be used for other applications,”the researchers reported.

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6-CARMEN the robot companion can help boost your memory and cognition

Carmen AI robot (University of California San Diego))

The tech behind CARMEN

CARMEN is built on the FLEXI robot platform from the University of Washington. However, the UC San Diego team made significant hardware modifications and wrote all the software from scratch. They’re using ROS (Robot Operating System) to run CARMEN’s brain.

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7-CARMEN the robot companion can help boost your memory and cognition

Carmen AI robot (University of California San Diego)

What’s next for CARMEN?

The team is planning to test CARMEN in more homes. It also wants to teach CARMEN how to have conversations while keeping your privacy safe. This is both an accessibility issue and a response to people’s expectations of being able to talk with home systems. The researchers are also exploring how CARMEN might help people with other conditions, like ADHD.

But they’re being careful too. As Riek notes, “We want to be mindful that the user still needs to do the bulk of the work, so the robot can only assist and not give too many hints.”

While we don’t know the eventual cost or exact release date yet, CARMEN’s development shows promise for accessible, at-home cognitive support in the future.

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Similar technologies in brain training

While CARMEN represents an exciting development in cognitive assistance for those with mild cognitive impairment, it’s worth noting that it’s not the only player in the field of brain training technology. We’ve previously covered another innovative system called Sens.ai, which offers a different approach to cognitive enhancement.

Sens.ai is a 5-in-1 brain training system that uses a comfortable headset and a gamified app to help users achieve various cognitive goals. Unlike CARMEN, which is specifically designed for those with mild cognitive impairment, Sens.ai caters to a broader audience looking to improve sleep, cognition, well-being or meditation skills.

The Sens.ai system employs a range of advanced technologies, including brainwave sensors, heart rate monitors, transcranial photobiomodulation, and objective functional brain testing. These tools work together to measure and enhance brain performance across different areas of cognitive function.

While CARMEN is still in the research phase, Sens.ai is already available to consumers, offering a free trial of its membership program. It’s backed by scientific research and has garnered positive testimonials from users.

The existence of technologies like Sens.ai alongside research projects like CARMEN demonstrates the growing interest and investment in cognitive enhancement tools. As this field continues to evolve, we may see a variety of options become available to support brain health and cognitive function for different user needs and preferences.

Kurt’s key takeaways

CARMEN represents an exciting step forward in how we approach cognitive health. By bringing clinically validated exercises into people’s homes through a friendly, interactive robot, we’re making brain health more accessible and engaging. While CARMEN is still in the research phase, it’s not hard to imagine a future where these kinds of AI assistants become common household helpers, especially for our aging population. They could be a game-changer in extending independence and quality of life for many people.

So, what do you think? Would you welcome a little robot like CARMEN into your home to help keep your mind sharp? Let us know by writing us at Cyberguy.com/Contact

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Kurt “CyberGuy” Knutsson is an award-winning tech journalist who has a deep love of technology, gear and gadgets that make life better with his contributions for Fox News & FOX Business beginning mornings on “FOX & Friends.” Got a tech question? Get Kurt’s free CyberGuy Newsletter, share your voice, a story idea or comment at CyberGuy.com.