Sony’s new Linkbuds S get their first real discount

Sony only recently launched its $200 LinkBuds S wireless earphones with active noise cancellation, and we’re now seeing the first serious discount. Amazon is selling both the white and black models for $178, for a savings of $22 or 11 percent — a nice drop if you’ve been pondering a pair. 

Buy Sony LinkBuds S (white) at Amazon – $178Buy Sony Linkbuds S (black) at Amazon – $178

Sony unveiled the open wear LinkBuds earlier this year, but the LinkBuds S offer a more traditional in-ear “closed” design. They resemble Sony’s WF-1000XM4 earbuds, but are smaller and therefore more comfortable to wear for longer periods. Sony in-fact calls them “the world’s smallest and lightest, noise-canceling, hi-res” true wireless earbuds. In addition, they’re IPX4 rated so you can use them for workouts or in bad weather. 

With 5mm drivers, they promise “powerful bass and stunningly clear vocals,” Sony says. They also use the new Integrated Processor V1 found on the new WH-1000XM5 headphones to ensure high sound quality, reduce distortion and augment noise cancellation. They support high-resolution listening via Sony’s LDAC codec and DSEE Extreme upscaling. 

The ANC isn’t as powerful as that found on the WF-1000XM4, but it can still reduce background clamor. It also has a transparency mode so you can hear what’s going on around you and it can adjust that based on your activity or location. Meanwhile, a new feature called Auto Play can automatically play or resume audio based on your activity when you put the earbuds in or complete a call — letting you have a select playlist when you go for a walk, for instance. 

In other words, they’re ideal wireless earphones for everyday use and can adapt to a wide variety of activities. Considering they just launched last month, though, the deal may not last long. 

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The Morning After: iOS 16 might let you skip those anti-bot login tests

Apple’s next update to its iPhone operating system might just help you avoid the CAPTCHA anti-bot systems that stand between you and some web sign-ins. Apple teased a Private Access Token system in iOS 16, iPadOS 16 and macOS Ventura that skips CAPTCHA…

Canada is banning the sale, production and import of some single-use plastics

Canada is banning companies from producing and importing a handful of single-use plastics by the end of the year, Reuters reports. Among the items the country won’t allow the production of include plastic shopping bags, takeout containers and six-pack rings for holding cans and bottles together.

The federal government will subsequently prohibit the sale of those same items in 2023, with an export ban to follow in 2025. The one-year gap between the initial ban and the one that follows is designed to give businesses in Canada enough time to transition their stock of the listed items. Over the next ten years, the federal government estimates the new regulation will eliminate approximately 1.3 million tonnes of plastic waste, Prime Minister Justin Trudeau said on Twitter.

Not targeted by Canada’s new regulations are plastic fishing nets and lines, which can be far more problematic than single-use plastics like straws and shopping bags. Discarded fishing gear leads to ghost fishing, a phenomenon where those tools continue to trap and kill marine life. With more than 640,000 tons worth of fishing nets discarded every year, it’s a problem that’s only getting worse and one Canada’s plastics ban doesn’t address.

“It’s a drop in the bucket,” Sarah King, the head of Greenpeace Canada’s oceans and plastics campaign, told the CBC. “Until the government gets serious about overall reductions of plastic production, we’re not going to see the impact we need to see in the environment or in our waste streams.”

The ban follows a similar one enacted by France last year and is part of a broader move by governments across the world to curb the production of single-use plastics. In March, the United Nations agreed to begin work on a first-ever global plastic pollution treaty. While the agreement won’t be complete until 2024 at the earliest, it could be among the most significant efforts to curb climate change since the Paris agreement in 2015.

‘Dune: Spice Wars’ early access adds multiplayer modes

Ever since we got our first look at Dune: Spice Wars during the 2021 Game Awards, it has looked like one of the most promising videogame adaptions of Frank Herbert’s sci-fi series in a long time. If you’ve been playing the game in Steam early access, you can now look forward to fighting over Arrakis with your friends.

On Monday, developer Shiro Games announced the release of Spice Wars’ multiplayer update, allowing you and up to three other players to participate in 2v2 or free-for-all matches. If you can’t find enough friends or strangers to play with, the game will fill your match with computer opponents. As with the Spice Wars’ single-player component, you can tweak the difficulty of your AI foes and factors like map size, sandworm activity, and more.

Multiplayer support is the headline feature, but today’s update includes several other enhancements. Shiro has introduced additional in-game events and Landsraad resolutions that can change the course of your games. It has also added new regions to increase map diversity, and reworked building graphics, among other changes.

If you haven’t checked out Spice Wars yet, it’s currently 20 percent off on Steam. I’ve sunk about 30 hours into the game since it came out in early access back in April. So far, I can say Shiro has done a great job of creating an experience that feels authentic to the novels. 

Spray-on plant coating could replace wasteful plastic food wrap

Plastic food wraps might not be a bane to the environment for much longer. Rutgers University and Harvard University researchers have developed a plant-based coating that would be greener and safer than plastic packaging. The approach “sprays” fibers based on biopolymer and polysaccharide (the most common carbohydrate in food) that wrap around your food. The resulting protection is strong enough to protect against bruising, and includes natural antimicrobial agents (citric acid, nisin and thyme oil) that can fight harmful bacteria and viruses in addition to preventing spoilage.

In tests, the coating extended the shelf life of avocados about 50 percent. It takes just three days to biodegrade, and you can rinse the coating off with water. Scientists even envision turning the fibers into sensors that could activate to kill bacteria.

There’s no mention of near-term plans to put this spray-on wrap replacement into production. It could be a long while before you’re picking up bread or fruit with eco-friendly protection. Still, it may be just a matter of time before this technology reaches your grocery store. The coating could reduce the load on landfills, limit the spread of microplastics and minimize food waste.

Summer Game Fest: Where did all the AAA games go?

It’s a weird year for video games. We’re 19 months into a fresh console cycle and support for the PS4 and Xbox One is finally tapering off as developers shift focus to the PS5, Xbox Series X and PC cloud gaming platforms. The pandemic slowed or paused …

Samsung’s ViewFinity S8 monitors are a more affordable option for content creators

Samsung has a new lineup of value-oriented monitors for content creators called ViewFinity S8, it announced. The 27- and 32-inch IPS LCD models offer features like 4K 3,840 x 2,160 resolution, accurate colors, a matte finish and professional factory calibration. Better still, the prices appear to be well under $1,000. 

The ViewFinity name promises “pinpoint accuracy and consistency” for designers, artists and professionals, Samsung said. To that end, both models offer 98 percent DCI-P3 color gamut coverage, up to a billion colors (probably using 8-bit + FRC and not true 10-bit panels), Pantone validation for accurate colors, and factory calibration. The 32-inch model is certified to VESA’s DisplayHDR 600 category so should be bright enough for some HDR work, while the 27-inch model conforms to the more limited VESA DisplayHDR 400 category. 

They offer height, tilt and swivel adjustment, along with easy VESA wall mount installation. The IPS panel allows for good brightness even at acute viewing angles, while the matte finish helps reduce reflections. That means a monitor hood isn’t needed, Samsung says, which also makes the ViewFinity S8 lineup more practical for vertical screen rotation (portrait mode). 

The displays also function as all-in-one docks for desktops or laptops. You can power a phone, tablet or laptop with up to 90 watts of USB-C power delivery, and also get data transfers and even ethernet over USB-C. It also supports intelligent eye care, adaptive picture for optimized quality in any viewing environment, eye saver mode and flicker free technology. 

The ViewFinity S8 models will arrive globally by the end of June, with specific dates depending on the region. Samsung didn’t announce US prices yet, but the 32-inch model is priced at 820,000 won in Korea ($634), while the 27-inch model is 720,000 won ($557). 

Epic Games Store will randomly ask users to rate games to prevent review bombing

Epic Games has added a long-awaited feature to its store: user ratings. The company says that only those who have played a game for at least two hours will be able to rate it on a five-star scale. Not everyone will be able to rate a game either. Epic w…

Roku will put Walmart shopping ads on its streaming devices

Roku has teamed up with Walmart to serve a new kind of advertisement that will let you shop straight from your TV. Unlike typical TV ads that only showcase a specific service or product, these shoppable ads are more similar to advertisements you see online. Viewers who do find something they want to buy from the shoppable ads can press OK on their remote to begin Walmart’s checkout process. Their payment details will be automatically populated with their information from Roku Pay, so they’d only have to press OK to complete their purchase. They’ll then get an email confirmation from Walmart with shipping and return information. 

Since this is a pilot partnership between the companies, the shoppable ads powered Roku’s ad-buying platform called OneView will only feature products fulfilled by Walmart. Of course, ads always have the potential to be annoying, but Roku’s announcement suggests that it will at least show ads targeted towards its users, thanks to its advertising tech. The company also said that future iterations of this pilot program “will look for opportunities to build deeper commerce experiences that meet customers where they are.”

This isn’t the first time Roku and Walmart have joined forces: Last year, Roku debuted its new LE streaming player as a $15 Walmart exclusive for Black Friday. The device eventually made its way to other retailers like Amazon, where it’s being sold at prices ranging from $24 to $30.