Tag Archives: Technology & Electronics

Apple Prime Day deals are here early with the M2 Macbook Air discounted to a new low of $799

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Here's a juicy early Amazon Prime Day deal: you can snag the base, 13-inch M2 MacBook Air for only $799 right now. The laptop gleaned a $200 discount as part of Prime Day Apple deals, and the savings apply to all color options so you can score one in that beautiful Midnight finish. That's the price for the models without AppleCare+ — you'll have to spend just under $1,000 if you want that add-on.

This model isn't exactly top of the MacBook Air line anymore. It's been supplanted by the M3-powered MBA, which is now our pick for the best MacBook overall. But if you'd like to save some cash and still have a very capable Apple laptop to carry around, the M2 variant is our choice for the best budget MacBook — this latest discount just makes it even easier to recommend.

Engadget's Devindra Hardawar called the M2 Air a “near-perfect Mac” in his 2022 review and gave it a score of 96. One of the first things you'll notice is the 13.6-inch Liquid Retina display, which can reach a commendable 500 nits of brightness and has a 60Hz refresh rate. The inclusion of a 1080p webcam is welcome, while the triple-mic array does a solid job of capturing your voice for your calls. The speakers are impressive too, especially for a laptop that's just 11.3 millimeters thin and weighs only 2.7 pounds.

Despite that slender form factor, Apple has still kept fans of physical headphone jacks happy by retaining the 3.5mm port. There are two USB-C Thunderbolt ports and a MagSafe charging connector as well. You shouldn't have to worry too much if you leave your charger at home when you head to the office — the M2 MacBook Air's battery should easily last for an entire workday unless you're carrying out very power-hungry work like video editing.

The M2 MBA should handle everyday tasks with relative ease, and you'll be able to play a bunch of App Store and Steam games on it too (good luck doing anything else ever again if you install Balatro). One of our main reservations with the base M2 Air is that there's only 8GB of memory. That doesn't seem quite enough these days and unfortunately, Apple charges a premium for RAM upgrades. Still, if you just want a MacBook Air that checks pretty much all the boxes most people will need for a few years, this is a great option.

It's also worth noting that there are some cool features on the way when macOS Sequoia arrives later this year, including the ability to mirror your iPhone on your Mac and a new Passwords app. Apple Intelligence features are also coming to M1 and later Macs.

Your Prime Day Shopping Guide: See all of our Prime Day coverage. Shop the best Prime Day deals on Yahoo Life. Follow Engadget for Prime Day tech deals. Hear from Autoblog’s experts on the best Amazon Prime Day deals for your car, garage, and home, and find Prime Day sales to shop on AOL, handpicked just for you.

This article originally appeared on Engadget at https://www.engadget.com/apple-prime-day-deals-are-here-early-with-the-m2-macbook-air-discounted-to-a-new-low-of-799-140716416.html?src=rss

Apple will allow developers access to its NFC technology, avoiding an EU fine

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After four years of back and forth, the European Union and Apple have finally come to an agreement on the latter's tap-and-go technology. The European Commission announced Apple made "legally binding" commitments to provide developers with their Near-Field Communication (NFC) technology, which is used for tap-and-go technology, and access iOS features like Face ID authentication and double-click to launch. The agreement saves Apple from facing an antitrust fine equal to up to 10 percent of its worldwide annual turnover — about $40 billion. 

Apple has also agreed to stipulations such as allowing users to make third-party wallets their default app. "It opens up competition in this crucial sector, by preventing Apple from excluding other mobile wallets from the iPhone's ecosystem," Margrethe Vestage, the EU's executive vice president in charge of competition policy, stated in the release. "From now on, competitors will be able to effectively compete with Apple Pay for mobile payments with the iPhone in shops. So consumers will have a wider range of safe and innovative mobile wallets to choose from." The commitments are binding for ten years, with an independent monitor ensuring Apple follows them across the European Economic Area (EEA). 

The European Commission opened its investigation into Apple in 2020, alleging that Apple was restricting rival mobile wallet developers from accessing necessary technology. Two years later, the regulatory body issued a preliminary view that Apple "abused its dominant position." 

Then, in early 2024, Apple finally offered to open up its NFC technology and report to an independent reviewer. The European Commission shared the terms publicly, encouraging Apple's rivals and other interested parties to give their opinion. The final agreement between the European Commission and Apple results from those consultations.  

The tech giant could still be on the hook for tens of billions of dollars in a different case after the European Commission issued its preliminary view that Apple violated the Digital Markets Act (DMA). The new law went into effect in March, and the European Commission soon opened an investigation into whether Apple prevented developers from telling users that they could pay less for services elsewhere. Apple currently takes a 30 percent commission on any purchases made through the App Store. The European Commission has until March 2025 to make a final ruling in the case. 

This article originally appeared on Engadget at https://www.engadget.com/apple-will-allow-developers-access-to-its-nfc-technology-avoiding-an-eu-fine-123026127.html?src=rss

The best laptop power banks for 2026

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Laptop power banks come in handy if you often travel or work away from your desk. These larger batteries have enough capacity to refill your computer to around 75 percent, giving you many more productive hours. Of course, they can also charge smaller devices like your phone, camera or tablet a few times over. Nearly all portable laptop chargers fall below the 100-watt-hour mark so you can bring them in your carry-on when you fly. Additional features, like built-in cables and digital displays make these battery banks easier to use, too. We tested over a dozen options and put our thoughts below, so you can find the best laptop power bank for your next trip away from an outlet.

Most portable batteries top out at around 27,000mAh so you can fly with them. The TSA currently limits the capacity carry-on batteries to 100Wh, which works out to around 27,500mAh for 3.6 volt lithium-ion batteries. Note that you’re not allowed to pack any batteries in your checked luggage, regardless of capacity. The TSA rules are intended to limit fire danger — and some airlines are implementing further restrictions due to recent on-board incidents.

In March 2025, a Hong Kong flight was grounded after a battery pack caught fire in an overhead bin. A similar situation happened that same year in July on a domestic Delta flight, and again in August on a transatlantic KLM flight. As a result, some airlines, including Emirates, Southwest and others have announced further restrictions on flying with battery packs.

Rules include limiting the number of allowed portable chargers and requiring flyers to keep power banks in clear view when using them to recharge a device. If the battery pack isn’t actively in use, however, most rules allow them to stay in your carry-on bag in the overhead bin. Before flying, it’s wise to check your airline’s policies.

If you just need to keep a smartphone from dying before you can make it home, just about any of the best power banks will do. But if you need to revive multiple devices or the substantial battery of a laptop, you’ll want something with a high milliamp-hour​​ (mAh) capacity. A power bank capable of delivering enough power to a laptop will have a capacity between 20,000 and 27,000 mAh.

If you want something even bigger than a laptop power bank, and don’t need to fly with it, you’ll likely want to look into portable power stations. These can be the size of a car battery or larger and can potentially fuel an entire weekend away.

Another thing to keep in mind is that the capacity listed in a power bank's specs is not what will be delivered to your devices. As I mentioned, the capacity of these banks is around 25,000mAh. Even the huge battery on a 16-inch MacBook Pro or a Dell XPS 16 has a mAh rating of around 5,000 - 6,000mAh, so you might think you’d get five full charges but in reality, you only get about a single 70-percent charge. The voltage is different (typically 3.7V for the power bank and 11.4V for a laptop) which makes the watt-hours, or the amount of energy each battery can hold, different (working out to 92Wh for the battery and 72Wh for the built-in laptop batteries). On top of that, in order to feed a charge from a power bank to a laptop, a voltage conversion takes place and that dissipates a decent amount of energy.

Without turning this into a physics lesson, this all means that a power bank with a 25,000mAh (or 92Wh) capacity will typically fill a 5,000mAh (or 72Wh) laptop battery to about 75 percent. In my tests, I averaged about a 60-percent efficiency rate between a power bank’s listed capacity and the actual charge delivered.

Every large power bank I’ve tested has at least three USB ports, with a mix of USB-C and USB-A, which should cover nearly any portable device you need to recharge — earbuds, phones, tablets, laptops, you name it. In addition to the different plug formats, some ports supply power at different wattages. For example, one built-in USB-C port might be rated for 60 watts, while the one next to it is rated for 100 watts. So if you’ve got a device that’s capable of 70W fast charging, such as the new MacBook Air, you’d want to opt for the 100W port to get the best charging speeds possible. 

Note that devices with a smaller wattage draw won’t be negatively affected by connecting to ports with high ratings. For example, a Galaxy S24 Ultra, capable of 45W super fast charging, is perfectly compatible with the 100W port. A device will only draw what it can take, regardless of what a port can supply. Just remember that the port, device and charging cable need to be at or above the desired wattage rating to achieve maximum charging rates.

Some of these larger batteries also have AC ports. It might seem like a natural fit to plug in your laptop’s power adapter for a recharge. But really, the AC port should only be for devices that can’t use USB — such as a lamp or a printer. Plugging a power adapter into the AC port only wastes energy through conversion. First, the battery converts its DC power to supply the port with AC power, then the power adapter converts that AC power back to DC so your laptop can take it in. And as you’ll remember from physics class, each time energy is converted, some is lost to heat and other dissipations. Better to cut out the middleman and just send that DC power straight from the battery to the device.

Also, you can use more than one port at a time with these devices; just remember that the speed of whatever you’re charging will likely go down, and of course, the battery is going to drain proportionally to what you’re refilling.

Since I first started testing portable power banks a few years ago, wireless charging capabilities have noticeably improved. The first few I tried were painfully slow and not worth recommending. Now the wireless pads built into power banks are impressively fast — particularly, in my experience, when charging Samsung Galaxy phones (though the lack of a stabilizing magnetic connection like Apple’s MagSafe means they only work when rested flat on a pad). Most wireless charging connections can be used while other ports are also being employed, making them convenient for some mobile battlestation setups.

Of course, wireless charging is always less efficient than wired, and recharging from an external battery is less efficient in general. If you want to waste as little energy as possible, you’re better off sticking to wired connections.

All power banks are designed to be portable, but there’s a big difference between a pocket-friendly 5,000mAh battery and one of these laptop-compatible bruisers. Most of the latter weigh between a pound and a half to two pounds, which is a considerable addition to a backpack. Many of the options listed here have a display to tell you how much charge remains in the battery, which is helpful when you’re trying to judiciously meet out charges to your devices. If a bank has a wireless connection, the pad is usually on the flat top and any available AC connection is usually at one end. Both may require you to engage those charging methods. Don’t be like me and grumble loudly that you got a bum unit without pressing (and sometimes double pressing) all the buttons first.

For the past three years, I’ve been testing and using dozens of portable batteries for our other battery guide. Some of those batteries include the higher-capacity power banks you see here. I also got a hold of a few extra banks just for this guide to make sure we covered what’s available. I went for brands I’m already familiar with, as well as battery packs from well-received manufacturers I hadn’t tried before (like UGREEN and Lion Energy). I only considered banks with at least a 20,000mAh capacity and mostly stuck with those that rated 25,000mAh and higher.

Here’s everything we tested:

I tested each power bank with an Apple phone (iPhone 15 or 16), an Android phone (Galaxy S23 Ultra), a tablet (M1 iPad Air) and a laptop (16-inch MacBook Pro with the M1 Pro chip). Even though these banks can charge multiple devices at once, I refilled one at a time, to make side-by-side comparisons more straightforward. I drained the batteries of the phones and tablets to between zero and five percent and then didn’t use any device as it refilled.

For the MacBook, I let it run down to 10 percent before plugging in the power bank. That's when most laptops give display a “connect to power” warning, as draining any battery to empty will compromise the battery life. I then used it as one might in a mobile office, with a Bluetooth keyboard and mouse, while connected to Wi-Fi and a VPN.

For each test, I noted how long a completely charged battery took to get a device back to full and how much of the battery’s capacity was used up in one charge. I also noted things like portability, apparent durability, helpful features and overall design.

For reference, here are the battery capacities of the devices I used:

  • iPhone 15: 3,349mAh

  • Galaxy S23 Ultra: 4,855mAh

  • iPad Air (5th gen): 7,729mAh

  • 16-inch M1 Pro MacBook Pro: 27,027mAh

HyperJuice 245W

Hyper’s HyperJuice 245W brick looks great and has a hefty 27,000mAh capacity. The four USB-C ports can combine to output 245W of power and it got my MacBook Pro from nearly dead to 75 percent before depleting itself. When testing it with a Samsung Galaxy S23 Ultra, the handset got back up to a full charge in just over an hour. The screen tells you what each port is doing as well as displaying the amount of charge remaining in the pack itself.

But the lack of port variety makes it feel less versatile than other picks on this list — the price is higher than our other options, too.

The main difference is size. Phone power banks tend to have a capacity ranging from 5,000mAh to 20,000mAh and laptop powerbanks are typically rated between 20,000mAh and 27,000mAh. There’s no official definition, however. Laptop batteries are simply larger and need a bigger supply of power to give them a meaningful charge.

You can charge a power bank exactly as fast as the power bank’s internal mechanisms will allow. Most batteries are limited in how quickly they can accept and deliver a charge to avoid dangerously overheating. But to make sure you’re charging a bank as quickly as possible, make sure the wall adapter and the USB-C cable you are using have a high wattage rating — using a 5W power brick and a 10W cable will take a lot longer to refill your bank than a 65W wall charger and a 100W cord.

Look for a power bank with a rating of at least 20,000mAh. Slightly smaller batteries may work, but they won’t deliver a significant charge laptops.

A milliamp hour (mAh) is how much a battery can hold, and most portable batteries list their capacity using mAh. If you get a battery rated at 20,000mAh or above, it should be able to charge your laptop.

Using mAh to discuss laptop batteries can be confusing. Due to differing voltages, you can’t directly compare the mAh ratings of a power bank battery to a laptop battery. Using watt-hours is a better gauge, as that calculation takes voltage into account.

November 2025: Updated our overall top pick to the Anker Laptop Power bank. Added a premium power bank pick.  

This article originally appeared on Engadget at https://www.engadget.com/computing/accessories/best-laptop-power-bank-120040388.html?src=rss

The Morning After: Everything Samsung revealed at Galaxy Unpacked 2024

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There weren’t too many surprises (thanks, leaks!) at Samsung’s Unpacked event, held live in Paris with satellite events in New York, London and elsewhere. The big announcement was Samsung’s foray into a new kind of wearable, the smart ring.

Samsung claims it’s been able to cram its existing sensor tech into the Galaxy Ring’s smaller form factor. Made of titanium, it packs in an accelerometer and PPG sensors to measure blood flow and detect skin temperature. It can track metrics such as sleep score, movement during your slumber, heart rate, respiratory rate and menstrual cycles. Notably, there’s no subscription required to tap into all the tracking and metrics. Take that Oura and Fitbit. The Galaxy Ring will run you $400 when it launches on July 24.

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Then there are the foldables. This year, the Galaxy Z Flip 6 gets the most attention, with upgraded camera sensors (50-megapixel wide and 12MP ultra-wide sensors), which put the smaller foldable on par with the S24. There’s also a bigger battery too.

Meanwhile, the Z Fold 6 hasn’t got many major spec bumps (there’s the annual note that screens are tougher and both foldables feature even more enhanced hinges). Both devices pack an Interpreter app, which uses both the main and cover screens to swap translations and streamline communications. There are even more generative AI tricks too.

Check out everything announced right here.

— Mat Smith

Samsung Galaxy Z Fold 6 and Z Flip 6: Brighter, lighter and faster, but is that enough?

Strava launches a family plan

Amazon’s Kindle Scribe drops to a new record low ahead of Prime Day

​​You can get these reports delivered daily direct to your inbox. Subscribe right here!

X has faced multiple legal battles since Elon Musk’s takeover. One suit concerns over 6,000 employees Musk laid off following his acquisition of the company and complains that he didn’t give them full severance. The X boss won a motion to dismiss the class action suit.

Judge Thompson found the Twitter severance plan did not qualify under the federal Employee Retirement Income Security Act (ERISA) because the employees received notice of a separate payout scheme prior to the layoffs. She ruled that the severance program adopted after Musk’s takeover applied to these former employees. Thompson’s order noted the plaintiffs could amend their complaint for non-ERISA claims.

Continue reading.

Amazon says it’s now sourcing all its power from clean energy sources, seven years ahead of its own schedule. The company’s claim of achieving 100 percent clean electricity is based, in part, on billion-dollar investments in over 500 solar and wind initiatives. The company’s logic is that the energy these projects generate equals the electricity its data centers consume. But that energy goes to the general power grid, not direct to Amazon-specific power sockets.

Continue reading.

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Xbox is increasing the price of its Game Pass again. Beginning on July 10, new subscribers will pay the updated price, while current subscribers will see the higher costs take effect starting September 12. For the US, Game Pass Ultimate prices will increase from $17 a month to $20 a month, while a year of access to Game Pass Core will jump from $60 to $75. Xbox Game Pass Standard is a new addition, for $15 per month. This plan offers access to Game Pass titles but without day-one release access to Microsoft-owned titles or Xbox Cloud Gaming.

What happened to Game Pass? It was such a great deal — it still is, arguably — but Microsoft is making it increasingly confusing.

Continue reading.

This article originally appeared on Engadget at https://www.engadget.com/the-morning-after-everything-samsung-revealed-at-galaxy-unpacked-2024-111610216.html?src=rss

Google Photos will soon seamlessly transfer to Apple’s iCloud

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Google and Apple are launching a new tool to transfer images from Google Photos to iCloud. As part of the Data Transfer Initiative (DTI), the tool will add iCloud transfers to Google Takeout’s export options. 9to5Mac first spotted the announcement.

The tool, which will roll out over the next week, automates the transfer process from Google Photos to iCloud, so you don’t have to download, upload or do anything beyond initiating the process on the web. An Apple support page says it could take several hours to a few days to complete, depending on the transfer size.

Transferring your pictures from Google to iCloud won’t delete them from Google Photos, so you’ll have to do that manually if you want. In addition, the service won’t work for child accounts, Managed Apple ID accounts (those set up through IT admins) or iCloud accounts with Advanced Data Protection turned on.

The tool follows the 2021 launch of one that does the inverse: moving your images from iCloud to Google Photos.

The DTI launched in 2023 as a collaboration between Apple, Google and Meta. Officially, it was formed to further the goals of the open-source Data Transfer Project (DTP), which began five years earlier. Unofficially, well, it’s probably not a coincidence the DTI commenced a couple of months before the European Commission named its “gatekeepers” under the Digital Markets Act, and the DTI’s goals happen to align with the governing body’s regulations. (Fancy that!)

Once it’s live (we aren’t seeing it available just yet), you can begin the process in Google Takeout. In the meantime, you can read Google and Apple’s instructions for all the fine print.

This article originally appeared on Engadget at https://www.engadget.com/google-photos-will-soon-seamlessly-transfer-to-apples-icloud-205521915.html?src=rss

Microsoft’s Xbox 360 stores will close up shop on July 29

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Get ready to feel old and/or cluttered, depending on how many consoles are hooked up to your game room TV right now. The Xbox 360 Store and Marketplace are coming to a close later this month. Microsoft announced this last year and put an official end date of July 29, according to its official FAQ page. In case you didn’t notice, the end of July is fast approaching.

All of the games, DLC and any gaming tidbits for Microsoft’s second generation console won’t be available to purchase or download on the Xbox 360 console. Your games and movie purchases are still safe, however, if you’ve got any throwback titles on your Xbox One or Series X/S console. You can also still watch your purchased movies and shows on Windows 10 and 11 devices.

Phew! For a minute there, I thought I might not be able to play NBA Jam: On Fire Edition on my Xbox One. Running an even bigger headed Dirk Nowitski up and down the court is the only way to let out the frustrations from my day (and the last NBA Finals) without breaking stuff.

Microsoft first announced the shuttering of the Xbox 360 Store and Marketplace last year. It may be unrelated, but Microsoft has had a tough year on the Xbox side. Most recently, the company announced a price increase for its Game Pass Ultimate game buffet and online live plan from $17 a month to $20 and its Game Pass Core plan from $60 to $75. The Game Pass Core plan also includes access to PC games and comes with an EA Play membership.

So basically, the Xbox 360 is being taken off life support right now and we’re all just waiting for it to pass on to that great, big used game store in the sky. You’ve only got a few weeks left to offer your condolences.

This article originally appeared on Engadget at https://www.engadget.com/microsofts-xbox-360-stores-will-close-up-shop-on-july-29-195630594.html?src=rss

Sony reveals the more vlogger-friendly ZV-E10 II

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It's been three years since Sony debuted the ZV-E10, a camera it targeted at vloggers, so it's high time that model got some upgrades. The company just announced the mirrorless ZV-E10 II. Sony says this variant adds some new features while retaining those that creators liked from the original, including a background defocus capability and the vari-angle flip screen.

The ZV-E10 II has a 26MP Exmor R CMOS sensor, an upgrade from the 24MP sensor in the original model. The larger-capacity battery (the NP-FZ100 found in some full-frame Sony cameras) may be a more compelling update. Sony claims that, with this battery, users will be able to shoot up to 195 minutes of video continuously.

Other features include a cinematic vlog setting that automatically optimizes the aspect ratio, frame rate and autofocus transition speed for a more cinematic look to videos, Sony claims. There's also a new vertical-oriented user interface and upgraded "connectivity for easy live streaming and data transfer," according to the company. All of this and the camera still weighs just 377 grams.

The ZV-E10 II will be available at the end of this month and it will cost $999 for the body only. If you'd prefer a $1,099 bundle with a new PZ 16-50mm f/3.5-5.6 OSS II lens, you'll need to wait until early August. The lightweight kit lens offers autofocus and video performance improvements over the previous version, according to Sony.

This article originally appeared on Engadget at https://www.engadget.com/sony-reveals-the-more-vlogger-friendly-zv-e10-ii-163122315.html?src=rss

Samsung’s Galaxy Watch 7 and Ultra will get first dibs on Wear OS 5

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Samsung’s Galaxy Watch 7 and Watch Ultra will be the very first smartwatches to receive access to Wear OS 5, Google’s latest operating system for wearables. This was unveiled at today’s Unpacked event, alongside a slew of major product announcements. These product announcements also happened to include the aforementioned smartwatches.

That means that Samsung’s recently-announced gadgets are the very first smartwatches to get Wear OS 5, even before Google’s own products. This will change later in the year when the Pixel Watch 3 is likely to drop. Interestingly, this is exactly how it went down with Wear OS 4. The operating system first came to the Galaxy Watch 6 before being included with the Pixel Watch 2.

Google officially revealed Wear OS 5 two months ago at I/O 2024 and the new software is filled with useful updates. The UI is mostly the same as Wear OS 4, but the software has been optimized to improve battery life by up to 30 percent. There are some new health monitoring features, including analysis of stride length when walking or running.

The operating system includes some efficiency upgrades, with Google saying that, for instance, running a marathon will consume 20 percent less power on Wear OS 5 when compared to OS 4. There’s a new grid-based app launcher and additional options for watch faces. This software update doesn’t reinvent the wheel, but that extra efficiency is sure to be a boon for many consumers.

Incidentally, there’s no information as to when the operating system will be ported to Samsung’s older smartwatches. We’ll just have to wait and find out. For now, you have to plunk down $300 for the Galaxy Watch 7 or $650 for the Ultra to access the OS. 

Catch up on all the news from Samsung's Galaxy Unpacked 2024 here!

This article originally appeared on Engadget at https://www.engadget.com/samsungs-galaxy-watch-7-and-ultra-will-get-first-dibs-on-wear-os-5-151009264.html?src=rss

Strava launches a family plan

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Strava turns 15 this year, and it is ensuring its first generation of users can include their kids who have grown up along the way. The fitness tracker app has launched its family plan, a subscription tier allowing up to four accounts on one plan. It includes everything an individual plan has, such as route building and sharing, activity recording and safety tools.

The family plan starts at $140 annually, compared to $80 annually for an individual plan, so it could even be worth it for two people. But, there's one big catch: Users have to pay for the plan upfront, unlike the individual plan, which offers a $12 monthly option. Also, anyone who has already subscribed but wants to join a family plan will have to cancel their membership in order to join it. Strava claims that all of their data should be transferred once they have joined a family plan.

Despite the name, anyone can come together to create a family plan — as long as they're all based in the same country. Members can leave, and new members can join at any time. However, unlike the rest of Strava, a family plan is only available on the company's website for now, not the apps.

This article originally appeared on Engadget at https://www.engadget.com/strava-launches-a-family-plan-170002189.html?src=rss

Bose adds multipoint Bluetooth to its QuietComfort Ultra Earbuds and Ultra Open Earbuds

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Multipoint Bluetooth connectivity is typically a core feature for the best wireless earbuds and headphones these days, but that's not always the case. When Bose introduced its QuietComfort Ultra Earbuds and its Ultra Open Earbuds, neither model offered the tool. This meant that you couldn't connect to more than one device at a time and you couldn't quickly switch from your computer to your phone when you were getting a call. Well, the company has released a software update for both sets of earbuds that will add the convenient functionality via the Bose app. This addresses a key complaint from both of my reviews and will improve the overall experience of using either of these earbuds.

Additionally, Bose says it's rolling out improvements to voice pick-up and connectivity on the Ultra Open Earbuds as part of the software update. The company explains that there are some general bug fixes for that model in this release as well. 

Bose says the update for the QuietComfort Ultra Earbuds and the Ultra Open Earbuds will be begin rolling out today and will reach customers worldwide over the next two weeks. You can look for the new firmware version under the Product Update section in the Settings menu of the Bose app. 

This article originally appeared on Engadget at https://www.engadget.com/bose-adds-multipoint-bluetooth-to-its-quietcomfort-ultra-earbuds-and-ultra-open-earbuds-143830749.html?src=rss