GoKawiil
Tech News
Apple Music and Spotify both include adjustable audio quality and equalizer settings that can noticeably improve sound on an iPhone. Users can raise streaming quality tiers in each app's settings menu, then fine-tune sound using built-in EQ presets or custom sliders. Volume normalization features like Apple's Sound Check and Spotify's Volume normalization can also be toggled to balance loudness across tracks.
Google unveiled two new Gemini models focused on real-time voice interaction: Gemini 3.8 Live, designed for scalable, cost-efficient conversational AI, and Gemini 3.8 Live Extended Thinking, aimed at complex multi-step reasoning tasks. Both models are meant to power more natural voice agents and improve spoken interactions across the Gemini app, Google Workspace, and Search.
Apple has unveiled 'Audio Intelligence,' a feature for upcoming Apple Watches that continuously listens to and transcribes nearby conversations, then summarizes them daily. Although Apple has built in some privacy safeguards for the watch wearer, anyone speaking near a person using this feature could be recorded and transcribed without their knowledge or consent.
Apple has removed the double-click Digital Crown shortcut that let users instantly jump between apps on Apple Watch in watchOS 27. The company reassigned that same gesture to trigger Live Rewind, a new Audio Intelligence feature that generates a 15-second transcript of recent spoken audio, but Live Rewind only works on the upcoming Series 12 and Ultra 4 hardware.
Microsoft released an emergency cumulative update, KB5129195, to fix several problems caused by September's Patch Tuesday release, which had patched nearly 1,000 vulnerabilities but broke Remote Desktop Services, Linux VM support, and some USB audio devices. The fix restores RDP connections, repairs the Host Compute Service used by apps like Claude Cowork to run Linux virtual machines, and partially restores 8-channel and 3D audio modes. However, AMD Radeon GPU crashes and File Explorer failures reported after the same update remain unresolved.
Meta Ray-Ban Display glasses include an Audio Only mode that disables the built-in screen entirely while driving, functioning like the standard Meta Ray-Ban AI glasses. Users retain hands-free calling and voice commands but lose all visual overlays, since the glasses were not built for real-time turn-by-turn navigation.
Apple Music lets users set separate audio quality levels for cellular, Wi-Fi, and downloads within iPhone Settings under Apps > Music > Audio Quality. This allows listeners to save mobile data by keeping cellular playback at High Quality while reserving Lossless streaming for Wi-Fi or downloaded files. Bluetooth headphones don't support true lossless playback, and Hi-Res Lossless requires an external DAC for sample rates above 48kHz.
Microsoft confirmed that its September 8 security update, KB5124008, is causing audio failures on legacy USB Audio Class 1.0 hardware such as older speakers, headsets, and microphones. Affected users may see no sound, unresponsive volume controls, or a 'Code 10' error in Device Manager. The company noted a temporary workaround: switching the audio mode to Stereo restores sound until an official fix arrives.
Microsoft has pushed emergency out-of-band updates for Windows 10, Windows 11, and Windows Server to resolve Remote Desktop Services instability caused by its September 2026 security patches. The bug had triggered RDP sign-in failures, unresponsive servers, and related issues in MMC, File Explorer, and the Windows Update page. Separate fixes for the update also address Hyper-V and USB audio problems reported on some Windows versions.
Microsoft has acknowledged that its September security patches are causing Remote Desktop Services to fail across several Windows versions, silencing certain USB Audio Class 1.0 devices, and disrupting the paste function in Excel. Affected users report frozen management tools, unresponsive Windows Update pages, and audio glitches that can sometimes be worked around by switching to two-channel sound.
Most major phone makers, including Apple, Google and Samsung, have phased out the 3.5mm headphone jack in favor of USB-C for wired audio, charging and data transfer. Apple made the switch starting with the iPhone 7 in 2016, followed by Google in 2017 and Samsung in 2019, with Apple finally adopting USB-C for the iPhone 15 due to EU regulation. Sony remains an exception, still including a 3.5mm jack on its upcoming Xperia 1 VIII.
Yoto's Mini, a screen-free portable audio player for children, has been named winner of the Best Design Europe, Middle East, and Africa category at the 2026 Innovation by Design Awards. The device lets kids listen to stories and music without a screen or algorithm-driven recommendations, relying instead on physical cards to select content.