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Apple introduced the Apple Watch Series 12 at its September 9th event, featuring a new Siri-powered Audio Intelligence system with live rewind and ambient 'Siri Recap' note-taking. The watch runs on a new S11 chip, starts at $399, and ships September 18th with health upgrades including continuous heart rate sensing and a new Readiness score.
LG issued a statement to Tom's Hardware rejecting claims from a Gamers Nexus investigation that its smart TVs constantly log data and record ambient audio even in standby mode. LG confirmed its TVs scan local networks for other devices, a common smart-TV feature, but insisted voice data is only processed when a remote button is pressed or a wake word like 'Hi LG' is detected. The company said no audio is transmitted unless that wake word is recognized, and wake-word detection itself happens on-device rather than being sent to servers.
Amazon Prime Video has rolled out an AI-driven visual effects feature that adjusts actors' lip movements to match dubbed audio tracks, starting with the English dub of the German series Maxton Hall's first two seasons. The company says the tool blends AI and VFX to sync mouth movements with human-translated dialogue, and plans to bring it to season 3 in December and more titles later.
Audio-Technica has released the ATH-AL5NC, a $279 wireless open-back headphone that pairs 53mm drivers with LDAC hi-res audio support and multipoint Bluetooth. The company says the headphones deliver up to 75 hours of battery life, with 15 minutes of charging yielding roughly eight hours of playback, and offer app-based control over EQ, presets and listening modes.
A YouTube video titled 'I'm Back,' credited to Eminem but actually created with AI voice-cloning tools, has drawn more than 100,000 views since being posted last week. The clip ranks highly in YouTube searches for the rapper, outperforming some of his genuine charting songs, despite an artificial-sounding beat and vocals. Many commenters in the video's replies appear to believe it's a legitimate new release from Mathers.
An investigation by Gamers Nexus, working with Level1Techs and independent security researchers, found that LG OLED TVs including the G5 actively scan home networks to identify phones, smartwatches and other nearby devices, while also capturing microphone audio even when the display appears off. The collected data, including Wi-Fi network names, signal strength and location details, is later uploaded once the TV reconnects to the internet and feeds into LG's advertising arm, LG Ad Solutions.
Portable CarPlay screens typically cost between $50 and $150, offering a cheaper alternative to buying a new car with built-in infotainment. Buyers should weigh screen size (6 to 11 inches), resolution (ideally at least 1280x720), audio output options like Bluetooth, AUX or FM, and whether the unit supports wireless CarPlay rather than requiring a cable.
Razer introduced the Clio X at PAX West 2026, a cheaper version of its head-cushion speaker for gaming chairs, priced at $110 versus the original Clio's $230. It swaps the flagship's 43mm aluminum drivers for two 38mm speakers and two 55mm passive radiators, still supporting THX Spatial Audio and Razer's low-latency HyperSpeed 2.4GHz wireless connection. It attaches to any gaming chair headrest via a nylon strap and runs on USB-C power, ideally a 15W PD source.
Android Auto users noticing sudden volume dips are likely experiencing 'audio ducking,' a feature since Android 8.0 that temporarily lowers media volume to let notification sounds like texts come through clearly. A less common cause is Android 14's hearing safety feature, which automatically reduces volume if loud audio plays for extended periods to protect users' hearing.
Muse Group has released Audacity 4, a major update to the long-running free audio editor that introduces non-destructive editing, overlapping and splittable clips, refreshed effects, and a redesigned home screen for project organization. The release also brings a new visual theme system aligning Audacity with Muse's other apps like MuseScore and Audio.com.
Roland has released Melody Flip, a digital audio workstation plug-in that uses generative AI to create musical building blocks rather than finished songs. The tool draws from roughly 250 genre-based 'Palettes' to generate melodies, chord progressions, basslines, or drum patterns, either from scratch or based on a reference track fed in by the user. Outputs come as simple MIDI loops with basic instrument sounds, meant to be exported into a DAW and refined with other synths.
Code strings found in audioOS 27 beta 8 by a MacRumors forum user reveal Apple is developing a quad-HomePod surround sound configuration alongside a new 'Party Mode' feature. The surround setup would let two front and two rear second-generation HomePods each apply distinct audio processing, dynamically adjusting based on content like movies or music. A separate reference to a 'Forklift' system suggests pairing two existing HomePods with unreleased speaker hardware.