GoKawiil
Tech News
Sonos has introduced the Ace Ultra, a premium successor to its Ace noise-canceling headphones priced at $449. The new model features Sonos-designed 40mm drivers, upgraded adaptive noise cancellation, a 10-microphone array, and Headphone Engine 2, which enables direct one-button linking to a user's Sonos system. Preorders open now, with shipping starting September 29 in black, soft white, agave and sand colorways.
Apple's AirPods 4 and AirPods Pro allow users to switch between Active Noise Cancellation and Transparency mode by pressing and holding the earbud stem. This behavior can be customized in the Settings app under Press and Hold AirPods, where users can also add Adaptive mode or turn off noise control entirely, and set which modes cycle through when pressing the stem.
A developer published a Shadertoy demo introducing a recursive variant of jittered Voronoi diagrams that produces fractal-like cell boundaries, similar in spirit to Worley noise. The method works by generating hierarchical layers of randomly jittered grid points, each finer layer tracing its 'parent' site in the coarser layer above, so that following parent links upward defines each cell's fractal boundary without needing to explicitly build a Voronoi diagram.
Residents and advocacy group Stand.earth allege that the DataOne data center in Vineland, New Jersey — tied to a $19.4 billion Nebius-Microsoft GPU deal — has been running dozens of unpermitted gas turbines and building an unpermitted 1.5-million-gallon LNG storage tank near two schools. Locals say they only learned the site was a data center after the Microsoft deal became public, and complaints about nighttime noise and air pollution led to a delayed town hall in January 2026, months after construction began.
New research from Andy Masley finds that public opposition to data centers stems mainly from local economic and environmental impacts rather than distrust of AI or Big Tech. Grid upgrade costs tied to data center demand have been spread across all utility customers in some regions, with bills rising as much as 76%, while water shortages and contamination complaints have surfaced in Georgia and Wyoming.
Apple's iOS 27 beta introduces a custom equalizer feature that lets users adjust individual sound frequencies on compatible AirPods, such as boosting bass or emphasizing vocals. The feature currently works with H2 chip-equipped models, including AirPods Pro 2, AirPods Pro 3, AirPods 4, and AirPods Max 2, and requires both the device and earbuds to run the latest beta software and firmware.
Multiple Pixel 11 and Pixel 11 Pro XL users say their videos contain repeated bursts of static noise, appearing roughly every five seconds when Video Boost is active. The glitch seems tied to the Audio Zoom feature, and some affected users say clearing the camera app's cache and turning off Audio Zoom stops the noise. Google has not yet issued an official response to the reports.
Amazon has discounted the AOC Wireless Headset with Microphone for Work to $45.99, down 23% from its $59.99 list price. The headset uses AI-powered noise-cancelling microphone tech, offers both Bluetooth and 2.4G USB dongle connectivity, and lasts up to 45 hours per charge. It carries a 4.8-star rating on Amazon and matches the lowest price recorded for it in 2026.
A satirical account describes a user frustrated with her Pixel Watch's low sleep score of 71 after a camping trip, arguing the algorithm failed to account for noisy neighbors, a restless child, and a middle-of-the-night bathroom trip. The piece humorously frames the complaint as a courtroom trial defending the wearer's honor against her own sleep-tracking device.
Most wireless earbuds ship with silicone ear tips, which are cheap to produce but often fail to seal properly given how much ear shapes vary from person to person. Because earbuds rely on the ear tips alone to create a seal, a poor fit lets sound leak out and outside noise in, weakening bass response and noise cancellation performance. Swapping to a better-fitting tip, particularly memory foam versions, can significantly improve both comfort and audio quality without buying new earbuds.