MacRumors

Jaybird, known for its line of headphones aimed at runners and fitness enthusiasts, recently introduced the RUN, its first wire-free headphones designed to compete with the wide range of wire-free headphones that are now on the market, like Apple's AirPods.

I went hands-on with the RUN to see how they compare to the AirPods and other Jaybird products like the new Freedom 2 headphones, also announced at the same time. There's no denying the convenience of wire-free earbuds, but as I learned with the RUN, there are still kinks that need to be worked out with the technology.

Design

Like Apple's AirPods, Jaybird RUN headphones are separate standalone earbuds that have no wire connecting them to one another, for a freer, hassle-free listening experience. Design wise, the RUN headphones look more like the Bragi Dash than the AirPods, with an in-ear tip connected to a circular earbud that nestles into the outer part of the ear.

A soft silicone tip fits over the speaker portion of the RUN, while a soft, highly flexible fin secures it in the ear. White aluminum-rimmed buttons are at the top of the earbuds, embossed with the Jaybird logo, and there are small green LEDs on each one that serve as indicator lights.

The Jaybird RUN headphones are noticeably heavier and bulkier than the AirPods because all of the components sit in the ear without an elongated body. Size wise, they're a little over a half an inch at the thickest point, and depending on the structure of your ear, they can stick out a good bit.

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Instagram today introduced an interactive poll sticker in Instagram Stories that lets you ask a question and see real-time results from followers.

After you've taken a photo or video for your story, select the "poll" sticker and place it anywhere on the screen. Then, you can write a question and customize two answer options for followers to choose.

Once the poll has been shared, followers can immediately start voting and see the results. Once someone has voted, they'll see which choice is in the lead at any given moment. The story and poll both disappear after 24 hours as usual.

To see your own poll results, swipe up to open the viewers list for that part of your story. The menu that appears displays how many votes each option received, and you’ll also see who voted and which option they chose.

Instagram Stories has also gained a new color picker for text and brushes, and an alignment tool for text and stickers.

On iOS, when you position text or a sticker on your photo or video, new blue lines will appear to help you center it or avoid placing it anywhere that might get covered up when someone watches your story.

Instagram version 17.0 is available now on the App Store [Direct Link] for iPhone.

The YouTube iOS app today was updated to version 12.38, bringing a swipe-to-remove gesture for videos in playlists, as well as introducing support for iMessage. After updating the app you should see YouTube appear as a new icon in your Messages app drawer, and after tapping on it you can scroll to view your recently-watched videos, search YouTube for a specific video, and tap to send it to a friend.

After sharing the video, YouTube links work the same as they did before, with the ability to watch the videos directly within Messages without having to leave the app, but there is a new player for content sent through the Messages app. You can tap on a video and it will open up into a full-screen player with playback controls, a watch later button, recommended videos, and an "open app" button to jump directly to YouTube.

Prior to today's update, to share a YouTube video in Messages you had to find it in the YouTube app, tap the share button, choose Messages, and then type in a contact. You could also copy the video link and paste it into the text message field within Messages.

Check out our guide on iOS 11's Messages app drawer redesign if you aren't familiar with navigating the updated section of Apple's texting app.

The Nura headphones were funded on Kickstarter last year, surpassing a $100,000 goal and earning around $1.8 million from backers who were interested in the device's personal music calibration abilities. Today, the company is officially launching the $399 "Nuraphone" to backers from the Kickstarter campaign and to any new buyer through its website, with a pair of headphones that use a self-learning engine to automatically adjust to your own "unique hearing" and ensure each song you listen to is the highest quality possible (via The Verge).

Nuraphone plays a range of tones into your ear, measuring a faint sound that your ear generates in response to the tones, and this process begins the calibration of the headphones to your own profile. The returning sound is "encoded" with data about how well you heard the noise that entered your ear, with the device's self-learning engine analyzing the information and creating a custom "hearing profile" with a unique color and shape. All of this happens in approximately 60 seconds.

Once your hearing profile is in shape, Nuraphone filters all music playback through your profile settings to "sonically mold" and adjust songs and deliver a greater degree of detail. Nura CEO Kyle Slater told The Verge that the Nuraphone is meant to "do for your ears what glasses do for your eyes."

Kyle Slater, Nura’s CEO, compares what the Nuraphones do for your ears to what glasses do for your eyes. They’re supposed to figure out which frequencies of sound you’re good at and not so good at hearing, and then mess with the amplification so that you hear every song precisely how it was mixed. “We assume that we all hear the same,” Slater says. “Hearing offers no point of comparison like vision does.” Our hearing gradually degrades as we age (and listen to loud music...), so it’s reasonable to think a lot of people could use this

Once connected to an iPhone or Android smartphone through Bluetooth (the headphones also support Lightning, USB-C, micro-USB, and 3.5mm analog cables), Nuraphone can begin playing and adjusting songs to your hearing profile. Nura has decided to use a proprietary charging cable, meaning to use any of these wired connections you'll have to buy extra accessories from the company (one USB cable is included in the box).

The headphone's design is that of an over-ear headphone mixed with in-ear buds, and on the outside there is a programmable touch panel for controlling features like playing and pausing songs.

A few sites have gotten to go hands-on and review Nuraphone, mostly coming to the consensus that Nura has taken a unique approach to designing headphones and providing a new user experience, but the first iteration of the product is still lacking. The Verge pointed out that someone with hearing issues could see great benefits from using Nuraphone, "but the end result isn't as revolutionary as the general idea."

But my initial impression is that the sound improvement isn’t night and day over other pricey headphones. Maybe the difference would be larger for someone who Nura detected more hearing issues with — though there’s no way of telling whether Nura is doing a little or a lot for me. (I tried listening to high-pitched sounds that I can’t or can barely hear, but Nura didn’t seem to help me hear them substantially better.) I like the effect the headphones create when playing music, but the end result isn’t as revolutionary as the general idea.

TechRadar mentioned that the fundamentals for a quality set of headphones are there, but the "benefits of sound personalization are subtle" and the user experience is sometimes "over complicated." Despite a few design quirks, Engadget called the headphones "impressive" and "polished," saying that that they will "likely only get better" through software updates.

Nuraphone is available to purchase today on Nura's website for $399, including a case for the headphones and a USB charging cable.

Philips today extended support for Apple's HomeKit platform to the Hue Tap switch, Hue dimmer switch, and Hue motion sensor.

The trio of accessories can now be used to activate HomeKit scenes in the Home app to control other HomeKit-enabled accessories in a home.

Philips Hue is extending its Apple HomeKit compatibility for Hue accessories: Hue tap, Hue dimmer switch and Hue motion sensor. Meaning with a press of a button, or movement of your body, you can activate your favorite Apple Home app scenes. To set up automations, you need an Apple TV (4th generation) with tvOS 10 or an iPad with iOS 10 or later.

The compatibility was added in an update to the Philips Hue app for iPhone, iPad, and Apple Watch, available now on the App Store [Direct Link].

The second-generation HomeKit-compatible Hue Bridge is required.

Amazon is updating its Alexa app today to add support for messaging and calling on Alexa-powered smart devices in the U.K., Germany, and Austria (via The Verge).

The Alexa voice calling feature will work on standard Echo and Echo Dot smart speakers, allowing users to call the devices free of charge. iPhone and Android owners can also use the Alexa app to call the Alexa-powered devices directly.

Amazon's second-generation Echo devices hit Europe on October 31 and support the feature as standard, while video calling is limited to the display-based Echo Show device, which is set to become available in the U.K. and Germany next month.

A day ahead of Google's October hardware event, serial mobile leaker Evan Blass has shared images of the company's new 6-inch Pixel 2 XL smartphone, revealing a display with thin bezels and rounded corners reminiscent of the Samsung Galaxy S8.

Rumors suggest the Pixel 2 XL will feature a QHD+ display with an 18:9 (2:1) aspect ratio, 4GB of RAM, a 12-megapixel rear camera, and front-facing stereo speakers, with a price tag of $849/$949 for either 64GB or 128GB of storage.

Blass also tweeted images of the smaller 5-inch Pixel 2 (below) which, apart from a less impressive 1080p display, is thought to share the same specs as the XL 2. The wallpaper used in both the leaked images shows a vibrant depth-of-field view, suggesting an upcoming "bokeh" camera feature native to the new Google handsets.

According to a source familiar with Google's release plans that spoke to VentureBeat, the new phones will have a pre-order period followed by a staggered rollout, with October 19 for the Pixel 2 and November 15 for the Pixel 2 XL.

MacRumors will have all the details on Google's October 4 event, where the company is expected to unveil a range of products, including new Google Home smart speakers, a new laptop, and perhaps more.

Microsoft is shuttering Groove Music. The company announced the news on Monday in a blog post on its site, explaining that the streaming service will be discontinued on December 31 and any customers subscribed to the service will be refunded on a pro rata basis.

Microsoft said it would cease sales of Groove Music Pass memberships soon, and in a partnership with Spotify, would make it easy for existing Groove Music subscribers to move their playlists over to the rival music streaming service.

With the continued advancement of music streaming today, all the world's music has become easily accessible across a variety of devices, unlocking new ways to discover and experience music. As we continue to listen to what our customers want in their music experience we know that access to the best streaming service, the largest catalog of music, and a variety of subscriptions is top of the list.

Which is why we're excited to announce that we're expanding our partnership with Spotify to bring the world's largest music streaming service to our Groove Music Pass customers. Beginning this week, Groove Music Pass customers can easily move all their curated playlists and collections directly into Spotify. Plus, you may be eligible for a 60-day free trial of Spotify Premium.

Microsoft said users of the Groove Music iOS app will be able to continue using music purchased through the service and stored on OneDrive, but streaming, buying, and downloading through the app will end for good on December 31.

It's unclear how many subscribers were still using the ailing service, which is home to a 50-million track library, but the announcement will be good news for Spotify, with Microsoft now officially promoting the rival as the go-to streaming service across both Windows 10 and Xbox platforms.

Just ahead of the launch of the Nike+ Apple Watch Series 3 models, which will be available starting this Thursday, Nike has updated its official Nike+ Run Club app with new functionality that was highlighted on stage during Apple's September event.

On both iPhone and Apple Watch, Nike+ Run Club is gaining Audio Guided Runs, which are a series of guided workouts from Nike coaches and athletes like Mo Farah and Kevin Hart. Runs are paired with a playlist that can be used with streaming music services.

Audio Guided Runs can be accessed on Apple Watch by opening the Nike+ app on the watch and then scrolling down under the Start button. Runs will need to be downloaded on the watch ahead of time.

Along with Audio Guided Runs, Nike is introducing a "Cheers" feature that lets users notify their friends when they go for a run to get cheers in response for motivation. There's also an updated Activity History feature on Apple Watch that displays the details of the last five runs, and on Apple Watch Series 3 models, elevation data is now available on standalone watch runs.

The Nike+ Run Club app can be downloaded on the iPhone and all Apple Watch models, but with Nike+ models, there's an option to launch the Nike+ Run Club app from the exclusive Nike watch faces.

Nike+ Run Club is available from the App Store for free. [Direct Link]

T-Mobile plans to continue advertisements where it claims to have the fastest 4G LTE network in the United States despite complaints from Verizon and a recommendation to stop from the National Advertising Division (NAD), the company told Ars Technica in a statement today.

The National Advertising Division, which aims to review advertisements for truthfulness and accuracy to settle disputes without litigation, last week said the data T-Mobile used as proof for its fastest network claim was not sufficient.

T-Mobile used crowd-sourced data from Ookla and Open Signal to support its claim, with the data collected in early 2017 around when Verizon's unlimited data plan first rolled out. Verizon complained to the NAB and said the speed tests may have included data from Verizon customers who had been deprioritized for the first time after using over 22GB of data, making them inaccurate.

The NAD agreed that the tests may have had a bias in favor of T-Mobile and recommended T-Mobile stop all advertisements claiming to have the fastest network.

T-Mobile agreed to comply with the NAD's recommendation, but was able to find new data to support the claim. Instead of basing its statement on data collected earlier this year during the time that Verizon's unlimited data plan rolled out, T-Mobile now cites new OpenSignal and Ookla data on its website collected later in 2017. T-Mobile says it plans to continue on with its advertisements using the new data.

"On the fastest LTE network challenge, NAD ruled that the one month of crowd-sourced data we submitted (when Verizon launched their unlimited plan) could not be used," said T-Mobile Senior VP of corporate communications Janice Kapner. "NAD previously recognized third-party crowd-sourced data as a way to look at network performance, so we looked at the latest results, and verified what we already knew! T-Mobile is still the fastest LTE network and we'll continue to let consumers know that!"

"We did say we'd comply with NAD's recommendation, and we will, but that means we won't rely solely on the specific data we submitted. We have taken the NAD's concerns into consideration and are confident we have robust data that addresses them and proves, once again, that we have the fastest LTE network," a company spokesperson told Ars.

As T-Mobile says, the NAD recommendation only applies to data collected during the initial test cited in Verizon's complaint and not to the new data that's been collected. Verizon can submit a new complaint, though, which will require the NAD to again take a look at the data T-Mobile is using.

While T-Mobile plans to continue to say that it has the fastest LTE network, the company has agreed to modify some other claims about its coverage. The NAD looked at the following T-Mobile claims:

- T-Mobile has near-equivalent area and/or geographic coverage as Verizon
- T-Mobile covers 99% of the area covered by Verizon
- T-Mobile covers 313,312 or "311 Million and Counting" Americans with 4G LTE
- T-Mobile "covers 99% of the Americans that Verizon covers" and 99% of Verizon's customers

T-Mobile does cover 99.7 percent as many Americans as Verizon, but it does not offer 99.7 percent of the geographic coverage that Verizon offers, so the NAD recommended T-Mobile modify its advertising to make it clear that coverage comparisons are based on population. T-Mobile says it will comply with the request going forward and will remove ads featuring imagery of geographic coverage that could be confusing.

Chamberlain today announced the launch of a new version of the MyQ Smart Garage Hub, which is designed to allow smartphone users to control their garage doors from anywhere using the accompanying MyQ app.

The MyQ Smart Garage Hub, which connects to a home Wi-Fi network, is compatible with most brands of garage door openers manufactured after 1994. The new MyQ Smart Garage Hub supports improved communication between the hub and the garage door sensor, enhanced sensor battery monitoring, and automatic identification of available Wi-Fi signals to make installation quicker and easier.

"The MyQ Smart Garage Hub was developed in response to customers' requests for improved Wi-Fi connection reliability and enhanced communication between the door sensor and the hub. And, it further develops our line of secure and reliable connected products," said John Villanueva, Vice President and General Manager of Residential Access Solutions at Chamberlain Group.

When paired with the MyQ Home Bridge, the MyQ Smart Garage Hub also works to enable HomeKit compatibility so the garage door can be controlled via Siri commands. The MyQ Home Bridge, released in August, pairs with the new MyQ Smart Garage Hub, the existing MyQ Garage, or a MyQ-enabled garage door opener.

The MyQ Smart Garage Hub is priced at $99.99 from the Chamberlain website, and for a limited time, Chamberlain is offering a $20 discount on a $150 bundle that includes both the MyQ Smart Garage Hub and the MyQ Home Bridge with the promo code SGHHBPCK20.