By directly integrating support for Google Assistant, Bose’s QuietComfort 35 II took an already great pair of headphones and made them even more useful, earning spots on both our list of the best wireless headphones and our list of the best noise-canceling headphones in the process. Now they’ve gotten even better thanks to a recent firmware update that brings support for Amazon’s Alexa voice assistant.
If you don’t already own the headphones, Alexa will be integrated right out of the box, which will now have an Alexa logo on it letting customers know about the new feature. If you do already own the headphones, you’ll need to update your firmware, which can be done using the Bose connect app. You can also connect the headphones to your computer via USB and head to the Bose firmware update site.
Once the headphones are updated (or you’ve just taken your new headphones out of the box) you’ll now be able to choose which virtual assistant you prefer in the options menu of the Bose Connect app. You’ll be able to invoke your preferred assistant by pressing the “Action” button on the headphones. The Siri integration, which is the same provided by many other wired and wireless headphones, is unchanged, allowing you to access the assistant by holding down the Play/Pause button for two seconds.
Support for Amazon Alexa isn’t the only benefit the firmware update brings. A number of bugs have been fixed, including a security-related update that could let Android phones connect to Bluetooth without the user initiating the connection. Other fixed issues include better stability for Bose multi-point, which lets the headphones connect to two different devices simultaneously, and an issue that would cause voice prompts to play multiple times. For a full list of fixed issues, see the announcement on the Bose community site.
Bose’s QuietComfort 35 II wireless headphones sell for $350 and are available now. For more information on the headphones, see the Bose website. Meanwhile, if you’re not sure what you need in a set of headphones, check out our headphone buying guide to help you figure out exactly what to buy.
Instagram is making its way to yet another screen, and this time, Apple TV is getting a taste of the Reels rabbit hole. The company has launched a dedicated Instagram app for Apple TV, bringing Reels, longer videos, and live shows to the big screen. So, if watching one quick clip on a phone somehow turns into an hour of scrolling, there's now a much larger screen for that.
Instagram brings Reels and more to Apple TV
Audio-Technica, a brand well known for making some of the best studio and professional headphones on the market, has just come out with the ATH-AWX7000, which the company itself claims to be its "finest headphones ever." The new flagship closed-back headphone has debuted at an eye-watering price of $3,799. It combines hand-finished Japanese woodwork with a newly developed 58mm driver.
The earcups are made from Kiso cypress, a prized wood historically used for Shinto shrines and Buddhist temples. Each housing is finished by hand with traditional Echizen lacquer, which brings out the grain and is expected to darken over time. The frame and sliders are finished in a deep navy kachi-iro shade traditionally associated with samurai.
This post is brought to you in paid partnership with Best Buy.
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