Google I/O is just around the corner. But for all the new Googley goodness we expect — and a ton of that’s going to include the letters A and I — one thing we’re not planning on seeing is a successor to the venerable-but-aging Chromecast with Google TV. That’s why this $50 box from Walmart’s in-house Onn brand has had folks excited. Because in addition to just being … not new — the current Chromecast basically is four years old — it’s always been pretty underpowered for what it does.
Some folks supposedly were able to pick one up in their local Walmart. I was never able to do so, but it’s now finally Buy at Walmart . (And in its app.) And so now you can snag yourself the rather plainly named Onn 4K Pro Streaming Device.
There are two big differences between this and Chromecast with Google TV. First is that it’s actually more akin to the Amazon Fire TV Cube in that it has a built-in microphone array, so it’s truly hands-free. That is, you don’t even have to find the remote control to interact. Second is that the remote control has what’s referred to as the Magic Button. That really just means “customizable button,” and that in and of itself is hardly a new thing on a streaming device. But it’s new for a Google TV device, and nerds are gonna nerd.
Another upgrade comes in the wireless networking. Chromecast, thanks to its age, is locked in with Wi-Fi 5, or 802.11ac. The Onn 4K Pro Streaming Device (someone needs to give this thing a better nickname ASAP) steps things up to Wi-Fi 6, or 802.11ax. Whether that will have any actual user-facing benefits remains to be seen, but newer is better. Of course, if you don’t have a Wi-Fi 6-enabled router, that’s largely moot.
The real question comes down to how well the whole thing works. Is it going to be dog-slow, like Chromecast with Google TV? Is it going to be so laden with Walmart cruft as to be disappointingly unusable?
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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