Well, it's been another eventful week for the world of tech, to say the least, and as always, we're bringing you the top stories from TechRadar in one easy-to-read place — just in case you haven't been able to keep up with our coverage over the last seven days.
When it comes to this week's ICYMI (In Case You Missed It) roundup, there's something for everyone, whether you come to us for updates on all things audio or if you've been affected by another tech crisis. That said, Apple has also been in the spotlight with the launch of the iPhone Duo — which we finally managed to get our hands on. So, let's recap this week.
7. Apple teases 'Pro and Tell' event
Hot on the heels of Apple's anticipated iPhone Duo keynote and the announcement of its first smart display, the company teased its upcoming 'Pro and Tell' event, which is scheduled for October 28 in LA. While we're not expecting a formal keynote, we imagine there will be plenty of hands-on time.
So what's new for Apple? Well, the main device we're expecting to see is the company's first touchscreen MacBook in 14-inch and 16-inch editions. This will likely be an OLED display packing the same vibrant, rich viewing experience as an OLED iPhone or iPad Pro, all within a redesigned, slimmer notebook.
It doesn't end there; Apple is also tipped to unveil upgrades for its iPad lineup, though we're not expecting them to be the cheapest of devices.
6. Spotify cracks down on Premium Family plan sharing
Spotify is clamping down on account sharing for those who are signed up to its Premium Family plan, and the platform has started enforcing a new QR code verification system, which has started rolling out to a number of users if they’re not at the same address as the account manager.
The QR code, which appears on the account holder’s device, requires members under the same plan to scan it in order to verify that they're living in the same household. This code updates every few seconds, therefore making it harder for you to use screenshots to bypass the process.
If you receive a verification prompt, you’ll have a 7-day window to complete the scan, but failure to comply comes with consequences. Spotify will boot you back to ad-listening on the free tier, as well as banning you from joining another Premium Family or Duo plan for 12 months. It really does feel like a prison sentence.
5. The ultimate retro music system landed for nostalgists
Start-up audio company Trettitre has launched its new Retro Ambient Audio System, which raised $2 million on a goal of $3,000 on Kickstarter. Essentially, it's an all-in-one physical media machine: a combined record player, CD player, and cassette player, designed to let you listen to any kind of physical media at home.
The full MSRP of the device is $899, and you can buy the components separately if you wish, but the magnetic wall-rack is where the fun is at. Trettitre's marketing videos show users removing the record player from the wall, carrying it via a handle, plugging in some IEMs, and listening to vinyl on their kitchen table, because this turntable has an onboard battery that charges when you put it back on its wall mount.
The only thing that's missing is a speaker, which you'll unfortunately have to purchase separately.
4. Unitree revealed its 'kung fu' robot bodyguard
Robot vacuums are great, but how about owning a personal Robocop that fends off burglars with its black-belt martial arts skills? That’s the kind of smart home tech we can all get behind, and Chinese robotics giant Unitree teased it this week in the form of its H2-X humanoid.
Unitree’s teaser video (above) is like a trailer for a budget sci-fi movie. The H2-X is seen leaping from four-meter platforms, defending someone from a knife-wielding attacker, and (rather violently) pushing a child out of the way of an oncoming car.
Sadly, there’s very little in the way of specs, and the robot would find it nigh-on impossible to clear consumer certification hurdles to make it to market. Still, it’s an impressive demo that keeps our robot bodyguard dreams alive.
3. A free, lossless music streaming app won us over
This week, Audiophile.fm launched its own app for iOS and Android after being limited to the web browser for some time. It's hi-res and completely free to use.
It's hard to believe that, in today's age of digital streaming, a platform can exist without there being a huge catch. But as far as we can see, this is the case for Audiophile.fm. The app and website connect you to internet radio stations, which are all broadcast in FLAC at CD quality or better. While the app is ad-free, some stations do weave in the occasional ad to pay the bills.
There's also no algorithm feeding you endless variations of the songs you already like, so you can end up with truly random listening.
2. We reviewed the iPhone Duo
The wait is over. Not only did Apple finally reveal its first folding device, but now we finally have our extensive review of the iPhone Duo. The flexi-phone proved expertly designed and engineered in a way only Apple could do. It opens flat and hides the crease under a unique nano-texture display. It features the powerful A20 Pro chip, two excellent 48MP cameras, and exciting versatility. The big screen supports split-screen multitasking (though we wish we could do more than two apps), and the large display will soon support the Apple Pencil. It has all-day battery life and performance that easily supports console-grade gaming.
Is it perfect? Not quite. The outer screen loses too much space to the dock, many apps are still not optimized, and it is thicker and heavier than the competition. Still, we’ve liked it enough to consider making the iPhone Duo our daily driver.
1. The PHP crisis sparked an internet meltdown
Aside from ‘Duo’, the three-letter phrase that dominated the tech news this week was ‘PHP’. Slightly less fun than a folding phone, this security flaw in the programming language that’s used in about 70% of the world’s websites hit countless sites as they scrambled to deploy patches. And that might only be the start.
High-profile sites that temporarily went dark to roll out fixes included Wikipedia and the Internet Archive, and security experts have warned that the ‘PHP2Shell’ flaw is now being “broadly exploited in the wild”.
Fortunately, for now the impact appears to be relatively minor. But with AI helping bad actors find and exploit these kinds of security vulnerabilities, it’s a taste of the kinds of stories we can expect to see a lot more frequently.