Apple debuts 3rd-gen AirPods, new Apple Music Voice plan, HomePod mini colours

Apple

True to the rumours, Apple has officially unveiled the third-generation AirPods. These base level buds get a refreshed look, Spatial Audio support, and the Pro's "force sensor" for controlling calls and music. The AirPods also get IPX4 water and sweat resistance.

The runtime gets increased by an hour. It is now at six hours on the buds and up to 30 hours with the case. The AirPods' charging case now also supports MagSafe. The third-gen AirPods start at $239, and you can order these now with shipping starting on October 25.

Click to read more ...

Apple Music and Billie Eilish promote Spatial Audio in new clip

Apple Music collaborates with Billie Eilish to promote its recent Dolby Atmos-based Spatial Audio. The 90-second video shows Eilish singing a mashup of "Getting Older" and "GOLDWING" from her latest album, Happier Than Ever, in front of a vanity mirror. As the song transitions, her reflections start to multiply, with additional mirrors surrounding her. According to Apple, this is a metaphor representing what it's like listening with Spatial Audio.

Spatial Audio is designed to offer a surround sound experience, and it's available on thousands of songs on the streaming service since it rolled out in June, including Eilish's new album.

Source: MacRumors

Apple Music's app for artists get Shareable Milestones

Musicians who want to share their milestones on Apple Music can now do just that. The Apple Music for Artists app gets Shareable Milestones, which they can share on social media with their fans. The app can generate automatic milestones, including new highs and all-time bests across Plays and Shazams and inclusion in Apple Music's curated playlists. 

These images will be viewable on their iOS overview page, and they can be shared on different social media sites. This feature is limited to artists right now. We don't know if Apple plans to give its regular users access to this feature.

Source: MacRumors

Apple Music brings lossless streaming and Spatial Audio to Android

Source: Apple

If you're on Android and you update your Apple Music app to the latest version, you'll finally get access to the service's lossless streaming and Dolby Atmos Spatial Audio. For the latter, your phone needs to support Dolby Atmos to get the feature to work. More flagship-tier devices will most likely have this feature. It will work with any headphones, though. As for lossless, you will need external hardware like a DAC to get hi-res lossless.

These features come at no extra charge for subscribers, but not all tracks support lossless streaming yet. The company does plan to bring that feature to all of its 75 million catalog. And for Dolby Atmos, there are curated playlists and special badges on the streaming service to make it easier to find these songs.

Source: The Verge + Engadget