Most head units still include an AM tuner, but eight-track tapes, cassettes, and other technologies have faded into history. Other technologies, such as the compact disc, would also disappear over the next few years. It may seem far-fetched, but the history of car radios is littered with abandoned technology that was once considered state of the art. 1930s: The First Commercial Head Units Enthusiasts had already been finding creative ways to integrate radios into their cars for over a decade, but the first true car radios weren’t introduced until the 1930s....

Here’s an explanation of why network storage is vital to an organization, along with a look at two common types of network storage systems. Why Network Storage Is Important Storage capabilities are essential for any computer. Hard drives and USB sticks, for example, are types of local storage that hold vital data close for easy access. Local data storage has some downsides. External devices like USB sticks can be lost, and hard drives can crash....

Apple is testing Conversation Boost, a feature for the AirPods Pro that focuses the microphones on the person in front of you, boosting their voice, without cutting out the sounds of the world around you. Currently in beta testing, this feature continues to blur the lines between augmented reality and accessibility. “This is definitely a feature that all users, even those with normal hearing, would like to have because we are often in noisy environments and this amplifies the voices that we care about while rejecting other sounds,” John Carter, former chief engineer at Bose, told Lifewire via email....

Here’s what those colors mean, as well as a rundown of how you can set up and edit your notifications. What Do the Alexa Notification Colors Mean? Colors beamed in the ring of your Alexa device represent a specific type of notification or message. Here’s what they mean and what you can learn from them: White: The volume is being adjusted. You can tell the volume setting by how much of the ring is lit up....

What Can the Fitbit Ace Do? From telling the time to tracking steps, the Fitbit Ace can perform a variety of functions. Here’s a full list of its capabilities. Step tracking: The Fitbit Ace can keep track of how many steps are taken by the wearer over a given time period. Activity tracking: Tracks how many minutes the wearer is physically active during the day. Watch functionality: The Fitbit Ace, like other Fitbit trackers, features a digital watch face which, in addition to displaying step and activity progress, can show the time and date....

Discontinued: Still being sold Rumors swirled around the next-generation Apple TV box for years. For a long time, many observers assumed that it wouldn’t be a box at all: it was expected to be a full-fledged TV set with the Apple TV hardware and software built into it. We learned that that was not the case when Apple unveiled the 4th Generation Apple TV at its “Hey Siri” event on September 9, 2015....

What Is DTS 96/24? DTS 96/24 isn’t so much a separate surround sound format but an upscaled version of DTS Digital Surround 5.1. Manufacturers encode it onto DVDs or set it as an alternative listening option on DVD-Audio discs. DTS 96/24 provides higher audio resolution than the traditional DTS Digital Surround format. The audio industry measures audio resolution in the sampling rate and bit-depth. The higher the numbers (more resolution), the better the sound....

Get to Know the Second Generation Apple TV While the original Apple TV stored content locally–whether by syncing from a user’s iTunes library or via download from the iTunes Store—the second-generation model is almost entirely Internet-centric. Instead of syncing content, this device streams it from iTunes libraries via AirPlay, the iTunes Store, iCloud, or other online services using built-in apps like Netflix, Hulu, MLB.TV, YouTube, and more. Because it doesn’t need it, the device doesn’t offer much in the way of local storage....

Design: Futuristic design powered by Alexa The Fire TV Cube is a cute, futuristic-looking block that will stand out on your home console despite its 4-inch sides. On the outside, it’s virtually unchanged from the first-generation model. Across the top, there’s a blue LED bar that lights up whenever the Cube takes action. The sides of the cube have a glossy black finish that’s a fingerprint magnet. There’s volume and menu buttons on the top, as well, but we don’t foresee a lot of use for them considering that the Cube comes with a remote....

That’s five times faster out of the box, using the default settings, with no fancy setup. The M5 also has a built-in webcam to watch progress or record time-lapse videos of your work-in-progress, and can pause and warn you when things go awry. It’s also a very affordable $500 on Kickstarter, with a possible final price of around $760, which is still pretty good. In short, this is an amazing step forward for 3D printing enthusiasts and may even send 3D printing mainstream....

The Aphaca Wireless Car Bluetooth FM Transmitter is a very simple, compact, and well designed Bluetooth FM transmitter that allows you to connect almost any Bluetooth-enabled audio device to your car’s stereo system. In this review we’ll examine the transmitter’s compact design, audio quality, and features to see if this little transmitter is a good buy. Spoiler alert: it is. Design: Simple and compact The Aphaca Bluetooth Car FM Transmitter is a svelte device that will easily fit in any car’s 12V power outlet....

On Monday, Apple announced that it is adding a lossless audio catalog to Apple Music in June. MacRumors confirmed that the HomePod and HomePod mini devices wouldn’t support the new lossless audio features. Lossless audio is the original audio that the artist created in the studio, without any edits or additions, which many music lovers say provides an improved listening experience. Apple said in its announcement that Apple Music subscribers would be able to listen to 20 million tracks at launch, eventually adding a total of more than 75 million lossless audio songs....

Apple doesn’t make new apps very often, so Freeform is exciting for that reason alone before you even get into its features. It’s also Apple’s first attempt at a real-time collaboration app, and in my limited testing, it seems to work great. But Apple’s problem is that there are already other freeform canvas-sharing tools, which are not only fuller-featured but don’t require Apple devices to use. “As with most of the features that are Apple only, Freeform is unlikely to be hugely useful in most corporate environments as they are firmly fixed to Windows products,” Dragos Badea, CEO of Yarooms, told Lifewire via email....

Offline Finding allows you to locate Apple devices even if they aren’t connected to the internet. Apple has said the app protects user privacy, but reported security flaws in the software show anonymity is hard to come by on the internet. According to a recent paper published by researchers from the Technical University of Darmstadt in Germany, hackers could get unauthorized access to your location history for the past seven days and correlate it with your identity....

This new model will ditch the aluminum casing and instead use a glass back, which will be crucial for enabling the wireless charging feature. Users will be able to forego the typical charging cables and instead, presumably, place the new iPad Pro on a MagSafe Charger. The wireless charging process may take a little longer for the iPad compared to the iPhone, however. In addition, it is reported that Apple is trying to make the iPad Pro, itself, function as a wireless charging station....

iOS and Viruses In a technical sense, a virus is a piece of code that replicates itself by creating a copy within another piece of software on your computer. But, unlike Windows computers that have a very open file system, iOS doesn’t allow one app direct access to the files of another app, preventing any would-be virus from replicating. If you visit a website and see a message pop up informing you that your device is infected by a virus, you should immediately exit the website....

Former Google executive Mo Gawdat said in a recent interview that AI will soon overtake human intelligence, with dire consequences for our civilization. As evidence, Gawdat claims that he witnessed a robot arm making what he perceived to be a taunting gesture to AI researchers. But some experts beg to differ. “AI is woefully inadequate in many domains and relies heavily on Big Data and human surveillance to fuel its software models,” Sean O’Brien, a visiting fellow at the Information Society Project at Yale Law School, told Lifewire in an email interview....

In the world of wireless earbuds, the Powerbeats Pro are top tier. Everything from their design to the sound quality, connectivity, and battery life place these Bluetooth earbuds among the best you can buy. We tested the Powerbeats Pro nearly continuously over the course of a week. We found them to be comfortable, convenient, and a pleasure to listen to. Every word, note, and beat came through flawlessly. The physical controls are outstanding and you’ll be hard-pressed to find the limit of their battery life....

The announcement was made on the Bose Global Press Room blog, where the company revealed the Smart Soundbar 900’s dimensions are 2.3 inches tall, 4 inches deep, and 41 inches long, encased in a wraparound metal grille and tempered glass. The Smart Soundbar 900 has a seven-speaker arrangement in its cabinet, working in tandem with the company’s proprietary PhaseGuide technology. Bose has combined Dolby Atmos surround sound with its PhaseGuide technology for precise sound placement and better immersion....

But women are increasingly leveling up in the industry. They are creating games featuring female-centric characters and advocating for more women’s voices in the bigger-named gaming institutions. One such woman is Brianna Wu, a dedicated gamer and advocate for women and politics. Being so sick of games tailored to men, she set out to create her own game, tailored to everyone. “It just made me so angry that women were the damsels in distress that never got to be the hero,” Wu told Lifewire in a phone interview....