Tag Archives: Tech

Gaming, News, Video games

‘Call of Duty: Black Ops 4’ Battle Royale Mode ‘Blackout’ Free Trial Begins January 17

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Blackout Free Trial Begins Thursday

Source: Activision / Treyarch

If you haven’t gotten a chance to experience Black Ops 4’s battle royale mode ‘Blackout’, you can do so for free starting this Thursday, January 17.

Today Activision announced for one week, players can experience the popular new mode in all of its glory and Call of Duty multiplayer mayhem on Xbox One, PS4, and PC. You will have access to all of the mode’s features which includes characters, maps, gear, and weapons.

Along with the announcement of the Blackout Free Trial, Activision also is releasing a new update that will add some improvements to the game that includes:

  • Debut of Gauntlets and new Elixirs in Zombies on PS4
  • A new week of Featured Playlists and the addition of Elevation andMadagascar to map rotation for Black Ops Pass owners in Multiplayer
  • New-and-improved console looting interface in Blackout
  • plus much more

You can head to Black Ops 4 official Reddit page to get the full details on the update, and you can watch the announcement trailer below to get you excited for Thursday.

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Photo: Activision / Treyarch

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Source: HipHopWired.com

Hip Hop, Hip Hop News, News

Jayson Tatum Will Be 1st NBA Player The Rock Nike’s Self-Lacing Adapt BB Sneakers On Court [Photos]

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Nike Adapt BB Self Lacing Sneakers

Source: Nike / Nike

After much speculation and fanfare, Nike’s self-lacing basketball sneakers have finally arrived. Today the sportswear giant unveiled its Nike Adapt BB sneaker that features its power lacing system and revealed Boston Celtic rising star Jayson Tatum will be the first rock them on an NBA court.

Tatum will be getting his Marty McFly on when laces up or should we say powers up Nike’s Adapt BB sneaker when his Celtics take on the Toronto Raptors Wednesday night in Boston on ESPN. Paired with a continuously updating app the sneaker aims to tackle grasp the ever-elusive idea of providing basketball players the perfect fit while performing on the court.

The sneaker immediately goes to work as soon as the player steps in shoes. The Nike Adapts BB custom motor and gear train senses tension and makes the necessary adjustments accordingly for a snug and secure fit. The FitAdapt tech or the brain of sneaker will allow the player to adjust the fit either by the app or manual touch depending on different moments of the game.

Before the tech is introduced to Nike’s other lines, the company picked basketball as the first sport to test out the wearable technology. In speaking about why the company chose that particular sport first, Nike VP Creative Director of Innovation Eric Avar states:

“We picked basketball as the first sport for Nike Adapt intentionally because of the demands that athletes put on their shoes. During a normal basketball game, the athlete’s foot changes and the ability to quickly change your fit by loosening your shoe to increase blood flow and then tighten again for performance is a key element that we believe will improve the athlete’s experience.”

Sounds like Nike is light years ahead of the competition right now. To get a detailed look at the sneakers that officially launch February 17 and will cost $350 hit the gallery below.

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Photos: Nike

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Source: HipHopWired.com

Hip Hop, Hip Hop News, News

HHW Tech Review: Audeara A-01 Wireless Headphones Deliver A Tailored Listening Experience Just For You

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Audeara A-01 Headphones Review

Source: MoNae Mayweather / iOne Digital

A great pair of headphones come with many features to give users the best sound experience ever. But what if they could supply you with a unique sound experience perfectly tailored to your exact hearing capabilities? That’s precisely what Audeara’s A-01 headphones aim to do.

The brand is the brainchild of two Australian doctors Dr. James Fielding and Dr. Chris Jeffery who wanted make medical-grade audiograms more accessible to those suffering from hearing loss. They started Audeara in 2014 and launched a Kickstarter campaign last year raising $100,000, which led to them creating the A-01 headphones. The company was kind enough to send over a pair for me to experience and try out on the streets of NYC.

PROS

Tailored Sound

Audeara A-01 Headphones

Source: Bernard Smalls / Hip-Hop Wired

Straight out the box, the sound quality isn’t excellent, and that is on purpose and easily fixed. The headphones main function is activated through its companion app. Once booted up and paired, you will be allowed to create profiles tailored to your hearing. The app has three hearing exams: a Standard test that only takes 3 minutes, High Detail that takes 5 minutes and Ultimate Precision that takes 10 minutes.

If you want to get the full experience out of the headphones, I highly suggest you take the time to complete the Ultimate Precision test. Utilizing a series of tones set at different frequencies the exam will determine your hearing threshold for each ear. The more extended test will produce more accurate results and once completed the app will then upload the results to headphones via Bluetooth. The app will give you the option of applying your profile in different percentages ranging from 0% -100%.

No experience is the same, and the hearing your songs after completing the test with the sound profile applied is impressive. If you are one of those people who like their headphones to be extremely loud, then the A-01’s are not for you. These headphones were designed to preserve your hearing while giving you a premium listening experience at the same time.

Design

Audeara A-01 Headphones

Source: MoNae Mayweather / iOne Digital

You won’t be blown away by the headphones plain matte black look, at first, the A-01’s look like any generic pair of headphones if it wasn’t for the logo on the side. But that aside, the Audeara A-01’s are very lightweight and sturdy and fit very comfortably. There are large L and R’s emblazoned on the inside of the cups rather than the usual small markings on headphones to let you differentiate left from right which is vital when taking your hearing test on the app.

CONS

Button Layout

Audeara A-01 Headphones

Source: MoNae Mayweather / iOne Digital

The buttons on the A-01’s are painfully small leading to you possibly pressing the wrong the one when trying to activate the headphones features or adjust the volume. Switching on ANC (automatic noise control) can be a hassle but fortunately, the sound quality is so good you will rarely need to switch on the feature at all. I would like to see them possibly adding the ability to control the noise control feature through the app to alleviate that issue.

Battery Life

Audeara A-01 Headphones

Source: MoNae Mayweather / iOne Digital

Audeara boasts the A-01’s will give users up to 65 hours of listening time in flight mode with the line in with ANC activated. 35 hours in regular mode with ANC on and the Audeara effect and 45 hours in Eco Mode with Bluetooth and Audeara effect activated.

Sadly in my experience that wasn’t the case, I got a decent 20 hours with the ANC not activated cause again it’s really not necessary saving you some battery life.

Final Verdict

For what it’s worth Audeara literally delivered prescription headphones for the most part. The A-01’s could work wonders for someone who has hearing issues to experience music like they never could before with other headphones. This is just a first step for the company and it made some impressive strides with its first model. I would like to see more capabilities with the app as mentioned above like being able to control the automatic noise control feature instead of using the button and auto power off function like Samsung’s AKG headphones would help battery life.

Initially, $380 now listed at $249 the Audera A-01’s are very solid and worth a try if you’re looking for a pair of Bluetooth wireless headphones outside of Beats By Dre, Sony and Bose. If you’re not impressed with the product, the company does offer a 60-day guarantee which is a great cushion.

Audeara is definitely onto something here with A-01’s, and I am definitely intrigued to see what the company comes up with in the future with its next model.

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Photos: MoNae Mayweather/ iOne Digital/ Bernard Smalls/ Hip-Hop Wired

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Source: HipHopWired.com

Hip Hop, Hip Hop News, News, Video games

Playing With Fire: Soulja Boy’s Latest “Sold Out” Sketchy Console Looks Awfully Familar

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Soulja Boy Selling Fake PS Vita Consoles

Source: Santiago Felipe / Getty

Soulja Boy is currently trying to convince his “haters” he is not a crackhead but, he might have Sony breathing down his neck as well thanks to his latest sketchy console.

Tyga will be the least of his worries if he keeps this up.

Clearly, DeAndre Cortez Way hasn’t learned at all from having to “boss up” the last time after a publisher presumably slapped him with a cease and desist forcing him to stop selling those janky consoles. If you head to his SouljaWatch website, there is a console being sold that looks eerily similar to PlayStation’s portable unit the PS Vita.

The bootleg console which is mysteriously “sold out” now features the build of a Vita with the specs of PlayStation Portable aka PSP. The unit’s original price was $200 but is allegedly on “sale” for $100. So Sony could have already have reached out and put him on notice already.

Besides the consoles, the website also sells knockoff versions of AirPods called Soulja Pods for $19.76, a sketchy Apple Watch named the Soula Watch for $11.66, Bluetooth wireless headphones for $35.36 and a tablet for $164.64. Now we here at Hip-Hop Wired are not hating on the Black man at all, but we do want y’all to seriously do your research before spending money on these electronics.

You can currently watch Soula Boy try to salvage his confirmed dead relationship with Nia Riley on Marriage Boot Camp: Hip Hop Edition.

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Photo: Santiago Felipe / Getty

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Source: HipHopWired.com

Hip Hop, Hip Hop News, News

Samsung To Unveil New Galaxy S10 and Foldable Phone During February Unpacked Event

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Samsung to reveal foldable phone and Galaxy S10 In February

Source: SOPA Images / Getty

Samsung is looking to make a splash in 2019. The company let the cat out of the bag in Tweet that we will definitely be seeing the latest phone in its Galaxy flagship phone line and the highly talked about the foldable phone in February.

Welcome to the next generation.

Breaking from tradition, the Korean tech giant usually reveals its newest Galaxy smartphones at the Mobile World Congress. This time around Samsung will be showing off the Galaxy F the rumored name for the foldable phone and the 10th-anniversary version of its Galaxy phone at its upcoming unpacked event slated for February 20.

Samsung gave us a very vague look at the foldable phone in action, and specs for the upcoming new 5G Galaxy phone that will have multiple cameras leaked earlier this year. The foldable design in the phone will bring the first significant change to the Galaxy flagship line in years. With the phone’s reveal also comes its price with many experts believing the foldable phone will probably cost upwards of $1,770 and the Galaxy S10 model being the more affordable phone.

We are very intrigued to see what Samsung has been cooking up in the lab, the Korean company hopes its new phones will bring back customers and boost lagging sales.

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Photo: SOPA Images / Getty

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Source: HipHopWired.com

Hip Hop, Hip Hop News, News

Bungie Says Deuces To Activision & Keeps ‘Destiny’, Employees Pop Champagne

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Bungie Splits From Activision, Will Keep Destiny

Source: Randy Shropshire / Getty

The rocky relationship between Destiny developer Bungie and publisher Activision is over. In a shocking turn of events, the studio announced the split and that it will be keeping the game.

The divorce between the two was years in the making, and it existed long before the first game hit shelves. Bungie broke the news to its employees during a team meeting describing the split as fantastic news. Bungie’s employees who have grown tired of having to deal with Activision celebrated the news by popping champagne according to one person in attendance.

In a blog post, Bungie had this to say about the split:

“We have enjoyed a successful eight-year run and would like to thank Activision for their partnership on Destiny, Looking ahead, we’re excited to announce plans for Activision to transfer publishing rights for Destiny to Bungie. With our remarkable Destiny community, we are ready to publish on our own, while Activision will increase their focus on owned IP projects.”

Since its launch back in September 2014, Destiny’s introduction to the video world has been a rocky one because of its slow roll-out of content in the form of updates and expansions. Bungie’ most recent release Destiny 2: The Forsaken has been well received by fans but failed to meet Activision’s sales expectations.

With its newly gained freedom, Bungie is looking forward to a much better future for the game due to no longer being constrained to Activision’s annualized schedule.

 “We’ll continue to deliver on the existing Destiny roadmap, and we’re looking forward to releasing more seasonal experiences in the coming months, as well as surprising our community with some exciting announcements about what lies beyond.”

Bungie also has a new game coming very soon as well thanks to a $100 million investment from NetEase. Activision stated via its Twitter account that Destiny 2 will remain on Blizzards Battle.Net.

We are looking forward to what Bungie has in store for Destiny 2.

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Source: HipHopWired.com

Hip Hop, Hip Hop News, News

HHW Tech Review: Cotodama Lyric Speaker Canvas

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Cotodama Lyric Speaker Canvas

Source: Bernard Smalls / Hip-Hop Wired

I’ve seen and used many wireless speakers but nothing quite like the Cotodama Lyric Speaker Canvas. Sound quality isn’t what sets this speaker apart from the rest, it’s the devices ability to display the lyrics from songs you’re listening to on the front display.

COTODAMA Joins Abbey Road Red + Announces Lyric Speaker Canvas

Source: COTODAMA

When I was first presented with the opportunity to get a hands-on review, I said yes immediately. When it finally arrived I didn’t expect the speaker to be as big it was I must admit. The device is about 19″ wide, 15 3/4″ high, and 4 3/4″ deep, it’s a bit heavy weighing about 11 pounds so you definitely should place it somewhere very sturdy. You definitely don’t want this bad boy dropping for one particular reason I will get to later in the review.

PROS

Lyric Sync Technology

The speaker’s ability to display lyrics is its most significant and most fantastic feature. Cotodama wants users of their products to believe in the power of lyrics, and this Lyric Speaker Canvas is a great tool to help accomplish that goal. The Japanese company’s “Lyric Sync Technology” works flawlessly. I really wanted to see if it could seamlessly switch up languages and tested it by playing Cardi B’s hit single “I Like It” and it I was very impressed.

Sound

Thanks to Japanese creative agency, Tom’s lab, the Canvas Lyric Speaker delivers impressive room-filling sound. Vocals come in very crisp, so the speaker is definitely not just something to look at.

Design and Setup

The Lyric Speaker Canvas is designed to look like two record sleeves just casually sitting on your shelve or mantle. Its a simple look for a device that injects life into your home through music both visually and sonically. When people come into your apartment or house and see the lyrics flashing across I guarantee they will be amazed.

As far as setup, the speaker can be easily set over your Wi-Fi connection using either via iOS AirPlay, or Google Cast on Android. You can link the speaker to Spotify, Apple Music, Tidal, Amazon Music, AWA, Google Play, and Utapass.

CONS

Price

I don’t consider this much of setback because the speaker is impressive. Like its $4500 predecessor, the Lyric Speaker Canvas is expensive and will cost you $1700. But for a fantastic piece of technology that is hand designed and considered a functional high-art concept to decorate your home with I definitely understand the price.  I definitely would like to see Cotodama somehow make a much more affordable model because I honestly feel everyone should be able to experience it or at least something close.

Slight Delay

Depending the on the speed of the song, I did notice there was a slight delay with the speaker trying to keep up and displaying the lyrics. It eventually caught up, but it can be noticeable at times.

Missing Lyrics

Cotodama does have an impressive library of songs in its database that will display the lyrics when you play them. But there are still some songs that will not show lyrics. You can submit the songs yourself, and it does seem they work pretty quickly to get them into the system. For example, Meek Mill’s song “What’s Free” was not available upon its release but about 2 weeks later when I played it the lyrics for the record was showing.

Final Verdict

The Cotodama Lyric Speaker Canvas is a piece of technology you will never see yourself getting bored with. It gives listeners a new way to experience the music they love and visually observing the lyrics from your favorite Jay-Z or Biggie record flash across the screen in different variations never gets old. If you have the coins to spare it would be a purchase you wouldn’t regret. For more information on Cotodama’s products, you can head to the website.

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Source: HipHopWired.com

Hip Hop, Hip Hop News, News, Video games

Birdman Handrub: ‘Resident Evil 2’ “1-Shot” Demo Will Allow You To Play 30 Minutes of The Game

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Resident Evil 2 1 Shot Demo

Source: Capcom

Resident Evil 2 easily one of 2019’s most anticipated video games with fans chomping at the bits to play the rebuilt survival horror classic. Well, Capcom is you giving you that chance with a demo arriving on PS4, Xbox One and Steam this month.

Oh, we are excited and shook at the same time.

Capcom announced its upcoming Resident Evil 2 “1 Shot” demo will arrive January 11 and will allow players to experience 30 minutes of in-game time of the reimagined nightmare. As reported on PlayStation’s blog players will be able to play as much as the like, but they better make the most of their time cause once the clock runs out the demo comes to an end.

So basically it’s like a time attack mode where players will have to make the most of the time given by picking and choosing their battles, conserving ammo and supplies in hopes they can make it to the end before time runs out. Sounds like the perfect placement holder till the game is officially released January 25. If you are eager to get your hands on this game like we are, you can pre-order the game now and receive an exclusive PS4  pre-order theme.

For those who pre-order the Digital Deluxe Edition of the game, you will be rewarded with a DLC pack with extra costumes for Claire and Leon and a “Samurai Edge” handgun model, and “Original Ver.” Soundtrack swap. So get ready to enter the world of Survival Horror again this Friday.

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Photo: Capcom

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Source: HipHopWired.com

Hip Hop, Hip Hop News, News

#CES: Panasonic Unveils Technics SL-1200 MK7 Turntable, Features Improvements

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Latest Consumer Technology Products On Display At CES 2016

Source: Alex Wong / Getty

CES the world’s largest trade show is currently underway. Today Panasonic has a treat for DJs by unveiling its latest turntable model the Technics SL-1200 MK7.

Panasonic revived its famous Technics turntable line back in 2016 much to the excitement of DJs who still like to spin records the old-fashioned way. Heralded as the perfect turntable, the Technics SL-1200 MK7 arrives with some minor improvements.

What DJs can look forward to with the MK7 model includes a new coreless direct motor drive that Panasonic promises will eliminate the “cogging” effect that is an issue with electric motors. The company accomplished this goal by removing the iron core and improving the space between the magnets that make the turntables platters spin. With these new upgrades, the MK7 promises to spin smoothly regardless of speed.

DJs will also have the ability to play songs in reverse which will require a needle and cartridge to take advantage of the option. Utilizing technology developed for its Blu-Ray players, Panasonic has introduced new motor control electronics that will further improve the turntables ability to scratch records.

Last but not least, users will be able to adjust the amount torque the SL-1200 MK7 uses to start and stop the spinning platter which gives DJs to tailor performance to suit their needs. Panasonic’s latest model indeed sounds like a dream come true for audiophiles. No information has been released on the turntable’s price or release date yet. So stay tuned.

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Photo:  Alex Wong / Getty

 

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Source: HipHopWired.com

Hip Hop, Hip Hop News, News, Video games

Hip-Hop Wired’s 10 Best Video Games of 2018

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Hip-Hop Wired's 10 Best Video Games of 2018

Source: Future Publishing / Getty

2018 is coming to a close and if you’re a gamer the year has been a good one for you when it came to powering up your consoles and escaping reality for a few hours.

One could make the argument for 2018 being one of the best years in video game history. It’s been a while since we seen so many critically acclaimed titles hit consoles in one year keeping gamers in front of their 4K televisions regularly.

I’ve been gaming for a long time, and I can’t recall a time when there was just so many games to play with some of them launching in the same month. In this year alone we saw the return of Kratos, web swung through the streets of NYC as Spider-Man, got the Dragon Ball Fighter Z game we always wanted, returned to the Wild Wild West in Red Dead Redemption 2, teamed up with Lara Croft to stop the apocalypse in Shadow of The Tomb Raider and so much more.

We decided to list our favorite 10 games from 2018, and no Fornite is not on it. While 2019 has some big titles to look forward to like *coughs* Resident Evil 2, and The Last of Us 2, this year has been one for the record books. Hit the gallery below to see which games got mad respect from us and which title got that number 1 spot.

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Photo: Future Publishing / Getty

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Source: HipHopWired.com