Samsung’s Galaxy Buds Pro fall to $130 for today only at Amazon

Samsung’s Galaxy Buds Pro are a good all-round choice for those looking for Android-friendly earbuds. Even better, if you’re in the market for a set, they’re on sale on Amazon for today only for $130. That’s $70 off the regular price.

Buy Samsung Galaxy Buds Pro at Amazon – $130

We gave Galaxy Buds Pro a score of 85 in our review (the more recent Galaxy Buds 2 received a slightly lower score of 84). Along with good sound quality, active noise cancellation (ANC) and a comfortable fit, there’s support for wireless charging.

You’ll get up to five hours of listening time with ANC and Bixby voice cues turned on, and a total of 18 hours of use with the help of the charging case. Switch off ANC and hands-free Bixby and those numbers jump up to eight hours and 28 hours, respectively, Samsung claims. Thanks to quick charging support, you can add an hour of listening time after just five minutes of charging.

Samsung says the earbuds will withstand being immersed in three-feet deep water for up to 30 minutes. There’s IPX7 water resistance as well.

While this isn’t quite the lowest price we’ve seen for Galaxy Buds Pro, it’s not far off. They’ve dropped to $120 at Woot and $125 at Amazon in the past. Still, it’s a good deal on a solid set of earbuds.

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Akai’s third-gen MPK Mini Play keyboard offers a better feel and all-day battery life

Akai’s MPK Mini Play keyboard has a reputation as a solid portable music-making machine (Akai claims it’s the best-selling mini keyboard), and the company appears keen to make the most of that perception. The brand has introduced an MPK Mini Play Mk3 that upgrades both the feel and longevity. You’ll find a new keybed with greater “dynamic” performance and more accurate velocity response, while the eight drum pads are now true velocity-sensitive MPC units. You can lean more on the Mk3 as a serious production tool, then.

The four-battery design (the original used three) also promises a long 14-plus hours of playing to help with all-day creative sessions, and a larger speaker with better low-end output will help when you’d rather not plug in headphones. You’ll find 100 built-in drum and instrument sounds, four customizable knobs and an equally flexible joystick. Akai includes its MPC Beats software to help you get started, but the new MPK Mini Play should work with any digital audio workstation that supports USB-based MIDI controllers.

The MPK Mini Play Mk3 sells for $150. That’s about $20 more than the original, but it should still be easy to justify if you’re either new to music production or want a compact keyboard for live gigs or on-the-spot composition.

Shazam’s new feature makes it easy to find and buy tickets for nearby concerts

Now that pandemic restrictions have started lifting, people are eager to go back to the activities they used to do, such as seeing live music performances. Shazam has launched a new feature meant to make it easier to find shows nearby, so music lovers don’t miss events they can easily go to. Starting today, when users Shazam a song or search for it in the app or on the website, they’ll also see relevant concert information and tickets on sale for upcoming shows near their location.

If they have a specific artist in mind, though, they can simply launch the new Shazam Artist page on the platform and see the dates, times and locations of upcoming performances. Tapping on any of them will show additional tour or show information, along with the ability to add any event to their calendar. Shazam uses information from concert discovery app Bandsintown for this feature, and musicians who want the service to display their event details will have to make the information available via Bandsintown For Artists.

Shazam’s new concert feature is now available on iOS and Android. “Shazam has a long history of innovation in music discovery and connecting artists and fans,” Apple VP for Apple Music and Beats Oliver Schusser said. “With the reemergence of live music, we’re excited to give Shazam users access to concerts and bring even more discoverability to artists.” Apple, which purchased Shazam back in 2018, said last year that the app IDs over a billion songs per month. With this feature, Shazam has taken its music discovery service to another level. 

Android phone location data is about to get a lot more accurate

In the coming months, Android phones with Snapdragon 8 Gen 1 and Snapdragon 888 Mobile Platforms will be able to measure location data to within one meter (approximately three feet). Qualcomm will use long-term collaborator Trimble’s RTX GNSS correction services platform to let Android smartphone makers, service providers and app developers harness more accurate location info.

Trimble claims it and Qualcomm will improve Android location accuracy by five times compared with current capabilities. The tech, which will be available in the second quarter of this year, will enable features like lane-level guidance for car navigation systems, Trimble said. It might also help users find their ride-sharing driver more easily and designate more precise destinations.

It’s unclear whether existing phones will be able to use more precise location data with this tech. Engadget has contacted Trimble and Qualcomm for clarification.

The prospect of more accurate location data naturally raises questions about privacy. However, you’ll still be able to switch off location tracking system wide and for individual apps and delete your location history from the Android OS.

Insta360’s latest modular action cam has built-in video stabilization

Following last year’s GoPro Hero 10 Black and DJI Action 2, it’s finally Insta360’s turn to bring out its latest action cam — along with a new 4K wide-angle lens to go with it.

The new Insta360 One RS is yet another modular action cam from the company, but this time featuring an upgraded processor to support onboard “FlowState Stabilization” (this used to be handled by the app, which takes time) as well as “Active HDR” video capture — one that is apparently powerful enough to handle action sports without ghosting issues. 

While the One RS looks almost identical to the older One R, the core’s touch display has been given a slight facelift: you’ll now see a marker for the “quick menu” and another for “instant zoom.” Other less visible bonuses include improved WiFi connectivity (for faster file transfers and more stable live preview), as well as an additional mic (for crispier audio capture) and 21-percent more battery.

Insta360 One RS
Insta360

The new “4K Boost Lens” features a larger 1/2-inch 48MP sensor. This can capture 4K 60 fps footage, “6K Widescreen Mode” (6,016 x 2,560) videos at 25/24fps or 1080p clips at up to 200fps. You can get this One RS “4K Edition” kit for $299.99. And if you already own a One R, you’ll be pleased to know that this 4K Boost Lens is backwards compatible, pending firmware update. (Speaking of, the new battery base is also backwards compatible, though it won’t fit in the old mounting bracket.)

Alternatively, you may also consider the “Twin Edition” kit which adds a 5.7K 360 lens (same specs as before, except for its lighter shade of gray), and this is asking for $549.99. Like before, with the 360 lens, you’ll be able to capture spherical videos and photos, and export 2D content with the selfie stick rendered invisible.

If you want the absolute best wide-angle camera mod and don’t need a 360 lens, there’s a third option: you can bundle the One RS with the good old Leica 1-inch 5.3K lens mod. This also costs $549.99.

Insta360 One RS
Insta360 One RS quick-release mounting bracket.
Insta360

Launching alongside the One RS is a new easy-release mounting bracket, which allows for quicker lens swapping, better heat dissipation and better mic wind-proofing. You’ll also be needing this bracket to ensure that the entire camera is waterproof up to 16 feet (5 meters) deep; or you can get the dive case instead, should you need to go deeper.