Xiaomi has launched a crowdfunding project for a two-in-one coffee machine that can make espressos, macchiatos, cappuccinos and lattes in just three minutes. Kind of.
The Seven & Me comprises a hot plate, a milk frother, and the coffee maker itself. According to Xiaomi, this will produce "authentic Italian espresso", but as Deirdre O'Donnell of Notebookcheck points out, the fact that the water is heated from the bottom and forced up through the grounds rather than pushed down means that this is actually a moka pot rather than an espresso machine.
A moka pot, as coffee grinder company JavaPresse notes, produces a much stronger brew than the best drip coffee maker, but the flavor profile isn't the same because the pressure is much lower (around two bars compared for nine for the best espresso machines).
Silky milksThe milk frother seems to work in a similar way to the Dreo Baristamaker I reviewed recently. Rather than using pressurized steam to force air into milk while heating it, the Seven & Me appears to warm the milk from below, while whisking it to create foam. I found that the Baristamaker tended to create large bubbles rather than silky microfoam, which wasn't ideal for latte art, but perhaps Xiaomi's machine will perform better.
Like the Baristamaker, the Seven & Me has presets for different types of plant milk, including that are notoriously tricky to steam well. The Seven & Me's brew time, pressure, and heating can be adjusted depending on your choice of drink as well, but despite Xiaomi's assertion that this is the "smartest" coffee machine in the world, there are no features like wireless connectivity that I'd normally associate with such a claim.
Nevertheless, the idea is clearly proving popular. At the time of writing, the crowdfunding project only has one machine remaining at the early bird price of $199 (about £150 / AU$300) - a discount of 33% off the list price.
Strangely, the machine appears to be almost, if not entirely, identical to the Xiaomi Household Mini Latte Coffee Machine, which is currently available for only £38 in the UK from Xiaomi wholesaler MiOT (fitted with an EU plug), and has reviews on Amazon.com dating back to 2021. The company has even re-used some of the same promotional images.
Looking for something more conventional? Our roundup of the best coffee makers has lots of options, including plenty of budget-friendly picks.
You might also likeNot content with tussling with GoPro in the action camera space, DJI is reportedly preparing to launch its first-ever 360-degree camera to take on Insta360.
@JasperEllens on X (formerly Twitter) leaked a US Federal Communications Commission (FCC) filing that seemingly certifies the DJI Osmo 360 (see below), which would almost certainly be a handheld 360-degree camera to rival the five star-rated Insta360 X4.
Given that GoPro has repeatedly delayed the launch of the Max 2, the successor to the now five-year-old GoPro Max, we need another X4 rival besides the decent Kandao QooCam Ultra 3, and DJI could surprisingly steal a march on GoPro here.
Given its track record, DJI disrupting the Insta360-dominated market would be an exciting move. It's Osmo Action 5 Pro is the latest in a line of action cams that are compelling GoPro alternatives, while the Osmo Pocket 3 instantly became our favorite vlogging camera. If DJI was to work the same magic with a 360-degree camera, it could be onto another winner.
No details of the camera have been leaked yet, but based on DJI's previous action-cam and pocket camera products, what could we expect from its rumored Osmo 360?
Last but not least there is a new camera on the horizon. Say hello #Osmo360. Good to see DJI finally stepping into the 360 camera market. FCC filed today. Thanks for the heads up @UKDroneClub. pic.twitter.com/qUZdMTqmxYOctober 18, 2024
Will DJI get it right first time?If we take the action camera space as an example, the DJI Osmo Action 5 Pro, GoPro Hero 13 Black and Insta360 Ace Pro (with a rumored Ace Pro 2 successor imminent) are jostling for top spot, each with distinct features to set them apart.
Compared to its rivals, DJI's Osmo Action 5 Pro has the lowest-resolution video at just 4K, but a bigger sensor which means better low-light performance. Its screens are brighter too, and its build quality is superb, including class-leading waterproofing and battery life.
While DJI may be making more progress with its flagship series of action cameras than GoPro, 360-degree cameras are a whole other proposition, and getting it right first time, and producing a serious rival to Insta360's cameras, will take some doing. DJI usually eschews high-resolution video in favor of better low-light performance, but that won't cut it in this space.
360-degree cameras utilize twin lenses with a wide field of view, and extra resolution gives greater flexibility when editing your 360-degree videos to focus in on key action areas. DJI will need 5.3K video at the very least to compete with the 8K-wielding Insta360 X4 and Kandao QooCam Ultra 3 360-degree cameras.
However, even those cameras will recommend you drop resolution down to 5.3K when shooting in low light to preserve image quality, while their smaller sensors can struggle to retain detail in highlights and shadows even in good light unless you select the HDR mode.
DJI could double down on 5.3K video quality by equipping its rumored Osmo 360 with a larger image sensor than its rivals. It could also use its considerable image stabilization know-how to deliver a rival-beating system.
To succeed in this space, DJI will also need to develop a user-friendly app for editing 360-degree videos and photos. Pain-free editing is paramount for such a camera.
I'm not surprised that DJI looks set to enter the 360-degree camera space – it's a logical next step for the innovative brand, and I hope the Osmo 360 (and new app) can deliver the goods at the first time of asking.
You might also likeApple AirPods Pro 2's promised suite of hearing health features, which could make the true wireless earbuds a viable alternative over-the-counter hearing aids for mild to moderate hearing loss, is nearly here. After being unveiled at the technology giant’s September 9, 2024 “It’s Glowtime.” event and receiving FDA approval on September 12, 2024, Apple’s now confirmed that the three-features-strong hearing health update will start to rollout as a software update starting next week.
So, if you have a pair of AirPods Pro second-generation with a USB-C or Lightning port, you’ll want to update them once the software begins rolling out. It will be one of the more significant updates to Apple’s flagship earbuds, allowing them to function as hearing aids for mild to moderate loss, amplifying the audio around you, allowing you to take a hearing test, and further protecting your hearing from environmental sounds.
In fact, AirPods Pro is the first over-the-counter (OTC) hearing aid software device authorized by the FDA in the United States. This was issued after an evaluation that included a study with over 100 participants, all of whom experienced mild to moderate hearing loss.
In a release on the authorization, the FDA said the results “demonstrated that subjects who used the HAF (read: Hearing Air Feature) self-fitting strategy achieved similar perceived benefit as subjects who received professional fitting of the same device.”
AirPods Pro 2 are the first over-the-counter hearing aid software buds to gain FDA approval in the USThese tests conducted by the FDA likely mirrored what Apple performed internally to test and create the feature. Once your AirPods Pro second-generation receive the latest firmware, you’ll be able to conduct a hearing test right from your iPhone. With it, the AirPods will check your environment, so you’ll want to be in a quieter space and will retest the fit of your ear tips to ensure a proper seal.
If it comes up that the fit isn’t ideal, it’ll ask you to swap to a different ear tip. You’ll need to find the box of your AirPods Pro for the additional sizes, or you can pick up an extra set of ear tips from Apple. You can get four pairs – extra small, small, medium, and large – for $12.99 online from Apple’s online store or find it at your local store.
Once the fit is good and you’re in a spot that is quiet enough, you’ll learn how the tests work and then dive right in. With the Hearing Test, you’ll see a graphic on-screen, and a set of tones – each pulse three times – will play for the left and right ear. It’ll last for about five minutes for each ear, and once done, you’ll get a result with a category given and the results – delivered in dBHL – plotted on a map.
If you receive a result for mild to moderate loss, you can turn on the Hearing Aid mode under Hearing Assistance. There, you can adjust the amplification, balance, tone, ambient noise reduction, and even turn on or off ‘Conversation Boost.’ You can also customize “Hearing Protection” features, but this will appear if you get a result higher or lower than mild to moderate. You can restest your hearing whenever you like with AirPods Pro and see the results within the Health app on your iPhone.
Apple will begin rolling out its hearing health features next week, first in the United States for AirPods Pro second-generation. Of course, if you still need a pair they’re currently on Amazon for $199 from $249 in the United States or £229.99 in the United Kingdom.
You Might Also Like...Samsung has officially announced the Galaxy Z Fold Special Edition, which is thinner and lighter than the Galaxy Z Fold 6 while sporting larger displays and an improved camera system.
The Z Fold Special Edition also comes with 16GB of RAM to support a “‘Galaxy AI’ experience optimized for foldables” and the Snapdragon 8 Gen 3 for Galaxy chipset. We’ve yet to hear about how much storage the unit ships with.
The Galaxy Z Fold Special Edition will only be available in South Korea when it launches on October 25, and the sole Black Shadow color option will cost 2,789,600 won (or roughly $2,000 / £1,550 / AU$3,000).
Leaks have pointed to a South Korea release for months, but the rumored China launch remains unconfirmed. There are currently no signs of a wider global release.
The official announcement includes comments from Sung-Taek Lim, executive vice president of Samsung Korea, who called the Galaxy Z Fold Special Edition a “gesture of gratitude to domestic consumers who are leading the foldable market”.
We hope the upgrades given to the Z Fold Special Edition will make their way to the next globally released Z Fold phone – but the Z Fold 6 was just released back in August, so we might be waiting a while to find out.
With that in mind, here’s a rundown of the major upgrades coming to the Z Fold Special Edition.
Larger, wider displaysThe Galaxy Z Fold Special Edition has a 6.5-inch outer display and 8-inch inner display, as compared to the 6.3-inch outer and 7.6-inch inner displays of the Galaxy Z Fold 6.
These enlargements bring Samsung back in line with its competitors, as the Z Fold 6 didn't quite catch up to rival phones like the OnePlus Open and Google Pixel 9 Pro Fold when it comes to display size. And with an aspect ratio of 21:9, the outer display on the Special Edition is proportionally wider than the skinny 22:9 cover screen of the Z Fold 6.
The Galaxy Z Fold Special Edition marks the first increase in inner display size since the Z Fold 2 released in 2020, and boasts the same almost-square 20:18 aspect ratio as the inner display on the Z Fold 6.
A properly flagship cameraThe Samsung Galaxy Z Fold Special Edition may mark a turning point for the Z Fold series by finally offering a comparable photography experience to Samsung’s flagship slab phones.
The Z Fold Special Edition comes equipped with a 200MP main wide camera, the same resolution as the main camera on the Samsung Galaxy S24 Ultra. This is a major step up from the 50MP main camera affixed to the Z Fold 6; at least on paper.
Our Samsung Galaxy Z Fold 6 review found its 50MP camera to be a frustrating oversight. So we’re glad to see steps towards parity with Samsung’s other ultra-premium phone and hope to see the same steps taken with the next global Z Fold release.
Though the race to produce thinner slab phones has been over for years, in the foldable world it’s just heating up.
The Samsung Galaxy Z Fold Special Edition boasts a folded thickness of 10.6mm, shaving off an impressive 1.5mm as compared to the Z Fold 6.
At 236g, it’s also 3g lighter than the Z Fold 6 – a modest improvement, but still a welcome boost for one handed use.
This means the Z Fold Special Edition is both thinner and lighter than most other flagship folding phones, slimmer than both the OnePlus Open or Google Pixel 9 Pro Fold but still beaten by the Honor Magic V3.
We’d like to see Samsung keep the same competitive spirit when it comes to the design of the next global Z Fold phone, too.
As mentioned, we aren’t likely to see a global release for the Samsung Galaxy Z Fold Special Edition, but we’d otherwise have expected to see this new phone land a spot on our lists of the best Samsung phones and best folding phones.
And as ever, for the latest updates be sure to check in with our Samsung phones coverage.
You might also likeApple Intelligence isn’t even available to the public yet, but a new report claims it’s “at least [...] two years behind the industry leaders.”
In his most recent Power On newsletter, Bloomberg’s Mark Gurman wrote he’d been told about internal studies at Apple that show just how much ground Apple Intelligence needs to make up to get to ChatGPT’s level. He wrote, “The research found that OpenAI’s ChatGPT was 25% more accurate than Apple’s Siri, and able to answer 30% more questions.”
That means according to the studies, ChatGPT is quite a bit better than Apple Intelligence’s current form but considering Apple’s delayed start it might not be too long until the company catches up. Gurman added, “In fact, some at Apple believe that its generative AI technology — at least, so far — is more than two years behind the industry leaders.”
Two years might sound like a long time, but if Apple’s first-party AI tools are up to ChatGPT’s standard by 2026, Apple devices will have incredibly competent AI capabilities. Considering how fast the AI industry is evolving, who knows what AI will be capable of in just two years, and will Apple continue to lag behind?
Just a matter of time Siri's new redesign in iOS 18.1 activated on an iPhone 16 Pro Max (Image credit: Apple)It’s not all doom and gloom for Apple, however, Gurman states “It’s hard to count Apple out.” After all, Apple is renowned for not doing things first, but doing them best and Gurman believes “At some point, Apple will either develop, hire or acquire its way into the top tier of AI companies.”
There’s also Apple’s huge user base that plays a determining factor in its AI development. After all, the company can simply roll out AI features to millions of devices and make AI accessible to all. In the iPhone 16 marketing, Apple claims Apple Intelligence is “AI for the rest of us” and the company hopes to build on that mantra by making Apple Intelligence available on as many devices as possible.
Gurman claims, “By 2026, nearly every Apple device with a screen will run it: The iPhone SE will gain the features in March, and the entry-level iPad will probably get updated later in the year.” That’s a huge step in making Apple Intelligence the core of the Apple experience, and with a big chunk of development to catch up on, that strategy of making Apple Intelligence the center of the Apple ecosystem is probably Apple’s best bet.
Once Apple does catch up, companies like Google and Samsung will struggle to keep up as Apple Intelligence can be upgraded and new features rolled out at an unmatchable speed. “They have more fragmented operating systems, and their hardware, software and services aren’t as tightly integrated.”
With Apple Intelligence expected to launch on October 28, we’ve only got a week or so to go until Apple’s AI tools become available to the world - time will tell just how big an impact the company can have in the AI industry.
You might also like...Apple is expected to launch the iPhone SE 4 at some point in early 2025, meaning we’re likely just a few months away from seeing the affordable phone. Yet despite the close proximity to the launch window, a report has just landed with a surprising new claim about the phone that could totally change what we expect to see.
Japanese Apple blog Mac Otakara claims to have acquired dummy units of the iPhone SE 4 that show the exact layout and features that will be coming to the updated device.
According to the website, the iPhone SE 4 will take on almost exactly the same size and form factor as the iPhone 14 – so much so that existing iPhone 14 cases should fit on the iPhone SE 4 without a hitch, the post says.
Mac Otakara notes that around the back is a single camera lens, as past rumors have suggested, and there will be a slimline notch housing Face ID (but no Dynamic Island). On the sides, the dummy units include a volume switch instead of an Action button, as well as the regular volume and side buttons. Interestingly, the lack of an Action button contradicts a past rumor from fall 2023, so we’ll have to see which one proves to be correct.
Skepticism is advised The 3D printed mockups from Japanese Apple blog Mac Otakara (above) suggest that the iPhone SE 4 series could come in two sizes, but that's far from certain (Image credit: Mac Otakara)We’ve seen similar claims to these in the past, so the latest details above are not particular new. However, what’s more interesting is Mac Otakara’s belief that there could be a second, larger size of the iPhone SE 4 – an ‘iPhone SE Plus’ of sorts that is roughly the same size as the iPhone 14 Plus.
This seems to be a new detail, as we haven’t seen any other outlets claim that there will be a larger iPhone SE 4. Before you get too excited, though, it seems unlikely that it will come to fruition.
For one thing, this concept has arrived very late in the day considering the iPhone SE 4 is only a couple of months away from launching. Typically, we don’t tend to see new information in this scale so close to a rumored launch – the design and manufacturing process would have started many months ago, giving ample opportunities for leaks to have escaped into the public domain.
Given how many leaks and rumors there have already been about the iPhone SE 4, it seems likely that we'd have seen traces of it somewhere before.
As well as that, Apple has never released two sizes of the iPhone SE, so this would be a totally new move on the company’s part. Aside from the fact that this could threaten to cannibalize the iPhone 16 Plus, one would think that a strategic shift of this scale would have been leaked long ago.
It’s therefore wise to be skeptical of the larger iPhone SE 4 rumor. While we can see Apple launching an iPhone SE that fits the iPhone 14’s form factor, a ‘Plus’ option feels improbable. That said, we’ll know for sure when the iPhone SE 4 launches in a few months’ time.
You might also likeDespite widespread satisfaction with the productivity enhancements that generative AI can unlock among developers, a recent Stack Overflow study has found that UK developers are less enthusiastic about AI-powered tools.
The survey of 65,000 developers worldwide, including 3,200 in the UK, highlights the cautious approach to artificial intelligence in Britain, with only 51% of developers in the nation currently using AI compared with 62% globally.
However, there has been a clear change in attitude, with Britain’s 51% adoption up from last year’s 37%.
Britain’s developers are behind when it comes to AIMore specifically, Stack Overflow found that 29% of programmers in the UK were indifferent about AI, with only 10% taking a ‘completely unfavourable’ stance. Nevertheless, Britain emerged as one of the least AI-enthusiastic countries in Europe despite the country’s efforts to establish itself at the forefront of artificial intelligence progress.
Moreover, more than one in three (36%) UK developers say that they are neither using AI nor have plans to integrate such tools into their development processes in the future.
Painting a similar picture, only 62% of British programmers view AI tools as ‘favorable’ or ‘very favorable’, marking a 10 percentage point drop over the global average.
Among the concerns raised regarding artificial intelligence was the tech’s trustworthiness – only 38% of UK developers feel that they can put their trust into artificial intelligence, primarily due to a lack of trust in output and insufficient understanding of a project’s codebase context.
Demographics surfaced by Stack Overflow’s report suggest that it might not be reluctance to get on board with thew new tech that’s preventing AI from becoming widespread in the UK, but rather coding experience. The UK was found to have the highest average years of coding experience, at 18 years, surpassing counterparts in the US by one year, Canada by two years, and India by 10 years.
More from TechRadar ProJust months after the launch of the Xiaomi Smart Band 9, and days after the leak of the new Xiaomi Smart Band 9 Pro, yet another new Xiaomi wearable fitness tracker has been leaked online ahead of its launch.
If its predecessor – the Xiaomi Smart Band 8 Pro – is anything to go by, we expect the new Xiaomi Smart Band 9 Pro to be the best cheap fitness tracker on the market when it arrives.
Last week, the Smart Band 9 Pro was leaked revealing a tweaked design and three colors. Now, we've just got our first leak at the 'Active' variant from the same source.
YTECHB has published leaked images and specs for the new Xiaomi Smart Band 9 Active which reveal design changes and a significant increase in battery life. Here's what you need to know.
Xiaomi Smart Band 9 Active leaked in fullEXCLUSIVE - Xiaomi Smart Band 9 Active Renders and Specs Leak!!https://t.co/3munRWkkpqOctober 17, 2024
Images shared by the outlet (above) purportedly reveal the new design for the Xiaomi Smart Band 9 Active. According to the leak, the new variant appears to feature a redesigned band attachment system like the leaked Pro, with a pill-shaped release mechanism that Apple Watch customers will be familiar with.
The display also appears to be flat, in contrast to the leaked Pro version which we expect to be slightly curved at the edges.
YTECHB has also shared some specs for the upcoming device. According to the report, it will feature the same 1.47-inch display as its predecessor but will pack up to 18 days of battery life, a significant increase over the current offering of 14 days.
Finally, the report states that the Xiaomi Smart Band 9 Active will be priced the same as its predecessor, likely well below $50 / £50 / AU$50, and will initially be available in three colors.
When will it hit the shelves? The report claims we can expect a release "within the next one month".
It looks like Xiaomi is keeping up its trend of brilliant, cheap wearable fitness tech, so be on the lookout for this new Active and a new Pro model in the very near future.
You may also likeIn our iPad mini (2021) review, we didn't notice any major issues with the display on the sixth-generation version of the tablet, but the slate did attract complaints about a 'jelly scrolling' problem – which Apple has now apparently fixed with the iPad mini 7.
If you're new to the saga, jelly scrolling is where one side of the screen refreshes slower than the other, causing a jarring effect when scrolling up and down – especially on pages of text. Apple has said it isn't an issue, but it has continued to be an annoyance for some.
Our review of the 7th-gen iPad mini (2024) is still on the way, and it goes on sale October 23. In the meantime, well-known Apple commentator Jason Snell has said on his Six Colors podcast (via MacRumors) that he believes the issue has now been sorted out.
Snell didn't go into specific details about the tweak, or say where he got his information, but his close connections to Apple make this a credible tip-off – even if the new iPad mini comes with an 8.3-inch LCD panel that appears to be almost identical to the screen on the previous model.
Smoother scrolling The iPad mini 6, launched in 2021 (Image credit: TechRadar)Quite how big of a deal this is depends on how much the jelly scrolling on the iPad mini 6 spoiled your viewing experience. Apple has remained adamant that there's no issue, and it was only noticeable in portrait mode – but once you did see it, it was then difficult to unsee it while using the tablet.
It was certainly enough of a problem for us to mention it in our list of 5 potentially annoying iPad mini 7 limitations. Apart from a performance bump, there aren't too many upgrades on the new slate – though it will be able to run Apple Intelligence.
According to a rumor that surfaced last year, changes in the way the iPad mini is assembled are responsible for eradicating jelly scrolling. Whatever has happened behind the scenes, it's going to be a welcome improvement.
You can preorder the iPad mini 7 right now from Apple, or wait until Wednesday to go and pick it up in stores. Pricing starts at $499 / £499 / AU$799 – that gets you 128GB of storage, with 256GB and 512GB models also available.
You might also likeJust a couple of days ago, OnePlus gave us our first official look at the OnePlus 13, but one that was so obscured in shadow we couldn’t see much. Now though, the company is providing a full look at the back of the phone.
Shared on the company’s official Weibo account (via NotebookCheck), you can see a brief video showing the rear of the phone in White Dawn (white), Blue Moment (blue), and Obsidian Secret (black) shades.
It’s not just a choice of colors though – they also come in different textures, with the blue model supposedly having a skin-like feel, while the black one has an “ebony wood grain” textured finish.
The OnePlus 13 in three colors (Image credit: OnePlus)As for the overall design of the OnePlus 13, the back looks similar but not identical to the OnePlus 12. Both phones have a circular camera block, but the OnePlus 12 has a strip of metal connecting the camera block to the edge of the phone, while the OnePlus 13 lacks this.
In any case, this teaser also includes the launch date of the OnePlus 13, with October 31 being the big day, though based on past form that’s almost certainly just going to be a Chinese launch, with a global release likely to follow in early 2025.
Another teaser and an esports appearanceSo this is the #OnePlus13... pic.twitter.com/pex4ofChkkOctober 21, 2024
Beyond this hefty teaser there are also a couple of leaks, including a leaked teaser video shared by @OnLeaks, which as well as providing a close up look at the back of the OnePlus 13, also offers some glimpses at the front of the phone. Though from the front this really just looks like any other handset, with a flat screen and a punch-hole camera.
And finally, some Weibo users (via Phandroid) have even spotted the OnePlus 13 in the wild, at an esports event in China. You can see the phone in all three of the above colors, though these images don’t really reveal anything that OnePlus hasn’t now shown us.
What we still haven't heard much about officially is the specs, but it's thought that the OnePlus 13 will be one of the first phones to use the Snapdragon 8 Gen 4 chipset, so this could be a very powerful handset. We should have a clearer idea of exactly how powerful on October 31.
You might also likeIf you’ve been holding off picking up a copy of Black Myth: Wukong until the release of a physical version, then it looks like you won’t have to wait much longer. Game Science has confirmed that a physical PlayStation 5 edition is on the way in the near future.
In a recent post to the Black Myth: Wukong X / Twitter account, the developer thanked fans for their patience and stated that “the master disc for Black Myth: Wukong is ready”. If you’re not familiar with the term, a master disc contains the final launch version of a piece of gaming software which is then copied on to further discs during the production process.
The post goes on to say that “the PS5 physical edition will be available to you very soon” though falls short of providing a definitive timescale. Given the existence of a master disc, however, it seems safe to assume that the physical launch will be some time in the next few months.
Elsewhere, Game Science also revealed that the game has sold 10 million copies across all platforms, currently PS5 and PC, as of August 23 this year. An Xbox Series X and Xbox Series S version is on the way too, but there is no concrete timeframe for this right now.
Black Myth: Wukong first launched back on August 19. The Journey to the West inspired action game blends elements from some of the best soulslike games with a unique, visually stunning setting. Challenging boss fights are the main focus, with a gauntlet of hulking enemies to overcome.
The game has been the subject of some controversy, most recently when those streaming the game were reportedly provided with a list of topics that they should not mention while playing. This included “feminist propaganda, fetishization, and other content that instigates negative discourse” - a request that many online commentators considered sexist.
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