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Driverless cars are expanding into more markets across the country. In San Francisco they’re already ubiquitous, but the robo-taxis' behaviors are unsettling riders.

(Image credit: Chloe Veltman)

Claustrophobia and barely contained panic were my two overriding emotions as I experienced Apple’s first-ever immersive narrative short film on its Vision Pro mixed reality headset.

The aptly titled Submerged, which arrives on Vision Pro headsets around the world today, tells the harrowing 17-minute tale of a World War II submarine tasked with tracking ships in enemy waters.

If you’re even remotely a World War II history buff or film fan, you’ve heard of or seen tales like this before but I doubt you've seen it in this fashion.

Written and directed by award-winning director Edward Berger, the film tells a tight tale of a submarine crew under siege. It’s remarkable not necessarily because the story is new or nuanced but because of how it employs immersive video techniques to put you in the middle of the action.

When I watched the film, I could look around the tight cabin – an expertly built set that, owing to the Vision Pro’s high-resolution displays and the close confines – used all metals to make the recreation remarkably realistic.

The story starts slowly to, perhaps, help introduce you to the main protagonist, crewman James Dyson (expertly played by Jordan Barton), his shipmates, and the mundanity of their existence some 400 ft below the surface of the sea.

One thing I noticed was how Berger switched back and forth between using the 360-degree view capabilities of a VR headset (all shot on Apple’s proprietary camera) like the Vision Pro, and pulling the focus in tightly to direct your gaze. The closeups of Barton were tight enough that I could make out the pores on his face.

(Image credit: Apple)

I often find the experience of watching a movie in Vision Pro calming almost to the point of sleepiness. As the early minutes of the short film plugged along, I found my attention waning – that is, until the ship was struck by something and shook wildly. I was so startled that I almost jumped off the couch I was sitting on.

From that moment forward, the film seemed to press in on me and its characters. I enjoyed Berger’s varied propositioning of the camera. At one point a 20-ft torpedo was essentially loaded into my chest – at least from my point of view. At another, the main character was staring warily right into my eyes.

When one of the torpedo tubes burst open and flames and sparks formed overhead, all hell broke loose. Within seconds there were geysers of water shooting into my and the main character’s faces.

As the water poured in and rose around us – yes, I soon felt like a part of this – my unease grew. It was clear the water was just below my nose. I’m a little claustrophobic in real life so I was soon repeating a mantra of “no no no no” in my head. To achieve some of this effect, they shot the film in a giant custom-built tank and in open water where they slowly submerged some parts of the set.

There’s virtually no exposition so I never entirely understood how [spoiler alert] the enemy found them, attacked, and eventually destroyed their sub. Miraculously, all the crewmen survived. This being an Apple immersive film, perhaps I shouldn’t be surprised.

(Image credit: Apple)

Apple is still mainly interested in delivering relatively brief immersive experiences. It’s queued up a new NBA All-Star weekend movie that, while just four minutes or so long, truly puts you in the middle of the three-day event. I don’t even follow basketball but found it entertaining (the basketball to my face was a nice touch).

Apple is also lining up more Adventure and Elevated episodes, including one for Maine. There are more concert experiences on the way, like one from The Weekend and another from R.A.E.

I’ve enjoyed most of my immersive experiences and, if you have a Vision Pro, it’s one of the coolest ways to use your mixed-reality headset. Are they and this entertaining and somewhat anxiety-inducing film reason enough to spend $3,500 for a Vision Pro? I’ll leave that up to you.

I naturally had a lot of questions about the creation of this immersive, short film, so I turned to the director Edward Berger, who also directed the Oscar-winning All Quiet on the Western Front, for a deeper look at how he created Submerged and the choices he made to bring it to Vision Pro. Our conversation has been edited and shortened for clarity.

A conversation with the director

I saw the behind-the-scenes video short, and what I noticed is that during the making of the film, you appeared to be wearing the Vision Pro headset. So I guess I was curious if that was designed so you would have a feed and know exactly what the scene was going to play out like for people who were wearing headsets themselves.

Berger: In our shooting experience, we designed the pipeline so that we were able to watch the take through the Vision Pro and experience life as the actors were doing it.

I started changing my habit a little bit during production because you learn your brain rewires very quickly to the Apple Vision Pro. It learns the tools, it learns the visuals, it learns the techniques, very quickly how it feels, what what you can use. And so maybe halfway through the shoot, I sort of alternated between just watching the actors on my monitor, [we had] two monitors. One was just the field division and one was the entire 180 degrees sort of whatever was in the frame everywhere.

So, I watched those just to – sometimes it felt a little bit more direct to me and I could imagine the effect that I would have in the Apple Vision Pro because I had learned it within the previous three weeks of using this tool.

Were there any technical surprises as you were preparing to do this or even as you were doing it?

Absolutely. I mean, not surprises so much because we tested it extensively, but certain things that we knew, we're gonna have to push the limit here in terms of movement, camera movement. How much can you shake it? What kind of dolly moves, crane moves can you make? Can you do a three-axis move, or is it better just to move on one axis? Just do push-ins or trackbacks or things like that.

So just all these things you need to test to know how is it gonna feel when you put on the put on the glasses, but also, you know, very quickly it became clear to us, okay, well where are we gonna hide the equipment? You know, where are we gonna put the lights? Where are we gonna put the microphones? Very quickly we realize, okay, we're gonna have to integrate everything into the set.

The set looked great, by the way. It looked looked realistic. Had you ever shot a VR film before?

No. First experience, first stereoscopic experience. I'd never even put on any VR glasses. I mean, except for in a museum, maybe for a few minutes, when there's a long line behind a view, so it was a wonderful way of getting to the technology diving into it, exploring ways of telling a story in a different way.

Do you now own a Vision Pro?

Absolutely, and I use it a lot. It's a great great way to watch movies.

How long was the entire shoot?

I think we shot for 10 days. Tested maybe for a week and then shot for 10 days.

It sounds like it took more planning maybe than a traditional movie because of things like having to hide equipment.

Yeah, it did take a lot of planning. It took quite a while – but you know, also we had a tight timeline. So in a way, it was like we had to work around the clock to make this film to be able to premiere it right now for you. I mean, we shot it in April and it has a long post-production process. Yeah, a lot of planning, but a lot of around-the-clock work as well.

Did you get to show it to Tim Cook?

I mean, I know he watched it. I wasn't present in the room when he watched it.

With the amount of preparation and the way you had to manage things, was there any room for improvisation?

No. I'm not, in general, I'm not a big fan of improvisation. I like movies where I can see that the filmmaker has put a lot of thought into the design of it, into the making of it. To then react on the day, I don't call improvisation where I said, okay, let's make it better. We have this shot planned, but actually it would be much better from here with the actors doing this, let's react to that. But I like when movies are well thought through and precise and so I'm not the right person to ask that question.

I'm sure there's somebody else, an improvisational filmmaker who will put the Apple Vision Pro to great use.

I noticed in the shooting in the movie that sometimes I could look around and see a lot of stuff, and other times my view was directed, narrowed in a way focused. So I was just curious how you decided to make that choice where sometimes we were experiencing it fully and sometimes we were just like – the main character was really in our face and that was kind of what you saw. If you look to the edges, they were kind of darkened.

It is. I mean, it's in a way like in a traditional movie, I would say it's the use of a closeup. When you say, okay, I really want it to have an emotional impact for the viewer, have them be very close to our character to experience what they are experiencing. And so you direct the eyes, the gaze like that, but usually, I mean, this device, the great thing is that the audience can design their own experience.

It's almost like theater in a way. You have very wide shots, not your field of vision necessarily, but to the left, right, up and down, there's a lot beyond the frame that you can see, and hear, and to then use that entire frame, the entire 180 degrees to fill it with sound or other action like a bursting pipe or steam coming somewhere, was super interesting to us, and therefore you also need more time to explore these things. You can let the shots linger so that you, Lance, can look around, you know, that we can give you the time and space to do that.

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Ethel Kennedy, the widow of Sen. Robert F. Kennedy who raised their 11 children after he was assassinated and remained dedicated to social causes for decades thereafter, died Thursday.

(Image credit: Victoria Will)

If you logged in for work this morning and found you couldn't access your emails - don't worry, it wasn't just you - Microsoft Outlook had a major blip today.

Thousands of users across the world reported issues with the email service, with complaints of failed launches, memory-intensive running and more.

Microsoft has found a solution, and is urging users to refresh or restart their Outlook instance - you can read all the advice below...

Users began reporting issues with Microsoft Outlook around 9am ET, with reports rising as more and more people log on for work.

The latest figures from outage tracking site DownDetector show a sharp spike in reports throughout the day.

(Image credit: DownDetector)

Microsoft has acknowledged the issue, saying it is attempting to replicate it internally in order to find out more...

We've identified a potential memory management issue which may be responsible for causing impact. We're obtaining memory dumps and logs from Outlook client telemetry data for analysis to determine our next steps. For more information, see MO907654 within the admin center.October 10, 2024

The issue was initially thought to only affect users in Europe (with Microsoft's own tweet even stating this) - but as this DownDetector heat map shows, it is now spreading across the US, as people log in to work for the day.

(Image credit: DownDetector)

Reports have now topped the 2,000 marker, which means it is continuing to grow - we're still waiting on the latest update from Microsoft though...

The end may be in sight - we're seeing a slight drop in reports, and over on Twitter, the complaints are dwindling for sure...

(Image credit: DownDetector)

However it seems like Microsoft itself is still struggling to find a concrete fix, with its latest tweet saying it is "focused" on trying to find out what has gone wrong....

We're focused on isolating the source of a potential memory management issue which may be responsible for causing impact. We're working with organizations and are replicating the issue internally to develop a mitigation. For more information, see MO907654 within the admin center.October 10, 2024

We may finally have a breakthrough!

Microsoft says it is about to roll out a possible solution, having hopefully identified the issue - let's see how this goes....

We’re working on a potential solution and are preparing to apply a targeted configuration update that we suspect will alleviate the impact. For more information, see MO907654 within the admin center.October 10, 2024

We have a fix! Microsoft has confirmed it has a solution, and users should restart or refresh their Outlook sessions - hopefully this works.

We've applied a config change and telemetry confirmed we've mitigated impact. Users should refresh/restart their Outlook sessions. For more information, see MO907654 within the admin center.October 10, 2024

Initial feedback looks good, and outage reports on DownDetector are falling, so this could well be the end of the Outlook outage - if you're still having trouble, drop us a line on news@techradar.com - we'll stay vigilant for a little while longer to see if anything else happens!

Lebanon is a cultural hub for Arab music. Lebanese music writer Danny Hajjar has been talking with musicians there about how they're dealing with escalating conflict in the region.

(Image credit: Hsan Mroue)

Mozilla has just patched a major vulnerability in its Firefox browser that was apparently being abused in the wild.

In a short security advisory, the company said it discovered a use-after-free vulnerability in Animation timelines.

This bug, tracked as CVE-2024-9680, does not yet have a severity rating, but is being abused to achieve remote code execution (RCE), which means crooks can use it to deploy malware on vulnerable devices, and possibly even take them over, entirely.

Drive-by, XSS, and more

"We have had reports of this vulnerability being exploited in the wild,” Mozilla said in the advisory, adding both Firefox and Firefox Extended Support Release (ESR) are vulnerable, so users are advised to patch to these versions immediately:

Firefox 131.0.2
Firefox ESR 128.3.1, and
Firefox ESR 115.16.1.

There are currently no reports on who, or how, is exploiting this bug, but looking at similar recent issues, there are several ways the vulnerability could be abused, including a watering hole attack targeting specific websites, or a drive-by download campaign that tricks people into visiting the wrong website.

Browsers are an indispensable part of every computer these days, and as such, they are basically omnipresent. This makes them an extremely popular target for cybercriminals looking for a way onto a network and into a device. Firefox, with more than 250 million monthly active users, is one of the most popular products in its category, having been downloaded more than 2 billion times globally.

By hosting vulnerable code, the browser allows threat actors to conduct, among other things, drive-by download attacks. Hackers can inject malicious code into websites or ads they previously compromised. When a user visits such a site, they download malware without even realizing.

Other types of attacks made possible via compromised browsers include cross-site scripting (XSS), buffer overflows, and man-in-the-middle attacks.

Via The Hacker News

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Halloween is not far away now – it’s just a few short weeks until spookiness abounds – but if you want a real scare, this rumor of Nvidia’s potential pricing for RTX 5000 graphics cards is truly frightening.

What’s nothing short of a shocking revelation – add seasoning, as with any leak – comes from Moore’s Law is Dead (MLID) on YouTube, but in fairness, it also has a bag full of caveats in tow, which we’ll come on to shortly.

But first, the rumored prices themselves, which apparently come from one of the leaker’s best sources for Nvidia info.

All of this is US pricing – though it’ll be theoretically proportional to this wherever you live, plus the ever-present import charges and relevant taxes – and we’re told that the RTX 5090 will land at between $1,999 and $2,499. MLID further observes that the likelihood is that it’ll be closer to the latter, than the best-case scenario – yikes, in a word.

With the RTX 5080, Nvidia is supposedly looking at $1,199 to $1,499, again with more likelihood of a $1,300 or more asking price. And apparently when it comes to the RTX 5070 – which, as per other rumors today, MLID says has 12GB of VRAM – Nvidia might plump for between $599 and $699.

We’ll come back to discuss those prices in a moment, but the leaker has a few other details to share, including that the launch of these graphics cards is scheduled for early 2025, and not late 2024 as some past rumors had indicated. Pretty much all signs are pointing to a CES 2025 launch at this stage.

In terms of performance, MLID also adds that the RTX 5070 is expected to offer similar frame rates to the RTX 4070 Ti in rasterization (non-ray tracing), perhaps a touch faster, and it will only be meaningfully better than that last-gen model in ray tracing (where the new Blackwell GPU could be maybe 10% to 20% faster). Remember, that’s the plain 4070 Ti version, not the Ti Super.

Analysis: Let Nvidia know – if this rumor is right, it’s so, so wrong

This rumor is pouring more misery on the disappointment around the RTX 5070’s spec, reinforcing the 12GB of VRAM speculation, and suggesting a price to performance ratio that’s galling... to put it mildly.

The best-case scenario for the RTX 5070 appears to be a graphics card which clearly lacks in VRAM, and doesn’t offer much above the RTX 4070 Ti in many games, and yet carries the banner forward for excessive pricing, matching the RTX 4070 in that respect. The latter GPU also came in at $599, a 20% generational price hike compared to the RTX 3070 at launch – and indeed Nvidia might even push it a hundred bucks further up the pricing ladder with the 5070.

The RTX 5090 pushing north of two grand – maybe a long distance north – is another daunting prospect, and one which could guarantee Blackwell GPUs a frosty reception (or indeed a downright frigid one). Ditto for the RTX 5080 with its 16GB of VRAM, though we’ve heard predictions that this might tip $1,200 before.

Okay, so let’s put the brakes on for a moment. As MLID makes clear, these are just prices Nvidia is (supposedly) considering currently, and they’re far from set in stone. Indeed, the leaker raises the prospect that part of this contemplation could be wrapped up in the expectation of these prices leaking, in order to gauge the reaction.

Does Nvidia really need to guess what the reaction to these Blackwell pricing rumors might be, though? As is noted by MLID, the feedback from retail partners has been that these theorized price points are nothing short of disastrous.

What can we do, then, in this situation? Well, it’s obvious – everyone needs to take to their favorite social media outlets or forums and make their feelings known. We can but hope Nvidia will listen, and maybe readjust things.

For us, the RTX 5070 performance and pricing rumors as they stand don’t make any sense – so we’re hoping this pans out very differently.

Sadly, we can actually well believe the RTX 5090 speculation – mainly because Nvidia can afford to charge a massive premium on these kind of flagship graphics cards.

With the focus of the GB202 chip being heavyweight AI GPUs, where the real profits are, Team Green may not want to make that many Blackwell GeForce flagships anyway. Given that, pricing them stratospherically is kind of a no-brainer in that there’ll be a hardened core of enthusiast buyers that will pick up these graphics cards whatever the cost (within some kind of vague, remotely sane ceiling – and Nvidia is pushing it with 2.5K it has to be said). Really though, if priced like this, the graphics card should be a Blackwell RTX Titan, rather than a 5090.

Broadening our perspective, perhaps one of the biggest problems with all of this might just be if Nvidia’s pricing pans out along the lines suggested here, it leaves a whole lot of room for AMD to be less competitive, price-wise, with RDNA 4 graphics cards when they also arrive early in 2025. It takes all the fire out of that battle, and in this case, everyone loses (or looks to Intel Battlemage for salvation: a somewhat forlorn hope, perhaps, especially as Arc’s 2nd-gen may be budget level only – not that this sector of the GPU market couldn’t use the help, we might add).

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The 38-year-old tennis legend, who has been dealing with injuries in recent years, said he will step away from the sport after next month’s Davis Cup finals.

(Image credit: Manu Fernandez)

Pininfarina Sintesi Hybrid: One minute review

The Pininfarina Sintesi Hybrid is vying for a position as one of the best hybrid watches options out there, yet without actively doing so. In fact, it's more about style and sophistication, with the smart features there as an added bonus.

Known for working with Ferrari and Alfa Romeo for decades, the Pininfarina brand is synonymous with style. However, this instance is a simple licensing of the name by Globics, the company behind the watch, so while this might not have been designed by Pininfarina it certainly looks like it was. It follows the company's first foray into the hybrid watch world with the well-received Solaris: aside from looks, the two are very similar internally as well.

Outwardly, this is a premium analog watch – but thanks to that small AMOLED display, plethora of smart sensors and smartphone connectivity, it can do so much more. To be clear, this is a step towards a smartwatch with notification functionality, but isn't meant to replace a dedicated smartwatch like a Garmin or an Apple Watch. So it will keep you connected and cover some health tracking metrics, but it's not typically built for sports users.

Expect a long battery life with plenty of smartphone controls, like music and camera shutters able to be operated on-watch. It will track your sleep – whether you want to wear it at night will be another matter.

You can track sports, but with no GPS onboard, the utility is certainly limited. Yet with the tough design and waterproof build, this is a watch that can go beyond its formal looks and keep up with you as you sweat it out too. So is this the best hybrid watch for you – or do you need a more dedicated option like the Garmin Instinct Crossover?

Pininfarina Sintesi Hybrid specs

(Image credit: Future) Pininfarina Sintesi Hybrid: Price and Availability

(Image credit: Future)

• $379 / £379 / AU$732
• Cheaper than premium smartwatches
• Relatively affordable with the screen smarts
  

The Pininfarina Sintesi Hybrid is available to buy now starting at $379 / £379 / AU$732.

That makes this a relatively expensive notifications-based watch, or a very affordable premium analog watch, depending on how you look at it. Since it straddles both of those classifications, the price isn't out of the realms of possibility: it's cheaper than the Instinct Crossover and a little more expensive than the Withings Scanwatch 2. You get a premium-looking and feeling analog watch without losing out on smartphone connectivity and all that goes with that.

There are other straps you can go for with multiple color options at the outset. Or change straps by buying more as after-market options to suit your needs.

• Value score: 3.5/5

Pininfarina Sintesi Hybrid: Design

(Image credit: Future)

• Useful dial controls
• Clear AMOLED display
• Premium casing and crystal finishes

Right from the outset the Pininfarina Sintesi Hybrid feels premium. It arrived in a big fancy box with calligraphy writing on the outside that immediately had me excited for what was inside. Sure enough, the watch itself stayed true to that with a reassuringly weighty feel and a high-end, genuine Italian leather strap.

I could tell it was decent quality from feel: this is made using 316L Stainless Steel for the case while the glass uses a sapphire crystal finish with an anti-smudging layer to keep fingerprints off. This leaves you feeling comfortable in the knowledge that this is going to be resistant to scratches and damage, to maintain that quality look for longer. The two-year warranty and 5ATM waterproofing along with that also helped set me at ease.

(Image credit: Future)

The outer case features three chunky buttons, the central of which is a crown dial that can be rotated to scroll through menus and pushed in to select. All that makes for a great look but also an easy-to-use feel as you work through the menus, or quick select sports tracking using just a few button presses.

The model tested features a black face and strap but you can also pick from Azure Horizon that has a blue finish on the face and strap, Midnight Rose which has rose gold accents on black, or Sand Dune with a light brown strap and white face. All feature the same 44mm case and premium leather strap finish.

On the rear is a heart rate monitor that's also kitted out to measure oxygen levels so you can get detailed SpO2 data. The watch also tracks movements to give you step counts and sleep tracking, although there is no GPS onboard - you'll need to be connected to the app to use the phone's GPS for accurate tracking.

• Design score: 4/5

Pininfarina Sintesi Hybrid: Features

• Detailed HR tracking data
• At-a-glance notifications
• Remote control options

(Image credit: Future)

The main smart features of the Pininfarina are a suite of health tracking tools, remote camera / music controls and on-wrist notifications. The tracking comes from the combination of the movement and HR trackers combined with that AMOLED display located at the top of the watch face. That means you can twist and tap the crown dial a few times and have your heart rate measured live, or check your O2 levels on the small AMOLED screen as and when you need.

The screen is also used for onboard weather reports and WhatsApp notifications. There is the option to use the watch to control the phone's music to skip tracks or control volume, or to use the watch as a remote to take photos on the cameraphone from a distance.

(Image credit: Future)

You can use the watch to give you reminders if you're too sedentary and need to be told when to move, like most of the best fitness trackers. It'll also work as a compass, letting you find your way with its digital readout.

Thanks to haptic feedback, all those features can be interacted with clearly and (crucially) without the need for invasive audio or flashing screens, using vibration alerts to get your attention instead. Any of these can be disabled in-app, so you have as few or as many alerts as you want, removing distracting email notifications but enabling health-based alerts, for example.

While the watch doesn't have built-in GPS, it can piggyback off your phone so you can track a run or ride with accuracy using the data all pulled into the app, which can be sent to Strava or similar services. The battery life is decent, helped by that lack of GPS, so you can rely on a good few weeks of use at a minimum before you need to think about recharging.

• Features score: 3.5/5

Pininfarina Sintesi Hybrid: Performance

(Image credit: Future)

• Decent battery life
• Awkward display
• Limited sports uses

The idea of a hybrid watch and the reality proved to be quite different. On the plus side, I barely thought about battery life as this went for a good two weeks before that even got close to being a sub-20% issue. And recharging only took a few hours so that did offer a peace of mind that some sports watches can't attest to. That said, many Garmins now manage to achieve similar results even with moderate GPS use.

As an analog watch, it's lovely to look at thanks to that chronograph face and it's easy to read at a glance. Add in the display and you have access to heart rate, weather information and more. However, the reality is that the display is hidden if the hands are pointing up and covering that screen. The designers have addressed this, as the hands move out of the way once you start scrolling the menu. However, if you have a WhatsApp notification and want to glance at it, you can't if the hands are in the way. So I found the reality was that one of the most sought-after features – at-a-glance notifications – was largely useless at certain times of day as I either couldn't fully read the message on the small screen behind a watch hand, or I missed it and there was no way to have it display again easily.

(Image credit: Future)

The app did offer a lot more data, but even that was limited to that day's data – or after some menu diving, you could get yesterday's. There are options to see more overarching trends so the data is all there, it's just not as easy as some apps are at letting you get to what you need easily.

The lack of GPS was also an issue for anyone using this for sport. I found that using it as a timer and heart rate monitor at the gym was fine – although even then heart rate wasn't displayed front-and-center at all times. Wearing it in the gym also felt like being overdressed and I was constantly concerned about catching and scratching it. Then if you want to go for a run or ride without your phone, it's just a timer and HR monitor. If I wanted to carry my phone then I'd have that to track me anyway, so this is very specifically for those who want to have their phone with them and to use this for wrist-based heart rate data as well.

• Performance score: 2.5/5

Pininfarina Sintesi Hybrid: Scorecard Pininfarina Sintesi Hybrid: Should I buy? Buy it if...

You want analog that's smart

The Pininfarina Sintesi Hybrid gives you that premium analog look and feel, with some smartphone connectivity.

You want better battery life

The battery life is long enough that you don't need to charge often, and can use regularly.

You need heart rate tracking

A great option to add heart rate data to your analog watch without too many other extras.

Don't buy it if...

You want GPS

The lack of GPS onboard means you always need a phone for sports tracking, so keep that in mind.

You need clarity

The display is small and often obscured by the watch hands, so don't go for it if you want a clear and large data readout.

You want a dedicated sports watch

This falls short on lots of the sports tracking features that other dedicated watches can offer.

Also consider

Apple Watch Ultra 2

A fully fledged high-performance premium smartwatch.

Read our full Apple Watch Ultra 2 review

Garmin Instinct Crossover

A dedicated sports watch tool, like a smart Casio G-Shock.

Read our full Garmin Instinct Crossover review

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This Satechi dual smart plug is still discounted after Prime Day. Grab yours before the deal disappears.

Marriott International has agreed to pay a huge sum to settle cybersecurity-related charges brought by the US Federal Trade Commission (FTC).

Fines aside, it also agreed to implement a more robust IT program and grant its customers better ways to manage their data, following multiple data breaches over the last ten years that have resulted in millions of customer data records being exposed, stolen, and otherwise compromised.

The FTC also argued that Marriott tried to hide the fact that it suffered the breaches, and “deceived consumers by claiming to have reasonable and appropriate data security.”

Robust IT infrastructure

“Marriott’s poor security practices led to multiple breaches affecting hundreds of millions of customers,” said Samuel Levine, Director of the FTC’s Bureau of Consumer Protection. “The FTC’s action today, in coordination with our state partners, will ensure that Marriott improves its data security practices in hotels around the globe.”

The hospitality chain was charged by the FTC, and after years of back-and-forth, agreed to settle the charges by making certain changes to its systems, and paying a fine. That being said, Marriott agreed to pay a $52 million penalty to 49 states and the District of Columbia.

Furthermore, it will have to implement significant changes to its IT practices: it will have to tell the customers why it’s collecting their data, and is allowed to retain it for only as long as reasonably necessary; it will have to establish, implement and maintain a comprehensive information security program and certify compliance to the FTC annually for 20 years; it will have to allow consumers to review unauthorized activity in their Marriott Bonvoy loyalty rewards accounts; it will have to restore any loyalty points stolen by malicious actors and ultimately - it will have to must provide a link for customers to request deletion of their personal data.

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FiiO FT1: Two-minute review

The FiiO FT1 are the company's very first pair of closed-back over-ear headphones and, given FiiO's extensive catalogue, it's strange to think there could be any kind of gap in the FiiO product line-up. But, in the established FiiO manner, the company has done its utmost to provide value for money.

A pretty modest outlay buys you balanced and unbalanced connections, a quantity of acoustically optimised black walnut wood for the earcups, a pair of oversized (60mm) dynamic drivers with a very promising claimed frequency response, an impressive degree of passive noise isolation, and Hi-Res Audio certification from two very credible audio organisations.

Comfort is good, and the FiiO FT1 are as pleasing where tactility is concerned as they are visually. The only false note (at least until you fire them up and start listening) is the relative bulk of their travel case – the headphones don’t fold anything like flat.

But while there’s lots to like in the FiiO sound – detail levels and nicely judged tonality in particular – it’s hard to get beyond the fact that the FT1 are a rather two-dimensional and unyieldingly energetic listen. There’s a forcefulness to the way they present music that’s not always appropriate, and as a result they’re far from the no-brainer best-in-class wired headphones FiiO was undoubtedly aiming for.    

(Image credit: Future / Simon Lucas) Fiio FT1 review: Price & release date

• Released on August 21, 2024
• Priced $159 / £139 / AU$239

The FiiO FT1 have been on sale since mid-August, and they will set you back $159/£139 – pricing is yet to be confirmed for Australia, but you’re looking at AU$239 or something quite like it. 

That's an aggressive price for headphones as eye-catchingly specified, both inside and out, as this – and exactly the sort of thing we’ve all come to expect from FiiO. That doesn’t mean the FT1 are without competition, though – hard-wired, closed-back over-ear headphones from the likes of Austrian Audio, Beyerdynamic and HiFiMan (to name but three) are all ready to serve as an alternative.

Fiio FT1 review: Specs

(Image credit: Future / Simon Lucas) Fiio FT1 review: Features

• 60mm dynamic drivers
• 3.5mm- and 4.4mm-terminated cables
• ‘Hi-Res Audio’ certification

As a pair of passive headphones, the Fiio FT1 are predictably short on features. Those features they do have, though, seem to be rather more upmarket than the asking price might suggest.

For instance, the FT1 are supplied with two 1.5m lengths of silver-plated oxygen-free copper cable. One is terminated in the usual 3.5mm unbalanced connection, the other in a rather more esoteric 4.4mm balanced alternative. Each cable splits at the other end – each earcup must be hard-wired – and ends in a 3.5mm connection, which means it should be pretty straightforward to upgrade the cables if you think it necessary.

The audio information travelling up the cable is delivered to your ears by a couple of 60mm dynamic drivers that are mostly built from wood-fibre. Each one is backed by a W-shaped suspension gasket and features an oversized (25mm) voice coil. FiiO reckons this arrangement offers wide frequency response – 10Hz to 40kHz, so it says – and minimal driver break-up. It also results in a fairly low impedance of 32ohms, which means the FT1 should be no trouble to drive efficiently. A conical baffle plate in front of each driver is designed to allow the drivers to be positioned parallel to the wearer’s ears, which theoretically will reduce standing waves.

There’s nothing theoretical about the FT1’s hi-res audio capability, though. Both the Japan Audio Society and the Consumer Electronics Association have certified these headphones to be Hi-Res Audio capable. 

• Features score: 5/5

(Image credit: Future / Simon Lucas) Fiio FT1 review: Sound quality

• Upfront and vigorous sound
• Punchy and detailed 
• Cramped and relentless presentation

In some ways, the FT1 sound just as enjoyable as many other products in the FiiO catalogue. There are areas of sonic performance in which they are easily a match for the best of their price-comparable rivals. 

Certainly they don’t lack where drive and attack are concerned. No matter if it’s a 320kbps file of Caribou’s Odessa, a 16bit/44.1kHz WAV copy of Wet Leg’s I Don’t Wanna Go Out or a 24bit/88.2kHz FLAC file of Giorgio by Moroder from Daft Punk, the FiiO sink their teeth in. They’re a vigorous, upfront listen and can summon the sort of levels of attack that make even quite laid-back recordings sound lively. This forward, up-and-at-’em attitude generates a fair amount of sonic excitement, no two ways about it.

Low frequencies are deep, nicely shaped and reasonably well controlled, so there are few issues where rhythmic expression or simple bass thump are concerned. Above there, the midrange is detailed and quite insightful, especially where vocalists are concerned, and share a nicely consistent tonality with everything that’s going on above and below. At the top end, the FT1 press on gamely, but give treble sounds just enough substance to balance out the bite and crunch that’s their primary characteristic.

(Image credit: Future / Simon Lucas)

The frequency range hangs together well, with no area given particular prominence and no area underplayed. Overall tonality is well judged, and fairly neutral to the point that it’s your source player, rather than these headphones, that will have the biggest influence here. And the eye for detail the FiiO demonstrate, even down to the small harmonic variations apparent in a solo instrument or in transient events, makes for an information-rich presentation.

But where soundstaging is concerned, the FT1 begin to struggle a little. Closed-back headphones, almost by definition, present a sound that’s more confined than the open-backed alternative – but these FiiO headphones struggle to create a meaningful sense of three-dimensionality. Their presentation is narrow and flat, with no real ‘front/back’ definition available to complement the ‘left/right’. Consequently, their stage is small-scale and quite cramped, and with every element of a recording involved in a scrap for elbow room at the front of the stage, once it involves more than a couple of elements it inevitably sounds congested and confined.

When you combine this lack of breathing space with the remorselessly upfront attitude, there’s a sort of relentlessness to the FT1 sound that, in the worst circumstances, can actually be quite oppressive. There’s a crowded, invasive sensation that’s not unlike someone reading over your shoulder or otherwise invading your personal space. There’s just no relief in the way the FiiO FT1 present music, and it can be quite a tiring overall experience as a result.

• Sound quality score: 3/5

(Image credit: Future / Simon Lucas) Fiio FT1 review: Design

• Black walnut earcups
• -26dB sound insulation
• 12-step headband adjustment

While there’s nothing at all unusual about the overall design of the FT1, there is one element that immediately makes these headphones stand out at their price point: the earcups are backed by a decorative, and expensive-looking, quantity of black walnut wood.

The acoustic properties of wood have been established for a number of centuries now, so there’s no need to explain FiiO’s thinking here. But as well as the inherent benefits of the material, there’s no denying it makes the FT1 look distinctive, distinguished and a fair bit more costly than they actually are.

Moving forward from the back of the earcups, the FT1 are fitted with quite generously padded earpads that are covered in a comfy breathable plastic. The headband, meanwhile, is equally judiciously padded, and covered with pleather on the outer surface and a suede-like material on the inner.

The headband connects to the earcups via slender length of metal, and the same material is used for the exposed headband adjustment mechanism. There are 12 steps of adjustment available which along with some nicely considered clamping force, means the FT1 wear their 340g weight quite lightly. The yoke arrangement allows the earcups to rotate horizontally and for pitch – but they don’t fold, which means the supplied travel case is on the bulky side.

FiiO reckons the FT1 provide class-leading sound insulation for a product of this type of -26dB. It’s achieved this by including sound-absorbing cotton, an acoustic damping tube and spiral-shaped ‘resonance dissipation’ chamber between the inner part of the wooden earcup and the driver itself. So as well as the inherent advantage of a closed-back design where sound leakage is concerned, the FT1 allow less sound in than the average.

(Image credit: Future / Simon Lucas)

• Design score: 4.5/5

Fiio FT1 review: Value

• Premium materials
• Impressive specification
• Rather hit-and-miss sound
  

You’ve read this far, so you know what’s coming. Where the standard of build and finish is concerned, where the quality of the materials is concerned, where comfort is concerned, the FT1 really hit the mark. Their specification, all-extended frequency response, class-leading passive noise-isolation and your choice of silver-plated balanced and unbalanced connecting cables, are impressive too. 

The value proposition is quite fundamentally undermined by the headphones’ forceful and confined audio characteristics, though. There’s precious little space in the sound, and a rather invasive and in-your-face quality that’s far from helpful in the medium-to-long term.

• Value score: 3/5

Should I buy the Fiio FT1? Buy them if... Don't buy them if... Fiio FT1 review: Also consider

They may look incoherent where the FiiO FT1 look quite glamorous, but there are a couple of Austrian Audio models (the Hi-X15 and Hi-X50) that bracket the FiiO in price and offer a fair bit of the balance and composure the FT1 are missing. 

Or, if you think the FiiO are on the small side, there’s always the excellent (and frankly massive) Beyerdynamic DT770 Pro – they have the sonic insight and poise the FT1 are crying out for. 

How I tested the Fiio FT1

• Wired to a laptop, a headphone amp and a digital audio player
• Connected using both balanced and unbalanced cables
• Using a variety of music of various file types and sizes

Though they’re obviously designed for at-home use, it’s important to get as complete a perspective as possible, so as well as connecting the FT1 to my Apple MacBook Pro (both directly and via an iFi iDSD Diablo 2 headphone amp/DAC) I joined them to a FiiO M15S digital audio player via the 4.4mm balanced cable. I even used them on an aeroplane, which got me looks that were not all admiring.

I listened to a variety of music, of course, of various file types and from 320kbps to 24bit/192kHz resolution. And I did all of this, on and off, for the best part of a working week.

• First reviewed: October 2024