Epic Games Kicks Off Holiday Sale With Cities: Skylines Free for 24 Hours

Epic Games is offering Cities: Skylines for free till tonight, December 18, 9:30pm IST, as part of its holiday sale. It is the first of 15 free games that the store plans to offer. The games will be free for 24 hours each.

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Beyerdynamic T1 3rd Generation

Priced at Rs 94,599, the Beyerdynamic T1 3rd generation definitely isn’t affordable. However, you pretty much get what you expect at this price point, an extraordinary build made up of premium materials and an open and transparent sonic presence.

Over the years, Beyerdynamic has established its position as one of the most trusted names in the headphone business, especially for audiophiles. The German company consistently produces top of the line cans with impeccable care and attention to detail, right from their consumer, mass-appealing products to the more sophisticated studio-grade ones. The company’s new offering, the Beyerdynamic T1 3rd generation is an open-back stereo headphone that retains the design language and features of the original, critically acclaimed T1, with some slight differences. One of the main changes is that the 3rd generation model is much easier to drive for laptops and mobile devices since the new version brings the impedance down to 32ohms, in comparison to the 600ohm impedance on the old model. By doing so, the company has democratised high-end, studio-grade sound. The question is whether it still sounds open and transparent despite the lowered impedance. Let’s find out.

Build and design

The Beyerdynamic T1, unlike some of Beyerdynamic’s more affordable cans, is hand-assembled in the company’s headquarters in Heilbronn, Germany. The luxurious nature of the headphones is apparent since the first moment you lay your hands on them. The 3rd gen model comes in a charcoal colour tone with a design language that is unmistakably Beyerdynamic - simplistic yet elegant. 

The earcups are made out of lacquered stainless steel with a perforated design since they are open-back headphones. The headband extenders are made from brushed and anodised aluminium which has a smooth and premium feel. The headband is made from leather and Alcantra while the earpads are covered with soft, black velour. Lastly, the 3m connector cables are encased in protective fabric and are made out of OCC7N high-quality copper for good signal transmission. The cables are also easily detachable, so swapping to a replacement cable will take seconds. You also get a 6.35mm adapter in the box. As far as materials are concerned, you’d be hard-pressed to find something better at this particular price range.

Nevertheless, the premium materials do make these pretty heavy cans, weighing 360g without the cables. The T1s also aren’t foldable or collapsible, so these aren’t the best headphones you’d want to travel with, despite the hard case they come with. The open-back nature of these cans means that you won’t be well isolated from ambient sounds and there’s plenty of sound leakage as well. So, it’s safe to say that these are headphones are best enjoyed within the comfort of your home or studio. 

Comfort and fit

The velour-covered earcups on the Beyerdynamic T1 are soft and breathable, allowing users to listen to music for hours on end without it getting too warm. Additionally, there are layers of padding, including one layer of memory foam inside the cups that make them extremely comfortable. The headband is also plush and comfortable. We listened to music for 2 hours in a stretch and there was no uncomfortable hotspot created on the top of our head, which is pretty impressive. Beyerdynamic has also managed to distribute the weight of the cans pretty evenly all over, which aids in comfort even further.

The clamping force, on the other hand, is a tad too strong. For smaller heads, like the reviewer’s head, this works out just fine. However, for those with larger heads, the clamping force may actually feel a bit too much since it makes the earpads a little hot and less breathable. 

Performance

As mentioned earlier, Beyerdynamic has chosen to drop down the impedance to 32ohms for the Gen 3 model from the hefty 600ohms on its predecessor. While this makes the headphones much easier to drive without needing a dedicated amplifier, audiophiles may be left disappointed by the lack of higher impedance options. Nevertheless, Beyerdynamic claims that with its Tesla driver technology and large drivers, they are still able to deliver high fidelity reproduction from any portable player that one may use. 

In our tests, we found that the new T1 has a large and open soundstage, owing to its open-back form factor, which makes tracks sound immersive and expansive. The drivers inside the cans are slightly tilted forward which increases the efficacy of spatial sound. There’s plenty of width and even a fair amount of height in the sonic stage. This leads to music sounding natural and transparent, a quality that is sought-out by audiophiles and sound engineers.

With the 3rd generation model, the T1 features a warm-leaning sonic signature with bass frequencies coming through the mix prominently. While this is uncharacteristic of open-back headphones, the bass and lows still steer clear of being muddy and don’t cloud the mids. In fact, the bass frequencies have oodles of details that pushes through in tracks such as Mindstreet by Motherjane, which has the bass guitar playing all through the track. The bass guitar sounded rich and full-bodied without hampering the quality of the vocals, which is impressive.

The mids are detail-packed, however, they are slightly underextended which means that tracks feel warmer than they are meant to be, at times. It is surprising to see this, since high-end stereo headphones usually don’t pivot to this route, which is more common in consumer headphones. Nevertheless, the detail and naturalness of the sound with the new T1 is definitely something you won’t find in consumer headphones, to this degree. The highs are crisp and detailed as well, however, they aren’t as sparkly as other studio-grade headphones we’ve reviewed such as the Meze Audio Empyrean. 

Where the new T1 stands out is with its excellent soundstage and stellar imaging capabilities. Instruments are placed accurately in the stage and there’s very little to no instrument overlapping even in tracks that are packed with instruments such as Selkies by Between the Buried and Me. For those who prefer a close-to-neutral sound, we would probably suggest them to go with the predecessors of the T1 3rd generation. 

Bottomline

Priced at Rs 94,599, the Beyerdynamic T1 3rd generation definitely isn’t affordable. However, you pretty much get what you expect at this price point, an extraordinary build made up of premium materials and an open and transparent sonic presence. These are especially good for people who are just getting into Hi-Fi music listening since they can be driven easily by any portable music player, including a smartphone, without a dedicated amplifier. If you like a warmer sonic signature and want a pair of luxurious open-back stereo headphones, then you can definitely consider these headphones

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Sony removes Cyberpunk 2077 from the PlayStation Store

The internet is abuzz criticizing the launch of one of the most anticipated games of the year - Cyberpunk 2077. While the game performs well on the PC and even the PS5 and Xbox Series S/X, thanks to backwards compatibility, its performance on the base PS4 and Xbox One is a disaster. To know how poorly the game runs on the base consoles, you can check out the video below. 

While CD Projekt Red, the developer behind the game, is offering refunds to those that aren't happy with the game, Sony has removed the game from the PlayStation Store entirely. Players can no longer purchase a digital copy of the game.

In a statement, Sony said, “SIE strives to ensure a high level of customer satisfaction, therefore we will begin to offer a full refund for all gamers who have purchased Cyberpunk 2077 via PlayStation Store. SIE will also be removing Cyberpunk 2077 from PlayStation Store until further notice. Once we have confirmed that you purchased Cyberpunk 2077 via PlayStation Store, we will begin processing your refund. Please note that completion of the refund may vary based on your payment method and financial institution”. 

There is also a link where users can sign up for the refund. You can check it out here. According to Sony’s Ask PlayStation Twitter account, “We’re aware some users are experiencing issues accessing the form available within the provided link. We’re working to get it up and running as soon as possible. Thank you for your patience”.

CD Projekt Red announced Cyberpunk 2077 back in 2013 even before we got our first look at the PS4 and Xbox One. The first trailer ever released for the game said, “Coming: When it’s ready”. That clearly didn’t happen.

What remains to be seen is whether Microsoft will follow suit. As of writing this story, the game is available on the Xbox online store. 

It must also be noted that if you have Cyberpunk 2077 downloaded and installed on your PS4 or PS5, you will still be able to play the game. If you purchased a disc of the game, you can still continue to play it. It remains to be seen when the game will be back on the PlayStation Store. Until then, you can check out our gameplay of Cyberpunk 2077 on a PS5 below.

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Cyberpunk 2077 Pulled From PlayStation Store by Sony Following Bug Backlash

Sony is pulling the much-hyped Cyberpunk 2077 from PlayStation stores around the world, the firm said, after a flood of complaints and ridicule over bugs, compatibility issues, and even health risks.

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OnePlus smartwatch plans detailed by CEO Pete Lau, could launch in 2021

The OnePlus smartwatch has been rumoured for some time now, with the company even confirming that it is working on a smart wearable during the launch of the OnePlus 8T in October. Now, the company CEO Pete Lau has revealed that OnePlus is currently working on a smartwatch that is likely going to debut next year. 

Previously, the OnePlus Watch, as it was rumoured to be called, was expected to be announced with the OnePlus 8T, but it remained a no-show. That said, we did get a glimpse of one of the earlier prototype designs that the company developed in 2015 for its smartwatch.

Talking about the company with InputMag’s Raymond Wong, OnePlus CEO Pete Lau revealed that the company is working with Google to improve WearOS connectivity between Android TV and smartphones. Both Google and OnePlus want to improve the value of a smartwatch.

“Wear OS definitely has room to improve. What we're trying to do is work with Google to try to improve the connectivity between the Wear OS ecosystem, Android TV, and Android smartphones to create this ability for better device interoperability across the ecosystems. This has been something looked at very positively from Google's side as well, so this is the direction that we're trying to develop, but we don't have more than we can share on that right now,” he said.

OnePlus Watch has been tipped to feature a circular dial design as hinted by the sketch in the teaser. However, OnePlus reportedly may have run into some production or software issues that would have led to the smartwatch getting delayed. Lau also spoke about creating an ecosystem of interconnected products where the smartphone, television and smartwatch play an important role. 

“For your smartwatch, in terms of notifications being able to seamlessly appear on the TV or using your smartwatch to also control the smart display or your smartwatch detecting that you've fallen asleep and then also eventually putting your smart display to sleep,” Lau told InputMag. Since 2020 is coming to a close, it is likely we will get to see the OnePlus smartwatch sometime next year.

Additionally, there have been several rumours now of the company launching the OnePlus 9 series earlier than usual in 2021. The company announced the OnePlus 8 series in April this year and if rumours are to be believed, we could get the OnePlus 9 sometime around mid-march 2021. The OnePlus Watch could likely make its debut alongside the OnePlus 9, however, there is no official word regarding the launch of the smartwatch yet.

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Relieve your favourite day through Google Photos new feature

For people who like retracing their steps on Google’s timeline, there’s some good news for you. The feature has now finally come to Google Photos after 5 long years. The feature essentially allows you to go back to a specific day and sort of relive your favourite moments and find out where you were at a particular point in time. And, the feature has finally hit Google Photos. 

First spotted by Android Police, the feature seems to be live right now. To use the feature, you need to update your Google Photos app to version 5.23.0 or above. Head to the search tab in the Google Photos App and then open up Your Map in the Places section. A warning box should appear saying your timeline has been added to the map with a link to the support page. On the support page the tech giant explains that photos that have geolocations tagged when you snapped them will appear here, and the ones which have not been snapped with geolocation will be based on the estimations made by Google.

When you zoom in on the traced path (i.e. the blue line) you should be able to see a settings interface that brings up the relevant settings as well as photos captured during that day. It also really helps that images and photos captured with a smartphone these days already have geolocation data tagged in their data, but integrating this took such long time that it is a bit surprising from Google’s point of view. This nifty feature is a great way to relive past trips, at a time when we can’t leave our homes because of the pandemic.

Google also had recently announced a service in Google Photos that will give photos a “Cinematic Photos” effect by converting 2D images to 3D using machine learning. You read more about that here.

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Twitter will now personalize funny tweets and show them to you on your feed

Well, it looks like Twitter is trying to get into the meme game! Twitter’s product manager Isabella Turchetta, announced in a tweet saying that Twitter is including a new recommendations model that is powered by Machine Learning to understand what people think is funny. The model also studies emojis to understand how people react to tweets with emojis in them.

Screenshots of funny Tweets are shared online all the time, and when people come to Twitter to get in on the fun, these Tweets should be easy for them to find. So, we launched Funny Tweets so you can catch the highlights of what people are laughing at.

— Isabella Turchetta (@isabellaturch) December 16, 2020

 Isabella Turchetta continued by saying, “machine learning understands nuanced emotions by learning from Emojis to get a broader understanding of what people think is funny.”  

The update is part of the topics feature for “funny tweets” and “viral tweets”, where Twitter can now figure out which tweets you find funny, based on your previous likes and retweets.

This update is an effort by Twitter to grab and retain users with new and trending content that they may like. Currently, this field is dominated by Instagram and Snapchat. Twitter has also introduced a new sharing feature that makes it easier for Snapchat and Instagram users to post tweets to other platforms.

You can follow the “funny tweets” topic on Twitter to get more personalized tweets of the same genre and even see it before you catch it trending on other platforms.

Twitter has been implementing quite new features and roundabouts given the elections in the US, you can check out our previous news story about Twitter alerting users when they like a flagged or labelled tweet here.  

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