Chris Welch

Phish at the Sphere was always going to be wildly different compared to U2’s opening residency at Las Vegas’ immersive venue. Both bands are known to push the boundaries of live performances. But they’ve rarely approached it the same way. U2’s 40-show Sphere run was a polished, extravagant rock show with (nearly) identical set lists the whole way through. The Sphere was a perfect canvas for making rock stars like Bono and The Edge appear not just larger than life but supersized. By contrast, Ph…

Nothing has announced that it plans to more deeply integrate ChatGPT with its smartphones and earbuds. The move will give the company’s customers quicker access to the service. “Through the new integration, users with the latest Nothing OS and ChatGPT installed on their Nothing phones will be able to pinch-to-speak to the most popular consumer AI tool in the world directly from Nothing earbuds,” the company wrote in a blog post. And yes, the new Nothing Ear and Ear (a) are both supported. Spoke…

At the premium end of home theater, Sony TVs are about as good as it gets — and have been for several years now. The company is lauded for its image processing and penchant for delivering fantastic picture quality in both its flagship sets and lower-cost options like the X90L. So there’s pressure that comes with every refresh of the lineup. But Sony’s not letting that stop it from taking some bold steps in 2024. This year, the company’s primary focus is on Mini LED. And more specifically, all…

Could lossless streaming on Spotify actually be happening this time? We’ve been through so many twists and turns with this saga already, but there’s new cause for hope. Code snippets in recent builds of Spotify for Android yet again tease the possibility of the company’s long-delayed lossless audio coming in the near future. After originally being known three years ago as “Spotify HiFi” and then rumored to be part of a more expensive “Supremium” subscription tier, it seems like Spotify has agai…

Sony is changing up the strategy around its mainstream wireless headphones and speakers. Today, the company is announcing several new products and introducing a new brand, ULT Power Sound, to go with them. Any kind of actual “name” is an improvement from years past, when Sony would typically just refer to devices by their model number. And as the branding implies, all of these new products — three speakers and one pair of headphones — focus on lively, bass-forward sound. All of them also have…

Sonos will release a substantial update to its mobile app for both Android and iOS on May 7th, The Verge has learned. Based on screenshots provided by people familiar with the company’s plans, the app is receiving a fresh coat of paint. Sonos is also working to make product setup easier and strengthen connectivity between its many speakers. As always, the specific release date is subject to change if the company encounters any last-minute issues. The revamped app will roll out as an update to t…

Google’s Pixel 8 series phones can now be located even when they’re powered down or after their batteries have run down. The convenient new capability was announced as part of today’s rollout of the upgraded, more advanced Find My Device network. Google says this offline tracking is made possible by “specialized Pixel hardware” in its latest two phones. More specifically, Google spokesperson Natalie Johnson told me that “there’s reserve power on the device for several hours that is channeled to…

WWE marched into what its top executives described as “a new era” over WrestleMania 40 weekend this past Saturday and Sunday. That phrase was bandied about because there were a number of firsts that went down in Philly. This was the first WrestleMania produced under Endeavor, which acquired WWE last year and combined it with UFC to form a new company known as TKO. On Saturday night, WrestleMania 40 featured Dwayne “The Rock” Johnson’s first match since 2016, which saw him partner in a tag team m…

In this week’s edition of his Lowpass newsletter, Janko Roettgers covered a Roku patent that seems to telegraph that the company is planning some heavy advertising tactics for those who purchase Roku TV televisions. The patent centers around the idea of displaying ads on these TVs whenever they’re tuned to an HDMI input that’s paused or idle. Theoretically, this would allow Roku to present ads throughout your whole TV experience — and in places where it’s not viable to do so today. Your PS5, Xbo…

For many years, Spotify held strong at its monthly subscription of $9.99, but that changed last July when Premium jumped up to $10.99. Now it appears that the leading subscription music service is planning another price hike — and not waiting nearly as long this time. Bloomberg reports that the cost will go up by between $1 and $2 in the UK, Australia, Pakistan, and two other markets by the end of April, with an increase planned for US customers “later this year.” But there’s one important ast…