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When Rode released the original Wireless GO, it was an instant success. The ease of use, audio quality and reasonable price made wireless microphones much more accessible. In fact it was so successful that it spawned a number of copycat products from rivals. After releasing the Wireless GO II ($299) with dual mics, the company is back with a more affordable option - the $149 Wireless ME. Theres also a new video app called Rode Capture aimed at creators which offers tight integration with the Wireless ME and other products from the company.If youre thinking more affordable means fewer features, then youd be right. But also you might be surprised. Even though there initially appears to be just one transmitter (mic) and one receiver, the latter also has a mic built-in so you can still record two speakers at the same time with their own separate audio files. That said, Rode is calling the second mic the ME mic and describes it as a narrator microphone because you cant use it wirelessly (its the one that plugs into your recording device) so it can only really be used by someone off camera. That obviously is no problem if youre not recording video, but worth knowing if you are.There are, of course, other minor compromises. For one, the receiver doesnt have any type of display, so visual feedback for connectivity is limited to a pair of LEDs. There doesnt appear to be any feedback for gain levels at all. Theres also no onboard storage for recording away from a camera, computer or a phone. This also means theres no option to record a safety track at a lower gain level which, given the lack of a way to see levels means youll have to really be sure you have everything set right up front. As a reminder, though, the ME is half the price of the GO II.Photo by James Trew / EngadgetThere are tools to help, though. The Wireless ME comes with a feature called GainAssist which internally monitors the signal and sets levels automatically depending on your environment and the volume of the subject. This definitely helps keep things from clipping, but you can still go into the red with it. It appears to be using either a limiter or compression (or both) but you can still make it go into the red. Theres a dynamic mode too for when recording things with a more consistent volume than speech.In terms of range, you can expect about 100 meters / 328 feet (line of sight) but in practice this can vary a little in either direction depending on the conditions. This is a shorter range than the Wireless GO II (200 meters / 656 feet) and DJIs Mic (250 meters / 820 feet) but likely ample for most scenarios. As for battery life, its a respectable seven hours but theres no charging case as with DJI or Ankers solutions.With no way to change settings directly on the device, youll want to get familiar with the Rode Central app. Its here where youll be able to turn the receivers microphone on or off if you want to use it, change whether it records to one or two separate files (if using both mics) and adjust the gain settings. There are versions for both desktop and mobile (Android/iOS) so you can change modes on the go, even if its a bit more involved than doing it on the receiver as with DJI and Ankers products.Given that the narrator-guest setup isnt ideal for recording two speakers on camera at the same time it's a shame that the receiver doesn't have the option to plug an external 3.5mm lav mic into it. This would mean you could theoretically run one with a longer cable and have two on camera hosts. You can still use 3.5mm mics with the main transmitter though. Alternatively, if you have access to another transmitter, such as a Wireless GO II, you can pair it with the MEs receiver and record up to three people at the same time though two of them will have to share an audio channel in case having separate files for all speakers is important to you.RodeThe interoperability between the Wireless GO II and the ME shows that Rode is thinking about how these products can work together, meaning creators can collaborate seamlessly with their own gear or continue using older products even as new ones come around. Expect to see more interoperability with other wireless devices in the future.Along with the new microphone kit is the aforementioned Capture app. Its a dedicated video app with a twist: direct access to the settings of compatible Rode microphones. Most video apps dont even let you know what mic youre using which can cause anxiety when youre not sure its working with the one you plugged in. Having this assurance alone is useful and the direct access to microphone settings is always going to be a welcome bonus for creators. The app is entirely free and doesnt require a Rode product to work but will need one of Rode's compatible products if you wish to access its settings.The Wireless ME is available for $149 starting today.This article originally appeared on Engadget at https://www.engadget.com/rodes-wireless-me-squeezes-a-second-mic-into-its-receiver-230032706.html?src=rss
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More than a decade into its life, Lyft is bringing on a new chief executive officer. On Monday afternoon, the company announced current CEO and co-founder Logan Green would hand day-to-day operations of Lyft to David Risher, a former Amazon executive, on April 17th. That same day, Green will take over as chair of Lyfts board of directors. The announcement is part of a larger executive shuffle that will also see Lyft president and co-founder John Zimmer move to the companys board where he will serve as its vice chair. Zimmers last day as president will be June 30th.Green and Zimmer founded Lyft in 2012 and successfully took the company public in 2019. Since its IPO, however, the value of Lyfts stock has dropped dramatically. Following an initial high of $78.29 per share in 2019, the stock hit a record low of $9.60 per share earlier today. On February 9th, the day Lyft announced its Q4 2022 results, the stock shed 36 percent of its value after Green delivered what was widely considered one of the worst earnings calls in recent memory, telling investors the company would need to increase spending to stay competitive with Uber. To say Lyfts new CEO has his work cut out for him would be an understatement. The company has never reported a profit, and, barring a surprise breakthrough in autonomous driving, it has a difficult path ahead due to the economics of ride-sharing. Still, Risher is definitely qualified to turn Lyft around having previously served as Amazons first head of product and head of US retail.This article originally appeared on Engadget at https://www.engadget.com/lyft-co-founder-logan-green-is-stepping-down-as-ceo-221928157.html?src=rss
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In February, Fitbit announced it would sunset open groups, adventures and challenges on March 27th. That day has arrived, and if you didnt download your trophies before today, Im sorry to say you missed your chance to do so. Last month, Fitbit said it was removing those features due to limited use.If youre a longtime Fitbit user, the demise of open groups, adventures and challenges is likely to come as a shame, particularly since two of them made the platform more social and were widely copied by the companys competitors. Challenges, for instance, made it possible to motivate your friends and family to hit their daily step count. Meanwhile, open groups were a great way to meet other like-minded users, and there were some groups with hundreds of thousands of active users. Now those are gone.This article originally appeared on Engadget at https://www.engadget.com/fitbit-challenges-adventures-and-open-groups-join-the-google-graveyard-today-204519144.html?src=rss
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Apple's long-expected Martin Scorsese movie has a release date for theaters, that is. The company has revealed that Killers of the Flower Moon will get a wide theatrical release on October 20th following a "limited" run starting October 6th. The company hasn't said when the film will be available to Apple TV+ users, but the streaming launch will come after the theater exclusivity period ends. This is Apple's first movie to get a widescale big-screen debut before going online.Killers of the Flower Moon is an adaptation of David Grann's namesake book. It covers the fledgling FBI's investigation of murders of Osage Nation members in the early 1920s after the tribe won rights to oil profits on its land. Scorsese both directed the movie and co-wrote it alongside Eric Roth (of Dune and Mank fame). The cast includes more than a few big-name stars and Scorsese favorites, including Robert DeNiro, Leonardo DiCaprio and Lily Gladstone.Scorsese struck a multi-year deal with Apple in spring 2020 that covered both movie and television projects. While the exact terms aren't clear, Killers reportedly has a budget topping $180 million. The pact came just months after Netflix's Scorsese film, The Irishman, received a massive audience but failed to win any Oscars.The strategy of releasing a movie in theaters first isn't new. Industry awards like the Oscars frequently require movies to show in theaters before they qualify, and it's no secret that streaming giants like Apple, Amazon and Netflix chase after these awards for the publicity they bring. Apple's CODA was the first streamer to win a Best Picture Oscar, for instance. The scope of this premiere is new to Apple, though, and the company is clearly willing to spend on A-list talent to potentially clinch some statuettes and boost its credibility in Hollywood.This article originally appeared on Engadget at https://www.engadget.com/apples-martin-scorsese-movie-hits-theaters-in-october-before-its-tv-debut-201029107.html?src=rss
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Chinas Change 5 rover has found tiny glass beads containing water in an impact crater on the Moon. Samples collected from a 2020 mission found beads with water content as high as 2,000 parts per million (PPM). Given the prevalence of these glass spheres on the lunar surface, there may be enough to provide 71 trillion gallons of water.Some beads formed when asteroids collided with the Moon millions of years ago, while others came from ancient volcanoes. Scientists believe the water originated from a chemical reaction when hydrogen ions emitted from the sun transported to the lunar surface from solar winds combined with oxygen atoms inside the beads. The water-filled beads are tiny, ranging from tens of micrometers to a few millimeters. Still, there are enough on the Moons surface to (theoretically) supply an estimated 270 trillion kilograms of water enough to fill 100 million Olympic-sized swimming pools.However, scientists havent yet figured out how to collect them, and they would need to heat them to around 212 degrees Fahrenheit to extract water. Still, they could be a resource for future lunar settlements, where astronauts could use water for drinking, bathing, cooking, cleaning and even producing rocket fuel.Scientists believe other moons in our Solar System may have similar beads. Our direct measurements of this surface reservoir of lunar water show that impact glass beads can store substantial quantities of solar wind-derived water on the moon and suggest that impact glass may be water reservoirs on other airless bodies, the studys authors wrote. The presence of water, stored in impact glass beads, is consistent with the remote detection of water at lower-latitude regions of the Moon, Vesta and Mercury. Our findings indicate that the impact glasses on the surface of Solar System airless bodies are capable of storing solar wind-derived water and releasing it to space.The glass beads arent our first glimpse at water on the Moon. In 2009, NASA crashed a probe into the Cabeus crater that led to water detection; in 2018, NASA found direct evidence of ice deposits in the Moons permanently shadowed craters on its north and south poles. NASA and China / Russia plan to put lunar bases at the Moons South Pole within the next decade; the competing initiatives both hope to have inhabitable bases ready by the early-to-mid-2030s.This article originally appeared on Engadget at https://www.engadget.com/water-trapped-in-tiny-glass-beads-on-the-moon-could-hydrate-future-settlements-200030344.html?src=rss
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