T3 India

Music

Parrot Zik 3: deluxe, Watch-controlled, wireless fashion statements for your ears

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Like their predecessors, they feature wireless audio, on-ear touch panel control, and user-controllable and also artist-designed graphic equaliser settings.

What's new is that there's now wireless Qi charging and Apple Watch and Android Wear control…

There's also the 'maybe more feminine' (their words) or 'maybe more horrible' (our words) faux croc leather finish shown above, as well as plain and cross stitched leather. 

The Zik 3 comes with its own wireless charger, or can use any Qi charger you happen to have lying about. Charging time is '2 hours for 18 hour autonomy.'

As on previous models there's a capacitive 'command panel' on the right earpiece, letting you adjust the volume, skip and pause tracks with a swipe or a tap. 'Head detection' automatically stops the music when you take the headphones off your ears and resumes it when you put them back on.

There's also noise cancelling, the option to return ambient sound to the mix – so you can hear traffic or people shouting, 'take those crocodile headphones off, you big ponce!' when on the street, or your own voice when making a call – bien sur, there's a mic for hands-free calling.

Another new addition is the ability to get 'high fidelity sound' via a USB input from your PC or laptop.
 
The Apple Watch and Android Wear apps follow in the footsteps of the iOS and Android ones by letting you have at graphic equaliser settings, both presets, basic user-controlled one, and 'Producer Mode', which lets you tune the sound from the Zik 3, 'like professionals do in studios thanks to a high-performance five-band, full-parametric equalizer combined with a proprietary spatialisation effect.'
 
Perhaps most theoretically interesting but actually rather under-used so far is the option for music makers to create their own, shareable equaliser presets so you can 'listen to their music the way they want it to sound on the Parrot Zik.' You can also download presets created and shared by other Zik users.
 
There's also a slightly enlarged headband for greater comfort. Colours? Mais oui: The croc finish is in black, brown, emerald green or red; the stitched one – 'an assertive style!' comes in black or ivory; while the plain, leather grain one is in black only. Bof!

The Parrot Zik 3 comes out late 2015, pricing TBC but liable to be in the Rs. 30,000 range. 

Technics’ iconic SL-1200 turntable is making a vinyl comeback

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Technics, now a subsidiary of Panasonic, has revealed that it is set to bring its iconic SL-1200 turntable out of retirement and update it for one more spin.

At Panasonic’s IFA 2015 conference, with T3 in attendance, a bevy of new Technics devices were revealed but the biggest applause was for a prototype of a new SL-1200. There wasn’t too much information about the device but it will be a direct-drive turntable with an aluminium chassis.

The SL-1200 has been around since the Seventies and since then there have been 10 variants of the turntable. Pretty much any radio station in the world will have one of them on their desks, even if it is now gathering dust because of digital.

The new SL-1200 is expected in 2016, so you have plenty of time to start buying up overpriced vinyl reissues. 

Apple launches powerful new iPod touch, uses iPhone 6 internals

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There's now an 8-megapixel camera, A8 processor plus the M8 motion coprocessor alsongside iOS 8 (which will be iOS9 before too long). The 4-inch retina display remains. 

The new iPod touch starts at Rs. 18,900 for the 16GB model, Rs. 22,900 for 32GB, Rs. 26,900 for 64GB. The 128GB variant won’t be sold in India. The iPod touch is now available in space grey, silver, gold, pink and blue, colours that will also be available on other iPod models from today. 

Check out the complete lowdown on the upcoming iOS 9.

The new iPod touch are available today with the entry-level 16GB model starting from Rs. 18,900 while the 32GB and 64GB are priced at Rs. 22,900 and Rs. 26,900 respectively.

Apple reportedly set to announce new iPods next week

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The news broke last week that Apple is refreshing its iPod devices, after images showing iPods in new colours were spotted in the code for iTunes 12.2. Now French site iGen suggests the new MP3 players will be formally debuted this coming Tuesday, July 14.

We’re told gold, grey, electric blue, fuchsia, pink and black versions of the iPod Shuffle, iPod Nano and iPod Touch are on their way. All of them are said to don upgraded internals, apparently, the reason is to support Apple Music. With less storage – because we’re all streaming our music, supposedly – the new line-up could be a cheap alternative to the iPhone 6 and iPhone 6 Plus.

If the rumours are true, the iPod Touch – which hasn’t been updated since 2012 – will be improved the most. Apple is said to be swapping its 32-bit processor for a faster 64-bit processor, as well as giving it a beefier camera and Touch ID tech. 

Apple Pay also hits the UK next week on July 14, which probably isn’t a coincidence. With Touch ID packed into the new Touch, users will be able to pay for things in seconds.

However do note, this report is hardly gospel. Given the fact that Apple has yet to shed any formal light on the supposed iPod unveilings, take these claims with a pinch of salt for now.

Check out everything we know about the iPhone 6S.