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Best Wireless Headphones for 2024

QuietComfort Ultra Headphones
QuietComfort Ultra Headphones
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Best Wireless Headphones for 2024

QuietComfort Ultra Headphones
QuietComfort Ultra Headphones

When you're cutting the wire, you have a lot of features and wear styles to choose from. There are a few front-runners like the Bose QuietComfort Ultra Headphones, and AirPods Pro 2.

We test wireless headphones based on six key criteria: design, sound quality, noise-canceling performance, voice-calling performance, features, and value.

Here are our current wireless headphone favorites -- including some value picks.

Best new noise-canceling headphones

Bose QuietComfort Ultra Headphones

While Bose's new flagship QuietComfort Ultra Headphones may not be a huge upgrade over the company's Noise Cancelling 700 headphones, they feature a more premium design along with Bose's new Immersive Audio feature, which delivers some sound-quality enhancements. Along with excellent sound and great noise canceling, the QC Ultra Headphones are also superb for making calls, with top-notch background noise reduction.

Updated Apple noise-canceling wireless earbuds

Apple AirPods Pro 2 (USB-C)

Apple not only swapped in USB-C for Lightning connectivity in its new iPhone 15 models, but it made the switch with the AirPods Pro (second generation).

The new AirPods Pro 2 with MagSafe (USB-C) are nearly identical to their Lightning predecessor, delivering the same excellent sound, noise canceling and voice-calling performance. That said, they offer some other small upgrades, including additional dust resistance and a new acoustic architecture that allows for Lossless Audio with the Vision Pro, the wearable headset Apple released on Feb. 2 for $3,499. Is it possible that new acoustic architecture makes the buds sound subtly different with current devices like the iPhone? Maybe, maybe not. Either way, the AirPods Pro 2 (USB-C) are easy to recommend to Apple users despite their high price.

Best budget noise-canceling wireless earbuds

Earfun Air Pro 3

Earfun has put out a series of wireless earbuds over the last couple of years with one important commonality: They're very good values, made more so by frequent discounts. The company's new-for-2023 Earfun Air Pro 3 earbuds feature the latest Qualcomm QCC3071 system-on-a-chip with AptX Adaptive for Android and other devices that support the new LE Audio standard and LC3 audio codec, which is superior to the SBC codec (they also support AAC for Apple devices).

Lightweight and comfortable to wear -- I got a good seal with the largest ear tip size -- these aren't a huge upgrade over the Earfun Air S, but they are better. They have slightly larger wool-composite drivers (11mm versus 10mm), slightly improved noise canceling and better battery life (up to 7 hours with noise canceling on, according to Earfun).

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Amazon Says Blocked 1,800 North Koreans from Applying for Jobs

Amazon logo (Reuters)
Amazon logo (Reuters)
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Amazon Says Blocked 1,800 North Koreans from Applying for Jobs

Amazon logo (Reuters)
Amazon logo (Reuters)

US tech giant Amazon said it has blocked over 1,800 North Koreans from joining the company, as Pyongyang sends large numbers of IT workers overseas to earn and launder funds.

In a post on LinkedIn, Amazon's Chief Security Officer Stephen Schmidt said last week that North Korean workers had been "attempting to secure remote IT jobs with companies worldwide, particularly in the US".

He said the firm had seen nearly a one-third rise in applications by North Koreans in the past year, reported AFP.

The North Koreans typically use "laptop farms" -- a computer in the United States operated remotely from outside the country, he said.

He warned the problem wasn't specific to Amazon and "is likely happening at scale across the industry".

Tell-tale signs of North Korean workers, Schmidt said, included wrongly formatted phone numbers and dodgy academic credentials.

In July, a woman in Arizona was sentenced to more than eight years in prison for running a laptop farm helping North Korean IT workers secure remote jobs at more than 300 US companies.

The scheme generated more than $17 million in revenue for her and North Korea, officials said.

Last year, Seoul's intelligence agency warned that North Korean operatives had used LinkedIn to pose as recruiters and approach South Koreans working at defense firms to obtain information on their technologies.

"North Korea is actively training cyber personnel and infiltrating key locations worldwide," Hong Min, an analyst at the Korea Institute for National Unification, told AFP.

"Given Amazon's business nature, the motive seems largely economic, with a high likelihood that the operation was planned to steal financial assets," he added.

North Korea's cyber-warfare program dates back to at least the mid-1990s.

It has since grown into a 6,000-strong cyber unit known as Bureau 121, which operates from several countries, according to a 2020 US military report.

In November, Washington announced sanctions on eight individuals accused of being "state-sponsored hackers", whose illicit operations were conducted "to fund the regime's nuclear weapons program" by stealing and laundering money.

The US Department of the Treasury has accused North Korea-affiliated cybercriminals of stealing over $3 billion over the past three years, primarily in cryptocurrency.

Technology

KAUST Scientists Develop AI-Generated Data to Improve Environmental Disaster Tracking

King Abdullah University of Science and Technology (KAUST) logo
King Abdullah University of Science and Technology (KAUST) logo
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KAUST Scientists Develop AI-Generated Data to Improve Environmental Disaster Tracking

King Abdullah University of Science and Technology (KAUST) logo
King Abdullah University of Science and Technology (KAUST) logo

King Abdullah University of Science and Technology (KAUST) and SARsatX, a Saudi company specializing in Earth observation technologies, have developed computer-generated data to train deep learning models to predict oil spills.

According to KAUST, validating the use of synthetic data is crucial for monitoring environmental disasters, as early detection and rapid response can significantly reduce the risks of environmental damage.

Dean of the Biological and Environmental Science and Engineering Division at KAUST Dr. Matthew McCabe noted that one of the biggest challenges in environmental applications of artificial intelligence is the shortage of high-quality training data.

He explained that this challenge can be addressed by using deep learning to generate synthetic data from a very small sample of real data and then training predictive AI models on it.

This approach can significantly enhance efforts to protect the marine environment by enabling faster and more reliable monitoring of oil spills while reducing the logistical and environmental challenges associated with data collection.

Technology

Uber, Lyft to Test Baidu Robotaxis in UK from Next Year 

A sign of Baidu is pictured at the company's headquarters in Beijing, China March 16, 2023. (Reuters)
A sign of Baidu is pictured at the company's headquarters in Beijing, China March 16, 2023. (Reuters)
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Uber, Lyft to Test Baidu Robotaxis in UK from Next Year 

A sign of Baidu is pictured at the company's headquarters in Beijing, China March 16, 2023. (Reuters)
A sign of Baidu is pictured at the company's headquarters in Beijing, China March 16, 2023. (Reuters)

Uber Technologies and Lyft are teaming up with Chinese tech giant Baidu to try out driverless taxis in the UK next year, marking a major step in the global race to commercialize robotaxis.

It highlights how ride-hailing platforms are accelerating autonomous rollout through partnerships, positioning London as an early proving ground for large-scale robotaxi services ‌in Europe.

Lyft, meanwhile, plans ‌to deploy Baidu's ‌autonomous ⁠vehicles in Germany ‌and the UK under its platform, pending regulatory approval. Both companies have abandoned in-house development of autonomous vehicles and now rely on alliances to accelerate adoption.

The partnerships underscore how global robotaxi rollouts are gaining momentum. ⁠Alphabet's Waymo said in October it would start ‌tests in London this ‍month, while Baidu ‍and WeRide have launched operations in the ‍Middle East and Switzerland.

Robotaxis promise safer, greener and more cost-efficient rides, but profitability remains uncertain. Public companies like Pony.ai and WeRide are still loss-making, and analysts warn the economics of expensive fleets could pressure margins ⁠for platforms such as Uber and Lyft.

Analysts have said hybrid networks, mixing robotaxis with human drivers, may be the most viable model to manage demand peaks and pricing.

Lyft completed its $200 million acquisition of European taxi app FreeNow from BMW and Mercedes-Benz in July, marking its first major expansion beyond North America and ‌giving the US ride-hailing firm access to nine countries across Europe.