Audio giant Bose on Tuesday announced the launch of a new product called Frames. Frames is claimed to be the world's first audio augmented reality platform embedded into a pair of premium sunglasses. Using features like micro-acoustics and voice controls, Bose says Frames is the tiniest, thinnest, and most lightweight audio system it has ever unveiled. This pair of sunglasses can be used to stream music and other information, take or make calls, and trigger voice assistants. It is the first commercial product embedded with the Bose audio augmented reality platform.
Priced at $199 (around Rs. 14,100) in the US, the Bose Frames is up for pre-orders on Bose's official website and will start shipping sometime in January 2019 on Bose.com and Bose retail stores, followed by select resellers and global markets in Spring 2019. The company announced that Bose AR apps are "coming next year", an update for which will be shared at SXSW 2019 in March next year. The sunglasses have been launched in Matte Black colour, and two styles — square and angled (Alto), and round and slightly smaller (Rondo). They are claimed to be scratch and shatter resistant, and weigh about 45 grams.
Bose Frames claim to blocksup to 99 percent of UVA/ UVB rays. The battery on the Bose Frames offers up to 3.5 hours of playback and up to 12 hours of standby time. Bose claims Frames can be fully recharged in less than two hours using the included pogo-pin cable. In the box are a cleaning cloth/ bag and a protective case.
Styling includes tinted lenses, distinct accents, and gold-plated steel hinges and charging pins. The pair of sunglasses feature "miniscule, wafer-thin" acoustic packages set in each arm's interiors that act as truly wireless earbuds, but really are not. An ultra-small microphone and multi-function button are embedded on the right temple for power and pairing, Siri and Google Assistant, calls and commands, or to pause and skip songs.
As for AR capabilities, Bose Frames has a 9-axis head motion sensor that — combined with your phone's GPS (iPhone or Android) — automatically adds a layer of audio offering use cases for travel, gaming, learning, entertainment, and more. Every pair is Bose AR enabled which will be unlocked via a software update in the future through the Bose Connect app.
You should see fewer fake warnings and other shady tricks.
Google is acting on its promise to kick deceptive websites to the curb. The newly released Chrome 71 now blocks ads on "abusive" sites that consistently trick users with fake system warnings, non-functional "close" buttons and other bogus content that steers you to ads and landing pages. The sites themselves won't lose access the moment Google marks them abusive, but they'll have 30 days to clean up their acts.
The browser has more safeguards, too. Chrome will warn you when a site appears to be hiding the real costs and terms for a transaction. If a site is trying to rope you into a subscription without telling you that you'll be charged, you might get an alert that could save you a lot of money. Google will try to get in touch with affected sites to have them modify their sites, but they'll have to appeal the decision to have a chance at lifting the warning.
Chrome 71 is available now for Linux, Mac and Windows, and it's rolling out to Android and iOS users over the course of the weeks ahead. Google hasn't detailed everything that's new, but the efforts to thwart malicious sites are clearly the highlights. The company has moved from blocking obvious threats like malware to the sneakier tactics that may not compromise your computer, but could prove annoying at best and costly at worst.