HARMAN Luxury Audio Group isn’t easing into ISE this year — it’s flooring the accelerator. With the introduction of nine new JBL Synthesis custom loudspeakers and three next generation processing and amplification components, the company is rolling out one of the most significant expansions of the JBL Synthesis ecosystem in years, set to make its global debut at ISE 2026.
The message is clear: reference level home cinema is no longer a one size fits all proposition, and JBL Synthesis wants to own every serious installation conversation — from architectural in wall designs to full scale dedicated theater rooms.
What makes this move even more telling is the timing. HARMAN Luxury Audio has already been busy at the show with a wave of major announcements from Arcam, including new RADIA loudspeakers and updated audio video amplifiers, and the JBL Synthesis launch adds yet another layer of choice for integrators building high end media rooms and no compromise home theaters.
This isn’t product padding; it’s a deliberate broadening of the toolbox for designers and installers who want scalable performance, consistent voicing, and system driven flexibility without mixing brands or crossing their fingers.
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JBL Synthesis SCL XL In-Wall Speakers Lineup for Reference-Level Architectural Home Cinema
Left to right: SCL-2XL, SCL-6XL, SCL-4XL, SCL-7XL
JBL Synthesis is clearly doubling down on serious architectural installs with a new generation of SCL XL in-wall loudspeakers aimed squarely at high-output, no-excuses home cinema rooms. Built around the brand’s latest transducer technology, updated compression drivers, and precision HDI horn geometry, the new models are designed to disappear into the wall while delivering the kind of scale and dynamic headroom integrators usually associate with large floorstanding systems. All four are timbre-matched and intended to work as part of a complete JBL Synthesis system, whether they’re handling front-stage LCR duties behind an acoustically transparent screen or anchoring surround and immersive channels in larger rooms.
SCL-2XL is the heavy hitter of the group. With quadruple 8-inch woofers and a high-output compression driver, it’s built for reference-level LCR use in large and extra-large theaters, but it also has the muscle to serve demanding surround roles where smaller in-walls simply tap out.
SCL-4XL takes a more flexible approach, pairing dual 8-inch woofers with a compression driver designed for wide, consistent coverage. It’s aimed at premium cinema environments where balance and uniformity across multiple seating positions matter as much as raw output.
SCL-6XL steps slightly down in size with a quad 6.5-inch configuration, but don’t mistake that for a compromise. It’s engineered to deliver serious performance while offering more installer-friendly proportions, making it easier to integrate into high-end architectural designs without sacrificing dynamics.
SCL-7XL is the most surgical of the four. Its dual 6.5-inch layout is paired with an offset HDI horn that allows the sound to be aimed precisely at the listening area. That makes it an ideal choice for surround and center-channel applications where directivity control is critical and placement options are less forgiving.
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JBL Synthesis SCL In-Room Loudspeakers for High-Performance Home Theater
Left to right: SCL-9, SCL-9XL, SSW-5, SCL-10XL, SCL-10
Not every serious media room can be carved into the walls, and JBL Synthesis knows it. The new SCL in-room and on-wall loudspeakers are designed for installations where in-wall mounting isn’t practical, but reference-level performance is still non-negotiable. These models bring the same system-driven voicing, compression-driver dynamics, and output capability associated with JBL Synthesis theaters into spaces that rely on cabinetry, on-wall placement, or traditional in-room solutions.
SCL-10XL sits at the top of the in-room range. With dual 10-inch woofers, it’s engineered for serious output and scale, whether it’s placed behind a projection screen or integrated into custom cabinetry. This is the kind of speaker meant to anchor large rooms where dynamics and headroom matter more than visual subtlety.
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SCL-10 takes a more compact approach while retaining the core JBL Synthesis character. Its dual 6.5-inch configuration delivers strong dynamics and flexibility for medium to large rooms, making it a practical choice when space or sightlines limit larger enclosures.
SCL-9XL is built for impact. Using a quadruple 5.25-inch driver array and a high-output compression driver, this on-wall model is designed to keep up with large displays and immersive systems that demand scale and punch without stepping into the room.
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SCL-9 is the slimmer, more design-friendly alternative. With dual 5.25-inch drivers, it’s intended for LCR or surround duties in spaces where aesthetics are just as important as performance, without abandoning the JBL Synthesis sound.
Rounding out the lineup is the SSW-5, a new 12-inch powered subwoofer rated at 1,000 watts. Designed to integrate seamlessly with the SCL speakers, it delivers deep, controlled low-frequency performance and completes the ecosystem for in-room, on-wall, and mixed installation systems.
The takeaway is simple: whether the speakers live in the wall, on it, or behind a screen, JBL Synthesis is giving integrators more ways to deliver a cohesive, high-output theater experience without architectural gymnastics.
JBL Synthesis Next-Generation Processing and Amplification
JBL Synthesis isn’t treating electronics as an afterthought. Alongside the expanded SCL loudspeaker lineup, the brand is rolling out three new processing and amplification components designed to serve as the backbone of modern immersive home cinema systems. Built for flexibility, scale, and real-world installation demands, these electronics are aimed squarely at integrators who need predictable performance across complex Dolby Atmos, DTS:X Pro, IMAX Enhanced, and AURO-3D systems — without stacking mismatched boxes and hoping for the best.
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SDP-70 Immersive AV Processor is the flagship. With 24 channels of processing, it’s built for large-scale immersive designs where channel count, routing flexibility, and network integration matter. Support for Dirac Live Active Room Treatment (ART) allows for advanced low-frequency control across multiple speakers and subwoofers, making it well suited to dedicated theaters and high-end media rooms with ambitious layouts.
SDP-60 Immersive AV Processor brings much of that capability into a more streamlined 16-channel platform. It offers reference-grade decoding, fully balanced outputs, Matrix Channel Assignment, and support for Dirac Live ART optimization. This is the processor aimed at serious cinema rooms that don’t need extreme channel counts but still demand precision and consistency.
SDR-40 Immersive AV Receiver takes an all-in-one approach without dumbing things down. It combines 16-channel processing with nine channels of Class G amplification, delivering high output and improved efficiency in a single chassis. For integrators looking to simplify system deployment without sacrificing immersive performance, it’s a practical solution for premium installations.
What ties these components together is intent. They’re engineered to integrate seamlessly with the expanded SCL loudspeaker family, ensuring consistent voicing and predictable results across a wide range of room sizes and configurations.
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The Bottom Line
This is one of the most meaningful JBL Synthesis updates in years, not because of a single headline product, but because of how broad and deliberate the changes are. JBL Synthesis isn’t just adding more speakers or chasing higher channel counts — it’s reshaping the lineup to cover far more real-world use cases. The expansion spans in-wall, on-wall, and in-room loudspeakers, paired with updated processing and amplification that now scales both up and down, from large, complex immersive theaters to more approachable systems with lower channel counts.
That last part matters. While the SDP-70 headlines the launch with 24-channel capability, the SDP-60 and SDR-40 clearly signal that JBL Synthesis is paying attention to integrators building serious cinemas that don’t require extreme channel layouts. Sixteen-channel processing, all-in-one receiver options, and Class G amplification make the ecosystem more flexible and easier to deploy without forcing every project into flagship territory.
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What’s still missing are the details that ultimately define value. JBL Synthesis has not yet released full technical specifications, complete dispersion data, detailed amplifier performance figures, or pricing. Until those are on the table, this remains a strong directional statement rather than a final verdict on performance or competitiveness.
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So who is this for? This lineup is aimed squarely at custom installers, system designers, and homeowners building dedicated theaters or premium media rooms who want a cohesive, system-validated approach instead of piecing together components from multiple brands. If you value scalability, predictable results, and a single ecosystem that can grow from a refined sixteen-channel setup into a full reference-grade immersive theater, the appeal is obvious. Whether it becomes a must-have will come down to specs, pricing, and how aggressively JBL Synthesis positions this lineup once those numbers finally land.
Autonomous agents are compressing software delivery timelines from weeks to days. The enterprises that scale agents safely will be the ones that build using spec-driven development.
There’s a moment in every technology shift where the early adopters stop being outliers and start being the baseline. We’re at that moment in software development, and most teams don’t realize it yet.
A year ago, vibe coding went viral. Non-developers and junior developers discovered they could build beyond their abilities with AI. It lowered the floor. It made prototyping much quicker, but it also introduced a surplus of slop. What the industry then needed was something that raised the ceiling — something that improved code quality and worked the way the most expert developers work. Spec-driven development did that. It laid the foundation for trustworthy autonomous coding agents.
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Specs are the trust model for autonomous development
Most discussions of AI-generated code focus on whether AI can write code. The harder question is whether you can trust it. The answer runs directly through the spec.
Spec-driven development starts with a deceptively simple idea: before an AI agent writes a single line of code, it works from a structured, context-rich specification that defines what the system is supposed to do, what its properties are, and what “correct” actually means. That specification is an artifact the agent reasons against throughout the entire development process — fundamentally different from pre-agentic AI approaches of writing documentation after the fact.
Enterprise teams are building on this foundation. The Kiro IDE team used Kiro to build Kiro IDE — an agentic coding environment with native spec-driven development — cutting feature builds from two weeks to two days. An AWS engineering team completed an 18-month rearchitecture project, originally scoped for 30 developers, with six people in 76 days using Kiro. An Amazon.com engineering team rolled out “Add to Delivery” — a feature that lets shoppers add items after checkout — two months ahead of schedule by using Kiro and spec-driven development. Alexa+, Amazon Finance, Amazon Stores, AWS, Fire TV, Last Mile Delivery, Prime Video, and more all integrate spec-driven development as part of their build approaches.
That shift changes everything downstream.
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Verifiable testing is what makes autonomous agents safe to run
The spec becomes an automated correctness engine. When a developer is generating 150 check-ins per week with AI assistance, no human can manually review that volume of code. Instead, code built against a concrete specification can be verified through property-based testing and neurosymbolic AI techniques that automatically generate hundreds of test cases derived directly from the spec, probing edge cases no human would think to write by hand. These tests prove that the code satisfies the spec’s defined properties, going well beyond hand-written test suites to provably correct behavior.
Verifiable testing enables the shift from one-shot programming to continuous autonomous development. Traditional AI-assisted development operates as a single shot: you give the agent a spec, the agent produces output, and the process ends. Today’s agents continuously correct themselves, feeding build and test failures back into their own reasoning, generating additional tests to probe their own output, and iterating until they produce something both functional and verifiable. The spec is the anchor that keeps that loop from drifting. Instead of developers constantly checking in to see if the agent is making the right decisions, the agent can check itself against the spec to make sure it is on the right path.
The autonomous agent of the future will write its own specs, using specifications as the mechanism for self-correction, for verification, for ensuring that what it produces matches the intended behavior of the system.
Multi-agent, autonomous, and running right now
The developers setting the pace today operate in a fundamentally different way. Developers spend significant time building their spec, as well as writing steering files used by the spec to make sure the agent knows what and how to build — more time than their agent may spend building the actual software. They run multiple agents in parallel to critique a problem from different perspectives, as well as run multiple specs, each written for a different component of the system they are building. They let agents run for hours, sometimes days. They use thousands of Kiro credits because the output justifies it.
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A year ago, agents would lose context and fall apart after 20 minutes. Now, every week you can run them longer than the week before. Agentic capabilities have improved significantly in the last six months that genuinely complex problems are tractable. Newer LLMs are more token-efficient than the previous generation, so for the same spend, you get dramatically more done.
The challenge is that doing this well requires deep expertise. The tools, methodologies, and infrastructure exist, but orchestrating them is hard. The goal with Kiro is to bring these capabilities with deep expertise to every developer, not just the top one percent who’ve figured it out.
Infrastructure is catching up to ambition
Agents will be ten times more capable within a year. That’s the rate of improvement we’re seeing week over week.
The infrastructure to support that level of capability is converging at the same time. Agents are now running in the cloud rather than locally, executing in parallel at scale with secure, reliable communication between agent systems. Organizations can now run agentic workloads the way they’d run any enterprise-grade distributed system — with governance, cost controls, and reliability guarantees that serious software demands. Spec-driven development is the architecture of tomorrow’s autonomous systems.
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Developers are no longer restricted by how they want to solve the problem. The developers who thrive in this world are the ones building that foundation now: using spec-driven development, prioritizing testability and verification from the start, working with agents as collaborators, and thinking in systems instead of syntax.
Deepak Singh is VP of Kiro at AWS.
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Stop Killing Games is backing a new bill from Chris Ward, a member of the California State Assembly since 2020. Introduced earlier this year, the Protect Our Games Act would require gaming companies to make clear commitments to long-term support for “server-connected” video games. The bill has undergone a significant… Read Entire Article Source link
“The new Linux kernel was released and it’s kind of a big deal,” writes longtime Slashdot reader rexx mainframe. “Here is what you can expect.” Linuxiac reports: A key update in Linux 7.0 is the removal of the experimental label from Rust support. That (of course) does not make Rust a dominant language in kernel development, but it is still an important step in its gradual integration into the project. Another notable security-related change is the addition of ML-DSA post-quantum signatures for kernel module authentication, while support for SHA-1-based module-signing schemes has been removed.
The kernel now includes BPF-based filtering for io_uring operations, providing administrators with improved control in restricted environments. Additionally, BTF type lookups are now faster due to binary search. At the same time, this release continues ongoing cleanup in the kernel’s lower layers. The removal of linuxrc initrd code advances the transition to initramfs as the sole early-userspace boot mechanism.
Linux 7.0 also introduces NULLFS, an immutable and empty root filesystem designed for systems that mount the real root later. Plus, preemption handling is now simpler on most architectures, with further improvements to restartable sequences, workqueues, RCU internals, slab allocation, and type-based hardening. Filesystems and storage receive several updates as well. Non-blocking timestamp updates now function correctly, and filesystems must explicitly opt in to leases rather than receiving them by default. Phoronix has compiled a list of the many exciting changes.
The Bose QuietComfort Headphones excel at noise-cancelation, but they’re far from a one-trick pony. With outstanding sound quality, a super-comfortable design, and an easy-to-use interface, they hit all the right notes across the board.
This limited-time deal sees the ANC masters drop back to the price we saw at Black Friday. Just note that this outstanding deal is only on the grey and pink colorways, although if you want the more traditional black alternative, then they’re only $19 more.
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Today’s best Bose headphones deal
In our Bose QuietComfort Headphones review, we gave the popular audio product a very respectable four out of five stars. Our reviewer loved their “supreme comfort, fuss-free set-up and solid ANC”, so even though they’re not perfect, they’re still pretty impressive, especially at this reduced price.
If you’re often working in public places, then you’ll be pleased to hear that the ANC is second to none. There are also a couple of different audio modes, like ‘Quiet’ for improved noise cancelation and ‘Aware’ for more transparency. These can be toggled using the action button on the left earcup.
From a comfort point of view, Bose has opted for memory foam earcups wrapped in soft vegan leather and a well-padded headband. All of this equates to a seriously comfortable user experience.
Dozens of civil rights organizations have to warn of the dangers in to the company’s smart glasses. More than 70 groups have banded together to form a coalition to urge Zuckerberg to abandon plans to incorporate the tech, on the grounds that it would empower stalkers, sexual predators and other bad actors.
This coalition includes organizations like the ACLU, the Electronic Privacy Information Center, Fight for the Future, Access Now and many others. The letter isn’t asking for safeguards. These groups want the feature to be completely eliminated, stating the idea behind facial recognition of this type is so dangerous that it “cannot be resolved through product design changes, opt-out mechanisms or incremental safeguards.” This tracks, as there would be no real way for bystanders to know or consent to being identified.
“People should be able to move through their daily lives without fear that stalkers, scammers, abusers, federal agents and activists across the political spectrum are silently and invisibly verifying their identities and potentially matching their names to a wealth of readily available data about their habits, hobbies, relationships, health and behaviors,” the letter states.
The organizations have urged Meta to disclose any known instances of its wearables being used for stalking, harassment or domestic violence. They also want the company to disclose past or ongoing discussions with federal law enforcement agencies, including ICE, about the use of Meta smart glasses and other wearables, .
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There is certainly some cause for worry here. Meta that suggested it would roll out this technology “during a dynamic political environment where many civil society groups that we would expect to attack us would have their resources focused on other concerns.” That’s corporate speak for “we’ll do it when nobody is watching.” The coalition has called this “vile behavior” that looks to take advantage of “rising authoritarianism.”
The technology in question is called Name Tag, for obvious reasons. It uses AI to pull up information about people in a field of view to smart glasses displays. That’s about as dystopian as it gets.
The company has reportedly been working on . There’s one that would only identify people that are currently connected to a Meta platform and another that would identify anyone with a public account on a service like Instagram. It doesn’t look like there’s any way, as of yet, to use this tech to identify strangers on the street who don’t have a Meta account of any kind. In other words, the company should expect a if this rolls out.
Name Tag is currently scheduled for release at some point this year, but it’s not set in stone just yet. Public outcry has gotten Meta to back off from facial recognition in the past. The company after pushback from civil liberties groups and years of costly litigation. Meta paid out billions of dollars to settle biometric privacy lawsuits in and and another for a separate privacy case partially tied to facial recognition software.
Australia’s world-first social media ban on users under the age of 16 isn’t keeping kids off the platforms as well as the government hoped. Read Entire Article Source link
Apple is now on its second round of developer betas for iOS 26.5, iPadOS 26.5, watchOS 26.5, tvOS 26.5, visionOS 26.5, and macOS Tahoe 26.5.
Apple’s hardware that works with the 26-generation operating systems – Image Credit: Apple
The second developer betas for iOS 26.5, iPadOS 26.5, watchOS 26.5, tvOS 26.5, visionOS 26.5, and macOS Tahoe 26.5 replace the first, which arrived on March 30. However, Apple re-released the developer beta for iOS 26.5 on March 24, with a new build number.
Caviar has packed over two decades’ worth of technology into a single smartphone, the iPhone 2007 Edition, which is an extravagant custom version of the iPhone 17 Pro. This ultra-limited edition of the flagship smartphone incorporates an actual piece of the 2007 iPhone 2G directly into its frame, a part literally pulled from Apple’s first handset.
The chassis is composed of titanium, which is coated in a sleek PVD black that nods subtly to the colors of 2007. The silver bits cover the majority of the surface, while the lower part transitions to black, which provides visual interest. Delicate lines carved on the rear are a careful recreation of the original mainboard’s circuit designs, and they all appear to connect at a single central point.
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A transparent capsule shaped like the Apple logo lies in the center of the rear panel. Inside this sealed capsule is a certified piece of the 2007 iPhone 2G motherboard, securely stored away and entirely undamaged. The fragment is packaged in what appears to be a hermetically sealed little chamber. To top it all off, each device includes Steve Jobs’ signature inscribed around the frame, as well as a unique serial number etched into the titanium up to number 11.
Every last detail ties in neatly to that historic hardware. The etchings that imitate the first smartphone’s technological schematics provide a nice visual connection to the capsule. Buyers of the iPhone 2007 Edition even receive a personalized screensaver. This one is custom-made for this collection and begins loading as soon as the phone is turned on. The phone comes in a luxury branded box with a characteristic Caviar key finished in 24-karat gold plating – the works. It comes with certified certificates that indicate the motherboard is a genuine 2007 iPhone 2G fragment, directly from the source.
Pricing starts at $10,770 for the 256GB iPhone 17 Pro and goes up to $12,700 for the two-terabyte iPhone 17 Pro Max. Production is intentionally limited to just 11 pieces globally, making each one extremely uncommon. Orders are now open, with worldwide shipping handled by trusted couriers. It will take at least a week to arrive after a 1-4 business day wait for final assembly and inspection. [Source]
A dead car battery can take a perfectly good day and wreck it every time. The worst part is that it usually happens when you least expect it, and always when you’re in a hurry to go somewhere. While it’s easy to tell if your car battery is dead, how do you know that it’s good on a normal day, before you start it up? A healthy 12V car battery should read about 12.6 to 12.4 volts when your car is off, or resting.
These numbers mean your battery is fully charged, and you’ll likely get the performance you need. If your battery reads below 12 volts at rest, then you might have a problem, and you’ll eventually need to address it before it dies completely. The reason it’s important to check the battery at rest is that it gives you an accurate snapshot of its condition. Since your car isn’t turned on, no electronic systems are putting a load on the battery, and thus potentially skewing the results of a battery test.
The best way to check this yourself is to use a digital multimeter. This device works at your battery’s terminals, and you can use it when your engine is off to get the resting voltage. If you don’t have a multimeter, you can take your vehicle to a local garage or automotive retailer. For example, AutoZone can perform a more complete battery test, along with a full diagnostic check, typically at no cost to you.
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Signs your car battery is losing power
Anastasija Vujic/Getty Images
A modern car battery is 12 volts, and if the resting voltage of yours is below that number, it may still start up. If your battery is putting out less than 12 volts as the vehicle is running, that’s a problem. Even if you can crank your car with less than 12 volts more than once, one of your systems is likely near the point of failure. It’s better to get it checked out by a technician before you end up getting stranded.
A car battery loses its voltage over time due to everyday use. It can also lose voltage due to its age, so even if your car is rarely driven, an older battery’s power can still decrease. Even though a battery doesn’t actually run out of voltage, its internal chemical composition changes every time it’s charged. Over the course of about three to five years, a battery’s total voltage drops, until its performance is eventually affected.
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The good news is you usually have some warning signs that your battery’s voltage is dropping. Your headlights may start dimming or flickering. Your power windows might move slower than before. Even your car stereo can sound differently, but the most obvious sign is when your car doesn’t start as it normally would. A brief hesitation here and there usually means the end is near. If you experience any of these issues, get your battery checked out by a professional as soon as possible.
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