I stopped by the La Dolce Audio room at AXPONA expecting to spend time with the tube amplifiers Terry Gesualdo and I had been talking about on the bus ride over. He’s working with some unusually adjustable designs built around pentode tubes that most manufacturers avoid, which is exactly the kind of thing that gets my attention.

But the amplifiers weren’t what stopped me in the doorway.

Front and center was a pair of speakers that didn’t look like they belonged in a conventional system. Two large drivers mounted on a walnut baffle, topped by a compression horn feeding a wide black waveguide. And that was it. No enclosure, no box, nothing hiding behind them.

They weren’t unfinished. That was the design.

The speakers in question are one variation of the ABX/LDA open-baffle design, developed by James Owens of ABX, Terry Gesualdo of La Dolce Audio, and a growing community of builders on Discord. The concept isn’t complicated, and that’s the point: build something affordable, accessible, and genuinely good sounding without turning it into a science project that only a handful of people can finish.

In its most stripped-down form, this is about as DIY as it gets. A sheet of plywood, a couple pieces of 1×6, two shelf brackets, a pair of large drivers (three if you count the coaxial tweeter), and a simple five-part crossover. That’s the baseline. From there, builders can take it as far as their skills, patience, and garage space allow.

Driver-wise, it’s not messing around. You’ve got a 15-inch coaxial handling midrange and treble duties, paired with an 18-inch woofer to move serious air. The original coaxial concept traces back to a Darrel Hawthorne design, and after Hawthorne Audio closed in 2016, Gesualdo worked with Eminence, along with Hawthorne’s blessing, to develop an updated version so the platform wouldn’t disappear with the brand.

The naming keeps that lineage intact. The 15-inch is now the HA15, with a smaller HA10 also in the pipeline.

The crossover follows the same philosophy as the rest of the project. Keep it simple, keep it accessible, and don’t overthink it.

You’re looking at two inductors, a 15 mH 15 AWG air core inductor handling the midrange on the coaxial, and a 10 mH choke for the woofer, assuming the 18 inch driver. From there, it’s a set of speaker taps, a capacitor on the tweeter, either 3.3 µF or 40 µF depending on the specific tweeter revision, and an L pad to dial in the tweeter level.

That’s the entire network.

No PCB, no exotic layout requirements, no black box. Everything can be hand wired with basic parts and a soldering iron. If you can follow a diagram and take your time, you can build it.

Baffle designs run the full spectrum from basic to borderline art project, but they all share a common idea: some form of slot loading to help extend bass response.

At the entry level, it can be as simple as rectangular cutouts in a sheet of plywood. From there, things escalate. Ring-loaded designs in straight grain hardwoods. More ambitious builds with spirals carved into slabs of figured Claro walnut that look like they belong in a gallery instead of a listening room.

The pair at the show leaned toward the more refined end. They used ring-loaded ports in a lightly figured walnut baffle and ditched the coaxial tweeter altogether. In its place was a compression horn paired with a large 3D printed labyrinth lens, designed to improve dispersion and add a bit more realism compared to the original coaxial approach.

It’s a clear sign that this isn’t a static design. It’s evolving, and the community is driving a lot of that evolution.

At this point, there are at least nine established versions, with La Dolce Audio offering designs and build kits, and even more variations circulating through the Discord channel for those who want to experiment.

For anyone looking to step off the beaten path, or just wants the satisfaction of saying “I made those,” the ABX/LDA open baffle project makes a strong case.

It’s established enough that you’re not gambling on the result. The foundation works, but it remains open to interpretation, letting builders take it as far as their skills and imagination allow.

That’s the appeal. You’re not just assembling a speaker. You’re shaping it.

At a show where the average speaker costs more than an entry level SUV, this feels like a reality check. Not everyone is dropping that kind of money, and this doesn’t pretend that you should. It just offers another way in, and a pretty smart one if you’re willing to put in the effort.

For more information: abxaudiophiles.org

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Google is testing a new redesign for its Gemini Live experience on Android, aiming to make interactions with its AI assistant more seamless and less intrusive. According to a 9To5Google report, the update moves away from the current full-screen interface and instead integrates Gemini Live directly into the main app view, signalling a shift toward a more practical, everyday usage model.

A Shift Away From Fullscreen AI

Previously, Gemini Live operated in a full-screen mode, taking over the entire display during interactions. While this approach highlighted the assistant, it also limited multitasking and made it harder to use alongside other apps.

With the redesign, Gemini Live now sits within the Gemini app’s homepage. The interface changes dynamically, showing a “Live with Gemini” header along with quick access to features like transcripts. This allows users to interact with the AI without completely leaving their current workflow.

The result is a cleaner, more minimal layout that feels less like a dedicated mode and more like a natural extension of the app.

Why This Redesign Matters

This update reflects a broader shift in how AI assistants are being designed. Instead of demanding full attention, they are increasingly becoming background tools that support ongoing tasks.

By removing the full-screen experience, Google is making Gemini Live more suitable for multitasking. Users can now interact with the assistant while browsing, messaging, or working within other apps, which aligns better with real-world usage patterns.

It also signals Google’s intent to position Gemini as a core part of the Android experience, rather than a separate feature that users have to consciously enter.

What It Means For Users

For users, the redesign could make Gemini Live more accessible and less disruptive. The simplified interface reduces friction, making it easier to quickly ask questions, get responses, or continue conversations without interrupting what they are doing.

Features like built-in transcripts also improve usability, especially for voice-based interactions, where users may want to refer back to previous responses.

At the same time, the more compact design could make Gemini feel less overwhelming, particularly for users who may have found the previous full-screen interface too intrusive.

What Comes Next

The redesign is currently being tested and has not yet been widely rolled out. However, it is part of a series of rapid updates to the Gemini app, suggesting that Google is actively refining the experience based on user feedback.

Looking ahead, Gemini Live is expected to become more deeply integrated into Android, potentially replacing traditional assistant workflows entirely. As Google continues to iterate, the focus appears to be on making AI assistance more subtle, faster, and easier to use throughout the day.

In that sense, this minimalist redesign may be less about visual changes – and more about redefining how AI fits into everyday smartphone interactions.

The munchies don’t care what day it is, but on April 20 they do tend to show up right on schedule. Whether you’re fully leaning into 4/20 as an occasion or you just happen to be thinking about food a lot more than usual, it’s a day that comes with a specific kind of appetite.

What started as a low-key and rebellious ritual has well and truly gone corporate, and the food industry has certainly caught on. And with marijuana now legal in many states, every year more chains are jumping on the 4/20 bandwagon with suspiciously specific prices and deals that very much understand the assignment.

Whether you’re partaking in this dopest of days, stumbled onto this page because a burger deal caught your eye or you just wanted a free frisbee, we’ve rounded up every 4/20 deal worth knowing about.

Note: While cannabis has been legalized for medical and even recreational use in some states, marijuana and products containing THC is still a Schedule I drug under US federal law. Always exercise caution and judgment when consuming cannabis or any other controlled substance.

Mastodon’s flagship server was hit by a distributed denial-of-service attack on Monday, the social networking software maker said, which rendered the instance unusable at times.

Much of the site was inaccessible, throwing error messages or displaying a full-screen outage warning.

The makers of the decentralized social networking software, which runs its official mastodon.social instance, said in a status update at around 7 a.m. ET on Monday that it was investigating the cyberattack.

By 9:05 a.m. ET, Mastodon said it implemented a “countermeasure against the DDoS attack, and the site is accessible.” However, the company warned that some instability may continue to be seen as the attack is ongoing.

The cyberattack targeting Mastodon comes days after Bluesky, another decentralized social network, resolved much of its days-long outages following a lengthy DDoS attack. As of Bluesky’s update on April 17, the DDoS attack continues, but its service has been stable since April 16 at 9 PM PDT. Today’s update confirmed the ongoing stability.

Representatives for Mastodon did not immediately comment on the cause of the cyberattack when contacted by TechCrunch.

Distributed denial-of-service (DDoS) attacks rely on sending massive amounts of junk web traffic towards an app or website’s servers, with the aim of knocking them offline. These cyberattacks don’t involve data theft, but DDoS attacks can be disruptive to users.

DDoS attacks have become exponentially more powerful over the years. Last year, network security company Cloudflare said it mitigated what it says is the largest DDoS attack to date, measuring a peak of 29.7 terabits per second, the equivalent of filling up thousands of hard drives with data every minute.

When aimed at decentralized social networking services, the attacks can cause instability and outages, but not everyone is taken offline. In Bluesky’s case, for instance, those who had moved their account to other providers, like Blacksky, which run on the same protocol and interoperate with Bluesky, were not impacted.

Similarly, the attack on Mastodon has so far targeted only the larger server (mastodon.social) and not the many smaller instances that make up the full Mastodon social network.

It’s happening. Ubisoft has scheduled a livestream for April 23 at 12PM ET to discuss the long-awaited Assassin’s Creed Black Flag remake. The showcase will be available to watch on the company’s and pages.

It’s officially called Assassin’s Creed Black Flag Resynced and has . Ubisoft ended speculation by .

We don’t know anything about how the game will play or look, as Ubisoft has only dropped some promotional art featuring protagonist Edward Kenway lounging on a boat. The livestream should feature a trailer that will answer many burning questions.

For instance, rumors have been swirling that this is a and not a simple port. That makes sense given the . It’s also been rumored that this new version will , with a total focus on pirate-themed action.

We don’t have that long to find out. Maybe the livestream will also give us some information about that upcoming mainline franchise entry, which is currently being developed . Ubisoft has promised it will be a “unique, darker, narrative-driven Assassin’s Creed experience.”

The deal is an internal Blackstone consolidation, both AirTrunk (acquired for A$24 billion in 2024) and Lumina CloudInfra (launched by Blackstone in 2022) sit within the same portfolio.

By folding Lumina into AirTrunk, Blackstone gives its Asia-Pacific data centre platform a foothold in India’s hyperscale market without a third-party acquisition. Terms were not disclosed.

AirTrunk, the Asia-Pacific data centre operator owned by Blackstone, is acquiring Lumina CloudInfra, an India-focused data centre developer, marking AirTrunk’s entry into one of the world’s fastest-growing digital infrastructure markets.

The acquisition gives AirTrunk access to Lumina’s development pipeline, customer contracts and relationships, and operational capabilities, including approximately 600 megawatts of planned capacity across India’s major cities, representing up to $5 billion of development potential. Financial terms were not disclosed.

The deal has an unusual structure: both companies are Blackstone entities. Lumina CloudInfra was launched by Blackstone in 2022 as a standalone India-focused hyperscale data centre platform, seeded with significant capital and led by local industry veterans.

AirTrunk, Asia-Pacific’s largest independent data centre operator, was acquired by Blackstone in December 2024 for A$24 billion, Blackstone’s largest ever transaction in the region.

Rather than bring in a third-party acquirer, Blackstone is consolidating its two data centre platforms under a single operating entity, giving AirTrunk a ready-built India entry point with existing land positions, customer relationships, and a management team with deep local market experience.

Post-acquisition, AirTrunk will operate across six markets: Australia, Singapore, Japan, Malaysia, Hong Kong, and India, with a combined portfolio of more than 3 gigawatts of operating and planned capacity across 20 campuses.

Lumina’s planned 600MW pipeline is spread across India’s Tier-1 cities, beginning with Mumbai and Chennai and extending to Pune, Delhi/NCR, and Hyderabad.

Lumina’s co-founder and CEO Sujeet Deshpande, a former head of Colt Data Center Services’ India operations who previously led Reliance Jio Infocomm’s integrated data centres, framed the deal as combining “local strength with global platforms.”

AirTrunk’s founder and CEO Robin Khuda described India as “one of the largest and fastest growing markets for hyperscale and AI infrastructure worldwide” and said the acquisition positions the company to “deliver the scale, speed, and performance our customers need as they expand across the APAC region.”

Peng Wei Tan, Senior Managing Director of Real Estate at Blackstone, framed it as reinforcing “one of Blackstone’s highest conviction themes, digital infrastructure,” and noted that as the world’s largest data centre investor, Blackstone is positioned to meet rising demand across Asia-Pacific’s fastest-growing economies.

India’s data centre market has attracted significant international capital in recent years as hyperscale cloud providers, AWS, Microsoft Azure, Google Cloud, and others, accelerate their buildout in the country.

Blackstone had previously committed to investing approximately $11 billion in Indian data centres, with Lumina as the primary vehicle.

Integrating Lumina into AirTrunk’s global operating platform gives those India investments access to AirTrunk’s hyperscale customer network, global design and construction standards, and Blackstone’s full capital resources, a consolidation of capabilities rather than a simple financial transaction.

Recorded from the show floor at AXPONA 2026, this episode brings together Cornelius and Jamie O’Callaghan of the IAG Hi-Fi Division for a deep dive into the legacy and future of QUAD’s electrostatic loudspeakers, including the ESL 2912X. We break down what makes electrostatic panel speakers fundamentally different from traditional designs, why QUAD has remained committed to the technology for decades, and how the latest generation improves on transparency, dispersion, and real world usability. The conversation also explores how these iconic speakers fit into a modern hi-fi landscape increasingly dominated by compact and wireless solutions, and why QUAD continues to attract listeners who care more about realism than convenience.

This episode was recorded on April 10, 2026 (the first day of AXPONA 2026).

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