Amazfit has launched the Balance Ultra, a new flagship smartwatch meant for users who track their workouts closely but may not always pay the same attention to recovery.

Recovery is one of the most important parts of training, because poor sleep, high stress, and badly timed rest days can directly affect progress. The new smartwatch aims to make that easier to track by combining workout data with sleep, stress, heart rate, HRV, blood oxygen, breathing, and recovery metrics through the Zepp App.

Can it help users train smarter instead of just harder?

The Balance Ultra is built around Amazfit’s Hybrid Training System, which is meant to give users a clearer view of how ready their body is for another workout. Instead of only recording completed sessions, the watch looks at training load, recovery, and lifestyle signals to help users decide whether to push harder or slow down.

Amazfit supports this with features such as BioCharge, LifeLoad, Training Load, Weekly Focus, Training Balance, and Hybrid Training Plans. BioCharge gives users a sense of their energy levels throughout the day, while LifeLoad factors in the strain caused by stress and daily activity. Training Balance and Weekly Focus then help place recent workouts in context, so users are not left looking at separate sleep, stress, and fitness numbers without knowing what they mean together.

The watch also comes with official HYROX tools, including training plans, race simulations, virtual pace support, and post-race analysis. That makes it more relevant for users who mix running, strength training, endurance work, and gym-based competition formats.

What else does the Balance Ultra offer?

The hardware is also more premium than Amazfit’s standard fitness watches. The Balance Ultra has a Grade 5 titanium case, sapphire glass protection, 10ATM water resistance, and a 1.5-inch AMOLED display with up to 3,000 nits of brightness. It also supports dual-band GPS, six-satellite positioning, offline maps, route guidance, Bluetooth calling, Zepp Flow voice control, voice notes, music storage, apps, and contactless payments.

Battery life is one of its stronger claims. The company says the Balance Ultra can last up to 30 days with regular use, up to 10 days with the always-on display enabled, and up to 50 hours with continuous GPS. The Amazfit Balance Ultra is available through Amazfit.com for $599.99.

OPPO India has expanded the rollout of its latest ColorOS 16 update, bringing a range of new features to more smartphones across its lineup. The new software focuses on improving everyday smartphone experiences with better multitasking, easier device connectivity, and useful productivity features. The rollout began with the Find X9 series and is expected to continue across supported devices through the end of May.

Live Space and O+ Connect Improve Convenience

One of the highlights of the ColorOS 16 update is the addition of Live Space and improvements to O+ Connect. Live Space makes the lock screen feel more responsive with fluid animations and neatly organized notifications. Users can quickly view important information without unlocking their phones. Meanwhile, O+ Connect makes file sharing between OPPO and Apple devices much easier. This allows users to transfer files without extra apps or complicated steps.

ColorOS 16 also introduces several tools that help users stay organized and create content more easily. The update can automatically arrange apps and home screen layouts based on categories, colors, or previous setups, reducing the time spent on manual organization. For travelers, the menu translation feature makes it easier to understand restaurant menus with helpful visual references. The update adds motion collage creation without requiring extra apps. It also improves document scanning for easier storage and sharing.

ColorOS 16 Focuses on More Personalized Experiences

With ColorOS 16, OPPO is focusing on delivering a faster, more convenient user experience. Mind Pilot serves as a built-in assistant that brings useful information into a single interface, reducing the need to switch between apps. The update also introduces features that help users manage conversations, tasks, and multiple activities more easily. Enhanced personalization options make it simpler to customize the device according to individual preferences. The update is being released across eligible Find X9, Find X8, Reno15, and Reno14 smartphones.

Workers can pause the all-seeing eye when they need to “check something personal.”

An anonymous reader quotes a report from GeekWire: A team inside Microsoft has been quietly building a platform for devices that run AI agents instead of apps, based on Android instead of Windows, with two working hardware designs so far, and an initial set of big-name companies lined up to run pilots. The platform, dubbed “Project Solara,” is Microsoft’s bet that AI will open up entirely new scenarios for computing — using agents to avoid the constraints of traditional software, and off-the-shelf components to develop new devices quickly and inexpensively. […] The company unveiled Solara on Tuesday at its Build conference in San Francisco, describing it as a new platform that spans from chip to cloud. GeekWire got a behind-the-scenes look at the project during a briefing last week in Redmond, including demos of the first two concept devices based on the platform:

– A desktop hub that sits beside a PC and responds to voice commands, signs users in using facial recognition, and surfaces the day’s most pressing items. With a monitor attached, it becomes a full Windows machine running in the cloud.

– A wearable badge that reimagines the standard employee ID card. A fingerprint button wakes an agent in one press; a single tap records and transcribes a conversation; and a built-in camera lets the agent act on what the user sees.

Microsoft says it won’t ship these devices itself. Instead, it envisions hardware makers and other industry partners turning the reference designs into implementations of their own, each intended for a specific industry, company, or scenario. For example, in one demo shown by the company, the high-tech badge ran on agents designed for use by a health-care worker, including the ability to scan a patient’s QR code, record and transcribe the visit, log vitals, and start a prescription. In another application of the same badge, the built-in camera scanned a brainstorm board with ideas for an office revamp, and made a suggestion: add some plants.

The two devices are a starting point. The bigger opportunity, the company says, is all the tasks and workflows where a PC or phone gets in the way or isn’t practical to use. […] In the coming months, companies including AccuWeather, Best Buy, CVS Health, Levi’s, and Target are expected to begin pilots of devices based on the reference designs. The operating system is the Microsoft Device Ecosystem Platform, or MDEP, an enterprise version of Android that Microsoft developed for devices including Teams meeting-room hardware. The company says it chose MDEP over Windows deliberately, to run on smaller, lower-power devices while keeping the management and security features IT departments expect: patch and over-the-air updates, device integrity, Microsoft Defender, Intune, and Entra ID sign-in. While the project is still in the early stages, Microsoft CEO Satya Nadella encouraged the team to show it at Build sooner than the company would normally show its work in public. “That underscores just how competitive and fast-moving the AI world is right now, but it also illustrates the pace that the new technologies are enabling,” reports GeekWire.

The report notes that the business model for the platform still needs to be worked out. The devices run on Microsoft’s Azure cloud, but beyond that, “the economics are still taking shape.”

Qualcomm and MediaTek have been chosen as the first chip partners. “The badge runs on a new Qualcomm wearable chip; the desk hub runs on MediaTek IoT silicon,” reports GeekWire. “Both are off-the-shelf, not custom, which is central to how Microsoft plans to keep devices cheap and fast to build.”

Audeze has spent the past few years proving that planar magnetic headphones are not just for audiophiles listening alone in dark rooms, questioning cable choices. The California brand made two very smart pivots with its driver technology: gaming headsets and studio headphones. The Maxwell became one of the most successful premium wireless gaming headsets on the market, and the newer Maxwell 2 has already pushed that platform further with SLAM technology, upgraded wireless performance, and stronger spatial/bass performance.

That gaming momentum was significant enough that Sony Interactive Entertainment acquired Audeze in 2023 to strengthen its PlayStation audio ecosystem. 

The studio side has been just as important. Audeze’s Manny Marroquin Signature Series gave the company a credible way into the professional headphone market, taking aim at established studio staples from Beyerdynamic, Sony, and Sennheiser. The MM-500 set the tone, the more affordable MM-100 expanded the audience, and now the new $1,799 Audeze MM-520 arrives as the next step in that lineup. Audeze says the MM-520 builds on the MM-500 foundation while adding its SLAM technology, designed to improve bass accuracy, low-frequency impact, and spatial detail without giving up the midrange neutrality that made the MM-500 useful as a mixing tool. 

Developed with 18-time Grammy-winning mix engineer Manny Marroquin, the MM-520 is being positioned as a professional studio headphone for creators who need mixes to translate beyond the control room. That is the entire fight here. Audeze is not just chasing headphone collectors with another planar trophy piece.

It is trying to make its studio models legitimate daily tools for engineers, producers, and creators who have spent decades trusting German and Japanese studio cans. The MM-520 will have to earn that space, but based on the MM-Series track record, Audeze is no longer knocking politely. It has a badge, a warrant, and a very expensive pair of earcups.

“The MM-520 represents the latest entry in our mission to provide creators and professionals with the ultimate monitoring tool” stated Sankar Thiagasamudram, Audeze CEO. “By adding SLAM™ technology to Manny’s signature series, we’ve created a headphone that delivers even more truth in the low-end while maintaining the signature clarity Audeze is known for“, he added. 

Audeze MM-520: SLAM Technology, 90mm Planar Drivers, and Studio-Focused Design

The Audeze MM-520 builds on the MM-Series platform with the addition of Symmetric Linear Acoustic Modulator, or SLAM, technology. Audeze says SLAM is designed to improve bass performance and spatial imaging by managing airflow and pressure inside the earcup. The goal is stronger low-frequency definition and better spatial clarity without moving away from the more neutral midrange balance that defined the MM-500.

The MM-520 uses 90mm planar magnetic drivers with Ultra-Thin Uniforce diaphragms and Fazor phase management, technologies Audeze has used across its planar magnetic headphones to reduce distortion and improve phase behavior. For studio users, the focus is accuracy, low distortion, and consistency during mixing, mastering, and content creation. Audeze also claims the headphone’s high sensitivity and low impedance allow it to be driven from consoles, audio interfaces, and laptops, which should make it more practical for both studio and mobile work.

Comfort has also been addressed with upgraded memory foam earpads designed for longer sessions. The earpads attach magnetically, making replacement easier over time. For a studio headphone, that matters. Pads wear out, sessions run long, and nobody wants a maintenance project between takes.

Why the Audeze MM-500 Became a Serious Studio Headphone Contender

The original Audeze MM-500 was not just a smaller variation of the LCD Series with Manny Marroquin’s name attached. It was designed as a professional studio headphone, with a more durable aluminum and steel build, a hard travel case, and tuning aimed at mixing and mastering rather than audiophile system matching. In our review, we found that the MM-500 belonged in the same conversation as the LCD-X ($1,199), LCD-MX4 ($2,995), and even the flagship LCD-5, but with a very different purpose. 

The MM-500 used Audeze’s 90mm planar magnetic driver with Fluxor magnets and a Uniforce diaphragm, and its 18-ohm impedance and 100dB/mW sensitivity made it easier to drive than some of the company’s more demanding models. Sonically, it delivered excellent midrange clarity, strong resolution, very good imaging, and a more neutral balance than the LCD-X, although its bass was more controlled than visceral. We also noted that it responded well to EQ, which matters for studio users making small mix decisions. 

The tradeoffs were real. The MM-500 could sound somewhat thinner than Audeze’s higher-end models, the smaller pad opening could bother listeners with larger ears, and it performed best with a capable high-current amplifier rather than modest portable gear. Still, the conclusion was very positive: for users who needed a serious mastering headphone with excellent build quality, strong accuracy, and studio-focused tuning, the MM-500 was one of the best values in Audeze’s lineup.

Specifications Compared

The Bottom Line

The Audeze MM-520 is a focused evolution of the MM-500, built for studio users rather than casual listening. Its most important upgrade is SLAM technology, which Audeze says improves bass performance and spatial imaging while preserving the MM-Series’ neutral midrange balance.

With 18-ohm impedance and 102dB sensitivity, the MM-520 should be easier to drive from interfaces, consoles, and laptops than many planar designs. However, the 100mW minimum power recommendation still suggests better gear will matter.

Potential buyers should note the 555 gram weight and open-back design. This is not ideal for tracking near microphones, travel, or noisy rooms. It is for mixing, mastering, production, and creators who want Audeze planar accuracy with more low-end insight and spatial detail than the MM-500.

Where to buy: $1,799 at Audeze

Related Reading:

from the victim-blaming dept

When Russia kicked off its war of aggression against neighboring Ukraine for completely made up reasons, there were global efforts to isolate Russia as a result. Many of those efforts have waned in the years since, unfortunately. You may recall that there was a small effort among video game companies and platforms to deny sales and service to Russia as part of this cultural blockade. While the war still rages on, and anyone who wants to can call all of this effort a failure, the point is that gaming companies and platforms took something of a moral stand against Russia as a result of the war.

Valve’s Steam platform was involved in that effort, though that may have had as much to do with payment processing sanctions as any kind of moral stand. Today, Valve is back to operating in Russia, and it appears to have no issues with some of the country’s more notoriously bigoted laws and postures when it comes to LGBTQ+ rights. Recently, the maker and seller of several visual novel style games found her games delisted and a message from Valve chastising her for not following Russia’s bigoted laws.

Ebi-hime, the developer behind yuri visual novels like Her Love, Like Poison and Rituals in the Dark, posted on X that Valve notified her that some of her games had been banned from the storefront in Russia after Roskomnadzor, the Russian federal agency in charge of censorship in the country, determined those projects to be in violation of the country’s rules for distribution. That in and of itself isn’t surprising considering Russia has woven anti-queer legislation into its laws and even designated queer activism as an “extremist” movement. What is surprising is that Valve’s copy-pasted message on the situation is condescending and victim-blamey. It reads in part:

We also want to remind you that you promised Valve under the Steam Distribution Agreement that your games comply with all applicable laws. Therefore, it is your responsibility to do your due diligence regarding where your games are allowed to be distributed, and to inform us of any territory where they cannot be.

Now, if you want to make the herculean effort it requires to take Valve’s side on this, you could argue that operating within a country like Russia necessarily requires an adherence to its local laws. And perhaps you want to argue that that’s all that Valve is doing here.

Except operating within Russia is a choice. Platforms are only neutral to a point. And if you make the use cases more extreme, it betrays just how much of a choice this all is.

Imagine if a country required all video games sold within its borders to prohibit any female characters within the game from speaking. Or one which prohibited any person of color from appearing in a game at all. Or one which required all characters to both be of a certain religion and to profess their faith in that religion. Would Valve still operate within any of those countries? If they did, you would imagine the backlash to be rather extreme.

But, for some reason, Russia essentially outlawing the appearance of any LGBTQ+ characters in games doesn’t quite get Valve’s fur up. Is the morality around my examples and this real occurrence all that different? Are they any different?

And, frankly, couldn’t Valve have done this better than sending what is likely a boilerplate message to someone who is actively being discriminated against that sure sounds like its blaming the victim?

Not that I would expect Valve to take a proper stance against something like the Russian government. I just think that if you’re going to take the stance of compliance that it is taking, you can at least be mindful of how you talk to people using your platform about it. If you don’t want to buy Ebi-hime’s games on Steam, they are also available on itch.io.

Obviously, we don’t look to the monied interests of large corporations for moral clarity. But we can certainly hold them accountable for failing to take even the easiest of moral stances with our dollars, if we want to.

Filed Under: bigotry, russia, steam

Companies: valve

A bipartisan group of UK politicians is sounding the alarm over the country’s partnership with the data analytics company Palantir.

In a report published Tuesday, the 11 members of Parliament’s Science, Innovation, and Technology Committee warned that the country’s ballooning reliance on Palantir’s technology “represents an unacceptable point of weakness” that could hand the company overwhelming bargaining power in future negotiations.

“We know that with vendor lock-in, over time, we’ll get more expensive and worse services,” Dame Chi Onwurah, chair of the committee and member of Parliament, tells WIRED. “It’s a trap that has to be avoided.”

In a worst-case scenario, a deeply entrenched supplier could threaten to withhold service as a way of imposing its will, Onwurah believes. “That could bring public services and our economy to a halt,” she says. “That’s a huge risk.”

Though the committee says that its objections to Palantir are not ideologically motivated, the report also describes a “clear mismatch with UK values.” It points to politically charged comments by Palantir cofounder Peter Thiel—who in 2023 described the British public’s affection for the NHS as “Stockholm syndrome”—and a 22-point manifesto based on a recent book by CEO Alex Karp, which advocates for an overriding fealty to the US and its interests.

“We have a key vendor saying they will exercise technology in accordance with their political mission,” Onwurah says. “If what the UK is trying to do in our NHS or our defense does not align with Palantir’s political objectives, we clearly can’t depend upon them as a supplier.”

To minimize the risks, the committee recommended that the National Health Service, one of Palantir’s primary partners in the UK, activates a clause in its contract next February that would terminate the relationship early.

The UK government began to use Palantir’s technology in 2020 as it scrambled to map the spread of the Covid-19 virus and route medical equipment across the country. Since then, Palantir and its partners have won contracts worth a combined $750 million with the NHS and the Ministry of Defense, among others. The company has touted its ability to enable “innovation and fast-paced problem solving” in the UK public sector.

The report outlines similar dependencies on US-based cloud providers Microsoft and Amazon Web Services, and Fujitsu, the Japanese company at the center of the Post Office Horizon scandal. But “Palantir concerns us most,” the committee wrote.

Palantir did not immediately respond to a request for comment.

The relationship has attracted increased scrutiny of late over the company’s work with US Immigration and Customs Enforcement (ICE), as well as the US and Israeli militaries. The manifesto based on Karp’s book further inflamed concerns about the company’s politics.

“They’re not a company that should be anywhere near British public services,” says Donald Campbell, director of advocacy at Foxglove, a nonprofit that has previously campaigned for the NHS to back out of its contract with Palantir. “Do you want to be giving a company of this kind—with these openly expressed opinions and ideologies—a central role in the UK state that it may get harder and harder to remove them from?”

Appearing before the committee in July last year, Louis Mosley, who heads up Palantir’s European business, distanced the company from Thiel’s comments about the NHS. Palantir’s objective is to “support democratically elected governments in delivering the mandate that they have been elected to deliver,” he said. “We represent a diversity of political views and do not take political positions as a company.”