Sony might be best known to consumers for BRAVIA TVs, headphones and home theater gear, but pro audio has been part of the company’s DNA for decades. In 2026 alone, Sony expanded that side of the business with products including the affordable IER-M500 professional IEMs, and it is now turning its attention toward something potentially more consequential: making spatial audio easier to capture at the source.

The new Sony ECM-AX10 Spatial Audio Microphone is aimed at professional and hobbyist content creators, but its ability to capture first-order Ambisonics for use in Eclipsa Audio production workflows makes this more than another microphone announcement. Eclipsa Audio is built on the open, royalty-free IAMF spatial-audio format developed through the Alliance for Open Media and backed heavily by Google and Samsung. YouTube already accepts Eclipsa Audio content, while compatible TVs and soundbars can reproduce it at home.

So where is Sony going with this? The ECM-AX10 suggests the company wants a larger role in the entire immersive-audio workflow, from recording and production to distribution and playback. Sony already describes its professional strategy in terms of supporting creators from acquisition through delivery, and its growing emphasis on spatial-audio production makes the AX10 look less like a one-off microphone and more like another piece of that puzzle.

Related Reading: Watch Out, Dolby Atmos: Google’s Eclipsa Audio Is Coming For You

Why the Sony ECM-AX10 Matters for Smartphone Content Creators

Smartphones have come a long way, and an increasing number of creators now use them to record both video and audio.

However, while many smartphones can capture surprisingly high-quality video, their built-in audio recording often falls short. That is hardly surprising, considering those microphones also have to handle phone calls, meetings and everyday voice communication.

To expand the live audio recording capabilities of smartphones and other compatible devices, Sony has introduced the ECM-AX10, a very compact microphone that plugs directly into the USB Type-C port of a smartphone.

Once plugged in, the ECM-AX10 elevates a smartphone’s live recording capabilities with professional-quality spatial audio. Users can capture audio and video simultaneously without the need for separate synchronization.

ECM-AX10 use examples include:

• Travel, city walks and food experiences
• Music performances and live events
• Sports, motorsports and enthusiast content
• Family events, personal archiving and 360° video
• Capturing natural sounds, sound effects and ambience for post-production

With its built-in technology and flexible recording options, the ECM-AX10, when paired with a smartphone, can support a range of spatial and immersive audio workflows, including Eclipsa Audio, Ambisonic, binaural and stereo audio.

As a result of its built-in technology and flexible use possibilities, the ECM-AX10 in combination with a smartphone becomes a tool for supporting Eclipsa and Ambisonic, Binaural and stereo Audio workflows

Ambisonics: This is a four-channel, scene-based capture method used for immersive audio production. Ambisonics B-format is a full-sphere, speaker-independent spatial audio format that captures sound from all directions, including horizontal azimuth and vertical elevation.

Pro Tip: Sony’s spatial-audio processing converts audio captured with the ECM-AX10 into first-order Ambisonics, preserving direction, ambience and low-frequency detail.

Binaural: This supports two-channel spatial listening over headphones and is compatible with many existing apps.

Stereo: The ECM-AX10 also supports high-quality, atmospheric two-channel recording for broad compatibility with speakers, devices and apps.

Eclipsa Audio: The ECM-AX10 captures first-order Ambisonics spatial audio, which can then be used to create Eclipsa Audio content based on the IAMF (Immersive Audio Model and Format) standard. Sony is also a licensed Eclipsa Audio adopter.

For the ECM-AX10’s mobile workflow, Eclipsa Audio output for YouTube requires Sony’s free editing app. The app processes the Ambisonics recording and prepares it for Eclipsa Audio distribution. Without that additional Eclipsa processing step, content can be exported for conventional stereo or binaural playback.

Similar to Dolby Atmos, Auro-3D, DTS and Sony 360 Reality Audio, Eclipsa Audio extends beyond traditional surround sound by incorporating height information. Sounds can be positioned around and above the listener to create a more immersive three-dimensional presentation.

Eclipsa Audio is based on the open IAMF standard and is designed to adapt immersive content to different playback environments and compatible devices, including TVs and soundbars. For ECM-AX10 users, the important distinction is that the microphone provides the spatial Ambisonics capture; Eclipsa Audio is created during post-production rather than recorded directly by the microphone.

Publishing Destinations: Stereo and binaural versions can be prepared for broad distribution through platforms such as Instagram, X, Facebook and other compatible services. For immersive Eclipsa Audio playback, the ECM-AX10 workflow can create an IAMF/Eclipsa Audio version for YouTube using Sony’s free editing app. Actual Eclipsa Audio playback also requires a compatible device.

ECM-AX10 Features

• Microphone Type: Spatial audio microphone for smartphones.
• Microphone Array: Four omnidirectional microphone capsules are arranged around a newly developed spherical module.
• Mode Selection Switch: Switches between Spatial Audio and Stereo modes.
• Peak Level Meter: Provides an indication of the strength of the incoming audio signal. If the input level is too high, attenuation may be necessary to prevent clipping.
• ATT (Attenuation): If an input signal is too strong, it can overload the system, resulting in clipping and harsh digital distortion. ATT reduces the input level to keep the recorded audio clean and within safe operating limits.
• Noise Control: Noise Cut and Low Cut settings help reduce unwanted noise.
• Selfie Mode: A Front alignment selector makes it easier to maintain proper sound orientation when recording selfies or front-facing video with a smartphone.
• Accelerometer: A built-in accelerometer automatically detects the microphone’s tilt angle, helping keep recorded spatial audio aligned with the video based on the smartphone’s orientation.
• Audio Recording Format Support: First-order Ambisonics, binaural and stereo.
• Audio Post-Production Format Support: Ambisonics (48 kHz, 32-bit float, four-channel AmbiX, Eclipsa Audio) and binaural/stereo (48 kHz, 16-, 24- or 32-bit). Audio editing can also be performed directly on the same smartphone used for recording.
• Input: USB Type-C direct connection for smartphones and other compatible recording devices.
• Output: 3.5 mm headphone monitoring output, compatible with the Sony IER-M500 IEMs and other wired IEMs and headphones.
• Included in the Package
  • Windscreen
  • USB Type-C extension cable
  • Cold-shoe microphone holder
  • Spacer sheet

The Bottom Line 

At $249, the Sony ECM-AX10 packs an unusual amount of recording capability into a microphone small enough to plug directly into a smartphone. Its real advantage is not simply better audio quality, but the ability to capture both conventional stereo and spatial audio without requiring a separate recorder, microphone array or complicated synchronization workflow.

That makes the ECM-AX10 particularly interesting for creators who want to move beyond basic smartphone audio. Its four-capsule design supports first-order Ambisonics capture, binaural and stereo production, while Eclipsa Audio support provides another path for creating and distributing immersive content. Editing can also remain within a mobile workflow, depending on the software being used.

What makes the ECM-AX10 genuinely different is how much of the immersive audio production chain Sony has condensed into one compact device. A creator can capture spatial audio alongside video on a smartphone, monitor the recording through wired headphones or IEMs, and then move that material into an Ambisonics or Eclipsa Audio post-production workflow without hauling around a conventional field-recording rig.

For monitoring, Sony’s $119 IER-M500 professional IEMs could also make a logical companion to the ECM-AX10, providing a relatively affordable Sony-based recording and monitoring setup for creators who want to keep the entire kit portable.

Price & Availability

The Sony ECM-AX10 Spatial Audio Microphone is priced at $249.99 USD (CAN $349.99) and is available through Sony.

Related Reading:

The closures come as receivers Kroll prepare Crystal Jade for sale

Crystal Jade has closed another four outlets in Singapore, leaving nine restaurants in operation. No further closures are expected, Channel News Asia reported.

Three of the four outlets were Crystal Jade La Mian Xiao Long Bao locations, at Bugis Junction, Toa Payoh and i12 Katong. The fourth was a Crystal Jade GO at Punggol Oasis Terrace. All ceased operations on Tuesday, Oct 6.

About 120 workers across the affected outlets and some corporate functions were issued termination notices.

The closures are part of a reorganisation of Crystal Jade’s Singapore business ahead of a proposed sale, financial and risk advisory firm Kroll said in a media release on Wednesday, Oct 7.

Kroll representatives were appointed receivers of the holding companies for Crystal Jade’s Singapore and Hong Kong operations on Sep 29. In a receivership, an appointed receiver takes control of certain assets of a company, typically to protect or recover their value.

Kroll said the restaurant premises would be handed back to landlords.

“All affected employees have been informed directly and will receive salary payments up to their final date of employment. Restaurant staff will continue to serve their applicable notice periods and will be compensated in accordance with their employment contracts,” the firm added.

Employees who need help with final pay or benefits may continue to contact the HR team.

About 210 employees will remain at Crystal Jade’s Singapore holding company after the reorganisation, Kroll said.

Separately, Crystal Jade Food Manufacturing, the group’s central kitchen, ceased operations on Monday, Oct 5. It falls outside the receivership, and Kroll said management decided to close it as part of the group’s wider restructuring.

To support affected employees, Kroll said that it and Crystal Jade have been engaging the Food, Drinks and Allied Workers Union (FDAWU) and other associations since Sept 30.

FDAWU, an affiliate of the National Trades Union Congress (NTUC), said in a media statement on Oct 7 that Crystal Jade is not unionised, but that it had been approached by the appointed receivers to support affected union members and workers.

2026 has been a rough year for Crystal Jade. Prior to this, it had already shuttered five Singapore outlets at Hillion Mall, Suntec City, The Clementi Mall, Jurong Point and Great World.

It is also facing a court charge for failing to submit its complete income tax return for FY2025 on time, where it could be fined up to S$5,000.

Founded in Singapore in 1991, Crystal Jade was one of the country’s fastest-growing Chinese restaurant groups, reaching 120 restaurants worldwide in 2015.

However, that footprint is closer to 100 restaurants across 25 cities now.

• Read other articles we’ve written on Singaporean businesses here.

More than 17,000 fake repositories on GitHub are distributing the SmartLoader malware after the FakeGit campaign reactivated earlier this month to push the StealC infostealer.

The operator uses mostly throwaway accounts, but researchers identified at least 700 accounts that appear to belong to legitimate developers.

The malicious repositories use convincing README instructions with a download button pointing to a ZIP archive containing the initial payload, SmartLoader, that is used to distribute other malware. 

While similar activity with various payloads has been observed since at least January, the FakeGit term was associated with this operation in July, when researchers at enterprise browser platform Island published a report on 7,600 fake GitHub repositories pushing the SmartLoader malware.

Island noted at the time that 800 of the malicious repositories masqueraded as AI skills or MCP servers that appeared in public AI registries and catalogs.

A new report from researchers at software supply-chain security platform Apiiro says that FakeGit resumed its activity on October 4 and now uses 17,610 repositories on GitHub.

In just 34 hours, FakeGit pushed more than 13,000 repos, peaking at 2,999 an hour.

“In the commits we sampled, 97% touched only the README, and 88% pointed its “Download” button at a ZIP that installs SmartLoader,” Apiiro says.

“Nobody had to create a single new repo. The fleet was already there. It just got re-aimed,” the researchers added.

How FakeGit survived

According to the researchers, the reason behind FakeGit’s survival is that removing repositories is based on lists that cover only a fraction of the malicious repos.

Also, blocklisted payloads and backup copies remain accessible, so attackers can simply change the download links while keeping the same repositories active.

“71% of the fleet was missing from URLhaus before our report, and a domain-level DNS blocklist can’t block one file on GitHub without blocking GitHub,” Apiiro explains.

The researchers found malicious archives in forks, older files, release assets, issue attachments, and separate download-hosting repositories, which makes deleting one link at a time ineffective.

“Delete one file and the operator can point the lure at a spare copy: a fork, an older ZIP, a release asset or an issue attachment,” the researchers said.

Apiiro researchers recommend that users verify the repository’s owner. Furthermore, the source for installing AI skills and MCP servers should be official registries or vendor repositories.

If SmartLoader execution is suspected, users should treat the incident as a potential GitHub account compromise, revoke active sessions and access tokens, and move to passkeys.

Join Mikko Hyppönen and security leaders from the NFL, CHANEL, and Atlassian for a two-hour digital summit on what AI-speed attacks change, what defenders should stop doing, and how to validate, decide, fix, and re-validate at machine speed.

Save your seat

Schools across the nation are trying to reduce chronic absentee levels. A recent study from The GRAD Partnership, Everyone Graduates Center and the Partnership for Student Success, finds that small and rural districts are recovering attendance rates faster than larger, more urban and suburban districts. 

The study reported that rural districts with fewer than 1,000 students brought their chronic absenteeism back to within 2% of their pre-pandemic baseline by the 2024-25 school year at about twice the rate as urban districts with more than 50,000 students. 

While some small and rural districts have bounced back, many districts across the country still have a long way to go to get back to pre-pandemic attendance rates. EdSurge talked with a deputy superintendent, a director of attendance and student supports, and an instructional coach at different districts nationwide to understand how they tackle the issue.

The researchers couldn’t find a clear reason as to why small and rural districts have bounced back quicker. California and Iowa accounted for over 30% of the small and rural districts that bounced back, despite taking two different approaches.

California opted for a larger scale approach, changing its absenteeism and truancy laws and investing more funding in schools’ pandemic recovery statewide. On the other hand, Iowa took the more granular path, offering technical assistance and templates to districts and using data to identify needs and increase attendance.

Finding the connection among the standout bounce-back states and districts is the next central research question, according to the study, which looked at 8,586 school districts across 34 states and the District of Columbia. 

A Proactive Approach

At Earlville Community Unit School District 9 in Illinois, School Social Worker Michele Fahrlander uses a proactive program to ensure attendance. 

“Because we are a smaller district, we are able to take a more individualized approach,” she says. That means family outreach centers on early intervention and consistent communication.

“We try not to wait until attendance becomes a major concern before reaching out. When we start noticing a pattern of absences or a decline in attendance, we make contact to try to better understand what might be contributing to the student’s absences and how we can support both the student and the family,” she says.

The program helped increase district-wide attendance from 62% in 2022 to 88% in 2026, with high school attendance climbing from 61% to 90%.

“We use several different methods of communication depending on what works best for each family. This might include phone calls, texts, emails, letters, or meetings,” she says. “The frequency of contact really depends on the individual student and their needs.”

For some, a single conversation and some additional support may be enough. For students with more significant or ongoing attendance concerns, “we increase communication and may have regular check-ins with students, attendance meetings, or develop an individualized attendance plan or contract,” she says.

Should a student’s absences increase, “families receive attendance letters at specific thresholds, including after five and 10 days of absence,” she says. “The 10-day letter also communicates the additional documentation requirements for future absences.”

Along with this general approach, “we also focus on creating positive motivation for students to want to attend school,” she said. At the junior high level, for example, Earlville Community Unit School District 9 offers the Not Being Absent (NBA) Attendance Incentive Program. “Students earn points for attendance as part of their homeroom team, which creates some friendly competition and gives students recognition for being at school,” Fahrlander says.

At the high school level, there are quarterly attendance incentive field trips for students who meet the attendance expectations.

“Overall, our goal is to combine positive motivation for all students with more individualized support for students who are at greater risk,” she says. “In a small, rural district, it is often easier to notice when a student starts to struggle with attendance because our staff know the students and families well. A student is not just a name or number on an attendance report.”

Reframe the Messaging

At Moline Coal Valley School District in Illinois, a small district serving about 7,300 students across 15 schools, Deputy Superintendent Brian Prybil focuses on the content of the outreach. He encourages a positive tone, with an eye toward building trust.

“For example, I had one principal who intentionally worked on making personal phone calls to the parents,” he says.

The calls were never scolding. “It was, ‘Hey, hope everything’s going OK. This is what Billy missed today,’ instead of building a punitive type message,” says Prybil, who is also the co-author of “Sixth Essential: A Playbook For School Leaders.”

There are many reasons for absenteeism, some of which schools can help families to address. With that in mind, Prybil says a key message in those calls is, “If you need anything, let us know.” 

Teachers can support that effort. “The number one thing for teachers is to build trust with their students,” he says. “Not every day is going to be perfect. But we can invest in getting to know our students and letting them know that we’re all in this together.”

In high school in particular, “it’s really easy to blame kids” for not showing up, he says. But as long as they are present, teachers can “try to be positive with them, try to build that relationship and accomplish what you can accomplish with the time you have with them.”

Automated Routines

Automating the logistics around attendance frees staff to focus on those human conversations.

Chris Miller serves as director of attendance and student support at the North Central Ohio Educational Service, which supports schools in multiple rural districts. Previously, as an assistant principal at a high school, he was in charge of attendance, and it was a logistical nightmare.

“It was difficult to keep up,” he says. “Every day, kids are missing, and your report that you run on Monday, on Tuesday is outdated already. And we’ve got to do it again and again and again.” When manual tracking proved ineffective, he built an app, Attendance K12.

With help from technology, “we’ve curbed the time on figuring out the who, and now we can spend people’s time discussing with families about the why,” he says. “That’s where the rural districts really have an advantage, because those conversations often fall on the ears of people who are familiar with [school staff].”

Teachers play a key role: Technology can help to track and manage absenteeism, but educators are the front line of remediation.

Rather than just focusing on missed work when a kid returns to class, teachers should be focused on “creating an environment that is welcoming when they return,” he says. “By creating that space that feels comfortable, it eliminates some of that return-to-school anxiety that sometimes builds when they start stacking absences.”

Coordinating a Strategic Effort

At Stanfield Elementary School in rural North Carolina, instructional coach Jessica Dunn approaches attendance response as a coordinated endeavor.

Rather than one person handling it alone, “we’re involving administration, the counselor, the social worker,” she says, with those efforts based on timely reports from a data manager. “We do it as a team, truthfully.”

When the team goes into action, it focuses on addressing the factors that cause absenteeism in the first place. For example, the team sends home bags of food that a church partner provides. “That alleviates that stress for them, and our counselor does a great job of getting those bags out,” she says. With one less thing to worry about, “they can focus on getting the kids here.”

While attendance is always hard to manage, Dunn believes the nature of a rural community makes all this a little easier. Teachers, counselors, and administrators “know everybody, they can connect to them,” she says. In a rural community, or a small school, keeping attendance up “is all about support, connection, and relationships.”

Elon Musk has questioned the influence of Indian billionaire Mukesh Ambani as SpaceX struggles to launch its Starlink satellite internet service in the country. Musk’s comments, which were posted on X, escalate a dispute over regulatory delays after the Indian government rejected his claims that powerful business interests were blocking its entry.

Musk accused on Wednesday unnamed “oligarchs” of blocking Starlink’s launch in India to maintain what he called their “monopolistic chokehold” on the country, without identifying them or providing evidence for his claim. He called the alleged blocking a “crime against the people of India” and argued that Starlink could bring affordable, high-speed internet to people who lack internet access.

Hours later, India’s Ministry of Communications pushed back, saying its regulatory framework for satellite communications is “fair and non-discriminatory.” The ministry said in a statement that Starlink and two other licensed satellite operators are all at “broadly the same regulatory stage.” It added that all three companies are undergoing security assessments that must be completed before they can seek spectrum, the radio frequencies that satellites use to send signals.

Musk went further on Thursday, questioning the influence of Reliance Industries chairperson Mukesh Ambani.

”Is Ambani the real boss of India?” he wrote on X, after claiming that Starlink had spent years complying with Indian regulations and questioning why it still lacked a license.

Starlink has spent more than five years trying to enter India, a market with more than a billion internet subscribers. But it has yet to begin commercial services despite securing key regulatory approvals and partnering with telecom giants Reliance Jio and Bharti Airtel last year. SpaceX has also set up a local team as it prepares for a launch, appointing former Payoneer executive Prabhakar Jayakumar to lead its India operations in December.

Musk’s comments came hours after Lauren Dreyer, Starlink’s vice president of business operations, appeared at India Mobile Congress, a telecom industry conference in New Delhi and reiterated the company’s commitment to the market.

“We stand ready to serve India,” Dreyer said, adding that Starlink wants to help realize Prime Minister Narendra Modi’s goal of achieving universal connectivity across the country.

Starlink said it already has more than 20 gateway sites (the ground stations that link its satellites to the internet) and hundreds of antennas on the ground in India, and has adapted its operations to meet the country’s regulatory, security, and data-sovereignty requirements. Moreover, SpaceX has positioned its satellite network as a complement to — rather than a replacement for — India’s terrestrial telecom networks.

SpaceX first attempted to launch Starlink in India in 2021. The company, however, had to refund preorders for its equipment in early 2022 after the Indian government called it out for “booking/rendering the satellite internet service” before getting the necessary licenses.

Starlink has also previously clashed with India’s largest telecom operators over how satellite spectrum should be allocated. Starlink pushed for spectrum to be assigned administratively, while Reliance Jio argued that it should be auctioned — a position that could have made Starlink’s entry more expensive. India ultimately sided with Starlink’s preferred approach, deciding to allocate satellite spectrum administratively rather than through an auction.

Jio and Airtel, India’s two biggest telcom operators, are also pursuing their own satellite internet services, even as they have agreed to distribute Starlink in India. Jio is working with satellite operator SES on satellite broadband, while Airtel is a major backer of Eutelsat OneWeb, another licensed satellite operator in India.

While the timing of Starlink’s India launch remains unclear, the company this week launched Starlink Mobile, which connects ordinary phones to satellites, in neighboring Bangladesh.

Starlink, India’s Ministry of Communications, Reliance Jio, and Bharti Airtel did not immediately respond to requests for comment.

Update: This article was originally published at 11:14 p.m. PDT and has since been updated to include Musk’s comments questioning Reliance Industries chairperson Mukesh Ambani’s influence in India.

The company employs more than 2,000 in its Dublin tech hub.

Mastercard is opening a second office at its Leopardstown campus tech hub in Dublin alongside announcing a number of commitments to expand its payments infrastructure in Europe.

The new building was officially opened today (8 October) by Taoiseach Micheál Martin, TD. It comes two decades after the company first established a base in the country. Since 2008, Mastercard’s workforce has grown from 36 to more than 2,000 in Dublin.

Mastercard is also committing to expand critical payments operations in Europe, with plans to bring in all components of local transactions into Europe by 2030. It already processes domestic transactions in France, Germany and Spain through its new European infrastructure.

The payments giant also said that all new Mastercard European credit and debit cards issued from next year will support offline payments.

A number of European countries, including Finland, Sweden, Norway, Denmark and Estonia, are rolling out offline payments in the region in response to heightened geopolitical tensions in the region as banks act to ensure payment infrastructure continues to work in case of an internet blackout.

“The opening of Mastercard’s new office is a strong endorsement of Ireland’s reputation as a leading location for innovation, technology and digital transformation,” said Taoiseach Martin.

“Mastercard has played a key role in shaping the future of payments and financial technology globally, and its continued expansion in Ireland highlights the strength of our talented workforce, pro-business environment and vibrant technology ecosystem.

“I warmly welcome this investment and look forward to seeing Mastercard continue to innovate and grow from its Irish base in the years ahead.”

Ed McLaughlin, the president and chief technology officer at Mastercard added: “From AI and cybersecurity to next-generation payments infrastructure that brings greater resilience and speed to commerce, the work happening here is helping build the future.

“This expansion of our European tech hub reflects the growth of our teams in Dublin, our confidence in Ireland’s talent, and our ambitions for the years ahead.”

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