A look at the dwarf planet Pluto and Titan, Saturn’s largest moon, baffled astronomers after the James Webb Space Telescope (JWST) detected a chemical signature on their surfaces that does not match any recorded in spectroscopic databases. Researchers believe this is not an instrument error, but rather the signature of a compound whose identity remains a mystery—a mixture of materials never studied in a laboratory, or even a compound whose chemistry has not yet been characterized.

The finding appears in a study awaiting publication in the journal Astronomy & Astrophysics. Scientists identified an absorption band centered at 5.113 micrometers on both Titan and Pluto—two worlds separated by billions of kilometers and with very different physical conditions. The signal appeared in observations made with two different instruments on the JWST, leading the team to rule out the possibility that it was a calibration issue or some other type of technical error.

Pluto, the dwarf planet.

Heritage Images/Getty Images

The key to the discovery lies in a technique known as spectroscopy. Each element or molecule interacts with light in a unique way, absorbing certain wavelengths and leaving a characteristic pattern, like a fingerprint. For decades, scientists have compiled vast catalogs of these spectral signatures to identify compounds such as water, methane, carbon dioxide, or ammonia on planets and moons, as well as on other bodies outside the solar system.

In this case, the comparison yielded no convincing matches. Furthermore, at this stage, discovering a chemical signature that cannot be linked to a known compound is highly unusual. Therefore, figuring out what is happening on Titan and Pluto could become the new fundamental question for planetary science.

Researchers have already explored several possibilities. They examined laboratory spectra of ices and organic compounds that might exist on these worlds, including acetylene, benzene, ketene, and a family of molecules known as alenes. None of them exactly match the observed signature. The most likely explanation is that it’s from a known compound that exists in a physical state or mixture never before studied in the laboratory, although the authors do not rule out the possibility that the signal comes from a material whose chemistry has not yet been characterized.

The fact that the same signal appears in two such different places makes the mystery even more intriguing. Titan has an atmosphere rich in nitrogen and methane with a surface pressure of approximately 1.5 bar—higher than Earth’s—as well as rivers and lakes of liquid methane and a temperature of about –180 degrees Celsius (–292 Fahrenheit). Pluto, on the other hand, retains only a tenuous atmosphere of about 10 microbars (some 150,000 times less dense); has an ice-covered surface composed of nitrogen, methane, and carbon monoxide; and reaches temperatures close to –235 C (–391 Fahrenheit).

from the the-lobbyist-with-the-most-money-wins dept

Earlier this year I noted how the Trump FCC, at the direct request of wireless phone giants, destroyed popular phone unlocking rules that would have made it easier and cheaper to switch wireless carriers. The rules, applied via spectrum acquisition and merger conditions after decades of activism, required that Verizon unlock your phone within 60 days after purchase so you could easily switch to competitors.

Verizon, as I’ve long established, hates competition, and early last year immediately got to work lobbying the Trump administration to destroy the rules (falsely) claiming, without evidence, that the modest phone unlocking requirements were a boon to criminals and scammers. Since the rollback they’ve slowly been making unlocking more annoying, hoping a slowly boiled frog approach would keep it on the down low.

Enter one of Trump Corp’s other biggest constituents: Elon Musk and Space X.

I’ve already explained how the SpaceX IPO includes all sorts of fantastical claims related to Starlink (the only profitable company in the prospectus). Musk Corp insists Starlink will grow extremely quickly from 10 million current subscribers to 300 million. As I explain here that’s simply not happening, for a long list of reasons authoritarian pump and dumpers don’t actually care about.

But there’s an interesting wrinkle: to grow, Musk’s Starlink is hoping to increasingly tether Starlink to existing cellular providers. Starlink has increasingly partnered with companies like T-Mobile to extend connectivity for customers when they’re outside of the range of traditional towers.

So in a filing last month sent to the FCC, SpaceX joined a bunch of other smaller providers in pushing the FCC to adopt a new 180 day phone unlocking rule:

“…we write to urge the Commission to adopt a clear, uniform requirement that mobile devices be automatically unlocked within 180 days after activation. Automatic mobile device unlocking is essential to protecting consumer choice, promoting competition, and lowering costs in the mobile marketplace. Allowing a “lock period” of 180 days gives providers enough time to protect against the significant fraud concerns identified by the FCC and to ensure mobile devices are not exploited for criminal acts.”

So for one thing, the 180 day locked phone rule would be much worse (and far friendlier to giants like Verizon) than the 60 day lock window the Biden FCC proposed (but never actually implemented because our regulatory structures are too corrupted to function). You’d also have to doubt whether Brendan Carr, who largely supports big telecom positions across the board, would ever enforce them.

Another point of note is that the FCC’s claims that they had to destroy unlocking rules to “fight crime” are bullshit. They’ve provided zero hard evidence to support that idea. The destruction of unlocking rules was just blatant regulatory capture in service to Verizon lobbyists, using “crime” as flimsy justification.

Still, it’s interesting to see SpaceX suddenly on the other side of the table to Verizon in support of something that could, for once, actually help people.

Musk Corp appears to also have convinced three Republican Senators (Cynthia Lummis, John N. Kennedy, and Eric S. Schmitt) to send a letter to the FCC also supporting a new 180 day unlocking plan. You’ve also got people traditionally lined up against consumer rights — like former FCC Ajit Pai staffer Evan Swarztrauber — suddenly writing op-eds in favor of phone unlocking.

Swarztrauber crafts a bizarre alternate reality in his op-ed where Brendan Carr didn’t destroy popular unlocking rules, U.S. wireless is hyper cheap and competitive (despite his former boss Pai rubber stamping the Sprint-T-Mobile merger), and Republicans aren’t doing everything in their power to undermine internet access affordability. But he does make the correct point that arbitrary phone locks are anti-competitive:

“But mobile locking weakens all the pressure to reduce prices and improve service—and that’s by design. Reasonable waiting periods for phone unlocking to guard against fraud are fine—no one opposes that. But unlocking should otherwise be automatic once devices are paid off, and customers shouldn’t be forced to pay fees or jump through hoops to take their phones—their own property—to a competitor that could be saving them up to $1,000 annually.”

I think SpaceX simply wants to ensure its path into the cellular market expansion through partnership and acquisition, and knows unlocked phones lead to more competition. I think the sudden flood of Republican interest in phone unlocking comes primarily as a byproduct of SpaceX lobbying. I would not be surprised if SpaceX would consider a T-Mobile acquisition to grow very quickly and keep the valuation hype rolling down the road.

That said, I’d want to see the final, actual unlocking proposal before getting too excited. Republicans have historically opposed nearly every telecom consumer benefit policy that matters, their proposals uniformly include loopholes to ensure the biggest companies are well coddled, and it’s entirely possible that the finished proposal could have more than its share of bad ideas. Stay tuned.

Filed Under: brendan carr, cellular, consumers, fcc, phone unlocking, smartphones, telecom, unlocking, wireless

Companies: spacex

• Microsoft’s new Windows 11 recovery method is available for Windows Insiders
• Cloud Rebuild allows users to reinstall Windows 11 and necessary drivers via the cloud, without a USB drive
• The feature should begin rolling out to users on stable Windows 11 builds

Microsoft is continually making adjustments to its Windows 11 operating system through patches that address user pain points, and, fortunately, its latest move is certainly welcome.

As reported by Windows Central, Microsoft has implemented a new recovery method for Windows 11, known as Cloud Rebuild, which is available to Windows Insider users. Cloud Rebuild allows users to reinstall the operating system and drivers from the cloud without the need for a USB drive.

Public school districts appear to be at a near tipping point when it comes to the impact of healthcare costs on school budgets. Premiums are rising so rapidly that healthcare obligations are threatening the ability of districts to deliver critical educational programs, materials, and services, hire, pay, and provide benefits to educators and make improvements to facilities.

A new study conducted by The School Superintendents Association (AASA) and the Association of School Business Officials International (ASBO International) surveyed more than 750 public school district leaders in 42 states about the impact of healthcare costs on their budgets. Findings from the study, summarized in the report “Rising Premiums, Falling Opportunities: The Budgetary Impact of Healthcare Costs on School Districts,” reveal that 98% of district leaders report that rising healthcare costs are having a measurable impact on their budget.

To offset their healthcare obligations, 46% of school districts have modified employee benefit packages, 34% have delayed hiring staff, 31% have reduced or postponed spending on instructional materials and technology and 28% have cut back on the levels of insurance coverage they are able to offer.

These budget impacts are making it hard for schools and districts to remain competitive in recruiting and retaining a high-quality workforce. If not resolved, the problem will quickly become a “crisis,” if it isn’t already, say report authors Sasha Pudelski, director of advocacy at AASA, and Elleko Yost, director of advocacy and research at ASBO International.

How Did Things Get This Bad?

The reason things have reached this point is simple. During the 2025–26 fiscal year, nearly all districts (92%) spent up to 30% of their budget on employee insurance benefits. The leading causes of rising premium costs are increasing prescription drug costs (cited by 60% of survey respondents), more claims for expensive treatments (cited by 56%) and increased utilization of high-cost specialty drugs such as GLP-1s (cited by 56%).

“We are at the tipping point of a cost trend that has been occurring for decades,” explains Lisa Marceau, founder and president of Boston-based advisory firm Alpha Millennial Health and author of “Breaking the System: How Digital Innovators Shape the Future of Healthcare.”

The study findings are alarming, but they are not new, Marceau explains. Rather, they are an added burden on an already stressed system. She says there is sufficient research connecting strong education systems to the health of students, families and communities. When education systems are strained, programs are cut, and teacher benefits are reduced, the impact ripples not just to families and communities but to the future health status and earning potential of students.

Zahava Stadler, director of New America’s Education Funding Equity Initiative, agrees that the study findings reflect a very tough reality facing far too many school districts.

“We want district leaders to use their resources to support students and advance their learning. And we want to be able to hold decision-makers accountable for those spending choices,” Stadler says. “But as these numbers show, lots of school district dollars are spent before they even come in the door, on health benefits whose costs district leaders don’t control. How can we ask leaders to do better with their funding when so much spending is predetermined by factors that have nothing to do with educating kids?”

Taking a Clue From Business Sector Actions

A trend to watch is the growing number of private sector employers eliminating healthcare benefits entirely, something that was once unheard of, Marceau explains. The question for future public education contracts is whether rising healthcare costs will eventually force districts to reduce or eliminate healthcare benefits for educators to manage financial risk?

Right now, we’re seeing the first phase of this, where school boards are hitting the pause button on ongoing contracts and any new projects to assess what current expenditure are necessary and how to improve their investment strategies, explains David DeSchryver, senior vice president and co-director of research at Whiteboard Advisors, a research and policy firm in Washington, D.C.

There is another healthcare-cost factor set to squeeze education budgets soon, Stadler says. The big federal cuts to Medicaid are going to fall hard on states, leaving them to either fill huge new gaps in healthcare funding or let people lose access to care.

In some states, hundreds of thousands will lose their insurance if the state doesn’t step in and spend more on healthcare, Stadler says. That money will have to come from somewhere. States have to balance their budgets. The biggest pot of state spending outside healthcare is education, and he says there’s real reason to worry that states will freeze or cut education funding as the federal government dumps more healthcare costs onto them.

“Rising health care costs create pressure on school districts, but this is not a singular issue,” DeSchryver explains. “If it were only healthcare costs, we wouldn’t hear about it, but it’s not. It’s healthcare costs, plus operational costs, plus gas and transportation, plus salary-schedule pay raises, plus rising special education and clinical service needs, and on and on. All of these are magnified by flat or declining revenues.”

A Successful Funding Strategy in Montana

Pudelski and Yost are quick to point out that there is a lot that individual states can do to counter the healthcare cost challenge. They cite the example of Montana’s school healthcare transformation as “one of shifting from a state of crisis to a position of collective power.”

Montana faced a financial nightmare that would become the catalyst for change, Pudelski and Yost explain. The district in eastern Montana, then part of the Montana Unified School Trust, was hit with a staggering 72% insurance premium increase in a single year. It was the second-highest spike in the state, far exceeding the already painful average annual increase of 35%.

In 2023, a coalition of education groups in Montana helped draft HB 332, a bill designed to create a unified statewide health insurance trust, Pudelski and Yost explain. The results of this coalition building were transformative: 7 out of the state’s 8 largest districts joined the trust. A total of 180 districts opted in, bringing in more than 16,000 employees — far more than the 12,000 required.

This massive pool provided the bargaining power needed to negotiate more competitive rates with hospitals and clinics while effectively buffering against the risk of high-cost claims, Pudelski says.

Long-Term and Short-Term Steps Districts Can Take

Alleviating these pressures is part of a larger system of school funding challenges, explains Rachel White, associate professor of educational leadership and policy at the University of Texas at Austin and founder of The Superintendent Lab, an online research hub focused on the school district superintendency.

“For example, at the federal level, the government must fully fund the Individuals with Disabilities Act and Title I to free up local dollars that are currently paying for these unfunded mandates,” White says. “At the state level, legislatures need to continue to modernize funding formulas so they reflect the real rising costs of operating a school — including healthcare. Beyond the K-12 sector entirely, the nation has to have a real conversation about rising pharmaceutical costs.”

In the short term, education systems can explore alternative benefit models that provide employees with greater flexibility while reducing employer exposure to cost risks, Marceau says. One option becoming attractive is shifting from a defined benefit model, similar to a pension, to a defined contribution model, similar to a 401(k). There are emerging forms of this new model from individual coverage and health reimbursement, direct primary care plus catastrophic care and the shift to self-funded plans that permit more flexibility.

Public school systems are some of the largest health insurance purchasers, Marceau continues. States with large education systems and growing populations generate significant revenue for the health system. From this perspective, education systems can engage in negotiations that leverage this purchasing power.

“State agencies aren’t in a good position to really drive this forward,” DeSchryver explains. “It falls upon local districts, in regional collaboration and cooperatives, to identify best practices and share benchmarks and examples of what successful organizations look like.”

There are decades worth of research available about performance-based management, Drucker-like approaches to organizational efficiency, and outcomes-based contracting, DeSchryver says. It’s not new, but it’s something that schools now have to consider incorporating in their own unique way.

from the pettiness-of-evil dept

Yet another way Trump was going to make America great again was by giving one of his pool boys a no-bid contract to make the Lincoln Reflecting Pool even greater than it always had been. Rather than allow it to remain — at the very least — serviceable, Trump insisted the bottom needed to be “painted” a completely made up shade of “American flag blue” and then refilled to better reflect Trump’s glory upon himself.

What followed this combination of no-bid contracts and Trumpian hubris was completely expected. The redo underperformed while going over budget. And the water piped back into the pool was exactly the color one would expect given the circumstances. It sure as shit wasn’t “American flag blue.” Instead, it was stagnant-hot-water green, thanks to a surplus of algae that drowned out the blue paint/sealant/liner applied to the bottom of the pool.

Having been sufficiently embarrassed by his own actions, Trump decided to blame everyone else. If he had left it at blame, we probably wouldn’t even be writing about it. But he took it further, claiming everything from the peeling liner to the presence of algae itself were the actions of vandals and anti-Trump agitators.

Nobody honestly believes these claims, not even the guy making them. But plenty of people who have hitched their wagon to this childish bully are not only expected to give these wild theories credence, but expand and expound upon them from their federal offices. That’s why Interior Secretary Doug Burgum is debasing himself during interviews:

Speaking to Dana Bash on CNN’s “State of the Union,” Burgum said, “We’ve got all the photographs we can see” to prove that vandals cut portions of the pool bottom.

Not stupid enough? Try this:

“If people are defaming our monuments, they should face the consequences of that,” Burgum said.

Your monument looks like shit and was fucked up by a dipshit who shouldn’t be trusted to fill his own bathtub. That’s “defaming” a monument. It’s not like “defaming” was so close to the correct term that Burgum just accidentally hot-swapped some English while being casually questioned by a member of the press. That’s just the sort of sloppiness that’s to be expected from people who don’t really believe what they’re saying, nor care what anyone thinks about their bogus assertions.

As I said earlier, Trump being mad about not being able to make a pool better despite knowing the best pool guys isn’t news. That’s just Trump being Trump. What makes it news is when the administration threatens journalists for reporting on the pool revamp failure. What makes it fascism is when the administration starts arresting people because Trump refuses to admit some errors might have been made during his command performance of Make America But Especially This Pool American Flag Blue Again (For The First Time) With No Bid Contracts.

In the space of a single, distended paragraph, Trump inflated the size of the “slit” in the pool liner from 150 feet to 350 feet. In the length of a single press conference, the DOJ claimed 14 reports of vandalism had resulted in five arrests.

Arresting five randos for imaginary crimes won’t satisfy Trump’s desire to see his feverish federal crimes dreams made a reality. The administration now has a scapegoat just famous enough to redirect a bit of the spotlight away from its outlandish claims and childish behavior.

U.S. Olympic canoeist David “Davey” Hearn was indicted Thursday on a single count of destruction of property after he was accused of causing more than $1,000 worth of damage to the Lincoln Memorial Reflecting Pool.

Hearn was indicted on the felony charge in D.C. Superior Court.

Jeanine Pirro, the U.S. attorney for the District of Columbia, said National Park Service employees saw Hearn “forcefully and violently pulling up and removing the bottom liner” of the pool with both hands on June 19.

Whoa smol if true! Here’s what gets you a felony charge if you’re being prosecuted by a Trump puppet who absolutely has to buy into Trump’s pool vandals conspiracy theory:

Pirro alleged that Hearn damaged about 2 square feet of the sealant from the bottom of the pool.

TWO. SQUARE. FEET.

The total square footage of the reflecting pool is ~339,000 square feet. If you choose to believe this allegation, this means Davey Hearn “damaged” 0.00059% of the reflecting pool’s underbelly. You also have to believe Hearn was “forcefully and violently” yanking at this 0.00059%, rather than simply doing what she said he was doing, which was pulling up a floating chunk of separated liner to get a better look at it.

Stupider still:

“A parks employee actually told Hearn to stop, to stop his behavior and stop what he was doing,” Pirro said at a news conference Thursday. “Hearn reacted by shouting at the parks employee, saying that she cared too much about the Reflecting Pool, and why did she even care, since it wasn’t her pool.”

OH MY GOD. The Lincoln Reflecting Pool is our pool. While the Interior Department may oversee it, it belongs to the public. And it seems a lot of Americans care more about this botched makeover than Mr. America himself — someone so narcissistic he demanded it be redone to his specifications. And when those specifications went man-tits up, he decided to pretend vandalism, rather than no-bid contracts handed out to his pool buddies, was to blame for the algae bloom and the refusal of the lining to remain attached to the bottom of the pool.

The Department of the Interior continues to insist the lining was vandalized shortly after the project was completed and refilled. So do Trump and Jeanine Pirro, who will say anything Trump tells her to say. But it’s impossible to believe large-scale vandalism occurred without anyone gathering any supporting evidence, like video recordings or multiple sworn statements by witnesses. This was yet another one of Trump’s self-glorification projects, so of course it was going to be a target. But without more than Trump and his sycophants simply saying something happened, there’s no reason to believe what has been alleged has actually happened.

And in the case of Hearns, someone yanking on a small bit of dislodged lining isn’t anything anyone would seriously consider to be felonious vandalism. I mean, at least not normally. But nothing is normal anymore. This is a government that will destroy citizens’ lives, rather than take any responsibility for its failures.

Filed Under: asshats, david hearn, dc, department of interior, donald trump, failure, jeanine pirro, reflecting pool, trump administration

• This Steam Machine alternative offers more power at a lower price
• The Aoostar GODY 7600XT is a barebones unit
• It is suitable for both gaming and enterprise-level design and rendering

Gamers and creatives looking for a cheaper alternative to the Steam Machine might just have found the answer. The Aoostar GODY 7600XT isn’t only more powerful on paper than the Steam Machine, it is also more suited to squeezed IT budgets.

That’s definitely a bonus, but it does come with a key caveat: you’re going to need to provide your own DDR5 RAM and M.2 storage.

AI and ML

Majority report AI-related security incidents or vulnerabilities

The majority of companies that deploy AI systems end up shooting themselves in the foot with security, according to DigiCert.

Seventy-eight percent of enterprises report “experiencing AI-related security incidents or identifying AI-related vulnerabilities,” the digital identity biz said in a commissioned survey.

Among respondents, 27.7 percent experienced one incident, 21.9 percent experienced multiple incidents, and 28.4 percent had no incidents but identified vulnerabilities, a company spokesperson told The Register. Incident details were not disclosed, but they were caused by AI agents that were unauthorized or misconfigured rather than flaws arising from AI-generated code.

Consistent with its business focus, DigiCert attributes the survey’s findings to lack of AI governance.

“We wouldn’t allow an employee to operate without a verified identity,” said DigiCert CEO Amit Sinha in a statement. “AI agents should be no different.”

That’s become a common refrain. There are several initiatives underway to establish identifiers for bots, such as Private Access Control Tokens (PACTs), Estonia’s digital IDs for agents, and Microsoft’s Agent ID. But bot badging infrastructure remains a work-in-progress, leaving AI agents to run amok in many organizations.

DigiCert’s findings [PDF] echo a similar report two weeks ago from Spacelift that found 93 percent of organizations experienced AI-caused infrastructure incidents while only 19 percent had a governance plan in place. 

The survey stands in stark contrast with picks-and-shovels seller Nvidia’s State of AI 2026 report, which gushes, “Across every industry, AI is helping increase annual revenue and drive down annual costs while boosting productivity.” 

The DigiCert Q&A involves responses from 1,001 IT and cybersecurity leaders in the US, UK, and Australia, from various businesses. The survey shows that businesses are deploying AI first and asking questions later.

While 90 percent of organizations surveyed have discussed AI governance at the board level, just 50 percent have dedicated AI governance budgets and formal governance programs. This allows operational blind spots to persist. Just 53 percent of respondents said their organization could trace AI decisions back to the models and source data that produced those results.

“That becomes a problem the moment an AI system produces an unexpected or controversial result,” the report says. “Customers, executives, and regulators will all ask, ‘Why did it do that?’”

And perhaps at some point, companies will ask, why did we deploy that? ®

China’s open AI models have been a gift to developers everywhere. Now Beijing may pull them back in.

Chinese officials have discussed limiting who outside the country can use the nation’s best AI models, Reuters reports. The Ministry of Commerce ran the meetings over the past month, and Alibaba, ByteDance, and the startup Z.ai took part. The talks cover the most capable models, including some not yet out.

What is on the table

The plans reach past a simple export ban. They would also catch open-weight models, the freely downloadable systems that made Chinese AI popular abroad, alongside closed ones. Alibaba’s Qwen, ByteDance’s Doubao, and Z.ai’s GLM-5.2 all count among them.

Two other ideas surfaced. One would treat the leak or theft of proprietary AI as a national security crime. The other would limit which investors can fund homegrown AI firms. The sources cautioned that officials have decided nothing yet, that any curbs might apply only to future models, and that no timeline exists.

Reuters could not learn how the curbs would work. One panel of Chinese legal scholars has floated a tiered scheme: a light filing for basic tools, security reviews for stronger ones, and a domestic-only lockdown for the most sensitive models.

Why it matters

The move would mark a sharp turn. China won global goodwill by giving its models away, and European developers leaned on cheap open weights from firms like DeepSeek as an alternative to pricey American systems. Curbing them would thin that supply, and Reuters notes costs could climb for the many businesses that lean on them.

The shift mirrors Washington. The US has moved to stop China copying its models and recently restricted Anthropic’s frontier systems on security grounds, the very thing Beijing now fears in reverse. China has already built its own walls, grounding its AI researchers and steering who can back its startups. Treating models as state assets is the next brick.

Whether any of it becomes law remains unclear. If it does, the era of freely downloadable Chinese AI could quietly close.

The job of a soundbar used to be simple: make TVs sound better without complicated component systems, multiple speakers and wires strung all over your living room. Over time, soundbars have evolved into complex multi-speaker systems capable of competing with component-based systems in both features and sound quality. But have they become too complicated for their own good? 

With the current flagship soundbar system, the HW-Q990H, Samsung believes they can walk the line between simplicity and advanced functionality while offering performance that approaches that of a component system. Are they successful? Let’s find out.

What Is It? 

Samsung offers a wide selection of soundbars, from simple one-piece systems like the HW-QS90H to the more robust flagship soundbar system, the HW-Q990H, subject of our current review. The list price of the system is $1,999, but it is typically discounted to around $1,600. Unlike companies like Sony, who sell their flagship soundbar standalone, requiring customers to add expensive subwoofers and/or rear speakers for full performance, Samsung includes everything you need in the box with the Q990H: the soundbar itself, a pair of rear speakers, with both front and up-firing drivers and a compact powered subwoofer.

The system features a whopping total of 23 drivers, across all components. The soundbar itself includes fifteen individual drivers pointing in multiple directions: forward, to the sides and angled upward, to reflect height channel sounds off the ceiling. The rear channel speakers include three drivers each, pointing forward, to the side and up for reflective height channels. The system is completed by a very compact powered subwoofer, a cube which measures in at just under 10 inches on each side. The subwoofer uses dual 8-inch drivers in a push-pull configuration and weighs in at a fairly hefty 18.3 lbs. 

The HW-Q990H supports the two most common immersive surround sound formats – Dolby Atmos and DTS:X – and one uncommon one – Eclipsa Audio. Eclipsa Audio is an object-based immersive audio format developed by Samsung and Google (among others) as the IAMF (Immersive Audio Model and Formats) open audio standard.  Ecplisa Audio is currently the only immersive audio format supported on YouTube, and there is actually a growing collection of content available on that platform in the new format.

Get Connected

For many owners, the only input you’ll need is the HDMI/eARC port. Use an HDMI cable to connect this port to the corresponding HDMI/eARC on your TV and any devices connected to the TV, as well as the tuner built into your TV and any streaming apps built into your TV will automatically pass audio to the soundbar. If your TV doesn’t have “eARC” (extended Audio Return Channel) but does have an “ARC” (Audio Return Channel) HDMI port, then you can use that port, but just know that the sound quality is a bit limited on this older option. If your TV lacks both ARC and eARC HDMI ports, then Samsung still has you covered with a fiberoptic digital input, though, like ARC, sound quality over fiberoptic digital is limited: you’ll only get 2-channel PCM sound or 5.1 channel Dolby Digital.

The Q990H soundbar also includes not one but two additional HDMI ports. So if you like to listen to movies with DTS:X sound, but your TV doesn’t support DTS passthrough, you can plug a device like a UHD Blu-ray player into the bar directly, and the bar will output the video signal to the TV while directly decoding the audio signal.

The HDMI input jacks are a little tight, however, making it tricky if you want to plug in a streaming stick or if your HDMI cables are thicker than average. Still, I appreciate the flexibility here and wish more soundbar makers would follow suit.

It’s Got The Look

In terms of build quality and aesthetics, the bar itself feels and looks substantial and its contemporary design blends well with modern TVs. Its height is just under 3 inches which means it won’t interfere with the IR remote control sensor on the bottom of most TVs if placed on a console in front of the TV. The bar comes with a wall mount bracket, but be sure the top of the bar is not blocked by the TV or you will lose some or all of your height channel effects.

The rear speakers are fairly compact at roughly 5″ x 8″ by 5.5″ and include a standard 1/4″-20 UNC threaded mounting hole for a wall bracket or stand. A basic keyhole mount would have been nice but isn’t essential. Be sure to mount the speaker with sides and top unobstructed so the side and top-firing drivers can reflect off side walls and ceiling respectively.

The bar also supports both Bluetooth and WiFi inputs including Apple AirPlay 2 and Google Cast, though it does not support Dolby Atmos sound over Google Cast (few soundbars or components do). Spotify Connect and TIDAL Connect are both supported, but not Qobuz Connect. You’ll need to use Bluetooth or Google Cast if you’re a Qobuz user.

The Set-Up

Although you can set-up and use the bar without loading any apps, you’ll get some additional options and settings if you install Samsung’s SmartThings smart home control app and add the Q990H to Smart Things. The subwoofer and rear speakers are pre-paired to the bar, so if you simply connect an HDMI cable from the bar’s HDMI/eARC port to the HDMI/eARC port on your TV, and plug the bar, subwoofer and rear speakers into wall power, you should get sound from all of the speakers.  

After doing the initial set-up, I installed the SmartThings app on my phone, added the bar to the app and hunted around for any sort of calibration option. Most high-end soundbars either use your phone or an external microphone to measure the speakers’ output in your room and adjust the levels and, in some cases, even phase and EQ, to optimize the sound for your specific room. But Samsung does things a little differently.

If you enable “SpaceFit Sound Pro” in Smart Things, the bar automatically adjusts its sound to fit your room, without the need to run through a calibration routine. It uses the microphone built into the bar to analyze reflections and frequency response and adjusts itself to correct for any deficiencies in the sound. While I can see the appeal of doing this whole process automatically, it bothers me to think the bar is adjusting sound while I’m listening to it. This makes me feel like maybe it’s not presenting the most accurate reproduction of the sound coming into it at all times.

I asked Samsung for details on how the SpaceFit Sound Pro feature works, but did not receive a reply in time for publication. If we get a more detailed explanation, I will be sure to update this review.

In any case, I will say the SpaceFit Sound Pro setting did appear to improve the sound in my listening room and there weren’t any egregious artifacts of its operation in normal use. I’d say most owners will benefit from having it enabled, and those who prefer not to use it can leave it off. The SmartThings app does offer manual EQ and level settings for each channel for those who wish to tweak the sound manually (though no built-in test tones).

For system review context, I connected the Q990H to a Samsung S95H QD-OLED TV. This way I was able to test out Samsung’s Q-Symphony feature which lets you use the TV speaker as part of the mix. In testing, I preferred the sound without Q-Symphony enabled as it changed the tonal balance of the sound coming out of the center channel. But owners an experiment with this in the TV’s Audio Settings menu. By using a Samsung TV, I was also able to play YouTube videos encoded in the Eclipsa Audio format, which the Q990H was only too happy to decode.

Listening Notes

Before I got too into music tracks and movie scenes, I decided to try a few test tracks, including channel test tone sequences for Dolby Atmos, DTS:X and Eclipsa Audio. All three were decoded properly on the Q990H with excellent test tone placement all around the room. Samsung bills the HW-Q990H as an “11.1.4” channel system, and while I didn’t have a Dolby Atmos 11.1.4 channel test patterns, the system did reproduce a Dolby Atmos 9.1.6-channel test tone sequence with excellent positioning. The phantom middle height channels were nicely positioned between front and rear height channels along the middle of my ceiling and the side surround channels did appear right around the middle of the room on each side, thanks to phantom channels created by wide side-firing drivers in both the soundbar and the rear channel speakers.

I will say the Q990H had the best image positioning of any of the bars I’ve tested to date, including the Klipsch Flexus Core 300 system and the Sony BRAVIA Bar 9 with its much-touted “360 Spatial Sound Mapping” feature. 

This performance on test tones carried over to real music. I listen to a lot of immersive music tracks in Dolby Atmos as you can find on my Amazon Music Dolby Atmos playlist. On the EDM track “Alive” by KX5/deadmau5, around 4 minutes in, when the snare roll rotates around the room starting in the front and traveling the full width and depth of the room, the circular motion was fairly seamless, though there were some minor tonal differences as it moved around the room from speaker to speaker. This type of precise motion falls apart on many lesser systems. And the tonal matching across the 20+ speaker drivers was pretty good overall. 

Another of my Dolby Atmos favorites, “Rocket Man” by Elton John starts mostly in the front of the room, but when the chorus kicks in, the music just explodes, taking over the entire listening space. This moment was particularly effective and dramatic on the Q990H as the music just inhabited the entire listening space, sucking you right in. Pulling out a few more classic rock tunes remixed in Dolby Atmos, The Who’s “Baba O’Riley” opens with a synth keyboard part that has been expanded to encompass the entire listening space, shimmering from side to side, and front to back, while vocals are placed more traditionally in the front and center of the soundstage. As the instrumental conclusion builds, instruments like violins, guitars and drums make full use of the space leading to a controlled chaos of sound. The Q900H maintains this chaotic build nicely. 

There’s also a nice selection of 90s grunge/alternative tracks remixed in Dolby Atmos. On Stone Temple Pilot’s “Creep,” Dolby Atmos is used more to open up the soundstage, rather than make instruments or voices spin around the room. On the Q990H, the simple opening instrumental section offers solid imaging and nice tight extended bass on the bass guitar and kick drum. When Scott Weiland joins in with the first verse, his voice is squarely placed front and center, filling out the wide, deep soundstage. Much better than the stereo mix, IMHO. 

More modern albums, like Justin Gray’s Grammy Award-winning album, “Immersed” take more liberties with instrumental placement. “Immersed” was specifically mixed to put you inside the mix, giving the listener a whole different perspective on the music. The track “Orion’s Belt” leads off with percussive elements starting at the back of the room and slowly swirling, building around the listener while layers of drums and horns bounce around the listener. Through the song, you’re right in the middle of the action, like a fly on the wall, only there is no wall. The immersive nature of “Immersed” is well captured on the HW-Q990H.

Moving onto Dolby Atmos movies and TV shows, I put on the opening scene of “Andor” Season 1. Rain falls convincingly from above as our antihero walks down a boardwalk in Morlana 1 in search of his lost sister. As he enters the night club/brothel, dialog is still clearly audible over the throbbing dance music in the background. And in “Dune” around 1:05 into the film as they are rescuing the doomed spice crawler, Paul Atreides is struck by the spice-infused wind and all sound drops out. The swirling spice, musical score, effects and voices of the Bene Gesserit witches build into a cacophony of sound. As it peaks with the line “Kwizatz Hadderach Awakes” the sound is captured well by the Q990H, not fractured and scattered as it can be on lesser systems.   

Testing DTS:X tracks, I loaded up the UHD Blu-ray of “The Blues Brothers.” The mall chase scene was even more chaotic than I remember, with squealing tires and smashing glass coming from all around as police cars chase the Blues Mobile through a crowded shopping mall. When the main performance begins with Cab Calloway, the DTS:X track fills the room with the sounds of a live concert hall. And as Jake’s psychotic ex-girlfriend tries repeatedly to murder him, bullets ricochet menacingly around the room (mostly in the rear). It’s effective use of space and the Q990H captures it well.

I mentioned Eclipsa Audio earlier. In order to get this to work on YouTube content, you do need to match the Q990H up with a recent (2025/2026) Samsung TV with support for Eclipsa Audio, or any TV with support for IAMF audio (the “non-branded” version). Also, make sure the TV’s eARC output is set to “Auto” and Digital Audio is set to “Auto” or “Bitstream” (not PCM). With these TV settings in place, and the TV connected to the Q990H on the HDMI eARC port, you should get Eclipsa Audio from compatible content. And if you have trouble, watch this quick tech tip video on YouTube.

By searching for “Eclipsa Audio” on YouTube (using the Samsung TV’s YouTube app), I was able to find several videos encoded in the format, all of which played back properly in Eclipsa Audio format on the Q990H with discrete sounds coming from all around and above me. If you’re feeling nostalgic for the classic “Deep Note” trailer from THX, you can check out this New Version of THX Deep Note “Spark” Encoded in Eclipsa Audio on YouTube. Other tracks include 4K demo videos and music videos, some of which are pretty entertaining. Over time, we would love to see this format adopted by more hardware vendors and more content creators.

Stereo Music and Notes on Listening Modes

Stereo music had a nice sense of space on the Q990H, particularly when using the Q990H sound modes. There are a few different listening modes from which to choose, which affect how the bar handles both 2-channel and multi-channel content. You can find these by hitting the “Sound Mode” button on the remote or by looking in the Smart Things app.

“Standard Mode” will keep your stereo music unadulterated, using the bar itself and the subwoofer to create a nicely balanced stereo soundstage. “Surround” mode sounds more like a “Multi-channel stereo” mode where sound from the front is cloned to the rear speakers so that the sound fills the room more evenly. This works well for a party when you want background music to fill the room. Personally, I find that the “AI Adaptive Sound” mode works well for most stereo material. It expands stereo music to use all of the speakers, with enhanced spatiality, but without sounding too forced or artificial. But this is a personal choice. It’s nice to have options.

In multi-channel listening (e.g., Dolby Digital, Dolby Atmos), the modes do similar things, but not precisely the same as with stereo sources. Standard mode will be a “pure” representation of the original 5.1 or 7.1.4 mix. In Standard mode, many of the speakers in the system will be silent (such as the front wide and rear side speakers) as a direct representation of the original 5.1 or 7.1.4 channel mix. In “Surround” mode, 5.1 or 7.1 or 7.1.4 content is “upmixed” to 11.1.4 to make full use of all speakers. This fills in the space between the speakers well and improves the overall spatiality of the sound.

For multi-channel sound sources, “AI Adaptive Sound” does what surround mode does, but adds AI-based EQ and localization to enhance the sound based on analysis of the type of content – or scene – being played. Action sequences may have the bass boosted while quiet scenes with whispered dialog will have slight emphasis added to the center speaker while reducing some of the ambient sounds. If you want to keep things “pure” for surround sound movie viewing and music listening, “Surround” mode is a good compromise as it makes full use of all the speakers in the system, without making any artistic decisions, based on AI analysis. Personally I found the AI Adaptive Sound mode to work pretty well overall on most material.

By the way, if you’re a gamer, you might want to check out the “Game Pro” mode, which accentuates some of the directionality of sounds, to make these more pronounced. It also prioritizes latency so you can hear things that might be important (like footsteps behind you) without delay. 

Overall, the sound from the Q990H was nicely balanced. Voices were presented naturally with good dimensionality and instruments like bass and snare drum had nice snap and attack. Overall bass response was solid and full, without sounding boomy, though the bass was not quite as deep or extended as I’ve heard it from larger, more powerful subwoofers.

The Bottom Line

When Samsung acquired the revered audio company Harman International several years ago, I was hopeful that this would improve the sound of the company’s audio products. And it seems like Harman’s influence is definitely rubbing off on the Korean tech giant. Earlier Samsung speakers and soundbars that I tested didn’t really stand out in sonic quality. But the HW-Q990H is different. With everything you’ll need in the box, all the essential codecs covered, and surround sound imaging that matches or exceeds the best competitive systems, the HW-Q990H gets a definite recommendation from me and earns our Editors’ Choice for 2026.

Pros:

• Supports Dolby Atmos, DTS:X and Eclipsa Audio
• Excellent spatial imaging on immersive movies and TV shows
• Solid performance on stereo music
• Independent speaker level adjustments and EQ
• Tight controlled bass with more oomph than you’d expect from a small subwoofer
• Fairly affordable for a flagship system with subwoofer and rear speakers included

Cons:

• Low bass not as extended as systems with larger subwoofer cabinets
• No manual calibration or room correction procedure (automatic “SpaceFit Sound Pro” mode only)
• Not IMAX Enhanced certified

Our Ratings

★★★★★★★★★★ Performance

★★★★★★★★★★ Usability

★★★★★★★★★★ Build Quality

★★★★★★★★★★ Value

Where to buy:

$1,997.99 $1,597.99 at Amazon | Best Buy | Crutchfield

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