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Some companies allow you to use the speakers in your TV to augment the drivers in a soundbar or other speakers in order to enhance overall audio quality. Samsung has Q-Symphony and Sony has Acoustic Center Sync, for example. Today, Dolby has announced a new Atmos feature that will function similarly, pairing TV speakers with any wireless speakers you have in the room. Officially dubbed Dolby Atmos FlexConnect, the tech will debut first on 2024 TCL TVs.

Dolby explains that FlexConnect “intelligently optimizes the sound” based on the layout of the room and location of any speakers. The company says the technology will free users from the sonic limitations of room size, furniture positioning or the location power outlets. FlexConnect will allow speakers to be placed anywhere in a room and calibrate each of them to the TV speakers. This creates a customized Dolby Atmos sound profile unique to each user’s home. 

Dolby says setup is quick and easy as acoustic mapping is done using microphones inside the TV. Those components locate each speaker before performing the aforementioned audio calibration. The company explains that the result should be more consistent immersive sound no matter where you’re sitting in the room. 

FlexConnect isn’t just boosting the center channel either. Instead, the feature is adjusting the sound for each speaker, even the ones inside the TV. If the system notices that a pair of speakers are at the front of the room, for example, it can tweak the audio so that the TV handles the bulk of the dialog and the speakers take on the rest of the front soundstage. If there are two speakers near the back of the room, the TV then handles dialog and those sounds that need to come from the front of the room. 

One item that could play a key role with Dolby Atmos FlexConnect is interoperability. Samsung’s Q-Symphony and Sony’s Acoustic Center Sync both require you to have a compatible soundbar and TV made by those companies. LG’s Wow Orchestra works the same way. If this new technology is open to manufacturers to integrate in their products like Dolby Atmos as a whole, it would great if users could pair a TCL TV with a Sennheiser soundbar — just as one example. As you might expect, TCL plans to debut wireless speakers to accompany its upcoming FlexConnect-compatible TVs.

This article originally appeared on Engadget at https://www.engadget.com/dolby-atmos-will-use-your-tv-to-expand-living-room-speaker-setups-123021095.html?src=rss 

If you’ve ever considered picking up an Amazon Echo Show but weren’t sure about the price or which one, now’s your chance. A range of Echo Shows are currently on sale, including the new third-generation Echo Show 5, down from $90 to $65, a 28 percent discount. The deal is available in Charcoal, Glacier White or Cloud Blue. However, for the same price, you can get the Echo Show 5 and a Sengled Matter Smart Bulb that you can control with your voice or the Alexa app. It’s typically $110 for the bundle, so this option gives you 40 percent off.

The third-gen Echo Show 5 has a 5.5-inch, 960 x 480 display, a built-in 2MP camera for calling loved ones on their Echo device or Alexa app and lets you control lights and thermostats across your home. Listen to music and entertainment through its 1.7-inch speaker from Amazon Music, Prime Video, Spotify and more. Plus, you can tell Alexa to set alarms, show you the weather or play a song — all displayed on its screen. Speaking of the display, you can set your Echo Show 5 to play a slideshow of your favorite photos when it’s not in use.

Along with the classic, you can pick up the Echo Show 5 Kids for a steal right now, with a 25 percent discount dropping its price from $100 to $75. It lets kids get help with homework and ask some of their favorite Disney characters, like Olaf or Mickey, to do things instead of plain old Alexa. The Echo Show 5 Kids also comes with a year of Amazon Kids + and includes easy-to-use parental controls.

Then there’s the biggest deal of them all: The second-generation Echo Show 8 is available for 42 percent off its sticker price — a drop from $130 to $75. The 8-inch device is a couple of years older than the third-gen Echo Show 5 but has benefits like 1280 x 800 resolution, a pair of two-inch speakers and a 13MP camera with auto-framing. You can also get it with the Sengled Matter Smart Bulb right now for no extra cost.

Follow @EngadgetDeals on Twitter and subscribe to the Engadget Deals newsletter for the latest tech deals and buying advice.

This article originally appeared on Engadget at https://www.engadget.com/amazons-echo-show-sale-takes-up-to-42-percent-off-smart-displays-104558170.html?src=rss 

The best headphones on the market are back on sale just in time for your Labor Day trip. Sony’s WH-1000XM5 ANC headphones are touting a 13 percent discount — dropping their price from $400 to $348. While it’s a touch higher than its all-time low of $328 from Prime Day, it’s still a great deal for our favorite wireless headphones of 2023.

So, what makes Sony’s WH-1000XM5 headphones so special (and, even on sale, worth a decent chunk of change)? We gave them a 95 in our review thanks to features like 30-hour battery life, and a redesign that only cuts 0.14 ounces of weight yet provides a strikingly lighter feel. Basically, it’s super comfortable to wear for long periods of time. The M5 also has double the number of processors and microphones devoted to noise canceling as its predecessor — noticeably blocking out most noises you’d encounter day-to-day. 

The sound quality is also top-notch on the M5s, with 30mm carbon fiber drivers managing the audio and overall more depth to each song. Using the DSEE Extreme has a small impact here, too, with it barely impacting the quality of the music. You can pick up the headphones at a discounted price in Black or Silver and try out their high-caliber features for yourself. 

Follow @EngadgetDeals on Twitter and subscribe to the Engadget Deals newsletter for the latest tech deals and buying advice.

This article originally appeared on Engadget at https://www.engadget.com/sonys-wh-1000xm5-anc-headphones-fall-back-to-348-090027093.html?src=rss 

Last year, the Republican National Committee (RNC) filed a lawsuit against Google accusing it of political bias over its Gmail spam filters. Now, a federal judge has dismissed that lawsuit, noting that Google was effectively protected by Section 230 of US law, and that the RNC had not “sufficiently pled that Google acted in bad faith” by filtering out campaign emails, The Washington Post has reported. 

According to the lawsuit, Google intentionally marked “millions” of RNC emails as spam, so the group sought reimbursement for “donations it allegedly lost as a result” of that. As evidence, it cited a study finding that Gmail was more likely than Yahoo and other mail systems to mark Republican emails as spam. (One of the study’s authors told the Post last year that its findings were cherry-picked.)

Calling the lawsuit a “close case,” US District Court judge Daniel Calabretta said the RNC had “failed to plausibly allege its claims” that Google’s spam filtering was done in bad faith. Google said that the emails in questions were likely flagged as spam because of user complaints, and cited RNC domain authentication issues and frequent mailouts as other potential issues. 

The court also decided that RNC emails could be deemed “objectionable” based on the CAN-SPAM Act, and the fact that Google flagged them as such was covered by Section 230, which provides immunity to online platforms from civil liability based on third-party content. All that said, the judge said Republicans could still amend the lawsuit to better establish a lack of good faith by Google. 

Interestingly, during last year’s mid-term US elections, Google created a loophole allowing political campaigns to dodge Gmail spam filters. However, the RNC reportedly didn’t take advantage of the program. Google has since ended the experiment, following largely negative feedback from the public. 

This article originally appeared on Engadget at https://www.engadget.com/judge-tosses-republican-lawsuit-against-google-over-gmail-spam-filters-075622648.html?src=rss