Lots of random device reviews and news today. Headphones, headsets, controllers and more. Youtube puts up a podcast page for some reason, Microsoft is showing ads to more people on Outlook Mobile, and iPadOS 16 gets officially delayed. Those are the stories that caught my eye over the last few days.
Microsoft Will Now Show Ads To Outlook Mobile Users On Free Accounts
You know the drill. If you don’t pay for the product you are the product. Microsoft has shown ads on outlook.com to free users for a long time, but the mobile app had not shown ads. Now, users with free outlook.com email accounts will see ads in the Outlook Mobile app for Android and iOS as well. Users signing into work or school accounts, or users paying for Microsoft 365 Personal or Premium will not see ads in Outlook on the web or in the app.
Frankly, it surprised me that there weren’t ads in the mobile app before this. But here we are.
https://www.thurrott.com/cloud/271168/outlook-mobile-now-show-ads-to-all-free-users
Apple Delays iPadOS 16
After weeks of rumours that troubles with the new Stage Manager feature in iPadOS 16, Apple has officially confirmed that the new iPad OS version will not be released at the same time as iOS 16 for iPhones. Apple has released iPadOS 16.1 to developers, and it appears the “final” version of iPadOS shipping to customers will be 16.1, coming in October.
https://9to5mac.com/2022/08/23/apple-delay-ipados-16-1-beta-now-available/
Sony’s New DualSense Edge Conrtoller Totally Doesn’t Copy the Xbox Elite Controller
Sony unveiled a new premium controller at the Gamescom conference this week. The DualSense Edge Controller (since Elite was taken) is a controller that features removable, customizable joysticks, just like the Xbox Elite Controller. It features back paddles, just like the Xbox Elite Controller (albeit 2 instead of 4). It features button mapping with three programmable presets, just like the Xbox Elite Controller. It also has adjustable trigger locks for the R2 and L2 triggers, just like the Xbox Elite Controller.
Sony did not announce a price or release date for the Xbox Elite Controller DualSense Edge Controller but I’m going to guess it’ll be priced somewhere around $230 in Canada…. Just like the Xbox Elite Controller.
https://www.theverge.com/2022/8/23/23318564/sony-dualsense-edge-wireless-controller-features
Steelseries Acrtis Nova 7 Headset Finally Brings Cross Compatibility
Steelseries has updated it’s Acrtis headset line, with the new high end Arctis 7 featuring cross device compatibility thanks to a wireless USB-C receiver along with Bluetooth support. Thanks to both connectibity options it supports PC, Xbox, Playstation, and Nintendo Switch, along with being able to connect to any Bluetooth device. Mercifuly, it also charges via USB-C. Previous versions of Steelseries headsets still charged via the outdated Micro-USB standard. When I was shopping for a new headset earlier this year the Steelseries lineup was a nonstarter for those reasons, and this makes it much more competitive. The lower cost Arctis Nova 3 and Nova 1 headsets were also announced, both f eaturing wired connections.
The Arctis Nova 7 is available for $230 in Canada
YouTube Has A Podcast Page For Some Reason
For some reason, if you go to youtube.com/podcasts, you may see a new page that highlights video podcasts on YouTube. Google already has a podcast platform called Google Podcasts, so I’m not sure why this exists, but here we are.
GameSir X3 Reviews
Last year I revewed the GameSir X2 Bluetooth controller and liked it a fair bit, even with a couple shortcomings. The X3 is an…. Interesting product. This version is not Bluetooth, and features a USB-C connection to connect to phones. It also includes a fan that is supposed to help cool the attached phone to make gaming sessions better.
The downside to this is that the fan needs to be powered, so there is a separate USB-C port just for it, and for the fan to work it has to be plugged in. The controller still works without the fan active, but it is much larger and bulkier because of it, and it has to be tethered to power to work.
Weird product.
https://www.androidpolice.com/gamesir-x3-hands-on/