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Realme GT 6T first impressions
7:31 pm | May 22, 2024
Author: admin | Category: Mobile phones news | Comments: Off

Realme unveiled the Realme GT 6T today at an event in New Delhi, India, marking the GT lineup's comeback to international markets and India in particular after a hiatus of over two years. The 6T is the first 'T' model in the GT series' non-Neo lineup, where 'T' stands for "Top Performer." The smartphone comes in Fluid Silver and Razor Green colors. We spent some time with the silver model, and here are our first impressions of the phone. The Realme GT 6T comes in a black-colored retail box with a protective case, a SIM ejector tool, a charging cable, and a 120W GaN charger. On the...

Panasonic Lumix S9 review – small, simple, powerful, flawed
7:06 pm |
Author: admin | Category: Cameras Computers Gadgets Mirrorless Cameras | Tags: , , , | Comments: Off

Panasonic Lumix S9: two-minute review

There's much to like about the Panasonic Lumix S9. It inherits superb video features from its pricier sibling, the Lumix S5 II, and squeezes them into a smaller, colorful body. 

It boasts a 24.2MP full-frame sensor, open gate 6K video recording (taken from the full height and width of the 3:2 aspect sensor), the option to automatically set a 180-degree shutter angle, and one of the best performing image stabilization systems for shooting video on the move. 

Beyond its bigger sibling, the Lumix S9 also brings Panasonic's lesser-known Real Time LUTs color profiles to your fingertips. Fujifilm's Film Simulations have been trending, but Real Time LUTs color profiles are next-level, with no restriction on the look you want. 

Once you're connected to the new Lumix Lab app, you can import a number of Real Time LUTs profiles directly on to the Lumix S9, including a variety of excellent looks made by Panasonic's network of professional creators. This is color grading made easy for photo and video. 

Panasonic Lumix S9 camera in Dark Olive color on a rich red reflective surface

With the Lumix S 20-60mm F3.5-5.6 lens attached, which by the way is one of the smallest L-mount lenses available in 2024. (Image credit: Future | Tim Coleman)

Design-wise, the Lumix S9 is primarily a video camera, and at $1,500 / £1,500 (Australian pricing TBC) it offers incredible bang for buck. The reason Panasonic has been able to drop the price from the $1,999 / £1,999 Lumix S5 II is simple – this is a much simpler body, and a colorful one at that, designed to appeal to young creatives. 

This is no photographer's tool, despite the excellent-quality 24MP stills: the Lumix S9 doesn't have a built-in viewfinder, or a hotshoe for mounting optional accessories, such as a flash or EVF. The coldshoe is instead limited to other accessories such as an external mic, or even a top handle.  

I missed having a viewfinder. Much of my testing was conducted in bright sunny weather and the flip-out touchscreen isn't the easiest to see under such conditions. 

In bright conditions you can't be fully sure if the Lumix S9 has locked focus on to your subject, you just have to trust it does. To be fair, for the best part it does – the S9 has Panasonic's best ever autofocus system, with human and animal subject detection and both with options for face and eye detection only, or for bodies, too. 

We're missing a headphone jack to monitor audio, which feels like a misstep for a video-focused shooter. You can activate on-screen audio monitoring which gives some indication of audio levels, but there's no easy way to properly monitor sound.

Panasonic Lumix S9 camera in Dark Olive color on a rich red reflective surface

The Lumix S9 is a much bigger package with any lens attached, such as the Lumix S 20-60mm F3.5-5.6 pictured here. (Image credit: Future | Tim Coleman)

In essence, this is a full-frame camera for beginner filmmakers who want to point-and-shoot and trust that the camera will capture excellent visuals and audio, and for the whole experience to be as close to using a smartphone as possible.

To an extent, the Lumix S9 is successful in its mission. It's visually appealing, small and simple, brings lovely photo and video color profiles to your fingertips and the app is a nice touch, even if it could do with some refining.

However, considering the target market, I'm not entirely convinced this should be an L-mount interchangeable lens camera, rather a fixed lens compact with a tiny wide-angle fast aperture prime lens – much like the Fujifilm X100VI.

It's really hard to make tiny full-frame lenses, and the new pancake lens announced on the same day as the S9, plus the compact zoom in the pipeline, hardly excite. The smallest fast aperture L-mount prime lenses dwarf the camera and I'm not sure beginners will want to mess around with multiple lenses in the first place.

Design-wise, Sony's ZV-E10 feels like a better bet – with its smaller APS-C sensor and lenses, plus a decent grip. All being said, the Lumix S9 does a lot of things really well, new things, too, and we'll have to wait and see if it hits the mark with young creatives.

Panasonic Lumix S9: release date and price

  • Body-only price is $1,499 / £1,499 / Australia TBC
  • Available from June 2024
  • Launched alongside the Lumix S 26mm F8 pancake lens, which costs $219 / £219

The Panasonic Lumix S9 is available in four colors: Dark Olive (pictured, below), Classical Blue, Crimson Red and Jet Black, and costs $1,499 / £1,499 body-only, or $1,799 /£1,799 with the decent 20-60mm f/3.5-5.6 lens, and $2,249 / £2,249 when bought with Panasonic's new travel lens, the 28-200mm f/4-7.1. The camera is available from June 2024, and Australia pricing for all of those options is TBC. 

There's no word yet if the Lumix S9 will be available as a bundle with either of the newly announced lenses, the new 26mm f/8 pancake lens or the 18-40mm F4.5-6.3 compact zoom in development. The pancake lens, which only weighs 2.04oz / 58g, costs $219 / £219 and also ships from June 2024, while the compact zoom is coming later.

At launch, the Lumix S9 is Panasonic's cheapest full-frame camera yet, although the Panasonic Lumix S5 II / S5 II X that shares much of the same tech but in a higher-spec body, is often on sale for a similar cost.

Panasonic Lumix S9 camera in Dark Olive color on a rich red reflective surface

You can take off the lens to easily pack the Lumix S9 away in a small bag. (Image credit: Future | Tim Coleman)

Panasonic Lumix S9: design and handling

  • Newly designed body is Panasonic's smallest full-framer yet
  • No viewfinder, hotshoe or headphone jack
  • Vari-angle touchscreen
  • New compact lenses on the way

The Lumix S9 is Panasonic's smallest full-frame camera yet, measuring 126 x 73.9 x 46.7 mm / 4.96 x 2.91 x 1.84 inches. It's not the smallest full-frame camera around – that award goes to the Sigma FP, plus the Sony A7C II is smaller by a whisker.

The body might barely be a handful, but it still needs a lens, and even the smallest full-frame L-mount lenses currently available – excluding the new 26mm F8 pancake – dwarf the Lumix S9. Throw on the excellent 20-60mm F3.5-5.6 and the depth is increased to 133.9mm / 5.28-inches. 

A thumb grip goes some way in providing a secure hold, but with no hand grip you'll probably need to support the camera with both hands, or kit it out with a third-party grip. Relatively chunky lenses are the challenge in handling small full-frame cameras like this – the all round feel is better with a camera like the full-size Lumix S5 II. 

In an ideal world, the Lumix S9 would have a fixed prime lens around the size of Panasonic's new pancake lens, but with a much faster maximum aperture – the Fujifilm X100VI approach. Panasonic could then also install a built-in ND filter, and ultimately create a truly compact video camera that also shoots much better video than your phone.

Still, if you don't mind the size of lenses like the 20-60mm F3.5-5.6 and 50mm F1.8 – both of which I had with the camera for this review – then you can make some excellent quality video.

Panasonic Lumix S9 camera in Dark Olive color on a rich red reflective surface

The Lumix S9's Dark Olive color variation looks the part.  (Image credit: Future | Tim Coleman)

There's the question of which tasteful color variation you will pick: green, red, blue, or an all-black option for those playing it safe. For now, Panasonic's lenses remain all-black; there's no color-matching kit lenses.

Panasonic Lumix S9 key specs

Sensor: 24.2MP full-frame CMOS
AF system: Hybrid with phase-detect
EVF: N/A
ISO range: 100 to 51,200 (ISO 50-204,800 extended range)
Video: 6K/30p 'open gate' 4:2:0 10-bit internal
LCD: 3.0-inch vari-angle touchscreen, 1.84m-dots
Max burst: 8fps (continuous autofocus), 30fps burst
Connectivity: Wi-Fi 5GHz, Bluetooth 5.0
Weight: 403g (body only), 486g incl battery and card

Control layout is super simple and beginner-friendly: on the top there's a shooting mode dial, video record button, exposure compensation, shutter button and control dial. We get a limited number of ports: mic, USB-C and mini-HDMI, but no headphone jack.

As a small, video-focused camera, there's no viewfinder nor the option to add one, while the coldshoe mount can hold an accessory like an external mic, but it won't connect directly to a hotshoe flash.

The 3-inch vari-angle touchscreen is decent, albeit hard to see in bright light. I couldn't find the option to activate a red border to clearly indicate when the camera is recording video, or even a tally lamp – inexplicable omissions for a small, video-focused camera.

Panasonic Lumix S9 camera in Dark Olive color on a rich red reflective surface

The S9 body is tiny, but it still needs a lens, which adds considerable depth. (Image credit: Future | Tim Coleman)

In-camera menus are fairly-well laid out. If you select the video mode on the top dial, then all of the photography settings disappear in the menu, helping you access video options much quicker.

You'll want to customize video options to get started, for example setting the 'Shutter Speed / Gain Operation' to prioritize shutter angle to automatically apply the 180-degree shutter angle for smooth video footage. This handy option is not available on a lot of other pricier video cameras.

Panasonic Lumix S9 camera in Dark Olive color on a rich red reflective surface

The vari-angle screen can flip around for selfies, although the camera lacks a clear indicator when recording videos, for instance a tally lamp or red border around the screen.  (Image credit: Future | Tim Coleman)

A new LUT button on the rear gives quick access to the unmatched variety of color profiles, which can be uploaded to the camera via the Lumix Lab app in addition to those already included. I went for 'Platinum Steel' by Sam Holland for a moody vibe with soft skin tones, among others.

Panasonic wants to create a camera and app experience that's easier than ever. From my brief time using the Android version of the Lumix Lab app, the jury is still out. Connection is faster than most, but the app can still be awkward to navigate, and appears to be limited to file transfers and uploading LUTs profiles. There could be more than this, including remote control.

Panasonic Lumix S9 camera in Dark Olive color on a rich red reflective surface

The Lumix S9's control layout is pared back and beginner-friendly. (Image credit: Future | Tim Coleman)

Panasonic Lumix S9: features and performance

  • Superb in-body image stablization
  • Panasonic's best phase detection autofocus 
  • Battery life is a respectable 470-shots (depending on lens)
  • Single UHS-S II SD card slot
  • New Lumix Lab app

The Lumix S9 is well supported by Panasonic's best ever autofocus and image stablization performance, both inherited from the Lumix S5 II. 

The S9's bigger sibling was the first Panasonic camera to utilize a hybrid autofocus system, with snappy contrast detection autofocus primarily for stills, and smooth phase-detection autofocus for video, featuring subject detection modes that cover human, animal, car and motorcycles. 

Human and animal detection autofocus can switch between prioritizing face and eye only, or face, eye and body, and in general works really well. 

Image stabilization performance is outstanding. It's possible to shoot sharp photos handheld with shutter speeds in the seconds, while handheld video footage on the go is super smooth – smooth enough for moderate action that you can avoid using a gimbal. 

Panasonic Lumix S9 camera in Dark Olive color on a rich red reflective surface

Connection between the Lumix S9 and Lumix Lab app proved quick and reliable using a Google Pixel 6 phone.  (Image credit: Future | Tim Coleman)

There's just a single SD card slot with support for the faster UHS-II type, and you can capture up to 120 images in the continuous high burst shooting setting, which maxes out at 8 frames per second with continuous autofocus employed. This is no action photography camera, but it's hardly a slouch. 

Battery life is also decent, especially considering the diminutive size of the camera. According to its CIPA rating, the S9 can squeeze out up to 470 shots from a fully charged battery, or 100 minutes of continuous 4K / 60p video recording. 

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High contrast London street photo taken with the Panasonic Lumix S9 and custom Real Time LUTs applied

A 'Platinum Steel' Real Time LUT profile (Image credit: Future | Tim Coleman)
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Sample photos taken with the Panasonic Lumix S9 of London street photography

The original standard color profile (Image credit: Future | Tim Coleman)

Then there's the Lumix Lab app, which at the time of writing is compatible only with the Lumix S9. In my experience using a Google Pixel 6 and the Android version of the app, pairing the camera is quicker and more reliable than most other rival apps. 

In the app you get quick access to a range of Real Time LUTs color profiles. A number of Panasonic's creators have loaded some of their own publicly available and free to download LUTs in the app's Creator gallery, and I've found a look for just about every scenario. 

I've included a high-contrast street photo taken in London with the Lumix S9's standard color profile, and then applied a free 'Platinum Steel' LUT which suited the scene (see above).

Image 1 of 5

Screenshot of the Lumix Lab app and LUT color profile options

(Image credit: Future | Tim Coleman)
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Screenshot of the Lumix Lab app and LUT color profile options

(Image credit: Future | Tim Coleman)
Image 3 of 5

Screenshot of the Lumix Lab app and LUT color profile options

(Image credit: Future | Tim Coleman)
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Screenshot of the Lumix Lab app and LUT color profile options

(Image credit: Future | Tim Coleman)
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Screenshot of the Lumix Lab app and LUT color profile options

(Image credit: Future | Tim Coleman)

Sadly, video capture times are severely limited, capped at just 15 minutes, and further reduced to 10 minutes when shooting in 6K. This is presumably to avoid overheating given the Lumix S9 lacks an internal fan, as opposed to any limitations in the camera's performance, including its processor power and card's read and write speeds.

Most people won't shoot individual clips for longer than 15 minutes, but knowing that you can in any situation is one less thing to worry about, whether that's recording speeches at an event or lengthy vlogs.

Panasonic Lumix S9: image and video quality

  • Superb video features including open gate video recording up to 6K / 30p
  • Real Time LUTs color profiles are supremely versatile
  • New MP4 Lite file format
  • Up to 14-stops dynamic range in V-log color profile

With practically the same sensor and video spec as the Lumix S5 II, you can be assured that the Lumix S9 captures superb quality video, plus sharp and punchy 24MP stills. You can read more about the image and video quality to expect in our Lumix S5 II review.

What the Lumix S9 tries to do differently is bring Panasonic's Real Time LUTs to the fore, through quick access via a direct button on the camera's body and the Lumix Lab app, through which you can easily upload any one of a vast array of color profiles for just about any shooting scenario. 

You can create your own color profiles and save them to the camera, or simply take advantage of the profiles already available through the Creator's gallery in the app.

Image 1 of 10

Sample photos taken with the Panasonic Lumix S9 of London street photography

(Image credit: Future | Tim Coleman)
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Sample photos taken with the Panasonic Lumix S9 of London street photography

(Image credit: Future | Tim Coleman)
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Sample photos taken with the Panasonic Lumix S9 of London street photography

(Image credit: Future | Tim Coleman)
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Sample photos taken with the Panasonic Lumix S9 of London street photography

(Image credit: Future | Tim Coleman)
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Sample photos taken with the Panasonic Lumix S9 of London street photography

(Image credit: Future | Tim Coleman)
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Sample photos taken with the Panasonic Lumix S9 of London street photography

(Image credit: Future | Tim Coleman)
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Sample photos taken with the Panasonic Lumix S9 of London street photography

(Image credit: Future | Tim Coleman)
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Sample photos taken with the Panasonic Lumix S9 of London street photography

(Image credit: Future | Tim Coleman)
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Sample photos taken with the Panasonic Lumix S9 of London street photography

(Image credit: Future | Tim Coleman)
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Sample photos taken with the Panasonic Lumix S9 of London street photography

(Image credit: Future | Tim Coleman)

There's also the matter of a new MP4 Lite video format. It maxes out at 4K, 10-bit 4:2:0, but produces files that are around 40% smaller than regular MP4 files, which are also available in the S9. However, for best quality video, you'll probably want to shoot in .MOV format in 4K 4:2:2 10-bit or 6K 4:2:0 10-bit, even if the file sizes are much bigger. 

Whether it's a light and easy ready-made MP4 Lite video with Real Time LUT applied, or 6K 10-bit video in the V-log color profile with 14-stops of dynamic range that needs to be graded afterwards, there's video quality for every level of ability and shooting scenario. 

How I tested the Panasonic Lumix S9

  • Two brief sessions, including a street photography walk 
  • Paired with the 26mm pancake, 20-60mm F3.5-5.6 and 50mm F/1.8 lenses
  • Paired with the Lumix Lab app

I've had a fairly brief time with the Lumix S9 so far, including a London street photography session and a more leisurely time at home and on launch day. I still have the camera at home and will be continuing to use it ahead of the full review. 

I've been shooting both photos and videos, and tried pairing the S9 with the Lumix Lab app to play around with various Real Time LUTs color profiles and making quick edits to photos, among other things. 

During the London session I was briefly able to use the S9 with the only copy of the pancake lens available in the UK, plus I've had more time using the camera with the 20-60mm F3.5-5.6 and 50mm F1.8 Panasonic Lumix L-mount lenses. 

First reviewed May 2024

Samsung Galaxy Ring price leaks and there will be a monthly subscription too
6:28 pm |
Author: admin | Category: Mobile phones news | Comments: Off

The Samsung Galaxy Ring may have been officially unveiled in February, but that was more of a teaser than anything as there is much we still don’t know about this ring – for example, how much will it cost? Tipster Yogesh Brar reports that the US pricing will be in the $300-$350 range, while it India it will be around ₹35,000. That’s not all, though, there will be a subscription. It's not clear whether this subscription is mandatory or just something that offers and enhanced experience. Apparently, there will be a monthly subscription “under $10” to Samsung Health. This is something...

Apple releases iOS 17.5.1 to fix bug that resurfaced deleted photos
5:31 pm |
Author: admin | Category: Mobile phones news | Comments: Off

The iOS 17.5 update released last week caused some deleted photos to resurface, and to address this issue, Apple has rolled out iOS 17.5.1 with a fix for the bug. In the release notes for iOS 17.5.1, Apple said, "This update provides important bug fixes and addresses a rare issue where photos that experienced database corruption could reappear in the Photos library even if they were deleted." That sounds vague, and a detailed explanation by Apple would've been appreciated since some users reported seeing images that were deleted years ago. Anyway, if you own an eligible iPhone, you...

Deals: Galaxy S24 and S24+ get fee storage upgrades and enhanced trade-in credit
4:44 pm |
Author: admin | Category: Mobile phones news | Comments: Off

Samsung US has a week of interesting daily deals coming up with its Discover Samsung Summer event. Keep in mind that the offers are available only for a day, tomorrow will bring something new. On Monday, the top offer was for the Galaxy S24 Ultra, today the other two S24 members come to the forefront. Select versions get a free storage upgrade, enhanced trade-in and some Samsung Credit. The Samsung Galaxy S24+ is upgraded to 512GB storage and you can drop its price by up to $600. An S23+ is worth exactly that, $600, an S22+ can fetch $450 and an S21+ is worth up to $300 credit. You also...

Intercom review
4:41 pm |
Author: admin | Category: Computers Gadgets Pro | Comments: Off

In this Intercom review, we outline exactly why this is one of the best helpdesk software solutions on the market today - a feature-rich option with a host of integration options, which is a letdown a little by a higher-than-average price tag.

No business can survive for long without some sort of customer support. Things go wrong and customers encounter challenges. It’s at these points that businesses depend on reliable support options, whether it's a dedicated piece of live chat software or a helpdesk tool like Intercom. 

If your brand has booted for the latter, then you could do a lot worse than Intercom. This is an app that focuses on dynamic real-time communication, promising to connect your company’s inbox, tickets, and help center into one central, AI-enhanced workspace. In this sense, it’s not only great for improving your customer service but also for enhancing the productivity of your support team. 

In fact, now seems like a good time to mention Intercom’s AI capabilities. The platform comes with a Fin AI feature that can automatically summarize conversations in your inbox, personalize your replies, and autofill the relevant ticket information. This ensures Intercom stands out as one of the best AI tools in the helpdesk space. 

It must be said, however, that Intercom is not one of the cheaper helpdesk programs currently available. This means it could be prohibitively expensive for smaller businesses - especially if they want to access some of the most advanced functionality on offer here - as these are often locked away for the exclusive use of more premium customers. 

Having said all that, it’s worth checking out Intercom if your company is looking for a new helpdesk solution. This is an increasingly competitive space, especially with the rise of AI chatbots and other automated tools. Give Intercom a try and it could take your customer service to new heights. 

Intercom Review: Plans and pricing

Let’s address one of Intercom’s less-pleasing features right away - its price. This isn’t one of the cheapest helpdesk tools on the market, with plans starting at $39 per seat, per month for the Essential plan. This is the sort of customer support plan that might be suitable for individuals, startups, and small businesses but is unlikely to meet the needs of a multinational enterprise.

Moving up the pay scale, you’ll find the Advanced plan, which costs $99 per seat, per month. This comes with some additional automation tools and AI features for growing support teams. You’ll gain access to multiple team inboxes, workflows for advanced automation, Fin AI, and a multilingual help center. 

For businesses with larger budgets, meanwhile, there’s the Expert plan, which will set customers back $139 per seat, per month. In addition to all the features you get from the Essential and Advanced plans, you also receive time management functionality, Fin AI Compose, and multiple help centers.

Features

Intercom

(Image credit: Intercom)

As mentioned, the features that Intercom customers have access to can vary significantly depending on the pricing tier they’re signed up to. All users will enjoy the platform’s inbox view, however, which comes with AI functionality throughout. They’ll find conversations from every channel, including email, phone, and messenger, that can be viewed directly to their inbox to enable faster prioritization and resolution.

In terms of the ticketing process, support agents can use Intercom to resolve complex issues more efficiently with each ticket designed to streamline collaboration. The way ticketing works with Intercom is designed to ensure conversations can continue within the same platform. There’s no need to change tools, so the likelihood of things being forgotten or miscommunicated is minimized.

Other features include detailed reporting. For support leaders, Intercom offers them the opportunity to monitor, analyze and optimize their service using AI functionality. They have access to real-time performance data and customizable reports so whatever standard their support operations are at currently, they can always improve them. 

When discussing Intercom’s features, it’s also worth drilling down into its Fin AI functionality in greater detail. The Fin AI Agent helps with the resolution of customer queries using conversational answers. It boasts a customizable setup and is self-improving so you should see your resolution rates improve with time. Fin AI also uses a variety of different content sources to come up with its AI-generated answers, including external content like public URLs, your personal intercom help center, PDF files, and more. 

For subscribers to the Expert plan, there’s also Fin AI Compose, which can re-write your replies in your unique tone of voice based on your previous responses. Collectively all the features that make up Intercom’s Fin AI Copilot are already showing that they can make a significant difference to a company’s helpdesk offering. On average, Fin AI increases agent efficiency by as much as 31%.

Integrations

As with many other digital tools, integrations play an important role for Intercom. Digital transformation has been adopted widely in many organizations, so to ensure workplace silos don’t develop, many solutions connect seamlessly with other third-party tools. A look at any of the best CRM software solutions or cloud storage offerings illustrates that integrations are essential in the modern business world. Fortunately, this is an area where Intercom performs well. 

The Intercom app store hosts more than 300 pre-built apps, making integration with many of the most popular business solutions seamless. This includes several apps for marketing like Mailchimp, Google Analytics, and Typeform. Connecting with these apps helps Intercom users create more positive customer experiences, boosting loyalty.

Other Intercom integrations include several that are specifically geared toward optimizing sales. Applications, such as Salesforce, HubSpot, and Pipedrive, all straightforwardly with Intercom so every part of the sales process covered by your CRM is closely aligned with your help desk. 

Intercom also offers users the chance of creating their own custom integration, using its unique API. This enables customers to seamlessly integrate Intercom with their own product, tech stack, or other tools. This adds a layer of customization that you don't see with many other helpdesk solutions.

Interface and ease of use

While Intercom’s bespoke interface isn’t bad by any means, the platform’s UI really shines in terms of customization options. In the platform’s Help Center Settings, a number of different customization options are displayed, which means you can design how it looks and operates to better suit the needs of your support team and customers. Any changes you decide to make to the UI can also be previewed before they are implemented.

Intercom has also taken care to ensure it is equally accessible to mobile users, by making it easy for them to include their Help Center directly in their mobile app. In order to do so, users have to first install the latest version of the Intercom mobile SDK. This means that, whichever presentation method you use to present your help content, customers won’t have to leave your mobile app.

Although Intercom’s UI may look great, it’s not been universally praised for ease of use. Some have complained of a somewhat steep learning curve, but this shouldn’t put you off. The Intercom website does offer webinars, guides, and other resources so if you do encounter any difficulties, you will hopefully be able to resolve them.

Support

Of course, you would assume that any help desk solution would come with its own robust support package. After all, “help” is front-and-center for what they do. With Intercom, one of the best places to start for assistance is the Intercom Community page. This lets users connect with customers, partners, developers and other members of the Intercom team to resolve any issue. There’s a product Q&A, a range of user tips, and several groups you can join to help with more bespoke challenges.

There’s also an Intercom Academy to provide additional support across several topics. For instance, the academy can help users get started with Fin AI, learning how the platform can automate repetitive tasks, and many other potential issues. There’s even the option of making your Intercom knowledge official through certification. 

Security

Intercom promotes its security credentials through membership of a number of different groups and an impressive list of credentials. This includes adherence to Service Organization Controls (Soc2) (Type II) Trust Services Principles, being a member of the Cloud Security Alliance, and compliance with ISO 27001:2022 Certification.

In addition, all of Intercom's infrastructure and data are spread across three AWS availability zones, which provides the necessary failover to guarantee continuity of service even if one of those data centers fails. All data sent by Intercom is also encrypted in transit using 256-bit encryption. 

The competition

The helpdesk and livechat software space is becoming increasingly competitive, with Zendesk, Tidio, and many others providing support for customers. Although Intercom may compare unfavorably with some of these in terms of cost, most premium subscriptions do deliver a large range of functionality for the money. Ultimately, whether Intercom is with the price will depend on your needs and budget.

Intercom review: Final verdict

Not many other helpdesk software solutions will offer the same degree of AI integration as Intercom. This ensures this is a platform that not only looks the part today but which is likely to remain relevant for a number of years yet. 

Honor 90 and Magic V2 to get Magic OS 8.0 this month
3:47 pm |
Author: admin | Category: Mobile phones news | Comments: Off

Honor announced the Honor 200 launch date and its new 4-layer AI architecture earlier today. While at the stage at the VivaTech event, CEO George Zhao, made one more major announcement – Honor 90 and Honor Magic V2 phones will get Magic OS 8.0 this month. There are under 10 days until the end of this month, meaning software updates should be reaching devices any moment now. Magic5 Pro flagships already started receiving earlier this year. The MagicOS 8.0 is based on Android 14 and comes with AI features, powered by MagicLM – Honor's large language model for generative AI. It also...

Realme Buds Wireless 3 Neo and Buds Air6 wireless earphones launched in India
2:51 pm |
Author: admin | Category: Mobile phones news | Tags: | Comments: Off

Realme today unveiled the GT 6T in India, and alongside that, the brand introduced two wireless earphones in the country - Realme Buds Wireless 3 Neo and Realme Buds Air6. The Realme Buds Wireless 3 Neo neckband earphones pack 13.4mm dynamic bass drivers in each bud and support dual-device connection, magnetic instant connection, and AI environmental noise cancelation (ENC). The Buds Wireless 3 Neo also support Google Fast Pair and are advertised with a latency of 45ms when the Game Mode is enabled. The earphones have Bluetooth 5.4 connectivity, but the Realme Link app, which allows...

Huawei FreeBuds Pro 3 review: excellent noise cancellation, shame about the lacklustre sound
2:37 pm |
Author: admin | Category: Audio Computers Earbuds & Airpods Gadgets Headphones | Tags: , | Comments: Off

Huawei FreeBuds Pro 3: Two-minute review

The FreeBuds Pro 3 are the newest addition to Huawei’s top-tier line of true wireless earbuds, vying for entry to our best noise-cancelling earbuds roundup by replacing last year’s FreeBuds Pro 2 and acting as a more premium alternative to the jelly-bean-looking FreeBuds 5. 

I can’t get over how good the noise cancellation in these headphones is At the press of a button I could tune out the noisy clacking of keyboards in an office, the angry rumbling of a busy road near my house, even my own annoying habit of drumming on my desk as I listen to music. 

You’d be hard-pressed to find better noise cancellation in an audio product that isn’t an over-ear alternative, especially at the price – it’s really something.

This doesn't surprise me, because when you pick up a Huawei gadget, you can almost guarantee that it’s going to have one absolutely fantastic feature – something that’s best-in-class, truly game-changing, absolutely phenomenal to use. However, you can also put good money on the fact that most of the rest of said device won’t come anywhere close to that standard.

For the best Huawei phones, their incredible cameras are undone by the sticky app situation; for the smartwatches, you can rely on a great list of health features but funky designs. 

And the same remains true for the new Huawei FreeBuds Pro 3: the noise cancellation is stellar, but unfortunately, it feels like the rest of the package is held together with duct tape and paper clips – not literally, as the build quality is another premium element, but many other elements of the device threaten to ruin the positive experience that the ANC offers.

Take, for example, the tie-in AI Life app that you use to control the buds: on Android this isn’t on the app store, and you have to side-load it or download it through Huawei’s AppGallery, which is itself a side-loaded app. 

The battery life is another disappointing area as, with the ANC on, you won’t even get five hours of listening without needing to power up the buds. That’s about half a day of work, and then you have to remove the buds to let them charge, making you face all those noisy clacking keyboards you’re trying to avoid.

I also found the music quality surprisingly poor for the price, with frequent peaking in songs, no soundstage to speak of and an overall lack of energy in music. I love listening to music, but I didn’t feel I was doing my favorite songs justice by listening to them on the FreeBuds.

Credit where credit’s due, Huawei has nailed a few other areas that other earbuds-makers struggle with. The fit is comfortable, with four in-box tips and a fit-check function in the app to ensure that you’re wearing the right tips. Plus, the on-bud controls are easy to use, with a simple pinch gesture toggling different functions.

Huawei FreeBuds Pro 3 review: Price and release date

The Huawei FreeBuds Pro 3 being held in a hand above a grassy field.

(Image credit: Future)
  • Costs $245 / £179.99 / AU$277 
  • Released in late 2024
  • Uncommon Huawei tech in that it's available in the US

You can pick up the FreeBuds Pro 3 for $245 / £179.99 / AU$277, so they’re straddling the mid-range and top-end earbud market. That price roughly matches that for last year’s FreeBuds Pro 2.

One thing stands out right away – because unlike some other Huawei gadgets, these are available in the US. Good luck finding a Huawei phone to pair them with, though!

The buds were released in the latter months of 2023, and at the time of writing in mid-2024, you can find them on offer pretty easily. It’ll save you about 10%, or maybe more during sales times.

That price puts Huawei in a swimming pool full of hungry sharks – and by that I mean, many close rivals. Apple’s AirPods Pro 2 are only a little pricier (especially in the US, with only a $4 difference) while Sony’s WF-1000XM5 are cheaper during sales (and only cost a little more outside of them). Audio-Technica’s ATH-TWX7 are also circling, with a price that’s lower in the US and only a little more in the UK.

Huawei FreeBuds Pro 3 review: Specs

Huawei FreeBuds Pro 3 review: Features

The Huawei FreeBuds Pro 3 being held in a hand above a grassy field.

(Image credit: Future)
  • Tie-in app has to be side-loaded on Android
  • Noise cancellation is top-tier
  • Battery life is limited

If there’s something to be said about the FreeBuds Pro 3, it’s that their noise cancellation is great – possibly the best of any headphones I’ve tested at this price. As soon as you put in the buds, surrounding sound almost vanishes – a building site will sound like a Lego build site once you’ve set these things up. It’s surprising how empty a busy office floor can feel when you’re listening to these things!

The app offers loads of different modes. There’s Off (no prizes for guessing what this does), Awareness (which is an ambient option with a Voice Mode you can toggle on or off, which specifically doesn’t cancel voices) and then standard Noise Cancelling mode. This has a range of intensities ranging from ‘Cozy’ to ‘Ultra’ depending on how noisy your area is, but I generally tested in Dynamic, which changes depending on where you are.

I never stopped being impressed with just how great the FreeBuds were at removing background sound. Two thumbs up for this one feature.

Now on to the app: I’ve never spent so much time – and lost so much hair – as I did trying to get the FreeBuds’ tie-in app to work. It’s called AI Life and it should be pre-installed on Huawei phones; on Androids, like I have, you have to side-load it and install it from Chrome. No, you can’t just download it on the Play Store, which was the source of my consternation, and it was only through some online trawling that I found the answers (luckily for iPhone users, the App Store does list the app).

The Huawei FreeBuds Pro 3 being held in a hand above a grassy field.

(Image credit: Future)

You don’t need AI Life, but most of the features of the FreeBuds Pro 3 are either locked to the app, or really challenging to use without it.

As well as toggling noise cancellation there’s an equailizer, a battery indicator and the ability to change the buds’ gestures. The Buds Pro 3 also let you connect to multiple devices at once, and the AI Life app lets you easily switch between them.

On the topic of the battery indicator, don’t expect to see it at 100% much, because the buds don’t have a very good battery life. With ANC turned on, they’ll last 6.5 hours between charges, but if you utilize this key feature of the buds that’ll drop below 5 hours (depending on the ANC mode and your volume). Using the charging case will kick that lasting time up to 31 hours (with ANC off, 22 with it on), and none of those figures are that competitive.

Charging is done via the USB-C port, but there’s also slow wireless charging if you prefer that, though it’ll more than double charging times. You’ll need roughly an hour to get the case charged to full with a wire, or 2.5 hours with wireless powering.

  • Features score: 3.5/5

Huawei FreeBuds Pro 3 review: Design

The Huawei FreeBuds Pro 3 being held in a hand above a grassy field.

(Image credit: Future)
  • Small well-fitted buds, fairly large case
  • Touch controls work well
  • IP54 certification for buds

The design of the Huawei FreeBuds Pro 3 barely differs from that of their predecessor. The main highlight is that there’s a new color option: Green joins Silver Frost, Silver Blue and Ceramic White.

The case is a pebble-shaped plastic disc measuring 4.7 x 6.6 x 2.5 cm, and weighing 46g – it’s lighter than you might think given its size. It’s pretty barebones, save for the LED light indicator and the USB-C charging port. 

The buds themselves are nice and light. They weigh 5.8g each, slightly down from their predecessors, and have a similar design in being a tip connected to a short stem. You might notice that the stem is shorter than those on rival devices, giving the buds a compact appearance.

To enable a good fit, the FreeBuds come with four different-sized tips in the box; I found the medium tips provided a comfortable and reliable fit, but it’s good to have the options. The AI Life app has a tips fit test that checks to see if you’re using the right tips for you, which is a pretty cool addition.

I can see the FreeBuds’ on-stem buttons being divisive, but I found them a lot easier to use than most. You see, the buds don’t have physical press buttons but rather haptic-like areas which are best pressed by pinching the stems. You don’t have to press a physical button on the bud – an action that always seems simply to jam the bud into your ear – but instead just pinch the stem, in a really easy motion.

The buds have an IP54 protection against small particles and sweat or small splashes of water; they’ll survive a light rain shower or some running-to-bus sweat, but you shouldn’t really be using these for exercise. The charging case has no IP protection.

  • Design score: 4/5

Huawei FreeBuds Pro 3 review: Sound quality

  • Bass-heavy sound
  • Treble is lacking
  • Equalizer lets you tweak sound to an extent

The Huawei FreeBuds Pro 3 being held in a hand above a grassy field.

(Image credit: Future)

The best thing I can say about the Huawei FreeBuds Pro 3’s sound quality is that it’s mostly balanced. You’re not getting an awkward skew that favors bass or treble too much; it’s right there in the middle.

That’s also the only good thing I can say about the Buds’ sound, because I was disappointed by the quality overall, bearing in mind the roll call of high-end features present within them.

I’m talking dual drivers led by a chunky 11mm dynamic driver joined by a planar diaphragm driver; LDAC codec support; Hi-Res Audio Wireless certification… the list goes on. But it’s all for nothing, as the sound quality just isn't good.

Music had a startling amount of peaking, with drum hi-hats, acoustic guitars and sibilance in vocals becoming noticeably tinny. This wasn’t so extreme as to suggest that the buds were defective, just enough that the FreeBuds performed more like cheap buds than triple-figure ones.

The Huawei FreeBuds Pro 3 being held in a hand above a grassy field.

(Image credit: Future)

There was also a real lack of soundstage, as though an entire orchestra was inhabiting the exact same chair right at the center of the stage. Instruments were blended together like a fruit smoothie, sapping the energy or pizazz from music.

The buds were fine for spoken word and the like, but I missed the energy that many other earbuds serve. I know that if Waterloo doesn’t spark joy, the earbuds are doing something wrong.

Another disappointing area is AI Life’s equalizer, which comes with six presets though you can create your own, too. I tried all six of these on multiple songs, plus some of my creations where the sliders were moved to the extreme, and I couldn’t hear any audible difference in music.

App issue? Hardware issue? My hearing issue? I can’t say, but it makes Huawei’s website’s talk of a “triple adaptive EQ” seem like meaningless noise. Maybe the buds should cancel that, too.

  • Sound quality: 3/5

Huawei FreeBuds Pro 3 review: Value

The Huawei FreeBuds Pro 3 being held in a hand above a grassy field.

(Image credit: Future)
  • Great if you're buying for ANC...
  • ...fall behind rivals for audio chops

The Huawei FreeBuds Pro 3 come with a fairly lofty price tag, but it’s hard to see how they justify that price beyond their wonderful noise cancellation.

The FreeBuds’ feature set is identical to that of almost every other wireless earbud from here to the moon, with little to justify its price over most of its rivals. That is, except for the noise cancellation. Those plentiful affordable rivals also have better sound quality, or at least play music with more personality. 

So if all you care about is noise cancellation – you literally don’t mind anything else – these will justify their price. Otherwise, it’s hard to recommend them for their full retail price.

  • Value: 3.5/5

Should I buy the Huawei FreeBuds Pro 3?

Buy them if…

Don’t buy them if…

Huawei FreeBuds Pro 3 review: Also consider

How I tested the Huawei FreeBuds Pro 3

The Huawei FreeBuds Pro 3 being held in a hand above a grassy field.

(Image credit: Future)
  • Tested for 2 weeks
  • Tested at home, in the office and on walks in quiet and busy areas

I tested the Huawei FreeBuds Pro 3 for two weeks, which included using the buds in my office, at home, and on walks in different parts of a busy city. The buds were tested with my Xiaomi Mi Note 10 smartphone for testing, on to which I side-loaded the app.

Testing was mainly done on music streaming apps over a range of genres, though I also used the buds for playing video games, watching Netflix and listening to podcasts.

I have over five years of gadget-testing experience at TechRadar, which includes reviews of many Huawei products like watches, smartphones and tablets. I've also tested plenty of earbuds, including some of the competitors mentioned above.

  • First reviewed in May 2024
Microsoft Surface Laptop: ‘a sea change is in the air’
2:02 pm |
Author: admin | Category: Computers Computing Gadgets Laptops | Tags: | Comments: Off

The Microsoft Surface Laptop that was shown off at the Microsoft Copilot+ PC Showcase this week might be one of the most important devices of the decade, possibly even more important than the initial M1-powered Apple MacBook Air that launched back in 2020.

That MacBook Air model, which I've long argued is still the best laptop for most people even though it's now nearly four years old, kicked off something of a revolution in interest in bringing Arm processors to PCs. Arm chips, long a staple of mobile devices thanks to their incredible energy efficiency, just haven't been powerful enough for a full laptop or desktop OS.

Nobody knows this better than Microsoft, which has worked to develop Windows-on-Arm into a viable product and has largely struggled to make it competitive even with its more restrictive Windows S-Mode devices, much less a current-gen MacBook running Apple Silicon.

Now, however, Microsoft has co-developed the new Qualcomm Snapdragon X SoC specifically to be the Windows PC's answer to Apple's M-series and finally bring the best Windows laptops up to parity with the best MacBooks in terms of battery life, compatibility, and performance — all while retaining everything that makes Windows the most popular PC operating system in the world.

All of that is going to come to a head in the Microsoft Surface Laptop. This is Microsoft's play at dethroning the MacBook Air — and even the MacBook Pro 14-inch with Apple M3 or M3 Pro — and there are a lot of reasons why it just might succeed. If it does, this will have ramifications that extend for many years and generations of laptops to come.

Microsoft Surface Laptop: Price & availability

The Microsoft Surface Laptop is available for pre-order now, with deliveries starting on June 18, 2024. The starting price for the 13.8-inch model is $999.99/£1,049.99/AU$1,899, which will get you a Qualcomm Snapdragon X Plus processor with 16GB RAM and 256GB SSD storage. The 15-inch model starts at $1,299.99 and comes with a Qualcomm Snapdragon X Elite processor, 16GB RAM and 256GB SSD.

There are a number of configuration options available, but the 13.8-inch model maxes out at a Snapdragon X Elite processor, 64GB RAM, and 1TB SSD storage for $2,399.99/£2,049, while the 13.8-inch model maxes out in Australia at 32GB RAM and 1TB SSD for AU$3,399.

The 15-inch model maxes out at 64GB and 1TB in the US for $2,499.99, and maxes out in the UK and Australia at 32GB RAM and 1TB SSD for £2,149/AU$3,699.

This makes it cheaper at the entry-level than the MacBook Air 13-inch with M3, and matches the starting price of the MacBook Air 15-inch. At max spec, the new Surface Laptop will either beat or roughly match the price of the highest-end MacBook Air.

Microsoft Surface Laptop: Design

A Microsoft Surface Laptop being shown at Microsoft's Copilot Plus PC Showcase

(Image credit: Future / John Loeffler)

Many of the best Ultrabooks on the market have tried in various ways to copy the refined design of the MacBook Air with varying degrees of success. Having recently spent several weeks benchmarking the most recent MacBook models like the MacBook Air 13-inch, MacBook Air 15-inch, and MacBook Pro 14-inch, I think I've stared at that laptop more than just about any other device.

So it's arresting to look at the new Surface Laptop because even though the similarities are striking enough, so are the differences. For one, it was the best-looking laptop in Microsoft's entire showcase. Secondly, laying eyes on the Sapphire colorway of the 13.8-inch Surface Laptop (and Surface Pro, for that matter) exposes just how badly Apple fumbled the bag with the MacBook Air and MacBook Pro in recent years.

Apple's insistence on sticking with its painfully dull Silver and Space Gray after nearly a decade, while desaturating its Rose Gold into 'Starlight' and introducing an off-black 'Midnight' that is really just Space Gray with the brightness slider pushed deep into the darker side sent me into a hot take tailspin a couple of years back from which I haven't recovered. The 13.8-inch Surface Laptop looks like everything the current MacBook Air design should have been, but isn't. 

Besides the Sapphire colorway, you can opt for other colors too, including Dune, Platinum, and Black. The latter two are fairly bog-standard for Windows laptops these days (and are the only two color options for the 15-inch Surface Laptop model, unfortunately). However, the Dune colorway offers a warm, peachy aesthetic to the device that is also attractive and different, while not being as attention-grabbing as the Sapphire is.

It's not all about the color though. 

The touchscreen display, which you can get in either 13.8-inches or 15-inches, is gorgeous to look at, offering vibrant colors thanks to its wide sRGB color coverage. How much of the sRGB gamut it captures won't be clear until we fully test the Surface Laptop, so we'll just have to wait until we can get our hands on it to see for ourselves.

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A Microsoft Surface Laptop at Microsoft's Copilot Plus PC event

(Image credit: Future / John Loeffler)
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A Microsoft Surface Laptop at Microsoft's Copilot Plus PC event

(Image credit: Future / John Loeffler)

In terms of ports, this thin-and-light laptop does a reasonable enough job offering two USB 4 Type-C ports with power and display out for up to three monitors running at 4K, a USB 3.1 Type-A port for legacy devices, a headphone jack, and if you opt for the 15-inch Surface laptop, you'll also get a microSD card slot.

As far as portability goes, the 13.8-inch Surface Laptop clocks in at just under 3 lbs (1.4kg) thanks to its anodized aluminum chassis, and is just under a foot long lengthwise, and 0.69-inches tall at its widest point along the back of the laptop. The 15-inch model is slightly heavier, longer, and taller at 3.67 lbs (1.66kg), 12.96-inches (329mm) in length, and 0.72-inches tall at its thickest point. 

A Microsoft Surface Laptop at Microsoft's Copilot Plus PC event

(Image credit: Future / John Loeffler)

Opening it up, the keyboard is very similar to a MacBook's, but not in a bad way. It was very comfortable to type on, and the trackpad proved snappy and responsive.

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A Microsoft Surface Laptop being shown at Microsoft's Copilot Plus PC Showcase

(Image credit: Future / John Loeffler)
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A Microsoft Surface Laptop being shown at Microsoft's Copilot Plus PC Showcase

(Image credit: Future / John Loeffler)

The webcam is Full HD, though it lacks a physical privacy shutter. This might be the one knock I have on this laptop's design, to be honest. This isn't a small issue: it's now 2024, and this should be a standard feature on any laptop at this point. Still, the image quality is quite good.

It will be very interesting to put the Surface Laptop and the MacBook Air together, as they could be in some stores, to see how the two match up head-to-head.

Microsoft Surface Laptop: Specs

Microsoft Surface Laptop: Performance

A Microsoft Surface Laptop being shown at Microsoft's Copilot Plus PC Showcase

The Surface Laptop powering three external 4K displays (Image credit: Future / John Loeffler)

There's only so much I can say about the performance of the Surface Laptop, since I wasn't allowed to run any benchmarks or install any apps on the device. However, I did get to play around where I could and the system felt very responsive in a way previous Windows on Arm notebooks didn't.

I also got to try my hand with Microsoft Paint's Cocreator tool to sketch out an image in combination with text prompting. The iterative steps are carried out remarkably swiftly for a laptop without a dedicated GPU, and the output wasn't terrible. 

Those who might be looking to illustrate documents or do some graphic design mock-ups will definitely find this feature useful. While I wasn't able to test any of this myself, the claimed 45 trillion operations per second (TOPS) performance of the Hexagon NPU is about 20% faster on paper than the brand-new Apple M4 chip, and 2.5x faster than the Apple M3 Max's NPU.

From what little I could glean from the available demos, on-device AI workloads do feel noticeably faster, but I won't be able to say for sure until we have the Surface Laptop in hand so we can test it.

A Microsoft Surface Laptop being shown at Microsoft's Copilot Plus PC Showcase

My doodling is on the left, the Cocreator interpretation is on the right (Image credit: Future / John Loeffler)

One thing that did catch my attention was Recall, Copilot's new ability to create a history of your on-device use. When I was fussing around with Cocreator in Paint to try and produce a space illustration with the text prompt "black hole sucking in a space station in a nebula" — along with a very crude sketch — Cocreator did an admirable job and came pretty close to what I was imagining (though it took its own liberties as well).

I clicked on the new Recall icon on the Windows 11 taskbar, which opens up a notification-like window on the taskbar that brings you right into Microsoft's latest tool to backtrack through your computing history. Here you can figure out what you did, what you saw, or what someone sent you, much like a web browser's history tracks the websites you visit for later revisiting if need be.

A Microsoft Surface Laptop being shown at Microsoft's Copilot Plus PC Showcase

(Image credit: Future / John Loeffler)

When I clicked that icon it brought up the Recall panel with the sketch I had put into Paint earlier in the afternoon. Since these were all fresh devices with clean installs, there wasn't a whole lot of other material in Recall just then, but as you use your PC, it'll fill up with snapshots of what you've done in the past, letting you go back through much like your browser history does now, just on a much grander scale. 

Now I'm an AI-skeptic for the most part, in that I feel that many of the current AI tools and systems are deeply problematic and unethical, but I actually don't have a problem with Recall. 

Yes, it's keeping track of everything you're doing, but it is on-device, and in a lot of ways it's a natural extension of your existing web history, File Explorer history, or any other number of similar tools. Once people get used to this feature, I expect that it will get some very heavy use, and I don't see that this will be as problematic as a lot of critics are making it out to be.

Microsoft Surface Laptop: Early verdict

I haven't been this excited about a laptop in a long time. No one was able to tell me anything about the performance of Qualcomm's Snapdragon X Plus or X Elite chips, and trust me, I asked. I asked them all. But one Microsoft representative at the showcase told me that they aren't just confident in the performance of these chips, they encouraged me to throw everything I had at them to see for myself.

I've heard PR reps say stuff like this before, and it usually comes with a level of bravado that is rather transparent. Everyone says that, even if we both know that it's bluster. That's not the vibe I got when they talked about the Surface Laptop. Not at all. It was something of a challenge or a dare, to me, to take my best shot at proving that the Surface Laptop wasn't as good or better than Apple's M3 or even M4.

The Surface Laptop is more stylish and interesting than anything Apple is doing right now beyond the iMac. It's as comfortable to use as a MacBook, it's as lightweight and portable, too, and it has industry-leading accessibility features built into it from the ground up in ways that Apple has just flat-out ignored in its hardware.

I won't know for many weeks whether Microsoft has managed to pull off all this, and so much will ride on whether it has genuinely fixed all of the issues with Windows on Arm that have prevented it from keeping pace with Apple these past four years, so it's too soon to pass judgment.

But when I was walking out of the press announcement and towards the showcase area on Monday, I passed two Microsoft employees hugging in celebration over this reveal, with one emotionally telling the other that "we finally got here." I keep thinking about that exchange I overheard, and I don't know yet where 'here' is, but I can't shake the feeling that a sea change is in the air.

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