Without Exclusive Mode turned on, your computer may alter audio before it reaches your DAC by resampling it, mixing other system sounds in, and changing the volume. With the mode enabled, all other sounds from your computer are disabled so Spotify can deliver the highest quality and most accurate version of a song possible.
If you've ever used tools like PhonicMind or LALAL.AI, you know the drill: Upload your MP3. Wait in a queue. Pay for "credits" or high-quality downloads. Your file sits on someone else's server. For musicians, producers, or just karaoke fans, this is slow and privacy-invasive.
When professionals talk about how to remove background noise from video, they are really talking about improving the audio track of a video so the speaker's voice is clearer, more consistent, and easier to understand. Background noise refers to any unwanted sound that competes with the main voice, like air conditioning hum, office chatter, keyboard typing, traffic, or the low hiss created by recording equipment and compression. In video production, background noise removal is about reducing distractions so the listener can focus on the message.
These days, however, they don't just have to sound their best for real-life games. Gremlin Interactive's groundbreaking Actua Soccer in 1995, which featured BBC Sport duo Barry Davies and Trevor Brooking on the mic, was the first football video game to feature a running match commentary, albeit a basic one. What might have been a gimmick became part of an ongoing quest for realism, evolving over the decades through the long-running Pro-Evo Soccer and Fifa series of games, to EA FC and Konami's eFootball.
If you need to appear on camera during your call, make sure you know what's going on around you. Close that window if you're on a noisy street and flip on a light. PCMag's lead camera analyst Jim Fisher stresses that "Soft fill on your face is all that matters." Using a desk lamp with a shade should work, as long as you can avoid harsh, direct light. "If you've got big windows, face the windows so they light you up; otherwise the camera is going to struggle with exposure."
Transparent design has moved beyond gimmick territory into something genuinely compelling. When Nothing started showing off circuit boards through clear plastic, the tech world noticed. Now that aesthetic has matured into a legitimate design movement where form and function create something worth displaying. Audio equipment benefits particularly well from this treatment because the internals actually matter to the listening experience, turning technical components into visual storytelling.
Content delivery network provider Netskrt's "State of the ISP Survey" found that live sporting events are the global infrastructure's most daunting streaming challenge and that the biggest worry is traffic generated by American football. The long-term study - conducted between May and August 2025 - includes input from 55 global internet service providers (ISPs). Almost eight in ten survey respondents (78%) said sports cause them the most concern related to streaming reliability. Of these, 70% pointed to American football as the most challenging sport to deliver. International football (soccer) is quickly approaching similar levels.
The higher bitrate streaming option will let subscribers with an Xbox Series X or S, Xbox One X or Xbox One play their games at a higher resolution, provided the game and their display supports it. Microsoft previously only offered 1440p streams on select Fire TVs, LG TVs, Samsung TVs, web browsers and the Xbox PC app.
Starting on February 26 at 10 AM PT / 1 PM ET and finishing on March 2 at the same time, the Marathon server slam is an opportunity for players to get their hands on the game ahead of launch. It'll also allow Bungie to test its infrastructure before the full Marathon release date lands.
Spending more than 10 hours a week playing video games may begin to affect young people's eating habits, sleep quality, and body weight, according to new research led by Curtin University and published in Nutrition. The study surveyed 317 students from five universities across Australia. Participants had a median age of 20 years, placing the focus squarely on young adults during a key stage of habit formation.
The set is compatible with PC, consoles and mobile platforms through 2.4GHz, Bluetooth 5.3 or wired connection. The 950X has a pair of hot-swappable and rechargeable batteries that give 50 hours of playtime. It comes with a 6mm cardioid boom microphone that uses AI noise reduction to keep background sounds out of in-game communication. The headset will retail for $400 and will be available starting in April 2026.
Razer is announcing a new Wolverine V3 BT controller at CES 2026 that's designed for TVs. It's the world's first gamepad to use ultra-low latency Bluetooth, allowing it a sub-3ms response time, and the first accessory to launch under LG's "Designed for LG Gaming Portal" program. But since it's been developed in collaboration with LG, the Wolverine V3 BT can only achieve that ultra-low latency when used with compatible LG TVs running webOS 25.
CES 2026 has officially begun, and Razer is using this year's showcase to reveal a slew of AI-powered gadgets. One of the most intriguing debuts is Project Motoko, an AI headset powered by Snapdragon. Equipped with a pair of cameras near each earcup, it's capable of analyzing your surroundings and giving you audio feedback on what it sees. Razer says Project Motoko can provide all sorts of feedback to users.
At launch, Synapse Web will only support the Razer Huntsman V3 Pro keyboards, though Razer says more devices will be added down the line. Using any Chromium-based browser, users can make quick changes to key settings, apply Chroma RGB quick effects and manage on-board profiles. These profiles can then be viewed, edited and saved directly to the keyboard's device memory, so the configuration stays consistent when moving between PCs.
Despite the Bluetooth Special Interest Group (SIG) releasing the Bluetooth 6.2 core specification in Nov., you'll find that many headphones released as recently as this year still feature Bluetooth 5.3 or 5.4. Not every specification brings mind-blowing features, but there are connectivity, latency, and performance improvements to look forward to within the 6.0+ specifications. This year, several smartphones but fewer headphones debuted with Bluetooth 6.