This week on The CultCast: An honest look at Super Mario Run; we review better-sounding AirPods alternatives; the cool new stuff in the iOS and tvOS updates; and we reveal the hands-down best TV shows of 2016!
My rough transcript:
this is what they're calling hearables, the hearables revolution
iqbuds, from nuheara, they are fully wireless, one in each ear, and they sound awesome.
they do, they sound great, the thing that makes them different, they arent dumb plugs.
these things are actually designed so that you can hear other things around you.
i.e. i want to hear 80% my music, 20% the bus that's about to kill me while im about to cross the sidewalk
oh interesting, so they actually pump in some of your ambient audio? yeah
they are definitely going for almost all of us with some hearing loss of some sort - from just getting older, listening to 25 years of rock music (laughter).
this was a big hit crowdfunding thing on indiegogo, one of the biggest problems for people with any sort of hearing loss - even just anyone these days - is you go to a restaurant and its basically like a warzone. its a cacophony and you're trying to talk to someone.
with these you can adjust things and its amazing you can hear people talking in a crowded restaurant.
all kinds of people could benefit from these things besides people who just want to sit in a bar and have a conversation. think about bartenders. i used to work in a bar and 'hey what do you want?" meant trying to read lips. its impossible cause its so loud.
i think these things are gonna be shipping to backers of their indiegogo campaign by the end of the year
they sound really good. i dont use the current earpods cause i dont like the way they feel in my ear. and that makes me think that i wont like the way airpods feel either.
these things sit in your ear. when i first tried these, they go in there, they are totally snug, totally comfortable, to me they are more comfortable than a lot of regular earbuds that ive worn.
im pretty jazzed about the wireless earbuds. the extra smart stuff the iqbuds have is pretty interesting to me. im somebody who has definitely gone into a restaurant and been unable to hear what is going on.
its a brave new world - the whole hearables thing. you're gonna be hearing about hearables.
what did you say these things were called again?
they're called IQBUDS - iqbuds by nuheara. ill put it in the show notes. they're fulfilling by the end of the year. and you just happened to get hooked up early. we got a little demo the other day.
im excited about wireless earbuds too - im ready to not have wires anymore. i think the convenience factor alone is gonna make it worth it.
NUH Price at posting:
9.7¢ Sentiment: Buy Disclosure: Held
(20min delay)