Our review of the Beats Solo 4 headphones

Beats today announced the Solo 4, a $200 set that looks almost identical to the Solo 3 but has major upgrades on the inside.

The Solo 4 don’t have any active noise cancellation at this price point, and according to Billy Steele, who tested the new headphones, they sound a bit thin. However, the sound has been improved overall, and playtime has been bumped up to 50 hours (with USB-C), which is a significant improvement over its predecessor. They are available for purchase now.

Beats also surprised us with its new sub-$100 Solo headphones, wireless (non-ANC) headphones with 18 hours of playback. One focus is comfort, and ergonomic acoustic nozzles and vents help improve audio performance and reduce pressure on your ears. The Solo Buds will be available in June for $80.

— Matt Smith

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and punishing aggregators who save effort.

Instagram is overhauling its Reels recommendation algorithm to support and increase “original content.” It can significantly impact aggregator accounts and other accounts that primarily report on the work of other users. The company has also changed the way Reels is ranked to amplify smaller accounts.

The application’s changes around the “original content” can be very straightforward. Instagram said that when it detects two identical pieces of content, it will proactively replace the reposted Reels with the “original” clips in the recommendations. Aggregated accounts that “duplicate” others’ posts will be subject to more severe penalties. I’ve come across numerous accounts (usually via Reels) that just post and repost the same viral clip (which isn’t even original) for as long as I care to scroll. These changes may reduce the chance of encountering such lazy content.

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It is used to sell customer location data.

The Federal Communications Commission has slapped a collective fine of $200 million on the largest U.S. mobile carriers for selling their customers’ location information without consent. AT&T was ordered to pay $57 million, while Verizon was fined $47 million. Meanwhile, Sprint and T-Mobile face fines totaling $92 million for merging two years ago. Apparently, operators sold “real-time location information to data aggregators,” and the data ended up “in the hands of bail companies, bounty hunters, and other questionable actors.”

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But it’s more like a Polaroid photo.

Fujifilm’s Instax cameras have been around for a while, but the new Instax mini 99 released this month looks more like my X-T2 and other Fujifilm models than another plastic Polaroid camera. From a distance, it looks like an expensive digital camera, but it only costs $200. It also has modes and filters to customize your instant little photos. This flexibility combined with the low-profile appearance makes for an instant camera I’d probably actually buy (and use).

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