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Both of Canon’s full-frame mirrorless cameras arrived with face tracking and eye detect autofocus (AF) capabilities. However, in use, the AF systems in the EOS R and the EOS RP weren’t quite class-leading, and were unable to keep up with the performance from a Sony or Panasonic full-frame mirrorless shooter.

Thankfully, Canon recognized this and has released firmware updates 1.4.0 and 1.3.0 for the EOS R and RP respectively, giving face tracking and eye detect AF on the two cameras a significant performance boost.

With the new update, both cameras will be able to lock onto a subject’s face and eye from further away than previously, although no specific details have been provided on how much this has improved. 

The cameras will also now be able to focus on and track smaller subjects, so keeping up with your playful puppy or tracking an antelope on your safari trip will be easier.

The biggest issue we faced during testing the two full-frame snappers was the significant lag between the AF system locking onto a subject and the appearance of the blue focus box on the viewfinder (or the rear display when using Live View). This update also takes care of that problem, with Canon promising that the lag has now been reduced.

The above video, although shared publicly back in August, demonstrates how the AF system on the Canon full-frame mirrorless cameras have improved, and that is when the software was still being developed.

In the case of the EOS R, a bug that saw the AF frame size remain static in Servo AF mode has now been fixed, and users should now be able to change the AF frame from small to ‘normal’, depending on the situation.

An EOS RP-specific update on version 1.3.0 sees a fix for “a phenomenon in which the main dial icon is not displayed when pressing the zoom in/out button while the image is playing”. So that would be in the review pane on the rear LCD, in case anyone missed earlier.

We haven’t tested the new firmware yet, and we’re unsure whether it can beat Sony’s topnotch AF performance, but we’re sure this will put Canon on par with the eye detect AF on the Nikon Z7 and Z6 that was rolled out as a firmware update in May.

The Canon firmware update for the two full-frame mirrorless cameras is available to download in some regions already – Canon websites for Australia, Japan, Mexico and France have links for download – although, at the time of writing, Canon UK and Canon USA had still not released the firmware. If you can be patient, it shouldn’t be too long before the update is rolled out globally.

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With the current ubiquity of social media, experts and companies alike have been looking into its potential negative impacts. One such area of concern is in the competitive nature of ‘counting likes’ and other such quantifiable interactions.

So far, Instagram, the Facebook-owned photo- and video-sharing platform, has already disabled the counter to show how many ‘likes’ an individual post receives in Canada, Australia, New Zealand, Japan, Ireland and Brazil.

As we discovered at the beginning of September, the social media giant is rolling out the same treatment to its primary Facebook platform, kicking things off in Australia where an increasing number of users will see the change take effect over the coming days.

Details of the change

Like with Instagram, users won’t be able to see the number of likes on other users’ content but they will be able to see it on their own posts. The same goes for other reactions, as well as video view counts.

As before, the argument for doing so is to reduce the grounds for bullying by way of comparing post engagement – a problem Facebook admits has affected users on both its primary and Instagram platforms.

It also aims to introduce a more organic method for exposing popular posts, forcing users to weigh in on them based on their merit alone rather than the existing number of interactions.

At this stage, the changes are only being trialled in Australia, with some users already seeing the change and the rest of the country to follow.

There’s no indication of how long the trial will last before a decision is made to either roll the change out globally or remove it altogether, but it’s worth noting that the Instagram trial has thus far been running since late April and shows no sign of stopping.

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Amazon announced a passel of new Echo devices yesterday, but the $30 Echo Glow is the first device in the ever-expanding family that doesn’t have Alexa onboard.

Amazon doesn’t always do the right thing the first time, but it does seem to learn from its missteps. The company has endured withering criticism from groups such as the Campaign for a Commercial-Free Childhood, which accused the company of violating the Children’s Online Privacy Protection Act (COPPA) by retaining recordings of children’s conversations with its Alexa digital assistant (via its Echo Dot Kids Edition smart speaker). Amazon made several announcements yesterday related to new ways Echo owners can manage and delete their conversations with Alexa, but the child-oriented Echo Glow night light avoids the whole problem by leaving the microphone out.

To be clear, kids—and parents—will still be able to use the Echo Glow by summoning Alexa, but they’ll need to do so with the Alexa mobile app or a separate Alexa-compatible smart speaker. The speaker won’t need to be in the same room as the Glow, however, just on the same home network.

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The multi-colored LED fixture can also be turned on and off with the tap of your fingertip on its dome-shaped lens. The Glow’s 100-lumen LED can be dimmed, tuned to any color of the rainbow, or cycle through all the colors. It can also operate based on routines, such as Campfire mode, which will flicker orangish lights, or Dance Party, in which it will perform like a disco light machine while an Echo speaker plays music (sadly, the light changes will not be in time with the music).

There’s also a countdown routine that has the light dim over time to help little ones fall asleep, and there’s a wake-up routine that has the Glow slowly light up to help them get out of bed in the morning. Visual timers promise to help kids stay on task (during reading time, for example) or to let them know when playtime is over.

The Echo Glow is available for pre-order now. Amazon expects to begin shipping the device on November 20, in time for the holidays.

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The company responsible for designing Neil Armstrong’s headset as he stepped onto the Moon has announced a fresh new lineup of earbuds and headphones, made with phone calls and athletes in mind.

Four new entries into the BackBeat range have been revealed, three of which fall into the sports-centric Fit range with the fourth being a premium product that finally brings the brand’s much-loved BackBeat Pro line to the true wireless world.

BackBeat Pro 5100

While it seems like every audio company has had a crack at the premium true wireless market so far, Plantronics has been notably absent until now.

With the launch of the BackBeat Pro 5100, the company is promising to bring its expertise in the voice-calling space to a market that suffers from lack of phone call quality due to the diminutive size of its products.

Despite their tiny and lightweight design, the Pro 5100 utilizes four noise-canceling mics and WindSmart technology in order to remove background noise and improve audio quality when on a call.

They come packing a 6.5-hour battery life on-board with an extra 13 hours in the relatively compact charging case, and each bud features a button that responds to both capacitive touch and clicking for twice as much control as most competitors.

Plantronics’ first foray into the premium true wireless game will set you back $170 (£160, AU$299) and you can have any color you like, so long as it’s black.

BackBeat Fit 3150 & 3200

For the sportier music lover, there’s the BackBeat Fit series. The Fit 3100 was released late in 2018, and a year later it’s getting a refresh in the form of the BackBeat Fit 3150.

Some of the main improvements over last year’s model include better connectivity, a full IP57 water and sweat resistance rating, and a boosted battery life – the Fit 3150 should last 8 hours by themselves with an extra 16 in the case.  

This new iteration features the same ‘Always Aware’ eartips that don’t create a seal like most traditional earbuds, but instead allow some external sounds in for the sake of safety when jogging or in other environments that require your attention.

If, however, you’re not keen on this style of tip, the BackBeat Fit 3200 offers the more traditional sealed type of ear-tip and modified drivers to better suit them. Typically, this means you’ll have a better bass response and improved audio quality all-round, but at the expense of hearing any ambient sound.

Whether you prefer to block out the world with the in-ear seal of the Fit 3200 or let in some ambient sound with the more open ear-tip design of the Fit 3150, both true wireless earbuds are available for $150 (£130, AU$249).

BackBeat Fit 6100

Another entry into the Fit series this time comes in the form of a pair of over-ear headphones – the BackBeat Fit 6100.

For those that don’t like to work out, jog or exercise with in-ear headphones but still want to pump their tunes, the Fit 6100 offers much of the same rugged design as the smaller counterparts in an entirely different form factor.

Packing 40mm drivers, an IPx5 sweat-resistance rating, a 24-hour battery life, and with a highly flexible headband that you can quickly cinch to tighten for more rigorous activities, the Fit 6100 looks ready to fill a void in the market for sports-friendly over-ear cans. 

This set of flexible workout cans will cost you $160 (£150, AU$299) and is available in black, grey, or camo color configurations. All four products are available from major retailers today.

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Excited for 5G? There’s been a lot of hype around the potential of the next wave of network speeds, and the repercussions of exponentially faster transmission speeds for data. When it comes to 5G’s impact on VR, though, Oculus CTO John Carmack isn’t holding his breath.

Addressing the congregation of developers, press, and VR enthusiasts gathered at the OC6 (Oculus Connect 6) conference in San Jose, Carmack stated that “We always get asked about 5G, how is 5G is going to impact VR. And that mostly comes from [people working] in 5G who want some awesome, magic hook for why people should want 5G.”

Carmack adds that 5G providers are “in the tough situation of trying to make it seem different and new, but all they have is more bandwidth.”

Carmack acknowledges the improved data speeds and how that could improve video streaming, saying that “You could lean in to it and have really awesome and immersive video streaming. But [5G] doesn’t have a unique quality to it; it’s just a better pipe.”

Hold your horses

It’s an interesting take from the Oculus CTO, who has been a high-profile face for the burgeoning VR industry, not least because of his history at Id Software and hand in creating such long-running video game franchises such as Doom, Quake, and Rage.

There has been a lot of hype around the potential of 5G on VR, with Qualcomm predicting a 10 times decrease in latency over 4G, and Sol Rogers, CEO of REWIND telling TechRadar that “the graphical and computational power available to create amazing experiences for all of us will increase exponentially.”

But we suppose Carmack’s point still stands, in that 5G isn’t necessarily going to change the kinds of experiences on offer, so much as enable them to be more consistent and stable.

Carmack seems more interested in the hardware advancements that are possible, such as the introduction of hand-tracking for the Oculus Quest, or improvements in resolution or today’s quite basic forms of haptic feedback that can materially change the function and capability of VR hardware. (He tells developers in the crowd that “You need to be just smacking [users] in the hand with the haptics if you want them to appreciate it.”)

With 5G still relatively new, its applications are still in early use, but it’s clear that not everyone agrees it’s the huge technological overhaul others think it is.

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