SV Staff

If you’re already paranoid about always-on smart speakers eavesdropping on conversations, brace yourself: Researchers in the U.K. have discovered a security flaw in Amazon Echo smart speakers sold in 2016 that enable them to be turned on without summoning “Alexa,” according to a report in The Telegraph.

We call it a phone and carry it with us everywhere we go but let’s be honest we mostly use our smartphones for everything but making a call. This remarkable pocket computer would have been unfathomable to Pacific Bell lineman Ralph Eric Knudsen, who made the final splice of the transcontinental telephone line in Wendover Nevada on the Nevada/Utah border 103 years ago in the early summer of 1914.

Onkyo and Pioneer have announced the availability of a firmware update that activates DTS Play-Fi wireless multi-room audio capability on several products.

The month of July brought us additional fireworks in the form of seven products worthy of Sound & Vision’s Top Pick designation — ranging from a unique in-wall subwoofer and cost-no-object speaker system to high-end headphones that promise a Utopian experience and a hi-res-capable AV receiver that can be had for $600. Will one of these make your late summer shopping list?