Google has reportedly been hard at work developing glasses with a built-in heads-up display (HUD) on one lens. The glasses reportedly look very similar to Oakley’s Thump sunglasses, which allowed users to load songs onto a small flash drive and listen to tunes through integrated ear buds. According to 9to5Google, the glasses will be equipped with “hardware near the equivalent of a generation-old Android smartphone,” which means we’ll likely see a 1GHz processor and internal storage in the 8GB to 16GB range. The glasses will also be capable of voice input and output according to the report, and they will be able to capture photos using a front-facing camera. A user may even be able to navigate through menu items by tilting his or her head, 9to5Google said. The pilot program for Google’s HUD glasses is expected to launch soon but the devices are reportedly still far from ready for a mass roll out.

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Following widespread complaints of excessive battery drain thought to be related to a time zone bug, iPhone 4S owners are now beginning to draw attention to a new iPhone bug. According to multiple threads on Apple’s support forum, hundreds of iPhone 4S users are experiencing an audio echo during voice calls when using a wired headset. Users across multiple wireless carriers with various iPhone 4S models report that audio quality on voice calls often depletes after a period of time, and the voice of the caller on the other end of the line begins to echo. BGR was able to independently confirm the echo bug on one of our iPhone 4S handsets. Read on for more.

“When using the Apple hands free headset with the phone during a call, I get an echo problem,” one iPhone 4S owner wrote in a thread on Apple’s support forum. “It does not occur immediately. It can vary from 30 seconds into a call and as far up to 9 mins in before it begins the annoying echo. If I unplug the headset it goes away but will return when I plug the headset back in.”

Multiple readers have contacted BGR via email complaining of the issue as well, which we then tested and confirmed. During our independent testing, we typically found that an echo developed between one and four minutes after starting a call, though some users report that voice calls remain echo-free for up to 12 minutes. We also found that the bug occurs while using Apple-branded wired headsets and third-party headsets alike.

Apple did not immediately respond to a request for comment.

Multiple iPhone owners across a number of forum threads have determined that a simple interim fix for the bug is to enable the handset’s speakerphone during a call once the audio begins to echo, and then to disable it. This effectively restarts the cycle, and call quality will return to normal for a period of time before the echo returns.

Earlier this month, HTC purchased a controlling stake in Beats Audio and a new phone called the Runnymede 2 could join the HTC Vigor as one of the first devices to offer Beats technology. According to a leaked spec sheet, the Runnymede 2 is equipped with a huge 4.7-inch WVGA Super LCD screen, a 1.5GHz Qualcomm Snapdragon MSM8255 processor, 16GB or 32GB of storage and “SRS surround sound with acoustic performance tuned by Beats.” It is also equipped with an 8-megapixel camera capable of recording 720p HD video, a 1.3-megapixel camera for video chats, Bluetooth 3.0, 802.11b/g/n Wi-Fi and support for 14.4Mbps HSDPA networks. According to the leaked specs, the Runnymede 2 will also come with a Beats Solo headset. Those headphones currently retail for about $179, so this certainly won’t be a cheap smartphone package.

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Apple’s iTunes Match service, which lets you store your entire music collection, including music you have ripped from a CD, or purchased or downloaded elsewhere, is now available for developers for testing. Apple’s iTunes Match service automatically scans your music library and checks your digital music files against Apple’s 18 million plus music library. If Apple has the song, you’re able to play it back at full quality, effectively transforming your library into an iTunes-approved one for only $25/year. Apple is giving developers a three-month extension on the normal 12-month subscription package for their troubles.

Sonos released a new sibling in their audio lineup recently, and it’s called the PLAY:3. You can think of it as a smaller PLAY:5 (what used to be called the S5), and it is definitely up to par with the level of quality that Sonos is known for. There isn’t an actual subwoofer, rather a tweeter and a couple mid-range speakers, though the unit does offer decent bass and low-end performance. You can also create a stereo pair with two PLAY:3 units if you’d like, using one for a left channel and one for the right channel to fill your entire room with audio. The fact you can add all kinds of music services like Spotify, Pandora, Napster, Rhapsody, Rdio, Last.fm, iheartradio and many more, including your local iTunes library, is straight up mind blowing — all your music in true Sonos fashion is at your fingertips, and it just works. At $299, the PLAY:3 makes jumping into a Sonos setup relatively inexpensive, and a setup consisting of a few PLAY:3 units and PLAY:5 units can really create the perfect music listening experience in your home.

After facing criticisms from the professional community over several changes in Final Cut Pro X, Apple has updated its website with a new frequently asked questions page that explains the changes and, in some cases, why they were made. In response to the question, “Can I import projects from Final Cut Pro 7 into Final Cut Pro X?” Apple explains that “Final Cut Pro X includes an all-new project architecture structured around a trackless timeline and connected clips.” Due to these changes, there’s no way to bring old files into the new software without losing or changing some of your data. That said, Apple did note that Final Cut Pro 7 will work with OS X Lion and that users can continue to use it after installing Final Cut Pro X. Similarly, Apple noted that Final Cut Pro X will support “great” multicam editing in the next major release. It will also add the ability to export XML files. An update allowing the ability to add metadata tags to audio clips will also be issued this summer, too.

[Via Mac Rumors]

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Dolby announced on Wednesday that it has filed patent infringement lawsuits against Waterloo, Canada-based Research In Motion in the U.S. and in Germany. The suit seeks the recovery of financial damages resulting from RIM’s infringing products, and it also looks to halt sales of multiple BlackBerry devices. The patents in question cover “highly efficient digital audio compression technologies” that minimize storage space occupied by high quality audio files. Dolby claims that RIM uses these technologies in its BlackBerry smartphones and its PlayBook tablet, but it does not pay Dolby licensing fees as all other major manufacturers do. “Litigation was regrettably our last resort after RIM declined to pay for the use of Dolby’s technology,” Dolby EVP and general counsel Andy Sherman said in a statement. “We have a duty to protect our intellectual property.” Dolby’s full press release follows below.

Dolby Sues Research In Motion for Patent Infringement; Seeks Sales Halt Of Unlicensed Blackberry and Playbook Devices and Monetary Damages For Past Use

SAN FRANCISCO–(BUSINESS WIRE)–Dolby Laboratories (NYSE:DLB), through its wholly-owned subsidiary Dolby International, has filed patent infringement lawsuits in the U.S. and Germany against Research In Motion (NASDAQ: RiMM), a Canadian manufacturer of wireless handset and tablet devices. The lawsuits seek recovery of financial damages and injunctions to halt sales of the many RIM products that infringe Dolby’s patents.

The lawsuits explain that RIM infringes Dolby patents covering highly efficient digital audio compression technologies which allow manufacturers and consumers to provide and enjoy high quality audio while using extremely limited amounts of transmission and/or storage space for such audio. RIM employs Dolby’s patented technologies in its Blackberry smart phones and Playbook tablet devices, without having obtained licenses from Dolby, the lawsuits say. All other major smart phone makers have agreed to license the Dolby technologies which are the subject of this litigation.

Dolby’s patented technologies, which have been incorporated into the international standard known as High Efficiency Advanced Audio Coding (“HE AAC”), provide the core of HE AAC. Demonstrating the value of the Dolby technologies, HE AAC is widely used in consumer electronics devices such as smart phones, portable music players, and computer tablets to play back music and other digitized audio that has been compressed to less than 10% of its original digital file size.

“Litigation was regrettably our last resort after RIM declined to pay for the use of Dolby’s technology,” said Andy Sherman, executive vice president and general counsel of Dolby. “We have a duty to protect our intellectual property.”

The U.S. lawsuit was filed in the U.S. District Court for the Northern District of California. The German lawsuit was filed in the District Court of Mannheim in Mannheim, Germany.

Apple is giving its Apple Stores a “Apple Store 2.0″ makeover, according to a rumor from 9to5 Mac. Reportedly, the stores — with design input from Steve Jobs himself — will feature new designated “startup session” areas where, presumably, new customers will be taught how to use and setup their new products. Similarly, Apple will replace signs in its stores with interactive iPad units, and will offer more interactive product bars. Cupertino isn’t skimping on multimedia, either, and is said to be outfitting its Apple Store 2.0 destinations with new audio systems and much larger displays. Rumor has it that Apple may also deploy a new Apple Store application for iOS devices that will allow users to schedule appointments as they walk into the store. Sounds like it could be a nice way to celebrate Apple’s 10th retail anniversary.

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A friend of the site recently brought our attention to an interesting service called Murfie, which allows users to trade in old CDs for digital music downloads. After taking a trip down memory lane to a time when lining up outside Tower Records for a new album release at midnight was a regular occurrence, we decided to dedicate this week’s installment of Throwback Thursday to the Compact Disc. We typically reserve this segment for products that are dead and buried, but we thought we could make an exception since CDs definitely have one foot in the grave right now. CDs took music album revenue to the highest point it may ever reach back in 1999 when sales totalled a whopping $14.6 billion. Fast forward to 2010, however, and revenue from CD sales fell to just $3.36 billion — compare that to $2.2 billion in digital music sales in the same year. Of course the music industry as a whole is in the midst of a steep downward spiral that not even the advent of digital music has been able to impede. Only 13 albums went platinum in 2010, and only four albums sold 2 million copies or more last year. According to Nielsen SoundScan, 326.2 million albums were sold in 2010 — the lowest total the company has ever recorded in the 20 years it has been tracking album sales.

BGR’s Throwback Thursday is a weekly series covering our (and your) favorite gadgets, games, and software of yesterday and yesteryear.

Motorola has announced that there is a new software update available for the Verizon Wireless DROID Pro. Unfortunately the patch will not update your DROID Pro to Android 2.3 (Gingerbread), but it should reduce the frequency of UI lockups, offer improved audio during calls, and the following fixes:

Improved audio on voice calls.

Improved stability and performance.

User interface display now refreshes when user switches from GSM/UMTS communication to Global Mode.

Device now prepends 011 to Country Code to send SMS messages.

Global Mode no longer resets when connecting to a USB charger.

Visual Voice Mail now detects airplane mode while Wi-Fi is active.

Prompt return to full screen brightness after wake-up.

Upgraded Bluetooth firmware.

Improved interoperability with Microsoft Internet Application Gateway (IAG) configurations.

Device string format for Exchange changed to include device name and version number.

Upgrade to Google applications Release 7

For more information on the software update, hit up Verizon Wireless’ support forums located at www.verizonwireless.com/droidprosupport.

[Via Mobile Burn]

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We reviewed SRS’s iWOW 3D accessory for the iPhone, iPad and iPod touch three weeks ago and at that time, we were pretty much blown away by the device. Since then, nothing has changed — in a nutshell, we can no longer listen to music on our iDevices without the iWOW 3D plugged in and pumping. But hearing is believing, and SRS Labs was nice enough to send through a few units so we can share the love with our readers. That’s right, we’re giving away five SRS iWOW 3D Deluxe packages along with five SRS t-shirts. Here’s how to enter:

• Leave a comment below explaining why you should win an SRS iWOW 3D Deluxe pack and a t-shirt
• Follow @BGR on Twitter and also check out our Facebook page!

It’s that simple. This giveaway will run for one week until 11:59 p.m. on April 26th, and it is open to legal U.S. residents 18 and older. Winners will be notified directly via email, so please make sure you use a real email address when posting your entry in the comments section. SRS iWOW 3D Deluxe packages include one iWOW 3D accessory, five different colored face plates and a pair of in-ear headphones. T-shirts are available in large only. Good luck!

P.S. If you want to follow individual BGR staffers on Twitter, you can follow @boygenius, @andrewmunchbach, @robotodd and @zacharye

HTC has reportedly confirmed a pesky bug impacting the audio on video recordings captured with Verizon Wireless’ new HTC ThunderBolt smartphone. The bug, according to several ThunderBolt owners who have taken to forums to discuss the issue, causes the audio to be muffled on video files captured using the device’s camcorder function. The bug is intermittent, so only some video recordings are affected. According to enthusiast blog Android Central, HTC has acknowledged the issue and has stated that a fix is currently in the works. In the meantime, third-party video recorders are seemingly unaffected by the bug, so there are several alternatives that can be used until HTC releases its fix.

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If you had asked me a few weeks ago, I would have insisted that no ear buds in the sub-$1,000 price range sound better than my trusty Ultimate Ears TripleFi 10vi headset. I would have been wrong. I still insist that no buds I’ve tried sound better than my 10vi buds — and I have tried many, many pairs — but now I add the caveat, “when coupled with the iWOW 3D.”

I recently mentioned SRS in passing within my review of the HTC Arrive, and I’m certainly glad I did because the team at SRS saw my review and reached out to chat. They also decided to send me an iWOW 3D to play with, and to be frank, I was skeptical at best. Sound is a funny thing. Just about everyone fancies him or herself an expert when it comes to sound, it seems, and while I would deny it if you asked me on the street, I’m the same way. Deep down, I think of myself as a sophisticated audiophile with a discerning ear that can rival even the most experienced sound hounds. The truth is that I do have formal training as an audio engineer, but that hardly qualifies me as an expert. The sound quality of recorded music and the quality of headphones delivering said music, like so many other things in life, is largely a matter of opinion and personal preference. But it’s also science.

There are many factors that might make one pair of headphones better than another. The materials used, the components used, the shape, the fit and countless other factors combine to reproduce sound in a very unique way. While this topic is of considerable interest to me, it is also far too complex to cover here. What matters is that in the end, those of us who might refer to ourselves as audiophiles have put a great deal of time and effort into finding headphones that suit our particular taste. Once said headphones have been identified, we will almost certainly swear up and down that they’re “the best.”

I landed on the Ultimate Ears TripleFi 10vi headphones — at least where ear buds are concerned. For my taste, it doesn’t get any better unless you’re willing to part with an obscene amount of cash for custom buds (and I’m not). The unique shape fits perfectly in my ears and in my opinion, they reproduce music from a wide range of genres better than any other buds I’ve tried. With one or two exceptions, I find the difference between the 10vi buds and competitive offerings to be fairly substantial. As such, you can imagine my surprise when I discovered that a tiny $60 accessory could have such a dramatic impact on the sound delivered by my precious 10vi buds.

SRS describes the iWOW 3D as follows:

The iWOW 3D is a premium plug-and-play audio enhancement accessory for iPad, iPhone and iPod, designed to retrieve and restore audio cues that are buried within the original source audio, to provide an immersive three-dimensional sound stage with renewed depth and clarity, as well as improve bass response for any speaker configuration.

I describe the iWOW 3D as a swift kick in the buds.

Forgetting all the jargon, here’s what you need to know: the iWOW 3D lumps its magic into three realms of signal processing. The first is “wide surround.” This does exactly what it sounds like it should do — it effectively spreads out the sound and creates a wider audio image that is truly impressive. Think of it as the difference between a two-speaker sound bar and a real surround sound setup.

The second thing it does is fix bass frequencies and delivery. You might not have known the bass was broken on your current headphones, but it is. Apple offers some great EQ settings in iOS that help in some respects, but the results are often muddy and they never sound quite right with each different genre of music. The iWOW 3D’s bass enhancer makes bass sound massive, but not to the point where your speakers will be crackling. It seems like the perfect bass tweak and if you crank the volume up to about 75%, your head very well may explode — but in a good way.

Finally, the iWOW 3D finesses the high and mid-range frequencies to compensate for all that new-found bass. The result, when all three effects are combined, is sound more impressive than I ever thought I would hear coming out of a cell phone. It’s pretty remarkable. There’s a free companion app that allows users do enable and disable each of the three effects individually, but I could easily live without it. All three effects are on by default and that’s the way it should stay.

While there’s plenty to love about the iWOW 3D, there are also a few problems of varying degrees that I have with the gadget. First, there is a big white indicator light on the front of the unit that lets you know when it is enabled. Indicator lights are great, but this one is huge and annoying. A tiny white LED on the side would have been sufficient.

Slightly more important is the hiss. Like many powered audio devices, the iWOW 3D emits a low-level hiss when connected and turned on. It’s faint and you can’t hear it at all when music is playing, but it’s annoying at first during parts of a track that are silent or very quiet. It’s also annoying at first while watching movies or TV shows. I say “at first” because after a while, it gets to a point where you adjust to the sound and forget about it unless you intentionally concentrate on it.

Last but certainly not least is an Apple-imposed limitation: while connected through the iWOW 3D, in-line remotes and microphones will not work. This means you can’t pause or skip backward or forward with button clicks on your headset’s remote, and you can’t talk on the phone until you unplug the device. This is Apple’s fault, as the 30-pin dock connector does not make these functions available, but it’s a pretty big limitation nonetheless.

Those qualms aside, I’ve really enjoyed the iWOW 3D in the couple of weeks I have been using it. So far I’ve had three other people check out the device as well, and the results have been the same in each case. Eyes widen, jaws drop ever so slightly, and the listener is wowed.

But hearing is believing. The SRS iWOW 3D can be ordered from SRS’s online shop for $59.99.

During last week’s iPad 2 media event, Apple announced an update to the iOS version of its iMovie video editing application and introduced a new version of its GarageBand audio application for the iPad. Like the iPad 2, GarageBand and the updated iMovie were given a March 11th release date, but like iOS 4.3 the applications have made themselves available a little early. Both apps extend the multimedia capabilities of the iPad, with on-device video and audio viewing, editing, and sharing — the iPhone will not have access to GarageBand 1.0. Both applications are priced at $4.99 and available immediately in the App Store. 

Read [GarageBand] Read [iMovie]

According to a report filed by Bloomberg, Apple is working with record labels to make music tracks purchased via its iTunes Music Store more accessible. The report, which cites multiple anonymous sources, claims that the digital store creator wants to provide music purchasers with the ability to re-download tracks they’ve bought an unlimited number of times. The functionality would provide users with a permanent backup of purchased audio tracks and make getting that content onto multiple devices even easier. Purportedly, Apple is in talks with Universal Music Group, Sony Music Entertainment, Warner Music Group, and EMI Group. The report did not, unfortunately, specify a timeline as to when the deal could be completed. 

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