• This year's virtual Google Cloud Next conference showed that the cloud unit is trying to do some "myth busting" as it competes against Amazon Web Services and Microsoft, an analyst says.
• Google Cloud has struggled with being seen as less secure or less of a serious enterprise cloud player than its competitors, but it's trying to change that image by launching new security products and announcing big customers.
• Google Cloud is also continuing to launch multi-cloud products — like BigQuery Omni — as it works to highlight its strengths, while being friendly for customers that already use another cloud service.
• Visit Business Insider's homepage for more stories.

Google Cloud is trying to shatter a handful of perceptions about its services as it takes on rivals Amazon Web Services and Microsoft. 

Google Cloud's big developer conference was all about "myth busting" this year, says Maribel Lopez, founder and principal analyst of Lopez Research, referring to its virtual Next conference this week where it announced a variety of new products and customers. 

In particular, Google Cloud wanted to counteract the idea that it's less secure than competitors and not able to attract customers in heavily regulated industries, Lopez says. Currently, Google Cloud still trails behind AWS and Microsoft as it competes for a bigger slice of cloud market share. 

With a handful of announcements around giving customers the option to use multiple clouds, Google Cloud was also refuting that its commitment to multi-cloud is just "lip service," Lopez says. 

"Last year was more about whizzy innovation," Lopez told Business Insider. "This year was much more practical."

The three themes Google hammered away at, according to Lopez, were: "Why we're the most secure, why we're the most reliable, how we can do multicloud better."

Google has struggled with perceptions on data privacy

Over the years, Google has faced criticism for how it handles data privacy, and Lopez says that the handful of new security products Google Cloud announced this week could help distance it from Google's reputation.

For example, a security product called Confidential Computing will encrypt data while it's being processed.

"It really speaks to me that they have been struggling with the perception that they have poor security and, for some reason, data will be leaked if it's in Google Cloud or it will be used by Google," Lopez said. "That's a perception that has been propagated by competitors."

Google Cloud is trying to 'morph' itself into an 'enterprise grade player'

There's also the perception that established and regulated industries would not want to use Google Cloud, which the company counteracted by announcing a host of new customers in banking, automotive, and telecommunications, and more. 

When Google Cloud CEO Thomas Kurian took over the role, he announced that the company would triple its salesforce and focus on selling to specific industries. Google Cloud's new set of customers— including Deutsche Bank and Goldman Sachz — show that it's working to deliver on that promise.

Read more: Under Thomas Kurian, Google Cloud is announcing some heavyweight enterprise customers and it's a good sign for his ultimate ambitions

"They're still trying to morph themselves into an enterprise-grade player," Gartner vice president Sid Nag told Business Insider. "They're moving forward but still have a ways to go."

As part of this drive, Google Cloud also has been hiring new leaders to focus on those industries. For example, in May, it hired two new VPs of industry solutions: Lori Mitchell-Keller and George Nazi, who will focus on telecommunications, media, and entertainment. 

"Google is attempting more outreach for clients, purely in the interest of increasing their subscriber base,"  James Sanders of 451 Research (now a part of S&P Global Market Intelligence), told Business Insider. "They've hired away a lot of executives from companies to refocus their efforts on Google Cloud and that shows."

Google Cloud is taking a 'humbled approach' by allowing customers to use multiple clouds

Google Cloud wants to be at least the No. 2 cloud, and it's taking a "humbled approach" to get there, Nag says. Google Cloud is building capabilities for customers to use multiple clouds – even those of rival clouds like AWS and Microsoft. 

Last year, Google Cloud announced a hybrid cloud product called Anthos and this year it announced BigQuery Omni to run data analytics on multiple clouds. While it can be a lot of work for customers to completely switch from one cloud or another, many customers still have plenty of data they haven't moved to the cloud – and Google Cloud wants to jump in on this opportunity. 

New products like BigQuery Omni highlight Google's strengths, while being friendly for customers that already use another cloud service.

"Their strategy is to get in there with a non-threatening manner and highlight the capabilities where they shine: To land and expand," Nag said. "I think that's their best option."

Got a tip? Contact this reporter via email at rmchan@businessinsider.com, Signal at 646.376.6106, Telegram at @rosaliechan, or Twitter DM at @rosaliechan17. (PR pitches by email only, please.) Other types of secure messaging available upon request.

SEE ALSO: Trump's recent freeze on work visas horrified the tech industry. 16 top leaders who came to the US from around the world speak out on why they think it will 'make America less competitive'

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• Hackers may have tricked Twitter users into giving them more than $120,000 after taking over dozens of high-profile accounts in a colossal scam that rocked the platform Wednesday.
• The scam began after hackers hijacked the accounts of prominent people and companies including Barack Obama, Joe Biden, Jeff Bezos, Apple, Uber, Elon Musk, and Kanye West.
• They tweeted links to bitcoin addresses and told people they would match their donations, and hundreds of people appeared to send money — though it may be impossible to confirm whether the transactions were legitimate.
• Twitter eventually intervened by limiting some accounts' ability to post in an attempt to minimize the damage.
• Visit Business Insider's homepage for more stories.

Hackers put Twitter through a whirlwind on Wednesday, hijacking dozens of accounts and potentially making off with more than $120,000 in the process.

The hackers took over the accounts of a long list of high-profile individuals and companies, including: Barack Obama, Joe Biden, Jeff Bezos, Bill Gates, Elon Musk, Kanye West, Michael Bloomberg, Apple, Uber, and several major cryptocurrency exchanges.

The compromised accounts then tweeted out messages saying they were "giving back" to their communities and would match any donations made to various scam cryptocurrency wallets.

From there, hundreds of people appeared to take the bait — one wallet address posted widely received more than 350 transactions within a few hours. Business Insider identified at least three wallets mentioned in tweets by seemingly compromised accounts, but it's not clear that those were the only ones that received money.

Additionally, not every transaction sent to those wallets is necessarily the result of people being duped by Wednesday's Twitter scam. Hackers often artificially pump up cryptocurrency accounts with money ahead of time to make them seem more legitimate, so the account balances may overestimate how much the scam yielded.

Due to the anonymous nature of cryptocurrency, it will likely be difficult to determine how much money hackers ultimately made off with.

Twitter eventually stepped in Wednesday afternoon in an effort to minimize the damage, tweeting that it was "aware of a security incident impacting accounts on Twitter" and "investigating and taking steps to fix it."

Shortly afterward, many verified users — including some critical government and emergency services— reported that they were temporarily unable to tweet at all, and Twitter eventually followed with an update around 7:15 pm ET confirming that it had restricted some accounts' posting ability.

SEE ALSO: Law enforcement agencies are using a legal loophole to buy up personal data exposed by hackers

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NOW WATCH: How waste is dealt with on the world's largest cruise ship

• Airbnb CEO Brian Chesky told employees that the company is resuming preparations for an IPO, The New York Times first reported Wednesday and Business Insider confirmed.
• The company has said that it intends to go public sometime this year, but Bloomberg reported that the timeline could be pushed to 2021 as a result of the coronavirus pandemic.
• Airbnb, which was reportedly losing money even before the pandemic, saw business plummet as travel ground to a halt.
• But the company is also under pressure to go public from employees whose stock options could start expiring soon.
• Visit Business Insider's homepage for more stories.

Despite taking a major hit to its business during the pandemic, Airbnb is once again gearing up to go public, The New York Times first reported Wednesday and Business Insider confirmed.

"This is something I never would have imagined telling you," CEO Brian Chesky told employees, according to The Times.

Airbnb has said since last fall that it intends to go public sometime "during 2020," but Bloomberg reported in March that the company might push its target date back to next year due to coronavirus fears and massive economic fallout.

At the time, Airbnb's urban bookings had dropped as much as 96% in some cities since the virus halted global travel, and the Financial Times reported in early April that Airbnb had slashed its internal valuation to $26 billion — a 16% drop from the company's previous valuation of $31 billion, according to PitchBook. In May, the company cut its workforce by 25%— 1,900 jobs — in an attempt to cut costs.

Airbnb has shown some small signs of a rebound since then, reporting in June that bookings had surged as some travel resumed, but still has a long road to recovery — let alone profitability, with The Wall Street Journal reporting in April that Airbnb lost $674 million in 2019.

Airbnb is also under pressure from employees, with The New York Times reporting last year that some could see stock options expire starting this November if the company doesn't go public by then. 

But with COVID-19 cases surging again in many states, the realities of the pandemic could still hold Airbnb back.

"We're not committing to going public this year, but we're not ruling it out, either," Chesky told employees. "When the market is ready, we will be ready, because Airbnb was down but we were not out."

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• Twitter said Wednesday that a "coordinated social engineering attack" was behind a hack that compromised high-profile accounts.
• The attack "successfully targeted some of our employees," the company said, giving hackers access to "internal systems and tools."
• The company appeared to discount allegations that the attack was knowingly enabled by one of its employees, as one outlet had claimed.
• A Twitter spokesperson told Business Insider that the company's "investigation continues and we hope to have more to share there soon."
• Visit Business Insider's homepage for more stories.

Twitter announced Wednesday that hackers had targeted its employees, enabling them to access "internal systems and tools" that led to the compromise of some of the most popular accounts on the social network.

The company said a "coordinated social engineering attack" had "successfully targeted some of our employees." This appears to contradict with a report from Motherboard that alleges that the hack was knowingly enabled by one of its workers. The outlet's claim was based on an interview with a purported hacker, and it has not been confirmed.

Asked about the Motherboard story, a Twitter spokesperson told Business Insider that the company's "investigation continues, and we hope to have more to share there soon."

The attack began Wednesday with several high-profile accounts, from Joe Biden to Kim Kardashian, posting links to a Bitcoin account. Users were asked to send the account money — and promised they would receive twice as much back.

The perpetrators claim they made more than $118,000.

The hack revealed that Twitter employees enjoy a good deal of control over users' accounts — raising questions about security beyond what a user can access. The internal tools that were exploited allow employees to both suspend accounts and reset the email addresses associated with them.

"Internally," the company said Wednesday, "we've taken significant steps to limit access to internal systems and tools while our investigation is ongoing."

In 2017, a contractor working with Twitter's Trust and Safety division was able to shut down President Donald Trump's account for 11 minutes after it was reported. And in 2019, two former Twitter employees were charged by the Department of Justice with spying for Saudi Arabia by mining personal information from accounts.

Alex Stamos, director of the Stanford Internet Observatory, gave The New York Times several theories for how the hackers could have accessed the account and said that it appeared to have come internally from Twitter's system, as opposed to users' individual accounts being compromised through a password.

"It could have been much worse," Stamos said. "We got lucky that this is what they decided to do with their power."

Have a news tip? Email this reporter: cdavis@insider.com

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• Swedish electric scooter startup VOI has raised a $30 million extension to its previous $85 million Series B round as part of its bid to take on its increasingly well-funded competitors.
  
• Voi's funding extension comes on the back of surge in activity for e-scooter companies following coronavirus.
• Voi says it was profitable in June, and hopes to be consistently profitable in 2022.
• "This is a capital-intensive market and we want to ensure we are sustainable in the long term," the company's cofounder and CEO, Fredrik Hjelm, previously told Business Insider in an interview. 
• Visit Business Insider's homepage for more stories. 

European scooter startups are battling to expand as city dwellers coming out of lockdown look for an alternative to public transport.

Swedish scooter startup Voi, founded in 2018, has just raised a $30 million extension to its 2019 $85 million Series B round as it looks to launch in the UK.

The company claims that it was profitable for the month of June following an initial downturn in activity during pandemic-induced lockdowns in Europe.

The fresh cash takes the company's total funding to $165 million.

Voi has expanded from its base in Stockholm to more than 40 cities in 10 European countries. People have taken 20 million rides on Voi scooters in the last two years and the startup has 4 million registered users, with 100,000 downloads in the UK already, according to a company statement on Wednesday. 

"This is a capital-intensive market and we want to ensure we are sustainable in the long term," the company's cofounder and CEO, Fredrik Hjelm, previously told Business Insider in an interview. "We've grown a lot and have achieved profitability in some cities and want all our operations to be profitable in the next two years."

Vostok New Ventures led the new round. Previous investors including Balderton Capital, Creandum, Project A, JME Ventures, Raine Ventures, Kreos Capital, Inbox Capital, Rider Global, and Black Ice Capital participated in the round. It comes hot on the heels of a similar funding extension for rival scooter startup Tier, which raised $23 million in June. 

The company claims that it saw its revenues grow fifty-fold during 2019 while it increased headcount from 31 at the end of 2018 to 409 staff by the end of 2019. 

European scooter companies have raised significantly less than their Silicon Valley rivals but are confident of coming out on top. US firms including Bird and Lime have benefited from huge tranches of venture capital funding, raising $623 million and $935 million respectively, per Crunchbase data.

Check out VOI's pitch deck below:

SEE ALSO: A Lime investor predicts only 2 or 3 scooter players will win after COVID-19, meaning there's going to be a major crunch in Europe

• London fintech challenger bank Monzo has launched a premium account service called Monzo Plus. 
• This is the startup's second attempt at paid accounts following a botched launch effort in 2019. 
• The service costs £5 ($6) a month and comes with a new blue holographic debit card. 
• Visit Business Insider's homepage for more stories. 

Challenger bank startup Monzo has relaunched paid accounts as the unicorn startup seeks to diversify its revenue and push towards profitability. 

The Monzo Plus service will cost £5 ($6) a month and comes with additional features to entice regular account holders to upgrade.

Monzo Plus account holders will receive a new blue holographic debit card, and will be able to view and move money between up to 13 bank and credit card accounts in the Monzo app.

They can also shop online more securely with virtual cards, and will receive monthly credit score updates.

Monzo Plus also offers 1% interest on balances of up to £2,000. Monzo Plus users will also be able to withdraw £400 fee-free while abroad, up from the £200 monthly limit on standard account holders.

The startup bank, founded in 2015, offers current accounts to more than 4 million customers. It provides a number of financial services to consumers, ranging from a current account to saving pots and access to loans. The startup has predominantly relied on the wild popularity of its "hot coral" debit cards and easy-to-use app to win new customers, over conventional marketing.

It originally launched paid accounts in April 2019, but shelved the rollout just five months later after a poor reception from customers. 

The product was not fully complete at its time of launch. When it was withdrawn, a Facebook group called "Monzo stole our money" contained nearly 1,000 members who complained that their accounts had been frozen without warning, according to Finextra.

A relaunch was originally planned for May of this year but was delayed due to the coronavirus pandemic. The outbreak also saw the startup lay off up to 80 staff and sign a new $76 million funding round from investors at a 40% valuation drop. 

"With this version of Monzo Plus we went back to basics and re-examined how we built things," Mike Hudack, chief product officer at Monzo, said in a release. "We thought really hard about why people love Monzo and listened to our customers and community."

Competitor Revolut has had a premium service for a number of years with metal cards, trading capabilities, and travel packages part of its tiered offering. Germany-based neo-bank N26 also offers premium services and a metal card as part of its business accounts. 

All eyes on Monzo's bottom line

The launch of paid accounts will be Monzo's first big new product push since its founder and CEO Tom Blomfield stepped down from the job in May. He was replaced by former US CEO TS Anil. 

The company's revenue took a hit during the UK's COVID-19 lockdown, according to source with knowledge of the matter, but has since returned to near pre-pandemic levels.

Monzo officially reported a net loss of £47.2 million ($61 million) in the year to 28 February 2019.

Blomfield has previously warned the bank will continue to lose money, but the firm aims to become cashflow positive by the third quarter this year.

The startup is hoping to break into the US and has applied for a banking license, a process which could take up the 18 months.

When interviewed by Business Insider in February, Blomfield was bullish about the company's move to the US and said the bank was adding 200,000 customers a month. 

The startup has raised £385 million ($487 million) to-date.

SEE ALSO: Unicorn challenger bank Monzo has closed a $76 million funding round at a 40% valuation drop

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Good morning! This is the tech news you need to know this Thursday.

1. Dozens of high-profile Twitter accounts, including Obama, Biden, Elon Musk, Jeff Bezos, and Kanye, were hacked in a colossal bitcoin scam. The scammers may have made off with as much as $120,000.
2. Twitter says the bitcoin hackers gained access to its "internal systems and tools."The company appeared to discount allegations that the attack was knowingly enabled by one of its employees, as one outlet had claimed.
3. Apple won an appeal in an EU court against paying $15 billion in back taxes to Ireland. The EU ordered Apple to cough up the tax in 2016 after ruling that the firm had benefited from illegal state aid from Ireland, a low-tax regime.
4. Airbnb has reportedly told employees it's resuming plans to go public as business slowly bounces back. Airbnb, which was reportedly losing money even before the pandemic, saw business plummet as travel ground to a halt.
5. The US will impose visa restrictions on certain employees of the Chinese telecom giant Huawei, Secretary of State Mike Pompeo announced on Wednesday. Pompeo said the US is eyeing other tech firms as well, "whether it's TikTok or any of the other Chinese communications platforms, apps, infrastructure."
6. The US Senate will consider banning TikTok on federal employees' phones. The US Senate subcommittee dealing with issues of homeland security is expected to vote on the bill at a hearing on July 22.
7. Clearview AI, the facial recognition company that scraped billions of faces off the internet, was hit with a data privacy complaint in Europe. The complaint was filed by Zoé Vilain, the chief privacy and strategy officer at privacy app Jumbo, after she discovered her face was in Clearview AI's database.
8. $1.6 billion challenger bank Monzo has launched paid premium accounts with an eye on profitability. Monzo Plus offers customers 1% interest and the ability to withdraw more cash abroad among other benefits.
9. Swedish electric scooter startup Voi has raised an $30 million in funding, an extension to its previous $85 million Series B round. Voi says it was profitable in June, and hopes to be consistently profitable in 2022.
10. PlayStation 5 production reportedly doubled as demand for gaming is surging due to coronavirus lockdowns. The reported increase amounts to 10 million PlayStation 5 consoles before March 2021.

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• Netflix on Thursday smashed Wall Street expectations for subscriber growth during its second quarter, but forecasted slim gains in the third quarter, as it expects the impact of the coronavirus pandemic and stay-at-home orders to fade.
• The streaming company added 10.1 million paid streaming subscribers during the second quarter, and forecasted 2.5 million additions for the third quarter.
• Shares of Netflix fell as much as 12% in after-hours trading following the news.
• In a major move, Netflix also appointed its longtime content chief— the architect of its originals strategy — Ted Sarandos as co-CEO, alongside existing CEO and cofounder Reed Hastings.
• Visit Insider's homepage for more stories.

Netflix on Thursday smashed Wall Street expectations for subscriber growth during its second quarter, but forecasted slim gains in the third quarter, as its anticipates the impact of the coronavirus pandemic and stay-at-home orders to fade.

The streaming-video company added 10.1 million paid streaming subscribers in the second quarter, compared with the 8.3 million Wall Street was expecting. 

In the third quarter, Netflix forecasts it will add just 2.5 million paying members, well below the 6.8 million it brought in a year earlier.

Shares of Netflix were down 12% in after-hours trading on the news. 

In April, Netflix posted the biggest quarterly subscriber bump in its history as people spent more time at home amid the coronavirus pandemic. The company's stock had been riding high since then, closing at a peak of $548.73 on July 10.

Netflix beat Wall Street's estimates for three of the four global regions it breaks outs, with the exception of the Europe, Middle East, and Africa region.

The company's revenue rose 25% year over year to $6.15 billion during the second quarter, beating Wall Street estimates. But Netflix missed on profit, reporting earnings of $1.59 per share.

In a major move, Netflix also appointed its longtime content chief— the architect of its originals strategy — Ted Sarandos as co-CEO, alongside existing CEO and cofounder Reed Hastings.

"Ted has been my partner for decades," Hastings said in a statement. "This change makes formal what was already informal — that Ted and I share the leadership of Netflix."

The pandemic slowed down production globally, but you wouldn't yet know it from Netflix's release slate under Sarandos.

The streamer released in the second-quarter originals like the film "Extraction," which it says is its most popular movie ever, and series like "Too Hot to Handle," "#BlackAF," "Space Force," and new seasons of "Money Heist" and "The Politician."

Netflix previously said it had finished filming most of its programming for 2020 before the pandemic paused productions.

The company also said in its letter to shareholders on Thursday that it expects to break even on free cash flow this year or even be free cash flow positive, thanks to the production stoppages. It was an area of the balance sheet Netflix had been working to strengthen amid rising content costs. The company previously forecasted free cash flow would be -$1 billion or better this year, after ballooning to -$3.3 billion in 2019. That said, Netflix said to expect free cash flow to dip into the red again next year.

Here were the key numbers from Netflix's Q2 earnings:

• Q2 revenue: $6.15 billion, versus Wall Street estimates of $6.09 billion and Netflix's forecast of $6.05 billion.
• Q2 earnings per share (GAAP): $1.59, versus Wall Street estimates of $1.82 and Netflix's forecast of $1.81.
• Q2 global paid subscriber growth (paid net additions): 10.09 million, versus Wall Street estimates of 8.27 million and Netflix's forecast of 7.5 million.
  
  • 2.94 million in the US and Canada region, versus Wall Street estimates of 983,530.
  • 2.75 million in the Europe, Middle East, and Africa region, versus Wall Street estimates of 3.30 million.
  • 1.75 million in the Latin America region, versus Wall Street estimates of 1.61 million.
  • 2.66 million in the Asia-Pacific region, versus Wall Street estimates of 2.44 million.
• Q3 global paid subscriber growth estimate (paid net additions estimate): 2.5 million, versus Wall Street estimates of 5.25 million.

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• Great speakers don't just look good — they bring your audio experience to a new level.
• Speakers are available in a variety of sizes to suit different listening and budget needs.
• Popular speaker types include floorstanding speakers, bookshelf speakers, smart speakers, Bluetooth speakers, and computer speakers. 
• Thanks to their stylish design and room-filling audio performance, the Klipsch RP-8000F are our top pick for the best floorstanding speakers you can buy.
• For more speaker recommendations, check out our regularly updated roundup of the best speaker deals.

A great speaker or speaker system can transform your listening experience. Most people don't realize how much depth and clarity they're missing from their music until they hear it on a pair of speakers that accurately deliver all frequencies.

Of course, different speakers are better suited to different situations. You don't want to buy small computer speakers to use with your TV, and you probably don't want to use home theater tower speakers in an office. That, however, is why we've put together this guide: To help you find the best speakers for your situation.

There are a few things to consider when you're buying speakers. As mentioned, the first thing you'll want to figure out is what you're going to be using the speakers for — whether they're for casual listening, for more critical music playback, or for use as a digital assistant. This will also help determine whether you want a stereo pair for the best listening experience, or a single speaker solution geared more toward smart features and less demanding audio needs. 

You'll also want to decide where you plan to use your speakers. This will help narrow down what size fits best for your room or whether you need a portable speaker model with an integrated battery. Your wireless connectivity needs should also be considered. Built-in Bluetooth and Wi-Fi are increasingly common in certain speaker models, particularly smaller ones, making it easy to stream music from a mobile device. Digital assistants, like Amazon Alexa and Google Assistant, are even integrated on some speakers for convenient smart home use.

Amplification is another important factor to think about. Smaller speakers designed for wireless playback or for use with computers can typically be powered by simply plugging them right into an outlet or charging their batteries. Many bookshelf speakers and floorstanding speakers, however, require a separate amp or receiver unit to power them.

Last but not least, you'll want to think about how much money you're willing to spend. When it comes to home audio, you often do get what you pay for. If you can afford more expensive speakers, you're likely to get a better overall sound quality. That said, there are some real gems that sound a whole lot more expensive than they cost.

Generally speaking, if you're most interested in audio performance, you'll want to stick with larger floorstanding and bookshelf speaker pairs, since they are are able to deliver more bass and a larger frequency range than smaller speakers. Meanwhile, those who favor smart features and portability, will likely be better off with a simple one-speaker solution.

Whether you want a pair of full-fledged home theater towers for more critical listening, or a portable smart speaker for casual use, we've selected the best speaker options on the market for a variety of needs and budgets.

Here are the best speakers you can buy:

• Best floorstanding speakers: Klipsch RP-8000F
• Best Bluetooth speaker: Sonos Move
• Best smart speaker: Amazon Echo (Third Generation)
• Best bookshelf speakers: Q Acoustics 3020i
• Best computer speakers: Klipsch R-51PM

Prices and links are current as of 07/16/2020. Replaced Q Acoustics 3020 with the upgraded Q Acoustics 3020i model as our pick for best bookshelf speakers. We renamed our first category to best floorstanding speakers to better distinguish it from our other categories. Updated by Steven Cohen.

SEE ALSO: The best home theater systems you can buy

The best floorstanding speakers

The Klipsch RP-8000F speakers offer a stylish design, plenty of bass, and a detailed, clear high-end.

If you're simply looking for a versatile pair of floorstanding speakers equally suited for home theater and music listening, then the Klipsch RP-8000F floorstanding speakers are the ones to get. Boasting a beautiful design, excellent sound quality, and a competitive price for their performance, the Klipsch RP-8000F speakers are a great choice for both audiophiles and the average listener alike.

Perhaps one of the best things about these speakers is their design. They have a black wooden casing along with copper highlights on the woofers that scream premium, and they should look right at home in any modern-looking house.

Of course, the most important aspect of the speakers is how they sound, and they sound awesome. Each speaker incorporates a 1 inch titanium lts vented tweeter with hybrid tractrix horn, along with dual 8 inch spun copper cerametallic woofers.

These drivers result in plenty of bass for most listening needs, so you won't have to invest in a subwoofer unless you really want earth-shattering low frequency extension. There's also a ton of clarity. The high-end of these speakers is what really makes them sound above average in the home audio world.  

The speakers have been very well-received by reviewers. High-Def Digest gave them a 4.5/5, and noted that while the RP-8000F can't quite live up to Klipsch' more expensive RF-7 III speakers, the performance they offer is very impressive considering their much more affordable price. 

With that said, though the RP-8000F are competitively priced for floorstanding speakers in this performance range, they're still far from cheap. They're also much larger than bookshelf speakers, so you'll need to make sure your room has the necessary real estate to work with. It's also important to note that the speakers do require a separate amp or receiver for power.

If you have the budget and space, however, the Klipsch RP-8000F offer very impressive value for anyone who wants a pair of high quality stereo speakers ideal for music and movies.   

Pros: Beautiful design, excellent sound quality, solid bass without a separate subwoofer, great for movies and music

Cons: Pricier than smaller speakers, large size can limit placement, requires a separate receiver or amp

The best Bluetooth speaker

The Sonos Move not only provides excellent sound-quality, but it also looks great, offers 10 hours of battery life, and includes plenty of smart features.

Sonos has been building some incredible Wi-Fi speakers over the past few years, but now it has finally entered the portable Bluetooth speaker game with the Sonos Move. Like other Sonos smart speakers, the Sonos Move offers integrated access to Alexa and Google Assistant, boasts an awesome design, and allows you to integrate it with the rest of the Sonos ecosystem.

On top of all that, the Move also offers two features that you won't find on other typical Sonos models: Bluetooth and a battery. Like its name suggests, the speaker is specifically designed to be used both at home and on the move. The unit has a charging dock, which is where you can use it when you're at home. For portable use, you can then take it off the dock and bring the Move outside wherever you go. The speaker is rated for 10 hours of battery life, so it should easily get you through a full day of use.   

Perhaps the best thing about the Sonos Move is how great it sounds. The speaker offers plenty of bass response, along with a well-tuned mid range, and solid detail in the high end. The speaker offers Sonos' awesome Trueplay tech, which automatically tweaks the frequency response based on your environment. 

The Sonos Move isn't perfect. For example, it is a little expensive for a Bluetooth speaker, and it's a bit bulky for on-the-go use. Not only that, but you can't use Google Assistant or Alexa in Bluetooth mode, since they require Wi-Fi connectivity. Still, despite those downsides, the speaker has gotten some great reviews — TechRadar gave the speaker an impressive 4.5/5, while CNET gave it a still great 4/5. 

Pros: Great sound, good for portable and home use, built-in support for Google Assistant and Alexa

Cons: Expensive, smart features missing in Bluetooth mode, size limits portability

The best smart speaker

Amazon's third-generation Echo offers upgraded audio performance over previous models while remaining just as smart as ever.

The Amazon Echo lineup is well known for its reliable digital assistant and smart home performance, and the new Echo is the company's best model so far. The third-generation smart speaker is a little bigger than its predecessor, but that extra size enables significantly improved audio quality. 

With integrated Alexa support and voice recognition, the Amazon Echo is a fully featured digital assistant with over 100,000 skills worldwide. You can ask Alexa questions, order products from Amazon, set timers, receive weather forecasts, get news updates, and more — all through spoken commands. Alexa also supports voice controls for connected smart home devices and music playback.

When it comes to sound quality, the third-generation Echo features notably improved performance compared to the previous generation model. The new model incorporates a 0.8-inch tweeter and a 3-inch woofer versus the second generation Echo's 0.6-inch tweeter and 2.5-inch woofer. This new, larger design is now more in line with the more expensive Echo Plus, and allows the Echo to produce much better bass.

Of course, there are more expensive smart speakers, like the Sonos One, that sound better than the Echo. In this price range, however, the Echo does the best job of balancing convenient digital assistant support with solid audio performance. You can check out our full review of the Amazon Echo (Third Generation) for more detailed impressions.

Pros: Improved sound quality compared to previous models, Alexa digital assistant, extensive smart home support with over 100,000 skills, affordable pricing

Cons: Audio performance isn't on par with more expensive smart speaker models

• Read our Amazon Echo review here

The best bookshelf speakers

The Q Acoustics 3020i speakers look nice and are compact, but by far the best thing about them is how good they sound for the price.

For some, finding speakers that can simply be placed on a shelf or table and used when needed is the way to go, and for those people, the Q Acoustics 3020i bookshelf speakers are an excellent choice. The speakers serve as the successors to our previous pick in this category, the Q Acoustics 3020, and they boast improved performance with deeper bass and smoother sound quality.

The speakers offer a slightly more refined look compared to the previous model, resulting in a simple but stylish appearance. They're available in a few colors, including Arctic White, English Walnut, and Graphite Grey.

It's important to note that you won't be able to simply plug your phone or media player into these speakers like you can some others. Like the Klipsch RP-8000F, you'll need a separate receiver or amplifier to power the Q Acoustics 3020i speakers.

When it comes to sound quality, the Q Acoustics 3020i speakers offer a pleasingly accurate sound for the price. Bass is also solid for a stereo speaker pair, though adding a dedicated subwoofer to your setup will improve performance even more. There's impressive clarity in the high-end and plenty of detail for those who want it. 

We did notice a slight cut in some of the high-mids during our testing, and the upper high frequencies aren't as refined as the lower highs, but considering their cost, the Q Acoustics 3020i speakers deliver excellent performance.

Pros: Great sound quality, solid price, well-designed, improved performance over older model

Cons: Requires a separate receiver or amp, those who crave more bass will need a dedicated subwoofer

• Read our Q Acoustics 3020i review here

The best computer speakers

Klipsch's R-51PM computer speakers are easy to set up, and feature a stylish design with excellent audio performance.

Klipsch's speakers are known for featuring gorgeous copper spun woofers, giving the company's audio offerings a unique style. Thankfully, the R-51PM computer speakers sound just as good as they look. 

The speakers feature a 5.25-inch woofer with a large rear-firing port, along with an LTS tweeter and Klipsch's proprietary Tractrix horn technology. Together, these audio elements help to produce impressive sound quality for a pair of speakers this size. Bass is particularly impressive for this price range, offering solid low frequency performance without the need for a separate subwoofer unit.

A 120W amplifier powers both speakers, allowing for simple plug-and-play connection to a computer without the need for a separate receiver. The speakers feature several connections, including digital optical, analog RCA, and USB inputs, making it easy to pair them with other devices, like a phone or TV. If that wasn't enough, Bluetooth wireless connectivity is supported as well.

Thanks to their style, audio performance, and varied connection options, the R-51PMs cement themselves as our top choice for computer speakers. With that said, they are on the expensive and large side for computer speakers.

If you're looking for similar speakers with a more compact design and lower price tag, the Audioengine A2 Plus offer a good compromise. They aren't as impressive as the Klipsch speakers, but they're still a good fit for use with a computer.

Pros: Fantastic audio performance, pleasing style, lots of connection options

Cons: A bit expensive, larger than some other computer speaker options

Check out our other great speaker buying guides

The best Bluetooth speakers

Bluetooth speakers come in all shapes, sizes, and price ranges. The Sonos Move is our top pick because it has excellent sound quality, an integrated battery for portable use, and support for both Google Assistant and Amazon Alexa. Here are our top picks for the best Bluetooth speakers you can buy.

The best smart speakers

Smart speakers feature support for integrated digital assistants, allowing you to play music and control other devices through voice commands. Amazon Alexa and Google Assistant are the two most popular smart speaker systems. With different needs and budgets in mind, we've picked the best smart speakers you can buy.

The best home theater systems

A good home theater system can provide a truly immersive movie-watching experience with surround sound in all directions. Home theater systems usually include multiple speakers and a subwoofer, along with an AV receiver for amplification and audio processing if needed. Through research and testing, we've selected the best home theater systems you can buy.

• Microsoft Outlook allows you to add other email accounts, such as Gmail, to your account so that you can use Outlook as your primary email client.
• You can add your Gmail account to Outlook using both a PC and a Mac, but the process is slightly different between the two.
• Visit Business Insider's Tech Reference library for more stories.

If you have a Gmail account, but prefer to use the Microsoft Outlook interface for your email communications, you're in luck. 

Outlook allows you to add your Gmail account to your Outlook account so that you can access both simultaneously within Outlook. 

Here's how to connect your Gmail account to Outlook on either a PC or a Mac.

Check out the products mentioned in this article:

Apple Macbook Pro (From $1,299.00 at Apple)

Acer Chromebook 15 (From $179.99 at Walmart)

How to add Gmail to Outlook on a PC

1. With your Outlook inbox open, click on the "File" tab in the upper left corner of the screen.

2. Click on "Add account."

3. Type the Gmail address you want to add to your Outlook account, then click "Connect." 

It might take a few minutes to fully load.

4. The next steps involve signing into your Gmail account. Type in your Gmail address again and click "Next."

5. Type in your password and click "Sign in." 

6. Click "Allow." 

7. If the process was completed successfully, you should see a window confirming that your account has been added. Click "Done" to finalize the changes. 

How to add Gmail to Outlook on a Mac

1. Open Outlook, click on "Preferences," then click on "Accounts."

2. Click on the plus sign icon ("+") and then click "New Account."

3. Type in your Gmail address and password as though you are signing into Gmail, and click "Add Account" when you are finished.

4. Click "Continue," then "Sign in to Google."

5. Click on your Gmail account, type in your password, and then click "Next."

6. Click "Allow," then "Open Microsoft Outlook." 

7. Click "Done" when you are finished and your Gmail emails should now appear in Outlook.

Related coverage from Tech Reference:

• How to change your Gmail password on your iPhone using the Gmail app
  

• How to forward email from a Yahoo mail account to Gmail or other email services

• How to export emails from Microsoft Outlook on a PC or Mac computer so that you can import them to a different account

• How to set an 'Out of Office' reply on Microsoft Outlook when you'll be unreachable by email

• How to add your Outlook calendar to an iPhone in 2 ways, and sync your schedule when you're on the go

SEE ALSO: The best all-in-one PCs you can buy

Join the conversation about this story »

NOW WATCH: What makes 'Parasite' so shocking is the twist that happens in a 10-minute sequence

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Zoom formed a new business unit this week named Zoom for Home, which will supply remote workers with purpose-built video conferencing hardware. As part of the announcement, Zoom unveiled its first piece of hardware, an "all-in-one personal collaboration device" dubbed the DTEN ME.

For $600, video conferencing connoisseurs can buy the 27-inch touchscreen tablet, which boasts three built-in cameras and eight microphones. The device offers a number of features geared specifically toward remote workers, including interactive whiteboarding, co-annotation, and one-touch meetings. It can also function as an external monitor. 

Zoom's push into hardware is intended to boost customer loyalty amid the shift to long-term remote work. Enterprise subscribers who buy video conferencing hardware purpose-built for Zoom's services will have a harder time switching providers down the line, as they're further enmeshed in the Zoom ecosystem.

Zoom for Home also signals a tacit acknowledgement that, for many, remote work is here to stay — Zoom announced last week that it will start selling enterprise-grade communications hardware through a hardware-as-a-service model, but the market for those products is limited while most offices remain closed due to the ongoing pandemic.

Because spending on video conferencing services is up now, when remote work is at an all-time high, Zoom stands a better chance at deepening loyalty with a product designed for remote workers rather than office spaces. And looking forward, more than half of US executives (55%) expect that most of their employees (60–100%) will work remotely at least one day per week after the pandemic subsides, according to the PwC Remote Work Survey from June 2020. 

Zoom needs to boost customer loyalty to stave off Microsoft and Google, but expanding into hardware will only do so much to help. Zoom took an early lead in the pandemic-driven video conferencing boom, but Microsoft and Google have since encroached on its dominance in the market, matching Zoom feature-for-feature. Making matters worse for Zoom, Microsoft and Google together account for virtually the entire enterprise office suite market, which gives them a significant advantage over Zoom since they can prominently feature video conference integrations within their enterprise ecosystems.

Zoom's expansion into hardware can help it stave off this threat, but it certainly won't be a game-changer: Global spending on IT devices is projected to decrease nearly 16% this year, according to Gartner. A $600 video conferencing device likely won't be an easy sell for cash-strapped companies, especially one that simply enhances, rather than transforms, the remote work experience.

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• The SteelSeries Arctis Pro Headset and GameDAC come together beautifully to provide premium wired audio and chat support on the PS4 and PC.    
• The included GameDAC even offers hi-res music playback on PC with support for 24-bit FLAC files from music services like Tidal.     
• DTS Headphone:X surround sound technology is featured as well, enabling an immersive soundstage.     
• Though not officially supported, the GameDAC can also work with an Xbox One via an extra 3.5mm cable running from the controller.
• The use of a proprietary cable to connect the headset and GameDAC is not ideal, but for a wired gaming headset and DAC in this price range, the $249.99 Arctis Pro Headset + GameDAC delivers on all fronts.

Getting the best online gaming experience through the PlayStation 4 or a PC requires the use of one very important peripheral: a headset. With the PS4 there are many different headset models available, and on PC the headset options can feel endless. 

Ultimately, what buyers should look for in a headset boils down to a few key attributes: audio performance, chat performance, comfort, durability, and ease of use. You also need to decide whether you want to go with a wired or wireless model.

As convenient as wireless headsets have become in recent years, wired headset models, like the SteelSeries Arctis Pro + GameDAC, are still better options for buyers who prioritize sound quality. The Arctis Pro + GameDAC package takes things even further by including a dedicated digital-to-analog converter (DAC) for superior audio processing and control. This model also adds some audio elements that are often elusive on the PS4, including the ability to control both the game audio and the chat audio, and a surround sound feature via DTS Headphone:X.

But, while the Arctis Pro + GameDAC can appear as a very straightforward package, it's the opposite of no-frills. Both the headset and GameDAC are teeming with features and customization options. The GameDAC is officially compatible with the PS4 and PC (and unofficially with the Xbox One), and indeed those products are the focus. But thanks to an included 3.5mm adapter for the headset and a 3.5mm mobile jack, phones, tablets, and even the Nintendo Switch are not beyond compatibility.

As someone with a background in game development, I'm a big fan of sound design and I know how critical headset performance can be during gameplay. Having now spent some serious time with the SteelSeries Arctis Pro + GameDAC, I've come away very impressed. The headset and GameDAC are great on their own, but put together, they form an outstanding audio, chat, and surround sound solution.

Design

The SteelSeries Arctis Pro + GameDAC is available in two colors, black and white, and the black unit I used for this review bears all of the company's best signature design elements. Black and dark gray steel and aluminum flow well together with black fabric, rubber, and plastic elements on other areas of the headset, giving the device a defined look. It's a stylish design that is very professional looking without being too gamer or audiophile focused.

What's more, the headset's earcups are ringed with an RGB light which, along with the mute light on the mic, can be customized via the SteelSeries Engine app on PC. The earcups feature removable speaker tags and even the unique ski band suspension that wraps around the head can be completely changed.

But beyond the headset itself, the very first thing that struck me about the Arctis Pro + GameDAC package was the OLED screen on the compact GameDAC unit. The OLED display is key to the device's functionality, making it pleasing to read, use, and navigate the GameDAC's settings. The rubberized texture on the control wheel is pleasant, and the GameDAC's minor heft is handled well by the rubberized ring that circles the bottom. 

The GameDAC (also available separately for $129.99) is powered by an ESS Sabre 9018 DAC contained within the unit. This enables superior audio processing compared to the integrated DACs found on many controllers and sound cards. The look, feel, and size of the GameDAC all present a sense of striking design wrapped in a smart package.

Specifications

• Headset color options: black or white
• Headset drivers: 40mm neodymium drivers
• Headset frequency response: 10–40,000 Hz
• Microphone type: retractable boom
• Microphone polar pattern: bidirectional noise-cancelling
• GameDAC frequency response: 5–40,000 Hz
• GameDAC audio formats: up to 96 kHz, 24-bit

Setup and interface

The packaging for the Arctis Pro + GameDAC is pretty standard for SteelSeries. It's nice and effective, but not overly elaborate. Before using the headset, I recommend connecting the GameDAC to a PC via Micro USB and then running the SteelSeries Engine app. This way, you can update the firmware, and tweak several of the GameDAC settings and even the Arctis Pro's RGB ring. 

The Arctis Pro headset connects to the GameDAC via a proprietary cable, and this connection is one of my least favorite aspects of the package (more on that below). The cable does, however, do a great job of working and staying connected. On the PC, the GameDAC just needs a Micro USB connection, but on the PS4 or PS4 Pro, both a Micro USB and an optical cable need to be connected.

The included documentation does a nice job of specifying which sound settings to change on the PS4 and how to change the GameDAC to one of its three input modes: PS4 mode, PC mode, and Hi-Res mode. The GameDAC's menu is very simple to navigate, and between the control wheel and the two buttons, it's easy to set the chat balance, adjust volume, apply basic RGB, set mic volume, and toggle the surround sound option on or off. 

There is also a powerful custom equalizer (EQ) with presets for more soundstage adjustments, but I wish that the GameDAC also allowed you to further adjust the surround sound feature beyond just on or off. In the PC app, the surround sound playback can be further adjusted between different presets, like Studio, Game, and Cinema. Another aspect missing from the GameDAC is a microphone mute option. To mute the mic, one must use the button on the headset itself.

To get a comfortable fit on the Arctis Pro headset, you'll need to adjust the ski-goggle suspension headband. The ski-goggle band wraps around the unit's metal headband and connects to itself with one Velcro connection. I changed it a few times during my testing as I had others try it on and such, and it's actually much easier to adjust than it first appears. I just let the connection out a little bit and, happily, it then stays right where I want it.

Thankfully, the mic on the Arctis Pro is retractable, and it's easy to have it safe and out of the way during an offline cinematic playthrough. There is an included windscreen as well, which I favor using. When playing online I take the mic out and leave it in place. The mic stays put well, and there is a nice thumb-sized microphone mute button behind the left earcup. 

The button pops out when the mic is muted and lays flat when the mic is live. This, along with the mic mute RGB option, helps keep me from ever accidentally having a live mic on or forgetting to unmute. The headset has its own volume wheel, but since I use it mostly with the GameDAC or connected directly to my phone, I generally keep the volume wheel on the headset all the way up and use these other devices to adjust output levels.

Performance and features

As someone who regularly tests gaming products, I'm often asked about surround sound and headsets. Is the feature worth it? Will you use it? And honestly, over the past generation of gaming, my answer has routinely become "no". While wonderful in a home theater, surround sound in headsets can often be a muddy mess. Whether it's a software solution on PC or Xbox One, or a headset specific feature on PS4, the execution often reflects a bad gimmick. So, it is with no small significance that I declare the surround sound on the Arctis Pro + GameDAC to actually be worth using. 

I first tried the DTS Headphone:X surround sound feature by watching "Extraction" on Netflix through my PC while fiddling with the settings in the app, and the results are immediately impressive. Sitting down, fully immersed in a movie or 3D game via an effective soundstage is my happy place, and most headsets that promise surround sound can't get there at all. My point here is not to overly praise the surround sound, but to make clear that both the GameDAC and the Arctis Pro headset can supply a soundstage that is significantly nuanced and clear. 

I played a lot of "Nioh 2" with the Arctis Pro + GameDAC, and when playing this title, I'm less concerned with the surround sound, and more concerned with being able to communicate with my co-op friends. Anyone who has ever had to play serious co-op while also having to hear a teammate's ceiling fan will appreciate how good the Arctis Pro + GameDAC are at delivering clear communication without having to quash the game's audio. When playing offline, however, the GameDAC does expose some of the game's less than stellar audio cues.

But in "The Last of Us Part II," the quality of the production and the painstaking detail of every game environment comes through to stunning effect. It makes for a heightened experience, and I never feel headset fatigue. Using the the GameDAC and Arctis Pro with the in-game home theater setting is my preferred way of hearing the game. Clickers, snow, dripping water, chatter — it's all so satisfying to hear and so enveloping. It's hard to believe that for such a small footprint compared with what a 5.1 home theater takes, the Arctis Pro + GameDAC deliver such a sublime playing and listening experience.

There is so much to like about the GameDAC and its audio performance, it can be easy to overlook the Arctis Pro headset itself. While I don't love the proprietary cable, the headset fits well, feels balanced in weight and materials, and strikes a similarly good balance in terms of allowing some air and sound to leak while staying put and keeping me comfortable. My ears and head never hurt after hours of use. 

From quiet lurking gameplay to bombastic action and even phone calls, the Arctis Pro headset keeps the audio clear, allowing for details to flourish.

Using with the Xbox One

The Arctis Pro headset can be plugged directly into an Xbox One controller, including launch era models with a chat adapter, but the GameDAC accessory does not officially support the Xbox One. With that in mind, I was keen to see if I could get the GameDAC to work with the console. 

Connecting optical and Micro USB is good enough to get game audio, but as is often the case, not sufficient to enable chat. Fortunately, I found a workaround that I like. The GameDAC has a mobile-in port which, like its name suggests, can be used to connect a smartphone via a 3.5mm cable. I used this connection for pumping music, podcasts, and audiobooks from my phone into the GameDAC while playing games. It also works for calls. 

So, with the Xbox One, I just connect the mobile-in port of the GameDAC to the Xbox One controller using a 3.5mm 4 pole cable. On the GameDAC, I set the mode to PS4, and on the Xbox One, I set the optical to bitstream Dolby Digital out and I set the chat mix on the controller all the way to chat. 

Hi-Res mode

The GameDAC supports Hi-Res audio mode on PC, and the Arctis Pro headset is certified as well. Hi-Res mode enables full 96kHz/24-bit audio support for the best quality playback of hi-res music files. For me, this means being able to play my FLAC albums from Tidal and other places in 24-bit quality. 

Since the GameDAC actually has a speaker/stream out port, I can see someone picking up this set and connecting a pair of powered speakers to that port and being very happy with it. For me, however, I think of Hi-Res mode as more of a bonus feature. It's not supported on the PS4 or anything but PC. Hi-Res mode naturally doesn't support surround sound, so when I want to watch a show or play a game, I need to change back to PC mode on the GameDAC in order to use surround sound.

Problems with SteelSeries Arctis Pro

The main issues I have with the SteelSeries Arctis Pro are related to its cables. The proprietary cable used to connect the headset to the GameDAC is not easy to plug in on either side, and it's not something to try fiddling with in the dark while jumping into a team lobby. It necessitates two extra adapters — a mobile adapter which is included and allows the headset to be plugged straight into a 3.5mm connection, and a 3.5mm GameDAC adapter which lets you use the GameDAC with other headsets. The 3.5mm GameDAC adapter is not included, but is sold directly by SteelSeries for $7.99.

The proprietary headset cable is five feet long, which I find to be the right distance between me and the GameDAC. Unfortunately, both the 5-foot Micro USB cable and the 6-foot optical cable are far too short to use with the PS4 or PS4 Pro in any kind of couch situation. My office setup has a dedicated mini USB cable and optical cable for use with PS4, but in my living room I used the SteelSeries cables and had to extend both of them. Optical cable couplers are easy enough to obtain if not as ubiquitous as USB extension cables, but I think SteelSeries could do better with its included cables.

Accessories

In addition to the 3.5mm GameDAC adapter, there are some nice style accessories available for the Arctis Pro headset. There is a whole line of Arctis Pro Booster Packs that are themed around the upcoming game "Cyberpunk 2077." These packs are sold separately and include two speaker plates and a ski-goggle headband. 

It takes about a minute to take the included black speaker plates and black headband off and put on the Booster Pack accessories. The pack that I have for the review is designed by an artist in Chicago, and the transformative effect it has on the Arctis Pro headset is impressive to say the least. 

The bottom line

There is very little to complain about with the Arctis Pro + GameDAC as the performance, control, fit, and finish are all stellar. It's an amazing bundle that does all the heavy lifting for wired audio and chat needs on the PS4 and PC, and with a little help it can even be used on the Xbox One. With these features in mind, it's easy to see why the Arctis Pro + GameDAC is our current pick for the best wired gaming headset in our full gaming headset guide. 

On the downside, some of the included cables are too short to be really useful, and the proprietary cable that runs between the headset and GameDAC can be irksome. Nevertheless, both the Arctis Pro headset and the GameDAC perform exceptionally well on their own and together.

Which model should you get? 

In addition to the bundle reviewed here, the Arctis Pro headset is available by itself without the GameDAC for $179.99, and the GameDAC can also be purchased separately for use with another headset for $129.99. I think the two devices work so well together that I recommend sticking with the bundle, though both are worthy products on their own. Buying the $249.99 bundle saves you about $60 compared to buying both products separately. 

If, however, you happen to already have a quality headset that you like, such as a Sennheiser Game One or a Beyerdynamic MMX 300, then buying the GameDAC on its own could provide a very worthwhile upgrade.

What are your alternatives? 

When it comes to headsets with included DACs, the main alternative to the Arctis Pro + GameDAC is the Astro A40 TR MixAamp Pro TR, though Turtle Beach has its own take in the Elite Pro 2 Headset + SuperAmp. 

Though the two models feature a similar design, I think Arctis Pro + GameDAC is superior to the Astro MixAmp and A40 headset. The GameDAC's usability and feature set are top-notch. I liked the first generation Turtle Beach Elite Pro TAC, but in contrast, the SuperAmp is very Bluetooth dependent in terms of functionality. As for the Elite Pro headset, it puts a premium on noise isolation (likely for tournament settings) that I don't find comfortable.

Ultimately, for wired performance on the PS4, the combination of the Arctis Pro + GameDAC is hard to beat. For more gaming headset recommendations suitable for a variety of needs and budgets, be sure to check out our guide to the best gaming headsets.

Pros: All-in-one wired solution for excellent chat and audio on PS4, controls on headset and GameDAC, PC support, Hi-Res mode, comfortable, customization options, GameDAC mobile in and line out connections, unofficially works on Xbox One

Cons: Included optical cable and Micro USB cable are short, headset cable uses a proprietary connection, GameDAC 3.5mm adapter not included, PC app required for adjusting some settings, no mobile cable included

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• Netflix's content chief, Ted Sarandos, has been named co-CEO with Reed Hastings, the company announced on Thursday.
• Sarandos was also elected to the board of directors and will remain in his role as chief content officer. 
• Sarandos has been essential in building Netflix's original content. The streamer had more than 600 original TV shows as of June.
• Visit Business Insider's homepage for more stories.

Ted Sarandos, Netflix's content chief, has been named co-CEO with Reed Hastings, the company announced on Thursday.

He was also elected to the board of directors and will remain in his role as chief content officer.  

"Ted's been instrumental to our success as a company," Hastings said in a statement. "While I saw streaming coming and pushed for it, Ted drove the revolution in our content strategy, which was way ahead of its time and has been key to our continued success."

Greg Peters, Netflix's product chief, was also given the additional title of chief operating officer on Thursday.

Together, the moves are a step in what Hastings said will be a "long process of succession planning," meaning the cofounder and co-CEO doesn't plan to step back quite so soon.

"To be totally clear, I'm in for a decade," Hastings said in the company's earnings interview on Thursday afternoon.

As content chief, Sarandos has been essential in building Netflix's vast library of original movies and TV shows. Netflix leads its streaming rivals in originals by a wide margin. According to a June analysis by the streaming search engine Reelgood in June, Netflix had more than 670 original TV shows.

Sarandos and Hastings met in 1999 after Hastings "read an article in Video Business and asked a mutual friend to connect us," Hastings said, in the statement.

"When Reed and I first met over 20 years ago, he described Netflix almost exactly as it now works," Sarandos said in a statement. "But at the time, I was skeptical. The internet was still new and Netflix's main competitor, Blockbuster, was huge and had completely disrupted the business model of my previous company. Part of Reed's brilliance is his persistence and so I eventually said yes, back in 1999."

Hastings cofounded Netflix in 1995 but wasn't always the CEO. His cofounder Marc Randolph was its first chief executive and exited the company in 2002, the same year it went public.

In recent years, Hastings and Sarandos had been sharing more of the responsibilities of running the company as content has become a larger part of Netflix's business.

The chief marketing officer has reported to Sarandos since 2019, for example. Hastings and Sarandos are also the two highest-paid executives at the company. Their total compensations were in range with each other's in recent years, based on company filings.

Peters, the product chief, will also be taking on some of Hastings responsibilities as part of his role as chief operating officer, Hastings said. 

Peters will spend more time at Netflix's various offices around the world to improve how the teams work together, a duty Hastings handled as the company grew. Peters helped launch and led Netflix Japan earlier in his career.

"In his new role, I want Greg to take on more of this work so that we continue to improve rapidly," Hastings said. "Eventually he needs to know every corner of Netflix better than I do today."

Join the conversation about this story »

NOW WATCH: Pathologists debunk 13 coronavirus myths

• Twitter suffered a blow to its image this week when hackers took over and posted a bitcoin scam on the verified accounts of some of Twitter's biggest users: Elon Musk, Jeff Bezos, Bill Gates, many others.
• Only a few months ago, Twitter had done battle with Elliott Management who was trying to oust CEO Jack Dorsey. Twitter cut a deal that ultimately added new board members, including one from Elliott. 
• Twitter also fairly routinely reshuffles its executive leadership.
• Here's a rundown of the people running Twitter these days who will be tasked with cleaning up its security and its image.
• Visit Business Insider's homepage for more stories.

On July 15, Twitter suffered a publicly embarrassing hacker attack when the accounts belonging to some of its biggest, most followed users began tweeting out a bitcoin scam. Hackers took over accounts of Elon Musk, Barack Obama, Jeff Bezos, Bill Gates and many others.

Within a couple of hours, Twitter was in disarray. It had shut down impacted accounts, and banned tweeting from anyone with a verified so called "blue check" account. Senator Josh Hawley (R-MO), an outspoken Big Tech hawk,sent a public letter demanding that Twitter CEO Jack Dorsey work with the Department of Justice and the FBI to launch a broad investigation into the incident.

By Thursday morning, the company admitted that one of its employees had been "social engineered" into giving hackers access to a management tool that gave the hackers widespread access to Twitter's systems. 

So, who are the people running Twitter these days that will have to ensure such a thing can never happen again? 

SEE ALSO: A decade before Postmates was acquired by Uber for $2.65 billion, its founder used this 13-slide pitch deck to sell his idea for the new delivery service

Jack Dorsey, founder CEO

Cofounder Dorsey hasn't always been CEO of Twitter but he's been at the helm in some way. He was chairman for a few years while cofounder Evan Williams was CEO and then when Dick Costolo was CEO. He came back to the CEO role in 2015 when Costolo left.

Dorsey is also CEO of Square, another big, growing and important company he founded.

Investors have for years grumbled that he should pick one company and focus on it. In fact, just before the pandemic started, he struck a deal to appease activist investor Elliott Management, who had bought 4% of the company, and was trying to oust him for just that reason.

Egon Durban, board member

When Elliott Management took aim at Dorsey, Silver Lake's Egon Durban came to the rescue to broker a peace treaty. Silver Lake made a $1 billion investment, Durban took a board seat on March 12, 2020.

He's on Team Dorsey, but Twitter also agreed to achieve certain performance metrics or Dorsey's head could be on the chopping block again, Bloomberg reported.

Jesse Cohn, board member

Jesse Cohn is Elliott Management's head of US activism. He was appointed to Twitter board of directors on April 7, 2020 as part of the deal to appease Elliott.

Cohn and Durban are to be two members of a board committee tasked with coming up with a succession plan and corporate governance.

Omid Kordestani, Executive Chairman

Omid Kordestani has been Executive Chairman of Twitter since 2015, when Dorsey came back as CEO. Previously, he was the chief business officer at Google.

Kayvon Beykpour, head of product

Kayvon Beykpour has been head of product since 2018. He joined Twitter in 2015 when Twitter bought the live-streaming startup he founded, Periscope, for a reported $100 million. 

Michael Montano, head of engineering

Michael Montano was promoted to the top engineering role in 2018, although he's been with Twitter since 2011. He joined when Twitter bought his startup BackType.

Matthew Derella, head of sales

Matthew Derella has served as Twitter's Customers Lead since February 2018. He joined the company in 2012 from Google and worked his way up from a director role.

Vijaya Gadde, top lawyer

Vijaya Gadde has been in the role of Chief Legal Officer since February 2018. She's been with Twitter for 9 years, working her way up from a general counsel role.

Leslie Berland, head of marketing and head of HR

Leslie Berland joined Twitter as CMO from American Express in 2016. In 2017, after Twitter's then-head of HR left, she was promoted to lead HR as well.

Parag Agrawal, head of technology

Parag Agrawal has been CTO since 2017. He joined Twitter in 2011 as a distinguished engineer specializing in AI/machine learning. 

Dantley Davis, head of design and research

Dantley Davis joined Twitter in 2019 from Facebook and, prior to that spent seven years at Netflix.

Bruce Falck, head of revenue products

Bruce Falck oversees the strategy and design of Twitter's advertising products. He joined the company in 2017 after a short term as CEO of digital marketing company Turn (sold to Singtel/Amobee) and a time as COO of BrightRoll (sold to Yahoo). Prior to that he had a long career at Google.

Ned Segal, CFO

Ned Segal has been CFO of Twitter since 2017, coming from Intuit. 

Del Harvey, VP trust and safety

Del Harvey runs the unit that creates policies for how people can safely use Twitter and has been doing so since she was a one-woman show in this department in 2008. She reports to the head of legal, Vijaya Gadde.

Nick Caldwell, head of consumer engineering

Nick Caldwell joined Twitter in June to lead the engineering teams responsible for the part of the product that faces the public, reporting to Michael Montano. Caldwell made a name for himself at Microsoft and has recently had high-profile engineering jobs at Reddit, Looker and Google.

• This is a preview of Voice Assistants in Healthcare research report from Business Insider Intelligence.
• Purchase this report.
• Business Insider Intelligence offers even more healthcare coverage with Digital Health Pro. Subscribe today to receive industry-changing digital health news and analysis to your inbox.

Voice is making waves across industries, but the transformative power of the technology is now at a tipping point in healthcare. The opportunity for voice in healthcare is pegged to mount as the global health virtual assistant market is expected to reach $3.5 billion in 2025. 

US healthcare providers' interest in voice tech is being catalyzed by recent technological breakthroughs growing the tech's potential to transform legacy operations.

Voice tech boasts five distinct advantages that heighten its disruption potential in healthcare and the tech is being optimized for the healthcare sphere, which is increasing the visibility of voice in health and opening the door for voice assistants to perform more sensitive and complex healthcare actions. There are also several pain points within healthcare that up the pressure on providers to tap into the voice opportunity. 

In this report, Business Insider Intelligence outlines the voice opportunity in healthcare and explores the drivers propelling voice adoption in the healthcare realm. We then examine three of the highest-value voice use cases in healthcare — clinical documentation, remote care, and clinical support — and provide examples of early moving health systems and health tech companies implementing voice in each application. 

Here are some of the key takeaways from the report: 

• Health systems that deploy voice tech to facilitate clinical documentation can reduce physicians' administrative burden, increase patient volume and billable revenue, and eliminate transcription costs.
• By leveraging voice to increase touchpoints with patients outside the clinic, healthcare organizations can open the opportunity to shrink costs associated with poor medication adherence and slash value-based care (VBC) penalties stemming from preventable readmissions.
• Healthcare providers can reform diagnostics and better position themselves to deliver preventative medicine by deploying voice technology that can pinpoint diseases based on patients' speech characteristics.

In full, the report:

• Explores why and how voice is disrupting healthcare. 
• Details the three key applications where US health systems can apply voice technology. 
• Offers evidence on how voice assistants provide value in each of the selected voice use cases. 

Want to learn more about the fast-moving world of digital health? Here's how to get access:

1. Purchase & download the full report from our research store. >> Purchase & Download Now
2. Sign up for Digital Health Pro , Business Insider Intelligence's expert product suite keeping you up-to-date on the people, technologies, trends, and companies shaping the future of healthcare, delivered to your inbox 6x a week. >>Get Started
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4. Current subscribers can read the reporthere.

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• Amazon is starting to screen some warehouse employees for COVID-19 symptoms when they come into work, CNBC reported Thursday.
• The company told employees in at least two states, Michigan and Virginia, that it would be "introducing a symptom screen" and sending people home who show signs of the coronavirus, according to CNBC.
• Separately, Amazon said in May that it was launching a pilot program to test employees for COVID-19 as it ramps up safety measures in its warehouses.
• Still, employees continue to speak out about working conditions during the pandemic and accuse the company of failing to take adequate steps to protect them. 
• Visit Business Insider's homepage for more stories.

Some Amazon employees will soon undergo additional COVID-19 symptom screening before starting work, CNBC reported Thursday. 

"Beginning this week we're introducing a symptom screen at our entrances in accordance with guidance from local authorities," Amazon told workers in at least Michigan and Virginia, according to CNBC. "Moving forward, when you arrive for your shift you will read signs listing potential Covid-19 symptoms as you enter the building."

Employees who don't report symptoms during the screening will complete a temperature check and clock-in for their shift, while those who do could be sent home and instructed to get a COVID-19 test, CNBC reported.

It's unclear how widely the new screening process is being rolled out or whether employees will be paid for additional time spent waiting (the US Supreme Court ruled in 2014 that Amazon is not required to pay workers for waiting in security lines).

Separately, Amazon said in May that it is developing its own in-house coronavirus testing program, but would only say at the time that it has "started our first small-scale pilot."

The company has been forced to drastically ramp up health and safety measures in its warehouses, where employees have been working throughout the pandemic. However, workers are continuing to speak out about working conditions and have accused Amazon of not taking sufficient precautions to reduce their risk of exposure to the virus.

They have also criticized Amazon for not being transparent about outbreaks, which have been confirmed in dozens of warehouses. A crowdsourced document compiled by workers claims that there could be as many as 1,500 cases. Amazon has repeatedly refused to release case numbers.

"The actual…total number of cases isn't particularly useful because it's relative to the size of the building and then the overall community infection rate," Amazon logistics chief Dave Clark told CBS News in May. However, Bloomberg reported last month that case rates at a Minnesota warehouse were at least four times the rates of surrounding communities.

Amazon did not immediately respond to a request for comment on this story.

SEE ALSO: Google's former CEO reportedly hosts a secretive summit in Yellowstone whose attendees have included Lady Gaga and Cory Booker

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• In this webinar, one-click checkout startup Fast's co-founder and CEO Domm Holland walks through how to build a pitch deck and win over investors.
• Holland was joined by Jan Hammer, general partner at Index Ventures. The conversation was moderated by Business Insider reporter Shannen Balogh, who covers the future of how we shop and pay.
• Visit Business Insider's homepage for more stories.

In May, one-click checkout startup Fast raised its $20 million Series A from investors including Index Ventures and buzzy fintech Stripe.

In an exclusive webinar this week with Business Insider, Fast's cofounder and CEO Domm Holland and Jan Hammer, general partner at Index Ventures, walk us through how to build a pitch deck, what investors are looking for, and how founders should approach fundraising.

For Holland, the key to pitch decks is to keep it simple. Fast's pitch deck, for one, features very little text. 

"In every communication that we have with any party, we use these values: fast, easy, simple," Holland said.

"You'll see in our deck that that shines through," Holland said. "Every slide should have one clear message that you're trying to portray. If it's confused at all, then you failed in that page."

From an investor perspective, Hammer says that seeing energy and passion in a founding team comes first, and the pitch deck comes after.

Read more:One-click checkout startup Fast used this pitch deck to nab $20 million from investors like fintech giant Stripe. Here's a look at its vision for taking on Apple Pay.

SEE ALSO: Here's the pitch deck an app helping new families save used to raise a $9 million Series A from NBA all-star Baron Davis and Anthos Capital

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• Twitter just experienced an unprecedented hack. On Wednesday, several high-profile accounts were hijacked and tweeted out bitcoin scams.
• Twitter has confirmed the hackers gained access to its internal systems by coordinating a social engineering attack on an employee.
• One hacker who's often hired by companies to find weaknesses in their systems explains why she saw this coming, and what companies like Twitter can do to better avoid these types of hacks.
• Visit Business Insider's homepage for more stories.

On Wednesday, Twitter experienced an extraordinary coordinated attack in which several high-profile accounts including those of Kanye West, Elon Musk, and Barack Obama were hijacked.

The attack was so colossal that the Federal Bureau of Investigation is now looking into it. And while many of the details are still unknown,  Twitter has confirmed that the hackers gained access to its internal systems by coordinating a social engineering attack on an employee.

According to reports from Motherboard and TechCrunch, the hackers accessed an internal dashboard that would have allowed them to reset the passwords on select accounts and take control.

Early into the attack, some people started theorizing that this was exactly what was happening. Rachel Tobac, CEO of SocialProof Security, is a hacker hired by companies to break into their security systems and expose their vulnerabilities.

As the attack was starting to unfold, Tobac tweeted out a theory: the attackers had likely gained access to Twitter's employee admin panel.

"It's one of those moments where a lot of the things I've been recommending for years have come to a head," she told Business Insider.

The types of admin privileges the hackers may have accessed is common among tech firms, said Tobac. "It's very common, and a lot of people are shocked that admin access or 'God mode' exist," she said.

"Many organizations have a lot of admin access and it's pretty unchecked. It's pretty rare that I get stopped when I'm doing an attack and can't get admin access. Oftentimes, I can get that within 5 minutes."

Tobac, whose company has worked with Facebook, Uber, and PayPal, suggested a few things that all companies with these sorts of admin systems should be enforcing, including a requirement for multiple employees to sign off on certain decisions.

"Have at least two sets of eyes when you need to make a really big decision, like changing the email on former President Obama's account," she said. Tobac also recommends "multi-factor authentication, hopefully tokenized, for even logging in with those credentials at work."

"You can also have threat detection, so if you have an insider threat, and you mark a couple of high value behaviors as possible threat actions, when you see them going off multiple times in an hour that will alerts you that something strange is happening," she added.

"And then, making sure there's multi-factor authentication and, of course, training for folks. Employees will inevitably make mistakes so they need technical tools in addition to their training to protect them."

Experts have warned that the Twitter attack could be part of something much larger than bitcoin scams. "Noisy attacks are a great way to distract security teams from other malicious activities," one cybersecurity expert told Business Insider.

Some experts even believe the bitcoin scam could have been a way for the hackers to show off. Whatever the truth may be, Twitter is under fire to deliver answers explain to lawmakers how an attack like this could happen.

Experts believe this could be a wake-up call for Twitter and others who have watched the events unfolding thankful it wasn't happening to them.

"To be really frank with you, I think this is an issue that many companies do not take seriously," said Tobac.

"Twitter is not alone in this. It's terrible to see it happen to Twitter, but this is hopefully a big wake-up call for companies all over the world to limit their admin access, to consider the implications of who can make those changes, train their employees, and back them up with technical tools."

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• Selena Gomez's music video for her new song "Past Life" features the singer's face embedded in the sweeping landscape views.
• The effect is thanks to Scan Truck, a mobile 3D studio that is popular in Hollywood and involved in such film projects as "The Avengers: Endgame" and "Venom."
• The system features 200 cameras trained on the subject that capture photorealistic images to render into a 3D modeling.
• The truck allowed the artist to shoot her music video and still abide by social distancing guidelines amid the COVID-19 pandemic.
• Visit Business Insider's homepage for more stories.

The music video for artist Selena Gomez's new song "Past Life" features sweeping views of mountainsides and seascapes, at first glance. But upon looking more closely, you'll notice what appears to be an ear embedded in a cliff here, or a row of eyelashes in the distance there.

It turns out close up views of the singer's face do indeed star in the surrealistic music video, thanks to a 3D scanning service favored by the industry. In a post tweeted Thursday, Gomez explained how the Scan Truck works. 

"I stepped into it on my own and it scanned my face up close, which is why the music video looks so real!" she tweeted. Gomez's new song also features Trevor Daniel.

According to the Scan Truck website, the system is a "3D scanning spaceship on wheels" that acts as a "mobile photogrammetry studio" for movies, video games, commercials, and more. The mobile studio features 200 DSLR cameras trained on the subject to capture photorealistic scans, which are then incorporated into a 3D generated concept. The company's portfolio includes Marvel's currently stalled "Black Widow," "Us," "Venom," "The Avengers: Endgame," and more.

With the COVID-19 pandemic impacting productions and projects across various sectors, artists are having to get creative with how they, well, create. 

You can watch Gomez and Daniels' new music video below.

SEE ALSO: Selena Gomez teared up in an emotional video for Spotify where she said making her latest album was a 'nightmare'

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• Microsoft this week held layoffs, in what a spokesperson characterized as a small number of job cuts across multiple business units.
• The cuts come in at less than 1,000 jobs, according to a person familiar with the situation. 
• Microsoft had about 156,000 employees as of the end of March, meaning that the cuts affected less than 0.64% of its global workforce.
• Earlier this week, Microsoft is said to have cut several roles at MSN.com, its online news portal, as it shifted to an AI-powered algorithmic feed. Some jobs were also cut in the Microsoft Azure cloud division, one source later told Business Insider.
• Are you a current or former Microsoft employee? Contact this reporter via encrypted messaging app Signal (+1-425-344-8242) or email (astewart@businessinsider.com).
• Visit Business Insider's homepage for more stories.

Microsoft cut a small number of jobs relative to the size of its workforce this week as it transitions to a new fiscal year, the company confirmed.

Microsoft has not issued a public statement on the layoffs, but a spokesperson said the cuts came across various teams and locations, without giving specifics. It's common, the spokesperson said, for Microsoft to re-evaluate its business as it enters a new fiscal year on July 1st. 

The most recent cuts affected less than 1,000 jobs, a person familiar with the situation said. The company had 156,439 employees as of March 31, including 92,335 in the US and 55,513 in the Seattle area, where it's headquartered. That means that the cuts affected approximately 0.64% or less of its total workforce.

Earlier this week, Microsoft is said to have laid off several workers at its MSN.com news portal as it shifts to an AI-powered algorithmic feed. Some jobs were also cut in the Microsoft Azure cloud division, one source later told Business Insider. Microsoft declined to comment on any cuts in the Azure division.

Microsoft typically makes changes around this time. Perhaps the most significant of these changes came in the July of 2017 when the company reorganized its entire sales organization to focus on cloud computing, and laid off thousands of employees.

This year, just prior to the end of Microsoft's fiscal year on June 30, Microsoft announced plans to close all of its physical retail locations and shut down its video game streaming service Mixer.

In Mixer's case, Microsoft last month told Business Insider the company is "committed to redeploying people and technology across our team wherever possible." In announcing the store closures, Microsoft said in a press release: "the retail team members will serve consumers, small-business, education, and enterprise customers, while building a pipeline of talent with transferable skills." 

Microsoft earlier this year also confirmed it froze hiring for some roles, except for in unspecific "strategic areas." The current status of the hiring freeze is unclear.

"We continue to seek industry-leading talent in a range of disciplines as we continue to invest in certain strategic areas," a Microsoft spokesperson told Business Insider in April. "However, in light of the uncertainties presented by COVID-19, we are temporarily pausing recruitment for other roles."

Got a tip? Contact Ashley Stewart via email at astewart@businessinsider.com, message her on Twitter @ashannstew, or send her a secure message through Signal at 425-344-8242.

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