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Bye Bye, Booms: Jabra’s New Evolve3 Headsets Drop the Mic

In an effort to make its professional-grade Evolve3 85 and Evolve3 75 more consumer-friendly, Jabra has designed them to look like standard headphones.

In the past, Jabra marketed its Evolve headsets more toward businesses rather than consumers. But as more people have shifted to hybrid or work-from-home environments, the professional-grade headset market’s dynamics have shifted to the point where the Danish brand made a major design decision for its new Evolve3 85 ($649) and Evolve3 75 ($463) headsets: it left off the boom microphone and designed the new models to look like your typical premium over-ear and on-ear headphones.

Scheduled to ship on March 1, the two models offer nearly identical specs and performance, but the Evolve3 85 has larger ear cups and is an over-ear model, while the Evolve 3 75 is an on-ear model (the Evolve3 85 also has slightly better battery life).

Read moreBest Headsets for Working From Home

While there’s no flexible boom microphone to bring the mic close to your mouth, according to Jabra, the new models are able to pick up your voice clearly while dramatically reducing background noise thanks to its ClearVoice system that combines «deep neural network technology and Jabra’s multi-mic algorithms.»

Along with streamlined designs and comfortable fits, Jabra promises that the headsets are good for everyday use as headphones that sound good for music listening and movie watching. They feature active noise canceling and come with either a USB-C or USB-A Bluetooth dongle for computer use. 

Battery life seems impressively strong, and Jabra is touting the ability to replace the headsets’ batteries and ear pads to extend the headsets’ lifespans. That’s a plus considering both headsets are rather expensive, exceeding the price points of such premium noise-canceling headphones as the Sony WH-1000XM6 and second-gen Bose QuietComfort Ultra Headphones

I’ll have full hands-on reviews of the headsets closer to their March 1 availability date. For now, here’s a quick look at some of their key specs.  

Jabra Evolve3 85 and Evolve3 75 key features:

  • Boomless design with Jabra ClearVoice, powered by DNN technology for professional-grade voice clarity
  • Adaptive active noise cancellation that adjusts in real-time to the environment
  • Spatial Sound for more natural and less fatiguing call experiences
  • Fast-charge support that delivers up to 10 hours of power in just 10 minutes by cable
  • Wireless charging 
  • Voice input for accurate access to AI workflows and tools
  • Tuned for high-fidelity music with the LC3 audio codec (SBC and AAC codecs are also supported)
  • Certified for leading virtual meeting platforms (UC-certified variants)
  • Secure Bluetooth Low Energy connectivity with prepaired adapter included
  • Centralized device management through Jabra Plus Management (for enterprises)
  • Customization and control via the Jabra Plus mobile and desktop app (later in 2026)
  • Replaceable batteries to extend product life
  • Jabra Evolve3 85 battery life: Up to 25 hours of call time or 120 hours of listening to entertainment (with ANC/busylight off) and 10-minute fast charge for 10 hours of use
  • Jabra Evolve3 75 battery life: Up to 22 hours of call time or 110 hours of listening to entertainment (with ANC/busylight off) and a 10-minute fast charge for 10 hours of use
  • Price: Evolve3 85 $649; Evolve3 75 $463
  • Availability: Black versions of both headsets will be available from March 1, while the warm gray color will be available from April

Technologies

Google’s New AI Features Are Trying to Make Data Entry a Thing of the Past

More Gemini AI features will come to Google Docs, Sheets and Slides.

The latest batch of Google updates to its workspace tools highlights AI’s promise to automate mundanity in the workplace. Google Docs, Slides, Sheets and Drive all have new AI-powered features, the company announced Tuesday. The one thing all these updates have in common? Gemini is using your files, emails and chats to give you relevant information, not random answers gleaned from the web.

These updates come as AI is playing a bigger role in our work lives, for better or worse. Agentic tools like Claude Cowork and coding assistants like Anthropic’s Claude Code and OpenAI’s Codex are more capable than chatbots and able to handle tasks announced independently. AI tools are also becoming more customized, with Google’s personalized intelligence rolling out across its platforms to help refine AI outputs to things that are relevant and useful for you. Google continues that trend with this new batch of Workspace updates.

New Gemini AI features in Google Workspace apps will cite their sources after each query. For example, if you ask Gemini in Google Docs to fill out an itinerary template, it will pull the information from your email, chats and files. The «sources» tab in the Gemini side panel will show you where it found the information it used, like your flight confirmation email and chats discussing dinner plans. Seeing where Gemini pulled its answers from is also how you’ll double-check Gemini’s work.

The most impressive new features are in Sheets, where AI can fill in the holes in your spreadsheets. You can describe what you want the AI to do with a simple prompt and avoid writing an exact formula. You can click on an empty cell, select the pop-up that says «Drag to fill with Gemini,» then highlight the cells you want Gemini to fill in. That deploys an AI agent to search the web to fill each cell with the necessary information.

For example, if you have a spreadsheet of the contact info for local companies, you can have Gemini search the web to fill in a the location, CEO and other publicly available information of each company. The tool aims to dramatically reduce the time needed for manual data entry. Gemini can also summarize, categorize and create charts with prompts alone.

You can also chat with Gemini in Sheets and have it scour your raw data to make custom reports and charts. No need for pivot tables if they confound you as much as they baffle me. One of the biggest uses of AI at work is helping create presentations.

In Google Slides, you can now tell Gemini in natural language what you want to appear on a slide, and it will create it, matching the style of your existing slides. You can also ask Gemini to edit your slides if you don’t want to waste time painstakingly moving design elements around the slide. The AI should fill the slides with relevant information based on your instructions and the work files it has access to, so you shouldn’t need to replace a bunch of filler text.

If you use Docs, Sheets and Slides through the Workspace account of your company, then you won’t be able to turn off AI features individually. The managing company is in control of AI access for users. Personal users can tweak their settings to limit Gemini. The new features are rolling out in beta now, in English only, to Google AI Ultra and Pro subscribers in the US, as well as some Google Workspace customers who are part of the Gemini Alpha testing program.

For more, check out the new cowork feature in Copilot and how to use Perplexity AI for deep research.

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Technologies

Nintendo Switches Lanes, Sues US Over Tariffs

Mario wants his money back.

Tariffs implemented by President Donald Trump were struck down by the Supreme Court last month. Companies that were subjected to those fees, such as FedEx and Dollar General, have since sued the federal government, and Nintendo wants a piece of the action. 

Nintendo filed a lawsuit against the federal government in the US Court of International Trade on Friday, as first spotted by Aftermath. The complaint seeks refunds of tariffs Nintendo paid, plus interest, and asks the court to declare the tariffs unlawful and stop the government from collecting them going forward. 

«Since February 1, 2025, President Trump has executed the unlawful Executive Orders, imposing tariffs on imports from a vast swath of countries,» Nintendo said in the complaint. 

When reached for comment, Nintendo of America confirmed the lawsuit. 

«We can confirm that we filed a request. We have nothing else to share on this topic,» Nintendo of America said in an emailed statement on Friday, March 6. 

It’s unclear how much Nintendo paid in tariffs, and it did not state an amount in the lawsuit. While the Switch 2 was priced at $450 when it launched last year, and has stayed at that amount, Nintendo did increase the price of the original Switch and accessories for both consoles. Microsoft and Sony also increased the prices of their hardware and accessories last year due to tariffs. 

The White House didn’t immediately respond to a request for comment. 

On Feb. 20, the Supreme Court ruled by a vote of 6 to 3 that the sweeping tariffs Trump instituted last year exceeded his executive powers. Following the ruling, on the same day, Trump announced a new set of tariffs of 10% on imported goods that would last for 150 days, starting Feb. 24. 

The decision on what to do with the collected tariffs — a reported $166 billion —  has been left to the US Court of International Trade. Judge Richard Eaton told the US Customs and Border Protection on Wednesday, March 4, to refund the importers that were forced to pay tariffs, which is more than 330,000. On Friday, the CBP said it couldn’t easily issue tariff refunds because its system requires duties to be recalculated and refunds processed entry by entry. This process would involve tens of millions of transactions. The agency said it’s updating its systems and could start providing refunds by late April. 

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Sony WF-1000XM6 vs. Samsung Galaxy Buds 4 Pro Earbuds: A Photo Finish

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