• Bluetooth turntables: why you should and shouldnt get one
    www.digitaltrends.com
    Table of ContentsTable of ContentsWhats up with Bluetooth turntables?Who should get a Bluetooth turntable?Who shouldnt get a Bluetooth turntableHow do I choose a Bluetooth turntable?What do we suggest?Vinyl is so hot right now. Everyone and their mother has a record player, it seems. Well, everyone but you, or else you wouldnt be reading this. If youre new to the worlds top-selling physical music format and are considering buying a turntable to get your vinyl collection started, then youve probably noticed that many of the best turntables now offer a choice that our wax-spinning forefathers didnt have Bluetooth.While the wireless technology swaps messy wires and speaker cables for easy connectivity with the best Bluetooth speakers and the best headphones, is a Bluetooth turntable really your best bet? Were here to answer that question, and many others you might have.Recommended VideosBefore we dig deeper into whether a Bluetooth turntable is right for you, first a little preamble. A Bluetooth turntable is, first and foremost, an actual turntable, a.k.a. a record player, in that it, yes, plays records.RelatedThey do this, basically speaking, using a diamond-tipped needle, or stylus, that runs along the grooves that have been pressed into the surface of a vinyl record. These grooves contain the musics analog vibrations (like a soundwave) that are picked up by the stylus, its cartridge, and a phono preamplifier to boost that quiet signal. A powered amplifier (or powered speakers) then does the rest of the volume heavy-lifting so it can be heard loud and clear when sent through a set of speakers.A traditional analog turntable setup with a stereo receiver, external phono stage, and passive speakers. Derek Malcolm / Digital TrendsTraditional turntables require wires and speaker cables to transfer that analog signal between those components and through the system. Bluetooth turntables have all the electronics and wired connections to do that too, but also have the inclusion of Bluetooth capabilities that converts and compresses the analog signal into a digital one so that it can be sent wirelessly to a receiving Bluetooth device, such as a set of headphones, Bluetooth speaker, or a Bluetooth-capable receiver or amplifier.Like with any kind of electronics purchase, your needs and priorities are the best weather vanes for your decision. A Bluetooth turntable might be a good fit for you if youre getting into vinyl from scratch and dont already have all the analog components like an amplifier and a set of speakers to connect it to they can be costly, and exploring the many combinations of them is a rabbit hole in and of itself.You likely have several portable speakers lying around that could be connected to a Bluetooth turntable. Derek Malcolm / Digital TrendsChances are, though, you already have a Bluetooth speaker or set of wireless headphones at home you can connect the turntable to and get your feet wet. If audiophile sound quality isnt a top priority for you (remember that compression?), you like the sound, and are happy with the setup, then great; you can stop there and be on your merry vinyl way with a minimal investment.If, however, you dont already have a Bluetooth speaker to try things out with, and the wire-and-clutter-free benefits of Bluetooth is still of peak interest, there are all kinds of excellent sets of Bluetooth-capable powered bookshelf and floorstanding speakers you can buy that wont break the bank and can fill most rooms with full, clear sound.The excellent Edifier S1000W powered bookshelf speakers offer Bluetooth and wired connection options. Derek Malcolm / Digital TrendsAdditionally, you can stream your favorite music streaming services to them for an all-round home music solution. And, many offer wired connectivity, too, in case you want to explore the differences between the audio quality of vinyl-over-Bluetooth versus its analog version that audiophiles believe is the only way to listen to vinyl (more on this in a minute).As far as cost goes, the good news is that Bluetooth turntables are typically only slightly more expensive, and many manufacturers will offer their models with and without the wireless tech. But as with all turntables, youll find budget options for less than a couple hundred dollars (I wouldnt recommend spending less, though) and higher-end models in the several thousands.Although, if youre spending that kind of cash on a turntable, audio quality is obviously your priority, and so you might be among thoseWhile Bluetooth turntables offer wire-free convenience, theres a trade off when it comes to sound quality that will be too much for some to sacrifice. This is because Bluetooth, which is known as a lossy compression, currently doesnt have the ability to convert the full analog information from a vinyl record into a digital signal without losing some of that information.Derek Malcolm / Digital TrendsAudio compression is required so the music from the record can be streamed wirelessly to your Bluetooth devices. And while some Bluetooth versions, known as codecs, can do this conversion at increasingly better rates (the best among them include aptX HD and aptX Adaptive), none of them can yet achieve the full lossless uncompressed quality of vinyl.Does it still sound good? To most people, yes. While factors such as whether youre using high-quality audio gear and whether youve got exceptional hearing play a part, not everyone will notice the subtle differences between the sound of a wired turntable versus one playing a record over Bluetooth. If this is you, then dont sweat the Bluetooth and go forth with confidence.But and this is a big but more discerning listeners, often referred to as audiophiles, do notice those differences (or will at least claim that they do), which can translate to things like a lack of detail, clarity, and soundstage that wired, uncompressed analog vinyl delivers. If ensuring that what youre hearing from your vinyl records is at its best, then a Bluetooth turntable isnt for you.Cambridge Audio Alva TT V2 turntable. Cambridge AudioMany excellent brands make Bluetooth turntables, including Audio-Technica, Pro-Ject, Cambridge Audio, Lenco, and Victrola, the latter of which goes even further with its Wi-Fi- and UPnP-enabled turntables, the Victrola Stream Onyx, and Sapphire, that are also Works With Sonos enabled for integration with your Sonos system.But we digress. When shopping for a Bluetooth-enabled turntable, of course you want to first be sure its within your budget, but you also want to look at the quality of its parts as a turntable. Paramount of them being its cartridge and whether its upgradeable. A great cartridge can make even a budget turntable punch above its weight, so if youre looking to hang on to the deck you choose for years to come, make sure you can level-up the cartridge as you go Audio-Technica, Ortofon, Grado, and Nagaoka are among some top brands to look for.Beyond that, consider the platter material (solid glass or acrylic is preferable over aluminum) and overall build quality as they can contribute to a quieter, anti-resonant turntable. Lastly, deciding on direct drive (great for DJs) or belt drive (the quieter, audiophile choice) and whether you need a phono preamp (built-in or external) are also key considerations.As far as what to look for with its Bluetooth capabilities, if youre not worried about audiophile-level sound, but the Bluetooth sound quality is still important to you, look beyond turntables with the base SBC codec and opt for one with aptX, aptX HD, or Sonys LDAC codecs (if you have compatible Sony gear) for better Bluetooth streams. Be aware, though, that doing so will cost more. Also, make sure that the receiving devices (speakers, headphones etc.) Bluetooth codecs match that of the turntables.The Audio-Technica AT-LP70X turntable (non-Bluetooth version pictured) Derek Malcolm / Digital TrendsAs far as our recommendations go, its easier than ever to find a turntable within those parameters that also offers Bluetooth connectivity. One of our favorites is the Bluetooth-enabled version of our pick for the best budget turntable, the Audio-Technica AT LP70XBT. The $249 turntable sounds great, is perfect for newbies, has a built-in preamp, and an upgradeable stylus.If you have deeper pockets, it doesnt get much better than the audiophile-grade Cambridge Audio Alva TT V2, if you can find one the $1,500 direct drive aptX HD masterpiece is hard to come by these days. However, its belt-driven sibling, the $600 Cambridge Audio Alva ST, features very similar features, including switchable aptX HD streaming, the companys built-in Alva Duo phono stage, and a capable Audio-Technica MM (moving magnet) cartridge.There are obviously many other Bluetooth turntables out there to choose from, but we hope that those examples will help guide you towards finding the prefect fit for your needs and budget. Happy spinning and streaming!Editors Recommendations
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  • What Is Quantum Computing, and Why Does It Matter?
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    Microsoft and Google have made breakthroughs in quantum computing, a technology that could revolutionize drug discovery and other fields.
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  • FTC Opens Inquiry Into Censorship at Tech Companies
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    The FTC issued a request for information from consumers, including those who have been banned from platforms.
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  • Rotisserie Chicken Gives This Quick Soup Recipe Slow-Cooked Flavor
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    With chef Charlie Mitchells recipe, youll wring maximum flavor from chicken bones and repurpose stale bread into crisp olive-oil croutons.
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  • The Study Review: A Book-Lined Retreat
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    Renaissance writers and thinkers modified the idea of the monks cell to create refuges in which books were the only company.
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  • Crafty cuttlefish vary their camouflage
    arstechnica.com
    "hypnotists of the underwater world" Crafty cuttlefish vary their camouflage They can take on the features of a mangrove leaf or branching coral, or run dark stripes down their bodies. Jennifer Ouellette Feb 20, 2025 3:41 pm | 0 Crafty cuttlefish makes like a branched coral to fool potential prey. Credit: Matteo Santon/University of Bristol Crafty cuttlefish makes like a branched coral to fool potential prey. Credit: Matteo Santon/University of Bristol Story textSizeSmallStandardLargeWidth *StandardWideLinksStandardOrange* Subscribers only Learn moreCrafty cuttlefish employ several different camouflaging displays while hunting their prey, according to a new paper published in the journal Ecology, including mimicking benign ocean objects like a leaf or coral, or flashing dark stripes down their bodies. And individual cuttlefish seem to choose different preferred hunting displays for different environments.It's well-known that cuttlefish and several other cephalopods can rapidly shift the colors in their skin thanks to that skin's unique structure. As previously reported,squid skin is translucent and features an outer layer of pigment cells called chromatophores that control light absorption. Each chromatophore is attached to muscle fibers that line the skin's surface, and those fibers, in turn, are connected to a nerve fiber. It's a simple matter to stimulate those nerves with electrical pulses, causing the muscles to contract. And because the muscles are pulling in different directions, the cell expands, along with the pigmented areas, changing the color. When the cell shrinks, so do the pigmented areas.Underneath the chromatophores, there is a separate layer of iridophores. Unlike the chromatophores, the iridophores aren't pigment-based but are an example of structural color, similar to the crystals in the wings of a butterfly, except a squid's iridophores are dynamic rather than static. They can be tuned to reflect different wavelengths of light. A 2012 paper suggested that this dynamically tunable structural color of the iridophores is linked to a neurotransmitter called acetylcholine. The two layers work together to generate the unique optical properties of squid skin.And then there are leucophores, which are similar to the iridophores, except they scatter the full spectrum of light, so they appear white. They contain reflectin proteins that typically clump together into nanoparticles so that light scatters instead of being absorbed or directly transmitted. Leucophores are mostly found in cuttlefish and octopuses, but there are some female squid of the genus Sepioteuthis that have leucophores that they can "tune" to only scatter certain wavelengths of light. If the cells allow light through with little scattering, theyll seem more transparent, while the cells become opaque and more apparent by scattering a lot more light.Scientists learned in 2023 that the process by which cuttlefish generate their camouflage patterns is significantly more complex than scientists previously thought. Specifically, cuttlefish readily adapted their skin patterns to match different backgrounds, whether natural or artificial. And the creatures didn't follow the same transitional pathway every time, often pausing in between. That means that contrary to prior assumptions, feedback seems to be critical to the process, and the cuttlefish were correcting their patterns to match the backgrounds better.Four distinctive displays Wild broadclub cuttlefish hunting with four different displays: (a) leaf, (b) passing-stripe, (c) branching coral, and (d) pulse display. Matteo Santon/University of Bristol Wild broadclub cuttlefish hunting with four different displays: (a) leaf, (b) passing-stripe, (c) branching coral, and (d) pulse display. Matteo Santon/University of Bristol Representative examples of the four main hunting displays viewedfrom prey perspective. Matteo SantonUniversity of Bristol Representative examples of the four main hunting displays viewedfrom prey perspective. Matteo SantonUniversity of Bristol Wild broadclub cuttlefish hunting with four different displays: (a) leaf, (b) passing-stripe, (c) branching coral, and (d) pulse display. Matteo Santon/University of Bristol Representative examples of the four main hunting displays viewedfrom prey perspective. Matteo SantonUniversity of Bristol All those elements combine to make cuttlefish the master hypnotists of the underwater world, co-author Matteo Santon of the University of Bristol in England told New Scientist. He and his colleagues spent several months filming 98 cuttlefish hunting prey in Indonesia. Santon was particularly interested in studying the cuttlefish's ability to adopt moving stripe patterns (the topic of a forthcoming paper) and soon realized that his subjects exhibited a range of four distinct hunting displays when approaching their prey, each with a different coloration, texture, and body posture.In the "Leaf" display, for instance, the cuttlefish stretches its lateral arms horizontally, tucking its other arms into a cone while turning its body olive-green, and approaching the prey very slowlyas if it were a floating mangrove leaf being carried along by the current. In the "Branching Coral" display, the cuttlefish raises its two central arms and splays its remaining arms in front of the body while turning yellow and orange. This might serve to help the cuttlefish hide among staghorn corals to conceal its approach to prey.For the "Passing Stripe" display, the cuttlefish took on a dark gray hue and flashed a downward-moving black stripe along its body. This serves as a form of motion camouflage, as the downward motion of the stripe counters the more threatening expanding motion as the cuttlefish approaches its prey. In the "Pulse" display, the two lateral arm pairs point forward in a tight zone, while the central arms extend upward and out wide, as pulses of dark color play out on the overall gray coloration of the body. The advantages gained by this are less clear, per the authors, but it might serve to minimize the cuttlefish profile from the perspective of its prey (e.g. crabs).The most commonly used patterns were the branching coral, passing stripe, and leaf displays, with pulse displays only accounting for about 11 percent of those observed. Sixty-two of the cuttlefish were filmed more than once and used two or more different hunting displays. "This suggests that this variability is unlikely explained by individual cuttlefish personality," the authors wrote. In fact it demonstrates that "cuttlefish, in different environmental contexts in the wild, show a much broader behavioral repertoire than when housed in the laboratory."DOI: Ecology, 2025. 10.1002/ecy.70021 (About DOIs).Jennifer OuelletteSenior WriterJennifer OuelletteSenior Writer Jennifer is a senior writer at Ars Technica with a particular focus on where science meets culture, covering everything from physics and related interdisciplinary topics to her favorite films and TV series. Jennifer lives in Baltimore with her spouse, physicist Sean M. Carroll, and their two cats, Ariel and Caliban. 0 Comments
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  • ISP sued by record labels agrees to identify 100 users accused of piracy
    arstechnica.com
    "Highly confidentialattorneys' eyes only" ISP sued by record labels agrees to identify 100 users accused of piracy Legal discovery targets names of Altice users hit with copyright notices. Jon Brodkin Feb 20, 2025 3:23 pm | 8 Credit: Getty Images | OcusFocus Credit: Getty Images | OcusFocus Story textSizeSmallStandardLargeWidth *StandardWideLinksStandardOrange* Subscribers only Learn moreCable company Altice agreed to give Warner and other record labels the names and contact information of 100 broadband subscribers who were accused of pirating songs.The subscribers "were the subject of RIAA or third party copyright notices," said a court order that approved the agreement between Altice and the plaintiff record companies. Altice is notifying each subscriber "of Altice's intent to disclose their name and contact information to Plaintiffs pursuant to this Order," and telling the notified subscribers that they have 30 days to seek relief from the court.If subscribers do not object within a month, Altice must disclose the subscribers' names, phone numbers, addresses, and email addresses. The judge's order was issued on February 12 and reported yesterday by TorrentFreak.The names and contact information will be classified as "highly confidentialattorneys' eyes only." A separate order issued in April 2024 said that documents produced in discovery "shall be used by the Parties only in the litigation of this Action and shall not be used for any other purpose."Altice, which operates the Optimum brand, was sued in December 2023 in US District Court for the Eastern District of Texas. The music publishers' complaint alleges that Altice "knowingly contributed to, and reaped substantial profits from, massive copyright infringement committed by thousands of its subscribers."The lawsuit said plaintiffs sent over 70,000 infringement notices to Altice from February 2020 through November 2023. At least a few subscribers were allegedly hit with hundreds of notices. The lawsuit gave three examples of IP addresses that were cited in 502, 781, and 926 infringement notices, respectively.Altice failed to terminate repeat infringers whose IP addresses were flagged in these copyright notices, the lawsuit said. "Those notices advised Altice of its subscribers' blatant and systematic use of Altice's Internet service to illegally download, copy, and distribute Plaintiffs' copyrighted music through BitTorrent and other online file-sharing services. Rather than working with Plaintiffs to curb this massive infringement, Altice did nothing, choosing to prioritize its own profits over its legal obligations," the plaintiffs alleged.ISPs face numerous lawsuitsThis is one of numerous copyright lawsuits filed against broadband providers, and it's not the first time an ISP handed names of subscribers to the plaintiffs. We have previously written articles about film studios trying to force Reddit to identify users who admitted torrenting in discussion forums. Reddit was able to avoid providing information in one case in part because the film studios already obtained identifying details for 118 subscribers directly from Grande, the ISP they had sued.Copyright owners can issue subpoenas to subscribers whose names are provided by ISPs, though they have sought easier ways to get the information they want. In the 2023 case involving film studios and Reddit, a magistrate judge wrote that the studios "resist serving those [Grande] subscribers with subpoenas as burdensome and inconsistent with their August expert-disclosure deadline."As for the Warner v. Altice case, we reached out to both companies today to ask how the names and contact information of subscribers will be used. We'll update this article if we get any information.Presumably, the record companies will seek information from the subscribers to support their case that Altice allowed them to illegally download copyrighted material without consequences. Financial awards in such cases can be large: A federal jury in Virginia ruled in December 2019 that ISP Cox had to pay $1 billion in damages to the major record labels.A 2024 ruling vacated the $1 billion damages award and ordered a new damages trial. The Supreme Court is now considering whether to take up the case.Copyright holders want ISPs to police infringementIn addition to getting financial payouts, copyright holders want to set a legal precedent that would force ISPs to terminate users accused of repeat infringement. Several ISPs urged the Supreme Court to intervene in the Cox case, arguing that they shouldn't be forced to aggressively police copyright infringement on broadband networks.Mass terminations would harm people who happen to be using the same connection as the person who did the infringing, ISPs say. They also contest the reliability of copyright infringement notices, saying the "bot-generated" notices are vague and that ISPs can't verify their accuracy.With discovery proceeding in the Altice case, plaintiffs recently agreed to Altice's request for per-work revenue figures and other data. Altice previously tried to get the lawsuit thrown out, but the motion to dismiss was denied in September 2024.Altice was also sued by UMG (Universal Music Group) in December 2022, but the case was dismissed with prejudice at the request of the parties in August 2024.Jon BrodkinSenior IT ReporterJon BrodkinSenior IT Reporter Jon is a Senior IT Reporter for Ars Technica. He covers the telecom industry, Federal Communications Commission rulemakings, broadband consumer affairs, court cases, and government regulation of the tech industry. 8 Comments
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  • NOAA scientists refuse to link warming weather to climate change
    www.newscientist.com
    Extreme weather, including hurricanes, has increased with climate changeMODIS Land Rapid Response Team, NASA GSFCThe US National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration (NOAA) presents a briefing summarising the global climate each month and in the first of these calls under the Trump administration, NOAA researchers avoided making any link between Januarys record high global temperatures and climate change caused by human greenhouse gas emissions.Its not great for science. Its not great for truth, says David Ho at the University
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  • Mice seen giving 'first aid' to unconscious companions
    www.newscientist.com
    A mouse tends to an unconscious peer by pulling its tongueWenjian Sun et al. 2025When they find another mouse unconscious, some mice seemingly try to revive their companion by pawing at them, biting and even pulling their tongue aside to clear their airways. The finding hints that caregiving behaviour might be more common in the animal kingdom than we thought.There are rare reports of large, social mammals trying to help incapacitated members of their species, such as wild chimpanzees touching and licking wounded peers, dolphins attempting to push a distressed pod mate to the surface so it can breathe and elephants rendering assistance to ailing relatives.Now, Li Zhang at the University of Southern California (USC) and his colleagues have filmed what happened when they presented laboratory mice with a familiar cage mate that was either active or anaesthetised and unresponsive.Over a series of tests, on average the animals devoted about 47 per cent of a 13-minute observation window to interacting with the unconscious partner, showing three sorts of behaviour.They start with sniffing, and then grooming, and then with a very intensive or physical interaction, says Zhang. They really open the mouth of this animal and pull out its tongue. Unmissable news about our planet delivered straight to your inbox every month.Sign up to newsletterThese more physical interactions also involved licking the eyes and biting the mouth area. After focusing on the mouth, the mice pulled on the tongue of their unresponsive partner in more than 50 per cent of cases.In a separate test, researchers gently placed a non-toxic plastic ball in the mouth of the unconscious mouse. In 80 per cent of cases, the helping mice successfully removed the object.If we extended the observation window, maybe the success rate could be even higher, says team member Huizhong Tao, also at USC.Mice that were attended to woke up and started walking again faster than uncared for mice, and once their charge had responded by moving, the carer mice slowed and then stopped their caregiving behaviour.The carer mice also spent more time tending to unconscious mice if they were familiar with them than if they hadnt previously met.The recuperative behaviour isnt an analogue of cardiopulmonary resuscitation, or CPR, which requires specialist training, says Zhang. It is more like using strong smelling salts or a slap to wake someone or performing basic first aid to ensure an unconscious person can breathe. Positioning an anaesthetised patients tongue so it doesnt block their airway is also important during surgery, he says.Zhang and his colleagues found that the behaviours were driven by oxytocin-releasing neurons in the amygdala and hypothalamus regions of the brain. The hormone oxytocin is involved in other caring behaviours across a wide range of vertebrate species.Similar behaviour is reported in laboratory mice in an accompanying research paper by another team and was also described by a third team last month.I have never observed these types of behaviours when we run experiments in the lab, but we never placed a recovering animal with a partner until they were fully awake, says Cristina Mrquez at the Center for Neuroscience and Cell Biology in Coimbra, Portugal. The fact that three independent laboratories have observed similar behaviours indicates that this is a robust finding. However, we should be really careful about anthropomorphising too much what we observe in non-human species or attributing intentions that go beyond what is observed.Zhang and his colleagues think the behaviour is innate rather than learned, partly because all the tested animals were just 2 to 3 months old and hadnt seen this behaviour or anaesthetised cage mates before.He suggests that such instinctive behaviour plays a part in enhancing group cohesion and may be more widely present among social animals than we have seen so far.Seeing this behaviour in wild mice might be hard, says Mrquez. Mice are prey animals that often do not live in big groups, thus usually they will hide quite well from us humans. But [the fact] that we dont see it does not mean that they dont do it.Journal reference:Science DOI: 10.1126/science.adq2677Topics:animals
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  • One of the world's biggest booze brands invested in my non-alcoholic drink company. The key to the growing market is giving people a way to unwind.
    www.businessinsider.com
    George Youmans is a self-described amateur biohacker and the cofounder of Hiyo, a nonalcoholic tonic.Constellation Brands, the largest beer import company in the US, just acquired a minority stake in Hiyo.The nonalcoholic market is expanding, but customers want to feel different when they drink, Youmans said.This as-told-to essay is based on a conversation with George Youmans, cofounder of the social tonic Hiyo, a non-alcoholic beverage startup that recently partnered with Constellation Brands. It has been edited for length and clarity.I cut my teeth out of college at Red Bull in their entertainment and music marketing division it was awesome, but I had a bit of cognitive dissonance with the product itself.I consider myself an amateur biohacker, so I'm very conscious about what I put in my body. Drinking Red Bulls all the time wasn't exactly what I wanted to be putting my time and effort into. I learned a lot working there, but ultimately, you want to be able to really believe in the brand that you're building, so there was a bit of a misalignment.The idea for Hiyo came when one of my co-founders, Evan, and I were thinking through a bunch of different ideas around starting a company he was getting his MBA at UCLA, and for the final project for his thesis, he had to start a business. During that period back in April 2019, we both had family members hospitalized with some alcohol-related issues.It was a weird coincidence and, frankly, a pretty traumatic experience, but it caused us to cut back on our drinking out of solidarity with those family members. And as we did, we saw a pretty profound need for a product like Hiyo in our lives and in the lives of those we loved. The options were boring soda water and lime or sugary, syrupy mocktails and those were not really leading to a healthier lifestyle.A growing market for non-alcoholic drinksIt was obvious that there was a surging demand for high-end non-alcoholic drinks that didn't feel like a sacrifice, so we wanted to try to create an alternative to alcohol that you could be proud to hold. We wanted the flavor profiles to be complex and refreshing enough to deserve their place at that table when you usually have cocktails or full-bodied wines.We also wanted a nutritional facts panel that felt guiltless, with all organic ingredients. Finally, it had to be functional. I think the main reason people drink is that they want to feel something; they want stress relief, to feel relaxed and social. So we tried to tap into those feelings by using adaptogens and nootropics.We worked for a very long time to finalize that perfect stack of ingredients that elicited that feeling. For me, drinking Hiyo almost feels a little bit like a runner's high. I don't know exactly how to describe what I feel, but I know that I feel good, and it's pleasant, so we called it the "float." I think the functionality of the drink is such a critical piece of this because the world's fing stressful, and people need a way to unwind. We wanted to be able to provide a healthy version of that thing that we all need at the end of the week or the end of a long day.A deal with Constellation BrandsWe launched in May 2021. We grew 3 times in retail last year and are looking to double this year and we've just announced a new deal with Constellation Brands.I think what attracted Constellation to Hiyo is they're recognizing the shifting landscape of consumer behavior, with people drinking alcohol less often, and they're focused on really owning that celebration and that social occasion space.People are looking to drink less,whether they're completely sober or they're moderating. About 87% of our customers are people who are just drinking less, not completely sober people, and I think Constellation saw us as one of if not the fastest-growing brands in our space.Typically, when strategic investors come in at this stage, they're looking to potentially have a path toward an acquisition. Part of their investment is to help support that brand to accelerate its growth, and, in our case, Constellation has come out and said they want 25% of their portfolio to be non-alcoholic by around 2030. So we know they have that intentionality, and a big way they're going to do that is through the ventures group of the Constellation Brands team of finding great, younger, non-alcoholic brands I'm just so proud Hiyo is one of them.
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