Posts Tagged: making

Oppo And Vivo To Quit Making Foldables As Samsung Rolls On

It’s being reported that BKK brand Vivo and Oppo could quit the foldables segment in 2024 as Samsung and Huawei double down.
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Instagram is making it easier to remove spammy followers

Meta is rolling out a suite of new tools on Instagram that give users more control over how much spam content and bots they will see on their feeds. People will also be told if something they posted is in accordance with community guidelines. The new tools will be introduced gradually in the coming weeks.

Instagram has developed and improved its automated detection system that checks for spam across comments, tags, story views and followers. The moderation systems will flag fake followers and spam-filled content and give users the option to delete those items in bulk to save users time. Any suspected spam or bot account will get filtered into a separate inbox for you to review, and if an account isn’t spam, you can approve a request and they’ll be added to your following list. Otherwise, all accounts will be automatically removed after 30 days. Posts by profiles that get tagged as spam won't appear on the content creators’ accounts unless they get approved. An account holder can view, bulk delete or approve any tag requests flagged by the system.

Instagram will also send in-app notifications if it detects posts that violate its content policies. This follows Instagram’s most recent update that shows when posts are blocked from appearing on the Explore page, which should stop account holders from repeating those mistakes. For Stories though, Instagram said it is still experimenting with hiding views from accounts that the platform deems as spam.

The company already introduced the "Hidden Words" tool in 2021, which hides messages with questionable keywords. In the coming update, Instagram said it will start to edit out suspected spam through the advanced comment filtering tool. The issue of harassment and spam has long been a focal point for Instagram. It has had to deal with bots storming the platform and proliferating sexually explicit content. However, the company needs to strike a balance between policing inappropriate content and allowing for the free exchange of ideas on its platform. Recently, Instagram has faced scrutiny for allegedly censoring pro-Palestinian content amid the ongoing war in the Gaza.

This article originally appeared on Engadget at https://www.engadget.com/instagram-is-making-it-easier-to-remove-spammy-followers-021801458.html?src=rss
Engadget is a web magazine with obsessive daily coverage of everything new in gadgets and consumer electronics

Endlesss Clubs is like a Discord server for making music

Producing music with friends and colleagues from afar can be tricky but, hopefully, it's about to get a bit smoother. Endlesss, a remote music creation platform, is rolling out a feature called Clubs that could make it easier to share and blend ideas. The new tool is reminiscent of Discord — something Endlesss (yes, with a triple s) outright states in its promotion.

Endlesss Clubs are live chat channels where members can add riffs, make comments, combine parts and share files. Just like Discord, members can belong to multiple Clubs, and each has different channels, depending on what people want to create. 

The company first announced the upcoming release of Endlesss Clubs back in August. "Music-makers all have to compete for attention on the same distribution platforms. This results in bad outcomes for everyone but the very best," Tim Exile, founder and CEO of Endlesss, said at the time. "We're excited to provide community-owned places for music-makers of all levels to go deep with their people."

Endlesss debuted at the start of the COVID-19 pandemic, allowing musicians to connect remotely. It was initially available only as an iOS app before launching Endlesss Studio for desktop at the end of 2020. There were some kinks when we first tested it, many of which seem to have been straightened out in the years since.  

Anyone can test out Endlesss for free or get unlimited sample packs, sample presets, VST/AU plugin presets and high quality audio for $ 10 per month. Endlesss Clubs are now available for members to join and play around in. 

This article originally appeared on Engadget at https://www.engadget.com/endlesss-clubs-is-like-a-discord-server-for-making-music-112509781.html?src=rss

Engadget is a web magazine with obsessive daily coverage of everything new in gadgets and consumer electronics

OpenAI is reportedly considering making its own chips

ChatGPT might be powered by homegrown chips in the future, if OpenAI does indeed decide to make its own. According to Reuters, the company is currently exploring the possibility of making its own artificial intelligence chips and has even evaluated a potential acquisition. OpenAI CEO Sam Altman previously blamed GPU shortages for users’ concerns regarding the company API’s speed and reliability, so he reportedly made acquiring more AI chips a priority. 

In addition to being able to address GPU shortages, OpenAI using its own chips could make costs associated with running its products more manageable. Based on an analysis by Stacy Rasgon from Bernstein Research, each ChatGPT query costs the company around 4 cents. The service reached 100 million monthly users in its first two months, which translates to millions of queries a day, though it did lose users for the first time in July. Rasgon said that if ChatGPT queries reach a tenth of what Google gets, then it would initially need $ 48.1 billion worth of GPUs and would spend $ 16 billion a year on chips going forward. 

At the moment, NVIDIA controls the market for chips meant for AI applications — the Microsoft supercomputer OpenAI used to develop its technology, for instance, uses 10,000 NVIDIA GPUs. That’s why other companies — bigger players in the tech industry — have chosen to start developing their own. Microsoft, OpenAI’s biggest backer, has been working on an AI chip of its own since 2019, according to The Information. The product is codenamed Athena, and OpenAI has reportedly been testing the technology. 

OpenAI has yet to decide whether to push through with its plans, Reuters says. And even if it does choose to move forward, it could take years before it can start using it own chips to power its products. 

This article originally appeared on Engadget at https://www.engadget.com/openai-is-reportedly-considering-making-its-own-chips-113010353.html?src=rss

Engadget is a web magazine with obsessive daily coverage of everything new in gadgets and consumer electronics

Samsung’s making it easier than ever to fix your broken phone

Samsung is expanding its partnership with uBreakiFix in a couple of important ways, making it easier than ever to fix your broken Samsung phone.
Digital Trends

Forget the Oura Ring — Samsung might be making a new smart ring

Samsung may be dipping its toes into the world of smart rings for health and wellness tracking — setting its sights directly on the Oura Ring.
Digital Trends

[Promoted] BLUETTI to Release AC180, Making Another Breakthrough in the Portable Power Station Market

Spring camping has gradually become popular in recent years, providing a precious chance for people to get rid of the hustle and bustle of urban life and have close contact with nature. However, most of their trips experience mobile power shortages out there. BLUETTI, a market leader in the energy storage industry, is about to […]

Come comment on this article: [Promoted] BLUETTI to Release AC180, Making Another Breakthrough in the Portable Power Station Market

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Halo veteran Joseph Staten is making a AAA game for Netflix

Former Halo scribe Joseph Staten has joined Netflix’s burgeoning gaming division. On Monday, Staten tweeted that he will serve as the creative director on a new AAA game and original intellectual property from the streaming giant. “In my work life, there’s nothing I love more than collaborating with others to build worlds filled with iconic characters, deep mysteries, and endless adventures,” Staten wrote on Twitter. "So today, I'm thrilled to announce that I've joined Netflix Games as Creative Director for a brand-new AAA multiplatform game and original IP. Let's go!"

The announcement comes less than two weeks after Staten announced his departure from Microsoft. Before joining the tech giant in 2013, he worked as a writer and director of cinematics on Bungie’s first three Halo games. Staten later helped write and co-direct Destiny, but left the studio before the game’s release in 2014. Following his return to the Microsoft fold (Bungie was a Microsoft studio before it went independent in 2007), Staten worked as senior creative director on the Xbox Game Studios team for a number of years before moving to 343 Industries in 2020 to assist in the development of Halo Infinite. This past January, Microsoft reassigned Staten away from 343 at the same time it cut “at least” 95 jobs at the troubled developer.

On Monday, Staten said the game he’s working on at Netflix would be a “multiplatform” release. To date, the company’s gaming strategy has primarily centered around obtaining mobile publishing rights to respected indie titles like Into the Breach and Terra Nil. Funding the development of a multiplatform AAA game is significantly more ambitious and, it should be noted, risky.

This article originally appeared on Engadget at https://www.engadget.com/halo-veteran-joseph-staten-is-making-a-aaa-game-for-netflix-173502368.html?src=rss
Engadget is a web magazine with obsessive daily coverage of everything new in gadgets and consumer electronics

Microsoft is making it easier to set default apps in Windows 11

Since its release in 2021, one of the most consistent criticisms of Windows 11 has been Microsoft’s handling of app defaults. Compared to Windows 10, the newer OS makes it more complicated for users to move away from the company’s first-party offerings. For example, if you don’t want Edge to open every time you click on a webpage or PDF, you’re forced to launch Windows 11’s Settings menu and change the default app by file and link type. It’s an unnecessarily long process that makes customizing Windows 11 convoluted.

Microsoft is finally addressing some of those criticisms. In a blog post published Friday (via Bleeping Computer), the company said it was “reaffirming our long-standing approach to put people in control of their Windows PC experience.” Microsoft announced a feature it said would ensure Windows 11 users are in control of changes to their app defaults. Later this year, the company will introduce a new deep link uniform resource identifier (URI) that will allow developers to send users to the correct section of the Settings menu when they want to change how Windows 11 responds to specific links and file types.

Screenshot of the new toast notification that some apps will display when asking you to pin themselves to your taskbar, start menu or desktop.
Microsoft

Microsoft says it will also give users more control over what apps get pinned to their desktop, start menu and taskbar with a new public API that will display a prompt asking you to grant programs permission before they show up on those interface elements. Both features will first roll out to PCs enrolled in the Windows Insider Dev Channel in the coming months before arriving in the public release of Windows 11. Notably, Microsoft says it will “lead by example” and release updates for Edge that will see the browser add support for those features as they become available.

This article originally appeared on Engadget at https://www.engadget.com/microsoft-is-making-it-easier-to-set-default-apps-in-windows-11-202940444.html?src=rss
Engadget is a web magazine with obsessive daily coverage of everything new in gadgets and consumer electronics

Diablo co-creator Erich Schaefer is making an action RPG with a studio of Blizzard North veterans

With Diablo IV set to arrive later this year, 2023 will be a big year for action RPGs. But there’s more to look forward to beyond this year. On Thursday, Moon Beast Productions – an indie studio founded by Phil Shenk and Peter Hu, two former Blizzard North developers – announced the hiring of Diablo series co-creator Erich Schaefer. In an interview with GamesBeat, the studio said Schaefer will serve as lead creator director on a new action RPG. Details on the project are sparse, but what Moon Beast shared with Schaefer was reportedly enough to convince him to come out of retirement.

“We have ideas for changing the genre with a different approach to progression and trying to solve some of the problems that are beholden to PvE games, especially games, like the Diablo franchise has dealt with,” Shenk told GamesBeat. All three men worked on Diablo II. Notably, Shenk is credited as the game’s lead character artist, and was responsible for designing the appearance of a few of the game’s character classes, including the necromancer and assassin. Lord of Destruction, Diablo II’s excellent 2001 expansion, features a tribute to Shenk in the form of a monster you must slay to complete one of Act V’s quests.

Schaefer told GamesBeat Moon Beast currently employs about 12 people, making it smaller than many of the other studios working in the ARPG genre. The good news is Schaefer has plenty of experience leading small teams. At Runic Games, he made Torchlight with a team of about 25 people. "I want to work on projects that are fun and genuinely try to do something different," Schaefer said. "It’s impressive what the Moon Beast team has built in such a short time. It fired up my imagination with possibilities, and that's a huge part of why I wanted to come aboard."

This article originally appeared on Engadget at https://www.engadget.com/diablo-co-creator-erich-schaefer-is-making-an-action-rpg-with-a-studio-of-blizzard-north-veterans-232322721.html?src=rss
Engadget is a web magazine with obsessive daily coverage of everything new in gadgets and consumer electronics

Twitter is making millions of dollars from previously banned accounts, report says

Twitter is making millions of dollars from just a handful of some of its most infamous users, according to a new report. New research from the Center for Countering Digital Hate (CCDH) estimates that Twitter “will generate up to $ 19 million a year in advertising revenue” from just 10 accounts that were once banned from the platform.

The report looked at the current engagement with 10 accounts that were previously banned for “ for “publishing hateful content and dangerous conspiracies.” The accounts were reinstated after Elon Musk’s takeover of Twitter. The group includes a number of high-profile accounts associated with extremism and conspiracy theories, including those belonging to influencer Andrew Tate, Daily Stormer founder Andrew Anglin, prominent antivaxxer Robert Malone and the Gateway Pundit.

In order to estimate their reach and engagement, CCDH analyzed nearly 10,000 tweets from these accounts during a 47-day period in December and January. According to their analysis, “on an average day, tweets from the ten accounts received a combined total of 54 million impressions,” they write. “Projecting this average across 365 days, the accounts can be expected to reach nearly 20 billion impressions over the course of a year.”

In order to determine how much ad revenue those impressions might generate for Twitter, CCDH says it created three new Twitter accounts that followed only the 10 users named in the report. The authors found that ads appeared about once every 6.7 tweets. Then, using data from analytics firm Brandwatch, which estimates that “Twitter ads cost an average of $ 6.46 per 1,000 impressions,” CCDH came up with “a total figure of up to $ 19 million in estimated annual ad revenues across the accounts.”

While the estimates aren’t a precise accounting of how much Twitter might be making from these users, it demonstrates how valuable a small number of highly polarizing accounts can be for the platform. It also underscores how much more Twitter stands to gain by bringing back even more controversial users.

All of the accounts named in the report were once permanently banned from twitter, but were reinstated after Musk said he would offer “general amnesty” to users who hadn’t broken the law. Twitter also recently announced plans to allow even more previously banned users to appeal their suspensions.

At the same time, Twitter’s advertising business has taken a major hit since Musk’s takeover. A number of high profile advertisers have pulled back from the platform, and revenue is down as much as 40 percent, according to reporting fromPlatformer.

The report also points out several instances when ads from prominent advertisers appeared adjacent to offensive and inflammatory posts from these users. For example, a Prime Video ad directly underneath a tweet from Andrew Anglin that states “the only career a woman is actually capable of on merit is prostitution.” The report also highlights an ad from the NFL, which appeared directly underneath a tweet misinformation about COVID-19 vaccines.

“This work confirms that Twitter has been displaying ads next to every one of the toxic accounts we have investigated, despite the fact that the individuals behind them are known to promote hateful views and falsehoods,” CCDH writes.

Engadget is a web magazine with obsessive daily coverage of everything new in gadgets and consumer electronics

Amazon is reportedly making a Tomb Raider TV series

Hollywood may be taking another stab at a Tomb Raider production, but this time for the small screen. The Hollywood Reportersources say Amazon is creating a Tomb Raider TV series for Prime Video, with Phoebe Waller-Bridge (of Fleabag fame) set to be an executive producer and write the script. It's not certain who would star, but we wouldn't count on movie stars Angelina Jolie or Alicia Vikander reprising the role of Lara Croft. The show is reportedly still in the development stage.

We've asked Amazon for comment. A collaboration like this wouldn't be surprising, at least. Amazon is publishing the next Tomb Raider game, and Waller-Bridge previously struck a three-year deal with Amazon that includes projects like the novel adaptation Sign Here. Sources for The Reporter claim Amazon was "aggressive" in pursuing a deal renewal late last year.

The rumor comes as game-based TV shows have their moment in the spotlight. HBO's The Last of Us has already been successful enough to get a second season. Sony, meanwhile, is prepping God of War, Gran Turismo and Horizon titles for Netflix and Prime Video. A Tomb Raider series would bolster Amazon's game-themed catalog and help it compete against rivals like Netflix, which already has hits like the League of Legends offshoot Arcane.

Amazon also hasn't been shy about chasing after potential blockbusters. The company reportedly spent $ 1 billion on The Lord of Rings: The Rings of Power, for instance. While a Tomb Raider show isn't likely to be as lavish, Waller-Bridge's involvement suggests Amazon is eager for a hit. Amazon struggled to breach the top streaming charts last year — this might give it better ammunition against Netflix successes like Stranger Things.

Engadget is a web magazine with obsessive daily coverage of everything new in gadgets and consumer electronics

Jail threats stop AI ‘robot lawyer’ from making its debut in court

Joshua Browder, the CEO of New York startup DoNotPay, recently announced that his company's AI will represent a defendant fighting a traffic ticket in the courtroom on February 22nd. "[H]istory will be made," Browder wrote in his tweet. "DoNotPay A.I will whisper in someone's ear exactly what to say. We will release the results and share more after it happens," he added. We may never know how the "robot lawyer" will fare in court, though, because a few days later, Browder announced that DoNotPay is postponing its court case after he received threats of jail time from state bar prosecutors if he goes through with his plan. 

The CEO told NPR that multiple state bar associations had threatened his company, and one even said he could be imprisoned for six months. He told the media organization: "Even if it wouldn't happen, the threat of criminal charges was enough to give it up. The letters have become so frequent that we thought it was just a distraction and that we should move on." While the State Bar of California refused to talk about DoNoPay's situation, it told NPR that it has a duty to investigate potential instances of unauthorized law practice. 

Browder originally created DoNoPay as a free AI-powered chatbot that can help you draft letters and fill out forms for various legal matters. The company's "robot lawyer" is powered by several AI text generators, including ChatGPT and DaVinci, re-trained to know the law. A defendant using the technology in court would have worn smart glasses to record the court proceedings, as well as a headset that would give the AI a way to tell them what to say. 

As CBS News said in a previous report, though, the tech isn't legal in most courtrooms. Also, in some states, all parties must consent to being recorded. That's why of the 300 cases DoNotPay looked at, only two were viable candidates. In the end, Browder decided to put off the company's court ambitions and to focus on using AI to help people with issues related to consumer rights, specifically lowering medical bills, cancelling subscriptions and disputing credit reports, among others.

NPR said, however, that the CEO is still hoping that artificial intelligence could eventually help people in the courtroom. "The truth is, most people can't afford lawyers. This could've shifted the balance and allowed people to use tools like ChatGPT in the courtroom that maybe could've helped them win cases," he told the organization.

Engadget is a web magazine with obsessive daily coverage of everything new in gadgets and consumer electronics

The Apple Watch SE 2 is making me think twice about the Watch Series 8

Using the Apple Watch SE 2 made me realize you should consider it the default Apple Watch to buy, and then look at the Series 8 — not the other way around.
Wearables | Digital Trends

Google reportedly making a small Pixel to replace the iPhone 14 Mini that never was

After the Pixel 7 and 7 Pro launch, Google might be getting back into the small phone market.
Android | Digital Trends

The OnePlus 11 Pro will reportedly launch before the end of 2022 with the alert slider making a welcome return

So, we already know that Qualcomm is holding its annual summit around a month earlier than usual where we will see the Snapdragon 8 Gen 2 officially unveiled. This brings us neatly to a new report that claims the OnePlus 11 Pro will be announced before the end of 2022, complete with the aforementioned chip […]

Come comment on this article: The OnePlus 11 Pro will reportedly launch before the end of 2022 with the alert slider making a welcome return

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Discord is making its Android app more like iOS, and in a good way

Discord has switched to React Native for its Android app to ensure Android users will get new features and updates at the same time iOS users do.
Android | Digital Trends

A studio of ‘Witcher 3’ developers are making an online action game set in feudal Japan

A group of former CD Projekt Red developers is working on a new online action that will take players to feudal Japan. This week, Dark Passenger co-founders Jakub Ben and Marcin Michalski announced the formation of their studio and put out a call for talent in a series of tweets spotted by PC Gamer. Ben and Michalski were part of the art team that worked on The Witcher 3 and later went on to do contract work on Cyberpunk 2077.

Dark Passenger’s first game doesn’t have a name yet, but the studio’s website provides some details on the project. Ben and Michalski say they want to create an online multiplayer game with support for both competitive and cooperative play. They describe a title that sounds like it will borrow elements from games like Titanfall and Absolver. “Our locomotion system will allow players to perform incredible [feats] such as running on arrows that were fired by other players, fast climbing on vertical surfaces with the use of shuko claws or using [a] yari spear like a pole to jump over obstacles,” the studio said. “Engaging [in] close-ranged combat will demand as much dexterity as tactics and close cooperation with teammates.”

The news of the founding comes after former CDPR executive Konrad Tomaszkiewicz announced at the start of the year he was creating a studio named Rebel Wolves. He said his team would release its first project, a dark fantasy role-playing game built in Unreal Engine 5, sometime in 2025. After directing the critically acclaimed The Witcher 3 and contributing to Cyberpunk 2077, Tomaszkiewicz left CDPR in May 2021 amid allegations he bullied coworkers. Before his departure, it came out that work on Cyberpunk involved a lengthy and brutal crunch period for many of its developers.

As PC Gamer points out, Dark Passenger’s careers page alludes to some of the criticisms of CDPR. “We create a prejudice-free environment based on tolerance, support and understanding. We treat individual needs as seriously as the group’s expectations,” the page states. “We provide all amenities, private medical care and paid overtime. With an emphasis on work-life balance, we offer flexible working hours and holidays.” As for when you can expect to play the studio’s first game, Dark Passenger has not shared a release date.

Engadget is a web magazine with obsessive daily coverage of everything new in gadgets and consumer electronics

EA is making a free-to-play Lord of the Rings RPG for mobile

Electronic Arts is stepping back into Middle-earth. The publisher has announced a free-to-play mobile game called The Lord of the Rings: Heroes of Middle-earth. The RPG is the first EA mobile title based on J.R.R. Tolkien's works. EA Capital Games is developing the game. The studio was behind another successful collectible mobile RPG in 2015's Star Wars: Galaxy of Heroes.

Heroes of Middle-earth will include characters from both The Lord of the Rings and The Hobbit, along with collection systems, turn-based combat and "immersive storytelling." EA said in a press release that players will experience "iconic stories from the world of Tolkien and take up the fight against the great evils of Middle-earth." Unsurprisingly, given that this is a free-to-play mobile title, there will be microtransactions.

“We are incredibly excited to partner with The Saul Zaentz Company and Middle-earth Enterprises on the next generation of mobile role-playing games,” said EA's vice-president of mobile RPG Malachi Boyle said. “The team is filled with fans of The Lord of the Rings and The Hobbit and each day they bring their tremendous passion and talents together to deliver an authentic experience for players. The combination of high-fidelity graphics, cinematic animations, and stylized art immerses players in the fantasy of Middle-earth where they’ll go head-to-head with their favorite characters.”

This will be EA's first LOTR title since 2009's The Lord of the Rings: Conquest, as Polygon notes. Warner Bros. Interactive Entertainment, NetEase and Glu Mobile (which EA bought last year) are among the other publishers who have released mobile LOTR games.

EA expects to start limited regional beta tests of The Lord of the Rings: Heroes of Middle-earth this summer.

It's not the only major LOTR project scheduled to debut this year. Daedalic's action-adventure title The Lord of the Rings: Gollum is supposed to arrive in 2022. And then, of course, there's the small matter of Amazon's The Lord of the Rings: The Rings of Power series, which will premiere on September 2nd.

Engadget is a web magazine with obsessive daily coverage of everything new in gadgets and consumer electronics

The Chase Bliss Habit helped me enjoy making music again

I’ve been stuck in something of a creative rut for the last year or so. I’ve been sitting on two (or maybe three) tracks for an EP since last January, unable to push through. It’s gotten to the point where, honestly, I haven’t even been enjoying making music these last several months.

I tell you this because, in a post detailing the difference between the Blooper, Mood and Habit pedals (which are all built around a similar core), Chase Bliss founder Joel Korte brags that the Habit “could get anyone out of a creative rut.” And if you only have one takeaway from this review, it should be that Joel is probably right.

Now, I’m not going to say that the Chase Bliss Habit is for everyone. It’s pricey, it’s weird and it can be complicated. But it’s also wholly unique and surprisingly versatile. It is, at its core, a delay pedal – a rather crisp and clean digital delay. And you can certainly treat it as such and get great results. It has tap tempo, MIDI capabilities and can handle everything from short slapback echo to Frippertronics-esque slowly degrading loops. But, if that’s all you use it for you won’t get your $ 399 worth.

Chase Bliss prefers to call Habit a “musical sketchpad,” and while that’s an apt description, it might confuse some people. This isn’t a looper in the traditional sense, so don’t expect to lay down a four-chord backing track and start writing melodies over it. Instead this is more of a happy accident machine where you might stumble into an inspiring idea.

Those are the two extremes, however. There’s a world of sounds in between for you to explore on the Habit, from tape-like warbles, to complex multitap delays and glitchy stutters. The trick here is that Habit is always recording incoming audio to a three-minute digital “tape” loop. And then you can add effects, harmonize with yourself, scan through what you played one minute ago or just emulate a casino full of slot machines.

Hardware

Chase Bliss Habit
Terrence O'Brien / Engadget

What’s impressive is that Chase Bliss manages to cram so much range into a standard-size guitar pedal. Part of that is down to the company’s extensive, but standardized control scheme. Basically, every Chase Bliss pedal (save for its Automatone series) is built around the same core platform that features six knobs, four three-way switches, a pair of foot switches and 16 dip switches on the back. It’s a lot of variables crammed into a very small space, and it can be quite intimidating.

But the manual for the Habit is comprehensive, easy to understand, fun and, dare I say, beautiful? It’s filled with illustrations and examples that help make what is a reasonably complicated device seem approachable. And it’s presented in a Field Notes-style booklet with a cardboard cover. It’s probably a silly thing to highlight, but this might be the best product manual ever.

Chase Bliss Habit

The hardware itself is likewise a step ahead of the competition. Now, there’s not a ton of ways to stand out in the pedal game if you’re sticking to standard sized metal enclosures, but Chase Bliss opts for knurled metal knobs and the LEDs are nestled inside tiny metal calderas. They’re small touches that elevate a Chase Bliss pedal above other players in the market, which is important when you’re charging this much.

The two primary knocks against it on the hardware front are a lack of stereo outs and a nonstandard ¼-inch MIDI connection. Frankly, I don’t think the former is a major issue. I have a small handful of stereo pedals in my collection, and I almost never actually use them in stereo. The MIDI port on the other hand is a bit of a downer, especially now that ⅛-inch TRS MIDI is a widely adopted standard. Instead you need a special adapter box or a custom wired cable to connect other MIDI gear to Habit.

Also, because Chase Bliss has to make room for the dip switches all the jacks are on the sides of the pedal. This is hardly dealbreaker, but connecting audio, power and expression does eat up a little more real estate on your pedalboard than if the jacks were on the top.

Modifiers

Those complaints are minor nitpicks, though, and they almost don’t matter once you start playing. Even when using it as a relatively straightforward delay pedal the Habit shines, especially once you start exploring the modifiers you select using the three-way switches across the middle. (The fourth switch just above the foot switches is used for selecting and saving a pair of presets, and we’re just going to ignore that.) The middle switch changes between the two banks or turns the modifiers off, while the left switch selects which specific modifier you’re using and the knob above it dials in the amount and style of said modifier.

Chase Bliss Habit
Terrence O'Brien / Engadget

Each modifier has two different variations, depending on which way you turn the knob. For example, modifier A-1 is a stepped speed change quantized to fifths and octaves. To the right of 12 o’clock plays the repeats forward, while to the left plays them in reverse. This means that even if you don’t touch any of the other controls you have seven distinct delays at your fingertips.

The other modifiers include tape-like lo-fi effects, smooth pitch changes and a multimode filter. But the two most interesting are probably the trimmer and the dropper. Trimmer slices bits of audio off the start or end of a note and can be used to create complex stuttering rhythms. Meanwhile Dropper causes your signal to drop out, appropriately enough. Turn the Modify knob to the right and you’ll find rhythmic patterns; to the left and the echoes will randomly disappear. Crank that and you get heavily degraded, almost granular effects (which you can really lean into with the Spread and Scan knobs, but more on that later).

Controls

Chase Bliss Habit
Terrence O'Brien / Engadget

The controls across the top are, more or less, what you’d expect on a standard delay pedal. There’s level, repeats (feedback) and size (time). One important thing to note is that, as you increase or decrease the size, there is no change in pitch. The ones below it though are where the interesting things happen. We’ve already mentioned the modifier knob, but next to that are the Spread and Scan controls. Spread controls a second playback head which allows you to get standard multitap echoes at lower settings, but as you start to increase it, it reaches further and further back into the past. It’s less of a delay and more of a sonic time machine. If used smartly, you can create cascading counter melodies as you play along with yourself from 30 seconds ago.

Scan has two modes: auto (default) and manual (controlled by one of those dip switches on the back). In auto mode it introduces random snippets of old audio. The Scan and Spread knobs interact, so as Scan starts rummaging through the past, it drags that secondary Spread playhead with it. This is important because, as you crank up the Scan, you’re making Spread all the more unpredictable. This can be fun if you’re looking for glitchy chaos, or frustrating if you’re trying to lock into a groove with yourself.

If you set Scan to manual, you’re picking out the moment of your choice from the last three minutes. This is particularly handy if you’re using the Habit as a musical sketchpad, since you can record three minutes of noodling and then go back and find the bits you really want to savor.

Chase Bliss Habit
Terrence O'Brien / Engadget

There is a middle ground, which is my preferred method of using Scan. If you press and hold the left foot switch it momentarily sets Scan to maximum and then snaps back to where you have it when you let go. If you use this with Scan set to zero, you’re able to insert controlled bits of chaos exactly when you want to. And since both Spread and Scan are linked to Size everything stays in sync pretty nicely.

Then there’s the three-way switch on the far right labeled In-Out-Feed. This is probably the most powerful control on the entire pedal. In the middle, or out, position you get a predictable sound where every echo sounds exactly the same. When switched to in, each echo is fed through the modifier circuit again. This can give you sparkling chimes that climb in pitch until they send your dog running for cover. Or echoes that crumble more with each repeat. Or, notes that get shorter and shorter as the Trimmer modifier shaves more and more off.

To the right is Feed mode, which sends the output of the Habit right back through the input creating echoes of echoes and accumulating modifier effects off into infinity. This is where things can get really wild. This can get you metallic, almost reverb-like drones. But it also means that, if you start turning knobs, those changes are printed to the internal “tape loop” because what’s coming out is coming right back in again and getting recorded. This becomes even more powerful when combined with the Collect dip switch on the top.

Collect

Chase Bliss Habit

By default, Habit is always recording to a three-minute loop, but it overwrites what happened three-minutes ago. If you turn on Collect, then the loop is never erased and you’re able to overdub. This is where you can start building sketches of songs and then, by turning on Feed, record what happens as you tweak knobs and dramatically transform what you played.

Now, I’ll be honest: I haven’t had a lot of success using this to make an actual song. The quirks of Habit also mean that this mode is best suited for particular styles of music. You can create odd stuttering and loping guitar pieces, or ambient washes, but probably nothing with a traditional song structure. But, it’s still quite enjoyable and meditative to sit and slowly build up a composition by recording three minute passes of music. And that is one other thing to keep in mind: The internal loop is three minutes and there is no way to shorten it if you only want to record 30 seconds, so using Collect requires patience. This is a great way to find interesting sounds for sampling, though. Running an instrument into the Habit, and then running the results into the SP-404 has been incredibly fun.

That’s the other big takeaway you should have, by the way. The Habit is fun. Despite its complexity and occasional unpredictability, it’s easy to get lost in the joy of creating new and bizarre sounds.

Dip switches

Chase Bliss Habit

The thing that lends Habit its greatest sense of complexity is definitely dip switches on the top. They’re one of the defining features of a Chase Bliss pedal. They basically come in two flavors: expression and customization. You can, for instance, flip the Dry Kill switch to get rid of your unaffected tone. While there is some lag introduced by the pedal, it’s still useful for getting synth-like arpeggios or processing audio that you’re not playing live. This is also how you enable things like Collect, Manual Scan and latch. Normally, if you hold the left footswitch momentarily it automatically maxes out the Scan parameter, while holding the right loops the last echo. With latching on those will continue until you hold down the footswitch again.

The Expression and Ramping switches add movement or allow you to control specific parameters. For example, if you connect an expression pedal and then flip the Size switch, you can quickly increase or decrease the echo time with your foot while playing. But, all Chase Bliss pedals also have an LFO which the company calls Ramp or Bounce. Ramp can be one-shot or looping (Bounce), and can be a triangle wave, square or random. So you could, for instance, set the Modify parameter to increase and decrease pitch over time to create arpeggios, or randomly change the amount of Spread to sprinkle in bits of the past.

Chase Bliss Habit
Terrence O'Brien / Engadget

Ramp and expression can be in either rise or fall mode. Meaning, that either it sweeps a parameter up from the minimum to where you’ve set the knob, or down from the maximum to the knob setting.

One thing to note: When you enable Ramp the level knob changes the speed of the Ramp, rather than volume of the effect. So, set your levels first before you start messing with the dip switches. Oh, and if you connect an expression pedal without flipping any parameter switches on the back, it controls the level. This is handy if you want to fade in the delay only occasionally while playing.

The competition

Chase Bliss Mood and Blooper
Chase Bliss

Obviously, if you don’t need or want all these crazy features and are just looking for a straightforward delay pedal, don’t get a Habit. It can do typical delay stuff, but you don’t need to spend $ 400 on a “typical delay.”

There are delay pedals out there that cover some similar ground. For instance, the $ 299 Red Panda Raster 2. It’s a digital delay with pitch and frequency shifting, plus internal modulation. But it doesn’t really have equivalents of the Scan, Spread and Collect features, which are pretty unique to Habit.

The more likely choice you’re trying to make is between three different Chase Bliss pedals: the Mood, Blooper and Habit. All three are related, but their strengths lie in specific areas.

Like Habit, Blooper is a collaboration with YouTuber Knobs (which has since joined Chase Bliss) and its focus is on looping. It starts with the same core conceit of any looper: record audio and then play it back. Its unique features are in how you mangle that loop by overdubbing and applying modifiers. It’s probably the most complex of the three, and even has a browser-based interface where you can export loops and swap in different modifiers. I’d actually say “musical sketchpad” is a better fit for Blooper.

Mood grew out of the development of Blooper. It’s a more straightforward affair. It has an always-on recorder, similar to Habit, but it plays shorter “microloops” and includes reverb for added ambience. If you want spacey granular effects without having to search too long for sweet spots, then Mood is your better bet.

Chase Bliss Habit

Wrap-up

Habit, on the other hand, is focused on delay and freeform looping. Its strengths are in creating complex rhythmic echoes and unpredictable melodic interplay. It’s just as at home on a pedalboard supported by other effects as it is on a desktop being manipulated like an instrument in its own right. It has many of the same strengths as the Blooper and Mood, but it’s also probably the most experimental of the bunch. It’s also more difficult to tame – Habit is clearly chaotic neutral. It doesn’t care about rules or tradition, it wants only to be free to wreak musical havoc. And that makes it an undeniable blast.

Engadget is a web magazine with obsessive daily coverage of everything new in gadgets and consumer electronics

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Your New Home For Music: YouTube Music

For listeners new to YouTube Music, the streaming service is your personal guide to the world of music, simply organized in an app and web player. A bit more on what YouTube Music has to offer:

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  • Lyrics: Lyrics offer highly visible access to follow along to tracks.
  • Explore Tab: An all-new Explore tab offering one go-to place to discover new music and YouTube Music’s vast catalog of playlists through New Releases and Moods & Genres sections.

Pricing

Existing pricing is the same between Google Play Music and YouTube Music. Fans can enjoy the ad-supported version of YouTube Music for free, or enjoy YouTube Music Premium, a paid membership that gives listeners background listening, downloads and an ad-free experience for $ 9.99 a month. Or you can try YouTube Premium to extend ad-free, background listening and offline playback across all of YouTube for $ 11.99 (USD).

Google Play Music Unlimited members will be automatically granted the equivalent tier of YouTube Music Premium or YouTube Premium based on the level of benefits with their current subscription, at the same price*.

We can’t wait for you to start exploring YouTube Music features and discovering new music favorites along the way. Have more questions or need help? Check out all of our support resources here.

*Some users may see a price difference upon transfer. Learn more here.


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