Nov 21
Nov 21
Wes Ball teases Kingdom of the Planet of the Apes. La Brea is coming to an end with an abbreviated season. Invincible sets the stage for Mark to come face to face with Omni-Man again. Plus, what’s coming on SurrealEstate. Spoilers, away!
Nov 21
Chase Bliss and Goodhertz's Lossy is a pedal that makes your guitar sound like a crappy MP3
Posted in: Today's ChiliIf you’ve read any of my music gear reviews on Engadget, then you probably know that I love all things broken and lo-fi sounding. And you might also know that Chase Bliss is one of the best out there when it comes to making your instruments sound like they’re coughing up digital dust after crawling out of a decades long hibernation. The company’s latest pedal, Lossy, is a collaboration with Goodhertz, a top notch plugin maker that has an incredible lo-fi pedigree all its own. In fact, it’s based on the company’s VST effect of the same name.
Lossy takes whatever you feed it, and makes it sound like a crappy MP3 from the late ’90s. It’s a realtime digital degradation machine that introduces artifacts, resonance and crunch that will bring back warm memories (or chilly nightmares) of waiting hours for a single bootleg to finish downloading from Napster.
The heart of the pedal is the Loss control which has three different modes and determines the overall character of the sound. It can deliver the familiar sound of a low bit-rate MP3 (Standard), play only those frequencies stripped out by compression for an especially tinny tone (Inverse), or spit out washes of out of unsteady glitches (Phase Jitter).
Of course, there’s lots of variety within those three modes depending on how high you have the Loss and Global knobs turned. While Loss determines the total amount of the effect, Global is a macro that sets the intensity of the effect. These two things combined shape the core sound, but the Packets switch is also vitally important. When off you just get the core Lossy sound, but you can turn on Packet Loss for dropouts reminiscent of a bad cellular connection, or switch it to Packet Repeat which fills those spaces with frozen audio for something more akin to a skipping CD. The Speed knob determines how often the effect interrupts your playing.
There’s also a dedicated Freeze function, which is unlike any other I’ve seen on a pedal before. Rather than simply grabbing the last fraction of a second of audio and repeating it ad nauseam, it actually evolves over time. It stretches out notes, changing as you play to create ambient pads, drones and shifting soundscapes.
Rounding out Lossy is a lowpass filter and reverb section to help glue everything together. Plus there is a hidden limiter and auto gain function that brings all the nuances your playing to the fore and ensures the tiny details of the Loss effect aren’t, well, lost.
Last year Chase Bliss shifted to a direct to consumer model so, the only place you can pickup a Lossy is straight from the company’s website. It’s available now, however, for $399 and buying a pedal gets you 50-percent off the Goodhertz Lossy plugin that inspired it, which is normally $79.
This article originally appeared on Engadget at https://www.engadget.com/chase-bliss-and-goodhertzs-lossy-is-a-pedal-that-makes-your-guitar-sound-like-a-crappy-mp3-141611147.html?src=rss
Nov 21
While Google may have officially released Android 14 at the start of October, there’s a good chance you’re still waiting for the update to arrive on your device. In recent years, the company has done its best to reduce the lag between when the latest version of Android arrives on its own Pixel phones and those from third-party partners, but that gap still exists in 2023. As of the writing of this article, many phone manufacturers are still beta testing their Android 14 skins.
Engadget reached out to nearly every major phone manufacturer in the US market to find out how close they are to releasing a stable build of Android 14. If you’re unsure if your phone will receive the new OS, this article will answer that question too.
ASUS
Richard Lai/Engadget
ASUS began publicly testing Android 14 in the US on October 10. At the moment, the beta is only available on the company’s current flagship, the Zenfone 10. “The Zenfone 10 Android 14 closed community beta is first up – and as such Zenfone 10 is the first device which should be getting a stable release,” an ASUS spokesperson told Engadget.
ASUS declined to say when Zenfone 10 users could expect a stable version of Android 14 to arrive on their devices, with the company noting the timing of the release “is highly dependent on the stability and results of the beta tests with our signed-up community members.”
Beyond the Zenfone 10, only a handful of other ASUS phones will receive Android 14 due to the company’s current policy of supporting its recent devices with two platform updates. Taking that into account, the oldest phones ASUS will update with Android 14 are the Zenfone 9 and ROG Phone 6.
Photo by Sam Rutherford/Engadget
As the main steward of Android, Google was one of the first phone makers to release a stable build of Android 14. Much of the Pixel line, dating as far as back to 2020’s Pixel 4a 5G, has had access to Android 14 since October 4. Starting with the Pixel 8 series, Google has promised to support future devices for seven years. The first Android 14 Pixel Feature Drop will arrive sometime in December. In the meantime, you can enroll in the Android Beta for Pixel program to check out the first two Android 14 quarterly platform release (QPR) betas. Those include features that will arrive in later Feature Drops.
Huawei
Unless there’s a dramatic change in US-China relations, Huawei devices in the United States, Canada and Europe will not receive access to Android 14, at least not in the form accessible on devices from other manufacturers. In 2019, the Commerce Department placed the telecom giant on its Entity List, a move that prompted Google to cut official ties with Huawei. HarmonyOS, the company’s version of Android, doesn’t draw directly from the codebase Google makes available to its commercial partners. Additionally, most recent Huawei devices, including the Mate 60 Pro, aren’t available outside of China.
Motorola
Photo by Cherlynn Low / Engadget
Motorola will begin rolling out Android 14 to its phones in early 2024. The 2022 Edge, Edge+ and Edge 30 Fusion are the oldest devices the company plans to upgrade this time around. The company’s 2023 lineup — including the Razr, Razr+, Moto G Power, G Stylus and G 5G — are also slated to receive Android 14. “For the status of Android OS on a specific device, users can visit our software support page,” a Motorola spokesperson said.
Nothing
Photo by Sam Rutherford/Engadget
Carl Pei’s Nothing recently began rolling out the second open beta of Nothing OS 2.5, which builds on Android 14 with a few features designed to extend the capabilities of the company’s signature Glyph interface. “Nothing is continuing the process of Beta testing on Phone (2) which provides early access to our newest improvements, including new features for Glyph interface, and refinements resulting from Open Beta 1,” a Nothing spokesperson told Engadget.
Pei detailed Nothing OS 2.5 in a recent community update Nothing uploaded to YouTube. Among other enhancements, Open Beta 2 adds a new Glyph animation when the Phone 2’s NFC hardware is in use. The update also adds new optional shortcuts users can access from the Phone 2’s power button, and tweaks to the operating system’s three-finger swipe gesture to make it more reliable. You can find the full list of changes on Nothing’s website.
To date, Nothing has pledged to support its phones with three years of OS upgrades and four years of security updates. Having only entered the smartphone market in July 2022 with the Phone 1 and released one other handset since then, Nothing users can rest assured their device will get Nothing OS 2.5.
OnePlus
Photo by Sam Rutherford/Engadget
OxygenOS 14, OnePlus’ upcoming skin of Android 14, does not currently have a release date. The company declined to say when users could expect the update to arrive, telling Engadget it did “not have any additional information to share at this time.”
However, the good news is that OnePlus is testing a beta version of OxygenOS 14 with users outside of the company. On November 8, it announced the Beta 4 release of OxygenOS 14, at the same time making the software available to people in the US and India.
If you bought your OnePlus phone anytime in the last three years, it’s likely to receive Android 14. With its two most recent products, the OnePlus 11 and OnePlus Open, OnePlus pledged to provide four years of Android updates and five years of security patches. With earlier handsets, including last year’s OnePlus 10 Pro, the company said it would support those products with three years of platform updates.
With that in mind, the OnePlus 8T, which was released in late 2020, is likely the oldest OnePlus phone slated to receive OxygenOS 14. Additionally, as with most other manufacturers, those with older devices will probably end up waiting longer before they see the latest version of Android arrive on their phone.
Samsung
Sam Rutherford/Engadget
Samsung began rolling out a stable build of its Android 14 skin, One UI 6, at the end of last month. With the company offering four generations of OS updates on many of its recent devices, older phones like the Galaxy S21 and Galaxy A32 won’t be left out of the company’s Android 14 rollout. That said, expect to wait longer if you do own one of those earlier handsets.
Sony
Sony
Sony began rolling Android 14 to its flagship Xperia 1 V phone on November 6. If your 1 V hasn’t prompted you to install the update yet, you can manually check if it’s available to download by opening your phone’s Settings menu and tapping the “System Update” option, which is found under the “System” heading.
“The Android 14 update will be rolling out to other Xperia models,” a Sony spokesperson told Engadget. “However, we are not able to share the exact timing of that rollout.”
Xiaomi
Xiaomi
Outside of Google, Xiaomi was one of the first OEMs to roll out a stable release of Android 14 to its users. As of this article, MIUI 14, which builds on the latest version of Google’s operating system, is available on the Xiaomi 13 Pro, 13 and 12T.
Unfortunately, those with older Xiaomi handsets may end up waiting a while before MIUI 14 arrives on their phone. “The exact timeline for Xiaomi to update its older devices to Android 14 is currently not available,” a Xiaomi spokesperson said. “Please stay tuned for further updates on this matter.”
This article originally appeared on Engadget at https://www.engadget.com/when-will-your-phone-get-android-14-152432975.html?src=rss
Nov 21
Nov 21
In a lawsuit filed Monday night, Elon Musk’s X is alleging a report on content moderation from Media Matters maliciously scared off advertisers like Apple and IBM. Last week, the media watchdog reported advertisements from major brands were appearing next to antisemitic content on the platform. But Musk may have…
Nov 21
Security experts were skeptical about the New York MTA’s switch to an OMNY tap-and-go system when it was first announced years ago. Then, in August, a 404 Media investigation revealed riders were right to be concerned. As it turned out, the ability to check trip history could be used by nearly anyone to follow specific riders’ location patterns. MTA disabled the feature, but it pointed to a deeper problem that exists across modern public transit systems: they make it harder to opt out of having our sensitive data collected,
“You’re building a better system, but you’re also really stepping into a dangerous cybersecurity minefield,” said Brendan Saltaformaggio, associate professor specializing in cybersecurity at the Georgia Institute of Technology.
Payment information, location data and trip patterns can all be attached to our ridership data. Agencies say they use it to better understand how riders use the services and make improvements. But the flip side is transit agencies selling user data to advertisers like a lot of private companies do, or sharing it with law enforcement. We submitted Freedom of Information Act requests to several large police departments across the country — including in New York City, Baltimore and Chicago — for more information on requests they had made to local transit agencies for data over the past decade.
But even if the data just sits there, it’s increasingly vulnerable to a breach without secure infrastructure in place to protect it. Most ransomware gangs are motivated by money. So while your data could be at risk, the hackers are actually looking to threaten the public transit agencies into paying up to avoid a data leak or being locked out of their systems. It happened to the Washington Metropolitan Area Transit Authority in Washington, DC earlier this year, and in March a ransomware attack disrupted the Washington state bus system. That said, personal data can still be compromised in the process. Hackers leaked personal data after accessing San Francisco’s Bay Area Rapid Transit at the beginning of this year.
“These are organizations that run on shoestring budgets, usually heavily supported by taxpayers, who are probably not going to be very excited to see all of this money being spent purely on cybersecurity with hopes of not having an incident in mind,” Saltaformaggio said.
What exactly each agency does to protect your sensitive information varies widely. The Federal Transit Administration and the American Public Transportation Association both provide guidelines for agencies on how to handle the matter. But experts warn that agencies across the country are still vulnerable to attack, and struggle to keep the data they have access to secure.
Digitizing public transit payments makes sense. But while the public is leaning into going cashless, paper money will always be here to stay. “If an agency tried to get rid of cash payments, they might face some serious backlash because a significant portion of people still use cash to ride transit,” said Joshua Schank, managing principal at transportation and financial advisory firm InfraStrategies. Still, options to pay via an RFID-powered card, an app or even a digital wallet all became popular ways to pay — especially because adoption of these newer methods often comes with perks like allowing riders free transfers between stations or services. Some credit card companies even offer incentives like discounts on rides by partnering with the transit agencies on non-cash payment options.
Using exact cash to ride public transit is still possible in many places, but it means you lose out on the aforementioned perks. There are options to purchase a card with cash and still get those perks, but it’s often much less convenient. To get a ConnectCard in Pittsburgh, I have to go to a third-party location in my neighborhood, buy a card for $1 and have cash out to reload it at that third-party location whenever it’s empty. It costs $2.75 to ride the bus, so that card fare only adds up to about one-third of a ride.In New York, a physical OMNY card costs $5, or one ride on the subway plus most of your next trip. (It’s worth noting that OMNY currently has a deal selling cards for $1 at all OMNY vending machines, but that’s for a limited time only.)
Agencies stack on burdens for the consumer, incentivizing them to switch to data-collecting apps and RFID smart cards, almost punishing people trying to stick to cash — either because they value their privacy, or because they’re among those without consistent access to banking. It shouldn’t have to be more annoying, more expensive, or both just to maintain some anonymity while commuting to work.
There’s not much you can do about it, either. Like most data privacy issues, experts say we need federal regulation to put guidelines in place around how public transit agencies collect and use our data. Until then, it’s just another way we’re stuck exchanging our personal information for marginal convenience gains.
This article originally appeared on Engadget at https://www.engadget.com/smarter-public-transit-comes-at-the-cost-of-rider-anonymity-143054155.html?src=rss
Nov 21
As the holidays near, it can be a challenge to buy gifts for the most voracious book readers in your life—but 2023 has seen a ton of excellent fantasy books hit shelves, to the point that it’s been hard to keep up with all the greatest new material. Here’s 20 of our favorite underrated choices that will make the…
Nov 21
Hulu's Black Friday deal gives you one year of the ad-supported plan for only $12
Posted in: Today's ChiliHulu is offering an enormous discount on its ad-supported plan for Black Friday. The streaming service will give you a year of Hulu (With Ads) for a mere $12. The plan typically costs $80 annually, giving you 85 percent off.
Hulu offers films, current-season episodes of popular broadcast television series and older TV. In addition, the Disney-owned service has original programming, like The Bear, Only Murders in the Building and The Handmaid’s Tale. Remember that the $12 Black Friday sale only applies to the version with advertisements, which doesn’t allow downloaded content for offline viewing.
New subscribers and former members who canceled their plan at least a month ago can take advantage of the Black Friday deal. Everyone who redeems it will pay directly to the streamer (rather than through an app storefront) and convert to a full-priced ($8 monthly) ad-supported plan at the end of 12 months. Hulu also offers an optional Starz add-on for $1 monthly for all new and existing subscribers.
Hulu’s Black Friday sale is live now and runs through the end of the day on November 28.
Your Black Friday Shopping Guide: See all of Yahoo’s Black Friday coverage, here. Follow Engadget for Black Friday tech deals. Learn about Black Friday trends on In The Know. Hear from Autoblog’s experts on the best Black Friday deals for your car, garage, and home, and find Black Friday sales to shop on AOL, handpicked just for you.
This article originally appeared on Engadget at https://www.engadget.com/hulus-black-friday-deal-gives-you-one-year-of-the-ad-supported-plan-for-only-12-130023223.html?src=rss
Nov 21
We’ve already seen DJI’s Osmo Action 4 and GoPro’s Hero 12 representing the rugged action cams of 2023, and now, it’s Insta360’s turn to unveil its take on this category — one that focuses more on video quality than, say, its Go series’ versatility. In a nutshell, Insta360’s brand new Ace Pro can be described as a GoPro on steroids, thanks to its handy 2.4-inch flip touchscreen, 1/1.3-inch sensor, Leica tuning and, most notably, 5nm AI neural processor. You’ll also get the usual “FlowState Stabilization,” IPX8 waterproof rating (down to 33ft or 10m) and swappable battery (up to 100 minutes in 4K@30fps Active HDR; fast charging at up to 80 percent in 22 minutes, or to 100 percent in 46 minutes).
Insta360 claims that combining its AI denoising feature with its new image sensor, the Ace Pro produces clearer and more stable low-light results for both videos (up to 4K@30fps in “PureVideo” mode) and stills (up to 48 megapixels). There’s also an “Active HDR Video” mode which turns on automatically when lighting conditions are met, with the company emphasizing on improved color accuracy here — we’ll take a closer look at this in our review later. The camera is also capable of recording at up to 4K@60fps, 4K@120fps (slow motion) or even 8K@24fps, but none of these can take advantage of the AI enhancement nor Active HDR.
The dedicated AI chip isn’t just for enhancing image quality. Over the years, Insta360 has been finding ways to make video editing easier and quicker, and this time, it’s doing so by letting the camera itself do some auto-editing first. Dubbed “AI Highlights Assistant,” this feature analyzes your video while picking out the best bits in real time, then you can review the AI edit on the camera first (and also delete the bits you don’t need to save space). When you next connect your Insta360 mobile app to your Ace Pro, the new AI-generated clip will be automatically pushed to your phone.
Aside from having to test out this feature myself, Insta360 also warned that “AI Highlights Assistant” does require extra power (the company promises to continue optimizing power consumption here), so be mindful of your camera’s battery life when using this feature.
Another fun new feature for making editing easier — though not necessarily limited to the Ace Pro — is “AI Warp,” which can be found in the “Shot Lab” template section in the mobile app. It’s basically Insta360’s first take on generative AI: you can pick a template or type in your own prompt, in order to get the app to transform either the entire video or just the highlighted subject into your desired style — be it cyberpunk, anime, space, superhero costumes or more. The company added that you can look out for even more AI-related effects in its mobile app in 2024.
Insta360
The Insta360 Ace Pro is already available for ordering, with the $450 standard bundle including a standard mount and a flexible adhesive mount. There’s also a slightly more affordable Ace priced at $380, and while it comes with the same accessories, it has to make do with a smaller 1/2-inch sensor, a max video resolution of just 6K@30fps, no fast charging and no love from Leica. The rest of the feature list is the same, otherwise.
Optional accessories include a dive case (for down to 197ft or 60m), a quick release mount, a multi mount, a GPS preview remote, a “Vertical-Horizontal Mount” and a mic adapter plus cold shoe module (for use with the quick release mount).
This article originally appeared on Engadget at https://www.engadget.com/insta360s-ace-pro-is-a-leica-branded-action-cam-with-ai-enhancements-133003809.html?src=rss
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