For about as long as Chrome OS has existed, gaming has been one of its most notable Achilles' heels. Most Chromebooks have lower-power hardware, and the OS is built on web technology, so playing AAA titles found on Windows has simply not been an option. The rise of cloud-based gaming services like Google's own Stadia have helped the situation, but perhaps the biggest advance in Chromebook gaming came in late March, when Google announced that Valve's Steam platform was in an early alpha phase on Chrome OS. Just as you can on Windows, Mac and Linux, this lets you download and install games from the vast Steam catalog. As a Chromebook fan who also loves a good game, I had to give this a shot.
So Google provided me with one of the seven Chromebooks that can run Steam, an ASUS Chromebook CX9 with Intel's 11th-generation Core i7 processor, 16GB of RAM and 512GB of storage space. These are hefty specs for a Chromebook, but Google specified that Steam required a device with at least a Core i5 processor and 8GB of RAM. While Steam may eventually work with lower-powered devices, it's clear that many Chromebooks simply won't be able to cut it. But if you do have the right hardware, the Steam experience is pretty good, so long as you keep your expectations in check.
I didn’t have any problems getting Steam installed, but it’s a lot more complicated than setting it up on a Windows computer. You'll need to switch your Chromebook to the Dev channel, so don't do this on a machine you rely on for daily use. After that, you'll need to enable a specific flag in Chrome and type a few commands into the Chrome OS Crosh terminal. Once that's done, Steam will download to your machine, at which point you can login and start downloading games.
Right off the bat, any game that is supported in Steam for Linux can be installed without any compatibility issues. As I'm a massive Half-Life fan, the first two games I tried out were Valve's own Half-Life 2 and Portal 2 — two old games that don't require powerful hardware. Both, unsurprisingly, played like a charm. There were rare frame rate drops, but the experience felt identical to playing them on Windows or on a Mac.
At the complete opposite end of the spectrum, I decided to get crazy and install 2018's God of War, originally released for the PS4 and ported to Windows in January of this year. It was a totally unplayable slideshow. That's no surprise, though, as God of War calls for either NVIDIA's GTX 960 or AMD's R9 290X graphics cards with 4GB of memory. The Chromebook's integrated Intel Iris X graphics aren't in the same league. This is no real knock on the Chromebook, though, because a Windows machine with the same specs wouldn't be able to run God of War, either. I was mostly surprised that I was able to install it at all.
To install games like God of War, or any other titles that don’t have a native Linux version, you’ll need to turn on the experimental Steam Play compatibility tools. Once I did that, though, I could install just about any game I came across. Obviously, demanding games like God of War aren't going to work, but there are still tons of titles in the Steam library that are worth checking out. Both Hades and Cuphead ran flawlessly, and Fallout 4 worked pretty well too. It wasn’t as smooth as the other games I tried, but the first few hours were definitely playable.
The main catch is that the first time you run games using compatibility tools, they’re extremely slow to load. Steam has to "process Vulkan shaders" for a lot of titles, and this can take five to ten minutes or more on some games (like Fallout 4). Fortunately, this only happens the first time you launch a particular title.
Most of the games I tried were from Google's own list of recommended titles that had been tested on Chrome OS, and those experiences were almost all solid. The one game my Chromebook couldn't quite keep up with was The Witcher 3: Wild Hunt. Google recommended playing that one with graphics on low, and said that only Chromebooks with an i7 processor would work. Even then, frame rates and control responsiveness was poor enough that I didn't want to play after a few minutes.
While Google and Valve will certainly improve the Steam experience from this early alpha, it's fair to say that Chrome OS will never be the place to play cutting-edge games. Chromebooks just aren't built with that kind of hardware.
But, Steam's library is vast, and there are thousands of titles across any genre that you can think of. Bringing that catalog to Chrome OS is a huge step forward for those who love games but don't necessarily need to play Cyberpunk 2077 with settings on high. Whether it's for replaying older classics like Portal 2 or trying newer releases like Hades, Steam for Chrome OS vastly expands the gaming you can do on a Chromebook. And if you really want to play The Witcher 3 or God of War, a streaming service like NVIDIA's GeForce Now can plug the gap. So far, the alpha build of Steam for Chrome OS is promising, and I hope that Google and Valve can make it work on more Chromebooks before long.
Every spring, a new class of graduates is unleashed on the world, many of them carrying gadgets that have been put through the ringer over the years. Graduation is traditionally a big time for gift-giving — so if you know someone who is heading out into the real world who could use an upgrade after four (or more!) long years of higher education, here’s a host of options that’ll be a serious improvement over their trusted but beat-up tech.
Laptops
Apple
As useful as tablets and smartphones are, nothing beats a traditional laptop when you really want to get things done. It’s also a very personal purchase, so you’ll want to know if the recipient prefers Windows, Mac or Chrome OS before you pull the trigger. But once you have that settled, these laptops are some of the best and most well-rounded options on the market. Unless the person you’re shopping for has some very specific needs, one of these machines will probably fit the bill.
For years, we’ve considered Dell’s XPS 13 to be the best overall Windows laptop, and that hasn’t changed. At this point, Dell has almost perfected its industrial design: it’s thin and light, but not at the expense of power or battery life. The keyboard and display are excellent, and you can get impressive specs without breaking the bank.
If you want to gift your grad something that’ll last for years, we recommend the configuration with Intel’s 11th-generation Core i5 processor, 16GB of RAM and 512GB of storage. That also includes a UHD+ resolution touchscreen, which works out to 3,840 x 2,400. Right now, that version sells for $1,469.99 direct from Dell.
For someone who’s a gamer, though, we recommend going in a different direction. The ASUS ROG Zephyrus G14 is an excellent laptop that combines relative portability (3.75 pounds and a 14-inch screen) with serious power. In our review we said that the laptop was incredibly compelling, even if it’s more expensive than it used to be. It has a powerful AMD processor and graphics card coupled with a great display, comfortable keyboard, spacious trackpad and solid design. It’s not a champ on battery life, but we got seven hours of non-gaming use out of it – pretty decent considering the specs.
As is usually the case with ASUS products, you can get the Zephyrus G14 in a wide variety of configurations, but one we’d recommend comes from Best Buy. The $1,649.99 model includes an AMD Ryzen 9 6000 Series processor, 16GB of RAM, an AMD Radeon RX 6700S graphics card, 1TB of storage, and a 14-inch 2,560 x 1,400 display with a 120Hz refresh rate. That’ll be plenty to handle modern gaming as well as all the “real life” tasks that come with being out of school.
For people who prefer a Mac, the MacBook Air is usually our go-to recommendation, but not this year. While there’s nothing wrong with the current Air, Apple hasn’t updated it in more than 18 months – if you buy one now, it’ll likely be replaced with something better soon. With that in mind, a great upgrade pick for a Mac user is the 14-inch MacBook Pro.
Apple completely redesigned the MacBook Pro last fall, adding back crucial ports like the HDMI slot and SD card reader. The company also removed the Touch Bar and put in a full-size function key row with Touch ID. There’s a lot more worth talking about than just what Apple fixed compared to the previous MacBook Pro, though.
The new model has an outstanding 14-inch mini-LED display (as long as you can get past the camera notch), a 1080p webcam, a great keyboard and trackpad and powerful internals that should make the MacBook Pro capable for years to come. Most people will probably be set with the $1999 configuration, which includes Apple’s M1 Pro chip, 16GB of RAM and 512GB of storage space. Apple’s custom silicon has been extremely impressive, boasting both extreme speed and efficiency that lets you use this laptop away from a charger longer than almost any other computer on the market.
Given how dominant a force Chromebooks are in education, it’s entirely possible that someone just finishing school might want to continue using Chrome OS. Fortunately, there are lots of premium Chromebooks that are well-designed and capable enough to last for years. One of our favorites is Acer’s Chromebook Spin 713. It has a screen with a taller 3:2 aspect ratio, which means you’ll see more of a webpage or document you’re working on without having to scroll. Add in a solid keyboard and trackpad, as well as powerful hardware (Intel’s 11-generation Core i5 processor) and you have a Chromebook that doesn’t offer many compromises. The battery life could be longer, but that’s the only major knock against it.
When thinking about tablets, put aside the question of whether or not they can replace laptops, and focus on what they do best. They can be a great option for getting work done, engaging your creative side with art and music-making apps or just enjoying movies and games. For the vast majority of people, Apple’s iPad is the only tablet worth considering, even if they don’t otherwise use Apple products. That’s thanks to time-tested, reliable hardware and a massive software library with hundreds of thousands of apps optimized for the iPad’s larger screen.
As for which iPad is the best, the iPad Air is probably the right choice for most – especially if you’re looking for a good graduation gift. While the basic iPad is a great value, you get a lot when you step up to the Air. Perhaps most importantly, the Air has Apple’s M1 chip, the same one that’s in the iPad Pro and numerous Macs. This means the Air is extremely fast and one of the more future-proof products Apple makes.
The rest of the iPad Air’s hardware is also impressive for the price. It has a large 10.9-inch screen with thin bezels and an anti-reflective coating; the display is also laminated directly to the glass, so there’s no distracting gap beneath the surface. The Air also includes 64GB or 256GB of storage, 10 hours of battery life, support for the second-generation Apple Pencil and Magic Keyboard and an improved 12-megapixel front-facing camera. For $599, you’re getting almost everything that the iPad Pro offers without spending over $800.
However, if you’re shopping for an Android diehard, Samsung’s $700 Galaxy Tab S8 is an excellent choice. It features a high-resolution 11-inch screen with a 120Hz refresh rate, and has an S-Pen stylus included in the box. And while Android historically hasn’t been the best option for large-screen devices, Samsung’s Dex feature switches things up into a more desktop-like multi-window mode, which can be great for productivity. Samsung’s built-in apps that take advantage of the S-Pen are solid as well. You might have a hard time finding apps that are designed for the Tab S8’s larger screen, but if you’re buying this for someone familiar with Android, they’ll likely be aware of the trade-offs.
As useful as a laptop or tablet can be, chances are good that the most important computer most people own is their smartphone. And if you know someone who is still rocking the same device they brought to campus with them four years ago, they’ll definitely appreciate an upgrade. The good news is that it’s pretty easy to pick out a phone that’ll satisfy just about anyone, regardless of whether they prefer Android or iPhone.
This year, we’re recommending the iPhone 13 Pro. While the standard iPhone 13 is an excellent device, the Pro model includes more meaningful upgrades than in years past. Perhaps most importantly, the battery life is noticeably better. The Pro’s display has a 120Hz refresh rate, the first iPhone with this feature. Its three-lens camera system offers more flexibility than the two-lens setup on the iPhone 13 – plus it has the new macro-mode shooting, which lets you get as close as 2cm to your subject.
All the other iPhone niceties are here, including Apple’s newest and fastest mobile processor (the A15 Bionic), an excellent OLED display, 5G, 128GB of storage (at least) and all the features of iOS 15. It’s not a cheap phone at $999, but its extremely fast processor and Apple’s track record of delivering software support for years means this investment should last a long time.
If you know much about Android phones, you won’t be surprised that we’re recommending the Samsung Galaxy S22+. Samsung has been the most popular Android phone manufacturer for years, and phones like the $1,000 S22+ show why. Qualcomm’s Snapdragon 8 Gen 1 chip provides more power than you’ll need, battery life is excellent (and fast charging means you can quickly top off if needed), the 6.6-inch display is a standout and the cameras are among the best you can find on a smartphone (low-light performance got a nice upgrade this year). Given how thoroughly Samsung dominates the Android space, this isn’t a surprising recommendation, but it will make most Android fans happy.
However, Google’s Pixel 6 Pro is also worth considering. The $899 phone is easily the most interesting Pixel device Google has made in years, with the company’s own custom Tensor processor powering the whole affair. Performance and battery life are both outstanding; it’s impressive how Google nailed these aspects on the first try with its own custom chip. As with several past Pixel phones, the Pixel 6 Pro has about the best camera you can get in the Android world, and the fact that this phone is built by Google means it’ll get software updates before any other Android phone on the market.
Both of these phones are big (the Pixel 6 Pro’s screen is 6.7 inches while the S22+ has a 6.6-inch display), but the good news is that both Google and Samsung offer smaller-screened devices that keep most of the same features and specs as their larger siblings. You’ll save some cash with a smaller-screened device, too.
Almost anyone would benefit from a good pair of noise-canceling headphones, and once again we’re recommending Sony’s WH-1000XM4 as the best over-ear option on the market. At $350, they’re not cheap, but they offer a combination of incredible sound, refined design and excellent noise-canceling that is hard to beat. This latest model also has a number of smart software features like wear detection, which pauses playback when you take the headphones off. They can also connect to two devices simultaneously, a big missing feature from earlier models. They even fit better and more comfortably than ever.
Of course, not everyone wants to wear large, over-ear headphones when they’re out and about. That’s where Jabra’s Elite 7 Pro comes in. These noise-canceling earbuds are the successor to the flagship Jabra Elite 85t we recommended last year. And while we haven’t reviewed the Elite 7 Pro, Jabra’s track record makes us comfortable recommending these. They have a number of improvements over the Elite 85t, including nine hours of battery life with ANC activated, a major improvement over the 5.5 hours the Elite 85t were rated for. The Elite 7 Pro buds are also smaller than Jabra’s Elite 75t, which were previously the smallest buds the company made. Smaller earbuds are typically more comfortable to wear, and it’s impressive that Jabra managed to shrink the size and promise improved battery life.
If you’re buying earbuds for an Apple user, though, consider the Beats Fit Pro. They offer many of the same benefits as the AirPods Pro for $50 less. These features include one-touch pairing and easy switching between Apple devices, Spatial Audio, hands-free Siri and ANC. They also have a fit wing to help them stay put when you’re exercising, and have an IPX4 rating for water resistance, so sweat from a workout shouldn’t be a problem. In our testing, they provided well-balanced audio quality with punchy bass and impressive noise cancelation. Battery life isn’t quite as good as what Jabra promises with the Elite 7 Pro, but we got almost seven hours of usage in our review before we had to pop them back in the case.
There are a dizzying number of monitors on the market, at basically any price point you can think of, which makes recommending a single monitor a very difficult task. But Dell reliably offers some of the best screens you can get at a reasonable price. With that in mind, we’re recommending Dell’s 32-inch 4K USB-C Hub Monitor (model number P3222QE). For $799, this monitor has basically everything you could want out of a display.
A 32-inch screen has become the sweet spot for a lot of people, offering a vast workspace without being overwhelmingly large, and a 4K resolution will make sure everything looks sharp. This screen only has a 60Hz refresh rate, so we wouldn’t recommend it if you’re keen on gaming, but it’s sufficient for everyday tasks. The monitor also has a ton of ports, including HDMI, Displayport, USB-C, and multiple USB-A connections. And the stand lets you adjust it to the right height and angle, something that’s a lot better than stacking books under a monitor.
If the Dell is a bit too expensive, ASUS has a couple solid options worth considering as well. The ASUS ProArt Display is a 27-inch screen that you can get in either 4K or quad-HD (2,560 x 1,400) resolution. The 4K screen currently costs $499 on Amazon, while the QHD model sells for $370. Obviously, it isn’t quite as large as the Dell, but it has most of the same amenities, including an adjustable stand and a host of ports.
As important as the right gear is, your grad also deserves something classy and stylish to carry all that stuff around. The Executive Leather Messenger from Waterfield Designs is an expensive choice, but it’s worth the cost. Waterfield makes everything by hand in its San Francisco shop, and the materials it uses are top notch. I’ve owned a lot of their products over the years, and I can safely say this bag will last a decade or more, and the leather will only look more attractive as time goes on.
On the inside are two padded slots, one for a tablet and one for a laptop. There are also two pockets, one zippered, as well as a pen slot and a metal key fob. Finally, there are two easily-accessible hand pockets under the flap, both with an extremely soft plush lining. The Executive Leather Messenger comes in three different leather colors and costs either $380 or $400, depending on which size you choose. It’s an investment, for sure, but it will last a long time.
If you’d prefer a non-leather choice, Peak Design’s Everyday Messenger is a great and more affordable option. The $220 bag was originally designed for photographers, but (as the name implies) it works as a tough, well-designed option for whatever you need to carry. It has a dedicated 13-inch laptop sleeve and “stretchy” pockets that make it easier to keep track of smaller items. The bag also comes with a few flexible interior dividers so you can customize it in any way you want. The recently-released V2 update boasts 100 percent recycled outer fabric, a redesigned shoulder strap that should be less prone to slippage, a “MagLatch” magnetic buckle and a more efficient design that makes it 24 percent lighter than the original.
Sonos isn't exactly known for affordability, but the company has released a few more inexpensive products in recent years like the portable Roam speaker. Now, according to The Verge, Sonos is going to release its first budget soundbar in the first week of June. Apparently codenamed "Fury," this product is expected to cost around $250, which makes it significantly cheaper than the $449 second-generation Beam (pictured above) and the $899 Arc.
As for what Sonos will leave out to hit this lower price point, the Fury won't be able to output Dolby Atmos content like the Beam and Arc, and it may not even have an HDMI port; you'd hook it up to your TV with an optical audio cable. As such, it has fewer speaker drivers in it than other Sonos soundbars. It will be able to be part of a 5.1 surround sound setup using other compatible Sonos speakers — we presume that you can use speakers like the Sonos One as rear surrounds like you can with other Sonos soundbars.
It sounds like Sonos will also skip including microphones for a voice assistant on this model to cut costs, like they did with the $159 Sonos Roam SL that was recently released.
One potentially intriguing feature is that Sonos will let the Fury work as rear surround speakers for a bigger soundbar like the Arc. As such, Sonos is apparently making vertical mounting stands for the Fury so that it can be used for Dolby Atmos content.
There are plenty of budget soundbar options on the market from the likes of Vizio and Roku, while Sonos recently raised the prices on nearly all of its products. The original Beam sold for $399, but the new one costs $50 more, making for an even bigger gap between Sonos home theater options and those from more affordable competitors. As such, this is a pretty logical part of the market for Sonos to get into, and it's not hard to imagine a $250 soundbar being a good product to get people into the company's ecosystem.
We've reached out to Sonos and will update this story if the company has any comment on the leak.
While Apple's iMovie software has always been a fairly powerful piece of movie-editing software, its main appeal is that it's a free and simple way to start making your own videos. But iMovie for the iPhone and iPad offers surprisingly little in the way of direction when you open it — it's up to the user to figure out how to structure their movie.
Apple is changing that significantly today with iMovie 3.0 for iOS and iPadOS, a free download that's available now. The software features two new creation modes, Magic Movie and Storyboards, to help people build videos for the first time.
Magic Movie automates a lot of the video creation process while still leaving room for plenty of customization, assuming you want to dig into the details. Apple recommends you start by choosing an album with related video clips and photos, but you can also manually select images and videos. From there, Magic Movie will analyze the content and look for things like faces, dialog and action to select the best parts of video clips and build out a movie from there, complete with transitions and music. The end result reminds me a lot of the "memories" that the iOS Photos app automatically builds — those memories also mix video and photo from the same day or event and adds a soundtrack and transitions to it.
Apple
Once Magic Movie puts together a project for you, there's a ton of customization you can do from there. Naturally, you can remove photos or videos that you don't want in the project, as well as quickly trim clips to show only the action you want. Instead of using a traditional horizontal timeline view, clips and images are contained in a vertically-scrolling left-side column (on the iPhone, it shows up below the video preview); you can easily drag and drop them to reorder the flow of your video. And tapping on an item in the left-side column gives you a bigger set of editing controls.
Another big part of iMovie 3.0's customization tools are a feature called Styles. These apply to the entire video and include things like fonts, color palettes and filters, music and transitions. There are a total of 20 to choose from, and while you can just set one and forget it, you also have the option to go in and adjust those individual characteristics if you want greater control over the final product.
Apple
The Storyboards features has a lot in common with Magic Movie, but it's a more manual tool. Storyboards starts by giving you more than 20 different video templates to choose from — options include video themes like "DIY," "day in the life," "how it works," "gaming," "Q&A" and so forth. When you select one of those options, the left side column populates with a rough structure for that video style, including broad categories and then examples of specific shots.
Apple
In a demo, Apple showed off a DIY project, which includes categories like "intro," "overview," "supplies" and so forth. Each of those sections is then populated with suggestions for different types of shots (wide shot, close-up and so forth). While you can obviously just import videos from your library right into these suggestions, you can also shoot directly on your iPhone or iPad and have that clip inserted into the slot.
As with Magic Movie, you can re-order and delete any suggestions from the left-side column, and tapping into it lets you do more involved editing. And the new Styles that are part of Magic Movie can be applied here, as well. The basic idea behind Storyboards is to give aspiring creators a framework to use when trying to put together a video, and while I haven't tried the app yet it does seem like a smart idea. As someone who has done very little video editing in his time, I could definitely see using a Storyboard as inspiration to get started on a video if I had an idea I wanted to pursue.
Once you have your creation finished, you can export it in a variety of video formats, in resolutions up to 4K; HDR content you may have filmed with be retained, as well. You can also export your iMovie project and open it up on a Mac. But before you do so, you should know that Storyboards and Magic Movie features are only available when using iMovie on an iPad or iPhone. Videos created with those tools will be exported in a format compatible with iMovie on the Mac, but you won't be able to edit or change Styles, for example.
If you want to try these new iMovie features, the updated app arrives today and will work on any iPhone running iOS 15.2 or higher, and on any iPad running iPadOS 15.2 or higher.
Yesterday, Google officially released version 100 of its Chrome browser, and today it's following suit by releasing version 100 of Chrome OS. While there weren't a lot of big features for Chrome 100 besides a new icon, the update for Chrome OS brings a handful of changes worth noting. Probably the most significant is a redesigned app launcher experience. When you press the "everything" button (where caps lock is on most keyboards) or click the circle icon on the lower left side of the screen, the new launcher pulls up in a window on the left side of your display rather than covering all your open windows. Longtime Chrome OS users might remember that this was how the launcher behaved years ago.
Besides that visual change, Google has made it easier to organize the apps you have installed. You can choose to sort them alphabetically or by color, and new apps you add will stick to that organization scheme. From a functional perspective, Google has also improved search results that come up when you type in the launcher, automatically pulling up information for your query without having to open more details in a browser window. The search field also can look through all your open tabs if you're trying to find a specific site you had open.
The next new feature is purely for fun — the camera app can now create GIFs. When you pop open the camera, you can choose to record a five-second video that'll automatically be turned into a GIF. Once that's done, you can share it to pretty much any app on your Chromebook or send it to an Android phone using the nearby share feature.
Google also improved the dictation feature on Chromebooks. Previously, you could dictate text into any text field on your device, but today Google is adding some editing features. Chrome OS now recognizes commands like "delete" to remove the last letter or "move to the next character" to adjust where your cursor is. Asking for "help" will also pull up a list of commands that you can use if you're not sure how to accomplish a specific task with your voice.
As is usually the case with most Chrome OS updates, these aren't exactly earth-shattering updates. But as Google now updates Chrome OS and the Chrome browser every four weeks, they're not all going to bring big features. But there are still a few quality of life improvements worth checking out once the update hits your device — I've always found managing the apps in my launcher a bit cumbersome, so I'm hoping today's update makes things a bit better.
Roli has been building unconventional musical instruments for nearly a decade now — the company's first product, the rubber-keyed Seaboard piano was first revealed back in 2013. It was originally released as a full size, 88-key piano, but a few years later Roli unveiled the smaller and more affordable Seaboard Rise. But since then Roli has mostly focused on other pursuits. That changes today as the company has just announced the Seaboard Rise 2, a totally revamped version of the older keyboard that is up for pre-order today.
Probably the most significant change here is a new "Keywave 2" playing surface that has what Roli calls "precision frets." To explain what's different here, you first need to know how the Seaboard differs from a traditional piano keyboard. Instead of having totally distinct keys for each of the 12 chromatic tones, the Seaboard keys are designed so that you can slide between them seamlessly. Those keys were undoubtably the biggest differentiator between the Seaboard and a traditional keyboard, as they let users easily bend pitches, add vibrato and generally conjure up sounds that are trickery to pull off with normal keys.
That's all well and good, but not having distinct keys made it challenging to hit a note right in tune, a pretty major concern when you're trying to play the Seaboard in a more traditional fashion. Roli says that the newly designed keywaves (the term it uses for its version of traditional keys) have been tested to be more precise and intuitive, letting traditional keyboard players have an easier time picking up the instrument and translating their skills to it. Of course, it's the kind of thing that people will need to test out in person to verify Roli's claims, but it's good to note that they're taking this into account with the new model.
Beyond the new playing surface, the Seaboard Rise 2 has a redesigned aluminum chassis that comes in a "platinum blue" color scheme; from the pics, it looks like a classy dark gray. Either way, Roli says the new casing is more durable than before, something that touring musicians should appreciate. Unsurprisingly, the Seaboard Rise 2 includes USB-C and MIDI ports for connectivity.
Roli
Finally, the keyboard includes several different software suites. The company's own Equator2 MIDI Polyphonic Expression (MPE) suite, which costs $249 on its own, is bundled alongside the more basic Roli Studio. The "lite" version of Ableton Live is included as well.
The initial run of the Seaboard Rise 2 goes up for pre-order today, priced at $1,399. The Seaboard Rise 2 comes in a four-octave, 49-key version only. The original Seaboard Rise also had a more affordable 25-key model, but Roli says that the 49-key option was by far the more popular, so they're only going with that one this time out. As for when it'll be available, Roli says that batches of keyboards will ship in order of when they're pre-ordered, and the first group will ship in October.
The Seaboard Rise 2 is also notable as its the first hardware product Roli is releasing since the company filed for administration in the UK, a process similar to filing for bankruptcy in the US. The company reorganized under the brand name Luminary Roli and said at the time it would focus on beginners rather than professional musicians. The launch of the Seaboard Rise 2, definitely a product focused on professionals or advanced music enthusiasts, seems to contradict that a bit. But, Roli still offers its light-up Lumi keyboard, which was originally released alongside software that helps teach users how to play the piano. The company also offers a more advanced model called the Lumi Studio. Regardless of the Seaboard Rise 2 not exactly being a tool for beginners, it's probably a good sign for Roli's future that it's releasing its first new product since filing for administration.
If you were looking forward to playing the sequel to The Legend of Zelda: Breath of the Wild this year, we have some bad news. Nintendo just announced in a short video that the game will be delayed and the company is now targeting a spring 2023 release after previously saying the game would come out in 2022.
As is usually the case with such delays, Nintendo didn't offer a ton of details. Legend of Zelda series producer Eiji Aonuma said that the company decided to "extend our development time a bit" and apologized to those looking forward to playing the new games.
The video also offered a quick look at gameplay for the upcoming release, with a big focus on how this adventure will take place in the skies above Hyrule as well as on the ground. It wasn't anything different from what we saw in the game's first official trailer that was released at E3 2021, but it is at least a good refresher for what we have to look forward to. In the meantime, don't despair, Switch fans — there are still plenty of great games to look forward to in 2022.
It's a good week for guitarists who love a classic echo effect. Just a few days ago, Line 6 released the DL4 MkII, a long-awaited update to its DL4 delay and looper pedal, one of the more widely-used effects pedals of the last 20 years. And now Boss, one of the most prolific and well-known manufacturers of guitar effects pedal out there, has just announced the RE-202 and RE-2 Space Echo pedals, both of which are inspired by Roland's iconic, tape-based RE-201 Space Echo unit that was originally released way back in 1974.
For the uninitiated, the RE-201 Space Echo used three analog tape heads to record and repeat an instrument's signal. The analog nature of the device meant that it had a number of sonic characteristics that made it unique and highly coveted. That's still the case — original RE-201 units regularly sell for several thousand dollars.
The new RE-202, on the other hand, retails for $399.99 and offers the exact same set of controls as the original. Given that it's 2022, we're dealing with digital modeling recreating all the quirks of the original, rather than analog tape. But Boss built in options to "age" the virtual tape, which means you can recreate the sounds of the RE-201 as it was out of the box, or give it the worn nature and quirks that come with an older unit. The RE-202 has essentially the same front controls as the original, as well, with the 12-position mode selector dial prominently featured.
The new RE-202 and RE-2 pedals, pictured with the original Roland RE-201 unit.
Boss
Naturally, there are a lot of modern conveniences here, too. The delay length you can dial in is twice as long as the original, and there's a footswitch so you can tap out the delay tempo, something that's pretty common these days on pedals like this. There's also a fourth virtual tape head, compared to the three found in the original; this unlocks five additional sound options.
The RE-2 is a less expensive and and slightly less capable version of the RE-202. It's a smaller, single-footswitch pedal that Boss says captures the same tones as the RE-202 in a more compact design. It's not quite as full-featured and customizable as the RE-202, but it should provide the same sonic characteristics as the bigger and more expensive pedal. It's also a good choice if you don't want to take up quite so much space on your pedalboard.
The RE-2 costs $249.99, $150 less than the RE-202. Both of these pedals are definitely priced in boutique territory. But a faithful recreation of the RE-201 might be worth it for a lot of players, as the original Space Echo has been used on thousands of recordings by some of the most popular artists in history, from Pink Floyd and Radiohead, to Lee Scratch Perry, Underworld and Lauryn Hill. If you want to get the same sound without breaking the bank for a wonky, tape-based original unit, these new pedals are probably worth a look.
If you're a guitarist, you almost certainly have heard of Line 6 — the company is well-known for building gear like amp and effects modelers, digital tools that can convincingly re-create a vast array of classic sounds. One of its most iconic products is undoubtedly the Line 6 DL4, a pedal that digitally emulates more than a dozen classic delay and echo tones and also includes a looper that lets musicians quickly record and repeat a phrase on the fly. Guitar World said that the DL4 "marked a significant leap forward in the effects world, and was one of the very first multi-function digital effects processors to be released."
Today, Line 6 announced that the DL4 was getting a sequel. The DL4 MkII is a total redesign that has the same essence as the original in a smaller package: it combines a wide variety of different delay / echo effects and a looper. This time out, though, Line 6 added 15 more delays to go along with the 15 options from the original pedal. As before, you select an effect with the left-most dial, and then adjust its settings with the rest of the dials; once you have it set up the way you want, you can save three different presets, which are accessible using the left three foot switches. The fourth switch lets you tap out the tempo for your delay.
Another crucial part of the DL4 was the looper feature, and it is getting a major upgrade on the MkII. While the original DL4 could only record 14 seconds of audio, the MkII can save up to 120 seconds in stereo or 240 seconds in mono. For players who want even more, you can pop in an SD card — Line 6 doesn't say what kind of time limits you'll run into when using an SD card, but it should far exceed what you can do with the build-in storage. There's also a new looper mode where you can activate it with the fourth foot switch, rather than dialing the pedal in to looper mode (which traditionally uses all four switches to give you more granular control over recording and playback). The DL4 MkII also includes a microphone input for the first time, so that vocalists can take better advantage of the pedal's looping features.
There are a few other new features on board here, like the ability to add both an expression pedal and external footswitch for more customization, but the biggest highlights here are probably the new delay effects and improved looper. For this, Line 6 is asking $50 more than the original; the DL4 MkII costs $299. Chances are good that loads of guitarists and other musicians will find the premium more than worth it, especially if they've been bumping up on the limits of that old 14-second looper. The DL4 MkII is up for pre-order now, but there's no word on exactly how fast these new pedals will ship.
A week ago, Google somewhat surprisingly announced that Steam was coming to Chromebooks in a very early alpha test format — but aside from a mention of this during the company's Games Developer Summit keynote, there were no details to be had. Given the somewhat surprising amount of interest around it, Google is now making things a bit more official by releasing instructions on how to get Steam up and running on Chrome OS. The company is also providing details on supported hardware, games that should work and bugs you can expect to run into.
For starters, you'll need a supported device, and it's only a handful of Chromebooks. Google says that you'll need a device with Intel Iris Xe Graphics, 11th-generation Core i5 or i7 processors and at least 8GB of RAM. Google specifically said that configurations with an Intel i3 processor or 4GB of RAM aren't supported. For the alpha, only the following devices are supported:
● Acer Chromebook 514 (CB514-1W)
● Acer Chromebook 515 (CB515-1W)
● Acer Chromebook Spin 713 (CP713-3W)
● ASUS Chromebook Flip CX5 (CX5500)
● ASUS Chromebook CX9 (CX9400)
● HP Pro c640 G2 Chromebook
● Lenovo 5i-14 Chromebook
Assuming you have supported hardware, Google says you'll need to switch your Chromebook to the Dev channel, and cautions that you shouldn't do this with hardware that you rely on for daily use. From there, you'll need to enable a specific flag in Chrome as well as type a few commands into Chrome OS's Crosh terminal. Google says you can find full directions here.
Once you have Steam installed, there's a surprisingly large group of games that Google has tried and suggests testers try as well. Unsurprisingly, it includes a lot of Valve titles like Portal 2, Dota 2, Team Fortress 2 and Half-Life 2. Other games Google suggests trying include Celeste, The Witcher 3: Wild Hunt (i7 and 16GB of RAM required for that one, with graphics set to medium or lower), Hades, Cuphead, TEKKEN 7, Fallout 4 and more.
Google notes that Steam will default to installing and running a Linux version of your selected game, assuming it's available (which is why so many Valve games are supported here). But the Steam Play compatibility tool means you can try other games, as well; it leverages the Proton software that allows some Windows-based games to run on Linux. Of course, there are no guarantees this will work, but it's worth a shot if there's a particular title you want to try on Chrome OS.
Come to think of it, "there are no guarantees this will work" sums up the vibe of Google's blog post pretty well. The company took great pains to note this is an alpha release; between the less stable nature of the Dev channel in general and the alpha status of Steam, Google says that "anything can break" and that "you will encounter crashes, performance regressions, and never-before-seen bugs."
So, this isn't exactly a release for the faint of heart — but the good news is that it's extremely easy to roll back Chrome OS to its original state, and most of your settings and preferences are all kept in the cloud. If you have one of the few supported Chromebooks and want to give it a shot, you can do so now, but just make sure you've backed up any local files on your device before you take the plunge.
