Microsoft is introducing a dedicated AI Copilot hotkey on Windows 11 laptops and PCs. The move, announced at CES 2024, heralds “the year of the AI PC,” according to Microsoft Executive VP and Consumer CMO Yusuf Mehdi, who said the keyboard enhancement will “not only simplify people’s computing experience but also amplify it.” The addition of the Copilot key is the first big change to the Windows PC keyboard since the four-paned Windows key was introduced in 1994. When pressed, the new key will open Copilot for seamless engagement with artificial intelligence. Continue reading CES: Microsoft Rolling Out a Copilot Hotkey for Windows PCs

Dell’s Alienware has redesigned its gaming laptops with the debut of the m16 R2. It is also coming to market with Pro Line peripherals and two new QD-OLED curved gaming monitors, being showcased this week at CES 2024 in Las Vegas. The new m16 R2 laptop has a slimmed down look, with a reduced heat shelf and Stealth Mode that turns off the glitzy lighting and boisterous sound for gamers who want their portable hardware to perform double duty as a productivity device. The company also unveiled its first competitive gaming peripherals, the Alienware Pro wireless mouse and keyboard. Continue reading CES: Alienware Intros Updated Laptops, Curved 4K Monitors

Dr. Fei-Fei Li, Stanford professor and co-director of Stanford HAI (Human-Centered AI), and Andrew Ng, venture capitalist and managing general partner at Palo Alto-based AI Fund discussed the current state and expected near-term developments in artificial intelligence. As a general purpose technology, AI development will both deepen, as private sector LLMs are developed for industry-specific needs, and broaden, as open source public sector LLMs emerge to address broad societal problems. Expect exciting advances in image models — what Li calls “pixel space.” When implementing AI, think about teams rather than individuals, and think about tasks rather than jobs. Continue reading CES: Session Details the Impact and Future of AI Technology

In the parade of attention-grabbing items queueing up for CES 2024, LG Labs’ “retro-futuristic concept speaker” is generating early buzz. The DukeBox combines old-timey vacuum tubes with a transparent OLED display that can be used to view programing or provide ambient imagery (of, say, a crackling fireplace that lets the tubes ghost through thanks to the OLED’s adjustable transparency). Also showcasing at the CES LG Labs zone: a biped robot equipped with AI, the Gram Fold 17-inch foldable OLED laptop and the CineBeam Qube 4K projector that displays up to 120-inch images. Continue reading LG DukeBox Speaker Touts Vacuum Tubes and OLED Display

Intel formally launched its new Core Ultra CPUs and related products this week at its AI Everywhere event. The company shared new solutions ranging from the data center to the cloud edge and PC. Intel’s new mobile processors are part of its Meteor Lake lineup, all of which will now bear the Ultra imprimatur instead of the “I,” promising greater power efficiency and performance. At the New York City event, Intel CEO Pat Gelsinger said “AI innovation is poised to raise the digital economy’s impact up to as much as one-third of global gross domestic product.” Continue reading Intel Unveils AI-Driven Chips to Compete with Nvidia and AMD

Ahead of next month’s CES, Lenovo has unveiled new ThinkPad and IdeaPad laptops powered by Intel’s latest Core Ultra chipsets. The Lenovo ThinkPad X1 Carbon, ThinkPad X1 2-in-1, and IdeaPad Pro 5i are Intel Evo model laptops, each leveraging the Core Ultra’s three compute engines — a CPU, a GPU and, for good measure, a neural processing unit. Lenovo says that while the three generally work together for optimal efficiency, some tasks wind up offloaded to the GPU or NPU to achieve greater performance and power management. Since both form factors use the Windows 11 OS, the new models support Microsoft’s AI Copilot features. Continue reading Lenovo Unveils Laptops for AI-Enabled Business Computing

Amazon’s new Thin Client is a new $195 device that allows enterprise users to connect to virtual desktop environments, such as Amazon WorkSpaces, using the Internet and a box as compact as the Fire TV Cube. In fact, the Thin Client leverages Fire TV Cube hardware, allowing Amazon to tap existing expertise from the e-retail giant’s streaming media player division. However, Thin Client “is not for spending time watching Thursday Night Football, or bingeing ‘Invincible,’” but aims to convenience workers while reducing technology costs and enhancing security for enterprise, the company says. Continue reading Amazon Thin Client Connects Employees to Virtual Desktops

Qualcomm has debuted a new flagship platform, the Snapdragon X Elite series. Built for artificial intelligence and capable of running generative models with over 13 billion parameters, Qualcomm claims it offers “4.5 times faster AI processing power than competitors.” Described as “the most powerful computing processor it has ever created for the PC,” Qualcomm says the chipset is also one of the most efficient, “with up to multiple days of battery life.” Leading OEMs are expected to begin shipping models with the new processors in mid-2024. Continue reading Qualcomm Unveils Snapdragon X Elite Series, Created for AI

Google is introducing the Chromebook Plus, a new category of its popular laptops and tablets that the company says offers AI capabilities and “double the performance” of existing Chromebooks. The new category also provides access to Google Photos Magic Eraser and Adobe Photoshop on the web, starting at $399. Google says it drew on user feedback and worked with partners at Acer, Asus, HP and Lenovo to optimize performance and add productivity. The initial eight models all feature processors that are 12th Generation Intel Core i3 or above or AMD Ryzen 3 7000 series or above. Continue reading Google Claims New Chromebook Plus Doubles Performance

Roblox is adding an expressive, avatar-based video chat called Roblox Connect to its virtual world in an effort to keep its young user base engaged as it grows up while also potentially expanding its audience. “We’re essentially packaging a Hollywood-style motion capture studio into something that runs on a mobile phone or laptop — without the need for equipment or motion-tracking dots,” Roblox explains, pointing out that the device’s on-board camera is all that’s needed to capture facial motion and convey it in real time. Also, Roblox is is coming to PS4 and PS5 next month, while the company will allow game creators to sell 3D virtual goods. Continue reading Roblox Adds Facial-Tracking Vid Chat, Expands to PlayStation

Day one of Apple’s WWDC 2023 conference from the company’s headquarters in Cupertino was about much more than the anticipated Vision Pro mixed reality headset. The company introduced a powerhouse Mac Pro with Ultra M2, starting at $6,999, and upgraded Mac Studio desktops with M2 Max or M2 Ultra chips. The macOS Sonoma desktop operating system was among the reveals, along with the new 15-inch MacBook Air. Apple took the wraps off iOS 17 and announced that FaceTime and videoconferencing are coming to Apple TV in 4K with tvOS 17. The company’s watchOS 10 rounded out the new product and software highlights. Continue reading WWDC: Apple Surprises with Product and Software Reveals

A new $2,000 mobile device called “Spacetop” comes with its own augmented reality glasses that can create a 100-inch virtual display. Sightful, the Tel Aviv-based startup behind the new AR laptop, was co-founded by CEO Tamir Berliner and COO Tomer Kahan, both previously with Florida-based AR glasses firm Magic Leap. Spacetop utilizes a custom operating system that Sightful says is compatible with Web-based applications such as Google Workspace, Zoom and Figma. The glasses reportedly offer resolution of 1080p per eye, which Sightful says provides sub-pixel viewing resolution. Continue reading Sightful’s Spacetop AR Laptop Offers 100-Inch Virtual Display

Netflix is hoping that offering cinema-like spatial audio on a catalog of more than 700 titles for those who subscribe to its $20 per month premium tier will encourage more customers to upgrade. Spatial audio is engineered to deliver a 360-degree audio experience, including sounds that appear to come from behind the viewer. Customers who subscribe to Netflix’s Standard or Basic plans will have access to some spatial audio titles “but only on a small, select number,” the company said, describing the audio tech as “a game changer for the Premium plan viewing experience.” Netflix Premium already supports 4K, HDR, Dolby Atmos and Netflix Calibrated Mode. Continue reading Netflix Premium Offers 700+ Titles That Feature Spatial Audio

Apple’s three-year streak of record-setting sales and profit came to an end with the company’s fiscal first quarter for 2023. The three-month period ending December 31, 2022 produced revenue of $117.2 billion, down 5 percent year-over-year. Apple said the results capped an earnings season “in which the world’s biggest technology companies mostly struggled to shake off a postpandemic hangover.” It was the Cupertino-based company’s first quarterly revenue decline in almost four years, attributable largely to supply chain disruptions in China causing a holiday sales season shortage of the high-end iPhone 14 Pro and 14 Pro Max. Continue reading Apple Hardware Sales Decline, Services Remain Bright Spot

During Samsung’s Galaxy Unpacked event in San Francisco, the company introduced its $1,200 Galaxy S23 Ultra smartphone, featuring a 200-megapixel camera sensor, an updated form factor, a Snapdragon 8 Gen 2 processor, and major jump in storage. Samsung also announced updated Galaxy S23 and S23 Plus models with the same floating camera design of the S23 Ultra and pricing that matches last year’s offerings. The company’s new Galaxy Book3 Ultra laptop touts a 16-inch, 120Hz OLED screen and offers an Intel H-Series Core i7 or Core i9 processor and an Nvidia RTX 4050 or 4070 GPU. The Book3 line features Samsung’s Dynamic AMOLED 2X display and an Nvidia RTX 3070 GPU. Continue reading Samsung Unveils Smartphones, Laptops at Unpacked Event