Jeff Wilcox, Apple's director of Mac system architecture who oversaw much of the Apple Silicon transition, has left Apple to join Intel. He will head up Intel's efforts to develop its own system-on-a-chip.
Wilcox makes this move after eight years as a key player in Apple's desktop and laptop product development. Before those eight years, he was actually at Intel, so the move to Intel is a return for him, not an entirely new frontier.
He announced the change on LinkedIn over the past few weeks. In his initial LinkedIn post, he wrote:
It’s been ten years since Lenovo introduced its first Yoga-branded laptop with a 360-degree hinge that allows you to fold the screen all the way back for use in tablet mode. At the time it was an unusual design. Today it’s pretty much commonplace – most convertible laptops now have similar hinges. But Lenovo has […]
It’s been ten years since Lenovo introduced its first Yoga-branded laptop with a 360-degree hinge that allows you to fold the screen all the way back for use in tablet mode. At the time it was an unusual design. Today it’s pretty much commonplace – most convertible laptops now have similar hinges.
But Lenovo has been refining the design ever since, and at this year’s Consumer Electronics Show the company introduced three new models, which are expected to hit the streets in the second quarter of 2022 with starting prices ranging from $749 to $1399.
Lenovo Yoga 9i
Lenovo Yoga 6 (13 inch)
The latest in Lenovo’s Yoga 6 line of convertible notebooks features a 13 inch display, an AMD Ryzen 5000U processor and a starting price of $749.
That makes the new Yoga 6 laptop the most affordable of Lenovo’s 2022 Yoga laptops, but it’s got the specs of a 2021 (or earlier) model. Lenovo will offer AMD Ryzen 5 5500U or Ryzen 7 5700U processor options, and while those chips were released in 2021, they feature the same Zen 2 CPU cores and Radeon Vega graphics as Ryzen 4000U series chips released in 2020.
Anyway, the rest of the notebook’s specs seem respectable, including a 1920 x 1200 pixel IPS LCD touchscreen display, support for up to 16GB of LPDDR4x memory and 1TB of solid state storage, a 2MP front-facing camera, a 59 Wh battery, stereo 2W speakers, and a selection of ports that includes:
2 x USB 3.2 Gen 1 Type-C
2 x USB 3.2 Gen 1 Type-A
1 x HDMI 2.0
1 x 3.5mm audio
1 x microSD card reader
The laptop measures about 12″ x 8.6″ x 0.7″ and weighs just over 3 pounds. One unusual feature? It comes with either a recycled aluminum or recycled stain-resistant fabric liid, depending on the model.
Lenovo Yoga 7i (14 and 16 inches)
Lenovo Yoga 7i convertibles with Intel Alder Lake processors will be available in two sizes. A 14 inch model will start at $949, while a 16 inch version will have a starting price of $899. Both will be available with a digital pen in some regions, but only the larger model will be available with an option for discrete graphics.
Lenovo Yoga 7i 1(4 inch)
The 14 inch model is a 3.1 pound notebook with support for up to an Intel Core i7-1260P processor, a choice of 2240 x 1400 pixel IPS LCD or 2880 x 1800 OLED displays, up to 16GB of RAM and 1TB of storage, and two Thunderbolt ports, an HDMI port, a USB 3.2 Gen 1 Type-A port, and a microSD card reader. It has a 71 Whr battery and quad speakers (two 2W tweeters and two 2W woofers).
Lenovo’s 16 inch version is a 4.2 pound notebook with support for up to an Intel Core i7-12700H processor, optional support for Intel Arc discrete graphics, up to 32GB of RAM, 1TB of storage, and up to a 2.5K IPS LCD display. This model support sup to a 100Whr battery and has one additional USB 3.2 Gen 1 Type-A port. \
Lenovo Yoga 9i (14 inch)
Lenovo’s news premium Yoga convertible supports up to an Intel Core i7-1260P processor, up to a 3840 x 2400 pixel OLED display, and up to 16GB of RAM and 1TB of storage.
But the $1399 starting price will most likely get you a model with more modest specs including a 1920 x 1200 pixel IPS LCD display, an Intel Core i5-1240P processor, 8GB of RAM and 256GB of storage.
There’s also a 2880 x 1800 pixel LCD display option.
The laptop measures about 12.5″ x 9.1″ x 0.6″ and has a starting weight of 3.26 pounds for models with 2.8K or 4K OLED displays, while the FHD LCD model starts at 3.37 pounds.
Standard features across all models include two Thunderbolt ports, a USB 3.2 Type-C port, a USB 3.2 Type-A port, and a headset jack and a 2MP webcam with support for Windows Hello face recognition. The laptop is powered by a 75 Wh battery and supports fast charging, with Lenovo claiming you should get up to 2 hours of run time from a 15 minute charge.
The Yoga 9i comes with either a Precision Pen 2 or E-Color Pen, depending on the configuration, and the notebook also has an unusual keyboard with an extra row of keys along the right side with shortcuts for switching power performance modes, toggling between light and dark modes on Windows, adjusting audio profiles, and more.
Enlarge/ Lenovo ThinkBook Plus Gen 3. (credit: Lenovo)
While the majority of laptops still use the 16:9 aspect ratio, we've seen many companies increasingly embrace taller aspect ratios over the last couple years. Lenovo, while also playing around with the likes of 16:10 laptop screens in other upcoming machines, is taking a wider approach. At CES this week, it announced a laptop with an ultrawide display. Oh, and it has a second screen next to the keyboard, too.
Lenovo says the ThinkBook Plus Gen 3 is the first machine to use a 17.3-inch 21:10 screen. We've seen ultrawide laptops before, but laptops with a screen that's wider than 16:9 are incredibly rare today.
Toshiba tried to make it a thing in 2012. The company's 21:9 Toshiba U845W laptop promised a superior experience for watching movies (at least ones made in the same aspect ratio) and multitasking. More recently, Acer's 2017 Predator 21 X used the 21:9 aspect ratio and a unique curve to claim supreme gaming immersion (again, with supported titles).
“If the Moon really is what you think it is—suit up.”
Halle Berry and Patrick Wilson co-star in director Roland Emmerich's latest film, Moonfall.
Hello, police? I'd like to report a murder—the murder of credible science on the altar of entertainment, as evidenced in the latest trailer for Moonfall. It's the latest epic disaster blockbuster from director Roland Emmerich, in which the Earth's existence is threatened by the Moon getting knocked out of its orbit and into a collision course toward Earth.
Look, I love me some Roland Emmerich. Independence Day (1996) is top-notch entertainment, and while his Godzilla (1998) was widely panned by critics, it featured a world-weary Jean Reno as a French scientist constantly bemoaning the lack of decent coffee in America, which was worth the price of admission alone. But in recent years, the director has pivoted to what can only be called climate-change inspired "disaster p*rn," with over-the-top films like 2009's 2012 and The Day After Tomorrow (2004).
Both films made big bucks at the box office, despite mixed critical reviews and dings for their sloppy use of science. In fact, The Day After Tomorrow frequently winds up on people's lists of most scientifically inaccurate films. That's not a deal-breaker so long as the film is entertaining. As screenwriter Jeffrey Nachmanoff pointed out at the film's Berlin premiere, "This is a disaster movie and not a scientific documentary, [and] the film makers have taken a lot of artistic license." Thus far, Emmerich has shown a talent for pushing an audience's willing suspension of disbelief to the limit without crossing the line into utter ridiculousness (or at least, audiences will be having so much fun, they'll cheer on the ridiculous aspects with glee).
It’s like a 17.3-inch OLED tablet that can fold in half.
Enlarge/ The Asus Zenbook 17 Fold OLED can take many forms. (credit: Asus/YouTube)
When Intel unveiled its 12th-gen mobile CPUs on Tuesday, the company pointed to the chips' suitability for use in foldable PC designs by showing unidentified concept images. It didn't take long to figure out what Intel was talking about. On Wednesday, Asus announced a foldable PC—think of it as a 17.3-inch OLED tablet that can fold in half.
In addition to a 12th-gen i7 CPU, the Asus Zenbook 17 Fold OLED comes with 16GB of RAM and a 1TB PCIe 4.0 SSD. The components live in a device measuring 14.9 x 11.32 x 0.34–0.46 inches when open and housing an OLED touchscreen with a 2560 x 1920 resolution and a 0.2 ms GTG response time.
The display has a 4:3 aspect ratio, making it tall when fully open. If you fold it down the middle, the screen will act as two 12.5-inch displays with 1920 x 1290 resolutions and 3:2 aspect ratios. When you're done, you can fold the device shut so that it's "smaller than a sheet of photocopier paper," measuring 11.69 x 8.27 inches, according to Asus' announcement. And if you're worried about how many times you can fold the device, Asus claims the hinge lasts for at least 30,000 cycles.
The Snapdragon Ride Platform uses Qualcomm’s 5 nm SoCs.
Enlarge/ A closer look at the hardware inside the Ultra Cruise computer. (credit: General Motors)
General Motors has partnered with Qualcomm to provide the computing power for its next-generation hands-free driver-assistance system. First announced in October 2021, the new system is called Ultra Cruise, and it one-ups the (already very competent) GM Super Cruise in terms of performance and operational design domain.
Whereas Super Cruise is limited to restricted access, divided-lane highways, Ultra Cruise will at first operate on more than 2 million miles of roads in the US and Canada. An Ultra Cruise-equipped car will sense its environment using a mix of lidar, optical cameras, and radar to generate a sensor-fused 360-degree view of the world around it. It will recognize and react to permanent traffic control devices like stop signs and traffic lights, and it will even handle left-turns, albeit with a little driver input.
Like Super Cruise, Ultra Cruise is a driver-assistance system (it falls under the SAE's level 2), and the human driver is still responsible for providing situational awareness (with a driver-monitoring system making sure that's happening).
Samsung has been selling smartphones with foldable OLED displays since 2019, but so far the company has basically stuck with phones that fold in half either vertically or horizontally. But now the company is showing off prototypes of devices that use flexible display technology in different ways. At CES 2022, Samsung is demonstrating four new […]
Samsung has been selling smartphones with foldable OLED displays since 2019, but so far the company has basically stuck with phones that fold in half either vertically or horizontally. But now the company is showing off prototypes of devices that use flexible display technology in different ways.
At CES 2022, Samsung is demonstrating four new concepts it calls Flex S, Flex G, Flex Note, and Flex Slideable.
Samsung Flex S and Flex G (tri-fold)
These displays are both designed to fold at two points rather than one, effectively breaking the screen up into three parts. When unfolded you have a wide-screen tablet. Folded up, you have a pocket-sized device.
Samsung’s Flex S is designed to fold… like the letter S, with an accordion-like design where you fold one edge so that it covers a portion of the screen, leaving just one third still visible. Then you can fold that backward and hold the device like a phone with a single screen exposed.
Flex G, meanwhile, is a screen where both edges fold inward, resulting in a smaller, pocketable device with the entire display covered and protected (although I suppose this sort of design could also work with a secondary cover display that you could use when the main screen is folded.
Samsung Flex Slideable
The Flex Slideable display is more of a rollable screen than a foldable. A portion of the screen is hidden behind the primary section and slides out when you want the extra screen space.
There’s no word on if or when Samsung’s Flex Slideable will become a real thing you can buy, but Samsung’s demo does hint at the technology being used for more than just a bit of screen space. For example, it could allow you to access an app launcher or shortcut keys when extended, without losing your view of the app that was already on your screen.
Samsung Flex Note
This 17 inch flexible OLED display folds in half, making it possible to use it as a large-screen tablet or a 13 inch laptop, where the bottom portion is used for a virtual keyboard or other application controls.
You should also be able to hold it in the center with a slight fold inward to use the display like a book.
And if that sounds familiar, that’s because this concept is strikingly similar to the Asus Zenbook 17 Fold that was announced this week, and which is supposed to come to market in the second quarter of 2022.
Samsung has been selling smartphones with foldable OLED displays since 2019, but so far the company has basically stuck with phones that fold in half either vertically or horizontally. But now the company is showing off prototypes of devices that use flexible display technology in different ways. At CES 2022, Samsung is demonstrating four new […]
Samsung has been selling smartphones with foldable OLED displays since 2019, but so far the company has basically stuck with phones that fold in half either vertically or horizontally. But now the company is showing off prototypes of devices that use flexible display technology in different ways.
At CES 2022, Samsung is demonstrating four new concepts it calls Flex S, Flex G, Flex Note, and Flex Slideable.
Samsung Flex S and Flex G (tri-fold)
These displays are both designed to fold at two points rather than one, effectively breaking the screen up into three parts. When unfolded you have a wide-screen tablet. Folded up, you have a pocket-sized device.
Samsung’s Flex S is designed to fold… like the letter S, with an accordion-like design where you fold one edge so that it covers a portion of the screen, leaving just one third still visible. Then you can fold that backward and hold the device like a phone with a single screen exposed.
Flex G, meanwhile, is a screen where both edges fold inward, resulting in a smaller, pocketable device with the entire display covered and protected (although I suppose this sort of design could also work with a secondary cover display that you could use when the main screen is folded.
Samsung Flex Slideable
The Flex Slideable display is more of a rollable screen than a foldable. A portion of the screen is hidden behind the primary section and slides out when you want the extra screen space.
There’s no word on if or when Samsung’s Flex Slideable will become a real thing you can buy, but Samsung’s demo does hint at the technology being used for more than just a bit of screen space. For example, it could allow you to access an app launcher or shortcut keys when extended, without losing your view of the app that was already on your screen.
Samsung Flex Note
This 17 inch flexible OLED display folds in half, making it possible to use it as a large-screen tablet or a 13 inch laptop, where the bottom portion is used for a virtual keyboard or other application controls.
You should also be able to hold it in the center with a slight fold inward to use the display like a book.
And if that sounds familiar, that’s because this concept is strikingly similar to the Asus Zenbook 17 Fold that was announced this week, and which is supposed to come to market in the second quarter of 2022.
French regulators today ordered Google and Facebook to make rejecting cookies as simple as accepting them and fined the companies a total of €210 million for failing to comply with France's Data Protection Act.
The CNIL (Commission Nationale de l'Informatique et des Libertés) said that "facebook.com, google.fr and youtube.com offer a button allowing the user to immediately accept cookies" but "do not provide an equivalent solution (button or other) enabling the Internet user to easily refuse the deposit of these cookies. Several clicks are required to refuse all cookies, against a single one to accept them."
The process making it harder to reject cookies than to accept them "affects the freedom of consent of Internet users and constitutes an infringement of Article 82 of the French Data Protection Act," the CNIL said. The agency announced fines of €150 million for Google and €60 million for Facebook and said it "ordered the companies to provide Internet users located in France with a means of refusing cookies as simple as the existing means of accepting them, in order to guarantee their freedom of consent, within three months. If they fail to do so, the companies will have to pay a penalty of 100,000 euros per day of delay."
14 crypto-signed Castlevania curios in honor of the series’ 35th birthday.
Enlarge/ No, see, this copy of the image isn't worth anything, because it's not on signed on the blockchain...
Konami became the latest gaming company to jump on the non-fungible token bandwagon Thursday with the announcement of the Konami Memorial NFT Collection. But rather than focusing on in-game cosmetics or supply-constrained virtual land as some other publishers have, Konami is simply offering a small set of NFT-backed artwork and music drawn from the Castlevania series in honor of its 35th anniversary.
Konami's collection includes 14 individual NFTs representing five songs from the NES Castlevania games, six short videos showing off special item use in the first Castlevania, two pieces of hand-drawn promotional art from Circle of the Moon, and a unique piece of "Dracula's Castle" pixel art inspired by the games. Each item in the collection is a "one of one" cryptographic signature that will be posted on the Ethereum blockchain after an OpenSea auction set to start on January 12. Those auctions have an effective reserve price of one "wrapped Ethereum," or about $3,350 at today's market value.
The NFTs will represent the associated digital collectible, whose "minting" is linked to Konami's verified account to help establish provenance. Konami also promises that an "NFT with the exact same data will not be resold, but similar NFTs tied to the same game title may be resold in the future," making them "unique" on the blockchain (even if the underlying images and sounds are endlessly copiable).
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