As Microsoft gears up for Build, it’s only natural the software producer-turned hardware maker would want to show off what its been working on. The press conference today marked the release of the Surface Laptop, a traditional notebook, and a Windows 10 S, a student edition with specific limits and quick pick-up time.
Software limitations set Windows 10 S apart from its full-featured sibling. Users can only run apps downloaded from the Windows Store, preventing any unwanted problematic installations or security issues. If need be, an administrator can install more typical x86 applications, but it wasn’t made clear exactly what that process would look like. In addition to client systems, Windows 10 S helps administrators configure other systems, with a simple wizard that creates USB drives to load that image onto new computers.
Speaking of new computers, Microsoft took the opportunity to roll out the Surface Laptop, starting at $999. While the Redmond team didn’t mention any specific configurations, the system will come with Seventh-Generation Intel Core i5 and i7 CPUs, and up to 1TB NVMe SSD options, with an estimated battery life of more than 14 hours.
Microsoft is certainly swinging for the fences, but is it risking its OEM partners by infringing on their territory? We’ll discuss all that and more on this week’s episode of Close to the Metal.
Close to the Metal is a podcast from Digital Trends that takes a deep dive into computing and PC gaming topics. Each show, we’ll focus in on one topic, and leave no stone unturned as we show off the latest in hardware and software. Whether it’s the latest GPU, supercomputers, or which 2-in-1 you should buy, we break down the complicated jargon and talk about how user experience is affected in the real world. Please subscribe, share, and send your questions to [email protected]. We broadcast the show live on YouTube every Tuesday at 1pm EST/10am PST.
In 1950, Alan Turing asked whether machines can think. Rather than argue over definitions, he turned the question into a party game, where an interrogator trades typed messages with hidden players and tries to work out who is who. Since then, chatbots have gotten so good that they have already fooled humans in modern versions of the test.
So, four researchers from Paris Cité University asked the obvious follow-up question in a new study published in Computers in Human Behavior Reports: can AI at least catch its own kind?
Mozilla is giving Firefox’s Smart Window two new tricks. If you haven’t tried it yet, Smart Window is an optional AI mode in Firefox with a built-in chat that helps you get things done while you browse. With this update, it can fill out online forms using details from your tabs and keep an eye on websites for you.
Tired of typing the same details into every form?
The absolutely absurd idea of putting a touchscreen display on a mouse isn't exactly new. Turtle Beach already did it with its Command Series MC7, which features a 2.25-inch control screen. But apparently, even that wasn't ridiculous enough for Arctic Fox Technologies. Its new Super Mouse looks like someone took the chunky old Atari ST mouse, slapped a touchscreen and scroll wheel on it, and called it an upgrade.
The result is a rather unusual-looking mouse that is now on Kickstarter, starting at $199. And as ridiculous as it looks, some of its features are genuinely intriguing.