When it debuted two years ago, Lenovo’s groundbreaking Yoga Book reimagined the traditional keyboard with a glass surface and laser-etched keys. At IFA, Lenovo is back again with an updated Yoga Book with two displays, and the refreshed device lends insight into how a dual-screen computing device could work. Like its predecessor, this year’s Yoga Book is also geared at note-takers.
The original Yoga Book came with a primary display, a hinge that liberally borrows from Lenovo’s Yoga convertible laptops, and a second glass panel. On traditional notebooks, a physical keyboard would occupy much of the surface on this glass panel, but Lenovo swapped out a physical keyboard with moving parts in favor of laser-etched capacitive touch keys on the glass surface. The move not only allowed the Yoga Book to be extremely slim and sturdy for its size, but it gave Lenovo the opportunity to introduce a physical notepad where handwritten sketches and notes can be digitally transcribed, allowing the user to retain both the pen-and-paper copy and a saved digital file.
Unlike the original Yoga Book, which came with Android and Windows options, this year’s Yoga Book C930 is purely a Windows affair, and will be available in October starting at $999. Lenovo is swapping out the glass-etched keyboard and paper notepad accessory from the previous generation in favor of an electronic ink display, making this year’s Yoga Book a true dual-screen laptop. The main display comes with a 10.8-inch panel and a resolution of 2,560 x 1,600 pixels, while the 10.8-inch electronic ink panel comes with a full HD resolution.
Because the device relies on a secondary glass screen rather than a physical keyboard for input, the Yoga Book is an extremely slim device, measuring 9.9mm thick when closed. Lenovo claims that the Yoga Book is the world’s thinnest and lightest dual-display laptop. Because the device is so thin, Lenovo created a new way to open the Yoga Book when it’s resting on a table. Instead of lifting the lid, you can now knock on the device and it will open.
The electronic ink display serves as the keyboard, notepad, and e-reader, depending on the application in use, and this year’s Yoga Book C930 delivers a keyboard with bigger keys and a larger trackpad. It remains to be seen how comfortable the Yoga Book’s electronic ink keyboard will be for long typing sessions. Note-takers and digital artists can rely on the Wacom Active Pen with Bluetooth to jot notes or draw on either displays. The pen attaches to the Yoga Book via magnets. There’s also an IR optical fingerprint sensor and support for Dolby Atmos audio on the dual speaker system.
The laptop ships with either a 7th-generation Intel Core i5 7Y54 or 7th generation Intel Core m3 7Y30 processor, 4GB RAM, up to 256GB of solid-state storage, and two USB-C ports. For mobile users, the Yoga Book C930 can also be configured with optional LTE connectivity.
Acer’s Predator Atlas 8 finally has a US release date and price, several months after the company first showed off the handheld in May. The highlight is the Intel Arc G3 Extreme chip inside, which has been adopted by only a couple of other consoles besides the Atlas 8. This version will go on sale exclusively at Best Buy on November 1 for $1,299.99.
Acer originally said the Atlas 8 would arrive in North America in October, but left pricing open at the time. The launch came amid the ongoing DRAM crunch, which has made memory more expensive across the PC industry and complicated pricing for hardware makers.
Google DeepMind's AI world model Genie 4 can now build interactive worlds that you can explore and reshape as they run. It also generates ambient sounds, music, and dialogue that respond to your actions.
The new world model builds on Genie 3 with improved realism, more natural human movement, and better simulations of real-world physics. It could eventually help with everything from game development to training robots.
Apple has an incredible talent for making me admire its products while simultaneously questioning what on earth it's thinking with the pricing. This isn't even something as bizarre as a monitor stand, but the audacity for starting a new laptop lineup from $2,000 doesn't surprise me.
The newly announced 14-inch MacBook Pro with M6 is just the latest to showcase this. The funny thing is, I already know that it's going to be a reliable workstation. You get a powerful new 2nm M6 processor, a gorgeous Liquid Retina XDR display, and up to 24 hours of battery life. We were impressed by the M5 MacBook Air, so the high-end M6 powered MacBook Pro definitely won't let us down.