Check out our review of the Lenovo IdeaCentre Horizon all-in-one table PC.
Lenovo surprised everyone at CES by announcing the Horizon, an unusual all-in-one that can be laid flat and used as a tabletop device. A battery is included for up to two hours of use away from power and a demo at Intel’s press conference suggested it will “bring back family night.”
Is it really that much fun? We decided to put it to the test with a game of air hockey. Lenovo handed us a pair of unique capacitive-touch mallets and sent us to play. Though we did miss the feel and sound of a real puck the experience was far better than the cheap air hockey sets most people can afford. We had no problem sending the puck flying across the screen or blocking incoming shots. The only handicap was the glossy display which made the game difficult to enjoy in Lenovo’s brightly lit showcase.
We also briefly played Monopoly, poker and several arcade games. Monopoly was disappointing, but that was the fault of a grating soundtrack and shaky performance rather than the Horizon’s touch controls. Poker, however, seemed like good fun. Lenovo connected two of its smartphones to the Horizon and let us use them to display cards, though that’s not required to play the game. Virtual cash was used to make bets and players could toss chips in the pot by swiping on his or her smartphone.
The selection of games is only part of what Lenovo’s custom interface, known as Aura, offers. It can display a variety of media content, including photos and video, on a virtual tabletop. Each individual media item can move, rotate and resize with a few simple gestures. There’s also a selection of creativity and productivity apps that we didn’t have the opportunity to check out.
Though we enjoyed our time with the Horizon we can’t deny that its price is intimidating. $1,699 buys the all-in-one with a stable of capacitive accessories, but the stand is not included (pricing is unannounced). Will families spend almost $2,000 to play virtual versions of games sold at a fraction of the price? We have our doubts.
Apple is less than a day away from launching its highly anticipated OLED MacBook Pro with a touch-sensitive screen. But it appears that the upgrade is going to cost a pretty penny. According to a report by Bloomberg, Apple is reportedly eyeing a starting price of $2,899 for the 14-inch MacBook Pro, while the 16-inch version could start at $3,399 in the US.
"At $2,899, the 14-inch model would mark the highest starting price for a new MacBook Pro model, surpassing the $2,799 Apple charged for a 17-inch version introduced in 2006," says the report. The report claims that Apple is targeting a minimum price hike of $400 for its upcoming redesigned 14-inch and 16-inch MacBook Pro models.
I've spent a good amount of time digging into the spec sheet of the new M6 MacBook Pro (14-inch), and for all intents and purposes, this is a classic Apple "chip and connectivity" refresh. It's not a full redesign. The chassis, Liquid Retina XDR panel, speakers, ports, and battery, all of them carry over unchanged.
However, the M6 brings more cores, stronger on-device AI, higher memory bandwidth on the larger configs, and modern wireless. Here’s the practical rundown of what actually improved, and whether those gains are worth your money.
Two new highly requested iCloud plugins just got added to ChatGPT, giving people who rely on Apple’s Mail and Calendar services a way to search emails, check appointments, and manage their schedules directly through the chatbot.
The integration is rolling out to all ChatGPT plans, including the free tier. You can access it on the web, desktop, and iOS.