We’ve heard of Windows Holographic, the mixed reality side of Microsoft’s latest operating system, since the release of Windows 10. The idea is futuristic — ditching the screen and projecting Windows 10 onto your walls and furniture — but it wasn’t clear how long it would actually take for it to become reality. At the 2016 Intel Developer Forum, Terry Myerson announced that Windows Holographic will become part of the desktop platform next year.
That means any Windows 10 PC will be able to hook up to a HoloLens — or, in theory, other devices that support Windows Holographic — and immediately work. That’s an important step forward. While the HoloLens is currently available, it’s very much a development kit. Users must install specific software to make it work, and apps aren’t easy to come by. Windows Holographic will change that.
Like VR headsets, Windows Holographic will require a PC with a certain amount of heft to run correctly. Intel and Microsoft will work together to develop a standard set of system requirements, so users know whether they can take part in the fun. They did show the Skull Canyon NUC as an example of a compatible computer, so devices without a dedicated graphics chip may not be left out in the cold (which makes sense, given Intel’s love of its own integrated graphics hardware). The final specifications of the standard will be announced in December of 2016.
You won’t have to wait long to find out more about Windows Holographic. Development kits have been in engineers’ hands for months now, and a mid-2017 release means Insiders may put hands on it before the end of the year. Microsoft already announced the HTC Vive as a supported device, thanks to the 720p webcam in the front.
We have one in the Digital Trends office, so expect a hands-on with the next generation of operating systems as soon as it’s available.
After five years with Apple silicon, from the original M1 MacBook Air to the M5 MacBook Air released earlier this year, I've watched these chips mature not just on the spec sheet, but in real-world workflows and overall efficiency.
The new M6 chip might sound like a routine generational upgrade, but it's the company's first chip built on a 2nm manufacturing process, which brings meaningful improvements over previous Apple chips.
Gemini Notebook’s mobile app now has a built-in recorder for capturing lectures and meetings as sources. You can record directly where you’ll use the material, skipping the separate recording app and the file upload afterward.
Google announced the feature on X, highlighting classroom lectures and team meetings as potential uses. It also works for capturing your own thoughts, so you can talk through an idea and bring that explanation into your notebook while it’s still fresh.
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?