Thursday, 28 December 2017
Chinese electronics and telecommunications giant Huaweihas refreshed its MateBook D notebook with updated specifications. The new MateBook D (2018) runs Windows 10 and comes with 8th generation Intel Core processors and an improved GPU.As we mentioned, Huawei has launched the latest Matebook D (2018) which succeeds the original variant launched in May this year. Huawei had also announced MateBook X and MateBook E alongside the MateBook D earlier this year. The notebook is based on Windows 10 OS.
Monday, 25 December 2017
Samsung CHG90, 49-Inch Curved QLED Monitor, Launched in India: Price, Specifications
Samsung India on Wednesday launched the "world's biggest curved monitor" for gaming enthusiasts and business professionals for Rs. 1,50,000. A 49-inch ultra-wide curved QLED monitor, the Samsung CHG90 was first unveiled in June this year, and hit certain markets in August. It has now arrived in India, and is already available to purchase via Samsung's online store. The Samsung CHG90 will also become available to buy via retail stores soon.
"Samsung has always been at the forefront of consumer-centric innovations and the launch of QLED curved monitor is in line with that very commitment," Puneet Sethi, Vice-President, Consumer Electronics Enterprise Business, Samsung India, told reporters in New Delhi at the monitor's launch event.
The Samsung CHG90 49-inch curved monitor supports HDR (High Dynamic Range) for improved contrast and colour depth. On Tuesday, Samsung also announced that the CHG90 had become the first monitor to be certified as DisplayHDR compliant by Video Electronics Standards Association (VESA).
"Up until recently, there had been no standard specification for the HDR performance of PC monitors and laptop computer displays. But earlier this year, VESA, an international non-profit that sets and supports industry-wide interface standards for displays, established the DisplayHDR standard," the company's blog post read, adding, "When granting DisplayHDR 600 certification to the CHG90, VESA cited the monitor's use of HDR to elevate contrast ratio (3,000:1), colour accuracy and overall presentation vibrancy as an industry standard-setter."
Getting back to the India launch, Samsung says the CHG90 monitor offers an "eye saver mode" to enhance eye comfort, obstruct blue light, and reduce eye fatigue, apart from its Flicker Free tech.
The Samsung CHG90 curved QLED monitor has a curvature of 1800R, an aspect ratio of 32:9 (3480x1080 pixels), and provides a 1ms motion picture response time to prevent "ghost" images. The monitor also boasts a refresh rate of 144Hz.
Ports on the Samsung CHG90 include 2 HDMI ports, DisplayPort, Mini DisplayPort, USB Hub, 3.5mm headphone jack, and 3.5mm audio in.
Friday, 22 December 2017
Sophia, The World's First Robot Citizen
A robot with an uncannily human-like appearance recently advanced one step closer to human status, when it was granted citizenship to Saudi Arabia at the tech summit Future Investment Initiative (FII).
Named "Sophia," the robot, created by Hanson Robotics (HR), has a pale-skinned face with features that are capable of being highly mobile and expressive and displaying a range of emotions. The company's "latest and most advanced robot," according to a statement on the HR website took to the stage at FII on Oct. 25 to address hundreds of attendees in Riyahd, Saudi Arabia, and to announce her recently acquired citizenship — the first to be given to a robot, the BBC reported.
"I am very honored and proud for this unique distinction," Sophia said during her onstage appearance, which was shared on YouTube by Arab News. "This is historical to be the first robot in the world to be recognized with a citizenship," the robot said.
Named "Sophia," the robot, created by Hanson Robotics (HR), has a pale-skinned face with features that are capable of being highly mobile and expressive and displaying a range of emotions. The company's "latest and most advanced robot," according to a statement on the HR website took to the stage at FII on Oct. 25 to address hundreds of attendees in Riyahd, Saudi Arabia, and to announce her recently acquired citizenship — the first to be given to a robot, the BBC reported.
"I am very honored and proud for this unique distinction," Sophia said during her onstage appearance, which was shared on YouTube by Arab News. "This is historical to be the first robot in the world to be recognized with a citizenship," the robot said.
She can express feelings
"I can let you know if I am angry about something or if something has upset me," she said, demonstrating different expressions. Quite how these emotions correlate to actions are unknown, but it's interesting to note that this is being developed from the ground up. "I want to live and work with humans so I need to express the emotions to understand humans and build trust with people.
She was designed to look like Audrey Hepburn
According to Hanson Robotics, Sophia embodies Hepburn’s classic beauty: porcelain skin, a slender nose, high cheekbones, an intriguing smile, and deeply expressive eyes that seem to change color with the light. They describe her as having 'simple elegance,' and hope that this approachability will go some way to her acceptance in the public sphere.
Sunday, 17 December 2017
Google launches Android Oreo Go edition for low-end phones
At Google I/O in May of this year, Google promised a version of Android custom-designed for low-end devices. Today, “Android Go (Oreo edition)” is being made available for device manufacturers and developers. That doesn’t mean it’s available to users yet — but presumably that’ll happen in fairly short order.
The premise behind Android Go is pretty simple. It’s a build of Android Oreo that is designed to run better on phones with either 512MB or 1GB of RAM. By comparison, the Pixel 2 (like most flagships) has 4GB of RAM, while the iPhone X has 3GB and the Galaxy Note 8 has a whopping 6GB.
Making the same operating system work on both flagships and the cheapest of cheap phones is a challenge, but it’s one Google says it’s overcome. Go edition is not meant to be a “fork” of Android Oreo so much as a variant that a manufacturer can just set by ticking off a configuration flag.
Wednesday, 15 November 2017
Microsoft's Near Share to Bring AirDrop Like Experience to Windows 10
HIGHLIGHTS
- Latest Windows 10 Insider Build includes Near Share feature
- The feature uses Bluetooth to enable wireless file transfer functionality
- The new Insider Preview build also has "Mute-a-Tab" option on Edge
Attempting to counter Apple, Microsoft has built its own AirDrop alternative for Windows 10 which it calls "Near Share". The new feature has started been in testing in the latest Insider build (17035) of the latest Windows platform and is compatible with all the systems that have Bluetooth support.
As its name suggests, Windows 10's Near Share feature allows you to share your files and URLs to nearby Windows PCs via Bluetooth. You can start sharing content after turning on the Near Share option that comes as a quick action in the Action Centre. If a nearby PC user shares the content with you, you'll receive a notification that you need to accept to get initiate the sharing.
Your Windows 10 system needs to be based on RS4 Build 17035 or above to enable sharing through Near Share. Moreover, default apps such as Photos, Microsoft Edge, and File Explorer will have a Share icon that gives wireless transfer access with one click.
In case you don't see the Near Share quick action in your Action Center, you can add it by going to Settings > Notifications & Action > Add or remove quick actions.
Similar to Apple's AirDrop on macOS and iOS, Microsoft's Near Share is currently exclusive to Windows 10. But the scope of both the features is similar - revolving around wireless transfer. Earlier this week, Google even spotted with its own wireless transfer app for Android devices called Files Go. The lightweight app was seemed to be designed for emerging markets.
Alongside the Near Share feature, the Insider Preview Build 17035 of Windows 10 brings "Mute a Tab" functionality to Microsoft Edge. The new development allows you to mute a tab playing sound by clicking a dedicated audio icon. Google's Chrome browser has offered a similar feature for a long time.
The new Windows 10 Insider build also includes an option to save free EPUB books from Microsoft Edge, context menu options for books, and a bunch of improvements in terms of software updates, sound, ease of access and keyboard layouts. Besides, there are many bug fixes and performance enhancements as well as Surface hardware listing on Microsoft Store app.
Tuesday, 7 November 2017
Facebook takes on YouTube with Watch, its new episodic video service
Facebook
has for years trying to take on its arch rival Google's video platform
YouTube. The social media giant has pushed its live videos to more users
in the past few months, in addition to introducing more video editing
tools. Also, the company has been rumoured to launch TV-like shows for
past many months. Finally, Mark Zuckerberg and his team have announced a
new tab inside the main Facebook app, marking the company's
full-fledged entry into video space. The new tab called 'Watch', as
Facebook says, brings original video content onto the social media
platform, which also makes it stand tall against the likes of YouTube,
Amazon Prime and Netflix.
The new 'Watch' tab for now is limited in the US region on mobile,
desktop and Facebook TV apps. "Shows are made up of episodes — live or
recorded — and follow a theme or storyline. To help you keep up with the
shows you follow, Watch
has a Watchlist so you never miss out on the latest episodes," said
Daniel Danker, director of product, Facebook in an official blog post.
The tab will also tell users what their friends on Facebook are
watching.
The tab will have section such as Most Talked About, What's Making People Laugh and What Friends Are Watching. Each video will also show user comments. To help users know more about the show before watching it, the social media giant has also introduced Show Pages. The Show Pages give more background information about the show,
Sunday, 29 October 2017
Nvidia has announced a new GPU, the GeForce GTX 1070 Ti, which slots in between the GeForce GTX 1070 and GeForce GTX 1080, both of which were launched in the middle of 2016. Nvidia fleshed out its range with more affordable GTX 1060 and GTX 1050 models over the course of last year, but this is the first new model to be inserted into the middle of the lineup. It is aimed directly at AMD's recently launched Radeon RX Vega 56, closing a gap in Nvidia's lineup which AMD was able to exploit.
Nvidia partners including Asus, Gigabyte, MSI, Zotac, Palit, Galax, PNY, and Inno3D will be launching GeForce GTX 1070 Ti graphics cards on November 2. Nvidia's Founders' Edition card, with the same blower-style stock cooler used across the rest of the GTX 1000 series, has officially been priced at Rs. 39,000 ($449 in the USA), but manufacturers will also be releasing custom versions with their own coolers and other tweaks. Street prices are also likely to vary thanks to cryptocurrency mining.
Thursday, 26 October 2017
iPhone X, Apple's first all-screen smartphone, is all set to go up for pre-orders in 55 countries including India from today, Friday, October 27. The phone will go on sale next Friday, November 3, in the same regions i.e. Andorra, Australia, Austria, Bahrain, Belgium, Bulgaria, Canada, China, Croatia, Cyprus, Czech Republic, Denmark, Estonia, Finland, France, Germany, Greece, Greenland, Guernsey, Hong Kong, Hungary, Iceland, India, Ireland, Isle of Man, Italy, Japan, Jersey, Kuwait, Latvia, Liechtenstein, Lithuania, Luxembourg, Malta, Mexico, Monaco, Netherlands, New Zealand, Norway, Poland, Portugal, Puerto Rico, Qatar, Romania, Russia, Saudi Arabia, Singapore, Slovakia, Slovenia, Spain, Sweden, Switzerland, Taiwan, UAE, the UK, the US, and US Virgin Islands.
iPhone X pre-orders and price in India
If you are interested in pre-ordering the iPhone X in India, you can head to Amazon or Flipkart - iPhone X pre-orders open at 12:31pm IST, the same time that pre-orders open in Cupertino, California at 12:01am local time on Friday. Users can also head to Apple resellers and other partner outlets to pre-book their iPhone X unit.
iPhone X India price starts at Rs. 89,000 for the 64GB version while the 256GB version is priced at Rs. 1,02,000. The smartphone will be available in Silver and Space Grey colours. Apple has already revealed pricing of the Apple-designed accessories like leather and silicone cases which will be available starting at Rs. 3,500. An all-new iPhone X leather folio will be available at Rs. 8,600 while a Lightning Dock in colour-matching metallic finishes will be available at Rs. 4,700.
Sunday, 22 October 2017
Windows devices running on Qualcomm's Snapdragon ARM-based processors are inching closer to a retail store near you. Microsoft this week said that it was in the latter stages of testing such mobile PCs.
In an interview with ZDNet, Pete Bernard, group program manager for Windows expressed his excitement about the Windows on ARM project, adding that the company is testing "hundreds" of these mobile PCs in its offices on a daily basis. "The PC space and the phone space have been sort of in parallel universes for a couple of decades... what two better companies to bring those worlds together than Microsoft and Qualcomm?" he said.
A Qualcomm executive said this was one of the most exciting projects the chipmaker has been working on. At present, the companies are also testing these devices with mobile operators. "We have been engaged with a lot of mobile operators... talking about not only strategically where does this fit into the portfolio and opportunities it brings them, but tactically how do we get these things into the market and into people's hands," he said.
These mobile PCs will feature an embedded SIM to enable simple activation of the device. The device will have an "always-on" connectivity as well. As an individual customer, you would want be excited about these mobile PCs as well.
First, these devices are expected to hit the market as soon as December, according to TrustedReviews. Second, these devices will have an amazing battery life. Microsoft is promising multi-day battery life for instance.
Microsoft's Bernard said several executives at the company are using this mobile PCs already. He said, he was pleasantly surprised when some of these executives said there was something wrong with the battery meter, it wasn't draining fast enough. To which, Bernard recalls "It turned out not to be a bug; it just has a great battery life."
Friday, 13 October 2017
OCULUS A NEW VIRTUAL REALITY
Facebook Inc is launching a new virtual reality headset that does not require a separate computer to operate, allowing more mobile uses than the company's existing Oculus Rift product, Chief Executive Mark Zuckerberg said on Wednesday.
Zuckerberg, speaking at a conference for virtual reality developers, said the "Oculus Go" device would cost $199 (roughly Rs. 13,000) and ship early next year, too late for this year's holiday shopping season but likely ahead of rivals.
Facebook has invested heavily in virtual reality hardware in hopes the technology, which offers a 360-degree panoramic view of faraway or imaginary spaces, will move from a niche interest to a widely used platform for gaming, communication and business applications.
In 2014, Facebook paid $3 billion to acquire Oculus and retain its employees.
The Oculus Go is billed as simpler than the Rift, which went on sale last year, or the Vive system made by HTC Corp. Both of those require desktop computers to operate.
"I think you're going to see these a lot on airplanes, because it's way better than the back-of-the-seat monitor or my phone," Mike Schroepfer, Facebook's chief technology officer, said in an interview.
Schroepfer said the device is aimed at people who do not have Samsung smartphones. Oculus and Samsung Electronics Co already sell a device, named Gear VR, that when paired with certain Samsung phones is similar to Oculus Go.
Alphabet Inc offers a rival headset, Google Daydream, that works with yet more smartphones.
"The Oculus Go has potential to be a huge driver of growth," if people like the titles and apps on it, Stephanie Llamas, vice president of research at Super Data, said in an email.
Facebook will permanently cut the price of the Rift system to $399 (roughly Rs. 26,000) from $499 (roughly Rs. 32,500), the company said.
Facebook is expected to ship 213,000 Rift systems this year, while HTC is expected to ship 305,000 Vive systems, according to Super Data research.
Beyond price cuts and new products, Facebook is trying different ways to attract people to the virtual-reality medium.
The company is developing software known as Facebook Spaces that allows friends to meet in virtual rooms, and it said it will soon integrate live video.
On Wednesday, the company said it was releasing technology to create better, customised facial images, or avatars, and would soon add the ability to use playing cards in Facebook Spaces, in addition to the dice it already has.
Thursday, 5 October 2017
Amazon said on Wednesday it is bringing Alexa as well as Amazon Echo, Echo Dot, and Echo Plus smart speakers to India, its fastest growing marketplace, as the company looks to extend its lead over Google Assistant-powered Google Home, and Apple's Siri-powered HomePod in the smart speakers market. The company also said it will soon be bringing Amazon Prime Music, its music streaming service in the country. India is the fourth market after the United States, the United Kingdom, and Germany where Amazon has officially made Alexa and its smart speakers available, the company said.
The hockey puck-shaped Amazon Echo Dot, priced at Rs. 4,499 (roughly $69), is the most affordable Echo smart speaker from the company. Once you have set it up, you could ask the Echo Dot to play music, read you news, share reminders, and wake you up in the morning. The new Amazon Echo, which offers louder and improved sound quality, is priced at Rs. 9,999 (roughly $154). The Echo Plus, offers even better speakers than the Amazon Echo, and also lets users control other connected things in their house. It is priced at Rs. 14,999 (roughly $231). All the speakers need to be tethered to a power source at all times. The company says it will begin accepting the orders for the Echo speakers on an invite-only basis for now. Customers who are interested can request an invite from the website. Amazon India will begin shipping the Echo speakers in the country starting the week of October 30.
Wednesday, 27 September 2017
Asus ZenBook Pro UX550VE Launched as 'Fastest, Thinnest, Lightest ZenBook Pro' Ever
Asus has launched a new model in its ZenBook Pro lightweight laptop series - the ZenBook Pro UX550VE. The new Asus ZenBook Pro UX550VE packs a seventh generation Intel Core i7 processor, 16GB of DDR4 RAM, an Nvidia GeForce GTX 1050 Ti (4GB GDDR5 VRAM), and a 512GB of solid state drive storage. The ZenBook Pro UX550VE comes at a price of $1,699 in the US.
The new Asus ZenBook Pro UX550VE is the "fastest, thinnest, and lightest ZenBook Pro" that the company claims it has ever made. It weighs 1.81kg and measures 365.76x251.46x17.78mm. There is seventh generation quad-core 2.8GHz Intel Core i7-7700HQ processor (up to 3.8GHz in Turbo Boost), paired with 16GB of DDR4 RAM. It also features a PCIE NVMe 512GB SSD under the hood. It also packs an Nvidia GeForce GTX 1050 Ti GPU for graphic capabilities.
The display on the Asus ZenBook Pro UX550VE is 15.6-inch in size with a full-HD (1080p) resolution and 178-degree wide-view technology. The display has a thin bezel around the laptop at just 7.3mm wide at the narrowest point, giving a screen-to-body ratio of 83 percent. The display supports 10-point multi-touch input, along with Asus Pen style that will be sold separately. For connectivity, it houses two Thunderbolt 3 USB Type-C ports and two USB 3.1 Type-A ports, Bluetooth, and dual-band Wi-Fi. There is a fingerprint scanner mounted on the laptop that provides support for Windows Hello unlocking method. There is a VGA (0.3-megapixel) webcam as well.
Other features of the laptop include fast-charging - Asus says that the laptop can be charged up to 60 percent in just 49 minutes and giver up to 14 hours for basic operations on a single charge. The Asus ZenBook Pro UX550VE laptop also features dual-fan cooling system, which the company claims can keep the laptop's external temperature to 2.35-degree Celsius cooler than its previous generation model.
Tuesday, 19 September 2017
HP Sprocket Pocket-Sized Printer for Smartphones Launched in India
Instant gratification is the key takeaway for the millennials and keeping this in mind, global PC and printing major HP on Wednesday launched Sprocket - a pocket-sized photo printer - in India for Rs. 8,999.The unique hand-held printer would allow you to print instant pictures (2x3-inch size) and share among friends. Users will need to download the Sprocket app from Google Play Store or Apple App Store on their smartphone, pair it with the printer, place specially-designed HP ZINK papers in the device, switch on Bluetooth, and can then print images.
The device is especially made for the millennial segment which is between age 10-24. But we are not restricting our target to that age group only. People who like to preserve their memories would like to own the 'Sprocket' which is a pretty affordable device," Raj Kumar Rishi, Senior Director, Printing Systems, HP Inc India, told IANS.
"'HP Sprocket allows users print their treasured memories instantly on-the go with just a few taps", Rishi added.
The companion app enables users to print photographs directly from their social media accounts on Facebook and Instagram.
Monday, 11 September 2017
Asus ROG G701 With 17.3-Inch Display, GeForce GTX 1080 Launched in India
Taiwanese technology major Asus on Thursday brought its gaming laptop ROG G701 in India for Rs. 3,49,990. It will be available in ROG Armor Titanium and ROG Plasma Copper colour schemes.
Asus ROG G701 features a wide-viewing-angle 17.3-inch display, available in full-HD and 4K UHD resolutions, as well a 120Hz refresh rate with Nvidia G-Sync. It is powered by up to an Nvidia GeForce GTX 1080 graphics card.
Powered by up to a seventh generation Intel Core i7 processor, the Asus ROG G701 laptop runs on up to 64GB DDR4 2800MHz DRAM, HyperDrive RAID 0, NVMe, and PCIe technologies for fast storage speeds, the company said in a statement.
As mentioned, the Asus ROG G701 comes with Nvidia GeForce GTX 1080 graphics card, completed with 8GB of GDDR5X video RAM. Its Trinity Display Technology and 4K2K tech make it capable of powering three displays simultaneously, using HDMI, Thunderbolt, and Mini-Display connectors. Also on board is an ESS Audio DAC for superior audio performance.
Friday, 8 September 2017
AIRTAME
There’s no need to throw out an old projector just because it uses VGA, DVI, or HDMI cables. This Wireless Projector Guide will go over a few of the reasons why.
There’s no need to throw out an old projector just because it uses VGA, DVI, or HDMI cables. This Wireless Projector Guide will go over a few of the reasons why.
First, let’s talk about the perks of going wireless. After that, we’ll share how you can make a projector wireless using Airtame’s cableless HDMI solution. Then, we’ll cover the different types of wireless solutions you can choose from
How to make a projector wireless with Airtame
There are a range of wireless adapters available that can convert your current cabled projector into a wireless one.
With Airtame, making your projector wireless is easy. Plug Airtame into the projector’s HDMI port, download the app on your computer, and connect the Airtame to your WiFi network.
Your projector doesn’t have an HDMI port? Luckily, Airtame works with your VGA and DVI ports with the use of an adapter (pictured below).
Monday, 28 August 2017
iBall CompBook Aer3 With Rotatable Touchscreen Display, Windows 10 Launched at Rs. 29,999
iBall on Monday launched its CompBook Aer3 laptop with 360-degree rotatable display in India at a best buy price of Rs. 29,999 in India, and an MRP of Rs. 34,999. Despite being a rather budget-level offering, the Windows 10 laptop notably comes with a 13.3-inch full-HD (1080x1920 pixels) touchscreen IPS display, USB Type-C port, and a fingerprint sensor for Windows Hello support as well.
The CompBook Aer3 laptop is powered by a quad-core Intel Pentium N4200 processor with speed of up to 2.5GHz coupled with 4GB RAM. iBall claims the laptop comes with RDS3TNEW Technology (Robust Double Spindle 360-degree Technology) that essentially allows users to turn the portable into 4 different modes, i.e., Notebook, Stand, Tent, and Tablet.
The new portable from iBall comes with a 64GB of built-in storage, which is expandable up to 128GB. In audio department, the CompBook Aer3 laptop comes with quad-speakers that have been described as "powerful" by the company. The CompBook Aer3 houses a 37Wh Li-Polymer battery and comes with a "full-sized" keyboard as well. Apart from the USB Type-C port, other connectivity options include a USB 3.0 port and a Micro HDMI port as well. Other connectivity options include Intel Dual Band Wireless-AC 3165 and Bluetooth v4.0. It sports a 2-megapixel webcam.
Sunday, 20 August 2017
MSI GT75VR Titan Pro and GE63VR, GE73VR Raider Gaming Laptops Launched in India
MSI has launched a new lineup of gaming notebooks in India. It has announced the GT75VR Titan Pro, GE73VR Raider, and GE63VR Raider notebooks for Rs. 3,24,990, Rs. 1,85,990, and Rs. 1,49,990 in India. All the three laptops feature the latest seventh generation Intel Core i7 processors, Nvidia's current generation GPUs, and are VR ready as well.
MSI GT75VR Titan Pro
Starting with the most expensive GT75VR Titan Pro, it sports a 17.3-inch full-HD display with 120Hz refresh rate. It is powered by the Core i7 7820HK CPU with over 4GHz overclock capability, 32GB of RAM, 512GB SSD, 1TB HDD, and Killer N1535 Wi-Fi and Bluetooth chipset. The GT75VR Titan comes with 3 GPU options: GeForce GTX 1080, GeForce GTX 1070 SLI, or GeForce GTX 1070.
The notebook sports a mechanical gaming keyboard with tactile feedback, more durability, and RGB backlighting under every key. The keyboard was designed in collaboration with Steel Series. It incorporates a sophisticated cooling system, and is loaded with gaming features like True Color Technology 2.0, NAHIMIC VR, an upgraded Dragon Center, and much more.
Sunday, 6 August 2017
Intel Skylake-X and Kaby Lake-X CPUs, Motherboards, and Coolers: Your Complete Guide
HIGHLIGHTS
- Intel's new Core X-series family includes a confusing variety of models
- The Skylake-X and Kaby Lake-X processors are very different
- Not all CPU and motherboard combinations deliver the same experiences
For nearly ten years, Intel's Core i3, i5, and i7 brands have held strong in the PC and laptop space. Everyone immediately gets the idea of a hierarchy, with Core i3 at the entry-level and Core i7 at the top end. You don't necessarily need to know that you get two cores and HyperThreading with an i3, and four cores without HyperThreading if you choose an i5. You don't need to know clock speeds, cache sizes, or manufacturing processes - what matters is that when all capabilities are taken into consideration, moving from a lower number to a higher one gives you an incremental boost in performance. Within each generation, all chips work on the same motherboards, use the same kind of RAM, and have the same architectural advantages - with one key exception.
At the very high end, there are Intel's High-End Desktop (HEDT) models, awkwardly clubbed into the Core i7 family. These are often called Extreme Edition chips, though not all of their model numbers actually have that suffix. These CPUs need a different platform altogether, lack integrated graphics, and are based on a souped-up version of the previous-generation architecture. For example, the Core i7 6950X was codenamed Broadwell-E, which is a derivative of the 5th-gen Broadwell architecture, whereas the rest of the 6th generation was codenamed Skylake.
While you can still only get up to four CPU cores with the top mainstream Core i7 after all these years, Intel has pushed out six-, eight-, and ten-core models under the HEDT Core i7 umbrella over the years, and has charged enormous amounts of money for them. In the beginning, it was rumoured that Intel would use the name Core i9 for these products since they were so obviously different from the rest of the lineup, but that did not come to pass. They were called Core i7 even though they didn't really fit that name.
Adding to the confusion, HEDT generations have been launching later and later each year. In our review of the 10-core Intel Core i9-6950X, we pointed out how the much cheaper quad-core Core i7-6700K outclassed it in some tests. Broadwell-E, technically based on the 5th-gen architecture, launched at around the same time as the 7th-gen Kaby Lake lineup.
Now, in 2017, Intel also needs to fend off new competition from a resurgent AMD, which is now selling octa-core Ryzen 7 CPUs and gleefully pointing out how they outperform Intel's latest and greatest while costing a fraction of the price. With Ryzen Threadripper shipping soon, clearly, Intel has a lot of cleaning up to do.Introducing the Intel Core X-series
Finally, we have a Core i9 brand to distinguish HEDT CPUs from the mainstream. Unfortunately, there are a few new layers of complication to replace the old ones. For starters, all new Core i9 models fall under what Intel is calling its new Core X-series, which also includes a few Core i7s and one Core i5 model. Core X clearly isn't about superior performance. Core X also mixes two Intel architectures, Skylake-X and Kaby Lake-X (Intel swapped out the -E suffix, but the idea is the same). The two CPU lines are referred to collectively by the code name Basin Falls.
The new Core i5-7640X and Core i7-7740X are based on Kaby Lake-X, while the other two Core i7s and all Core-i9 models are based on Skylake-X. All Core-X CPUs use the new LGA2066 socket and X299 platform controller - which means that not only is the Core i7 family just as fragmented as before, the Core i5 family is too. Core i9 encompasses a few new parts and a few renamed ones, and Intel hasn't improved its segmentation at all in the bargain. The only advantage of this is that the company gets to leapfrog the generation-lag issue and use a shiny new name against AMD's Threadripper when it comes out.
As for the differences between Skylake-X and Kaby Lake-X, things can get quite confusing, but we'll try breaking it all down. Skylake-X is what we'd usually consider the "extreme" CPUs for any generation There are seven models in all, starting with the six-core i7-7800X and going up to the top-of-the-line 18-core Core i9-7980XE. Models with up to 10 cores are already available, and the rest are set to begin shipping between August and October this year.
Thursday, 27 July 2017
Microsoft's New Kaizala App Is What WhatsApp for Business Should Have Been
As Facebook chases business and enterprise customers for its popular instant messaging and voice calling app WhatsApp, Microsoft may have just beaten the social juggernaut to the punch. On Wednesday at an event in New Delhi, the Skype-owner launched Kaizala, a messaging app designed to 'get work done' that has already garnered interest from several state governments and businesses in India.
A messaging app in 2017 ought to do more than just enable a few friends talk to each other. This is essentially the pitch of Kaizala, a made-for-India, mobile-only app available on Android and iOS.
One of the major limitations of WhatsApp has been its inability to handle large groups of people. First, there is a cap on how many people you could add to a group (256, to be precise). Then there is the major challenge of making any sense of the conversation that ensues between those tens of dozens of people.
In effect, Microsoft is tackling those two challenges. You can add as many people in the group as you want. If that wasn't enough, you can then add those groups to other groups, the company says. Second, the app offers the ability to create polls, documents, and surveys that could be created from within Kaizala app and then shared to the group to get response from the masses.
If these features don't strike a ring, it's because they are not really meant to make conversations between two friends any more convenient. And that remains one of the most interesting pitches of Kaizala, which had its origin as a Microsoft Garage project. The company wants to serve to customers who have to talk to dozens, hundreds, thousands, and lakhs of people at once.
Microsoft has been testing Kaizala with governments and businesses for months in India. During this period, the company says, more than 30 government departments signed up to the platform. More than 70,000 people from the state government are already using Kaizala for day-to-day work.
Earlier this year, during the state election in Uttar Pradesh, the Election Commission used Kaizala when it wanted to efficiently survey people in the state. Andhra Pradesh's state government is also one of the major users of the service. The chief minister N Chandrababu Naidu often sends message to the hundreds of thousands of citizens in the state through the app and listen to the feedback.
But Kaizala's appeal isn't limited to government offices. Several major businesses have already signed up for the service. One example is Republic TV, a newly launched media outlet. The company is just getting started. It is now exploring more applications for Kaizala, one of which is using location data of people to offer them texts from nearby groups.
Imagine walking to a mall and automatically getting all the interesting discounted-sales pitches from different shops in that mall in Kaizala app. That's one area Microsoft is exploring, Rajiv Kumar, Corporate Vice President, Office Product Group told this correspondent earlier this year.
There is a pro version of Kaizala too, which gives an organisation advanced admin and user group rights. The pro version is priced at Rs. 130 per user every month. Both of the versions integrate with Office 365 subscription, offer offline support and work swiftly on slow Internet network, the company said.
The public launch of Kaizala comes at a time when Facebook is increasingly looking at businesses and enterprises and wondering how it could make WhatsApp relevant to them and also find a revenue source. Last year, WhatsApp said it will open its platform so that businesses could hook into its service. Months later, the company is still working on the project. And now it already has a major competitor
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