Release the beast! Acer Predator 21 X gaming laptop boasts 21-inch curved screen and eye-tracking tech
Release the beast! Acer has unveiled a gigantic 21-inch gaming laptop, the Predator 21 X, which not only boasts the first curved screen in a laptop, but also features eye-tracking technology. Yep, you can now use your eyes to trigger commands in some games.
Oh, and it’s also absolutely huge. This giant beast of a laptop, pictured above sat next to an ultra-slim 13.3-inch notebook for reference, weighs over 6kgs. Hardly a portable, but then this is no ordinary device.
There are additional quirky features too, such as a removable precision trackpad which can form into a keypad by flipping it over. A full-sized mechanical keyboard with RGB backlighting. Six programmable macro keys. Dolby audio, including subwoofers. Basically everything and the kitchen sink.
The Predator 21 X will come loaded with top-end gear to make light work of gaming too. In addition to two Nvidia GeForce GTX 1080 graphics cards, it will feature Intel’s latest top-end Core i (7th Gen) processors. But they’re not available until the first quarter of 2017 – so we’ll have to wait until then for the Predator’s release too.
That ought to give you time to start saving up, though. Although there’s no official price, the suggestion around camp Acer at the company’s pre-IFA press conference was that it will be upwards of £6,000.
It’s certainly a showman’s laptop. Although, we must say, the curved screen isn’t hugely curved – as you can see from our extensive picture gallery.
Acer Swift 7 preview: Acer has finally cracked top-end laptop design
Acer might not be a company best known for its design greats. We’ve seen laptops shaped like the Starship Enterprise with the trackpad in the wrong place, to pull one example out of the bag, or plasticky budget-tickers aplenty.
Not so the Acer Swift 7. This less-than-1cm-thick laptop (ok, so it’s 9.98mm) is affirmation that the Taiwanese company might finally be getting its act together in the plan to make attractive, high-end devices.
Dressed in gold and black, it’s certainly a bling looking beauty. But that’s the current trend; it’s the kind of design that can take on HP’s Spectre 13 and win, and with Apple’s rumoured MacBook overhaul incoming, every company has got to go all-in.
Where the Swift 7 beats the likes of the HP Spectre 13, however, is in its processor choice. On board is a fanless Intel Core i5, we’re told, so that there’s no unwanted fan noise during operation. That’s all possible thanks to Intel’s latest 7th Gen Core i chips (click through for an Intel Kaby Lake explainer).
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However, the exterior black finish does like to attract more than its fair share of fingerprints, and we’re not sure the soft-touch material finish is the best choice for a laptop that is expected to cost around €1,299/$999 mark.
Some other features we think are great, though. The oversized trackpad puts to shame all those off-centre or dinky designs that are all too common in laptops, plus it looks tip top thanks to that chamfered edging.
After Apple took the plunge and went USB Type-C only in its 12in MacBook design, it’s taken a while for manufacturers and, admittedly, consumers to get on board with the idea. In the Swift 7 it’s an obvious essential: a laptop couldn’t be sub-1cm with ports any larger. And there’s two of the things, side by side, meaning peripheral use and simultaneous charging is possible. Sure, some might miss the full-size port, but this is facing into the future.
As laptops go, Acer has really pulled out the design big guns for its brand new Swift 7. There will be less eye-catching models down the Swift range (1, 3 and 5 models will be part of the line-up), but at least the branding matches the concept.
Amazon’s instant-order Dash buttons arrive in the UK
It’s hard to keep up with Amazon’s multi-pronged attack on British supermarkets. Prime Now, Pantry and Fresh — all of these services are starting to blend together into a giant forgettable mush. Luckily, there are now Dash buttons, a refreshingly simple product that’s been available in the US since March 2015. With its UK debut, Prime customers can press a tiny clicker in their home to instantly order new toilet paper, washing up liquid and other household supplies. It’s supposed to negate your weekly shopping list, while ensuring you never run out of the essentials.
Amazon’s tiny Dash buttons are brand-specific and require a little bit of setup. Each one needs to be connected to your WiFi network and you’ll need to specify the exact product you want to order inside the Amazon app. Once that’s done, you’ll receive a notification on your phone each time a button is pressed. The alert will include some basic information, such as the price and estimated delivery time, as well as the option to cancel the order. As an extra failsafe against troublesome family members, the button will only fulfil a new order once the previous one has been delivered.
Amazon says roughly 40 brands are on board for the UK launch, including Fairy, Kleenex and Neutrogena. More will be added over time, giving Prime customers greater choice over what products they’re buying. Each buttons cost £4.99, but Amazon will eat the cost by giving you £4.99 in free credit. They follow the Dash scanner, a handheld device that lets you order products by shouting for brands and scanning barcodes. Both the scanner and the buttons are optional, but they set Amazon apart from its traditional supermarket competition. Online delivery is all about convenience, and these experiences are designed to accentuate that.
To solidify its ‘press once to order’ vision, Amazon is offering the Dash button concept to appliance manufacturers. It’s called the “Amazon Dash Replenishment Service” and means the same functionality can be baked into home hardware. A coffee machine specialist like Nespreso, for instance, could designate one of its buttons to act as a restock shortcut. So far, only five companies have agreed to support the platform in the UK — Samsung, Bosch, Siemens, Whirlpool and Grundig. Amazon won’t say when we’ll see the first products with Dash integrated, but it shouldn’t be too long given appliances have already been unveiled for the US market.
Source: Amazon UK
Google hopes AI can improve head and neck cancer treatment
Google’s DeepMind division launched its Health initiative earlier this year in an effort to use machine learning for medical purposes. Now, that initiative has launched a project that would speed up planning for neck and cancer radiotherapy treatments. DeepMind Health has joined forces with the the UK’s National Health Service to analyze scans, all of which will be anonymized, from 700 former cancer patients at the University College London Hospital. See, it takes up to four hours for clinicians to painstakingly map out areas of the head and neck that need radiotherapy treatment. Those areas contain vital parts of the body, and clinicians need to make sure healthy cells remain untouched.
By analyzing samples from UCLH, DeepMind Health hopes to develop a technique to reduce the time it takes to map out areas that need treatment to an hour. It won’t make the process called “segmentation” automated. Clinicians will still be in charge, but it will make planning easier for medical professionals and will free up more of their time for patient care, education and research. DeepMind also intends to use the data it gleans from analyzing the samples to develop a radiotherapy segmentation algorithm that can be applied to other parts of the body.
This the third DeepMind-NHS partnership that the division has launched. The first one focused on mobile apps to deliver patients’ medical data to doctors, while the second one analyzed eye scans to conjure up a method that can detect eye diseases early.
Via: The Verge, The Guardian
Source: Google DeepMind
Virgin Media has a broadband plan just for gamers
When most people shop for a new broadband package, they’re focused on download speeds. What can I expect when everyone in my home is trying to stream Netflix? Or downloading a game like Inside to their PlayStation 4? But, now more than ever before, customers are interested in upload speeds too. It can affect your performance in a game like Overwatch, as well as Twitch-style streaming and video uploads to sites like YouTube. Virgin Media is catering for this group with “VIVID 200 Gamer,” an optional upgrade for its VIVID 200 tariff. If you’re willing to spend an extra £5 per month, you’ll have your upload speeds increased from 12 to 20Mbps.
While Virgin Media is targeting “gamers” (some cringeworthy advertising is no doubt in the pipeline), the plan could appeal to anyone that deals with large files and demanding services. Professional filmers who regularly upload footage, for instance. Or wedding photographers that need to quickly upload large image libraries. Of course, video games are a popular past-time, so it’s easy for Virgin Media to market the new tariff this way. Anyone that’s played a fast-paced shooter in the last few years, like Titanfall or Battlefield 4, will understand the frustration when it’s your internet connection, rather than your thumbs, that result in a loss.
Acer’s latest PCs include the first curved screen laptop
You no longer have to stick to your desk to enjoy a flashy curved display. Acer is unveiling flood of new laptops at Germany’s IFA show, and the highlight by far is the Predator 21 X — according to Acer, the world’s first curved screen laptop. As the name suggests, opening up this gigantic gaming portable reveals a 21-inch curved, ultra-wide display that promises more immersion than you’re used to with portable gaming. It ‘only’ touts a 2,560 x 1,080 resolution, but NVIDIA G-Sync support should give you smoother, game-friendly output.
That’s not the only party trick, either. It includes Tobii eye tracking to help you aim and look around paths, a 4.2-channel audio system, and a full-size illuminated keyboard with both Cherry MX mechanical switches (for improved feel) and a trackpad hidden under the number pad. The system is a performance beast, too, between its 7th-generation Core processors and dual GeForce GTX 1080 graphics. Acer hasn’t said how much the Predator 21 X will cost. This rig won’t ship until sometime in the first quarter of 2017, however, so you’ll at least have some time to save up.
There’s more. Acer is unveiling a new Swift line of thin-and-light laptops, led by the 13.3-inch Swift 7 you see above. It’s reportedly the world’s thinnest laptop at just 0.39 inches thick — take that, LG. Between that and its 2.5-pound weight, you might not notice it in your bag. It’s even reasonably powerful between its 7th-gen Core i5, 256GB SSD, 9-hour claimed battery life and dual USB-C 3.1 ports. There’s even a high dynamic range webcam to bring out more color and details in video chats. It’ll sell for $999 when it ships in October. The lower-end Swift 1, 3 and 5 models all tout 14-inch screens, thicker bodies and and slower processors. They’ll arrive between October and November, with respective prices starting at $249, $499 and $749.
And no, Acer hasn’t forgotten about the hybrid PC crowd. It’s launching four Spin laptops with “360-degree” hinges that, like many rivals, turn your computer into an impromptu tablet, presentation monitor or tent display. The Spin 7 you see here is the portability champ of the bunch through its 14-inch screen (in a 13-inch aluminum chassis), 0.43-inch thickness, 7th-gen Core i7, 8GB of maximum RAM and 256GB SSD. The remaining Spin 1, Spin 3 and Spin 5 systems aren’t always steps down, though. While the Spin 1 is an entry-level model with 11.6- and 13.3-inch screens, the Spin 3 carries a larger 15.6-inch screen and two storage drives; opt for the 13.3-inch Spin 5 and you get more RAM (up to 16GB), up to a 512GB SSD and support for an optional pen.
Just when you can get the Spin series varies. The 3, 5 and 7 will all show up in October, with beginning prices of $499, $599 and $1,199. You’ll have to wait until December to get the Spin 1, although its $249 price could be worth your patience.
We’re live all week from Berlin, Germany, for IFA 2016. Click here to catch up on all the news from the show.
Source: Acer
Amazon Dash Buttons available in the UK: One-touch order buttons for Prime users are here
In 2015 Amazon introduced its Dash Buttons in the States. The idea was simple: a physical touch button dedicated to ordering a specific item with just one press. And now Dash Buttons are available in the UK.
Think of a Dash Button like extracting Amazon’s one-click order service, available to its Prime subscription customers, and rendering it in physical form. The dinky buttons can be stuck onto a variety of surfaces or hung up to make them conveniently accessible.
One Dash Button is setup per specific product, of which there will be over 40 brands at launch in the UK. If you’re out of Finish dishwasher tablets, or Whiskas cat food, for example, there are different Dash Buttons available for a one-press purchase.
Each Dash Button costs £4.99 and comes with £4.99 credit – so are effectively free of charge. As Prime customers receive unlimited free next-day delivery, receiving Dash products won’t cost any extra. It is possible to hand over a Prime Button to a non-Prime customer, but they will incur delivery charges per order.
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Dash is setup to avoid duplicate orders, so will only accept the first press and, therefore, order – until that order has been fulfilled. For products with multiple purchase options – say a 24 pack or a 12 pack, for example – you will need to pre-set the preference as the button can only order one specific.
Dash Buttons are setup via Wi-Fi through the Amazon Prime app, but once linked will operate independently. One press shows a blinking light, which turns green after around 10-15-seconds to demonstrate the order is accepted. An alert notification will follow to your device. And that’s it, job done. Dash Buttons’ batteries are said to last for years too.
At present the Dash service is only available for next-day delivery. While Amazon Now is available for deliveries as fast as one-hour in London, that serivce isn’t part of the Dash Buttons programme – yet, anyway.
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The next step will be for full device integration, which is something we anticipate to hear more about at the IFA tech show. When a dishwasher runs out of detergent, for example, it will know to auto-order on your behalf, which is the next step in smarthome evolution. The wonders of the automated world are just on the horizon – watch this space.
Google Search on Android can find your info in apps and offline
Since 2013, Android users have been able to use Google Search to find things stored within the apps on their phone, and now that feature is getting an upgrade. Google announced tonight that a new “In Apps” section of the search bar will only show results from apps you have installed, like contact info, specific messages, music, videos and notes. Google also noted that in this case, the searching happens on your phone, instead of in the cloud, so it can work offline.
Keeping the feature on-device also brings to mind Apple’s WWDC 2016 claims about how its deep learning tech works to protect privacy, and users can control which apps show up in the search results (your all-Zayn playlist is between you and Spotify).
LG’s upcoming V20 phone (the V10 is pictured above) will launch with support for the feature via a dedicated shortcut on the homescreen and its unique second screen. Whenever the update hits your phone (even with Nougat installed, I couldn’t see it unless I joined the beta) expect to see results from Gmail, Spotify and YouTube for now, with Facebook Messenger, LinkedIn, Evernote, Glide, Todoist and Google Keep coming soon.
Source: Google Inside Search Blog, LG Newsroom
Apple launches 2TB iCloud storage for $20 a month
Apple has introduced a way to stop that annoying “full storage” iCloud message from popping up in the near future: a new tier that offers 2TB of space. The company has updated its iCloud pricing list ahead of its September event to include the new option, and it will cost you $20 a month in the US. 9to5mac, which first reported on the new tier, noted that there are rumors swirling around that Cupertino is launching a 256GB iPhone 7 during the event. If that’s true and you decide to get both, then you won’t have to worry about deleting photos and videos for quite sometime. The bigger storage option would also allow you to save more folders on iCloud when macOS Sierra comes out.
Of course, if you don’t need that much space, you can continue paying for iCloud’s lower tiers, starting at 50GB for $1. You can check out how much the 2TB option will cost you on Apple’s website, but take note that it could be available in your country even if it isn’t in the list. Just go to the iCloud menu in your device’s Settings app and tap on “Buy more storage.”
Via: 9to5mac
Source: Apple
Theranos’ Zika test is under FDA scrutiny
That didn’t take long. Theranos pulled the emergency request for its Zika-testing miniLab following an FDA inspection that revealed shortcomings with patient protocol, according to The Wall Street Journal. WSJ’s sources say that while the blood-testing company had data showing that the testing methods worked, the evidence collected was done without “implementing a patient-safety protocol approved by an institutional review board.”
Meaning, the experiments didn’t have the type of oversight necessary to ensure that they were performed in stringent, controlled ways that would consistently provide accurate results and wouldn’t harm the test subjects. The company says that it “recognized” that some of its data was gleaned before the needed protocols were in place.
Theranos plans to appeal the Food and Drug Administration’s ruling, of course, and collect the extra information requested by the FDA before trying the certification process again. Same goes for when the company attempts certification for its Ebola test as well.
The miniLab itself was a way to sidestep founder Elizabeth Holmes’ two-year ban from owning or running a lab or her own, precisely because the device was made for outside use. All of this raises the question of how long Jennifer Lawrence will have to wait for a final script for Theranos: The Movie. Seriously, this saga just keeps getting better.
Source: Wall Street Journal
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