The mythical Intel Core i9 processor might be real and arriving soon
Why it matters to you
That high-end desktop PC you’re planning to build later this year just got an incredibly powerful option, but you will likely need to save up some money.
The Intel Core i9 processor has been something of a unicorn over the past several years, popping up periodically in rumors and generating some hope that Intel would crank up the performance even higher. Now, another rumor has arrived that appears to give some additional credence to the impending release of another level of Core CPU.
The news came via a post on the Anandtech forums, which included an image of a slide that shows off the next generation of Intel processors. These would be based on the LGA-2066 architecture, and if valid, would create a strong lineup of high-end desktop CPUs, Techspot reports.
According to the image, the new Core i9 designation would refer to four different chips ranging from the Core i9-7800X up to the Core i9-7920X. These chips would have a minimum of six cores and 12 threads and would range in speed from a 3.5GHz base and 4.0GHz Turbo 2.0 up to an undisclosed maximum speed. Between 28 and 44 PCIe lanes would be supported and the thermal design power (TDP) would run at a scorching 140 watts.
Sweeper/Anandtech
The image is a little difficult to read and so here are all of the specifications for the upcoming high-end Skylake-X and Kaby Lake-X processors:
Processor
Cores/ Threads
Base Clock/ Turbo (GHz)
PCIe Lanes
RAM
TDP
Core i7-7640K (Kaby Lake-X)
4/4
4.0/4.2
16
2 X DDR4-2666
112W
Core i7-7740K (Kaby Lake-X)
4/8
4.3/4.5
16
2 X DDR4-2666
112W
Core i9-7800X (Skylake-X)
6/12
3.5/4.0
28
4 X DDR4-2666
140W
Core i9-7820X (Skylake-X)
8/16
4.3/4.5
28
4 X DDR4-2666
140W
Core i9-7900X (Skylake-X)
10/20
3.3/4.5
44
4 X DDR4-2666
140W
Core i9-7920X (Skylake-X)
12/24
TBD
44
4 X DDR4-2666
140W
Clearly, Intel is looking to maintain its dominance at the high-end of the desktop CPU market and it is not hesitating to push the power envelope while it is at it. While the new chips show a launch date starting in June, with the most powerful Core i9-7920X slated to launch in August, we do not have pricing information yet. There is no doubt, however, that this level of performance will not be what most people define as “affordable.”
Delta may soon allow you to use your face to check your bags
Why it matters to you
Studies show self-service bag drops could help speed up the check-in process at airports.
Waiting to check bags at best is frustrating, and at worst can make you miss your flight. If you ever thought you could do it by yourself, Delta may soon give you the chance to try it out. This summer, Delta will begin testing self-service bag drop machines, and one of the machines is being equipped with facial recognition technology.
There is scant information on how the machines could work, but it will involve a customer’s face being scanned to match it to the passport photo associated with the ticket to verify identity. A digital rendering of the machines shows an opening where the bags will presumably be taken to be sorted once you are done checking them. The first test will occur this summer at Minneapolis-St. Paul International Airport.
Delta aims for these machines to enable you to check your own bags, which should mean the machines will weigh the luggage and allow you to pay any associated fees directly from the machine, although that was not specified. Delta hopes these types of machines will help more than just the customers who use them. “We see a future where Delta agents will be freed up to seek out travelers and deliver more proactive and thoughtful customer service.” said Gareth Joyce, Delta’s senior vice president of airport customer service and cargo, in a press release announcing the news.
While Delta wants to use your face to help you check your bags quicker, it will not be the first. Napoli International Airport in Italy recently implemented Rockwell Collins’ M Series Plus self-service bag drop machines. The machines allow customers to weigh and tag their bags, as well as pay. There is no facial recognition technology used, so identity verification is handled the old-fashioned way with passport/ID scanners. So far, EasyJet is the only airline that is using the machines at the airport.
Self-service bag drops may be the future, but other airlines have recently begun implementing facial recognition to keep customers safe. Ottawa International Airport began implementing facial recognition in kiosks to verify a traveler’s identity this spring. Last year, John F. Kennedy International Airport started using facial recognition to help verify the identity of travelers using electronic passports.
Delta will use the feedback it gets during the trial run of these self-bag-drop machines to see how much they help. Let’s hope the face of bag checking is about to change.
>>>>>>> h-dtwp-2254-4
Delta may soon allow you to use your face to check your bags
Why it matters to you
Studies show self-service bag drops could help speed up the check-in process at airports.
Waiting to check bags at best is frustrating, and at worst can make you miss your flight. If you ever thought you could do it by yourself, Delta may soon give you the chance to try it out. This summer, Delta will begin testing self-service bag drop machines, and one of the machines is being equipped with facial recognition technology.
There is scant information on how the machines could work, but it will involve a customer’s face being scanned to match it to the passport photo associated with the ticket to verify identity. A digital rendering of the machines shows an opening where the bags will presumably be taken to be sorted once you are done checking them. The first test will occur this summer at Minneapolis-St. Paul International Airport.
Delta aims for these machines to enable you to check your own bags, which should mean the machines will weigh the luggage and allow you to pay any associated fees directly from the machine, although that was not specified. Delta hopes these types of machines will help more than just the customers who use them. “We see a future where Delta agents will be freed up to seek out travelers and deliver more proactive and thoughtful customer service.” said Gareth Joyce, Delta’s senior vice president of airport customer service and cargo, in a press release announcing the news.
While Delta wants to use your face to help you check your bags quicker, it will not be the first. Napoli International Airport in Italy recently implemented Rockwell Collins’ M Series Plus self-service bag drop machines. The machines allow customers to weigh and tag their bags, as well as pay. There is no facial recognition technology used, so identity verification is handled the old-fashioned way with passport/ID scanners. So far, EasyJet is the only airline that is using the machines at the airport.
Self-service bag drops may be the future, but other airlines have recently begun implementing facial recognition to keep customers safe. Ottawa International Airport began implementing facial recognition in kiosks to verify a traveler’s identity this spring. Last year, John F. Kennedy International Airport started using facial recognition to help verify the identity of travelers using electronic passports.
Delta will use the feedback it gets during the trial run of these self-bag-drop machines to see how much they help. Let’s hope the face of bag checking is about to change.
>>>>>>> h-dtwp-2254-4
Samsung Chromebook Pro went up for pre-order on Amazon, quickly sold out
Why it matters to you
Anyone eager to get their hands on a Samsung Chromebook Pro will be pleased to know that the system is set to launch before the end of May.
We have known that Samsung’s Chromebook Pro was going to be one of the more compelling laptop releases of the year for some time, with the system beating the Asus Chromebook Flip C302A by a hair in a recent Digital Trends face-off. Now we know that the device is inbound very, very soon.
The Samsung Chromebook Pro will start shipping on May 28, according to a product description posted on Amazon. The system is now out of stock but managed to rise to the No. 1 best seller spot on the retailer’s listing of 2-in-1 computers when it was briefly available earlier on Monday.
It is clear that there is a frothing demand for this particular piece of hardware. Chromebooks have seen their popularity grow steadily since the line was introduced in 2011 and the fact that Google added support for Android apps to Chrome OS earlier in 2017 has only made these laptops more appealing.
Samsung spared no effort to make sure its 2017 Chromebooks took full advantage of this new functionality. The team behind the laptops worked with Google engineers to ensure that Android apps work great on the Chromebook Pro and its sibling the Chromebook Plus and its multi-touch display and support for motion controls ensure that the experience is just as good as on an Android smartphone.
There is currently no word on whether Amazon will get more stock of the Chromebook Pro. However, with the laptop set to launch before the end of May — having already suffered a significant delay, given that it was expected to make its debut in April — it would follow that the retailer would want to make more stock available on or around its release date.
If you already consigned yourself to refreshing Amazon until more Chromebook Pros are made available, here’s a link to its product page.
Robotic pool shark wants to school you at billiards — and you can build one
Why it matters to you
This awesome robot pool shark could one day be the centerpiece of our dream games room.
Like most of us, engineer Ben Varvil has modest goals in life: A good job to keep his mind active, and an awesome robot buddy to play billiards against. An ongoing project called “Judith” helps with both of those ambitions — and especially the latter.
“Judith is a pool-playing robot project I enjoy developing in my spare time,” Varvil told Digital Trends. “I teach high school engineering classes, so having a side project like this keeps me sharp and able to contribute relevant programming, making and problem-solving content to my students. I believe anyone who has ever played pool has had the moment of thought, ‘This is just geometry.’ When I had that moment, my mind went immediately to, ‘If this is just geometry, then machine control should be able to make quick work of the game and have no problem beating a human.’ This thinking inspired me to begin the project.”
Thus far Judith is a miniature-scale mockup, showing off the radically different, servo-assisted take Varvil has imagined on a traditional pool table. Because of the challenge of moving a wheeled or tracked robot around the base of a regular table, he designed a legless pedestal table the robot can be attached to and swing around in a giant circle to take its shots. The robot even tucks away neatly under the table when it is not in use.
Varvil is also working on an algorithm that will allow the pool-shooting robot to compete against human players. He already developed a system for determining pool ball identity and location data through an Arduino serial terminal. The goal next is to utilize code which finds all the possible shots and then selects the best one to attempt.
“The super fantasy dream is to make a reliable shooting system that can execute shot commands and to then educate anyone interested in the ways of controlling the robot,” he continued. “From there, those people can write and then test strategic pool playing algorithms to complete with humans. Where as [IBM] Watson took a team of engineers to win Jeopardy, and Deep Blue took who-knows-what to beat humans in chess, Judith feels like a way for the everyday person to join the human versus robot game.”
While the project is currently unfinished, Varvil has made the construction details for building the miniature table available on the website Instructables. Now he ha applied for the role of “Artist in Residence” at the maker studio, which will give him the opportunity to build a life-size model to take it to the next level.
Never miss out on a great story with these read-it-later apps
We’ve all been there: You see an interesting headline, but you don’t have the time to dig in. Hopefully, you don’t forget to look for it in the future — but even if you remember, tracking it down again could be tricky. Fortunately, there are read-it-later apps designed specifically for this problem.
Read-it-later apps are a simple concept. They serve as hubs for all the articles and links you’d like to set aside for future reading. Although bookmarking is commonplace in nearly every browser, the most avid news aficionados can certainly benefit from the extra features these apps offer.
For example, the best read-it-later apps allow you to tailor the experience to your liking by customizing font styles and sizes, as well as colors and themes. They strip away some invasive ads and help you focus on the content you want to see, for a more comfortable and appealing format. They also allow you to save content for offline viewing, so you can take your saved articles anywhere.
Recently, many read-it-later apps have also added light social functionality as well, allowing you to share articles with friends who also use the service. Some even encourage you to curate your own list of links that other users can follow.
So which are the best? There a ton of content-sharing and pinning platforms out there, but only a few actually nail the basics. Here are some of our favorites — though your mileage may vary depending on your usage habits and the kinds of devices you own.
Pocket is one of the leaders in this space, and for good reason. Having been around the longest, it boasts the most comprehensive feature set in the segment. There’s support for a boatload of RSS and news apps, as well as a feature that will automatically detect URLs on the clipboard so they’re easier to add. You can also follow companies and individuals within the app if you’d like, and their contributions will be shown in your Recommendations tab for easy access.
Pocket’s most useful feature, however, is its organization system, which operates by tagging articles with searchable terms. If you’re using Pocket for research purposes, it will help keep everything in order.
Mac users will appreciate Pocket’s dedicated desktop version, which works the same way as the mobile app. Unfortunately, there’s no such app for Windows or Linux users. Extensions exist for various browsers, though, so at the very least you can still save content no matter what operating system you’re running.
Pocket can be downloaded for free, though, the premium version ($5 a month, or $45 a year) obliterates ads and expands search abilities. It also gives you a permanent library that retains a copy of saved content even if it has been taken offline, and provides tag suggestions.
Download now for:
iOS Android
Instapaper
Alongside Pocket, Instapaper is the other half of the read-it-later duopoly. Although its feature set matches Pocket on paper, it does feel like a different app in practice. Whereas Pocket might be a bit easier to grasp at first, with a more intuitive and colorful card-based interface, Instapaper boasts a more stoic aesthetic and focuses first and foremost on the reading experience.
No other app on this list boasts the same breadth of customization options; in addition to being able to manipulate basic formatting, you can change the width of the margins, line spacing, and set custom screen brightness specifically for the app. What’s more, Instapaper allows you to highlight text and provide annotations, and there’s even a speed reading mode that flashes the article’s text on screen at a chosen words-per-minute rate.
Instapaper’s method of content organization utilizes folders, rather than Pocket’s tags. While it works nearly the same, articles can only be placed in one folder at a time, and after they’re moved, they’re no longer present in the main feed. Depending on your usage, you may find this limiting.
Where Instapaper makes up some considerable ground is in its pricing — or rather, complete lack thereof. The app was formerly sold on a model similar to Pocket’s, with an optional monthly or yearly cost. After Pinterest purchased the company last fall, however, the premium iteration of the app was made standard for all users. This means Instapaper is now completely ad-free.
Download now for:
iOS Android
Shout
Shout is the newest app on our list, so it doesn’t quite match the extensive feature set of either Pocket or Instapaper. However, if collaboration and sharing are important to you, Shout could be your new go-to app. The app is currently only available on iOS and in the desktop version of Chrome.
That said, using the mobile version couldn’t be easier. Simply send the link in question to Shout from the iOS sharing menu, like you would any other app. Without leaving your browser, you can easily title and categorize the content, almost as if you were composing a Facebook post or tweet.
Within Shout, you can set certain lists as public or collaborative, so other users can see or even add to them. That’s a huge benefit, particularly for students or teams pooling information together for projects. You can also easily send email digests of lists to your followers with just a swipe and tap.
It must be said that Shout lacks the customizable, reader-friendly view of the previous two apps — it’s really just meant for curating content in lists exactly as it comes. For users who demand a consistent visual style, or one they can tailor to their comfort level, Shout isn’t the best option. But in terms of sharing and productivity, it’s one of the more promising apps available.
Download now for:
iOS Chrome
Amazon Kindle
A recent update to the iOS version of Amazon’s Kindle app added “Send to Kindle” functionality to Safari — a feature that had existed on Android devices and various desktop browsers for quite some time. With it, Kindle could become your makeshift read-it-later app.
Now, it goes without saying that Kindle was not designed to be a read-it-later app in the strictest sense, so it does lack the sharing and organization features that make the previous three examples stand out. However, if you already own Kindle devices and are heavily invested in the ecosystem, using Amazon’s app for such a purpose makes a lot of sense.
For one, you’ll be able to read articles on the very same tablets and e-readers you may already use for books — so just for the sake of convenience, there’s an argument to be made. Second, Kindle already boasts powerful formatting, customization, and annotation tools, and these can be used for articles and documents as well. That said, you may run into problems with video and other types of media.
Download now for:
iOS Android
Safari Reading List / Chrome
Here’s an option that couldn’t be easier to start using right away, depending on your smartphone or tablet. For iOS and MacOS users, Safari’s Reading List allows you to store articles and quickly view them in a reader-friendly format with a single tap. Apple has even provided a selection of fonts, as well as the ability to change sizes and the background color.
Reading List also supports embedded YouTube videos and practically any type of media Safari supports, so you shouldn’t run into any compatibility issues. The only significant downside is that, since it’s built into Safari, there’s nothing in the way of organization or tagging — just the ability to mark pages as read. Given it loads every site, you also won’t be able to save links for offline viewing. For these reasons, Reading List is an incomplete solution compared to what Pocket and Instapaper offer.
Chrome for Android allows users to download pages for offline viewing — proving as a bare bones alternative for people who don’t want to install a separate app.
Apple’s “Barbers” ad highlights iPhone 7 Plus’s Portrait mode through haircuts
Why it matters to you
Apple’s colorful new ad puts the iPhone 7 Plus’s Portrait mode front and center.
Leave it to Apple to transform a sleepy New Orleans barbershop into a funky, high-energy backdrop for an iPhone ad. On Monday, the Cupertino, California-based company aired a new TV spot that highlights one of the iPhone’s best features through haircuts. Lots of them.
The “Barbers” ad — the newest in Apple’s Practically Magic series, choreographed in rhythm to “Fantastic Man” by Nigerian synth-punk artist William Onyearbor — focuses on the iPhone 7 Plus’s Portrait mode. The ad depicts a barber’s viral success: After framing a portrait of a customer’s new haircut, by-passers congregate around it. Word spreads quickly, and soon the stylists can’t keep up with the throngs of customers who want trims and portraits of their own.
It was for a good cause. An Apple spokesperson said that the excess hair from the 24 haircuts depicted in the ad were donated to Locks for Love, a non-profit organization which helps provide hairpieces to financially disadvantaged children in the United States and Canada.
Portrait mode, which debuted on the iPhone 7, uses the phone’s rear cameras — two 12-megapixel sensors, one with a 56mm “telephoto” lens — to separate foreground subjects (i.e., a person) from the background (everything else) with a subtle blur.
“[Portrait] mode, known as ‘bokeh’ and previously only capable on DSLR cameras, turns the camera you carry around with you everyday into an even more powerful photography tool,” an Apple spokesperson said.
It’s one of the iPhone 7’s biggest camera advancements, but not its only. The optical image stabilization (OIS) helps to deliver up to three times longer exposure compared to the iPhone 6s, according to Apple, and True Tone flash — a four-LED array that adjusts color temperature on the fly — produces up to 50 percent more light.
Practically Magic isn’t the only Apple campaign that’s honed in on the iPhone’s photo-taking prowess. Just last week, the company launched a tip-packed website aimed at budding iPhone photographers. And Apple’s recent Shot on iPhone series put a spotlight on low-light shots from professional photographers.
Apple has reason to gloat. In September 2016, camera authority DxOMark called the iPhone 7 and iPhone 7s’s cameras “Apple’s best yet,” praising their brighter f/1.8 lenses (compared to the f/2.2 of the 6S and 6S Plus), “vivid and pleasant” color capture, and “good stabilization.”
“Every day, more photos are taken with the iPhone than any other camera in the world,” an Apple spokesperson said ahead of last week’s website launch. “We believe that everyone can take great photos.
With Registry by Havenly, your wish list comes with a little professional help
Why it matters to you
It’s always the right time to redecorate your home, so why not do it with some assistance from your own personal interior designer?
Why make weddings the only occasion worthy of a registry? After all, isn’t it always the right time to receive gifts? Colorado-based interior design Havenly certainly abides by this mentality, and has now introduced Registry by Havenly, heralded as “the first of its kind registry to pair you with a professional interior designer, providing the most personalized registry service available.” Thanks to Registry, you can take advantage of a platform where all gifts are curated especially for your unique aesthetic and needs, helping you bring your vision for your home to life.
Whether you’re throwing a bridal shower, a baby shower, or a back-to-the-grind shower (no really, you can have a shower and a registry for any occasion), Havenly wants to help. The three-year-old company has already helped thousands of customers decorate their homes, but now, the team wants to add even more value to its offerings.
“The experience blends everything you already love about Havenly into a meaningful registry,” Haven CEO Lee Mayer wrote in a blog post announcement. “We take the time to get to know your style and needs, you pick from our curated favorites, shop parts of our catalog, work with one of our professional designers (for free) to find incredible products, and then add everything to a beautiful and customizable website to share with your friends and family.”
That means that your registry is filled with exactly what you need for your precise dream home — nothing more, nothing less. And while other registries may offer you endless lists of products, Havenly wants to avoid the panic that can often accompany the paradox of choice, and instead pair you with a professional interior designer who can help you narrow down what you need. Registry by Havenly also promises the largest number of home furnishing vendors, with products available (for your interior designer partner to parse through) from across more than 300 vendors.
And perhaps most importantly, Havenly points out that its registry was designed to be used for any occasion, so you don’t have to worry about fitting into a specific theme or life event. Because really, it’s always time to redecorate.
So if you’ve been looking to do some spring cleaning or a summer makeover, Havenly may just be the place to start.
Latest Canary build of Chrome OS has much-requested Night Light feature
Why it matters to you
For the many Chrome OS users who have requested a night mode feature, late-night browsing is set to become a little more comfortable.
The latest Canary build of Chrome OS has apparently added a small yet crucial feature that users have been requesting for many years. A build that was distributed to users late last week contains a Night Light toggle to save users’ eyes when they’re working with their Chromebook late in the evening.
Night mode helps mitigate the effect that a computer screen has on a user at night. By adjusting the temperature of the colors displayed on their monitor, it’s possible to make looking at the screen in a darkened room less jarring, which reduces eye strain.
In recent years, most major operating systems across both mobile devices and computers have adopted some kind of night mode functionality. However, Google has held off introducing this feature to Chrome OS, much to the chagrin of many night owls.
The Night Light toggle can be accessed from the Settings menu in the latest Canary preview build of Chrome OS. It’s a fairly simple implementation of the functionality, and some users have expressed frustration that there isn’t more capacity for fine-tuning its effects in a discussion thread on Reddit.
Of course, you’ll need to transfer from the official release of Chrome OS to the Canary preview to do so. This process isn’t as easy as opting in for Insider preview builds on Windows 10, and there are frequently serious bugs that rear their head and affect usage of the OS, but it’s worth looking into if you absolutely have to check out new features before the masses get their hands on them.
Night Light is expected to hit the stable version of Chrome OS as of version 60. There’s always a chance that a minor feature like this could be delayed in favor of more pressing work, but since it’s been released in the Canary build, it seems likely that it’s almost ready to go.
Did you say ‘Alexa’ or ‘Alex’? Amazon’s new feature can tell the difference
Why it matters to you
As helpful as Alexa can be, sometimes she’s overeager to help, especially on third-party devices.
Was that a sneeze or did you actually say “Alexa?” Here to help devices answer that question (so you don’t have to) is Amazon’s new Cloud-Based Wake Word Verification, a feature Amazon’s developer platform describes as a way to improve “Alexa” wake word accuracy by identifying and reducing false wakes caused by like-sounding words. That means that you won’t accidentally turn an third-party, Alexa-enabled device on by saying “hexagon” or calling after your friend Alex.
As it stands, if you enable Alexa on a third-party device (that is to say, something other than the Amazon Echo or Echo Dot), that device likely does only one on-device check to determine whether you’ve said the wake word (Alexa). But now, Amazon wants to make these devices a bit better at picking up what you’re putting down — especially when you’re not necessarily putting down a command. Thanks to Wake Word Verification, a third-party device will send an audio file to Amazon’s servers, confirming that it’s the right wake word before turning itself on and awaiting any further commands.
Don’t worry — this double-checking feature won’t slow Alexa down. Even if you don’t actually say Alexa, and your third-party device mishears you, it’ll still go through the initial startup process. However, once it sees that the cloud verification has failed, Alexa will shut down, so you won’t hear Alexa’s “answer” to a question you never intended to ask.
Currently, Echo devices employ a similar method, which is why you don’t often accidentally wake up an actual Amazon device. But hopefully, this new feature will make other devices just as discerning.
“You’ll need to make some changes to your device to take advantage of Cloud-Based Wake Word Verification, but we believe this update will improve customer experience on any AVS device,” Amazon noted in a blog post. Currently, the Ecobee4 thermostat is the first product that has leveraged Cloud-Based Wake Word Verification, promising customers an “improved ‘Alexa’ wake word accuracy and a better user experience.”
AIVAnet 