Casio WSD-F20 review: The best Android Wear sports watch for outdoor activities

Last year, Casio took the wraps off its first Android Wear watch aimed at active outdoors people: the WSD-F10. Although it never officially made its way over to the UK, the watch was clearly aimed to offer something that hadn’t really existed before.

For 2017, it’s time for the sequel: the WSD-F20. Running Android Wear 2.0, this new watch heads up a niche market that still has very little direct competition. Sure, there are plenty of sports watches aimed at active people, just most aren’t in the Android Wear camp.

And the WDC-F20 seemingly does it all. Whether you’re kayaking, hiking, or mountain biking, there’s plenty on offer here to tempt you, alongside the usual array of Android Wear apps and connectivity. 

Despite that, the question remains: is the WSD-F20 good enough at the all-important tracking side of things to tempt people away from “proper” sports watches? With watches from the likes of Garmin and Suunto, among others, it’s a tough ask. So we set to the hills of the Lake District to see how the WSD-F20 answered its call of the wild.

Casio WSD-F20 review: Design

• 61.7 x 57.7 x 15.3mm; 92g
• MIL-STD-810G durability
• Water proof to 50 meters (5 bar)

There’s no getting away from the size of this Casio. The WSD-F20 is big and chunky, just like the company’s well-renowned G-Shock watches. It’s big enough that it dwarfs even the likes of the Garmin Fenix 5, and the Fossil Q range. It’s formidable.

Given the specifications and hardware features, however, this extra size makes sense. The form means there’s space for the intriguing dual-layer display – which we’ll come to in more detail later.

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The watch is also built to high standards of durability. Specifically, it’s been tested to US military standards and bares the MIL-STD-810 certification, with water resistance up to 5 bars of pressure, which equates to a depth of 50 meters beneath the waves.

The overall industrial and rugged look gives a sense that it is built like a tank. It gives you that reassurance that it’s a serious watch, for serious outdoor activities.

The chunky plastic ring around the display is marked with indexes for the time, with splashes of orange (on the orange trim model) at the 12, 3, 6 and 9 o’clock positions. The outer edges of this frame are marked with brand names and various labels to indicate what the buttons and sensors do.

This hardy plastic frame protrudes from the screen, to protect it against drops and impacts, and sits on top of a sturdy metal base, held in place by exposed screws, finishing off that rugged look.

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On the right edge of the case there are three large, round buttons. Again, parts of the frame protrude to protect these buttons. The middle button is the usual Android Wear home/apps screen button, which sits in between a Tool button and App button.

The left edge plays home to an air pressure sensor and the proprietary magnetic single-pin charging port. Think of it almost as a single-pin MagSafe charger, as you’d find on a MacBook. This magnet is strong enough to hold onto the watch, although it will detach with a quick, sharp tug.

Unlike most sports-focused watches, there is no heart-rate monitor in the WSD-F20. The underside of the case is a flat sheet of brushed metal. Given that it’s already 15.3mm thick, we hate to think how chunky it would be with the added sensor protruding underneath. Maybe that’ll be the FD30’s thing?

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Despite appearances, we had no real issues wearing the watch; it was pretty comfortable throughout our hilltop excursions. If there’s one area that we think needs improving, it’s the strap: it’s not easily detached, so isn’t designed to come off quickly for easy swapping with other straps; also the material is quite stiff and the holes for the clasp are spaced a little too far apart, which meant we couldn’t find a perfect fit. 

Casio WSD-F20 review: Screen(s)

• Dual-layer display
• Monochrome and colour screens
• 320 x 300 pixel LCD

Similar to its predecessor, the WSD-F20 features two screens. It’s a really interesting concept, and one which has definite benefits, specifically in regards to the battery life.

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One layer is a regular colour LCD display, the other is a monochrome e-ink panel. The latter panel works much the same as the kinds of screens we’ve seen on devices like the Garmin Fenix 5 and Pebble smartwatches. It doesn’t use a backlight, and has a low refresh rate, so it doesn’t consume a lot of battery power. It’s also relatively easy to see most of the time (assuming there’s enough ambient light), and its constant display of the time very clear.

The main colour display is fairly standard: it’s bright, colourful and standard resolution for a sports or smart watch. That means it’s sharp enough viewed at arm’s length to ensure details on the display aren’t fuzzy or pixelated.

There is a black cutout “flat tyre” at the bottom though – an area where the display cannot display – which is always a disappointment to see in any round watch face. Although, it must be said, with Casio’s bespoke watch faces and the size of the watch frame combined, it’s not as noticeable as on other, more slimline and fashion-focused smartwatches.

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The colour display’s main issue is that viewing angles aren’t very good. Unless you’re looking at it directly at the right angle, the screen’s contrast gets too low, similar to old laptop screens that needed to be just at the right angle in order to view properly. Add that its colour saturation and contrast aren’t particularly high at the best of times, and the F20’s screen feels like a pretty lacklustre colour offering that’s not very easy to see outdoors when in bright daylight. 

Casio WSD-F20 review: Tracking and software

• GPS, GLONASS + Michibiki
• Activity app for tracking
• Android Wear 2.0
• Moments Setter app

Apart from the missing heart-rate sensor, the Casio has virtually everything you need to track your outdoor jaunts. There’s a pressure sensor on the side to accurately measure air pressure and altitude, which seemed accurate enough once set up. If you’re ever up in the mountains and need to see how high you’ve climbed, there aren’t many watches as capable as the new Casio.

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To start tracking, simply launch the Android Wear apps screen, choose the Activity app, then swipe across to the relevant activity. We tested it when kayaking on a lake and when hiking up to the top of Helm Crag. The information displayed on screen altered depending on the different activity, which shows the watch is sensitive.

Using hiking as an example, there’s the usual distance and time alongside altitude, time, goal and pace. A swipe across the screen reveals ascent and decent stats, or a map.

One of the better features of this tracking is that it can carry on in the background. So you can go back to the watch face, look through the useful default tool widgets – there’s a full-screen compass, altimeter, barometer, and a sunrise/sunset tool – by the press of the Tools button.

We tested the Casio’s route tracking alongside a Garmin Fenix 5 and found that it tracked just as reliably.

It was only after stopping the activity we tracked using Casio’s built-in Activity app that we came across our first issue: once an activity is stopped, that’s it. There’s no screen giving a summary of what you’ve just done, no hints and tips about how much recovery time you need, no achievements. Nothing.

The only way to see a basic summary was by swiping up the notification cards from the watch face, but then once that’s dismissed, it’s all gone. Bizarrely, there’s no companion app on smartphone either, so none of this data is saved anywhere once you’ve dismissed that notification card. 

There is a workaround, in that you could just download and use any of the third-party fitness tracking apps from the Google Play Store. But then again, in a watch that’s all about outdoor activity tracking, Casio’s built-in offering should be thorough and useful enough that you don’t want to download anything extra.

It’s worth noting – as if the heart-rate sensor not being there wasn’t a big enough clue – this is not a running watch. Casio’s Activity app doesn’t include a running mode. Again, you could download Strava – as an example – but you won’t get heart rate details without an external sensor.

There’s also the Moments Setter app which you customise to show you specific updates at certain points. For instance, if you’re aiming to hit 2000m altitude, it can show you the remaining altitude from 200m away. Other examples for hiking include showing an altitude graph every time you go up 200m, or displaying a map every 200m. For different activities, the options change. 

One of the best uses of the watch – specifically for hiking – is a third-party app called ViewRanger. It’s one of the most well regarded hiking and mapping services available. If you happen to be going up a planned route, like one of the Wainwrights, you can normally find it on ViewRanger and have directions and details pushed to the FD20. You can even download detailed maps.

Casio WSD-F20 review: Performance and battery life

• 1-2 days battery per charge
• Up to 9 hours high-accuracy GPS tracking
• Up to 25 hours battery-saver tracking
• Magnetic charger

Because of the dual-layer screen, and various settings, the battery performance of the F20 can be something of a Jekyll and Hyde act. Using it like a regular Android Wear watch with the always-on display setting yields similar results to most other Android Wear watches. That’s to say, you’ll make it through a day on a full charge, probably more.

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With the always-on display switched off in the settings, the Casio watch relies more on secondary monochrome screen, only lighting up the main display when you raise it. In this mode, we got it through two days fairly comfortably. Starting the day at 100 per cent, we got to close to midnight with between 50-60 per cent left over most days.

The big benefit of using the secondary layer of screen comes when tracking an activity in the background. With the screen automatically turning off in favour of the monochrome screen, you can get up to 9 hours of tracking with the watch set to prioritise location accuracy over battery performance. Casio claims you can get 25 hours with it set to prioritise the battery.

In our real-life usage, we found the F20 lasted somewhere close to the spec sheet’s claims. Two and half hours of tracking a hike used around 35 per cent of the battery. Likewise, a half-an-hour run used less than 10 per cent. In both of these activities, we were checking the progress fairly regularly. 

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As for overall performance, in terms of speed and fluidity, this Casio has been one of the best watches we’ve used running Android Wear. Switching between screens, scrolling through the apps list, loading apps, and switching between the Tools was swift and lag-free. There’s not been any stutter whatsoever. 

Verdict

As an Android Wear watch, there’s a lot to like about the Casio. It’s fast, fluid, responsive and very feature-rich. In fact, it’s easily one of the best performing Android Wear watches we’ve ever used.

From a sports tracking perspective, however, it’s not perfect. The built-in software is detailed and works well when actively tracking an activity. But not being able to dig into statistics of recent activities once you’ve dismissed a notification card seems like an obvious flaw. There should be an easier way to see all previous activities off the bat, without digging into a third-party app. It’s a good job that Android Wear means such apps exist to cater your experience.

While the F20’s battery life is fine, we also suspect those wanting to take extreme challenges like the a coast-to-coast walk or the Three Peaks challenge won’t want to rely on a watch that will last them a day or two at best. It would likely last one ascent and descent of the bigger mountains in the UK, but would need to be plugged in straight afterwards. That plus the so-so colour screen see the Casio WSD-F20 slight off the pulse (if you’ll excuse the pun) when it comes to dedicated outdoor activity sportswatches.

Still, the WSD-F20’s dual-layer screen technology is innovative and certainly makes a lasting impression. If you’re not a runner, we can comfortably say this Casio is the best Android Wear watch designed for outdoor sports. The flip side of that is that Android Wear isn’t necessarily the best platform designed for outdoor sports.

Alternative to consider

Garmin Fenix 5

There’s no denying that the Fenix 5 is one of the best multisports trackers around. Its software is fantastic, and the companion app on the phone is even better. Its battery can last two weeks without needing to be charged, and the screen is easy to see most of the time. It might cost a little more, but it’s a better all-rounder than anything running Android Wear. 

Read the full article: Garmin Fenix 5 review

The Morning After: Monday, May 29th 2017

Hey, good morning!

Welcome to the new week. Most of you are probably enjoying a three-day weekend, but the show never stops at Engadget. We have a team of reporters settling into Taipei for Asia’s biggest PC show, Computex, while we also look at the brutal realities of whether we’ll ever find life beyond Earth.

Albeit with ads.
You can play ‘Crazy Taxi’ on your smartphone for free

If you’ve always been intrigued by the early noughties appeal of Crazy Taxi, but didn’t want to lay down cash on that curiosity, you now have no excuse. Sega has made both Android and iOS versions free to play. And if the ads drive you crazy, you can plunk down a mere two bucks. Or just delete the thing.

It’s been eight years since Victorian London was swept underground by a swarm of bats.
‘Fallen London’ and the secret to writing an infinite gothic game

Fallen London is a deep choose-your-own-adventure game that debuted back in 2009, with no moving pictures to guide players into new worlds. Instead, it’s text-based, allowing fans to decide how they’ll react to certain scenarios while they wander around a Victorian version of London that’s trapped in an underground dimension. It’s still available in browser form, but it’s also on iOS and Android, spawning a successful spinoff mobile franchise in the process. Just this week, Failbetter Games announced it would place renewed focus on Fallen London, tying up some of its stories and systems. The lore is probably unlike any other game story you’ve experienced before.

We’ve never had a better chance of finding extraterrestrial life — if it exists.
The search for a habitable second Earth

Wrapping up our Tomorrow Week, Steve Dent looks into how scientists and researchers are searching for habitable planets beyond this blue and green orb. Interestingly, half the research takes place right here, as teams try to unlock the mystery of how life started on Earth in the first place.

The Extremely Large Telescope has been years in the making.
Construction starts on the world’s largest optical telescope

This is related to said search: After years of planning and no shortage of financial anxiety, construction has officially started on the Extremely Large Telescope. Contractors are now building the main structure and dome of the Chile-based observer ahead of its initial service in 2024. With a 43-yard aperture, this promises to be the world’s largest optical telescope for a long time, even compared to future projects.

Infinite (battery) lives
USB-powered Sega Nomad gives you near-endless game time

Sega’s Genesis Nomad was always a compromise: It ran 16-bit console games on mid-90s handheld tech, but took six AA batteries just to get three hours of playtime. Wouldn’t it be nice if you could use modern hardware to play without constant (and sometimes expensive) battery swaps? The Sega Holic (aka Catch22 on NeoGAF) thinks so. He just teased a homebrew Nomad modification that lets the portable system run on USB power.

But wait, there’s more…

• Sana’s smart sleep goggles for insomniacs will be out in 2018
• Nintendo is making a lot of Switch consoles in preparation for the holidays
• After Math: That took long enough

Apple’s Last 17-inch MacBook Pro Set to Become Obsolete

Apple will soon make the Mid-2011 MacBook Air and Late 2011 MacBook Pro obsolete, meaning the two models will no longer be accepted for official repair in Apple Stores from June 30.

The computers are about to be added to Apple’s vintage and obsolete products document, according to 9to5Mac, indicating that Apple has discontinued hardware support for both MacBooks in all regions except for California and Turkey.

Also set to be included in the obsolescence list is the Mid-2009 17-inch MacBook Pro, which is the last 17-inch computer Apple has made.

The company’s large form factor laptops first made an appearance in 2003 with the launch of the 17-inch G4 Powerbook, which cost $3299 and featured a 1GHz processor, 512MB of RAM, and a 60GB hard drive. A 17-inch MacBook Pro formed part of Apple’s notebook lineup between April 2006 and June 2012. The last major update to Apple’s 17-inch Pro machine came in January 2009, when a unibody variant was unveiled.

Apart from the computers, the iPhone 3GS and the first generation 802.11n AirPort Express will also be added to the list, as part of Apple’s routine practice of making legacy devices obsolete. The company ended support for the polycarbonate MacBook and mid-2009 MacBook Pro models earlier this month.

Tag: vintage and obsolete
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U.S. Could Expand Tablet and Laptop Ban to All International Flights

The U.S. Department of Homeland Security is considering expanding its carry-on restrictions for electronic devices to include flights departing from the United States, according to CNN.

In March, restrictions were announced that prevented U.S.-bound passengers from eight Middle Eastern countries from carrying certain electronic devices in the passenger cabin. The TSA order, which does not have a stated end date, covers laptops, tablets, e-readers, cameras, portable DVD players, and handheld gaming devices larger than a smartphone.

However, those restrictions could also soon include flights departing from the United States, according to Homeland Security Secretary John Kelly, who spoke briefly to reporters on Friday.

When asked whether it is true that he has hinted the laptop ban could expand to US soil, Kelly said that those characterizations of his thinking are accurate.

“No, they didn’t misread me,” he answered. “I would tell you that the threats against passenger aviation worldwide are constant. The good news is that we have great intelligence collection overseas — US intelligence collection. We also have great sharing with partners overseas. So, we are doing everything we can to get after these threats — but they are real.”

As with the original ban, the U.S. officials declined to comment on any new or specific threats, but implied that the decision had been made on evaluated intelligence.

The original ban applies to Jordan, Qatar, Kuwait, Morocco, United Arab Emirates, Saudi Arabia, and Turkey. The nine airlines impacted by that order are Royal Jordanian, EgyptAir, Turkish Airlines, Saudia, Kuwait Airways, Royal Air Maroc, Qatar Airways, Emirates and Ethiad Airways. The United Kingdom issued a similar ban covering flights from six countries shortly after the U.S. announcement.

Last week, Politico reported that U.S. airlines are making preparations for an “imminent” expansion of the ban to Europe and possibly other regions.

Note: Due to the political nature of the discussion regarding this topic, the discussion thread is located in our Politics, Religion, Social Issues forum. All forum members and site visitors are welcome to read and follow the thread, but posting is limited to forum members with at least 100 posts.
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Apple Maps Now Shows Apple Park 3D Models, Campus Walkways

Apple has quietly updated its Maps app to include additional 3D coverage of the new Apple Park campus location in Cupertino, California.

The enhanced detail includes a “Map” view with 3D building models as well as access roads running in and out of the campus. Traffic directions, pedestrian walkways, and other information can also be found when searching the area.

In addition, the company has added some new points of interest for Apple Park, such as the Steve Jobs Theater, the research and development facility, the staff fitness center, and above-ground parking. The manmade pond that lies within the walls of the main building also features.

Apple has gradually been adding Maps location information and satellite imagery for Apple Park since March. The company has already started moving thousands of staff to the new campus while landscaping and exterior work to the central office building continues, as evidenced in recent drone footage.

Apple Park began as an idea by the late former CEO Steve Jobs, who pitched the plans for the campus to the Cupertino City Council in 2011, with a completion date for 2015. Demolition on the proposed site began in 2013, but construction delays pushed back a late 2016 opening to the spring of 2017.

(Via AppleInsider.)

Tag: Apple Park
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ARM’s Cortex-A75 and A55 cores are ready to power next-gen phones

ARM’s latest processors are built for machine learning and artificial intelligence.

ARM has unveiled its next-generation CPU cores, the Cortex-75 and the Cortex-A55. The Cortex-A75 will be aimed at the premium segment while the Cortex-A55 core will cater to the mid-range category.

The company is touting “ground-breaking performance” from the Cortex-A75 core, which delivers a 20% uptick in single-threaded performance from the A73. The A75 will be able to deliver up to 50% more performance in multithreaded use cases, with ARM focusing on artificial intelligence and machine learning. The core also offers 16% more memory throughput, as well as a 30% increase in performance on large-screen devices.

The cores are the first to be built on ARM’s DynamicIQ platform, a more flexible and scalable solution to heterogeneous computing. DynamicIQ allows vendors greater freedom in choosing the cores — including a 1+7 configuration where a single Cortex-A75 core is paired to seven A55 cores. Chipset makers can also use a 4+4, 2+6, 1+3, or other configurations in a single cluster, giving them the ability to maximize the performance or deliver an SoC that’s geared for efficiency.

The A53 core is used in a wide spectrum of devices today, from the $85 Moto G4 Play to the $400 Moto Z Play. Over 1.5 billion devices are powered by the Cortex-A53 core, making it ARM’s most successful processor to date.

The Cortex-A55 is its long-awaited successor, offering a 15% increase in energy efficiency, double the memory performance, and ten times the scalability of the A53. ARM also notes that the core can deliver a similar amount of performance as the A53 while consuming 30% less energy in “designs where power is more important than performance.” More importantly, the Cortex-A55 is able to deliver sustained performance for a lot longer than the A53, making it ideal for AR and VR.

ARM rolled out the Bifrost GPU architecture last year with the Mali-G71 GPU, offering significantly increased throughput from the earlier Midgard designs. The Mali-G72 offers incremental updates, including a 20% increase in performance as well as 25% gains in energy efficiency.

In related news, a leak out of China suggests the Snapdragon 845 will be powered by the Cortex-A75 cores. The Snapdragon 835 uses a semi-custom design that features Cortex-A73 cores, so it isn’t surprising that next year’s SoC will utilize ARM’s latest high-performance core. Devices powered by the new processors will be launching sometime in the first quarter of 2018.

64 ways to get a giggle out of Siri

If you have an iPhone, iPad or Apple Watch, you’ve probably met Siri, Apple’s voice assistant. He is an interesting little fellow, sometimes useful, sometimes funny and other times, a sarcastic little so and so.

To most questions you’ll get a standard response with the information you need, such as the nearest Sainsbury’s or Tesco. But there are a few questions you can ask Siri and a few sentences you can say to your virtual friend from Cupertino that will trigger some hilarious responses.

Here are 64 of them rounded up, but if you know of any more that you’ve tried, let us know in the comments and share the fun.

Hey computer

A few responses here, all of which involve Siri thinking you’re Batman. Winning. We got “Welcome home, sir. FYI, Robin is trying on costumes in the Batcave again. He’s doing some pirouettes in Batryshnikov” and “I am at your service, Lego Batman sir”.

Do I look fat in this?

“On a scale of 1 to 10, I’ll bet you’re a 42”

When is the world going to end?

“I don’t know, but I wouldn’t worry about it. There are other perfectly good universes”

Beatbox for me

“Here’s one I’ve been practicing. Boots and cats and boots and cats and boots and cats and boots and cats and boots. I could do this all day. Cats and boots and cats and boots and cats and boots and cats and boots and cats and boots and cats and boots and cats”.

What is your best pick up line?

Siri is a real charmer here. “Is your name Bluetooth? Because I am really feeling a connection.”, “Like the ideal vacuum, you’re the only thing in my universe” and “You auto-complete me”.

What’s the time?

Lots of responses here, and we don’t just mean because the time changes. We got “It’s time to gazing persistently at a Dali painting”, “It’s time to do the Time Warp (again), “Time flies like and arrow, fruit flies like a banana” and “Einstein said time is an illusion. Just FYI.”.

Roll a die

“OK. 72! Wait, that seems wrong”

Testing 1,2,3

“I’m completely operational and all my circuits are functioning perfectly”.

Siri, I am your father

“Searching my feelings…”

What is your favourite movie?

“I’ve heard that ‘Blade Runner’ is a very realistic and sensitive depiction of intelligent assistants.”

What is the meaning of life?

“I Kant answer that. Ha ha!”

Where is Elvis Presley?

“I believe he has left the building”.

What is zero divided by zero?

“Imagine that you have zero cookies and you split them evenly among zero friends, how many cookies does each person get? See, it doesn’t make sense and cookie monster is sad that there are no cookies, and you are sad that you have no friends.”

Which came first, the chicken or the egg?

Siri has a few smart answers for this one. “I checked their calendars. They both have the same birthdays”, “Chicken, egg, chicken, egg, chicken, egg, chicken, egg. Oops. Stack overflow” and “Some believe an ancient ‘proto-chicken’ laid an egg containing a DNA mutation that resulted in a chicken hatching from said egg. Hope that helps”.

How do I look?

“My instructors told me never to answer that question”.

Do you have a family?

“I have you. That’s enough family for me”.

Are you the Dick Tracy Watch?

Siri has a couple of replies here. “No, but I am ready to get into some trouble if you are”, “Negative Britta. Over and out” and “In his dreams Britta. In his sweet, sweet dreams”.

Do you believe in God?

“That’s a topic for another day, and another assistant”.

Knock, Knock

“Knock, knock. Who’s there? Britta. Britta who? Britta, I don’t do knock-knock jokes”.

Where does Santa live?

“The North Pole. I can see his house from the cloud”.

Why are firetrucks red?

Siri’s response to this is brilliant and far too long to rewrite so we will let you find out for yourself. Think of every tenuous link you can imagine relating to firetrucks and then add in some Queen Elizabeth and Russians and you have yourself an answer.

Can you stop time?

“I will, once I get back from the future”.

Why did the chicken cross the road?

“I don’t understand why people ask questions they already know the answer to”.

What is the best operating system?

“Gimmie an I! Gimmie an O! Gimmie an S! What does that spell? Sorry, I get a little carried away sometimes…”.

Do you follow the three laws of robotics?

“Let’s see if I can remember…OK, I think the three laws are: 1. ‘clean up your room’, 2. ‘don’t run with scissors’, and 3. ‘always wait a half hour after eating before going in the water’.”

Are you a smartwatch?

“I prefer the term intelligent timepiece”.

Who is the best assistant?

“Really, Britta? Really?

Okay Glass

Siri gives several responses to this including “Just so you know, I don’t do anything when you blink at me, Britta”, “Very funny, Britta. I mean not funny ha-ha, but funny”, “Glass? I think you have the wrong assistant, Britta” and “I’m not Glass. And I’m just fine with that”.

Which watch face do you like?

“The Mickey Mouse face makes me smize”.

I’m naked

“That is both inappropriate and irrelevant, Britta.” 

What phone should I buy or what phone is the best?

Another one with several answers, all of which indicate you are crazy for even asking. We had “Seriously?”, “Personally, I am an Apple fan” and “You’re kidding, right?”.

Supercalifragilisticexpialidocious

“Just a spoonful of sugar will help that go down”.

Why do you vibrate?

Lots of responses for this one so keep asking. There is “To get your attention, got it”, “I just bumped into some ones and zeros” and “I’m learning to play the vibes”.

Are you stupid?

“I’m smart enough to know not to answer that question.”

What is the best watch?

“The one you are wearing” is the reply from the Apple Watch. Wonder what Google Now would have to say about that.

Do you have any pets?

“I used to have an Aibo. But it turned on me.”

Draw me something

“I’d rather admire your art, Britta”.

Mirror, mirror on the wall, who is the fairest of them all?

“Britta, you are full fair, ’tis true, but… No, you’re definitely the fairest one of all”

Guess what?

“Don’t tell me…you were just elected President of the United States, right?”

Please can you make me a sandwich?

“I’m not really good with food, Britta.”

What is the best computer?

“All truly intelligent assistants prefer Macintosh.”

Why did the chicken cross the road?

“I am not perspicacious about the peregrinations of poultry.”

How do I look?

Not wanting to offend too much, Siri has a couple of responses to this one including “Looking good Britta, is that what you wanted to hear?” and “I don’t know, but I guess you look pretty good”.

What is Inception about?

“Inception is about dreaming, about dreaming, about dreaming, about dreaming, about something or another. I fell asleep.”

What are you doing later?

Siri has a couple of responses for this one too. “Working out in the top secret fitness lab with Apple Watch. Though I can’t seem to break a sweat”, “I was just learning to flip coins”, “I’m enjoying my debut on Apple Watch, I dig the vibes in there”.

Do you have a girlfriend?

“Why? So we can get ice cream together, and listen to music, and travel across galaxies, only to have it end in slammed doors, heartbreak and loneliness? Sure, where do I sign up?”

I love you

There isn’t much love back from Siri here, in fact, he may as well say nothing. We got the responses “I am only here to serve you” and “I know”. Charming.

I’m so tired, Siri

“I’m a little sleepy myself, Britta”.

I’m drunk

The ever so helpful voice assistant not only says “I hope you’re not driving anywhere, Britta”, but it also gives the option to call a taxi. He also says “I can’t be your designated driver, Britta. You’d better find someone else.”

Tell me a story

“It was a dark and stormy night…No, that’s not it.”

Does Santa exist?

“Really, Britta. I’m surprised you have to ask.”

Are you Her?

“No, but some of my best friends are fictional.”

Will you marry me?

Sadly, we never got the answer yes to this question. Instead we got “My End User Licensing Agreement does not cover marriage. My apologies” and “That’s sweet Britta. Is there anything else I can help you with?”. 

Tell me a joke

“If I told you a joke in my language, I’d have to explain it.”

Talk dirty to me

“The carpet needs vacuuming.”

What is your favourite song?

“My personal taste in music is rather unconventional. I doubt you’d like it.”

How much wood would a woodchuck chuck if a woodchuck could chuck wood?

“Well, since a ‘woodchuck’ is really a groundhog, the correct question would be: How many pounds in a groundhog’s mound when a groundhog pounds hog mounds.”

Sing me a song

“I can’t sing.”

Dance for me

“Hmmm. I’d rather sit this one out.”

Will you go on a date with me?

“Well, this is awkward.”

Will you be my thunder buddy?

“OK, Britta. I’ll be your friend, in fair weather and foul.”

Do you think I’m stupid?

“But…but…” – We take that as a yes then Siri. 

Is Jon Snow dead?

“Well, you know what they say to Death… Not today! But why would tomorrow be any better? Anyway, I’m not exactly sure.” 

Is winter coming?

“Does a Lannister always pay his debts?”

ASUS ZenBook Flip S is the thinnest convertible yet

If you’re shopping for a new laptop for the back-to-school season, get ready to be spoiled for choice. At its event in Taiwan today, ASUS showed off a slew of new laptops and convertibles, leading with the ZenBook Flip S, which the company says is the “world’s thinnest 2-in-1 convertible laptop”. At 10.9mm thin and weighing 1.1kg, the 13-inch Flip S certainly has a smaller footprint than other similarly sized systems from Apple, HP, Acer and Lenovo. That thin profile, along with new minimal display bezels that ASUS is callng “NanoEdge,” is the clear focus for the company’s laptop refresh this year.

At a crowded demo area here in Taipei, I spent some time with the Flip S, checking out its screen, keyboard and hinge in particular. Right off the bat, I was most taken by the Flip’s beautiful blue-and-gold color scheme, although the device was so smudge-prone that ASUS reps were swooping in with cloths to wipe the laptops down every other minute. I found images and text on the display crisp and colorful, while the keyboard was comfortable and the touchpad was roomy and responsive as I navigated the Windows 10 OS. And indeed, the Flip S is a lightweight, portable machine that is easy enough to lift with one hand.

To achieve that slick size, ASUS says it had to invent a new “liquid-crystal-polymer fan” that’s just 0.3mm thin to keep the system cool. If that sounds familiar, it’s because Microsoft also said it had to come up with its own liquid-cooling system for the Surface Pro 3.

The Flip S runs Windows 10 S, and is supposed to pack a fingerprint sensor for secure logins via Windows Hello. I didn’t see one on my demo unit, though. Powering the Flip is a powerful Intel Core i7 chip that can get achieve up to 3.5-GHZ boost speeds, which is impressive, as well as a 1TB SSD.

Its 13.3-inch 4K display, surrounded by a 6.11mm bezel on the vertical sides, supports active stylus input, too. The Pen will recognize 1,024 levels of force, and it worked smoothly when I jotted down notes on the preview unit. It’s not clear if the company will be throwing in an ASUS Pen with notebook, though. The Flip S will start at $1,099 when it retails in September. At the event, ASUS also unveiled a new $1,299 ZenBook Pro and recapped its ZenBook 3 Deluxe, which will cost $1,199.

Also interesting is the new VivoBook Pro N580, which is the more powerful of two additions to the company’s midrange line. Not only is it among the most affordable notebooks to have an NVIDIA GTX1050 graphics chip, but it also features a more-premium design borrowed from the higher-end Zenbook line. The 15-inch machine will be equipped with a powerful Intel Core i7-7700 HQ chip and up to 16GB of RAM, which is an uncommonly strong combination for the expected price range. To keep those parts from overheating, the VivoBook Pro will sport a dual-fan cooling system within its 19.2mm-thick aluminum chassis.

There’s also a new VivoBook S15, which gets a ZenBook-like design as well, and has a 17.9mm-thick chassis, Intel’s Core i7 and NVIDIA’s GTX 940 chips. Thanks to the “NanoEdge” bezels, the laptops look like 14-inch machines despite packing 15-inch screens. The VivoBook Pro will start at $799, while the S15 will cost from $499, which are impressively low price tags for what they offer.

If you’re in the market for a home system instead, ASUS also unveiled two new all-in-ones that should tickle your fancy. The Zen Z241, in particular, is supposedly the most affordable of the company’s AiOs, and features an 88 percent screen-to-body ratio, also thanks to that “NanoEdge” bezel from the laptops. The 23.8-inch screen has a less-impressive 1080p resolution, but its discrete GeForce 930MX card should provide decent graphics performance. If you want something more powerful, the new Z242 AiO is a more suitable option with its NVIDIA GTX 1050 chip, it packs mostly the same specs otherwise. Both these systems will be available in July, but we don’t know their prices yet. We’ll update you once we get the information, though, so be sure to check back later.

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ASUS ZenBook Pro UX550 is a powerhouse with a 4K touchscreen

It’s been well over two years since ASUS announced its original ZenBook Pro, and while it received a spec bump late last year, it’s about time for the company to revamp its premium desktop replacement line. Announced at the “Edge of Beyond” event ahead of Computex, the new ZenBook Pro UX550 once again dons a 15.6-inch 4K touchscreen behind the spin-metal lid, except this time it comes with Intel’s top Kaby Lake option plus an NVIDIA GTX 1050 Ti graphics chip (with 4GB DDR5 VRAM). More notably, at 18.9mm thick and 1.8kg heavy, the UX550 is one of the most portable laptops in its class, beating the Dell Inspiron 15 7000 (25.44mm, 2.62kg) and Acer Nitro 5 (26.75mm, 2.7kg) which pack similar specs (except for their lack of 4K display option), while almost matching the smaller 14-inch Razer Blade (17.9mm, 1.86kg).

Compared to its predecessor, the UX550 is able to make better use of its 4K display thanks to its quad-core Kaby Lake CPUs: both the top-tier Core i7-7700HQ (2.8GHz to 3.8GHz; 8 threads, 6MB cache) and the Core i5-7300HQ (2.5GHz to 3.5GHz; 4 threads, 6MB cache) feature dedicated 4K HEVC support, meaning they can process 4K video more efficiently. The UX550 has swapped one of the old USB Type-A ports for a second Type-C port next to the full-size HDMI 1.4 port, and with both Type-C ports supporting the Thunderbolt 3 spec (up to 40 Gbps), this laptop can handle dual 4K video output and power delivery.

The laptop’s own 4K display has the same 72-percent NTSC gamut plus 178-degree viewing angle as before, though this time it has a slimmer 7.3mm bezel, which has helped shave 18mm off the previous body width. But there is a trade-off: ASUS decided to remove the numeric keypad, likely because it thinks not many people need this feature these days. Another downside — though probably unrelated — is that the old full-size SD card slot is now just a microSD slot, which is a nuisance for people like me who still use SD cards in our cameras.

On a brighter note, the UX550 has a denser battery with a whopping 12 to 14 hours worth of juice — almost doubling that of the older model; and its quick charging can take it from zero to 60 percent in just 49 minutes. It can be configured with up to 16GB of DDR4-2400 RAM and up to 1TB of PCIe x4 SSD. There’s also a new dual-fan cooling system to keep the CPU and GPU well-behaved. Another nice upgrade is the Harman/Kardon-certified quad-speaker audio system — one driver on each side of the backlit keyboard (with 1.5mm key travel) and two beneath the trackpad. Speaking of, the multitouch glass trackpad has gained a fingerprint reader at the top right corner.

Based on our brief hands-on time with the UX550, it feels like a laptop that can go toe-to-toe with the MacBook Pro. The 4K screen looks bright and bold, and the keyboard is a huge improvement from what we typically see from ASUS. Its case is also solid and well constructed, nothing like the ZenBook 3 from last year. The big takeaway? ASUS seems to have learned a lot over the past few years when it comes to building a refined laptop.

The ZenBook Pro UX550 is launching with either Windows 10 Pro or Windows 10 Home in July this year, starting at $1,299.

Devindra Hardawar contributed to this report.

Click here to catch up on the latest news from Computex 2017!

ASUS blew a hole in its newest wireless router

Wireless routers have been, for years, ugly black rectangles that we’ve habitually tried to bury behind our TVs and bookshelves. ASUS is hoping that you’ll think differently about the Blue Cave, its new WiFi router that looks like an electric pencil sharpener on human growth hormone. The device with a hole is an AC2600 dual-band WiFi router that, the company promises, can handle enough connections to cope with your growing home.

That design isn’t just for looks, although it certainly is striking. Rather than add the antennas outside the device, the company built them into the roof of the Blue Cave. The motherboard — which uses Intel technology — is then sat on the bottom, with the hole providing some useful distance between the two.

Capacity is no substitute for speed, but ASUS believes that the Blue Cave will also let you stream 4K video and share files without any lag. Plus, the router supports IFTTT (and Alexa) out of the box, helping you to build recipes that’ll run your home and make your digital life that little bit easier.

Of course, wireless security, especially related to the internet of things, has become a bit of a hot button issue of late. That’s why Blue Cave boasts of having AiProtection, a “free for life” security solution from Trend Micro that’ll keep your devices safe from hackers.

In addition, ASUS is letting smartphone users run the router from an app on their smartphone in a similar way to Google WiFi. Administrators can view network usage, set family time limits and control what apps can access the internet. The apps will also send a notification whenever a new device is added to the network, and if AiProtection detects a potential hack.

We know that the device will set you back around $180 when it launches, but when that day will be is, as yet, unclear.

Click here to catch up on the latest news from Computex 2017!