Microsoft made the Surface Pro both lighter and quieter

Microsoft has mostly left the Surface Pro line untouched since late 2015, but the company is finally giving it a long overdue refresh today. Announced at an event in Shanghai earlier, the new machine — now simply dubbed Surface Pro — packs Intel’s 7th-gen Core processors (Kaby Lake; m3, i5 and i7 flavors), an enhanced PixelSense display, optional LTE Advanced radio and a battery life of up to 13.5 hours for video playback, which is a notable jump from the old nine hours. Oh, and there’s no longer a fan for the m3 and i5 models. Simply put, Microsoft calls this “the lightest, the best sounding, the fastest and the quietest Surface Pro ever,” and the company was keen to claim that its own machine is 1.7 times faster than the iPad Pro.

While the machine itself looks pretty much the same as before from afar, up close you’ll notice the slightly rounded edges. What’s also not immediately noticeable is the new hinge design: you can now push it all the way down to 165 degrees — or “Studio Mode,” as Microsoft would like to call it. Even the Surface Pen has been given a spec bump: the old 1,024-level pressure sensitivity is now at 4,096 levels, and it comes with tilt sensitivity along with a speedy 21ms latency.

Much like the recently announced Surface Laptop line, the new Surface Pro comes with an Alcantara keyboard in three colors: platinum, cobalt blue and burgundy. Pre-order starts today at $799 and up, with specs starting from 128GB SSD plus 4GB RAM all the way up to 1TB SSD plus 16GB RAM, and it’s shipping in mid-June.

This mid-cycle update was expected after Surface chief Panos Panay said that a Surface Pro 5 wouldn’t appear until there’s “an experiential change that makes a huge difference in product line.” Even then, this new Surface Pro does manage to pack a few surprises, so it should keep us entertained for the time being. And if that doesn’t scratch the itch, you could just buy one of the many alternatives from other hardware makers.

Jon Fingas contributed to this post.

Source: Microsoft

Samsung’s pricey Galaxy Book is a flawed powerhouse

Samsung’s Galaxy Book isn’t the company’s first attempt at taking the Surface Pro head-on: Last year’s TabPro S was clearly inspired by Microsoft’s convertible. But, sluggish performance and a cramped keyboard made the whole experience a bit painful, despite a great screen and battery life.

At first glance, it seems that Samsung has learned from its mistakes — the new Galaxy Book features a number of improvements. Most notably, the Galaxy Book features a Core i5 processor rather than the weaker Core M in last year’s model. The keyboard is larger, too. But the things that we liked about the TabPro S, including its stunning, pressure-sensitive display, appear to still be intact. I’ve only had the Galaxy Book for a couple days, but I’m both impressed and a bit infuriated by what I’ve found so far.

The first thing I noticed about the Galaxy Book was its impressively svelte profile. Sure, it weighs a bit over 1.5 pounds, but that’s not bad for a tablet with a 12-inch screen. It’s a tiny bit thicker and heavier than the 12.9-inch iPad Pro, but the internals are undoubtedly more powerful. The 7th-generation Core i5 processor runs at 3.1GHz, a chip that can match many laptops on the market. Unfortunately, the Galaxy Book I tested is paired with only 4GB of RAM. That’s enough for casual usage, but I found that Chrome had to refresh tabs that I navigated away from pretty frequently.

Aside from some tab refreshes, the Galaxy Book has handled my typical daily workflow well. I’ve been running Slack, Twitter, Todoist, Word, Mail and several Chrome windows (one of which is playing tunes constantly through Google Play Music) without incident. But the powerful processor does have a downside: fans. When I was doing anything more than running just a single browser window, the Galaxy Book’s fans audibly kicked in. It’s not a big deal and par for the course when jamming an i5 into such a slim body, but it was still a bit disappointing.

The Galaxy Book’s keyboard is still a bit of a mixed bag. The good news is that it’s much larger and less cramped than the one included with the TabPro S. When placed on a desk or similar flat surface, typing on the Galaxy Book feels like your average laptop keyboard. It’s nothing mind-blowing, but it’s totally comfortable and useable. It’s also backlit, something I wasn’t expecting. Similarly, the trackpad gets the job done — it’s not very large, but it’s smooth and responsive enough that it didn’t cause any problems.

Unfortunately, that all changed when using the Galaxy Book on my lap. As with most convertibles, it just isn’t the most comfortable experience. The top-heavy tablet and limited angles of the keyboard stand simply make it unpleasant to use. But, more crucially, the keyboard cover flexes like crazy when the Galaxy Book is perched on your lap. The weight of my palms on the keyboard rest made the whole thing bend a bit. And sometimes, if I applied right weight in the right spot, I could unintentionally make the trackpad “click” with my palms, which led to errant mouse input popping up at random while I typed.

It makes the whole experience feel cheap and imprecise, and it’s a bit letdown that Samsung didn’t use something with a bit less flex. Once I figured out what was happening, I was able to avoid the problem for the most part, but I still find myself accidentally activating the trackpad at random from time to time.

The tablet itself, however, feels great in the hands, if a little large. As with most tablets this size and with this display aspect ratio (approximately 16:10.7), it makes much more sense to use it in landscape mode rather than portrait. But that’s fine, as Windows 10 is primarily designed for that orientation as well. The Galaxy Book feels solid, high-quality and light enough to use as a tablet, though you won’t want to hold it up for extended periods of time. That’s fine, because though Windows 10 works well enough in tablet mode, most apps are still optimized with keyboard and mouse input in mind.

Like most tablets, the port selection here is limited: There are just two USB-C ports and a headphone jack on the right side of this device. On the left, there’s a SIM card slot, if you’re using the version with a Verizon LTE connection included. While that’s a little disappointing for something meant to replace your laptop, it’s in line with what you’ll get on the Surface Pro 4 (and far more than the iPad Pro offers).

I’m still trying to get a sense of the Galaxy Book’s battery life, but my typical usage patterns appear to be doing quite the number on it. I’m going to preface these numbers by noting that I told a Samsung representative about my problems and was told I’d receive another test unit, as mine seemed potentially defective. But the original device went from fully charged to five percent after only two hours and fifty minutes. Samsung claims video playback time of “up to 11 hours,” but I can’t imagine how I’d get that much more battery life when simply watching video.

Overall, the Galaxy Book’s battery life appears to be much worse than the TabPro S, which did well in our tests. It’s not surprising, given how power-hungry a Core i5 is compared to the Core m3 in the TabPro S. To make matters worse, it took me almost two hours to charge the Galaxy Book up from five percent to 25 percent(!). That should go a lot quicker when it’s shut down, but it was yet another disappointment. I’ll be testing my replacement unit straight away and will update this post with new test results.

The last factor here is price. The Galaxy Book as I tested (128GB storage, 4GB RAM, Core i5 processor and Verizon LTE connectivity) costs a whopping $1,299. That’s about as much as a similarly-outfitted iPad Pro (with keyboard and Apple Pencil) and more than many other full-fledged laptops on the market, like Microsoft’s just-announced Surface Laptop. And that’s not to mention the updated Surface Pro that Microsoft just announced — that new device will be the obvious competition for the Galaxy Book.

With better battery life, more RAM and a better keyboard, the Galaxy Book could have been worth that cash. But as it is, it’s a tough sell over the Surface Pro or many other Windows 10 computers out there. It has a wonderful display, to be sure, but that alone isn’t enough. We’ll see if more time with the Galaxy Book convinces me it’s a worthy contender for the convertible crown — look for our full review coming soon!

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Huawei’s first laptop is a MacBook clone in looks alone

Hot on the heels of Microsoft announcing the Surface Laptop, Huawei’s ready to unveil its first real Windows 10 notebook. It’s called the MateBook X, and it might remind you of Apple’s 12-inch MacBook. In fact, the resemblance is so striking that I could barely tell the two apart without looking at their logos. Although it looks very similar to Apple’s teeny laptop, the MateBook actually has a few important (and useful) differences.

First of all, it has a fingerprint sensor integrated into the power button that not only makes it easier to sign into your profile, but is also more convenient if more than one person is a frequent user of your laptop. All someone has to do is sign in with their finger and the laptop will load up their profile.

Apple’s butterfly keyboard was controversial for its basically travel-free setup, and even though I’m pleased with the typing experience on my MacBook, I’m glad Huawei managed to deliver keys with 1.2mm of travel here. It’s a more traditional and familiar system that makes typing more comfortable. I also like the generously sized chiclet keys, and the only buttons that appear undersized are the up and down arrows. The keyboard is also splash-resistant so you don’t have to worry about spilling a little water on it while you work.

Huawei equipped the MateBook X with a seventh-generation Intel Core i7 chip, 8GB of RAM and a 512GB SSD, which should promise speed performance. I’ve only used the laptop for light multi-tasking so far, but in general it keeps pace with my demands.

The MateBook X’s battery is supposed to last long, too, as the company is estimating up to 10 hours of 1080p video playback on a single charge. Speaking of video, you’ll really enjoy the multimedia experience, not only because of the MateBook’s vibrant 13-inch 2K display, but also thanks to the Dolby Atmos-enhanced surround sound system. Unfortunately during our preview, the display was dim in bright sunlight, but audio was indeed immersive and loud.

Like the MacBook, Huawei’s laptop adopts a minimal approach to ports, which could put off many people. You’ll only get two USB C slots – one of which feeds power to the device while you’re left with the other for external connections. To alleviate the potential inconvenience here, Huawei is including a dock with each MateBook X that provides options for HDMI, USB A, USB C and VGA. Disappointingly, there is no microSD card reader.

Although the MateBook X basically stole its design from the MacBook, I still appreciate its skinny profile and light weight anyway. I also dig its shiny chrome edges and the pink and blue color options available. Plus, Huawei has consistently been on point with its product aesthetics since the original MateBook 2-in-1 from last year, which has an equally premium build and classy look. The MateBook X may look incredibly familiar, but I won’t dock points from the company for crafting something that feels so elegant.

We don’t yet know how much the MateBook X will cost, but we do know it’s expected to retail in the US this summer. A larger, more-powerful version called the MateBook D will also be available, as will the MateBook E — an updated version of the company’s 2-in-1. Huawei’s first stab at a laptop comes with just one or two unique features, but on first glance it appears the MateBook X has the basics covered. Whether it will do well as a workhorse, though, remains to be seen.

ICYMI: World’s largest wind farm gets rolling

Today on In Case You Missed It: Danish power company Dong Energy (yes, really) has started up the world’s largest wind farm in Liverpool Bay. The farm consists of thirty-turbines in total, with each standing more than six stories tall and capable of producing eight megawatts of power. A single revolution of the massive 262-foot long blades can reportedly produce enough power to support a household for twenty-nine hours. The new farm has twice the capacity of the original Burbo Bank structures in the farm, and the turbines themselves are cheaper to both build and maintain even despite their size.

Meanwhile, Microsoft’s Research department has recently move AR and VR innovation forward with the development of a near-eye holographic experience that delivers monoscopic pictures via a pair of standard-shaped eye glasses. The electronics portions of the device still need to be housed on the exterior, however, all the necessary mirrors and the liquid crystal on silicon are contained inside the frame itself. While this is far from a final solution, it does get us one step closer to having a holographic display on a headset that is comfortable enough to be worn long term — something that could be useful for a variety of purposes in medical, software and technology fields.

As always, please share any interesting tech or science videos you find by using the #ICYMI hashtag on Twitter for @mskerryd.

10.5-Inch iPad Pro 3D Renderings Include Three Microphones and Thinner 7mm Side Bezels

After posting a few images yesterday that claimed to show cases for the upcoming 10.5-inch and 12.9-inch iPad Pro, Benjamin Geskin has now shared a few CAD images, dummy models, and renderings of the 10.5-inch iPad model. The first set of computer-aided design drawings are based on the model that case manufacturers have received from the factory, which Geskin said is “already in mass production.”

The new iPad images align with all of the port cutouts seen in yesterday’s wooden accessory case, including a device that has four speakers, a Lightning port, camera with vertically-aligned flash, side volume rockers, and a Smart Connector.

Yesterday’s case images also revealed a new microphone slot located at the top rear of the case, similar to where it’s located on the current 9.7-inch iPad. The new images confirm that microphone slot on the 10.5-inch iPad, along with two additional microphones sitting atop the device in between the speaker grilles, pointing towards three microphones total for the 10.5-inch iPad Pro.

Last year it was rumored that the new iPad model with smaller bezels — which fluctuated between 10.1-inch, 10.5-inch, and 10.9-inch display sizes — could get four microphones.

Geskin has also shared a case manufacturer’s dummy mockup of the 10.5-inch iPad Pro, which continues showing the same ports for volume buttons, 3.5mm headphone jack, speaker grilles, Lightning port, SIM card tray, and Smart Connector. All of the images support the rumors that the new iPad will pack in a 10.5-inch display into the same form factor and nearly identical size of the 9.7-inch iPad.

In a series of images shared with iDropNews, Geskin designed a rendering based on the recent rumors to show how the bezels on the new 10.5-inch iPad Pro might look. Since the device will keep roughly the same footprint of the 9.7-inch iPad, the rendering boasts a device with small 7mm bezels on the left and right sides of the device and around 19mm bezels on the top and bottom.

The upcoming 10.5-inch iPad (left) compared to the current 9.7-inch iPad (right)
This would make the display space big enough for the new 10.5-inch screen, while allocating enough room for the traditional Home Button, which Apple isn’t expected to do away with yet on the upcoming iPad Pro. The 10.5-inch device is also expected to be slightly taller than the current 9.7-inch iPad, while potentially being slightly thicker than the 9.7-inch iPad’s 6.1mm thickness.

A rendering of the 10.5-inch iPad
In regards to a release date, KGI Securities analyst Ming-Chi Kuo recently said that there is a greater than 70 percent chance of Apple debuting the 10.5-inch iPad at WWDC in June. Although WWDC keynotes are traditionally the home of software announcements, even updates to the MacBook, MacBook Pro, and MacBook Air are rumored to be coming at the event this year.

Related Roundup: iPad Pro
Buyer’s Guide: 9.7″ iPad Pro (Don’t Buy), 12.9″ iPad Pro (Don’t Buy)
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Microsoft Says New Surface Pro is 1.7× Faster Than iPad Pro With 35% More Battery Life

Microsoft today introduced the new Surface Pro, choosing that name over Surface Pro 5, at a media event in Shanghai, China.

Microsoft said the new Surface Pro delivers up to 13.5 hours of battery life on a single charge, a 50 percent increase over the Surface Pro 4 and 35 percent more battery life than the iPad Pro’s advertised 10 hours.

The notebook-tablet hybrid features Intel’s faster Kaby Lake processors, including Core m3, i5, and i7 chips depending on the model. Microsoft says the high-end Surface Pro with a Core i7 processor is 2.5× faster than the Surface Pro 3 and 1.7× faster than the iPad Pro with Apple’s own A9X chip.

The new Surface Pro also has a refined design with cleaner lines and curved edges, a “visually softer” camera, and an improved hinge with a 165º range of motion allows it to be placed in Studio Mode.

It’s also the lightest Surface Pro ever, starting at 1.7 lbs. By comparison, the 9.7-inch and 12.9-inch iPad Pro weigh 0.96 lbs and 1.57 lbs respectively.

The new Surface Pro is available for pre-order later today and will ship on June 15 worldwide. Pricing starts at $799.99 in the United States. LTE Advanced models will be available later this year.

Tags: Microsoft, Microsoft Surface, Surface Pro
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When FaceTime won’t cut it, Elfkins will act out animated messages to your kids

Why it matters to you

Solutions like this are making it easier for kids to send messages to parents, friends, and family without having to traverse the minefield of social networks.

When it comes to young kids, social networks are fraught with peril. They’re enormously popular — roughly 38 percent of Facebook users in the last year were under the age of 13 — but potentially traumatizing. One recent study of primary-age kids found that a full one-fifth of children age 8-13 reported seeing or experiencing something on the internet in the last year that bothered them, and as many 17 percent of children age 12-13  reported being cyberbullied.

Patrick Chiang, a former Jawbone executive and CEO of Empath Interactive, spent two years building a safer alternative. The result — Elfkins — is a cuddly, internet-connected toy that transmits voice messages from kids to loved ones, and vice versa.

The motorized Elfkin can wave its arms up and down, blink its eyes, move its mouth, and lean forward and backward. Multicolor LEDs embedded in its ears glow blue to indicate a new message has arrived, and built-in buttons on the Elfkins’s feet trigger a tutorial, adjust the volume level, and cycle between messaging contacts.

“It’s built for the way kids interact,” Chiang said. “It captures their imagination.”

Elfkins messaging, which can be set up in less than five minutes, is a lot more engaging and intuitive than traditional social networks, Chiang said. He sees it as an alternative to video chat apps, which he said can be difficult for kids to use.

“When I’d travel for business, I’d set up an iPhone on a stand and show my daughter how to record messages,” he said. Most were out of focus, or showed the floor or ceiling. “Kids don’t want to stay on camera,” Chiang said. “Sometimes getting a video is way worse than just the audio. Your mind fills in the gaps.”

Each Elfkin pairs with a smartphone app that parents, relatives, and other loved ones can use to remotely manage the toy robot. The app’s mostly for messaging — parents can record greetings themselves, or recruit any family members and friends they’ve invited into a “trusted circle” to send messages of their own.

Once senders record a message, they can assign a “beginning” animation and an “ending” animation to it — Chiang said the team consulted a former Pixar animator on the Elfkins’ 11 different animated expressions. Elfkins can laugh, celebrate, blow a kiss, yawn, and wave goodnight. “We’re conscious about the animations,” he said. “We want to avoid the uncanny valley.”

After a message has been recorded and choreographed, it can be sent to the Elfkin immediately, or scheduled for a future date. “If your child has a dance recital, you can set the delivery time for when that would be,” Chiang said. “You can send them words of encouragement an hour before it begins.”

The app’s more than just a messaging platform, though. Chiang sees it as a place for close groups and family to circulate family photos, messages, and other personal items among each other — a private, shareable repository for “the big and little moments” in a child’s life. Members in the Elfkin app’s “trusted circle” can share and comment on pictures, post messages, and favorite content that other members have published. “It’s effectively like what you’d see in a standard social network,” he said.

Kids have a much more scripted Elfkins experience. They can select a message recipient from a predetermined list, and send a message by touching the microphone button on the toy’s foot. And they complete “Elfkins activities” — templates crafted by children’s authors that entertain and educate.

The Elfkins team doubled down on simplicity, Chiang said. They decided against voice recognition because of “young kids’ tendency to mispronounce things,” Chiang said. And they ditched the touch-sensitive approach of earlier prototypes to minimize accidental triggers. “We didn’t want to over-engineer a solution to a problem that didn’t exist,” he said.

Chiang’s team made privacy a focus, too. Users who haven’t received an invite from Elfkins admins — parents, in most cases — can’t see photos or messages. All conversations are encrypted, and deleted after four weeks. And Elfkins toys only store the last recorded message.

“We’ve done everything within our power to make it as secure as possible,” Chiang said. “We’ve made it so that it’s really secure.”

Chiang conceded that voice-activated toys are a competitive category, but said that Elfkins is designed to last. “It’ll get better over time,” he said. “It won’t get old.”

Elfkins, which counts former Napster CEO Sean Parker among its investors, will retail for $150 when it goes on sale later this year. Deliveries are expected to begin in August.

When FaceTime won’t cut it, Elfkins will act out animated messages to your kids

Why it matters to you

Solutions like this are making it easier for kids to send messages to parents, friends, and family without having to traverse the minefield of social networks.

When it comes to young kids, social networks are fraught with peril. They’re enormously popular — roughly 38 percent of Facebook users in the last year were under the age of 13 — but potentially traumatizing. One recent study of primary-age kids found that a full one-fifth of children age 8-13 reported seeing or experiencing something on the internet in the last year that bothered them, and as many 17 percent of children age 12-13  reported being cyberbullied.

Patrick Chiang, a former Jawbone executive and CEO of Empath Interactive, spent two years building a safer alternative. The result — Elfkins — is a cuddly, internet-connected toy that transmits voice messages from kids to loved ones, and vice versa.

The motorized Elfkin can wave its arms up and down, blink its eyes, move its mouth, and lean forward and backward. Multicolor LEDs embedded in its ears glow blue to indicate a new message has arrived, and built-in buttons on the Elfkins’s feet trigger a tutorial, adjust the volume level, and cycle between messaging contacts.

“It’s built for the way kids interact,” Chiang said. “It captures their imagination.”

Elfkins messaging, which can be set up in less than five minutes, is a lot more engaging and intuitive than traditional social networks, Chiang said. He sees it as an alternative to video chat apps, which he said can be difficult for kids to use.

“When I’d travel for business, I’d set up an iPhone on a stand and show my daughter how to record messages,” he said. Most were out of focus, or showed the floor or ceiling. “Kids don’t want to stay on camera,” Chiang said. “Sometimes getting a video is way worse than just the audio. Your mind fills in the gaps.”

Each Elfkin pairs with a smartphone app that parents, relatives, and other loved ones can use to remotely manage the toy robot. The app’s mostly for messaging — parents can record greetings themselves, or recruit any family members and friends they’ve invited into a “trusted circle” to send messages of their own.

Once senders record a message, they can assign a “beginning” animation and an “ending” animation to it — Chiang said the team consulted a former Pixar animator on the Elfkins’ 11 different animated expressions. Elfkins can laugh, celebrate, blow a kiss, yawn, and wave goodnight. “We’re conscious about the animations,” he said. “We want to avoid the uncanny valley.”

After a message has been recorded and choreographed, it can be sent to the Elfkin immediately, or scheduled for a future date. “If your child has a dance recital, you can set the delivery time for when that would be,” Chiang said. “You can send them words of encouragement an hour before it begins.”

The app’s more than just a messaging platform, though. Chiang sees it as a place for close groups and family to circulate family photos, messages, and other personal items among each other — a private, shareable repository for “the big and little moments” in a child’s life. Members in the Elfkin app’s “trusted circle” can share and comment on pictures, post messages, and favorite content that other members have published. “It’s effectively like what you’d see in a standard social network,” he said.

Kids have a much more scripted Elfkins experience. They can select a message recipient from a predetermined list, and send a message by touching the microphone button on the toy’s foot. And they complete “Elfkins activities” — templates crafted by children’s authors that entertain and educate.

The Elfkins team doubled down on simplicity, Chiang said. They decided against voice recognition because of “young kids’ tendency to mispronounce things,” Chiang said. And they ditched the touch-sensitive approach of earlier prototypes to minimize accidental triggers. “We didn’t want to over-engineer a solution to a problem that didn’t exist,” he said.

Chiang’s team made privacy a focus, too. Users who haven’t received an invite from Elfkins admins — parents, in most cases — can’t see photos or messages. All conversations are encrypted, and deleted after four weeks. And Elfkins toys only store the last recorded message.

“We’ve done everything within our power to make it as secure as possible,” Chiang said. “We’ve made it so that it’s really secure.”

Chiang conceded that voice-activated toys are a competitive category, but said that Elfkins is designed to last. “It’ll get better over time,” he said. “It won’t get old.”

Elfkins, which counts former Napster CEO Sean Parker among its investors, will retail for $150 when it goes on sale later this year. Deliveries are expected to begin in August.

LeEco reportedly expected to announce massive layoffs on May 23

Why it matters to you

This news suggests that you may not be able to buy LeEco’s hardware products in the U.S. for much longer.

It looks like LeEco’s big bet on expansion into the U.S. may not have paid off in quite the manner the company expected. The Chinese firm is reportedly prepping for a massive round of layoffs on Tuesday, May 23, according to a report from CNBC.

The report notes that only 60 percent of the company’s U.S. workforce will be left after the round of cuts. According to CNBC’s source, its current U.S. workforce sits in at over 500 employees. The report also cites an email calling employees to a “Town Hall” meeting that is supposed to occur at its locations in San Diego, San Jose, and Santa Monica, all in California, and that all employees are being told to attend unless they have pre-approved time off.

So what will LeEco do after the layoffs? The company will reportedly focus on launching products aimed at Chinese-American customers, who might want to continue watching its Chinese content library while they’re in the U.S.

It’s unclear what this means, if anything, for LeEco’s investments into Faraday Future, though reports note that its investment will likely continue.

LeEco was first founded in China as a streaming service, but it soon hoped to start expanding into the U.S. by offering hardware that links customers to its content. When it first announced its big move into the U.S., it offered a range of smartphones and smart TVs, all of which offered flagship-level specifications at a reasonable price. The goal here was to make money back through its content — a plan which apparently turned out not to work.

LeEco is going through a turbulent time otherwise, too — Jia Yueting stepped down as CEO of LeEco’s publicly traded arm, Leshi, though he will stay on as chairman.

None of the news is all that surprising. Jia admitted in an interview with QQ last year that the company had expanded too hastily and was suffering through a cash crunch.

TomTom Sports app now syncs with Google Fit and Apple Health for quicker fitness

Why it matters to you

If you’re a fitness fanatic, you’re probably tracking your goals on multiple devices across multiple platforms. TomTom understands and is here to help you centralize all that information.

Staying fit is already challenging enough, so keeping tabs on your progress shouldn’t add any additional stress to your routine. Luckily, TomTom agrees, and has brought an update to its sports app that allows users to import data from Google Fit and Apple Health to their profiles, thereby allowing for continuous activity tracking, insights, and daily summaries, even if they’re without a TomTom Sports wearable.

If you’re serious about your fitness, you’re probably using a whole suite of apps and tools, and TomTom wants to be sure that you can find all that information in one centralized place.

With the latest update, TomTom users can import daily activity data including steps, active time, distance, and calories, from either Google Fit (for Android) or Apple Health (for iOS). They can then set goals within the TomTom app and receive credit for a hard day’s work, even if they didn’t don a TomTom device that morning. But don’t worry, this relationship goes the other way, too — if you’re wearing a TomTom Sports device and are connected to Google Fit or Apple Health, you won’t be logging duplicate activity data.

“This is a great new development for anyone interested in getting more from tracking their activities,” said Corinne Vigreux, co-founder and managing director of TomTom Consumer. “We know that people use different apps to track their activities and fitness level. Now they can have all of their data in one place — the TomTom Sports app — and continue to track should they forget their TomTom device at home.”

The TomTom app promises to outperform other similar tools by providing the motivation users need to start exercising, with encouraging messages, activity trends, performance stats that are as granular as you can get, and plenty of social sharing functions to brag about your achievements to your friends. Said Vigreux, “We’re delighted to be making the motivation of the TomTom Sports app available to more people and can’t wait to see them get going!”