Google Pixelbook versus Samsung Chromebook Pro: What’s best for Android apps?

Google’s Chrome OS platform has inspired a host of Chromebook notebooks that have taken the PC market by storm. The platform has had the most impact at the low end, particularly in education, but that doesn’t mean that there are only inexpensive notebooks from which to choose. A couple of vendors, including Samsung, have introduced higher-end machines, and Google has returned to the premium segment with its replacement for the defunct Pixel. Here, we take a look at the Google Pixelbook versus the Samsung Chromebook Pro to see which machine takes the high-end crown.

Both of these Chromebooks are convertible 2-in-1s with pens that allow for drawing, handwriting, and annotating documents, but are they actually in the same class? Read on to find out.

Samsung Chromebook Pro

Google Pixelbook

Dimensions
11.04 x 8.72 x 0.55 (in)
11.4 x 8.7 x 0.40 (in)
Weight
2.38 pounds
2.4 pounds
Keyboard
Full size keyboard
Full size backlit keyboard
Processor
Sixth-generation Intel Core m3
Up to seventh-generation Intel Core i7
RAM
4GB
8GB or 16GB
Graphics
Intel HD Graphics 515
Intel HD Graphics 620
Display
12.3-inch LED-backlit display with IPS technology
12.3-inch LED-backlit display with IPS technology
Resolution
2,400 x 1,600 (235 ppi)
2,400 x 1,600 (235 ppi)
Storage
32GB eMMC
Up to 512GB NVMe SSD
Networking
802.11ac, Bluetooth 4.0
802.11ac, Bluetooth 4.2
Ports
USB-C/Thunderbolt (2), microSD, headphone jack
USB-C 3.1 (2), headphone jack
Webcam
720p webcam
720p webcam
Operating System
Chrome OS
Chrome OS
Battery
39 watt-hour
41 watt-hour
Price
$550
$1,000+
Availability
Now (Amazon)
Base model now (Google Play Store)
Review
4 out of 5 stars
Hands-on

Design

The Samsung Chromebook Pro is a solidly built 360-degree convertible 2-in-1 with an elegant but unobtrusive design. Its dark grey, all-aluminum chassis looks professional compared to some other Chromebooks but also won’t stand out in a crowd. An important aspect of any convertible machine is the hinge, which needs to be both stiff enough to hold the display in one of the four modes — clamshell, tablet, tent, or multimedia — while being smooth enough to effortless swivel from mode to mode. We found the Chromebook Pro’s hinge to provide just the right amount of tension. Overall, the Chromebook Pro is a well-built and attractive machine, particularly at its still-affordable price point.

The Google Pixelbook strives for a more premium design. Its chassis is also made of aluminum, but it adopts an aesthetic that’s clearly intended to mimic Google’s Pixel line of smartphones. There’s the same kind of glass cutout in the upper quarter of the backside of the chassis, which both identifies the Pixelbook as a member of its family and provides for better wireless connectivity. Bezels are a little larger than usual, which Google says is to make the machine easier to grip in tablet mode, and that makes the Pixelbook a little larger than the Chromebook Pro in width and depth. However, Google also engineered a very thin device at 0.40 inches, that’s noticeably more svelte than the Chromebook Pro.

The Chromebook Pro has a good design that’s just fine for the price point. But the Pixelbook’s design is more elegant, attractive, and useful in tablet mode, so it wins this category by a fair margin.

Winner: Google Pixelbook

Performance

Samsung equipped the Chromebook Pro with a sixth-generation Intel Core M3-6Y30 processor, which provides sufficient performance for Chrome OS — and for running Android apps — while promising better battery life. There’s 4GB of RAM on board which again is more than sufficient for Chrome OS, and the 32GB of eMMC storage won’t win any speed records, but it’s sufficient for a decent number of apps. Chrome OS still benefits greatly from cloud storage and isn’t a processor-intense OS, so while these specifications aren’t impressive, they’re good enough.

The Pixelbook, on the other hand, is equipped with strong enough components to compete with full-on Windows 10 PCs. There are full-speed seventh-generation Intel Core i5 and i7 processor options, along with up to 16GB of RAM and up to 512GB of fast NVMe solid-state disks (SSDs). Whether or not a Chrome OS machine needs that much power is questionable, but it’s there if you need it.

Again, the Chromebook Pro is good enough, but the Pixelbook gets the win for simply outclassing its Chrome OS competition.

Winner: Google Pixelbook

Keyboard, Mouse, and Pen

Both the Chromebook Pro and the Pixelbook offer good keyboards with decent travel, although Google equipped its machine with backlighting, and both touchpads are quite usable in Chrome OS. Both machines offer responsive touch displays that promise to provide good support for the millions of Android apps that can be installed on many Chrome OS machines. In this regard, so far, there’s little to differentiate the two machines when it comes to input.

Bill Roberson/Digital Trends

With regard to pen input, however, the Pixelbook puts some distance between itself and the Chromebook Pro. While Samsung’s pen support is decent across its line of notebooks and phablets, Google engineered some impressive specifications into the Pixelbook’s active pen. First, it supports over 2,000 levels of pressure sensitivity, which is competitive with many Windows 10 2-in-1s. But, it also supports the newer tilt function (up to 60 degrees of angular awareness, in fact) that’s only provided by a few other machines, and it’s significantly more responsive with a 10 millisecond latency — that beats out the previous leader, Apple’s newest iPad Pro.

Julian Chokkattu/Digital Trends

Although Google doesn’t include the pen where Samsung does, the Pixelbook’s pen support is simply superior, and tips the scales in Google’s favor. Note that if you want the pen with Google’s new machine, you’ll have to wait until November 2017 to pick one up.

Winner: Google Pixelbook

Connectivity

The Samsung Chromebook Pro is minimally equipped when it comes to connectivity, with two USB-C ports with Thunderbolt 3 support, a microSD card slot, and a 3.5mm headphone jack. That makes it just fine for future connectivity, but you’ll need a dongle to connect to any legacy USB-A devices.

The Google Pixelbook is even less well-connected. It has just two USB-C 3.1 ports and a headphone jack. If you’re looking for Thunderbolt 3 support or an SD card reader, then the Pixelbook isn’t the right choice.

Winner: Samsung Chromebook Pro

Display

Samsung equipped with Chromebook Pro with a very nice and high-resolution LCD. It’s 12.3 inches, sports a high 2,400 x 1,600 resolution (235 PPI) in the increasingly common 3:2 aspect ratio. That makes it great for productivity, including using the pen for drawing and handwriting, but that does mean there’s some letterboxing when watching video. We found the display to be bright with vivid colors and solid contrast, and so the Chromebook Pro checks off some important boxes when it comes to display quality.

Bill Roberson/Digital Trends

The Google Pixelbook’s display is identical in terms of specifications. It’s also a 12.3-inch LCD with 2,400 x 1,600 (235 PPI) resolution and a 3:2 aspect ratio. In our brief hands-on look, we found that it, too, was bright, colorful, and sharp.

Julian Chokkattu/Digital Trends

The only thing that differentiates the two displays is bezel size, where the Pixelbook looks dated compared to more modern-looking thin-bezeled machines. As a result, we give the win to the Chromebook Pro.

Winner: Samsung Chromebook Pro

Portability and battery life

The Samsung Chromebook Pro is a relatively slim Chrome OS machine at 0.55 inches thick, and it’s light at 2.38 pounds. That makes it easy to toss into a backpack and carry around for quick work — noting that you’ll want an internet connection to be most functional with Chrome OS. The 39 watt-hour battery is on the small side, but Chrome OS is an efficient OS, and the Core m3 processor sips power. That allowed the Chromebook Pro to last for a reasonable amount of time on a charge. In our testing, it exceeded other Chromebooks, but fell short against the best Windows 10 2-in-1 machines.

The Google Pixelbook is a bit larger in width and depth than the Chromebook Pro but it’s also thinner at 0.40 inches while weighing almost exactly the same at 2.4 pounds. That makes it roughly equal in terms of how it will weigh you down when moving from workplace to workplace. The battery is similarly sized at 41 watt-hours, but the CPU and storage are more power-hungry. We haven’t tested battery life on the Pixelbook yet, but we imagine it will last somewhat less than the Chromebook Pro on a single charge.

It might be a little unfair to award a winner here given that we haven’t tested the Pixebook’s longevity, but there’s a price to be paid for all the Pixel’s power. We imagine the Chromebook Pro will end up being slightly longer-lasting on a charge and so the more portable of the two machines.

Winner: Samsung Chromebook Pro

Availability and price

As we mentioned at this beginning of this comparison, Chromebooks are typically low-cost machines — indeed, that’s much of their appeal compared to Windows 10 PCs. The Samsung Chromebook Pro was introduced as a relatively premium Chromebook at $550, with some added benefit thanks to the included active pen. We found it well worth the extra investment for anyone interested in running Chrome OS, and $550 is a truly budget machine compared to most Windows 10 PCs. You’re likely to spend $1,000 or more to get a machine that runs Windows 10 as efficiently as the Chromebook Pro runs Chrome OS.

The Google Pixelbook is in another class entirely when it comes to pricing. It starts at $1,000 for a configuration with a Core i5 CPU, 8GB of RAM, and a 128GB SSD, and runs all the way up to $1,65o with a Core i7, 16GB of RAM, and a 512GB SSD. That’s a lot more money for a lot more power and a more luxury design and build, and indeed runs smack dab into some of the best Windows 10 2-in-1s made.

Winner: Samsung Chromebook Pro

A win for Samsung

If you’re looking to run today’s Chrome OS and Android apps on a pen-enabled convertible 2-in-1 machine with a nice display and snappy performance, then the Samsung Chromebook Pro is a great choice at a price point that’s still reasonable.

The Google Pixelbook is more of a hero device for the Chrome OS platform, and its main purpose is to showcase Google features like the Google Assistant. Ultimately, you’re paying a lot of money to make sure that your Chromebook will perform at its absolute best.

For now, we find that Samsung’s Chromebook Pro offers a much better value for a design that’s still excellent, and provides a great experience. We’ll give the win to Samsung here, while recognizing that the Pixelbook is a special machine that highlights the Chrome OS platform.

iOS 11.1 will come with more than 200 new emojis, including a pie and a pretzel

Why it matters to you

Apple’s spooky (and tasty) new emojis arrive just in time for Halloween.

Can’t get enough emojis? If you’ve got an iOS device that supports iOS 11, you’re in luck. Apple just previewed the “hundreds” of new animals, mythical creatures, food types, and smiley faces that will join the iPhone, iPad, and iPod Touch’s emoji library in iOS 11.1.

Among the highlights are a Chinese takeout box, a pie, a pretzel, an old-fashion red sleigh, a hedgehog, a brain, and a scarf. A few characters announced on World Emoji Day made the cut, like a bearded man, a woman with a headscarf, a zombie, a vampire, a genie, and a person in a lotus position. New American Sign Language signs like the Love-You Gesture — a raised index finger, thumb, and pinkie motion that means, “I love you” — are in tow too.

Apple says that every new child, adult, and older adult emoji is available in a range of skins tones, and that the number of distinct new emoji characters in iOS 11.1 is well past 50. Accounting for gender, color, and flag modifiers, the total is closer to 200.

Apple

They’re part of Unicode 10, the encoding standard hashed out by the eponymous Unicode Consortium. It’s a surprisingly complicated process: Every calendar quarter, the Consortium’s 12 major voting members — a group that includes Oracle, Google, Facebook IBM, Apple, and Yahoo — take recommendations from the public and propose letters, digits, symbols, and emoji for revisions of Unicode.

Reaching a consensus isn’t always easy. Last year, for instance, Apple and Microsoft raised a joint objection to a rifle emoji that’d been approved for Unicode 9. In 2015, Apple decided not to include gun and knife emojis in MacOS’s keyboard.

Sometimes the omitted emojis are the ones that cause controversy. In January, the committee devoted three month’s worth of meetings to the red-haired emoji. Members were divided on whether or not to change the “person with blond hair” emojis to a strawberry blond, or to create and entirely new “redhead variant” of emoji with different skin tones.

Apple

The process gets political, as one member of the committee told BuzzFeed last year. “We’re talking about engineers that are concerned about standards and internationalization issues who now have to do something more in line with Apple and Google’s marketing teams. It is a bizarre and unusual situation.”

Thankfully, Unicode 10’s emojis look to be broadly uncontroversial. Don’t expect to find them in the current iOS 11.1 beta, though — they aren’t there. Apple says they’ll be added to the developer and public beta releases in the coming weeks.

Weekly Rewind: Translating headphones, tech flops, Tesla trucks, and more

A lot can happen in a week when it comes to tech. The constant onslaught of news makes it nigh impossible for mere mortals with real lives to keep track of everything. That’s why we’ve compiled a quick and dirty list of this week’s top tech stories, from what happened at Google’s October 4 event to how one chef is looking to get us off our phones  — it’s all here.

The Pixel 2 looks amazing. So why did Google bother with all the other nonsense?

The Google Pixel 2 and Pixel 2 XL are well thought-out, feature-rich, and highly desirable sequels to the already excellent Pixel and Pixel XL. We predict they will be two of the best Android phones released this year and next, and we’re not exactly going out on a limb to say it. They formed the centerpiece of Google’s October 4 event, but were joined by quite a lot of other, far less interesting products. Imagine if they weren’t.

Read: The Pixel 2 looks amazing. So why did Google bother with all the other nonsense?

Here’s how one chef is encouraging diners to ditch their phones at the table

Restaurants can be quiet places these days. The sight of an entire table of diners gazing at their smartphones rather than their lovingly prepared food is a common one, and has led some restaurateurs to take matters into their own hands. The latest effort aimed at getting diners to engage with one another rather than with their handsets comes from award-winning chef Marco Canora. Based at Tuscan-American restaurant Hearth in Manhattan, Canora has placed special boxes on each table. On the box reads a note: “Open me!” while inside another one says, “We’d like to invite you to unplug during your meal here at Hearth. Feel free to use this box to put your phone away and connect with your fellow diners.”

Discussing the novel idea with dining guide Eater, Canora said, “If there’s one time in the 24 hours in your day that’s a time to engage with the person you’re with, it makes sense to me that it’s around the dinner table.”

Read: Here’s how one chef is encouraging diners to ditch their phones at the table

‘Titanic’ star Kate Winslet will reunite with James Cameron for ‘Avatar 2’

It’s been almost a decade since James Cameron’s Avatar hit theaters, but filming is currently underway on Avatar 2, the long-awaited sequel to the highest-grossing film of all time worldwide. The cast of the film is also filling out, with Academy Award winner Kate Winslet recently joining the project in a starring role.

Winslet will play a character named Ronal for the film, but little is known about her role other than the character’s name. However, the film will reunite Winslet with Cameron for the first time since the actress starred in 1997’s Titanic.

Read: ‘Titanic’ star Kate Winslet will reunite with James Cameron for ‘Avatar 2’

The Whitepod luxury eco-lodge is located in the heart of the Swiss Alps

The Swiss Alps have been a popular destination for active travelers for decades, offering opportunities to ski, hike, climb, and mountain bike their way across some of the most stunning landscapes on the planet. But, just because those adventurous souls might like to rough it during the day, doesn’t mean they can’t enjoy a bit of luxury in the evening. There are plenty of swanky mountain chalets and lodges available, but for a unique experience, consider a stay at Whitepod instead.

Located near Les Cerniers, Switzerland, Whitepod is a luxury eco-lodge that features a set of geodesic domes that have been custom-built to accommodate travelers. These unique suites are fully outfitted with a number of amenities designed to provide comfort and relaxation following a day of adventure in the mountains, while also fully immersing visitors in the culture and cuisine of the region.

Read: The Whitepod luxury eco-lodge is located in the heart of the Swiss Alps

Android Nougat jumps to more than 17 percent of active devices

According to the Android Developer Dashboard, Nougat devices now accounting for 17.8 percent of active Android devices together. Marshmallow is still the reigning king with an API level at 32 percent — with Lollipop still trailing close behind at 27.7 percent. Following the release of Oreo in August, the latest operating system is already on 0.2 percent of devices.

In contrast, Apple’s iOS 10, which was released in the middle of September, was installed on 89 percent of devices as of September 6.

Read: Android Nougat jumps to more than 17 percent of active devices

Tesla electric semitruck unveiling delayed until October

Earlier in 2017, Tesla CEO Elon Musk announced that the company’s much-discussed electric semitruck would be unveiled in September. The world will have to wait a little longer for the first official look at this electric big rig, but an image posted to Reddit could give us an early glimpse at the vehicle’s design.

As you would expect from the all-electric automaker, the semitruck looks aerodynamic, futuristic, and downright elegant. The truck appears significantly shorter than the official teaser photo at first glance, but keen-eyed Redditors theorized that the silver cap on the left could be the truck’s fairing and promptly photoshopped it on. Looks pretty close, doesn’t it? Tesla hasn’t officially commented on the photo thus far, so we may have to wait until the unveiling on October 26 for confirmation. For what it’s worth, Musk said on Twitter it will be “worth seeing this beast in person. It’s unreal.”

Read: Tesla electric semitruck unveiling delayed until October

 8 Infamous tech flops that were way ahead of their time

Not every tech product can be a winner in the marketplace, but some failures don’t deserve to be thought of as disasters. Whether it’s a good idea executed badly, a great product that was too expensive, or simply a futuristic idea which was way ahead of its time; here are eight tech flops which were later revisited more successfully.

Noble failures of tech, we salute you!

Read: 8 Infamous tech flops that were way ahead of their time

These goofy-looking earbuds are actually real-time in-ear translators

These earbuds aren’t meant for playing music or podcasts, but rather for communicating with people who speak a foreign language. Because not being a polyglot shouldn’t stop you from having a conversation with just about anyone in the world.

Rather than talking past one another in your respective languages, the WT2 claims to allow for real-time translation. That means that you can speak face-to-face with your fellow human, and immediately decipher his or her message without the need for a mediator. Promising natural, hands-free communication, the WT2 seeks to enable conversations in two different languages via two earphone translators and one app. Simply don one of the earphones, speak in your language, and your interlocutor will hear in theirs.

Read: These goofy-looking earbuds are actually real-time in-ear translators

Google Home Mini and Home Max shrinks and supersizes smart speaker offerings

If you’ve been keeping an eye out for leaks before today’s Google event, then chances are you know a lot about the new Google Home Mini, the puck-like Amazon Echo Dot equivalent, and Google Home Max, a Sonos-esque speaker. The two new additions to the Google Home lineup were formally unveiled at the event, confirming much about what we’d already heard.

Read: Google Home Mini and Home Max shrinks and supersizes smart speaker offerings

Weekly Rewind: Translating headphones, tech flops, Tesla trucks, and more

A lot can happen in a week when it comes to tech. The constant onslaught of news makes it nigh impossible for mere mortals with real lives to keep track of everything. That’s why we’ve compiled a quick and dirty list of this week’s top tech stories, from what happened at Google’s October 4 event to how one chef is looking to get us off our phones  — it’s all here.

The Pixel 2 looks amazing. So why did Google bother with all the other nonsense?

The Google Pixel 2 and Pixel 2 XL are well thought-out, feature-rich, and highly desirable sequels to the already excellent Pixel and Pixel XL. We predict they will be two of the best Android phones released this year and next, and we’re not exactly going out on a limb to say it. They formed the centerpiece of Google’s October 4 event, but were joined by quite a lot of other, far less interesting products. Imagine if they weren’t.

Read: The Pixel 2 looks amazing. So why did Google bother with all the other nonsense?

Here’s how one chef is encouraging diners to ditch their phones at the table

Restaurants can be quiet places these days. The sight of an entire table of diners gazing at their smartphones rather than their lovingly prepared food is a common one, and has led some restaurateurs to take matters into their own hands. The latest effort aimed at getting diners to engage with one another rather than with their handsets comes from award-winning chef Marco Canora. Based at Tuscan-American restaurant Hearth in Manhattan, Canora has placed special boxes on each table. On the box reads a note: “Open me!” while inside another one says, “We’d like to invite you to unplug during your meal here at Hearth. Feel free to use this box to put your phone away and connect with your fellow diners.”

Discussing the novel idea with dining guide Eater, Canora said, “If there’s one time in the 24 hours in your day that’s a time to engage with the person you’re with, it makes sense to me that it’s around the dinner table.”

Read: Here’s how one chef is encouraging diners to ditch their phones at the table

‘Titanic’ star Kate Winslet will reunite with James Cameron for ‘Avatar 2’

It’s been almost a decade since James Cameron’s Avatar hit theaters, but filming is currently underway on Avatar 2, the long-awaited sequel to the highest-grossing film of all time worldwide. The cast of the film is also filling out, with Academy Award winner Kate Winslet recently joining the project in a starring role.

Winslet will play a character named Ronal for the film, but little is known about her role other than the character’s name. However, the film will reunite Winslet with Cameron for the first time since the actress starred in 1997’s Titanic.

Read: ‘Titanic’ star Kate Winslet will reunite with James Cameron for ‘Avatar 2’

The Whitepod luxury eco-lodge is located in the heart of the Swiss Alps

The Swiss Alps have been a popular destination for active travelers for decades, offering opportunities to ski, hike, climb, and mountain bike their way across some of the most stunning landscapes on the planet. But, just because those adventurous souls might like to rough it during the day, doesn’t mean they can’t enjoy a bit of luxury in the evening. There are plenty of swanky mountain chalets and lodges available, but for a unique experience, consider a stay at Whitepod instead.

Located near Les Cerniers, Switzerland, Whitepod is a luxury eco-lodge that features a set of geodesic domes that have been custom-built to accommodate travelers. These unique suites are fully outfitted with a number of amenities designed to provide comfort and relaxation following a day of adventure in the mountains, while also fully immersing visitors in the culture and cuisine of the region.

Read: The Whitepod luxury eco-lodge is located in the heart of the Swiss Alps

Android Nougat jumps to more than 17 percent of active devices

According to the Android Developer Dashboard, Nougat devices now accounting for 17.8 percent of active Android devices together. Marshmallow is still the reigning king with an API level at 32 percent — with Lollipop still trailing close behind at 27.7 percent. Following the release of Oreo in August, the latest operating system is already on 0.2 percent of devices.

In contrast, Apple’s iOS 10, which was released in the middle of September, was installed on 89 percent of devices as of September 6.

Read: Android Nougat jumps to more than 17 percent of active devices

Tesla electric semitruck unveiling delayed until October

Earlier in 2017, Tesla CEO Elon Musk announced that the company’s much-discussed electric semitruck would be unveiled in September. The world will have to wait a little longer for the first official look at this electric big rig, but an image posted to Reddit could give us an early glimpse at the vehicle’s design.

As you would expect from the all-electric automaker, the semitruck looks aerodynamic, futuristic, and downright elegant. The truck appears significantly shorter than the official teaser photo at first glance, but keen-eyed Redditors theorized that the silver cap on the left could be the truck’s fairing and promptly photoshopped it on. Looks pretty close, doesn’t it? Tesla hasn’t officially commented on the photo thus far, so we may have to wait until the unveiling on October 26 for confirmation. For what it’s worth, Musk said on Twitter it will be “worth seeing this beast in person. It’s unreal.”

Read: Tesla electric semitruck unveiling delayed until October

 8 Infamous tech flops that were way ahead of their time

Not every tech product can be a winner in the marketplace, but some failures don’t deserve to be thought of as disasters. Whether it’s a good idea executed badly, a great product that was too expensive, or simply a futuristic idea which was way ahead of its time; here are eight tech flops which were later revisited more successfully.

Noble failures of tech, we salute you!

Read: 8 Infamous tech flops that were way ahead of their time

These goofy-looking earbuds are actually real-time in-ear translators

These earbuds aren’t meant for playing music or podcasts, but rather for communicating with people who speak a foreign language. Because not being a polyglot shouldn’t stop you from having a conversation with just about anyone in the world.

Rather than talking past one another in your respective languages, the WT2 claims to allow for real-time translation. That means that you can speak face-to-face with your fellow human, and immediately decipher his or her message without the need for a mediator. Promising natural, hands-free communication, the WT2 seeks to enable conversations in two different languages via two earphone translators and one app. Simply don one of the earphones, speak in your language, and your interlocutor will hear in theirs.

Read: These goofy-looking earbuds are actually real-time in-ear translators

Google Home Mini and Home Max shrinks and supersizes smart speaker offerings

If you’ve been keeping an eye out for leaks before today’s Google event, then chances are you know a lot about the new Google Home Mini, the puck-like Amazon Echo Dot equivalent, and Google Home Max, a Sonos-esque speaker. The two new additions to the Google Home lineup were formally unveiled at the event, confirming much about what we’d already heard.

Read: Google Home Mini and Home Max shrinks and supersizes smart speaker offerings

The best tech-focused documentaries of all time

Why it matters to you

These tech-themed documentaries will entertain and inform in equal measure.

Do you love tech? Enjoy documentaries? Then, boy, are you going to love our round-up of the best tech documentaries available for your viewing pleasure. (If you hate technology and non-fiction films, on the other hand, you’ve probably come to the wrong place.)

From underdog video game stories to films which explore what the internet is doing to us, here are our picks for the tech-related documentaries you need to see right now.

The King of Kong: A Fistful of Quarters (2007)

Probably the most obviously “fun” documentary on this list, King of Kong follows a narrative you’ll have seen in everything from Rocky to Karate Kid: an underdog hero’s journey as they battle against the odds to make it in the world.

In this case, the world our hero — a high school teacher named Steve Wiebe — wants to make it in is competitive videogaming, by securing the high score for arcade classic Donkey Kong. Against him is lank-haired arcade legend Billy Mitchell, who turns out to be a deliciously underhanded movie villain.

Lincoln Ruchti’s Chasing Ghosts: Beyond the Arcade is another great exploration of the golden age of arcade gaming, but it’s hard to match King of Kong when it comes to sheer nostalgic exuberance.

We Are Legion: The Story of Hacktivists (2012)

We Are Legion is a documentary about “hacktivist” collective Anonymous.The film puts the Guy Fawkes mask-wearing hacktivists into a historical context, by tracing their more modern 4chan incarnation back to the protest culture of the 1960s.

Director Brian Knappenberger manages to get some interesting interviews with real life Anonymous members, and poses the right moral and ethical questions. With both large scale hacks and protests only having gotten bigger since 2012, We Are Legion remains incredibly timely viewing.

The Man with the Movie Camera (1929)

It’s easy to think that the world we live in now — with the arrival of drones, robots, AI and 3D printing — is seeing profound change than at virtually any other point in history. This documentary, the oldest on our list by more than half a century, will challenge that belief.

A highly experimental film shot directed, written and edited by the Soviet filmmaker Dziga Vertov, The Man with the Movie Camera sets out to depict what was then the modern city, freshly transformed by mechanization and electrification.

High on Marxist propaganda this film may be, but there’s something exhilarating about seeing a largely cynicism-free dream of human and machine working side by side to create something bigger out of individual pieces. You know when folks say “they don’t make them like this any more?” Well, they don’t make them like that any more.

All Watched Over By Machines of Loving Grace (2011)

A sprawling, 180-minute documentary that was screened in three separate parts, 2011’s All Watched Over by Machines of Loving Grace is the work of British filmmaker Adam Curtis. Far more of a personal nonfiction essay than a fly-on-the-wall documentary, its central premise is that computers have singularly failed to liberate humanity in the way their countercultural forefathers promised.

With that overarching argument, AWOBMOLG (the unwieldy title comes from a 1967 poem) veers from analyzing Ayn Rand’s influence on Silicon Valley to exploring the ecological dreams of Buckminster Fuller to cybernetics and evolution; somehow stitching them together into a cohesive whole.

You may or may not agree with everything this documentary says, but you’ll come away feeling like you’ve just read one of the most thought-provoking New Yorker articles in years.

We Live in Public (2009)

The notion that, to some degree, social media has made our private lives public isn’t really up for debate here in 2017. But the idea that this was possible — or desirable — wasn’t quite so clear in the 1990s. Step forward Josh Harris, one of the first dot-com millionaires, and a man described as “the greatest internet pioneer you’ve never heard of.”

An eccentric individual pitched somewhere between artist, entrepreneur, and troll, Harris managed to burn through his personal fortune by putting together weird social experiment projects like one in which 100 artists lived together in a webcam-filled underground bunker in New York, or a similar endeavor in which he and his girlfriend lived in a similarly surveilled apartment — with the world able to tune in to watch their every move.

Edited from more than 5,000 hours of footage, shot over 10 years, We Live in Public is a fascinating, funny, and sometimes disturbing document of dot-com era excess, which also manages to ask some probing questions about our connected world today.

Downloaded (2013)

This documentary, directed by Alex Winter, a.k.a. “Bill” from the Bill & Ted movies, tells the story of Napster and the rise of file-sharing services in the 1990s. It’s a slick production about an important chapter in internet history, with some impressive names among the interview list.

It may not have too many surprises if you followed this story closely at the time, but Downloaded is an intriguing enough tale to warrant a place on this list. Since it’s about the challenges of copyright in the age of the internet, it would go very well with the next documentary on our list…

The Internet’s Own Boy: The Story of Aaron Swartz (2014)

The Internet’s Own Boy tells the story of Aaron Schwarz, a computer programmer and copyright activist who committed suicide after being charged with a maximum of $1 million in damages and 35 years in prison for downloading large numbers of academic journal articles to make them freely available.

Filmmaker Brian Knappenberger is firmly on Schwarz’ side, but it’s hard not to be when you hear about the extent to which Schwarz was hounded by the U.S. Justice Department.

Indie Game: The Movie (2012)

The second game-related documentary on our list, Indie Game focuses primarily on the independent game developers behind Super Meat Boy and Fez as they struggle to make their dream projects a reality.

If you’ve never dipped a toe into the world of gaming outside of the big AAA Call of Duty-style franchises, being introduced to the deeply personal world of indie gaming is like discovering the world of independent movies and alternative music (back when both labels meant something) for the first time. If you are familiar with indie gaming titles — either as a player or a creator — Indie Game presents a compellingly relatable take on a familiar story.

For All Mankind (1989)

If you’re like a lot of folks, you hear about a documentary concerning the Apollo mission and man landing on the moon and think a) what a spectacular achievement that was and b) I already know that story. That’s kind of the point in this instance. By now, footage of the moon landings is one of those things we’ve seen so many times that it loses some of its impact. Director Al Reinert pulled no punches when, in 1990, he brutally told one interviewer that the story has, “been covered and treated as news to the point where it bores everyone to tears.”

What makes For All Mankind so special was the discovery, by Reinert, of a massive archive of unseen NASA footage of the missions. Compiling beautiful celluloid footage from all six successful Apollo lunar landings, Reinert presents a documentary that (one imagines) captures the sheer majesty and transcendence of what space travel must feel like at its best. Oh, and there’s a wonderfully ethereal score by Brian Eno.

The Motion, TCL’s first full-touchscreen Blackberry, due later this year

Why it matters to you

The BlackBerry Motion, which could be the first BlackBerry phone without a physical keyboard since the Storm, might launch before the year’s end.

BlackBerry might not design phones anymore, but its largest licensee, TCL, wasted no time in filling the old guard’s shoes. In 2016 alone, the Chinese holding company launched no fewer than three devices — the DTEK50, the DTEK60, and the flagship KeyOne featuring BlackBerry’s signature chiclet keys, enterprise software, and soft-touch plastic. If the rumors are true, a fourth phone — the BlackBerry Motion (or BlackBerry Krypton, depending on who you ask) — might be around the corner.

The BlackBerry Motion is said to be an all-metal, high-end Android phone that’s radically different from TCL’s existing lineup. It reportedly has a bezel-less touchscreen, a fingerprint scanner, and a 3.5mm headphone jack, and it could launch as soon as late 2017.

Here’s everything we know about the Blackberry Motion so far.

Design and display

Goodbye, Krypton.

Hello, BlackBerry Motion pic.twitter.com/lBsdpORHW4

— Evan Blass (@evleaks) October 5, 2017

The BlackBerry Motion’s specifications remain a mystery, for the most part, but we have a pretty good idea of what the phone will look like.

VentureBeat’s Evan Blass leaked a render of the BlackBerry Motion in early October, and it’s a departure from TCL’s previous BlackBerry smartphones. A chamfered metal band wraps around the phone’s outer edges and houses two ports, a USB-C port and a 3.5mm headphone jack, and three buttons. One might be a Convenience key, a physical switch (and holdover from the BlackBerry KeyOne) that can be programmed to an app, setting, or routine.

Then there’s the screen. Assuming the render is accurate, the BlackBerry Motion will boast an edge-to-edge display, which would make it the first BlackBerry handset without a physical keyboard since the BlackBerry Storm. Beneath it appears to be a touch-sensitive, BlackBerry-branded button that reportedly serves as a fingerprint sensor.

Cameras

The BlackBerry KeyOne wasn’t known for its picture quality, but the BlackBerry Motion might be different. According to WinFuture’s Roland Quandt, it has a Sony IMX378 sensor — the same 12-megapixel, 4K-capable sensor as the Google Pixel and Pixel XL. Quandt says the front camera is a Samsung S5K4H8 8-megapixel model with a 1.12 sensor size and a 1080p/30 frames per second shooting mode

Specs

The BlackBerry Motion’s hardware is shrouded in mystery, but a leaked profile page on TCL’s servers hints at the specs.

According to the webpage, the BlackBerry Motion has a Qualcomm Snapdragon 625 or 626 processor and 4GB of RAM. The aforementioned touchscreen is reportedly Full HD (1,920 x 1,080 pixels) in resolution, and the battery is 4,000mAh (about 500mAh larger than the BlackBerry KeyOne’s power pack).

It’s also said to be waterproof. The BlackBerry Motion’s metal-and-glass casing is reportedly IP67 certified to withstand up to three-and-a-half-feet of water for 30 minutes.

Price and release date

The BlackBerry Motion is expected to launch by the end of this year, but we don’t know exactly when.

Recent regulatory filings hint at a release date, though. In late August, a phone with the model number BDD100-2 — or BlackBerry Krypton — passed through the Wi-Fi Alliance, and subsequently the Federal Communications Commission. When it comes to phones, that’s usually a sign of an impending launch.

Whenever the BlackBerry Motion does arrive, it’ll likely be widely available. Quandt reports it’ll launch on AT&T, Sprint, and Verizon later this year, with Dual-SIM variants in China to follow soon after.

The world’s most precise clock keeps time within quadrillionths of a second

Why it matters to you

New atomic clock will help answer some fundamental questions about quantum physics. And maybe stop us being late for meetings, too!

Think your internet-connected smartwatch or expensive Rolex is the best way of keeping time? An international team of physicists want to challenge that assertion, courtesy of their new atomic clock — which is capable of measuring time down to a couple quadrillionths of a second.

Atomic clocks have been around since 1948, but the new design puts a fresh spin on the technology. It packs strontium atoms — used for carrying out the time measurement — into a tiny three-dimensional cube at 1,000 times the density of previous one-dimensional atomic clocks. Doing so allows the researchers to then use ultra-stable lasers to harness the behavior of so-called ‘quantum gas’ to create a practical measurement device. The result is, in essence, the most steady metronome ever built, with a tick rates six times more precise than the now hopelessly imprecise former record holder.

“Our measurement precision and accuracy should be limited only by the fundamental laws of nature, quantum mechanics,” physicist Jun Ye, from the National Institute of Standards and Technology, told Digital Trends. “Atoms involved in this generation of atomic clocks are prepared in fully controlled quantum mechanical states, including both internal and external degrees of freedom. The more atoms we use, the clearer the clock signal that enable a more precise measurement.”

The big difference between this and previous work in the area is the arrangement of the strontium atoms. Prior optical lattices were liable to lose rhythm because of the looser formation of the atoms. In the new clock, these atoms are kept much closer together in a tight grid-like structure, similar to how you might see egg cartons stacked up in a grocery store. This more rigid configuration means they can’t bump against one another.

So what is such an accurate clock going to be used for? “Explore the frontiers of measurement science and quantum physics, and see where they can lead us,” Ye said. “You can say that this is more on the fundamental research front, exploring our intellectual curiosity.”

Ultimately, he says, the goal is to solve unanswered conundrums, such as the exact connection between quantum physics and gravity, as well as aiding in the search for things like dark matter. “Along with the scientific quest, we [will also] continue to develop new technologies such as quantum-based sensors that can have a wide range of applications in society,” Ye continued. “A more precise and accurate atomic clock will be part of the foundation of physical units and standards that modern societies rely on. They will play important roles in advanced communications and future space missions.”

A paper describing the work was recently published in the journal Science.

Elon Musk wants to overhaul Puerto Rico’s outdated electrical grid

Why it matters to you

Elon Musk could be about to get the opportunity to show what Tesla’s solar energy technology can do on a large scale.

In the wake of the devastation wrought by Hurricane Maria, Puerto Rico is still without power. The island’s infrastructure was due for an upgrade even before the recent natural disaster, and now it seems that one of the biggest names in the technology industry might be taking on the mission to make that happen.

SpaceX and Tesla CEO Elon Musk has already sent hundreds of its Powerwall batteries to Puerto Rico as a stopgap. On Thursday, October 5, he took to Twitter to state that his company has the means to provide the necessary support to rebuild its power grid.

“The Tesla team has done this for many smaller islands around the world, but there is no scalability limit, so it can be done for Puerto Rico too,” tweeted Musk. He went on to stress that the company would need the blessing of the Puerto Rican government, the Public Utility Commission, any commercial stakeholders, and the island’s residents.

Puerto Rico’s governor Ricardo Rossello responded to Musk just hours later, according to a report from the Huffington Post. He suggested that the island could be a “flagship project” for Tesla’s technology, giving the company an opportunity to demonstrate just how effective its methods of harvesting and storing solar power can be.

Last year, Tesla subsidiary SolarCity led a project that installed a microgrid system on the island of Ta’u in American Samoa. As a result, the company stated that almost 100 percent of its power needs would be catered to by renewable energy.

This new technology obviously has some major benefits from an environmental perspective. It’s also much more reliable, and would likely be more resilient when future storms roll in — not to mention cheaper to run than the current system, which relies on imported oil.

There are big questions to be asked about the timescale of the project, as there is a pressing need to return power to residents. It took a year to install the microgrid system on Ta’u, an island that spans just 17 square miles. Puerto Rico is much larger, at 3,515 square miles.

Musk is confident that scalability won’t be an issue, but for residents of Puerto Rico, such a dramatic overhaul of the power infrastructure might take too long to come to pass.

Best Portable Bluetooth Speakers

Take your music with you with a portable Bluetooth speaker.

Portable Bluetooth speakers are one of the best ways to take those excellent audio waves with you everywhere. Compatible with practically every device out there, Bluetooth speakers will make sure that, as long as your phone, tablet, or laptop is around, your music is loud!

We’ve rounded up some of the best portable Bluetooth speakers that you can take with you just about anywhere!

• Sony SRS-X5
• Bose Soundlink Mini II
• UE Boom 2
• UE Roll 2
• Riva Turbo X
• Anker SoundCore
• Amazon Tap

Sony SRS-X55

Sony has a whole line of Bluetooth speakers that vary in size, but, if we are talking about the best portable speakers, it would be a shame to forget about the SRS-X55.

Let’s get to the most important part of any speaker: the sound quality. It works on a 2.1 channel system, meaning it has a dedicated driver for bass to deliver a great low-end without muddling the rest of the sound at all, which, from this 2.5-pound machine, is impressive, to say the least.

We aren’t the only ones who think the Sony-X5 is worth your $160, CNET gave it 4 out of 5 stars:

“For a relatively compact wireless speaker, the simple but classy-looking Sony SRS-X5 offers excellent sound with strong bass.”

Sony clearly had functionality on the brain when designing the SRS-X5. Not only does it work with Bluetooth, but it also has NFC compatibility and a standard 3.5-millimeter jack, so you should have no problem getting all your favorites devices to play through it. On top of what you can plug into it, Sony has also thrown in a USB port for charging your phone or tablet on the go, making the SRS-X55 one of the most versatile Bluetooth speakers in its class.

See at Amazon

Bose SoundLink Mini II

The Bose Soundlink Mini 2 is an incredibly well-rounded wireless speaker, offering top-notch audio quality and portability for about $200. It only weighs about 1.2 pounds making it perfect for carrying it around wherever you go.

The Wirecutter has extensively tested Bluetooth speakers and enjoys the performance of the Soundlink Mini II

“It’s shocking to hear how much better the SoundLink Mini II comes across than most competitors, with clearer voices and a fuller sound closer to what you might expect to hear from a decent small stereo system.”

A charging base keeps it going while you’re home. Meanwhile, a big battery provides up to 10 hours of tunes while you’re away. Plus, you can pair two devices simultaneously to bring in your calls and music from anywhere.

See at Amazon

UE Boom 2

Living up to its onomatopoeic name, the UE Boom 2 is an impressive speaker, offering 360-degree sound in a truly portable package.

The Boom 2 has a very high water-resistant rating, allowing it to be submerged in three feet of water for 30 minutes and emerge just fine. It’s also protected against dirt and mud, but you can hand-wash the speaker with warm, soapy water just in case it gets messy.

UE Boom 2’s battery will last you approximately 15 hours of playing time and has a Bluetooth range of 100 feet, giving you more than enough time and space to enjoy all the sounds you want to hear. Plus, if you find yourself lacking the volume you want from just one UE Boom 2, you have the option to set up another one to make a stereo pair and raise the roof.

The UE Boom also has the added pleasure of a controller app that you can use to skip songs, adjust volume and pause music without having to touch the speaker at all. You can pick up a UE Boom 2 in a wide variety of colors for about $200.

See at Amazon

UE Roll 2

The UE Roll 2 has a cool design meant to follow you wherever you go. It has a great waterproof rating, meaning it can even follow you to the beach and the convenient strap allows you to hang it from anywhere. Plus, it also comes with a little life preserver that allows it to float, meaning you can bring this speaker to a pool party.

This is Wirecutter’s top pick in their portable Bluetooth speaker roundup, citing its versatility and portability as key selling points.

“The UE Roll 2 sounds full, with smooth reproduction of everything from bass notes to cymbals, and it plays loud enough to fill a hotel room or a spot at the beach with sound.”

Volume on this little guy is impressive and can be even more impressive if you pair another UE Roll 2 with it. It has an app you can download, which allows you to completely control playback from afar. The UE Roll 2 will cost you about $100.

See at Amazon

Riva Turbo X

The Riva Turbo X is often overlooked due to its slightly higher price point (about $280), but fans of the Riva Turbo X will tell you to look twice.

When it comes to portability, the Riva Turbo X is a tad on the big side; however, when it comes to power, the Riva Turbo X is the real deal. The Wirecutter was quick to mention how sleek and sturdy the design was, citing it as “refined and elegant-looking.”

If you’re looking for a Bluetooth speaker to blow the doors off your place, the Riva Turbo X will have you smiling — and probably covering your ears.

See at Amazon

Anker SoundCore

Although Anker is usually praised for its battery banks, the Anker SoundCore is a surprisingly good little speaker.

With only five buttons atop this rectangle, the SoundCore is pretty minimalist in its design. It won’t look out of place anywhere, and it’s only $70, which is a big hit with its fans.

Battery life is where the Anker SoundCore stands out above all the rest; a full charge will last you roughly 24 hours of playback, which is perfect for taking it camping or on a road trip away from wall outlets.

See at Amazon

Amazon Tap

I couldn’t leave the Amazon Tap off this list because you’re not going to find a more useful Bluetooth speaker, especially at its $130 price point.

On top of being powered by Dolby Audio and offering 306-degree sound, the Amazon Tap has Alexa. You simply have to tap the speaker and ask Alexa to play Spotify, Pandora, iHeartRadio, you name it, and it starts playing instantly. Plus, if you’re using the Tap at home (or anywhere with a Wi-FI connection) Alexa becomes even more useful.

The Amazon Tap will give you nine hours of playback time on a single charge, and it comes with a nice charging cradle that keeps it upright and looking great even when it’s refilling its tank.

See at Amazon

How do you take your music with you?

Are you constantly listening to your favorite jams on a portable Bluetooth speaker? Why do you love it and what kind do you have? Let us know in the comments below!

Updated September 2017: We’ve taken the Bose Soundlink III off our list because of lack of availability.

Google Pixel 2 will automatically enable Do Not Disturb if you’re driving

The Pixel 2’s Driving mode will enable Do Not Disturb when it detects you’re in a vehicle in an effort to cut down on distractions.

The Google Pixel 2 and Pixel 2 XL feature a lot of improvements and new features compared to their predecessors, but perhaps one of the coolest additions is Pixel Ambient Services. This is the application that allows the Pixel 2/Pixel 2 XL to automatically identify songs that are playing in the background, but that’s apparently not all it’ll be able to do from day one.

Google listed the Pixel Ambient Services app on the Play Store right ahead of its unveiling for the Pixel 2, and while this offers a handful of screenshots for how the music ID feature will work, there’s another screenshot that reveals a feature Google didn’t mention at its big event – automatic Do Not Disturb while driving.

According to the screenshot, this new “Driving” mode “automatically turns on Do Not Disturb while you’re in a moving vehicle, determined by device motion and Bluetooth connections.” It appears that your Do Not Disturb profile is set to Total Silence by default, but there should be the option to change it to either Alarms Only or Priority Only if you’d like.

It can be far too easy these days to get distracted while on the road, so it’s nice to see that Google is including a small touch like this to hopefully encourage people to leave their phone alone while zipping along at breakneck speeds. However, if you’re a passenger in a vehicle and want to make sure that your phone doesn’t think you’re driving, you do have the option to toggle this Driving mode off to ensure you don’t miss any notifications.

Google Pixel 2 and Pixel 2 XL

• Google Pixel 2 and 2 XL hands-on: Act two is great
• Google Pixel 2 specs
• Google Pixel 2 vs. Pixel 2 XL: What’s the difference?
• Pixel 2 vs iPhone 8: Camera Showdown
• Pixel 2 FAQ: Everything you need to know!
• Join our Pixel 2 forums

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