Faster Wi-Fi is in the cards for passengers on Cathay and Emirates airlines

Your time in the skies may not fly by at 500 miles per hour (even if that’s how fast your airplane is moving), especially with Wi-Fi speeds that feel more like they’re crawling on the ground. But now that two airlines have made commitments to bringing faster connectivity speeds to their flights, you may finally feel as though your flight is as efficient as it really is. Cathay Pacific Group has announced its decision to bring GoGo’s 2Ku satellite-based broadband technology onboard beginning mid-next year, while Emirates is collaborating with Thales to bring 50Mbps Wi-Fi to its Boeing 777X fleet by 2020.

So while you’ll still have to wait awhile to enjoy these upgraded speeds, perhaps by the next decade’s holiday season, you’ll have something to keep you occupied on your way home.

Cathay’s new partner, GoGo, is said to be the “industry’s leading inflight connectivity solution,” and claims to deliver “an internet experience comparable to what passengers have on the ground.” Airlines across North and South America, as well as Europe and now Asia, make use of GoGo’s services, and Cathay is the latest to join the bunch.

Though GoGo hasn’t made clear how fast its new offerings will be, folks flying Emirates will soon be able to enjoy 50Mbps speeds on Emirates flights. “The new agreement is part of Emirates and Thales’ plans to develop state-of-the-art inflight entertainment and connectivity (IFEC) on the airline’s new Boeing 777X fleet,” the company noted in a press release. The airline claims that 800,000 passengers per month currently connect to in-flight Wi-Fi, and this number is expected to increase with the provision of faster services.

Faster or more substantial connectivity options is nothing novel for airlines to be offering in our hyper-connected world. For example, JetBlue recently began providing free Wi-Fi to all customers, while Delta gave passengers the option of using WhatsApp, Facebook Messenger, and iMessage for free on any Wi-Fi-equipped flight.

So if you need to keep folks on the ground abreast of what’s happening to you in the skies, or want to stay in the know about earthly happenings, these new internet options just may be what you’ve been waiting for.

Editors’ Recommendations

• Chat in the air: Delta rolls out free in-flight messaging
• Abbi Jacobson is headlining a Virgin Atlantic comedy festival at 35,000 feet
• Take to the virtual skies with these free flight simulators
• New subscription-based SkyHi flight app offers outrageously low airfares
• Elon Musk wants SpaceX to rocket you anywhere in the world — in under an hour

Get the PlayStation VR for $200 plus more VR bundles on sale

Don’t just play the game, be the game.

Is this deal for me?

Newegg has the PlayStation VR for PlayStation 4 on sale for $199.99 which is down from its original price of $299.99. All you have to do is plug the VR headset and your PlayStation camera into your PS4 and you are ready to go.

This headset features a 5.7-inch OLED 1080p display and runs up to 120 frames per second. The 3D audio technology allows you to pinpoint sounds above, below, and all around you making your experience that much more realistic. The LEDs around the PlayStation VR headset, on the DualShock 4 wireless controller, and the PlayStation Move motion controller are tracked by the PlayStation Camera, capturing your exact natural movement in virtual space.

Play games like Star Wars Battlefront Rogue One: X-wing VR Mission, Batman Arkham VR, Starblood Arena and Farpoint.

Amazon has some deals on VR’s too. The PlayStation VR (used) is on sale for $270.99 from a third-party seller. The PlayStation VR – Skyrim Bundle is $349 down from $449.99, and the PlayStation VR – Gran Turismo Sport Bundle is $299, which is 25% off its original price of $399.99.

TL;DR

• What makes this deal worth considering? – This price won’t be around for long because this sale ends tonight.
• Things to know before you buy! – Shipping will run you $5.99, but it’s free with ShopRunner or Premier. You will also need a PlayStation 4 for this VR and a PlayStation Camera which are both sold separately.

Honor 7X preview: Performance and style for less

Honor’s latest affordable flagship has an 18:9 display and dual-camera capabilities — for (probably) less than you’d expect.

Honor’s “X” series of phones has always toed a fine line in terms of hardware, feature set and price point. The Honor 5X was one of the first handsets to bring metal construction and fingerprint recognition to a cheaper price tier. And a year ago, the Honor 6X added a surprisingly competent dual camera rig to the experience.

As 2017 draws to a close, the Honor 7X makes things even more competitive. The new phone has been soft-announced announced today ahead of Honor’s full launch event on December 5, and assuming it keeps to a price point in line with its predecessors, it could be one of the most compelling sub-€300 phones we’ve seen.

Starting on the outside, the Honor 7X broadly resembles a mash-up between an Honor 8 Pro and a Huawei Mate 10 Pro. It boasts a new, taller 18:9 aspect ratio, with a 5.93-inch Full HD+ (2160×1080) LCD panel — a first for what we assume will be something priced similarly to the 6X.

And around the back, a brushed, anodized aluminum chassis that’s almost identical to the much more expensive Honor 8 Pro — including the signature navy blue hue that’ll be the main color for the UK. (There’ll also be a black model for the color-averse.)

You could argue about whether, like the 6X and 5X, the design is a bit derivative. What’s more important is that there’s nothing at all cheap-feeling about this phone. Around the front, the 2.5D glass of the display finally has an oleophobic coating, which sounds like a small thing, but is hugely important in stopping the screen getting gunked up by fingerprints. That’s aside from the tall aspect ratio that gives makes phone just as modern-looking as a OnePlus 5T or LG V30.

The premium design and brushed finish of the Honor 7X takes a step beyond 6X and 5X.

Fortunately, the flagship-like aesthetics of the Honor 7X don’t come at the cost of durability. While Honor isn’t advertising the phone as being drop-resistant in the same way as a Moto Z2 Force, the 7X does boast reinforced corners — the main impact point for any drop — to reduce the likelihood of permanent damage if it hits the floor. I haven’t put this to the test with my unit (yet), but I did witness the phone survive a few impromptu drop tests at a meeting in London ahead of today’s announcement.

On the inside, the Honor 7X runs the latest of Huawei’s mid-level Kirin chips, the Kirin 659 — an octa-core 16nm part, along with 4GB of RAM and (in the UK) 64GB of storage, plus microSD. Like many other dual-SIM phones, the 7X’s hybrid slot can support either a single SIM plus SD Card, or two SIMs and no SD card.

For photography, you’re looking at a 16-megapixel main camera with PDAF (phase-detection autofocus), backed up by a 2-megapixel secondary sensor for depth-sensing and portrait mode. (Unlike some Huawei-built phones, the secondary sensor doesn’t capture fine details, it just captures depth.)

We haven’t spent a whole lot of time with the Honor 7X’s cameras just yet — look out for our full review for a more comprehensive take — but the handful of indoor shots I took in a dimly-lit breakfast bar looked decent. The Honor 7X’s photos looked a little smudgier than pics from a Huawei Mate 10 Pro I was also carrying — nevertheless, the cheaper device managed to hold its own.

Around the front, there’s an 8-megapixel setup that’s also capable of capturing portrait mode shots — a feature that’s only just starting to gain prominence in the Android world.

A solid loadout of specs — though you’ll be dealing with Android Nougat out of the box.

There are a few compromises hidden away in the 7X’s attractive chassis, though. It charges over microUSB, a decision which presumably saves money, but seems bizarre for any phone in late 2017. And quick charging is limited to 5V/2A with the built-in plug.

There is at least a 3.5mm headphone jack, which supports audio enhancements through Huawei’s HiSten tuning technology.

And the 7X promises at least decent longevity, thanks to the same 3,340mAh internal battery capacity that served the 6X well. That’s nothing to write home about in the flagship space, but should be plenty for a device like the 7X, running lower-powered silicon.

On the software side, the compromises of running a mid-range chip are also apparent: The Honor 7X runs the older EMUI 5.1, based on Android 7.0 Nougat, as opposed to the newer EMUI 8 found in Kirin 970-powered handsets. Visually, this doesn’t make a whole lot of difference, and Honor has even ported some of EMUI 8’s more useful features back to the older software. Apps that don’t support 18:9 natively can easily be scaled up to fill the full size of the display. And some messaging apps can (optionally) open messages in a split-screen view if you’re watching full-screen video.

Besides that, this is EMUI 5.1 just as we’ve seen it on a number of phones over the past twelve months. It’s an improvement on what came before, with a clean blue-and-white color scheme, but there’s still some software weirdness, including a suboptimal lock screen notification system.

We’ll learn more about pricing and availability for the Honor 7X on December 5.

Any device shipping with Nougat at this stage is less than ideal, though in the case of what (likely) will be a cheaper handset, it’s not the end of the world. Honor says it’s planning to update the 7X to Android 8.0 Oreo and EMUI 8 in the first quarter of 2018, but it’s not going into specific dates just yet.

Honor isn’t announcing pricing details for the 7X until the December event, but considering the starting price of the 6X, and the hardware included in the new phone, you might expect a price comfortably within the sub-€300 ballpark.

Stay tuned for our full Honor 7X review, along with coverage from the launch event on December 5.

Texas authorities serve Apple a warrant for mass shooter’s iPhone

Authorities are persisting in their efforts to get access to the Texas mass shooter’s iPhone despite having missed an early opportunity. The San Antonio Express-News has learned that Texas Rangers served Apple warrants for data on both the perpetrator’s iPhone SE and a basic LG cellphone. In the case of the iPhone, the state law enforcement unit wants access to both local and iCloud info (such as calls, messages and photos) produced since January 1st, 2016.

It’s not known whether officials have obtained information since the warrants were obtained on November 9th. The company declined to comment to the Express-News citing a policy against speaking about law enforcement matters. In a previous statement, though, Apple said it had offered assistance to the FBI “immediately” after a November 7th press conference on the mass shooting, and vowed to “expedite” its response. The FBI didn’t reach out for help.

The Rangers’ warrant puts Apple in a difficult position. Although at least some iCloud data is accessible with a warrant, the iPhone itself is another issue. Police missed their opportunity to use the shooter’s fingerprint to unlock the phone without a passcode, and the nature of iOS’ encryption makes it very difficult for Apple and anyone else to access locked-down data. In the case of the San Bernardino attack, the FBI paid security experts at Cellebrite to get to a shooter’s files. Apple may once again be faced with a situation where it can’t fully comply with data requests.

Via: AppleInsider, TechCrunch

Source: My San Antonio

Tesla Roadster will get even quicker through an option package

When Tesla unveiled a brand new Roadster, it noted that the vaunted 1.9-second 0-60MPH time was present in the base model — implying that there might be headroom for even higher performance. But is there? Apparently, yes. Elon Musk has clarified that there will be a “special options package” that brings the Roadster’s speed to “the next level.” It’s vague, to be sure (does this include Founders Edition models?), but it does indicate that what Tesla quoted wasn’t necessarily the best it could muster.

It’s easy for Tesla to make these promises when the first Roadsters aren’t expected to ship until 2020. This gives it plenty of time to tackle the challenge and figure out exactly how much power they can wring out of this design. However, an even faster car is more plausible than it might seem. The key to the Roadster’s breakneck pace is cramming a 200kWh battery (twice what a Model S P100D has) into a compact body. It wouldn’t take a dramatically larger power pack to see substantial gains, even considering the added weight that usually comes with bigger EV batteries.

As it is, even a modest improvement could make the Roadster tough to beat, at least in some situations. At present, the fastest factory 0-60 time outside of Tesla belongs to Dodge’s Challenger SRT Demon at 2.3 seconds, and that’s a stripped-down single-seater. There are cars with higher top speeds, like Koenigsegg’s Agera RS, but they’re either no longer in production or aren’t as quick to hit the 60MPH mark. Provided the Roadster lives up to Tesla’s bragging, it might only face serious competition once other automakers commit to electric supercars.

Should clarify that this is the base model performance. There will be a special option package that takes it to the next level.

— Elon Musk (@elonmusk) November 19, 2017

Source: Elon Musk (Twitter)

High-tech neuroprosthetic ‘Luke’ arm lets amputee touch and feel again

“When I went to grab something, I could feel myself grabbing it. When I thought about moving this or that finger, it would move almost right away,” Keven Walgamott said. “I don’t know how to describe it except that it was like I had a hand again.”

Walgamott was describing the results of an experimental surgery to The Washington Post, where a prosthetic known as the “Luke” arm had been attached with electrodes implanted into his nerves. The real estate agent had lost his hand and most of his arm in an electrical accident 14 years ago, and he volunteered for the program at the University of Utah.

The fingers and hand of the neuroprosthetic device can be controlled by his own nerve impulses. Researchers even worked to restore the sense of touch, allowing him to pick up and manipulate objects.

Researchers dubbed it the “Luke” arm, after the legendary Jedi of Star Wars fame. It was developed by Dean Kamen, inventor of the Segway, with additional funding from the Defense Advanced Research Projects Agency (DARPA).

Scientist discovered that adding touch to robotic hands improves motor skills and reduces the feeling of “phantom pain,” an unpleasant experience many amputees grapple with. “By adding sensory feedback, it becomes a closed-loop system that mimics biology,” said Jacob George or the University of Utah.

A device known as the Utah Slanted Electrode Array was implanted directly into the nerves in Walgamott’s upper arm. In conjunction with the with electrodes implanted in his muscles, the USEA let him easily control his robotic hand just as if he was making a fist or picking up an object. It took several years to incorporate sensations into the “Luke” arm, by mapping out spots on the hand that correspond with which various nerve fibers in the arm.

Walgamott is delighted with the new arm and the things he can do with it, such as picking up a grape without crushing it or holding his wife’s hand. But his greatest joy is being able to do one of those mundane things that we all take for granted — putting a pillow in a pillowcase.

“When you have just one hand, you learn to adapt,” he said. “To just take a pillow in one hand and put the pillowcase on with the other. I know it sounds simple, but it’s amazing.”

Editors’ Recommendations

• Carnegie Mellon’s new robot can use its legs as arms, arms as legs
• Take steps now to see if your data was stolen in the Equifax hack
• Watch a robot named YuMi conduct Andrea Bocceli, and prove no job is safe
• Martin Scorsese is producing a Joker origin film, and he wants DiCaprio to star
• Take steps now to see if your data was stolen in the Equifax hack

High-tech neuroprosthetic ‘Luke’ arm lets amputee touch and feel again

“When I went to grab something, I could feel myself grabbing it. When I thought about moving this or that finger, it would move almost right away,” Keven Walgamott said. “I don’t know how to describe it except that it was like I had a hand again.”

Walgamott was describing the results of an experimental surgery to The Washington Post, where a prosthetic known as the “Luke” arm had been attached with electrodes implanted into his nerves. The real estate agent had lost his hand and most of his arm in an electrical accident 14 years ago, and he volunteered for the program at the University of Utah.

The fingers and hand of the neuroprosthetic device can be controlled by his own nerve impulses. Researchers even worked to restore the sense of touch, allowing him to pick up and manipulate objects.

Researchers dubbed it the “Luke” arm, after the legendary Jedi of Star Wars fame. It was developed by Dean Kamen, inventor of the Segway, with additional funding from the Defense Advanced Research Projects Agency (DARPA).

Scientist discovered that adding touch to robotic hands improves motor skills and reduces the feeling of “phantom pain,” an unpleasant experience many amputees grapple with. “By adding sensory feedback, it becomes a closed-loop system that mimics biology,” said Jacob George or the University of Utah.

A device known as the Utah Slanted Electrode Array was implanted directly into the nerves in Walgamott’s upper arm. In conjunction with the with electrodes implanted in his muscles, the USEA let him easily control his robotic hand just as if he was making a fist or picking up an object. It took several years to incorporate sensations into the “Luke” arm, by mapping out spots on the hand that correspond with which various nerve fibers in the arm.

Walgamott is delighted with the new arm and the things he can do with it, such as picking up a grape without crushing it or holding his wife’s hand. But his greatest joy is being able to do one of those mundane things that we all take for granted — putting a pillow in a pillowcase.

“When you have just one hand, you learn to adapt,” he said. “To just take a pillow in one hand and put the pillowcase on with the other. I know it sounds simple, but it’s amazing.”

Editors’ Recommendations

• Carnegie Mellon’s new robot can use its legs as arms, arms as legs
• Take steps now to see if your data was stolen in the Equifax hack
• Watch a robot named YuMi conduct Andrea Bocceli, and prove no job is safe
• Martin Scorsese is producing a Joker origin film, and he wants DiCaprio to star
• Take steps now to see if your data was stolen in the Equifax hack

Samsung is working on a detachable two-in-one Chromebook

When it comes to portable computers, consumers now have more options than ever. There are doubtless plenty of people who make do with a smartphone, but those wanting a larger screen have the choice of a tablet or traditional notebook computer. Both options have their pros and cons. Laptops offer a larger screen, better keyboards, and are usually more powerful, but they’re also typically more expensive and less portable.

Detachables offer an appealing middle-ground between tablets and notebook computer. A detachable is basically a tablet that comes with a connected keyboard, so you can use it as a traditional notebook. And if you want to use it as a standard touchscreen tablet, then simply remove the display from the keyboard.

Detachables have become fairly popular with the rise of the Microsoft Surface, but most of them are pretty pricey. The Surface Book 2 is a great piece of hardware, but it starts at more than $1,000. This brings us to Chrome Unboxed’s report that Samsung is working on a detachable Chromebook.

Generally, Chromebooks, which uses Google’s custom Chrome OS, are more affordable than Windows or Mac laptops. There are some outliers such as the Pixelbook, but Chromebooks generally cost anywhere between $200-$500. It would be nice if Samsung’s detachable Chromebook will stay within that price range, as it’s uncertain if the market has room for too many thousand-dollar Chromebooks.

As for the device itself, we don’t know too much about it, but we do have a few pieces of the puzzle. For starters, it has been reported that this device will be powered by a Kaby Lake processor, and it has been codenamed “Nautilus.” Samsung has not announced this device yet, but one of the names attached to the project, Jongpil Jung, is one that has been exclusive to Samsung devices.

One of the big questions surrounding this Chromebook is when it will launch. There are two likely venues for an announcement. The first is at CES in January of next year, but that may be cutting things a bit close, since development reportedly only began this September. An option that would give the development team a bit more time would be at Samsung’s annual spring event, where it will also likely unveil its next flagship smartphone.

Editors’ Recommendations

• The best Chromebooks you can buy right now
• Score a new work laptop and save with our favorite Chromebook deals on Amazon
• Is Google’s Pixelbook a worthy competitor to the Surface Pro?
• The Pixelbook nearly doubles Samsung’s Chromebook Pro in price. Is it justified?
• The best laptops you can buy

Microsoft takes on Apple’s prestige: Surface Book 2 15-inch vs MacBook Pro 15

There are quite a few premium laptops that can outperform the MacBook Pro 15, but it’s tough to compete with Apple’s build quality and engineering expertise. The MacBook Pro 15 might be expensive, but as a luxury device it has few competitors. Or well, it had few competitors, until Microsoft released its Surface Book 2.

The Surface Book 2 is slick, well-built, and every bit as expertly engineered as the MacBook Pro 15. In a lot of ways, it’s the culmination of Microsoft’s pursuit of premium hardware, and it might even be slick and stylish enough to sway some MacOS die-hards. Let’s find dig into the details to find out for sure in our Surface Book 2 vs. MacBook Pro 15 battle royale.

Specifications

 MacBook Pro

 Microsoft Surface Book 2

Dimensions
13.75 x 9.48 x 0.61 (in)
13.5 x 9.87 x 0.56-0.90 (in)
Weight
4.02 pounds
4.2 pounds
Keyboard
Full size backlit keyboard
Full size backlit keyboard
Processor
Up to seventh-generation Intel Core i7
Up to eighth-generation Intel Core i7-8650U
RAM
16GB
16GB
Graphics

AMD Radeon Pro 555 w/ 2GB of RAM

AMD RAdeon Pro 560 w/ 4GB of RAM

Nvidia GeForce GTX 1060 w/ 6GB of RAM
Display
15.4-inch LED-backlit display with IPS technology
15.-inch LED-backlit display with IPS technology
Resolution
2,800 x 1,800 (220 ppi)
3,240 x 2,160 (259 ppi)
Storage
Up to 2TB PCIe-based onboard SSD
Up to 1TB PCIe SSD
Networking
802.11ac, Bluetooth 4.2
802.11ac, Bluetooth 4.2
Ports
4x Thunderbolt 3 USB-C
2x USB-A ports, 1 Thunderbolt 3 USB-C port, 3.5mm headphone jack, 2x Surface Connect ports, SD Card reader
Webcam
720p FaceTime HD camera
5.0MP 1080p front-facing camera, 8.0MP 1080p rear-facing autofocus camera
Operating System
MacOS High Sierra
Windows 10
Battery
76 watt-hour
90 watt-hour combined
Price
Starts at $2,400
Starts at $1,500
Availability
Now (Apple Store)
Now (Microsoft Store)
Review
Full Review of 13-inch Model: 6/10
Full review: 8/10

Design

Bill Roberson/Digital Trends

Sitting on a table, closed, both laptops are striking. The MacBook Pro exemplifies a slimmed down streamlined elegance, an artistic refinement of the traditional laptop. The Surface Book 2, on the other hand, looks like something from the future.

Both devices feel solid and sturdy, like they were machined from a single solid piece of aluminum — or in the Surface Book’s case, magnesium. There’s no give, no flex, nothing moves when it shouldn’t. Both devices feature strong, stable hinges, and killer build quality.

The Surface Book 2 has a trick up its sleeve, though. The display detaches from the base to become a fully-featured Surface tablet. When used as such it offers full support for the Surface Pen and Surface Dial.

This versatility means the Surface Book 2 works how you want it to. Laying on a couch, or sitting at desk, the Surface Book 2 is designed to fit your needs. The MacBook Pro 15 offers an excellent desktop and laptop user experience, but you can’t exactly pop its screen off and read a book while lying in bed.

Even though these two devices are evenly matched when it comes to aesthetic design and engineering, we’re going to have to give the Surface Book 2 the win in this category. Its clever design allows it to do things the MacBook Pro 15 just can’t.

Winner: Surface Book 2

Hardware

Looking at processor performance, the MacBook Pro 15 actually has a leg up on the Surface Book 2. According to Geekbench, the MacBook Pro 15’s processor earns a score of 4,644 in single-core performance and 15,665 in multi-core performance. The Surface Book 2’s 8th-generation processor hits 4,547 in single-core performance, and 13,900 in multi-core performance.

What does that mean, in practice? It means they’re going to be close to evenly matched in day-to-day performance. The MacBook Pro 15’s processor, though older, is quicker because it’s designed to use more power than the processor in the Surface Book 2.

Looking at graphical hardware, though, there’s not much of a contest here. Even the most expensive MacBook Pro 15 features a graphics card that can’t keep up to the Surface Pro 2’s GTX 1060.

Not only is the GTX 1060 a quicker card, it has 6GB of RAM to the AMD Radeon Pro 560’s 4GB. That effectively puts a speed limit on the Radeon Pro, meaning it can’t outperform the GTX 1060, even if they were on even footing — which they are not. You’re going to get a lot more graphical horsepower out of the Surface Book 2.

In this arena, we’re going to call it for the Surface Book 2. The MacBook Pro 15’s victory in CPU power isn’t even close to the performance gulf between the Radeon Pro 560 and the GTX 1060.

Winner: Surface Book 2

Display

When it comes to display quality, Apple is hard to beat. Their slick glassy displays possess a clarity and depth that very few manufacturers can compete with. Given how well Microsoft has done with the Surface Book 2 so far, it might be a close contest.

Looking at display contrast — the difference between the darkest part of the screen and the brightest part — the Surface Book 2 has a solid lead over the MacBook Pro 15, and that’s impressive.

The Surface Book 2 hit a contrast ratio of 1,410:1 in our tests, while the MacBook Pro 15 topped out at 910:1. Both are stellar scores, and lend each display a unique sense of depth and character but the Surface Pro 2 wins this round. Let’s see how they do with display gamut and color accuracy.

When it comes to display gamut — the breadth of colors the display is capable of reproducing — the MacBook Pro 15 wins, hands down. Hitting 91 percent of the finicky AdobeRGB spectrum, the MacBook Pro 15 easily outpaces the Surface Book 2, which came in at 71 percent.

Apple’s displays are typically professional-grade, so their color accuracy is typically hard to beat. And that’s definitely the case here. The MacBook Pro 15 scores an impressive 0.61 average color error. Any score less than 1.0 is considered almost impossible to see with the naked eye, so that’s excellent.

The Surface Book 2, on the other hand, hit an average color error of 3.96. The colors are vibrant, but a bit too vibrant. With a score like that, the Surface Book 2 features color issues that are definitely noticeable to the naked and untrained eye.

With its solid victories in display gamut and color accuracy, this round goes to the MacBook Pro 15.

Winner: MacBook Pro 15

Portability

Bill Roberson/Digital Trends

There are really two facets you need to look at when you’re comparing the portability of different devices: Form factor, and battery life. A laptop’s form factor, its size and weight play an important role in how “carryable” it is. Whether or not you’ll really feel it when you carry it around in a bag or just around the office.

In that way, the MacBook Pro 15 has a bit of a leg up based solely on its dimensions. It’s thinner and lighter than the Surface Book 2. It’s a narrow margin, but the MacBook Pro 15’s uniform thickness and slightly lighter body make for a laptop that’s easier to tote around.

There’s another important component here, though. When it comes to battery life, the typically best-in-class MacBook Pro 15 falls short of the Surface Book 2’s impressive, unbelievable longevity — and it should. That’s because the MacBook Pro 15 has one battery tucked in under the keyboard, while the Surface Book 2 has a battery in the display — for the tablet portion — and a larger battery underneath the keyboard, for a whopping total of 90 watt-hours of battery life. The MacBook Pro 15 features a 76 watt-hour battery.

According to manufacturer estimates, that means the MacBook Pro 15 can last about 10 hours of wireless web browsing. During our testing of the Surface Book 2, it managed an impressive 15 hours of wireless web browsing.

The winner here has to be the Surface Book 2, because those extra hours of battery life are going to mean a lot more than than an extra fraction of a pound when you’re trying to make it through a whole workday on a single charge.

Winner: Surface Book 2

Software

Here’s the thing about comparing MacOS to Windows: It’s a moot point. These days there are so few software exclusives — not including games — that you can get just about any software suite on Windows or MacOS. Both platforms are quick, modern, and stylish, and they each have their own weird eccentricities.

This one is solely a matter of preference, and it’s so easy these days to install Windows on a Mac that the division between these two diametrically opposed operating systems is becoming less and less important.

MacOS High Sierra doesn’t do anything that Windows 10’s Fall Creators Update doesn’t do, other than maybe integrate with iCloud — but on the other hand, Windows integrates well with Microsoft’s OneDrive.

These two operating systems are ultimately different flavors of the same thing, and some users will prefer one over another. That’s why this round is a tie.

Winner: Tie

Bottom line

The overall winner is the Surface Book 2, due to its superior hardware, versatile design, and unbelievable longevity. Not to mention that its most expensive, top-end configuration is still about $900 cheaper than the comparable configuration of the MacBook Pro 15 which tops out at $4,200. MacOS is great, but it’s not worth that much!

It’s clear the MacBook Pro 15 has a real competitor in the premium laptop space. Sure ,there have been laptops that have been almost as well-engineered as the MacBook Pro 15, but the Surface Book 2 really takes the competition to another level, and offers a compelling alternative if you want something slick, stylish, and engineered like a fine watch.

Editors’ Recommendations

• Microsoft Surface Book 2 15-inch Review
• We tested it: The Surface Book 2’s 15-hour battery easily outlasts your workday
• Is the Surface Book 2 a worthy sequel to the original? Here’s how it compares
• HP Spectre x360 15 review
• HP Omen 15 review

Win the game with these handy Razer Phone tips and tricks

By specifications alone, the Razer Phone is an impressive device. It packs Qualcomm’s Snapdragon 835 processor and that’s coupled with 8GB of RAM. Add in the loud, front-facing speakers with Dolby Atmos, and you’ve created a phone for multimedia consumption and gaming.

Despite being the first Razer Phone, the software experience isn’t too different from a smartphone running stock Android. Still, there are a few neat tricks Razer has added to make this $700 phone special. We’re here to help with these helpful Razer Phone tips and tricks.

How to use Game Booster

Game Booster is a pretty powerful version of the battery saving app on most Android phones, except as the name suggests it’s geared towards optimizing games for battery life, or boosting them to offer ultimate performance. Find the app in the app drawer, and open it. In Game Booster, you can select Power Save, Performance, or the Custom icon to make adjustments to apps on the device. Choose Power Save or Performance if you want to choose a blanket setting for all your apps and games. Power Save will do things like lower the resolution a game is played at, reduce the strain on the CPU, cap the frame rate at 60, and turn off anti-aliasing all to help save battery life. Performance, on the other hand, will take everything to its highest setting so you get the best experience.

Custom lets you tweak the settings for each app or game. Click on Add/Remove games, and toggle the app you want to tweak settings for. Press the back arrow button to return to the main screen, and click on the app. Here, you can adjust the clock speed of the CPU (higher gives you better performance), resolution, frame rate (higher for smoother gameplay), and you can turn on anti-aliasing (which smooths out jagged edges in games). If you don’t want to deal with these settings, you can use the slider above to choose the type of performance you want: More battery, or higher performance.

How to turn off notifications while gaming

Gaming on a console versus your phone are two very different experiences. On a console like the Sony PlayStation 4 Pro, you’re can be fully immersed in a game. When gaming on a phone, social media notifications and email alerts that pop up over what you’re doing can be a huge distraction.

The Razer Phone has a handy Do Not Disturb feature that allows you to turn off your notifications while gaming. Your notifications will still come through, but they won’t appear on the screen when you game. To turn it on, head to the Game Booster app and toggle on the Do Not Disturb slider.

How to set up gestures in Nova Launcher Settings

One really nice thing about the Razer Phone is it runs a stock version of Android 7.1.1 Nougat. Instead of creating a skin to run over Android, Razer uses a third-party launcher called Nova Launcher Prime. It’s a popular app that lets you customize your home screen the way you want, and it’s all made possible through the Nova Settings app.

There are plenty of different settings you can tweak, but let’s take a look at gestures. Open the Nova Settings app or find it by pressing and holding down on the home screen. Tap on Gestures & inputs, and you’ll see nearly a dozen different gestures you can pair with a specific function. For example, you can set swiping down on the home screen to expand your notifications. Just tap each gesture, and configure them to your liking.

How to use a theme from the Theme Store

Not a fan of the all-green theme on the home screen? The Razer Theme Store lets you change things up by installing themes to your phone, and they can change the wallpaper or app icons. The themes on the Razer Theme Store are based on popular games and are currently free, though it looks like paid themes may be coming in the future.

Setting up a theme from the Theme Store is pretty straight forward. Open the Theme Store app and select Install for the theme you like best. Once the theme is installed, you’ll need to select it and click Apply to change your theme. If you decide you want to switch back to the stock theme, press My Library on the bottom of the screen. Once open, you’ll see all your installed themes. Select the Arrival theme and click Apply.

How to change the refresh rate

The Razer Phone is unique because the display’s refresh rate can go up to 120Hz, as opposed to 60Hz like most smartphones. The refresh rate is how many times per second your phone’s display updates. While 60Hz may be fine for most, doubling it to 120Hz has some benefits. A quicker refresh rate helps prevent the stutter you see sometimes when you’re gaming or scrolling through your Twitter feed.

Although Game Booster allows you to adjust the refresh rate for individual apps, you can adjust the refresh rate for all apps on your phone in the settings. Go to Settings > Display > Refresh rate and make your selection between 60, 90, and 120Hz. Switching to 60Hz will definitely help improve your battery life.

How to turn on and customize Dolby Atmos

The Razer Phone boasts some pretty impressive stereo speakers on its front grill. It also includes Dolby Atmos sound technology to create a 3D effect when gaming or even watching videos. The quickest way to turn on Dolby Atmos is to pull down on the Notification Bar and click on the Dolby Atmos icon. When you click on the icon, you’ll see a slider at the top to turn it on as well as the list of presets to select. Toggle the slider on, select your preferred preset and then click Done.

To set up custom Atmos presets, you’ll need to open the Dolby Atmos app and click on Custom 1 or Custom 2. You can then adjust the equalizer and other options to fit your preferences. When you are happy with your settings, press and hold on the name to change it. This lets you tweak the sound exactly to your liking.

How to take a great photo

While the Razer Phone packs dual cameras on the rear, the camera app is pretty bare bones right now. It doesn’t offer portrait or panoramic modes like the Samsung Galaxy S8 and many other smartphones, but the camera software will be updated in the future to include more features.

The only current feature is you can use 2x optical zoom, but there’s no quick icon to jump to that level of zoom. Instead, you’ll need to pinch out for the screen. Watch closely as you zoom and you’ll see the screen shake a little to let you know you’re using the telephoto lens. Go too far, though, and you’ll be using digital zoom. There’s nothing to indicate what zoom you’re using, and Razer said it will address this in a later update.

You also shoot 4k video on the Razer. To enable 4k, you’ll need swipe left in the camera app to switch to video. You’ll see a video icon appear in the center of the screen. Once you’re in video mode, press the menu bar on the left side and open Settings. Under the video section, you press camera video resolution and change to UHD 4K.

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