The ThinkPad T480s isn’t the best laptop of CES, but it has a place in my heart

We’re only eight days in to 2018, but it’s already shaping up to be an awesome year for laptops. We’ve seen versatile 2-in-1s like the Samsung Notebook 9, powerhouses like the HP Spectre x360 15-inch, and affordable traditional laptops like the Asus Zenbook 13. You’ll hear a lot about these laptops, and more, at CES – but there’s one you likely won’t hear much about, even though you should: the Lenovo ThinkPad T480s.

Admittedly, I have a soft-spot for the T-series. A Lenovo ThinkPad T41 put me through college, and I still sometimes use a T420s as my zen PC, which I break out whenever I want to write without distraction. Every T-Series laptop has prioritized simple, functional traits that don’t grab headlines, but do make a laptop nice to use. Anti-glare displays. Good battery life, with the option to buy an extended battery for insane endurance. And, of course, that iconic keyboard.

Even I concede, though, that the T-Series has struggled lately. It slipped into a middle-ground between the big, powerful laptops, and super-portable ultrathins. Lenovo’s X1 laptops became the flagship.

But never fear, T-Series faithful. This year’s T480s is the laptop you’ve been waiting for.

Let’s talk weight. The T480s starts at 2.9 pounds despite its 14-inch screen. That’s almost as light as the last generation of Dell XPS 13, and lighter than Apple’s MacBook Pro 13. It’s also just four-tenths of a pound heavier than the X1 Carbon, and lighter than the X1 Yoga.

Its size is impressive, too. The system is just .7 inches thick, 13 inches wide, and 9 inches deep. It’s not setting records, sure, but it’s again only slightly larger than the X1 Carbon. Do you really care if your laptop is .6 inches or .7 inches thick? Really?

Likely not. What you might care about, though, is the T480s’ performance. It supports up to 8th-gen Intel Core i7 processors, like every other laptop announced at CES 2018. That doesn’t give it an edge over anything else, but it’s a big leap all the same. The two extra cores available in the latest Intel mobile hardware make a difference in the most demanding applications.

It also offers up to 24GB of RAM and, better still, optional Nvidia MX150 graphics. As I’ve said before, the MX150 is a surprisingly capable chip. It adds some extra go if you need a GPU for productivity, and makes the occasional Overwatch break a lot more enjoyable. The old T470s didn’t offer discrete graphics, not even as an option.

What’s not to love? Seriously – why wouldn’t you want this laptop? It’s thin. Its fast. It has a great keyboard and plentiful screen options. It even hits up to 13.5 hours of battery life. The retail price of $1,269 isn’t higher than its competitors, and Lenovo is known for frequent sales.

You’ll see flashier laptops in 2018. Laptops with gold finishes. Laptops with displays brighter than the sun. Laptops made from the same stuff as your running jacket. That’s all fine – but before you get wrapped up in the hype, remember the T480s. It could serve you better, and longer, than the new hotness.

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Bosch is using cameras, streetlights, and sensors to make cities more livable

Living in a big city comes with a long list of advantages and an equally long catalog of disadvantages. Gridlock, pollution, and the never-ending search for a parking spot are all part of the second set. Bosch is using clouds, cameras, and sensors to whittle down the disadvantages without taking away the advantages — you’ll still be able to buy a burrito at two o’clock in the morning.

“We need a new conception of the city. One key factor here is technologies that make cities smart and worth living in. In the long run, cities without intelligence will not survive but succumb to gridlock,” predicted Bosch board member Stefan Hartung ahead of this year’s Consumer Electronics Show (CES).

Bosch is ahead of the curve when it comes to making cities smarter, and it has a few tricks up its sleeve as it looks toward the future. It’s already working with 14 major cities including San Francisco, Berlin,  and Tianjin, China, and it’s planning on expanding the list of partnerships in the coming years. Notably, it provided San Leandro, California, with nearly 5,000 LED street lights and developed a way to remotely manage them. They’re only turned on when needed, a solution which will help the city save about $8 million over the next 15 years.

Streetlights, like much else, will become connected. They’ll turn into the city’s eyes — and also its nose. Sensors integrated into the light posts monitor the quality of the air while cameras keep tabs on the traffic flow. Using vehicle-to-infrastructure communication technology, they redirect motorists if they detect a traffic jam on a particular street. Bosch hopes to launch the technology in the near future. It’s not as far-fetched or complex as it sounds.

“Using surveillance cameras and what we call video analytics, we’re able to see objects like pedestrians, cars, and bicycles. If we work with a smart intersection we can start doing some things like turn on and off warnings for walkways, alert drivers that there are bicycles in the bike lanes, and prevent traffic jams,” Frank Sgambati, Bosch’s smart city whiz, told Digital Trends.

Getting that information to motorists is another story. There are several possible solutions.

“We’re working with OEMs to pipe the data right through your traditional navigation screen. We could also work with cities by sending information to digital signs. You could also receive the information on your smartphone but then we get into the distraction question,” Sgambati commented.

The way city-dwellers park will soon change, too. Community-based parking sounds utopian, but it’s real and it’s right around the corner. Using ultrasonic parking sensors, cars automatically scan the size of the gap between two parked vehicles and detect if it’s big enough to qualify as a parking spot. The data gets stitched in real time onto a digital map that other connected cars have access to. They can then direct drivers to the nearest suitable spot, which saves the time and hassle of driving around the block.

How does a car know the difference between a parking spot and a driveway? That’s one of the challenges Bosch must overcome.

“What we need to do is build the backbone. We’re literally doing the mapping on our own, with some partners, so we can determine what’s a real parking spot. We’ll then create a digital map stored in the cloud and continually updated as more and more vehicles participate in the program. We’ll have the service available to OEMs by the end of the year,” Sgambati explained.

Bosch has already started testing community-based parking in some German cities, including Stuttgart, and 20 American cities, including Los Angeles, Miami, and Boston, will test the technology this year. And for those who don’t like parking on the street, the German firm joined forces with Mercedes-Benz to build an automated valet parking service. The Mercedes-Benz museum in Germany is currently testing the system.

What about non-traffic-related issues? There are plenty of those to solve, too, including air pollution. Bosch worked together with Intel to develop a microclimate monitoring system named Climo that analyzes 12 parameters important to air quality, including carbon dioxide and nitrogen oxide. The firm points out its system is appreciably smaller than comparable systems, which are about the size of a shipping container, and a tenth more affordable, though pricing hasn’t been announced yet.

Similar technology helps cities monitor rising water levels to reduce the damage caused by flooding. Bosch’s monitoring system relies on ultrasonic sensors and cameras to track a river’s water level. The firm’s cloud receives and processes the information, and it sends out an alert if it detects that critical thresholds have been exceeded. City officials, business owners, and residents get enough prior notice to prepare for an imminent flood.

In other words, it’s cloud versus cloud. But soon, if Bosch has its way, having a cloud over your city won’t necessarily mean yet another rainy day.

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The best monitors announced at CES 2018 so far

Confused by all the monitors announced at CES 2018? Don’t worry, we’ve got you covered. Here are the five best monitors unveiled at CES this year, the only ones you really need to pay attention to. Most have HDR, and a few have some other, very welcome bells and whistles like 65-inches of screen real estate. That’s right, let’s get started.

Nvidia’s BFGD monitors

All right, seriously — even if monitors aren’t really your thing, check these out. Nvidia announced out a new lineup of gaming-centric desktop monitors over the weekend, and let’s just be honest here. These things are pretty much all the monitor you’ll ever need. In fact, they’re probably more than you’ll ever need.

The Nvidia BFGD monitors all have features you only find on top-end monitor offerings: 120hz refresh rate for liquid-smooth gameplay, Nvidia G-Sync to make sure your video card and display work together nicely, 4K resolution, and of course support for HDR. And that’s just the beginning. They also feature quantum dots for super-sharp color reproduction — and did we mention they’re all a massive 65 inches? Yeah.

BFGD stands for big-format gaming displays, and these products definitely fit that description. You can expect to see BFGD displays from Acer, Asus, and HP later this year. They’re still a ways out, though, so release dates and pricing haven’t been announced.

LG 32UK950

If you don’t need a lightning-quick refresh rate, and just want some absolutely lovely screen real estate, come take a look at LG’s 32UK950. Simple, elegant, straightforward, the 32UK950 is a 32-inch 4K display with HDR support, and one of LG’s new nano IPS display panels. LG boasts the display is capable of hitting 98 percent of the P3 color gamut, and with that nano IPS panel, those colors aren’t just going to be accurate, they’re going to be vibrant and tack-sharp.

LG 34WK95U

Maybe 32-inches of 4K HDR display real estate isn’t enough for you. You want a display that’s a little extra. For that, let’s have a look at the LG 34WK95U, LG’s new premium ultrawide. This massive 34-inch ultrawide features a 5K nano-IPS display panel, and of course, HDR. On top of all that, the display features a borderless edge-to-edge design so the screen just seems to melt into the background.

Lenovo ThinkVision P32U

If you’re looking for something a bit more professional, and a bit less flashy, the Lenovo ThinkVision P32U might be a good alternative. A spartan, black-clad display with a nice thin bezel and no external frills. Well, one frill — it has a bright red cable management bracket. Other than that, it features a 32-inch 4K display with capable of hitting 99.5 percent of the AdobeRGB spectrum, according to Lenovo. It should hit store shelves in March for a reported $1,350.

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New, versatile 3D camera could bring Face ID to smaller devices

Depth sensing cameras used for applications like the Face ID in the iPhone X are getting even smaller. During the Consumer Electronics Show on January 8, PMD Technologies AG and Infineon Technologies AG announced the smallest 3D Time of Flight camera module yet, called the IRSZ238XC, that’s also expected to deliver more consistent results in bright light. The camera is expected to see mass production by the end of the year.

The entire 3D camera module, which also includes the sensor, lens IR emitter and their circuitry, is the smallest 3D camera module available worldwide, according to PMD, measuring 12mm by 8mm. But along with the tiny profile, the camera also boasts a higher resolution than earlier chips, with 38,000 pixels.

Along with the higher resolution and smaller profile, PMD says that the camera sensor gains more reliability for outdoor use. Now working at the 940nm wavelength as well, the update is designed for more reliability when using the system outdoors. Another design change, called Suppression of Background Illumination, allows the system to use that 3D sensing in full sunlight. As a time-of-flight camera, the camera measures distance based on the speed that a pulse of infrared light reaches objects. Since these cameras rely on being able to measure that pulse of light, performance can vary in bright conditions.

The company says the camera will also be easier to integrate into products, thanks to an enhanced interface.

PMD’s 3D sensing is already being used inside robots, smart home products, smartphones and augmented reality headsets and the company expects the new chip to be integrated into those categories as well. The latest chip, the company says, is about taking the technology where the industry is expected to expand.

“Having gained experience from shipping ToF chip products already since 2005 and from 2016 also in the consumer space for high numbers, we are happy to leverage the technology on the next level having a functional, highly integrated new imager available at exactly the right point of time, as the market demand is increasing significantly,” said PMD CEO Dr. Bernd Buxbaum.

The camera module is on display at CES. The companies expect production in the fourth quarter of 2018, which means devices equipped with the smaller depth sensor probably won’t make it out this year, but shortly after.

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Watch Samsung’s CES 2018 press conference live at 2 p.m. PT today

CES 2018 is here, and it feels like companies, including Korean tech giant Samsung, are announcing big news every minute. The company will take the stage at 2 p.m. PT/5 p.m. ET Monday, January 8, to unveil its major plans for TVs, appliances, laptops, and more in the coming year and beyond. You can watch the live-streamed conference on Samsung Newsroom’s official YouTube and Facebook pages, or at the Samsung Newsroom website. We will also embed a live-stream in this article once its available.

Samsung has already shown off a number of new products being featured at the show ahead of CES, such as the Notebook 9 Pen and Notebook 7 Spin laptops, and the 146-inch MicroLED and 85-inch Q9S QLED TVs, but we expect some big announcements at the press conference as well. Speculation has focused on Samsung making a stronger push toward integrating its products into a more cohesive ecosystem through its Bixby A.I. assitant, much like Apple does with Siri and Amazon with Alexa. Bixby isn’t as well-known or available as either Siri or Alexa — it showed up just last year, and only on the Galaxy S8 — but Samsung looks to be slowly increasing the A.I.’s presence across its products, such as its Family Hub Smart Fridge.

Similarly, we wouldn’t be surprised if we got more info on Samsung’s SmartThings Cloud device, which rolls all of its Internet of Things devices into one.

Another potential talking point is Samsung’s newest mobile chip, the Exynos 9810. We suspect this will be the chip powering the rumored Galaxy S9, but it could always make its way into other devices beyond just smartphones. It’s possible Samsung’s future virtual reality and Gear VR plans could also be discussed.

Speaking of smartphones, with the Mobile World Congress taking place just over a month from now in Barcelona, Spain, chances a less likely for major announcements on that front. But we’re always up for a surprise.

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Watch Samsung’s CES 2018 press conference live at 2 p.m. PT today

CES 2018 is here, and it feels like companies, including Korean tech giant Samsung, are announcing big news every minute. The company will take the stage at 2 p.m. PT/5 p.m. ET Monday, January 8, to unveil its major plans for TVs, appliances, laptops, and more in the coming year and beyond. You can watch the live-streamed conference on Samsung Newsroom’s official YouTube and Facebook pages, or at the Samsung Newsroom website. We will also embed a live-stream in this article once its available.

Samsung has already shown off a number of new products being featured at the show ahead of CES, such as the Notebook 9 Pen and Notebook 7 Spin laptops, and the 146-inch MicroLED and 85-inch Q9S QLED TVs, but we expect some big announcements at the press conference as well. Speculation has focused on Samsung making a stronger push toward integrating its products into a more cohesive ecosystem through its Bixby A.I. assitant, much like Apple does with Siri and Amazon with Alexa. Bixby isn’t as well-known or available as either Siri or Alexa — it showed up just last year, and only on the Galaxy S8 — but Samsung looks to be slowly increasing the A.I.’s presence across its products, such as its Family Hub Smart Fridge.

Similarly, we wouldn’t be surprised if we got more info on Samsung’s SmartThings Cloud device, which rolls all of its Internet of Things devices into one.

Another potential talking point is Samsung’s newest mobile chip, the Exynos 9810. We suspect this will be the chip powering the rumored Galaxy S9, but it could always make its way into other devices beyond just smartphones. It’s possible Samsung’s future virtual reality and Gear VR plans could also be discussed.

Speaking of smartphones, with the Mobile World Congress taking place just over a month from now in Barcelona, Spain, chances a less likely for major announcements on that front. But we’re always up for a surprise.

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Google Pay allows mobile users to make payments online or in-store

Making payments is about to get a whole lot easier for Android users. Google announced that all of its payments solutions, including Android Pay and Google Wallet, will be integrated into a single payment solution called Google Pay.

Google Pay allows users to make payments online and in-store. Users will be able to make purchases from their Android enabled devices as well as Google Chrome with the touch of a button. Any card information you save in Google Pay will be available across all of your devices, so you won’t need to constantly enter or scan cards for different apps.

While a handful of companies have signed on with Google Pay at its launch, expect to see more in the coming weeks and months. Airbnb, Dice, Fandango, HungryHouse, and Instacart are just a few of the companies that have already transitioned to the platform. There are currently several limited time discounts available for people using Google Pay, but expect to see the number increase as more companies adopt the platform. You should expect to see Google Pay accepted at many stores, online retailers and across the Google services within the month.

With the explosive growth of digital payments over the last several years, Google Pay is a welcome addition. Fandango, one of Google Pay’s launch partners, reports that 81 percent of its users use a digital payment service to purchase tickets. Fandango’s integration with Google Pay will allow many of these users the option to purchase their tickets with a single click.

Google appears to be following Apple’s lead by bundling all of its payment solutions into a single platform. Much like Google Pay, Apple Pay allows users to make payments across all Apple devices and works with a number of third-party apps as well. In 2017, Apple introduced Apple Pay Cash for peer-to-peer payments.

With Google adopting an all-in-one payment solution, it appears that Google Pay and Apple Pay will reign supreme in the digital payment wars. Both platforms provide a simple and comprehensive payment option for its users as opposed to platforms like Samsung Pay and LG Pay, which are limited to contactless payments.

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Using simple code, kids can teach the $99 Tello drone their own tricks

Sure, drones can be tools — but they’re also very much toys, and startup Ryze Tech is taking a new approach to toy drones. Unveiled during the Consumer Electronics Show on January 8, Tello allows kids (and adults) to learn code by programming their own tricks.

Tello uses Scratch, the MIT program designed to teach kids code, to expand the drone’s flight options. Using block-based coding, kids can move around blocks of code to create different drone tricks or flight patterns, like flips in eight different directions. Ryze Tech says that besides the benefits of actually knowing code, learning how can build problem-solving and communication skills.

But as a drone designed with kids in mind, the Tello also has several safety features built in, including DJI’s tech for flight stabilization. The HD camera, paired with a vision-processing unit from Intel and five different sensors, enables a collision-detection system. The drone also uses flexible propellers with guards. Low-battery protection is included alongside auto takeoff and auto land features.

Tello also incorporates several smart features designed to make the flight simple — the drone can launch with a toss and lands in an outstretched hand. The app also includes a handful of flight patterns for automatic flights, or can be flown with a third-party joystick controller.

The onboard camera will send Tello’s pilot’s eye view to a smartphone or tablet, as well as some third-party headsets. The feature allows kids to see the view from the drone in real time.

Tello’s small body weighs less than 3 ounces, while the main body is about the size of a smartwatch, the company says. Kids can also customize the drone with removable top shells for swapping out different colors.

With a design for kids, the Tello isn’t designed for top-notch specs — the camera is 720p and the flight time is only about 13 minutes. But, if the company’s statements hold up, the safety features and code options could make the Tello a fun buy. The drone is expected to launch in China this month and in the United States in March, retailing for $99.

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The ForwardX CX-1 is the first smart suitcase custom-built to follow you

CES 2018 is officially upon us, and with that comes a deluge of smart appliances, larger-than-life screens, and a bevy of notable tech that will begin rolling out throughout the course of the year and into next year. (Suit)case in point? The recently-unveiled ForwardX CX-1, an autonomous piece of luggage that’s designed to follow you around as you make your way from point A to B, and everywhere in between.

Branded as the “world’s first self-driving carry-on,” the CX-1 features an array of advanced tech, including a 170-degree wide angle lens and built-in facial recognition software, which allow the device to follow you at up to 7 miles per hour throughout the terminal. Other nifty features — namely those tailored toward obstacle avoidance — work in tandem with the suitcase’s tracking algorithm, while a smart wristband works to keep would-be thieves at bay. If the suitcase happens wanders out of range, the aforementioned bracelet will let you know.

The rest of the CX-1’s features are the usual — albeit, welcome — fare. The device, like some of our favorite pieces of smart luggage, comes equipped with a built-in mobile charger, which should allow you to quickly juice your device while on the go. The latter component is even removable, should the Transportation Security Administration have any quibbles, as it often does when it comes to lithium-ion batteries. American Airlines, Delta, and several other airlines have even gone so far as to ban unremoveable batteries in recent weeks, which makes the battery installed in the CX-1 even more desirable for frequent travelers and those who prefer a hassle-free experience.

Pricing and availability remain hazy, however, the Chinese company has plans to launch the CX-1 stateside later this year, likely via a crowdfunding campaign (read: Kickstarter) in March. The retail price will likely fall between $300 and $400, though ForwardX has yet to solidify these numbers. Even the name, “CX-1,” is currently open for debate, and could change before the gadget hits virtual shelves come the spring. Until then, all we can do is gawk at the prototype carry-on as it continues to roam the halls of the Las Vegas Convention Center.

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HTC’s Vive Pro gets sharp enough to read text, goes wireless

The HTC Vive is big, expensive, the resolution isn’t great, and with the recent price cut its competitor the Oculus Rift has seen, it’s not as appealing as it once was. Luckily for HTC adherents out there, there’s going to be a new HTC headset with a number of improvements over the original — according to the official CES 2018 announcement.

The HTC Vive Pro Headset

The new HTC Vive Pro headset, as it will be called, features an improved resolution of 2,880 x 1,600 — the original headset only had a max resolution of 2,180 x 1,200. That’s a 78 percent increase in overall resolution, with 615 pixels-per-inch. HTC claims the resolution is now high enough to comfortably read text on the new headset. It features built-in headphones, like its competitor the Oculus Rift. It will also feature built-in dual microphones.

One improvement that will be music to the ears — and nose — of anyone who wears glasses. The new Vive Pro features a lighter overall weight, and it’s been redesigned to be more comfortable while wearing corrective eyewear.

The new headset is backwards compatible with the original base stations, and features a 10m x 10m tracking space.

The new Vive Pro headset will not supplant the original Vive headset, but they’ll be sold as contrasting options — like the iPhone 8 and iPhone X, the basic model and the premium model. What that means is the Vive Pro will likely be very expensive, and the original HTC Vive might see a price cut similar to what we saw out of the Oculus Rift earlier in 2017.

The Vive Wireless Adapter

On top of that, Vive Pro will support a new “Vive wireless adapter” that will finally let you experience VR without being tethered to a computer. The wireless adapter mounts to the top of the headset, like a set of high-tech antlers, and it will use Intel’s WiGig to minimize interference from other wireless devices and deliver a seamless experience. A battery pack is included, too.

The new Vive Pro headset could go a long way toward addressing two of the key complaints about the HTC Vive’s current headset — that it’s starting to show its age with such a low resolution, heavy screen-door effect, and that being wired to a computer isn’t exactly the most comfortable way to immerse oneself in the virtual realms.

The brand-new Viveport

There’s another big change coming to the Vive platform, but this one is software-based. The Viveport platform, HTC’s store for VR content and experiences, is getting a major overhaul. According to the announcement today, Viveport will now feature a fully VR interface, like a virtual storefront you can explore, instead of the simple layover it featured before.

This is a move HTC describes as a VR-first storefront model. It sounds a lot like how the Oculus’ Store has worked since launch.

“Viveport is moving to a VR first experience model, and with the all-new Viveport VR, we are changing the way consumers discover, experience and acquire VR content,” said Rikard Steiber, president, Viveport.  “Until now, there has not been a shopping and browsing experience that takes advantage of the full functionality of VR. Available in early access today, Viveport VR increases interaction with content and offers developers a preview that showcases the quality of their titles and experiences.”

Though the announcement was leaked earlier, the official press release features a bit more information about what we can expect from the changes to the platform going forward. The HTC Vive Pro is scheduled to hit store shelves sometime in the summer of 2018.

Updated 1/8/2018 to fully reflect information in the HTC Vive Pro press release. 

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