Lenovo unveils Windows 10, Chromebook device lineup for Mobile World Congress

With Mobile World Congress 2018 now underway, Lenovo formally introduced six new devices making an appearance during the show. The list consists of three Windows 10 PCs of the Flex and Yoga flavors, and three “E-class” Chromebooks falling under the $360 mark. All three Windows 10 devices rely on eighth-generation Intel Core i7 processors while the Chromebooks range from Intel Celeron and MediaTek chips. 

Windows 10

For this family, we have the Flex 14, and two Yoga 730 devices with 13.3-inch and 15.6-inch screens. All three are 2-in-1 devices, meaning they have hinges supporting Laptop, Tent, Stand, and Tablet modes. The 13.3-inch Yoga 730 is the thinnest and lightest of the three, measuring just 0.55 inches thick and weighing 2.46 pounds. All three support Lenovo’s Active Pen stylus. 

For gamers, the 15.6-inch Yoga 730 with the optional GeForce GTX 1050 graphics chip is the ideal choice of the three. The GeForce MX130 in the Flex 14 would be your second-best bet given it’s better than integrated graphics, but it’s based on an older design and won’t have the performance you’ll see in the Yoga 730’s discrete GTX 1050 chip. 

According to Lenovo, the two Yoga units include integrated support for both Cortana and Alexa. “Use Cortana on your Yoga 730 during the day to schedule meetings, get reminders, search and send emails and manage to-do lists with just your voice,” the company says. “Or just ask to order food, do your shopping, dim the lights and turn up the music at night with Alexa.” 

Here are the specifications for all three along with their availability and prices: 

 

Flex 14 

Yoga 730 13 

Yoga 730 15 

Screen size: 

14 inches 

13.3 inches 

15.6 inches 

Screen type: 

In-Plane Switching 

In-Plane Switching 

In-Plane Switching 

Screen resolution: 

Up to 1920 x 1080 

Full HD or Ultra HD 

Full HD or Ultra HD 

Processor: 

Intel 8th Gen Core i7 

Intel 8th Gen Core i7 

Intel 8th Gen Core i7 

Graphics: 

Up to GeForce MX130 

Integrated 

Up to GeForce GTX 1050 

Memory: 

Up to 16GB DDR4 

Up to 16GB DDR4 

Up to 8GB DDR4 

Storage: 

Up to 512GB PCIe SSD 

Up to 512GB PCIe SSD 

Up to 1TB PCIe SSD 

Connectivity: 

Wireless AC 

Wireless AC 

Wireless AC 

Ports: 

1x USB-C 3.1 Gen1
2x USB-A 3.1 Gen1
1x HDMI
1x SD card slot
1x Audio jack 

2x Thunderbolt 3
1x USB-A 3.1 Gen1
1x Audio jack 

2x USB-A 3.1 Gen1
1x USB-C 3.1 Gen1
1x HDMI
1x Audio jack 

Battery: 

Up to 10 hours 

Up to 11.5 hours 

Up to 11 hours 

Dimensions (inches): 

12.9 x 9.02 x 0.69 

12.08 x 8.52 x 0.55 

14.17 x 9.80 x 0.67 

Weight: 

3.25 pounds 

2.46 pounds 

4.16 pounds 

Pen support: 

Yes 

Yes 

Yes 

Style: 

2-in-1 

2-in-1 

2-in-1 

Colors: 

Onyx Black 

Iron Grey
Platinum Silver 

Iron Grey
Platinum Silver 

Availability: 

April 

April 

April 

Starting price: 

$599 

$879 

$899 

This A.I. literally reads your mind to re-create images of the faces you see

Google’s artificial intelligence technology may sometimes seem like it’s reading our mind, but neuroscientists at Canada’s University of Toronto Scarborough are literally using A.I. for that very purpose — by reconstructing images based on brain perception using data gathered by electroencephalography (EEG).

In a test, subjects were hooked up to EEG brainwave-reading equipment and shown images of faces. While this happened, their brain activity was recorded and then analyzed using machine learning algorithms. Impressively, the researchers were able to use this information to digitally re-create the face image stored in the person’s mind. Unlike basic shapes, being able to re-create faces involves a high level of fine-grained visual detail, showcasing a high level of sophistication for the technology.

While this isn’t the first time that A.I. has been used to read people’s minds, it’s the first time this has been achieved using EEG data. Previous studies involved fMRI technology, which measures brain activity by detecting changes in its blood flow. One of the most exciting differences between the two techniques is that EEG is far more portable, inexpensive, and can deliver greater levels of detail in mere milliseconds.

The technology could potentially be used by law enforcement for creating more accurate eyewitness reports about a potential suspect’s likeness. Currently, this information is relayed to a sketch artist through verbal descriptions, thereby potentially lowering its levels of accuracy. It might also serve as a way of helping people who lack the ability to communicate verbally. The EEG technology could be employed to produce a neural-based reconstruction of what a person is perceiving at any given time, as well as visualizing memories or imagination that let them express themselves.

In the future, the team hopes to build on this work by looking at how effectively they can reconstruct images with EEG data, based on a person’s memory of an event. They also want to move beyond faces to explore whether they can recreate accurate images of other objects.

A paper describing the work, titled “The Neural Dynamics of Facial Identity Processing: insights from EEG-Based Pattern Analysis and Image Reconstruction,” was recently published in the journal eNeuro.

Editors’ Recommendations

• Truly creative A.I. is just around the corner. Here’s why that’s a big deal
• A.I. perfectly predicted last year’s Super Bowl score. What happens to betting?
• Don’t be fooled by dystopian sci-fi stories: A.I. is becoming a force for good
• Social (Net)Work: What can A.I. catch — and where does it fail miserably?
• Deep learning vs. machine learning: what’s the difference between the two?

Google Assistant gets support for more languages and deeper app integration

Assistant is expected to be on 95% of Android phones by year’s end and support for them all is on its way.

Last week Google said it would be adding some language support and other tools for Google Assistant soon because it has plans to support 30 more languages by year’s end. Today we’re seeing the first move from the company, along with some other great features to bolster Assistant in a suddenly competitive smart assistant world.

Today’s news from Mobile World Congress has Google adding support for seven new languages:

• Hindi
• Thai
• Indonesian
• Danish
• Norwegian
• Swedish
• Dutch

Google Assistant now supports 16 languages as it prepares for any sort of wider release. But this isn’t the end as Google tells us it has support for even more languages coming later this year. All of Assistant’s supported languages are able to leverage Google’s natural language processing for easy development through Dialogflow, as well as traditional programming through the Actions SDK.

To entice developers to localize their applications with multilingual Action support, they are offering a Google Assistant shirt and $200 worth of credit for Google Cloud hosting for publishing an app’s first Action. All seven new languages will be supported in Google’s Action template program, where a developer can fill in a simple web form and Google’s AI builds the Action for them, and now developers can export their entire localization directory if they would rather translate offline and amend their resources.

That’s not the only news for Google Assistant today, though. Google has also taken the wraps off of its deep app integration tools, so Assistant can do more with the apps we already use and love.

Assistant is great for quick and easy answers or singular tasks, but when you want to do something more complex a better experience is to be had from a dedicated application. Starting today, developers can integrate their complex applications with Assistant through the new Android Link feature.

The concept is beautiful — a developer can build out an Action through Assistant, and the result will be a link to any intent in the mobile app on your phone. The app will open and display the information you’re looking for and be ready to take any input you need to give. Google gives the Spothero Action as an example, and when you ask about your parking reservation, it shows you all the details on your phone. The service will be rolling out to all developer accounts in the coming weeks, but the documentation is online if any want to get a head start.

Google is also introducing the new askForPlace conversation helper. Helpers are components of Assistant that take over when you need to get more information from users, such as a full name or an appointment time. The new askForPlace helper is integrated with the Google Places API to leverage Google Maps location services and points of interest to provide answers to users’ location-based queries. This means developers won’t have to design their own methods to tie a user and anything the user might need or want with a location. Above is an example of the Uber Action moving aside so the askForPlace helper can live up to its helper namesake.

You can learn more about the askForPlace helper at the helpers documentation site.

Finally, Google also says it has new ways to handle the introduction process for return users. This means when we go back to an Action we’ve used previously, it will be easy for Assistant to remember us and any information we’ve already supplied. Developers won’t have to do anything here, its all done by the Assistant core.

2018 looks to be busy when it comes to smart computers doing smarter things, and Assistant will be right in the middle of it all.

Spotify: Everything you need to know

Come for the easy setup, stay for the algorithm-based recommendations

One of the most popular names in the music world today isn’t a band or a record label: it’s an app called Spotify. Spotify was one of the earliest and most popular music streaming services on the market today. The service is available on almost every platform, from cars to home assistants to high-end speakers to phones, tablets, and computers. Spotify’s prowess with data analysis and algorithmic music suggestions have made the service addictive for music-hungry users, and as the first major service to offer student pricing, it’s spread like wildfire on college campuses across the country.

Here’s what you need to know before and after you dive in with it.

Getting Started

Spotify is built to be as easy a listening experience as possible, and for most users, making an account is as easy as pressing one button. From setting up an account to getting your library established, we’re here to help you avoid as much pain as possible while you make the switch.

Getting started with Spotify

Pick your subscription

There are a lot of subscription styles out there for Spotify, but which one will fit you — and your family members — best? We break down the difference in Spotify subscriptions beyond the price points and show their prices and pitfalls, especially the very tight strings wrapped around Spotify Premium for Family subscriptions.

How to pick a Spotify account

Play your music everywhere

One of Spotify’s perks is that users can play back their music just about everywhere: their watch, their phone, their TV, their car, their smart speakers, high-end speakers, their computer, and just about everything in between. Best of all, connecting to all of these diverse devices uses the same simple UI: Spotify Connect. Here’s how this musical magic works and what it works with.

Spotify Connect: What it is and why it’s awesome

Settling in with Spotify

Once you’ve gotten your account up and running, it’s time to start mastering Spotify and making it work for you. From library management to offline playback and beyond, there are some simple things you can do to turn your Spotify experience up to 11.

Top 5 tips to make the most of your Spotify subscription

Playlist problems persist…

Playlists are a big part of any music service, but they’re doubly important on Android because playlists curated by everyday users can be highlighted by Spotify’s search and shared with your friends, family, and followers. There’s just one little problem: you can’t really edit playlists properly on Android. Or Chromebooks, for that matter.

Spotify has a playlist problem on Android

… but Spotify’s playlists have a secret ally

Even if you can’t tweak your playlist order, description, and image on Android, it’s still possible to build a big, beautiful playlist on Spotify. If you start running out of ideas for additions to your playlists, don’t worry. You can leverage the work you’ve already done and Spotify’s algorithms to expand your playlist with Playlist Radio.

Use Spotify’s radio to build bigger, better playlists

Queues, subqueues, and frustration

Managing and mixing up your queue on Spotify is a bit of a minefield for two reasons. The first is that rather than showing your listening history by letting you scroll up in your playlist, whatever you’re playing is at the top of the queue and what you last listened to is at the bottom if it’s visible at all.

The second is that Add to Queue doesn’t do what it’s called, which can turn an already confusing queue into a vanishing, inconsistent tur-queue-ken.

Spotify’s Add to Queue is a lie

Spotify vs. Google Play Music

Spotify has a lot of competition, but perhaps the biggest competition they face on Android is convincing people that they’re better than the music player that came pre-installed on your phone: Google Play Music. To be sure, both services have their ups and downs, but here is a critical comparison of the two services to help you decide if you want to give Spotify your time, attention, and money.

Spotify vs. Google Play Music: The battle of the bigs

What’s your take?

What do you love or hate about Spotify? Let us know in the comments!

Lenovo’s latest education-focused Chromebooks are cheap and cheerfully impenetrable

The box says “education,” but they’re for everyone.

Logic would dictate that a trio of Chromebooks, all selling for under $350, wouldn’t be particularly interesting. But in 2018, where most of the innovation in Android phones is happening in the mid-range, it stands to reason that a similar trend would be seen in other areas where Google’s software dominates.

Chrome OS has become a prominent part of the education community in recent years, buoyed by its tri-pronged promise of speed, security, and simplicity. Lenovo, among other companies, has participated in the proliferation of Chrome in education, cemented earlier this year by an announcement that made clear just how many schools have embraced the browser-first operating system.

Lenovo’s latest entries into the Chromebooks for Education category are capable and utilitarian and punch above their respective price points in the ways that count: durability, keyboard and trackpad quality, port selection, screen quality, and performance.

All three laptops are built with the same strong rubberized plastic, with reinforced USB ports and spill-resistant keyboard; the $219 100e (which comes out later in March) skimps on the screen quality and lacks touch support, but its Celeron processor and standard 4GB of RAM ensures the experience isn’t compromised.

The $279 300e is probably the most compelling of the three devices, mainly because you get so much more for your additional $60. You move to an ARM chip with a MediaTek processor, plus 4GB of RAM and 32GB of storage standard, a large 45Whr battery, an 11.6-inch multitouch IPS panel, both USB-C and USB-A ports, a standard SD card slot, and support for a pen.

Pen support on the 300e is quite interesting: to save money, the screen isn’t tuned for a capacitive stylus the way the more expensive 500e is, but it uses an adaptation of Lenovo’s AnyPen technology that allows graphite pencils or anything else with a capacitive charge to simulate a touch response.

Stylus input isn’t quite as seamless, then, as on more expensive Chromebooks and tablets, but for kids wanting to trace or write on the screen with implements they already have — H2 pencils among them — it’s perfect.

On the more expensive side, starting at $349, the 500e comes with an integrated pen and improved touch response. Lenovo worked with Google to optimize pen input to be completely lag-free, and in my short time with the laptop I found it to be remarkably good — better than many tablets more than five times the cost.

At 2.97 pounds, the Chromebook 500e is not exactly tablet-weight, but it’s also being marketed as a premium classroom tool that can be adapted for home and enterprise use, as well. For some reason, Lenovo downsized the SD slot to microSD, likely to accommodate twice the number of USB-A and C ports, but the tradeoff seems worthwhile.

The 500e can be configured for 8GB of RAM and 64GB of internal storage if desired, and its Intel Celeron N3450 chip is significantly faster than that of the MediaTek processor inside the 300e. Either one will suit most people, and both are available right now through Lenovo’s website.

See at Lenovo

Chromebooks

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• Should you buy a Chromebook?
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• Acer Chromebook 14 review
• Join our Chromebook forums

The $40 Roav Viva brings Alexa and a 2-port car charger on the road with you

Bring Amazon’s Alexa along for the ride with the Roav Viva.

Anker’s new Roav Viva, an Alexa-enabled 2-port USB car charger, is down to $39.99 with code VIVACARA on Amazon. This is a brand new product, just released in early February, and has never had a deal before.

The Viva connects to your phone via Bluetooth, and then you connect your phone to your car’s stereo either via Bluetooth or an auxiliary jack. It will use your phone’s Internet to access Alexa’s services and relay them through your car’s speakers. You can access the full-range of Alexa’s skills, including playing your favorite music, getting directions, or hearing the news. You can make and receive phone calls without taking your hand off the wheel. It also has voice isolation via two integrated mics that can accurately identify your voice over other car noises.

The dual charging ports have PowerIQ technology to detect what’s plugged in and deliver the fastest charge. The top of the device has a mute button that makes it easy to turn off the mics if you don’t want Alexa listening to everything you say. Users give it 3.9 stars based on 48 reviews.

See at Amazon

Awesome NVIDIA SHIELD TV bundle giveaway! Enter at Android Central now!

The Shield TV by NVIDIA was Modern Dad’s pick for best Android TV box you can buy right now. It ticks off nearly every box for specs. Plus it’s one of the smattering of Android TV boxes that has access to Amazon Video, in addition to being one hell of a gaming rig. And it has voice-activated access to Google Assistant. It’s got Ethernet, HDR10, and Dolby Atmos support, plus expandable storage. This one’s also for pretty much everybody!!

So we’ve teamed up with our friends at NVIDIA to bring you a fun giveaway. The winner of this one will get not only the Shield TV, but also an additional SHIELD controller and game codes for Clustertruck, The Final Station, Metal Gear Solid 3 HD, realMyst, and Siegecraft Commander. Wow! Let’s get to the giveaway!

THE GIVEAWAY: Head down to the widget at the bottom of this page. There are multiple ways to enter, each with varying point values. Complete all of the tasks for maximum entries and your best shot at winning! Keep in mind that all winning entries are verified and if the task was not completed or cannot be verified, a new winner will be chosen. Due to sponsor restrictions this contest is only available in the U.S. and Canada.

The giveaway is open until March 12, 2018, and the winner will be announced right here in the widget after the contest ends. Good luck!

Win this crazy SHIELD TV bundle from Android Central!

Samsung will release a premium Bixby speaker in the second half of 2018

Bixby’s strengths (and weaknesses) will soon be put on full display.

Smart speakers are quickly becoming one of the hottest new markets in the consumer tech space, and it’s currently dominated by the likes of Amazon and Google.

Apple just stepped into the ring with its own HomePod speaker, and in the second-half of 2018, Samsung will do the same.

In an interview with The Wall Street Journal, Samsung’s head of mobile operations, DJ Koh, confirmed this news, saying:

When I introduce the first model, I don’t want to give the impression that Samsung delivered another affordable mass model. I want to focus on more premium.

This sounds a lot like Apple’s approach with the HomePod, and unfortunately, Samsung’s speaker will likely be plagued by one of the HomePod’s worst features — a subpar virtual assistant.

Siri pales in comparison on the HomePod when compared to speakers powered by Amazon Alexa or the Google Assistant, and we’ll likely be faced with a similar (if not worse) scenario with a speaker that relies on Bixby for user interaction and control. Samsung can still pull ahead by not restricting customers to just one music streaming service like Apple does, but it remains to be seen if that’ll be enough to make people interested.

How much will Samsung’s Bixby speaker cost? A report from December suggested that it would sell for around $200, but Koh’s most recent comment suggests it’ll have a price more along the lines of the HomePod or Google Home Max. If that’s the case, Samsung’s going to have to really knock the hardware and sound quality out of the park if it wants to convince people to get its product over something like the Home Max, or even the regular Google Home.

Whether or not you’re a Samsung fan, are you looking forward to a Bixby smart speaker?

Job listings suggest that Spotify is working on its own smart speaker

YouTube Live updated with IFTTT integration and automatic captions

Live chat replays and location tags are also here.

If you’ve ever hosted a livestream, chances are you did so on YouTube Live. YouTube’s feature set for livestreaming is already pretty great, but now it’s getting even better with four new features.

First off, Google’s finally launching something that it announced almost a year ago at Google I/O 2017 — IFTTT integration with Super Chat. Super Chats are paid comments you can make during a live stream to support your favorite creators and make sure your question/comment is seen above everyone else’s, and with them now supporting IFTTT, creators can have them trigger various Internet-connected gadgets, such as lights, switches, and much more. Along with this, Super Chat is also finally coming to the YouTube app on iOS.

Also new is automatically captioned livestreams. YouTube’s using the same captioning system that’s been in place since 2009, and it’ll initially be available in English when it’s launched in the coming weeks.

Alongside these two additions, YouTube Live is also picking up Live chat replays so you can see the entire conversation that took place during a stream after it’s gone off-air and new location tags will allow you to filter livestreams based on where they were recorded.

If you’re a livestreamer, do any of these features draw you to use YouTube Live over a competing service?

YouTube promises better communication and stronger policies in 2018

Bitcoin miners turn Quebec’s cheap energy into cold cash

Bitcoin mining is a weird industry. Vast banks of dedicated computers solve complex equations to generate hashes worth a fraction of a coin, consuming huge amounts of power in the process. For such operations to be economically feasible nowadays, miners need the cheapest electricity possible.

Energy is cheap in certain regions of Asia but many nations there are becoming increasingly hostile to cryptocurrency. China, for instance, is concerned that a sudden Bitcoin collapse could cause economic chaos. More importantly, it wants to cut off cryptocurrency operations near coal-fired energy plants that cause extra pollution in an already-polluted country.

The answer, for many bitcoin miners, is to be found in Quebec. The Canadian province has some of the lowest electricity prices in North America, and produces an energy surplus that amounts to 100 terawatt hours over a decade — enough to supply 6 million homes in a year, according to Global News. As such, rather than turning away miners like China is, the province’s power agency, Hydro Quebec, has been encouraging them to come.

Quebec generates nearly 97 percent of its electricity from hydro projects and produces around 1,245 tonnes of carbon per TWh of power, between 50 and 240 times less than the industry average in North America. Cryptocurrency mining is thus relatively clean and cheap in Quebec, making it interesting for both the province and miners. “Of the world’s top five largest blockchain players, we have at least three or four,” David Vincent of Hydro Quebec told Reuters.

Just because the hydroelectric dams are carbon free, doesn’t mean they’re controversy-free, however. Many projects built between 1970 and 2000 negatively affected the lives of Innu, Cree and Inuit tribes in the province, flooding their traditional trapping and fishing lands.

And while hydroelectric power is plentiful in Quebec, that situation might change in the near future. Experts keep revising EV sales upwards, for one thing, which will soon stress electrical grids around the world. Hydro Quebec might make more money by exporting its excess power to the US, meaning miners won’t see cheap prices forever.

Bitfarms is one of the biggest players in Quebec, and the above photo was snapped by Reuters photographer Christinne Muschi at one of its four Quebec sites. The company plans to open another three sites in Quebec, and many other players are interested in coming to the province, too. It’s even drawing in industries that have nothing to do with Bitcoin, like forestry and paper producers who could rent out space in their factories. “They want space and cheap power,” said Resolute Forest Products CEO Chad Wasilenkoff.