To put a quantum computer on your desk, Intel has a plan unlike any other

The future of computing is quantum — or so headlines would have you believe. They’re not incorrect. Yet like the flying car, quantum computing is a technology that’s as elusive as it is enchanting. A computer that can go beyond the simple, binary 0s and 1s of today’s ‘classical’ designs opens a new world of possibility, but the technical hurdles are massive, and no one knows how long it’ll take to overcome them.

That’s not discouraging researchers, however. Quantum computers have reached an important milestone in recent years and piqued the interest of massive companies. Companies you’ve heard of. Companies like Intel, which has shipped Core processors in hundreds of millions of computers across the globe.

An old dog learning some new tricks

Intel may seem an unlikely choice for innovation in quantum computing. Sure, it’s known for its powerful PC processors, but the company’s expertise is concentrated in classic computers built for the x86 instruction set. Intel’s 8086 chip, the first x86 processor, is nearing its 40th birthday. The fundamental underpinnings of Intel’s modern chips harken back to that now-ancient predecessor.

Jim Clarke, Intel’s Director of Quantum Hardware, explained to Digital Trends that the company will continue to lean on past expertise to drive future research, and quantum computing is no exception. During a visit to Intel’s campus, Clarke pulled out a slick, rainbow-like wafer. It looked a lot like those you’ve seen in the news or Intel’s own ads, but this one was different.

Jim Clarke, Intel’s Director of Quantum Hardware, showing off a wafer. Rich Shibley/Digital Trends

“What you see here is a wafer that comes from our 300-millimeter technology line just a few miles down the Ronler Acres campus,” Clarke told us. “We’re doing this wafer with the same technology that we’re using for our advanced chips. And what you see here are basically small spin qubit arrays.”

That’s the company’s quantum computing effort in a nutshell. It wants to advance the technology, just as does Google and IBM, as well as many universities. But Intel has a different approach. It wants to do it with silicon.

“We’re essentially using the same process lines, same tools, same design rules to do this, and that’s an advantage for Intel.”

“There are a total of, I think, roughly 50000 qubits on this wafer,” Clarke explained. “They’re not coupled together so we can’t use them together. But you see the power of using Intel’s advanced process lines. If we can get this technology working we’re going to be making chips that are the same from wafer to wafer, and we’re going to have lots and lots of qubit arrays on any given wafer.”

What Clarke’s talking about is not just production. He’s talking about mass production.

It’s easy to see why Intel would approach the technology with mass production in mind. It’s the only company among its competitors that makes a bulk of its money directly from processor sales. It’s a self-serving goal, to be sure, but one that gives Intel a unique incentive.

There’s many reasons why Google might want to build quantum computer, but selling quantum chips isn’t high on the list. IBM does sell chips, but only to enterprise customers. Intel’s the only horse in the race that might, one day, seek to sell you a quantum computer.

It’s not a crazy idea. As Clarke made clear, “this is running in the same fab that’s doing the cutting edge Core chips. […] With, I’ll say, some different challenges with making the wafers, we’re essentially using the same process lines, same tools, same design rules to do this, and that’s an advantage for Intel.”

Check my qubits, bro

Alright. Intel is interested in building quantum computers with its traditional, mass-production methods, but does that really mean you’ll have a sweet quantum computer under your desk?

Well…maybe.

Top-left, bottom-right: Intel. Top-right, bottom-left: Rich Shibley/Digital Trends.

The big challenge facing quantum computing is the fragility of qubits. Due to the funky nature of quantum mechanics, it’s incredibly easy to disrupt a qubit’s coherence, which makes the whole thing go wrong. Clarke told us even a bit of heat can do it.

“So, what we do is we operate these systems at very cold temperatures,” he said. “We have these refrigerators called dilution refrigerators that are about the size of a 55-gallon drum. And they can get down to a fraction of a degree above absolute zero. In fact, we would say they are 250 times colder than deep space.” Hardcore PC overclockers might salivate over such a cooler, but don’t get too excited. An Intel Core i7 wouldn’t work at such low temperatures. It’d likely crack or shatter.

“I’ll leave miniaturization for the next generation, but right now I actually don’t think it’s a problem to have a large system.”

These incredible cooling requirements put obvious limitations on how modern quantum processors operate. You can’t just stick a current quantum rig in a home office. Hell, you can’t even stick one in most labs. It’s a highly specialized field that currently requires highly specialized equipment. Miniaturization will help, to be sure, but the massive apparatuses that are used today won’t fit into a desktop tower overnight. Or perhaps even over the next decade.

Yet not everything about a quantum computer is strange. The device still needs short-term memory, long term-storage, and circuit boards that connect various components together. This additional hardware “just is not at the same part of the refrigerator as that as the quantum chip,” Clarke told us. “In fact, a large quantum chip could very well have a small supercomputer next to it, controlling the information into and out of the actual chip.”

In theory, then, a quantum computer might someday end up looking like today’s desktops, though Clarke certainly wasn’t ready to commit to the idea. He reminded us that today’s computers began life as room-sized devices that accepted input only by punch cards and executed instructions on transistors that were (at least) the size of your thumb. That was over 70 years ago, and it’s really only over the last 20 years that PCs slimmed down to the backpackable size we’re used to today.

“If we think about the first Cray supercomputers in the mid-70s they were probably as large as half this room, and these were the most powerful computers on earth at that time. No one would have thought that close to 40 years later we would have miniaturized these, and more, into our back pockets,” Clarke said. “I’ll leave that miniaturization for the next generation, but right now I actually don’t think it’s a problem to have a large system. If that system is the world’s most powerful computer.”

Freaking out about security

The arrival of quantum computing isn’t universally anticipated with eager acceptance, however. Many modern encryption algorithms, like RSA keys, offer protection, because forcing the algorithm would take billions of years for even the most powerful classical computers. Quantum computing, though, is a different story.

“With RSA keys, we take a number that is the product of two large prime numbers, and you can only access the message or the code or the credit card number if you have both of those prime numbers,” Clarke told us. “That’s actually a very hard calculation to do with a classical computer. […] A quantum computer, because it can access such a large space, could conceivably factor these RSA keys in a very very short time, let’s say a minute.”

That’s unsettling to anyone with an eye for security. The NSA began taking steps to harden security against quantum computing in 2015. To make matters worse, Intel has found itself swamped by a swarm of security vulnerabilities in its chips. Processors were once commonly assumed a relative safe-haven. Many even have “secure enclaves” built-in to offer an additional layer of security against hackers looking to hijack the chip.

Now, that clean reputation has been soiled. Both security experts and consumers are beginning to cast a more skeptical eye on hardware. Does that mean a digital doomsday is approaching? Clarke doesn’t think so.

“Within that the types of algorithms and the requirements for a quantum computer that could do cryptography are actually pretty severe, so we’re probably several years beyond that 10-year timeline to have something that would work for cryptography.”

Ten years is a long time for researchers to prepare for quantum computing’s arrival, and encryption techniques impervious to quantum already exist today.

“An example of a technology that would be quantum resistant would be something like the one-time pads used in World War II or by Cold War spies,” Clarke said.

A one-time pad isn’t a magic pill. Figuring out how to easily share it digitally in a timely manner with minimal overhead won’t be easy – but Intel has researchers working on that problem. Clarke seemed hopeful that new encryption methods will be available before quantum computing becomes common enough to threaten modern encryption.

The next generation

It’s still early days in the development of quantum hardware, but the interest of companies like Google, IBM, and Intel are a clear step forward. Clarke thinks that the company’s experience will give Intel the edge in the race. “We are betting that with Intel’s expertise with the Intel architecture, that sort of expertise at the person level, we can bring those people to Quantum and make headway,” said Clarke.

You’ll have to wait to see the results of the company’s efforts, of course. Clarke spoke of time horizons that covered decades, not years or months. Even the development of top-tier classical processors is a long, tiring business that evades easy solution. It’ll be a long time before you see the Intel Inside label slapped on a quantum chip, but it now feels as likely to happen as not.

Editors’ Recommendations

• Microsoft creates a particle promising a more accurate quantum computer
• Intel, Microsoft using integrated graphics to thwart next Meltdown-style threats
• You may never own a quantum computer, but IBM will still let you use one
• How 20th century check fraud is helping prevent 21st century data theft
• AMD is working on fixes for the reported Ryzenfall, MasterKey vulnerabilities

Best road trip planner apps

Getty Images

The weather’s getting warmer, you’ve stocked up on PTO, and your playlist of summer songs is about at capacity which means one thing: It’s road trip season. In other words, it’s time to load up the car, grab your friends, and hit the open road.

Whether you’re planning to camp in the woods or stay in swanky hotels, there are unique aspects to road tripping that require special planning. Unlike vacations, where you’re flying to a single destination, road trips involve preparation such as determining the best route, mapping out your stopover points, finding nearby attractions, and ensuring you’re close enough to gas and roadside services.

Fortunately, there are plenty of mobile apps to help you during the planning phase and once you’re on the road. Here are the best road trip planners, for both iOS and Android-compatible smartphones.

Roadtrippers

Roadtrippers is perhaps the best all-around road trip app, working as a comprehensive planning assistant that offers everything from creating your route to selecting activities and finding lodging. You can book accommodations instantly via the app, which looks similar to a more full0-featured version of Google Maps. Better yet, it’s completely free for anyone to make use of.

To plan a trip, simply enter your final destination and then click on nearby cities and destinations. From here, the app lets you play around with different routes and activity options until you find your favorite. We recommend using the desktop version for the planning portion, as it’s easier to zoom in and out on a bigger map.

Once the route is locked in, you can then search for various types of accommodations including hotels, campsites, vacation rentals, RV spots, and other places to sleep for the night. Additionally, you can scroll for activities to do including Attractions and Culture, Points of Interest, Entertainment and Nightlife, Scenic Drives, and dozens of other sub-categories. Once you’re on the road, switch to the mobile version to search for food, find nearby gas, locate rest areas, find auto shops, or track down other amenities.

GasBuddy

GasBuddy is by far the easiest and most straightforward gas-finding app available. By simply entering your current location, the app shows you up-to-date gas prices within a pre-set local radius. You can sort the resulting stations by price, distance, or price and distance together. There’s also an option to filter stations by whether or not they have certain amenities such as car washes, air pumps, propane fills, restrooms, pay-at-pump features, and 24/7 service hours.

Whether you plan to fill up with regular, mid-grade, premium, diesel, or even ethanol/E85 fuels, GasBuddy clearly lays out which station offers what grade of fuel and at what price. There’s even a map view you can use to zoom out and jump around, viewing gas stations in various parts of the state or country.

Serious savers can join GasBuddy as a member by simply linking their checking account. Once linked, the company then sends a card in the mail which can be used to receive 10 cents off per gallon for the first fill and five cents off per gallon at all future stops. If you’re going to be giving your odometer a workout this summer, GasBuddy is an excellent way to cut down on fuel costs.

Google Trips

Google Trips is a general vacation planner app, however, if you’re going to be hopping from one town to the next, it has plenty of useful features to make the most of each destination.

For instance, searching in the mobile-only app for “things to do” populates a list broken down into tabs such as live music, art galleries, outdoor pursuits, kids activities, and many more. The categories are all location-specific so if you’re in Portland, Oregon, for example, you’ll see options like vintage shopping, indie movies, or made in Portland, whereas if you’re in New York you’ll see tabs like Brooklyn standouts, literary NYC, or Madison Avenue chic.

The app has a similar feature for food and drink choices as well, which includes a summary of what genres of food the city or town is known for and where you can find each type of cuisine. You can save attractions you want to visit in the handy Saved Places tab and there’s a feature called Day Plans that offers suggested itineraries in one, two, and three-day formats.

If you have any reservations, you can forward the emails to your Gmail account and the app automatically syncs them into a reservations tab which allows easy access to confirmation numbers and other info. There’s also a comprehensive Getting Around section that explains what types of public transportation and ride-shares are available, should you choose to park the car for the day, as well as walking and biking paths.

iHeartRadio

When you get tired of looping through the same playlists on Spotify or Pandora, iHeartRadio offers an awesome way to integrate musical playlists with podcasts, news, and local radio stations. The app is connected to over 1,000 different stations throughout the United States which you can live stream anywhere. If you want to search by region, just enter a zip code otherwise you can surf by genre, selecting from music stations (pop, hip-hop, country, jazz, etc), comedy shows, sports stations, political talk radio, and others.

Under the podcasts tab, you can browse for new shows or save a list of your favorites. There’s an extensive selection of choices including popular series like This American Life, Fresh Air, Serial, Pod Save America, Radiolab, and others. The Playlists tab allows you to create your own playlists or surf for music based on mood, activity, decade, genre, and other categories similar to Spotify. You can also save songs and follow artists in your Library.

The basic app is free but in order to use all its features, you must choose a subscription of either $5 for iHeartRadio Plus or $10 for iHeartRadio All Access.

Blink Roadside Assistance

Blink is a wonderfully convenient app that allows you to access immediate roadside service without requiring a membership. If you run into car troubles, simply enter your location like you would with something like Uber or Lyft, and the app immediately sends someone to help you.

The tabs are broken down into Battery, Flat Tire, Tow, Lockout, and Other, where you can ask for things like fuel delivery if you run out of gas. It’s a 24/7 service with nationwide coverage offered in 99.4 percent of all US zip codes. That means you’re covered just about anywhere you go, at any time, be it day or night.

When you first request service, it doesn’t completely commit you to have to receive what you ordered. The app first shows you your options with a price quoted along with an estimated wait time. From there, you can decide if you want to proceed. If you prefer to talk to a human, there’s a telephone icon in the upper righthand corner of the app that connects you to a representative who can answer questions and book services.

Editors’ Recommendations

• The best hiking apps
• 13 best road trip cars, from the practical to the drool-worthy
• 2018 Cadillac ATS Sedan Review
• Waze on iPhone just landed on your Ford’s infotainment screen
• The 100 best iPad apps for your Apple tablet

Here’s what we’re reading, watching, playing, and listening to this week

How we’re spending our leisure time.

Everyone has a bit of quiet downtime once in a while. Whether you’re sitting quietly at home or trying to relax on a plane or just giving your busy mind and hands a break, it’s important to relax.

A good way to do that is to read a book, listen to some music or watch a movie or show. See what’s caught our attention for the week of June 16th.

Ara Wagoner

There’s a new season of Tangled coming June 24th, so I’m rewatching the first season and savoring the fun chemistry its killer cast built in the first season. New characters like Flynn’s thieving BFF Lance Strongbow — played by Tony-winner and Hamilton cast member James Monroe Iglehart — and Rapunzel’s attendant/bodyguard Cassandra allowed Zachary Levi to pull out all the stops in Flynn Rider’s comedy, and Mandy Moore shines bright as ever as a Rapunzel struggling with new responsibilities and not-so-new limitations. Sad as I am to hear less of Clancy Brown’s masterful voice, I am happy that we’re leaving behind King Frederic and his overprotective father bit behind. It was too cliché, even for me, and threw a dark cloud over an otherwise sunny season of character growth and magical mystery.

See on Google Play

Marc Lagace

When you write for a living it can be hard to stay motivated with your own creative writing. I’m also a terrible procrastinator when it comes to using my spare time effectively, so I’ve decided to do two things: shut down all electronics two hours before it’s time for bed (always a smart idea) and use the time to crack open some great resources for creative fiction and screenwriting and write a little bit each day. Here are the three books I’ll be revisiting throughout the summer:

“Save The Cat: The Last Book on Screenwriting You’ll Ever Need” by Blake Snyder is a book I read during my film studies in and it’s a fantastic entry point for anyone interested in writing a screenplay. Snyder writes in such an accessible and conversational tone as he explains the industry rules for taking your idea for a movie and turning it into a marketable script.

“How Not To Make A Short Film: Secrets from a Sundance Programmer” by Roberta Marie Munroe is a great resource if you’ve always kicked around the idea of getting some friends together to make a short film. Written by someone who managed the short film programming at Sundance Film Festival, there’s a lot of valuable information in this books that will help you avoid the big mistakes that plague many amateur filmmakers.

“Writer’s Gym: Exercises and Training Tips for Writers” by Eliza Clark is another fantastic resource for aspiring ficition writers. It’s filled with a ton of valuable interviews with successful writers, along with a ton of great thought experiments and writing exercises designed to help you develop your chops as a fiction writer.

I hope that these recommendations help someone out there dive get a start on that creative project you’ve been putting off!

See at Amazon

Joe Maring

I’ve been on a podcast kick for the better part of a month now, and this week, my ears have been filled with HowStuffWorks’ Behind the Bastards.

Behind the Bastards dives deep into some of the world’s most infamous people, including the likes of Joseph Stalin, Bill Cosby, Adolf Hitler, and Harvey Weinstein. Host Robert Evans does an excellent job at breaking down well-known events about the individuals, such as Cosby’s many allegations of rape and sexual assault, in addition to little-known-facts like Sadam Hussein once writing a romance novel.

It’s certainly an NSFW podcast as there’s a bit of language and the talking points can get a bit rough, but the conversations are excellent and absolutely worth listening to.

Tom Westrick

Because of someone’s title choice, my mind has been stuck on trashy but awesome 90’s music. This includes Seal, Alanis Morissette, the Cranberries, etc. All talented musicians, all great songs, but also all guilty pleasure. Anyway, here’s Wonderwall

Speaking of the 90’s, news broke this week that The Joy of Painting would return as an audio series, so I started doing what countless other have done and started listening to episodes of that on YouTube to lull me to sleep. It’s… kinda worked, but it also makes me want to grow an afro, buy some brushes and canvas and start making happy little trees.

Elsewhere, I’ve been playing the heck out of Grand Theft Auto San Andreas since the Xbox 360 version now works on Xbox One. I’ve bought this game four times now (PS2, Xbox 360 disk, Android, Xbox 360 digital), and it’s always been worth every penny. No matter how many times I’ve gone through the story, it’s still a great way to kill a few hours at a time.

See at Amazon

Your turn

What are YOU reading, watching, or listening to this week? Let us know in the comments!

Update, June 16, 2018: This is a weekly series where we tell you what we’re into, so check back every weekend!

Action Launcher v37 adds powerful ‘desktop shortcuts’ and Android P UI

Formatting for the Pixel Launcher’s layout is also enabled by default.

The v37 update for Action Launcher is making its way to the Play Store right now, and as always, developer Chris Lacy has a handful of new features for us to geek out over.

The biggest change this time around is something called “desktop shortcuts.” When enabled, you can hold down on any blank part of your home screen to bring up desktop shortcuts and have quick access to things like your battery usage, open a file manager, and more.

All of the options that show up are completely customizable, and the pop-up box even follows the new UI found in Android P when holding down on the Pixel Launcher desktop.

Changes you make to Action Launcher will now be applied much faster.

Speaking of Android P, Action Launcher v37 also adds the “dock dash” found in Android P Beta 1 and officially supports the final APIs for when Android P is publically released.

Last but not least, Action Launcher v37 also speeds up the time it takes for changes to the app to apply, the unread count icon next to apps now uses less memory and battery, All Apps folders form the v35 update can be moved to the desktop, and the icon scale, grid size, and font from the Pixel Launcher will now be used in Action Launcher by default.

V37 is rolling out to the Play Store now and should be available to download soon.

Download: Action Launcher (free)

Google and T-Mobile merge old with new in Google Assistant phone booth demos

Google is setting up yet another campaign to push the Google Assistant. This time around, the company is teaming up with T-Mobile to install experimental demos in signature T-Mobile stores in Chicago and San Francisco for three months.

The demos aim to blend old tech with new tech — they are styled after phone booths, and inside them, customers will be able to both demo hardware like the LG G7 ThinQ, JBL Pulse 3, and Google Home Mini, and software — the Google Assistant. Of course, once you have experienced Google Assistant, you will be able to buy compatible devices from T-Mobile.

One of the demos is called “Tiny Gym,” and basically involves customers asking Google Assistant to play a workout playlist while customers use resistance bands. “Tiny Kitchen” involves Assistant looking up recipes and setting timers for cooking time. Last but not least is “Tiny Museum,” in which customers can pick up a phone and use Google Lens to learn about paintings and artists featured in the Art Institute of Chicago.

Google says the demos will be running for “about the next three months,” and you can check them out for yourselves at T-Mobile’s flagship stores in Chicago and San Francisco.

Google has been pushing Assistant a lot over the last few months. This isn’t even the first time we have seen the phone booth demos, which first showed up at CES earlier in the year. Then, just a few months ago, the company launched a mini-golf pop-up in New York City, in which each hole was aimed at showcasing what Google Assistant can do in a different room of the house. It’s likely we will see more experiences like this as Google continues to take on the likes of Amazon’s Alexa.

It’s also pretty likely that we will continue to see more and more devices will Google Assistant loaded onto them over the next few years. JBL recently announced the Link Bar, which a sound bar with Android TV and Google Assistant loaded straight onto it. Not only that, but dozens of new phones with Assistant are launched every month — only further growing Google’s ecosystem.

Editors’ Recommendations

• Microsoft Build and Google I/O are over. Which came out on top?
• Google Home Mini review
• Google Assistant-enabled smart displays to start shipping in July
• Everything you need to know about Google Assistant
• Google Home vs. Google Home Mini vs. Google Home Max: It’s all about the sound

This diving system lets you stay submerged for 2 hours, no tank needed

Do you want a diving system that bridges the gap between scuba diving and snorkeling, minus the limitations of both? If so, a new Kickstarter campaign could be for you. Described by its creators as the smartest and safest hookah-diving system around, Supa Huka possesses neither the complications of scuba diving nor the restrictions of snorkeling. In its place, you get a device which allows you to dive up to 30 feet underwater for up to two hours on a single charge. No back tank required.

“Our audience is really anyone with a passion for travel, exploration, and creating memorable experiences,” industrial designer and co-creator Adam Pitschke told Digital Trends. “We’ve designed Supa Huka to be simple enough for the average person to use safely and effectively, while enabling more advanced divers to get their diving fix wherever they go, without the hassle of bulky gear and tank rental fees.”

So how does it work? Simple: It’s a sealed lead acid battery-powered device which floats on the surface of the water, with a line connecting to the diver. Fresh air is pulled into the snorkel and pumped down the airline to the regulator, allowing the diver to comfortably breathe underwater for an extended period of time.

The Supa Huka is perfectly sized to be carry-on luggage on an airplane. That suitcase form factor isn’t wasted, either, since it is packed with features including a dive vest with auto-inflate, dual USB charging ports, a low battery strobe to indicate when it’s running out of juice, and space to store personal items such as phone, wallet, and dive goggles. Heck, there is even an embedded solar panel for recharging the battery on the beach between dives.

While we have not had the chance to check this out for ourselves just yet, Supa Huka looks like it has the makings of a brilliant bit of beach gear — whether you’re looking to do some serious underwater photography or maintenance, or just splash around exploring reefs on vacation.

As ever, we offer our usual warnings about the risks inherent in crowdfunding campaigns. However, if you’re aware of these and still want to get involved, head over to the Supa Huka Kickstarter page where you can pledge your hard-earned cash. A fully kitted-out unit will set you back around $590. Provided it is able to reach its funding target to go into production, shipping is set to take place in March 2019.

Editors’ Recommendations

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HoloLens 2 could pack Qualcomm’s new XR1 chip for extended reality

The next version of Microsoft’s HoloLens headset for augmented reality will supposedly feature Qualcomm’s new Snapdragon XR1 processor. The rumor arrives by way of an anonymous source who claims the second-generation headset packing the XR1 chip, currently dubbed as HoloLens 2, will make an appearance in January 2019. That means we could see the headset’s debut in six months during the CES 2019 show in Las Vegas. 

Qualcomm introduced the Snapdragon XR1 processor in late May, a mobile chip optimized for extended reality (XR), an umbrella term that covers augmented reality, virtual reality, and mixed reality. The chip targets mainstream devices, or rather affordable products, to provide high-quality XR experiences without having to invest in high-priced hardware. The chip is mostly optimized for augmented reality powered by artificial intelligence. 

That said, unlike Qualcomm’s other Snapdragon-branded chips, the XR1 isn’t meant for smartphones. Instead, Meta, HTC’s Vive division, Pico, and Vuzix have already jumped on the XR1 bandwagon to produce new products, such as the next-generation Vuzix Blade headset for augmented reality. Microsoft wasn’t mentioned during Qualcomm’s XR1 announcement, but speculation points to a possible hush-hush until the official HoloLens 2 reveal next year. 

Currently, Microsoft has two HoloLens bundles: the $5,000 Commercial Suite and the “cheaper” $3,000 Development Edition. Based on the prices alone, neither are meant for mainstream use. The Development Edition is designed for individual augmented reality application developers although the headset is used extensively in medical, retail, manufacturing, and other industries. The Commercial Suite adds enterprise-focused features like remote management to the developer-focused bundle. 

HoloLens made its debut in March 2016 packing an Intel “Cherry Trail” processor running at 1GHz, 2GB of system memory, 1GB of memory dedicated to an embedded Holographic Processing Unit, a 2.4MP camera, and 64GB of storage. More than two years later, we have yet to see a second-generation unit although previous rumors pointed to the next version, codenamed Sydney, launching in the first quarter of 2019. 

Previous rumors also expected the next-generation HoloLens to include Qualcomm’s Snapdragon 845 chip, which is currently making its way into smartphones such as Samsung’s Galaxy S9 and S9 Plus. But now that Qualcomm officially revealed the Snapdragon XR1, this latter chip makes more sense for Microsoft. Either way, the company appears to be moving toward an ARM-based headset, ditching Intel’s x86-based platform.  

Qualcomm and Microsoft already have a newfound alliance with their “always connected” initiative. They created a Windows 10 platform based on Qualcomm’s Snapdragon processors that promises notebooks with a high performance, long battery life beyond 20 hours, a constant internet connection thanks to 4G LTE connectivity and an affordable price. The HoloLens 2 could be part of that initiative. 

If Microsoft takes the Snapdragon XR1 route with its next HoloLens, the company is already set software-wise thanks to Windows on ARM. This is a version of Windows 10 that works on ARM-based processors, which “speak a different language” than CPUs produced by AMD and Intel. It’s Microsoft’s second attempt at supporting ARM-based hardware after Windows RT failed to win customers over during the Windows 8 era. 

Editors’ Recommendations

• Qualcomm’s new Snapdragon chip will take VR, AR to the next level
• Leaked docs show Google may be cooking up a stand-alone AR headset
• Microsoft’s HoloLens could be gearing up to kick Intel to the curb
• Apple’s wireless, mixed-reality glasses could launch in 2020
• Magic Leap finally unveils ‘goggles’ with wireless processing, tracking

Ugh. I’m done with fitness trackers, and so is the world

Apple

I own a drawer full of fitness trackers and used to love tracking my workouts. It was fun, adding a geeky element to something entirely un-geeky. If I wanted to go for a run, I could grab my Garmin Forerunner 235, wait for it to grab a satellite lock, and do my usual route before uploading my stats to Garmin Connect. If that wasn’t charged, I could grab my trusty Polar.

Or if I wanted to hit the gym, I could don my Apple Watch and fire up Stronglifts for a strength session. If the weather was nice and I had the time, I could spandex up for a bike ride with my Garmin Edge 520. Hell, if I was really feeling into it, I could strap on a heart-rate monitor to see how out of shape I am or even a cadence sensor on my shoes.

But you know what? I’m not doing any of those things anymore. When it comes to fitness tracking, I’m done. I’m over it. I don’t want to know. I just want to get out there and feel healthy. Quantifying that data is no longer for me — no matter how much it lets me track my progress. So, I’m dumping the fitness tracker drawer.

A popularity problem

It appears I’m not alone. According to data I collected at Thinknum, interest in fitness training devices is on the wane.

In fact, usage of the Fitbit app has declined over the last 12 months after data showed a blip in popularity after the new year. It seems that even those who promised themselves they’d get in shape in 2018 are already giving up on the practice. But backing out of a New Year’s Resolution is hardly a new phenomenon.

Meanwhile, Fitbit’s latest flagship fitness tracker, the Versa, is experiencing slowing sales at Best Buy after what initially appeared to be a strong start.

It used to be that fitness geeks (and wannabe fitness geeks) would rush to pre-order the latest trackers to get that extra bit of accuracy on their Strava segments or calorie counts. Back in 2016, fitness trackers were all the rage. People tweeted their FitBit step progress whenever they could — and it seemed the gamification of amassing that data motivated them. When Apple told us fitness tracking was the future, we believed them. Companies like Pebble and Jawbone popped out of the electronics ether, promising a future of quantified health governed by devices strapped to our bodies.

What happened to the fun?

And then, just like that, they were gone. Pebble is on life support after refunding Kickstarter backers for a product it can’t deliver. Jawbone is undergoing liquidation. Apple is scrambling to re-invent the Apple Watch as a health companion while FitBit is dressing up its watches for lifestyle-focused nights on the town. And remember the word wearable? It was the hottest thing at tech conventions just two years ago. If your device hooked to a belt loop or slid onto your wrist, you were guaranteed interest.

I’d find myself looking at the watch—the entire experience reduced to a series of numbers and graphs.

I can’t explain why other people are losing interest, but I know that in my case, it’s because fitness tracking has become a bit too much. It’s taken the fun out of it. We went too far. Personally, I burnt out on the quantification (and I say this as someone who plays in data all day long at Thinknum Media). It became tedious.

What was once a fun, stress-free ride around Prospect Park became an effort to beat user Crank69 on that last quarter-mile Strava segment. I’d obsess over the latest Garmin firmware. I’d wait to begin my ride once I knew all satellite receptors were locked and loaded, just to make sure I got that extra tenth of a mile. I’d review segments ahead of time to save energy for a grind just to beat Crank69.

And then I realized I wasn’t having fun. Instead, my fitness life was the boring, frustrating, grinding, level-up portion of a videogame that you choose to forget.

Running a robotic race

Even running was similar, no matter how much it used to be a pastime of solitary meditation. I’d step out the door for runs looking more like a cyborg than a runner: Garmin on my wrist, heart-rate monitor on my chest, cadence pod on my shoe. I’d check my pace every quarter mile, down on myself for falling behind and getting little out of the watch’s accolades when I was hitting a new personal record. I’d find myself looking at the watch instead of enjoying the views of the park, missing the smiles from other runners, the entire experience reduced to a series of numbers and graphs.

And then there were the injuries in the gym. I’d follow the app’s algorithms to the ounce, even adding weight at the rate an app determined regardless of how I was actually feeling that day. Sure, my squats got massive, but so did my lower back pain. And if I had to lower the weight, I’d have to plod through the humiliating task of editing an app’s settings only to be greeted by a condescending message.

Gone were the days of chatting with my friends at the gym and the simple act of writing my latest lifts down in a notebook. I’d never read that notebook, nor would the numbers upload to the cloud but back then, I didn’t care — I knew when it felt right. But with the fitness tracker, I was pulling up charts at work, tracking my up- or down-slope. I was a machine. And I didn’t like it.

A tracker-free future

A Saturday morning ride I recently took was beautiful. It was just me, the bike, the park, and the other riders. I didn’t bring my Garmin or care how fast I was going, how far I went, or how Crank69 fared on the Prospect Park climb. And you know what? I think it was my fastest ride yet. But I’ll never know that for sure, and I’m OK with that.

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Here’s who’s going to win the World Cup, according to A.I.

Robots aren’t playing professional soccer just yet, but they can certainly help predict it! With the FIFA World Cup kicking off, San Francisco-based tech firm Unanimous A.I. has used its considerable artificial intelligence expertise to predict the outcome of the 32-team men’s soccer tournament. Given that the startup has previously predicted the Super Bowl results successfully right down to the exact final score, we totally think this is worth taking seriously.

“These predictions were generated using swarm A.I. technology,” Louis Rosenberg, founder and CEO of Unanimous A.I., told Digital Trends. “This means it uses a unique combination of human insights and artificial intelligence algorithms, resulting in a system that is smarter than the humans or the machines could be on their own. It works by connecting a group of people over the internet using A.I. algorithms, enabling them to think together as a system, and converge upon predictions that are the optimized combination of their individual knowledge, wisdom, instincts, and intuitions.”

The technology is modeled on the remarkable abilities of swarms in nature, such as swarms of bees, schools of fish, or flocks of birds. These natural swarms combine the insights of large groups in optimized ways. Unanimous’ swarms utilize this same principle to answer complex questions — such as giving precise probability-based outcomes on each game in the World Cup.

“Unlike traditional A.I. systems, swarm A.I. technology can tackle diverse problems very quickly without training on subject-specific data sets,” Rosenberg continued. “That’s because we are using the knowledge, wisdom, insights, and intuitions of real people, in real-time, and our algorithms have already trained on human behaviors. This training happened over tens of thousands of data points, and it means now we just need to build a ‘human swarm’ that includes people with knowledge about the World Cup.”

In this case, Unanimous A.I. partnered with a company in the U.K. called Colossus, which provided a group of 30 experienced sports handicappers. These handicappers were then connected together online, and combined with A.I. algorithms to amplify their intelligence. “It took a little over an hour, but this artificial ‘hive mind’ predicted every match and created a full World Cup bracket,” Rosenberg said. “We then processed the data and were able to generate [a] probabilistic forecast.”

Long story short? You should expect Germany to beat Brazil in the final, while Spain and France round out the tournament’s final four teams. Well, depending on how much stock you put in A.I.’s predictive powers, that is!

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Here’s who’s going to win the World Cup, according to A.I.

Robots aren’t playing professional soccer just yet, but they can certainly help predict it! With the FIFA World Cup kicking off, San Francisco-based tech firm Unanimous A.I. has used its considerable artificial intelligence expertise to predict the outcome of the 32-team men’s soccer tournament. Given that the startup has previously predicted the Super Bowl results successfully right down to the exact final score, we totally think this is worth taking seriously.

“These predictions were generated using swarm A.I. technology,” Louis Rosenberg, founder and CEO of Unanimous A.I., told Digital Trends. “This means it uses a unique combination of human insights and artificial intelligence algorithms, resulting in a system that is smarter than the humans or the machines could be on their own. It works by connecting a group of people over the internet using A.I. algorithms, enabling them to think together as a system, and converge upon predictions that are the optimized combination of their individual knowledge, wisdom, instincts, and intuitions.”

The technology is modeled on the remarkable abilities of swarms in nature, such as swarms of bees, schools of fish, or flocks of birds. These natural swarms combine the insights of large groups in optimized ways. Unanimous’ swarms utilize this same principle to answer complex questions — such as giving precise probability-based outcomes on each game in the World Cup.

“Unlike traditional A.I. systems, swarm A.I. technology can tackle diverse problems very quickly without training on subject-specific data sets,” Rosenberg continued. “That’s because we are using the knowledge, wisdom, insights, and intuitions of real people, in real-time, and our algorithms have already trained on human behaviors. This training happened over tens of thousands of data points, and it means now we just need to build a ‘human swarm’ that includes people with knowledge about the World Cup.”

In this case, Unanimous A.I. partnered with a company in the U.K. called Colossus, which provided a group of 30 experienced sports handicappers. These handicappers were then connected together online, and combined with A.I. algorithms to amplify their intelligence. “It took a little over an hour, but this artificial ‘hive mind’ predicted every match and created a full World Cup bracket,” Rosenberg said. “We then processed the data and were able to generate [a] probabilistic forecast.”

Long story short? You should expect Germany to beat Brazil in the final, while Spain and France round out the tournament’s final four teams. Well, depending on how much stock you put in A.I.’s predictive powers, that is!

Editors’ Recommendations

• Machine learning? Neural networks? Here’s your guide to the many flavors of A.I.
• Microsoft’s $25 million ‘A.I. for Accessibility’ seeks to amplify humanity
• Forget cloning dogs, A.I. is the real way to let your pooch live forever
• Fussy, hungry, or in pain? This app accurately translates your baby’s cries
• Thanks to A.I., there is finally a way to spot ‘deepfake’ face swaps online