Android P: Everything you need to know

From new gestures to extending battery life, here’s everything you need to know about Android P!

Following last year’s Oreo release, 2018 is the year of Android P. We’re still some time away before Google rolls out the new software to all users, but even in its current form, P is showing a lot of promise.

Things are bound to change leading up to Android P’s official launch, but for the time being, here’s everything you need to know about this year’s big update.

Android P is officially Android 9

As spotted in the third developer preview, Android P is Android 9. This signifies that Android P is a big upgrade from 8.0 Oreo, and based on what we’re about to dive into, we’ve got no problem agreeing with that.

It completely changes Android’s navigation system

Back in 2011 with Android 3.0 Honeycomb, Google introduced Android’s iconic three button navigation system we’ve come to know and love – Back, Home, and Recents. Seven years later with Android P, these are being eliminated in favor of a gesture-based system.

Android P is the first time Google’s heavily relying on gestures for navigating the UI, and in their current form, they work as follows:

• Tap the Home button/pill to go home
• Swipe up to access the recent apps page
• Swipe up twice or do a long swipe for the app drawer
• The Back button only appears in certain apps/menus when it’s needed

This combination of taps and swipes is a bit confusing right now, but we’re expecting Google to roll-out a more refined version of this in later Developer Previews or in the final build. You can still use the traditional three buttons in Developer Preview 2 and 3 if the gestures aren’t your thing, but it’s rather obvious that this is the future Google wants for Android.

Android P’s gestures are a jagged pill you should learn to swallow

The user interface is more rounded and colorful

Android P isn’t as drastic of a visual change like we saw with the jump from KitKat to Lolipop, but compared to Oreo, there are some elements that are noticeably different.

At first glance, things like the colorful icons in Settings, circular Quick Settings icons, and rounded corners for just about every menu jump out like a sore thumb. These elements do take some getting used to, but I ultimately came around to liking them quite a bit.

Something else you’ll notice with Android P is just how alive it feels. Between the new gestures and updated animations, Android moves in a way that I’ve never seen before. Oreo was smooth and buttery, but Android P flies underneath your fingertips in a way that can only be experienced in-person.

There are tools for helping you use your phone less

Google talked a lot about helping people with their “digital wellbeing” at this year’s I/O conference, and a lot of those efforts are baked right into Android P.

Although not live in Developer Preview 2 or 3, later versions of Android P will introduce a new system called Android Dashboard. Android Dashboard will offer a quick glimpse into how you’re using your phone, including stats on which apps you’re using the most, how many times you’ve turned on the screen, how many notifications you’ve received, and how much time you’ve spent on each app.

You’ll also find a feature called App Timers that’ll restrict you from using a certain app after you’ve spent x amount of time on it, as well as tools for easily turning on Do Not Disturb and switching your screen to a monochrome color palette to help you wind down for bed.

Google’s ‘digital wellbeing’ initiative feels incomplete and insincere

Google’s trying to squeeze as much juice as possible out of your battery

It seems like Google’s always trying to find ways to maximize your phone’s battery life as much as possible, and with Android P, those efforts are present in a new Adaptive Battery mode.

Similar to how Adaptive Brightness automatically adjusts your display’s brightness level based on your environment and usage, Adaptive Battery will examine how you use your phone and limit CPU usage to apps you infrequently use.

Google notes that Adaptive Battery can lower CPU usage by as much as 30%, and thanks to the use of Machine Learning, it’ll only get better the more you use your phone.

App shortcuts are everywhere

With Android Nougat, Google introduced us to App Shortcuts for the first time. Holding down on an app icon to quickly access certain elements of it can be genuinely useful at times, and with Android P, Google’s taking these to the next level with App Actions and Slices.

App Actions will try to determine what you’ll do next with your phone and give you recommend shortcuts for doing so within the app drawer, Assistant, and more. For example, if you watch Good Mythical Morning each day with breakfast, you might see an App Shortcut in your app drawer for searching Rhett and Link on YouTube during the morning.

On the other hand, Slices will allow you to perform more complex actions from the Assistant or Google Search. In the example Google gave at I/O, searching “I want to book a ride” will give you a special link to call a ride home via Lyft (assuming you’ve got the app installed).

157 new emoji

In Developer Preview 3, Google added a ton of new emojis to keep your conversations bright and colorful — 157 of them, to be exact.

Although we won’t run through the entire list, some of the highlights include red hair, superhero, face with three hearts, bagel with cream cheese, mooncake, lobster, and llama.

There are also improvements to existing emoji, including two new gender-neutral family and couple designs and updated looks for the bacon, salad, turtle, and cricket emojis.

A new standard for biometric authentication

Fingerprint sensors and face unlock systems make it easier than ever to access private information on our phones, and in Android P Developer Preview 3, Google added a brand-new standard for this called “BiometricPrompt API.”

Thanks to the new API, developers no longer have to create their own dialog for using biometric systems with their apps. This isn’t something you’ll notice in day-to-day use, but it’s an important background change we’re more than happy to see.

All the little things

In addition to the big changes found in Android P, there are a ton of smaller elements also scattered throughout the update. Some of my favorites include:

• Built-in screenshot editor
• Zoom pop-up when highlighting text
• Changing the volume now defaults to your media volume
• Volume controls appear on the right of your screen instead of the top
• Do Not Disturb is more customizable and easier to understand

You can sign up for the beta now

Similar to last year’s Oreo beta, anyone with a Pixel phone can opt-in to the Android P beta right now to get an OTA update to download and play with the new software.

However, Google’s Pixel phones aren’t the only ones that get to have fun with this early access. Google’s opening up its Android Beta Program to third-party OEMs for the first time ever thanks to Project Treble, including Nokia, OnePlus, Sony, Essential, Xiaomi, Vivo, and Oppo.

How to get Android P on your Pixel right now (or roll back to Oreo)

The official build should be released in August

If you’d rather not mess with the beta and just wait for the final version to drop, we’re not too terribly far out from it.

Google notes that the final release for Android P will be published in Q3, and based on the above timeline and Oreo’s release schedule, we should see Android P get a proper launch at some point in August.

Updated June 6, 2018: Added new features included with Android P Developer Preview 3.

Android P

• Android P: Everything you need to know
• Android P Beta hands-on: The best and worst features
• All the big Android announcements from Google I/O 2018
• Will my phone get Android P?
• How to manually update your Pixel to Android P
• Join the Discussion

Grab the ecobee4 Alexa-enabled Smart Thermostat for $209

It’s learning.

Smart thermostats are awesome and honestly, you should have one in your home. This Alexa-enabled ecobee4 is one of the best on the market currently, and this discount is only a few bucks more than a previous low. Right now you can pick one up for just $209, which is $50 lower than it normally sells for.

You can control it with just your voice or through the free ecobee iOS and Android app, and the included room sensor helps keep an even temperature throughout your whole house. If you’re looking to save a few bucks while keeping your house cool this summer, this is a perfect way to do it. Be sure to grab one now, before you miss out on the savings.

Depending on where you live, you may qualify for some additional rebates, making this an even smarter investment.

See on Amazon

Samsung Galaxy Note 9 rumors: Release date, specs, price, and features!

Here’s everything we know about the Galaxy Note 9!

Now more than ever, Samsung’s Galaxy S+ phones are becoming eerily similar to the Note series. The Note used to be Samsung’s way of touting all of the latest and greatest tech it had to offer, and while this is still the case, the same can be said for this year’s Galaxy S9+.

Samsung needs more than just the S Pen to make the Note 9 stand out from its own phones and the rest of the competition, and luckily, all signs are pointing to something exciting for this year’s release. Here’s what we know so far!

June 6, 2018 — This is what the Galaxy Note 9 might look like

We’ve been talking about the Galaxy Note 9 for months at this point, but up until now, we haven’t had a definitive idea as to what the phone will look like. Thankfully, 91Mobiles partnered with @OnLeaks to scratch that itch for us.

As you can see in the video above, the Note 9 will look very similar to last year’s Note 8. The front will be home to a large, notch-free Infinity Display while the back houses two rear cameras and a fingerprint sensor. The way the cameras and fingerprint sensor are positioned is slightly different compared to the Galaxy S9, but even so, there’s no mistaking this for a modern Samsung phone.

The bottom frame also shows a slot for the S Pen, USB-C port for charging the Note 9, a speaker grill, and 3.5mm headphone jack.

June 1, 2018 — The Galaxy Note 9 will be announced on August 9 with an upgraded camera

Per a report from Bloomberg, Samsung will host an Unpacked event in New York on August 9 where it’ll officially unveil the Galaxy Note 9.

There’s still a lot that’s unknown about the phone, but it’s reported that the Note 9 will have a very similar design compared to the Note 8, a much-improved camera, and Qualcomm’s latest Snapdragon 845 processor in select markets.

Following the event, Samsung hopes to officially release the phone by the end of the month.

When will the Galaxy Note 9 be released?

Samsung typically releases its Galaxy Note series in the second-half of the year, often in mid-to-late August.

It was reported on March 29 that Samsung had begun production of OLED panels for the Note 9 two months earlier than it usually does, suggesting that this year’s Note may be released as early as July.

How much will the Galaxy Note 9 cost?

Pricing for the Note series has steadily been going up each year, as has the majority of the smartphone industry.

The Galaxy Note 8 costs $950 unlocked, and I’d expect the Note 9 to cost either the same or slightly more. Apple proved with the iPhone X that people aren’t afraid to shell out $1000+ for a new smartphone, and I don’t consider it to be out of the question for Samsung to follow suit with the Note 9 – especially if it adopts newer technologies like an in-display fingerprint sensor.

Samsung Galaxy S9 & S9+: Everything you need to know!

MacRumors Giveaway: Win a Rolltop Backpack, TechFolio and iPad Pro Case From Pad & Quill

We’re teaming up with Pad & Quill for a series of special WWDC giveaways this week in celebration of the developer-focused event.

For those unfamiliar with Pad & Quill, it’s a company that makes high-quality hand-crafted leather accessories for iPhones, Macs, iPads, Apple Watches, and more.

For our second giveaway this week, we’re offering MacRumors readers a chance to win a Heritage Rolltop Leather Laptop Backpack, a TechFolio Cord Organizer, and a Contega Linen case for the iPad Pro.

Pad & Quill’s Heritage Rolltop Leather Laptop Backpack, priced at $339, is a weatherproof backpack that’s made from full-grain American bridle leather. It features a dedicated laptop pocket that can hold up to a 15-inch MacBook Pro, a water resistant leather cover flap, and tons of pockets.

There’s a main compartment inside to hold all of your accessories, a zippered pocket for small items, an exterior pocket for things you need to get to quickly, and another quick access side zipper pocket. It uses UV-resistant stitching, brass hardware, and copper rivets, plus it comes with a 25-year warranty.

Pad & Quill’s Contega Linen iPad Case is a folio-style book-like case that’s available for both the 10.5-inch iPad Pro ($120) and the larger 12.9-inch iPad Pro ($130). The Contega case features a baltic birch wood frame with a linen cover in charcoal, gray, or cranberry, and there’s even an Apple Pencil holder.

The birch frame keeps the iPad safe from bumps and drops, while the linen cover can be folded to serve as a multi-angle stand for the iPad when watching videos or folded all the way back when playing games. When closed, the Contega case offers all-around protection, with an elastic strap to keep things closed.

The TechFolio, priced at $90, keeps all of your cords neatly organized in one easy-to-access place. Like all Pad & Quill products, the TechFolio is handmade from leather and able to hold a ton.

The TechFolio has three cord organizer pockets, an Apple Pencil slot, a larger zipper pocket for a MacBook charger, two smaller pockets for accessories, and slots for keys or SD cards. All of this folds down into a small package that secures with a rivet closure and fits neatly inside another bag.

We have one prize pack featuring a Contega iPad Case, a TechFolio, and a Rolltop Leather Laptop Backpack. To enter to win, use the Rafflecopter widget below and enter an email address. Email addresses will be used solely for contact purposes to reach the winners and send the prizes. You can earn additional entries by subscribing to our weekly newsletter, subscribing to our YouTube channel, following us on Twitter, or visiting the MacRumors Facebook page.

Due to the complexities of international laws regarding giveaways, only U.S. residents who are 18 years or older and Canadian residents (excluding Quebec) who have reached the age of majority in their province or territory are eligible to enter. To offer feedback or get more information on the giveaway restrictions, please refer to our Site Feedback section, as that is where discussion of the rules will be redirected.

a Rafflecopter giveawayThe contest will run from today (June 6) at 11:00 a.m. Pacific Time through 11:00 a.m. Pacific Time on June 13. The winner will be chosen randomly on June 13 and will be contacted by email. The winner will have 48 hours to respond and provide a shipping address before a new winner is chosen.

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MacRumors Exclusive: Upgrade Your Desk Setup With Discounts on Twelve South’s Mac and iPhone Accessories

Following our Spring Break partnership with Twelve South a few months back, MacRumors is again collaborating with the well-known accessory maker, this time in celebration of developers and Apple’s Worldwide Developers Conference. The exclusive sale includes 20 percent discounts on Twelve South accessories like the BackPack and Curve, which can be helpful additions to the workflow of developers, and anyone who works on a Mac all day.

The promo code MacRumorsSetups is live beginning today, June 6, and will be available to use on TwelveSouth.com through Friday, June 15, offering 20 percent discounts on five items during this week-and-a-half timeframe. MacRumors readers around the globe will be able to enter the code and take advantage of the discounts, but shipping costs will vary by regions. For United States residents, Twelve South offers free FedEx Smart Post on all orders (5-10 days estimate), and if your order exceeds $95 you’ll gain free 2-day shipping.

The products below can be purchased individually or in groups, and the 20 percent discount will be taken off from the total of the order, excluding shipping and taxes. Of course, while this sale is themed around developers and WWDC, any of our readers interested can take advantage of the exclusive promo code, so be sure to check out the full list of Twelve South products on sale below:

BookArc

Promo Price: $39.99, down from $49.99
Colors: Silver and Space Grey
Compatible Products: MacBook Pro with Thunderbolt 3/USB-C (13-inch and 15-inch), MacBook Pro with Retina Display (13-inch and 15-inch), MacBook (12-inch), MacBook Air (11-inch and 13-inch)
Description: BookArc cradles compatible MacBooks (using swappable silicone inserts) so you can clear up desk space and display your MacBook, while still running a connection from the computer to an external display if desired.

BackPack

Promo Price: $27.99, down from $34.99
Colors: Silver and Black
Compatible Products: 21.5-inch iMac (Late 2009 – Current), 27-inch iMac (Late 2009 – Current), 27-inch Thunderbolt Display/LED Cinema Display, Legacy iMac/Displays may be available through Twelve South support.
Description: Another solution for desk clutter, BackPack hangs on your iMac using two adjustable, non-scratching clips to hide hard drives and USB peripherals, or display memorabilia, action figures, flowers, and more. Up to three BackPacks can be attached to one iMac.

Curve

Promo Price: $39.99, down from $49.99
Colors: Black
Compatible Products: MacBook Pro (13-inch and 15-inch), MacBook (12-inch), MacBook Air (11-inch and 13-inch)
Description: Curve is an aluminum stand that elevates your MacBook 6.5 inches into the air and reduces neck strain when working for extended periods of time, particularly when paired when a Bluetooth keyboard.

HiRise 2

Promo Price: Non-Deluxe for $31.99, down from $39.99; Deluxe for $47.99, down from $59.99
Colors: Silver, Black, White
Compatible Products: Lightning-enabled iPhones, iPads, and accessories like Siri Remote
Description: HiRise 2 allows you to charge and display your iPhone or iPad, with a perfect angle for FaceTime calls or browsing apps like Apple Music. The HiRise 2 Deluxe includes both a Lightning cable and a Micro-USB cable so you can charge even more devices.

BookBook Vol. 2

Promo Price: $63.99, down from $79.99
Colors: Brown leather
Compatible Products: 12-inch MacBook (2015-Current), 13-inch and 15-inch MacBook Pro (Late 2016-Current)
Description: For working on the go, BookBook Vol. 2 was created exclusively with Apple’s USB-C enabled MacBooks in mind. The combination case and sleeve protects the MacBook with genuine leather in a vintage book design, and also sports an interior hidden pocket for storing documents.

Head over to our Deals Roundup for even more of the latest offers happening this week, and remember to use the exclusive Twelve South promo code before it expires on June 15.

Related Roundup: Apple DealsTag: Twelve South
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One fish, two fish: A.I. labels wildlife photos to boost conservation

The wilderness is vast and varied, home to millions of animal species. For ecologists, identifying and describing those animals is key to successful research. That can prove to be a tall order — but artificial intelligence may be able help.

In a new report out this week, researchers show how they trained a deep learning algorithm to automatically identify, count, and characterize animals by reviewing images. The system used photographs captured from motion sensor camera traps, which unobtrusively snap pictures of the animals in their natural habitat

“We have shown that we can use computers to automatically extract information from wildlife photos, such as species, number of animals, and what the animals are doing.” Margaret Kosmala, a research associate at Harvard University, told Digital Trends. “What’s novel is that this is the first time it’s been shown that it’s possible to do this as accurately as humans. Artificial intelligence has been getting good at recognizing things in the human domain — human faces, interior spaces, specific objects if well-positioned, streets, and so forth. But nature is messy and in this set of photos, the animals are often only partially in the photo or very close or far away or overlapping. As an ecologist, I find this very exciting because it gives us a new way to use technology to study wildlife over broad areas and long time spans.”

The researchers used images captured and collected by Snapshot Serengeti, a citizen science project with stealth wildlife cameras spread throughout Tanzania. From elephant to cheetahs, Snapshot Serengeti has gathered millions of wildlife photographs. But the images themselves aren’t as valuable as the data contained within the frame, including details like number and type of animals.

Automated identification and descriptions has a lot of benefits for ecologists. For years, Snapshot Serengeti used to crowdsource the task of describing wildlife images. With the help of some 50,000 volunteers, the group labeled over three million images. It was this treasure trove of labeled imagery that the researchers used to train their algorithm.

Now, rather than turn to citizen scientists, researchers may be able to assign the laborious task to an algorithm, which can quickly process the photographs and label their key details.

“Any scientific research group or conservation group that is trying to understand and protect a species or ecosystem can deploy motion-sensor cameras in that ecosystem,” Jeff Clune, a professor of computer science at the University of Wyoming, said. “For example, if you are studying jaguars in a forest, you can put out a network of motion-sensor cameras along trails. The system will then automatically take pictures of the animals when they move in front of the cameras, and then the A.I. technology will count the number of animals that have been seen, and automatically delete all the images that were taken that do not have animals in them, which turns out to be a lot because motion-sensor cameras are triggered by wind, leaves falling, etcetera.”

A paper detailing the research was published this week in the journal the Proceedings of the National Academy of Sciences.

Editors’ Recommendations

• Sleep with the fishes in the world’s first underwater villa
• Hackers broke into a casino’s high-roller database through a fish tank
• MIT’s ocean-exploring robotic fish takes a test swim through a Fiji reef
• Social media is flooded with illegal wildlife trade but A.I. can help
• Facebook utilizes Instagram photos and hashtags to create a smarter A.I.

Intel hopes to kick-start dual-screen Windows 10 market with its own designs

Dual-screen laptops may become a reality sooner than you think. Intel has been working on a few reference designs for dual-screen laptops for about two years, and it recently showed off a prototype code-named Tiger Rapids. According to Intel, Tiger Rapids was provided to select PC manufacturers, and Lenovo and Asus will show their own spin of Tiger Rapids at the Computex trade show this week.

“Conceptually, it’s not a one-size-fits-all world,” Intel Senior Vice President of the Client Computing Group Gregory Bryant told PC World. “You’re going to see secondary products of different shapes and sizes, people are going to do secondary displays, obviously we’re going to work on longer-term things like bendables and foldables.”

Intel’s goal in creating new and sometimes experimental form factors is to create a PC to suit the needs of individual users. In the past, Intel’s Compute Card packed desktop computing powers into a form factor that is as small as a credit card. For its part, Tiger Rapids maintains a profile that is thinner than an iPhone 8 at just 4.85mm thick.

Designed for digital artists and notetakers, Tiger Rapids took inspiration from paper Moleskin notebooks. Unlike traditional laptops, Intel’s concept is outfitted with a smaller main display 7.9-inch display, while a secondary display on the right side utilizes electronic paper display technology with a textured coating to make it feel similar to regular paper. Going with an E Ink display means that the secondary screen will consume minimal power, and Intel is touting up to 15 hours of battery life. When it is adopted by Asus, Tiger Rapids will be transformed into an artificial intelligence-based PC, Intel said, with a Movidius processor for deep learning.

Intel’s second prototype uses the secondary display like a regular screen, rather than the digital inking focus of Tiger Rapids. This second vision for dual-screen computing involves two screens that can be used to simultaneously display content. The downside is that as a laptop replacement, you’ll have to resort to typing on glass, rather than on a physical keyboard. “That’s the idea behind the second dual-screen device, which Intel didn’t identify by code name,” PC World reported. “This second device might be called the future of dual-screen displays, but Intel executives didn’t indicate that any hardware makers planned to bring it to market at the present time.”

Tiger Rapids’ debut comes at a time when chip designs from ARM Holdings are encroaching on Intel’s silicon business. Qualcomm, which uses ARM’s reference silicon design on its mobile-optimized processors, debuted the Snapdragon 850 processor that is designed for dual-screen devices using Microsoft’s Always-Connected PC platform. Always- Connected PCs essentially allows Microsoft’s Windows operating system to work with ARM processors, and it’s been rumored that Dell is working on a dual-screen device with a Snapdragon 850 chipset.

Editors’ Recommendations

• Dell is reportedly working on its dual-screen version of the Surface Phone
• The Project Precog concept from Asus looks like the future of laptops
• Sony’s smaller version of its E Ink tablet available for pre-order in the U.S.
• Lenovo wants to give the convertible PC a flexible, wraparound display
• Dell’s new patent application shows how a two-screen laptop deals with DRM

Parrot’s new HDR camera drone is a shot across DJI’s bow

It’s been a while since Parrot released a new consumer-level drone, but today, June 6, at a press conference in New York City, the company pulled the curtain back on a new addition to its fleet: a high-end, folding quadcopter named Anafi.

Whereas Parrot’s earlier drones were more on the toyish side of the spectrum, and were arguably more focused on fun flying than capturing video, Anafi is purpose-built for aerial photography and videography. As such, it’s outfitted with all the requisite bells and whistles we’ve come to expect from UAVs in this category — including a camera that shoots 4K video and 21-megapixel stills, range of over two miles, a 25-minute max flight time, auto-follow functionality, and a folding form factor that makes it easy to transport.

If that sounds somewhat milquetoast and standard-issue, it’s because it is. You can already buy drones with the aforementioned capabilities, but Parrot is well aware of this fact — so it equipped Anafi with a handful of innovative features and functions that help it stand out from the rest of the pack. Here’s a quick rundown.

Raising the bar with HDR

The first and most notable of these is Anafi’s ability to shoot high dynamic range (HDR) video. We’ll spare you the gory technical details of how it works and why it’s a big deal, but in a nutshell, this means that this drone can capture video at multiple different exposure levels simultaneously, and blend all those exposures together to create a single shot that has outrageously good contrast.

As far as we can tell, Anafi is the first consumer-level drone on the market with HDR video capabilities, which is a pretty big deal. Even some of the best drones you can buy right now tend to have trouble with high-contrast scenes, and HDR could help mitigate that issue — which gives Parrot a leg up on competitors like DJI and Yuneec.

Tilt and whirl

Second, Anafi is eqiupped with a 3-axis gimbal stabilizer that has 180 degrees of tilt freedom. In other words, not only can this drone look straight down, it can also look straight up. This feature presumably gives you a broader range of creative freedom while you shoot, and allows you to capture footage from above or below your subject. Shooting like this simply isn’t possible on the vast majority of today’s camera drones, as they almost always carry their cameras below the hull, or inside nose-mounted stabilizers with limited upward motion.

Zoom, zoom, zoom

Another uncommon feature that Anafi boasts is lossless digital zoom — something that’s notably absent from just about every other drone in the sub-$1,000 category. Parrot’s shooter can zoom up to 1.4x in 4K and 2.8x in 1080p without distorting image quality in any way. Functionally, this allows you to get closer to your subject without actually flying closer — which could come in handy for, say, wildlife shots where you risk scaring away the animals if you buzz your drone too close (although it’s worth mentioning that Anafi also happens to be relatively quiet for a quadcopter).

Aside from that, Anafi’s lossless zoom also enables an awesome shooting trick that, until now, was rather difficult to achieve with a flying camera: the dolly zoom (also known as the vertigo zoom or Hitchcock zoom). You’ve probably seen this before in movies. It’s the shot where the central subject remains the same size while the background zooms in and out, creating a vertigo-inducing visual effect. Parrot’s setup automates the process so you can take dolly zoom shots at the press of a button.

Sprinkles on top, and a competitive price

There’s also a handful of small, thoughtful design elements that help round out the package — things like a launch-from-hand function, 3D mapping software, a USB-C battery that can also be used as a smartphone charger, and the ability to fly Anafi with or without a controller.

The best feature, however, is the price. You can pre-order Anafi today for the comparatively-low-but-admittedly-still-kinda-high price of $700 — which puts it squarely in competition with DJI’s infamous Mavic drones. Whether or not Anafi can stand toe to toe with the Mavic Air has yet to be seen, but if you’re curious, be sure to circle back later this month to check out our in-depth review.

Editors’ Recommendations

• DJI’s plush new headquarters will feature a skybridge for drone tests
• DJI Mavic Air review
• Sony crams 8x zoom in the RX100 VI, but it’s still pocketable
• Drones are no longer crash-test dummies thanks to MIT’s new VR training platform
• Sony’s new PXW-Z280 uses three sensors for 4K at 60 frames per second

Huawei jumps on AMD’s Ryzen bandwagon via an upcoming 14-inch MateBook D laptop

During the laptop portion of AMD’s Computex press conference early Wednesday morning, Huawei’s Michael Young came on stage to present a 14-inch version of the company’s MateBook D laptop sporting AMD-based hardware. He didn’t say when the device would ship, but instead said the company set out to design a stylish, powerful, and efficient notebook packing AMD’s hardware to deliver an “unparalleled” experience. 

We don’t know all the hardware specifics for the moment, but a slide provided by Huawei, shown above, shows it will be powered by AMD’s Ryzen 5 2500U all-in-one chip packing four “Zen” cores with a base speed of 2.0GHz and a maximum speed of 3.6GHz. It will also include eight “Vega” graphics cores clocked at 1,100MHz, and sip a mere 15 watts of power. 

Outside the AMD processor, the upcoming Huawei MateBook D will sport a 14-inch IPS display with a 1,920 x 1,080 resolution promising wide viewing angles and rich colors. Other details disclosed on the slide include four speakers powered by Dolby Atmos with a split frequency arrangement, and a USB-C port used for charging the device. It will measure just 0.622 inches thick and weigh 3.19 pounds. 

The current version of the MateBook D you can purchase right now is a bit larger with a 15.6-inch IPS display backed by a seventh-generation Core i5-7200U processor and discrete GeForce 940MX graphics (2GB). It’s also slightly thicker and heavier too measuring 0.66 inches thin and weighing 4.19 pounds. Completing this package is 8GB of system memory clocked at 2,133MHz and a 1TB hard drive.

Outside Huawei’s partnership, other laptop makers supporting AMD’s Ryzen-branded hardware include Acer, Asus, Dell, HP, and Lenovo. Models that specifically use AMD’s Ryzen 5 2500U all-in-one chip include the HP Envy x360 (15M-BQ121DX) starting at $749, two Lenovo Ideapad 720s 13 Platinum editions starting at $699, the Dell Inspiron 17 5000 starting at $859, and many more. The MateBook D 14-inch laptop is the first device from Huawei to sport AMD-based hardware. 

In North America, Huawei is typically known for its family of smartphones. But the company entered the notebook market in early 2016 with the launch of its first MateBook followed by the MateBook X and MateBook D laptops, and the MateBook E 2-in-1 PC  in 2017. The MateBook X Pro made its debut this year during the Mobile World Congress show in Barcelona. 

AMD said during its Computex presentation that its Ryzen all-in-one chips are the world’s fastest processors for ultra-thin notebooks. According to one of the slides, the Ryzen 7 2700U chip delivers 28 percent better performance in Cinebench R15 than Intel’s Core i7-8550U chip. In 3DMark 11, AMD’s chip shows 103 percent more graphics performance than Intel’s integrated graphics in the Core i7 chip.  

Part of AMD’s Computex notebook presentation also showcased HP’s just-launched Envy x360 13-inch notebook. According to AMD’s Kevin Lensing, it “has enough graphics performance to out-perform some notebooks with discrete graphics.” Other manufacturers that took the stage to reveal AMD-backed laptops included Dell, Asus, and Lenovo. 

Editors’ Recommendations

• HP just unveiled your next laptop – all 11 of them to be exact
• HP’s mainstream Pavilion PCs refreshed with latest AMD Ryzen, Intel Core CPUs
• Acer crams a Ryzen 7 CPU, discrete RX Vega 56 graphics into a 17-inch laptop
• Huawei MateBook X Pro review
• Huawei MateBook X Pro vs. Dell XPS 13

Huawei jumps on AMD ‘s Ryzen bandwagon via an upcoming 14-inch MateBook D laptop

During the laptop portion of AMD’s Computex press conference early Wednesday morning, Huawei’s Michael Young came on stage to present a 14-inch version of the company’s MateBook D laptop sporting AMD-based hardware. He didn’t say when the device would ship, but instead said the company set out to design a stylish, powerful, and efficient notebook packing AMD’s hardware to deliver an “unparalleled” experience. 

We don’t know all the hardware specifics for the moment, but a slide provided by Huawei, shown above, shows it will be powered by AMD’s Ryzen 5 2500U all-in-one chip packing four “Zen” cores with a base speed of 2.0GHz and a maximum speed of 3.6GHz. It will also include eight “Vega” graphics cores clocked at 1,100MHz, and sip a mere 15 watts of power. 

Outside the AMD processor, the upcoming Huawei MateBook D will sport a 14-inch IPS display with a 1,920 x 1,080 resolution promising wide viewing angles and rich colors. Other details disclosed on the slide include four speakers powered by Dolby Atmos with a split frequency arrangement, and a USB-C port used for charging the device. It will measure just 0.622 inches thick and weigh 3.19 pounds. 

The current version of the MateBook D you can purchase right now is a bit larger with a 15.6-inch IPS display backed by a seventh-generation Core i5-7200U processor and discrete GeForce 940MX graphics (2GB). It’s also slightly thicker and heavier too measuring 0.66 inches thin and weighing 4.19 pounds. Completing this package is 8GB of system memory clocked at 2,133MHz and a 1TB hard drive.

Outside Huawei’s partnership, other laptop makers supporting AMD’s Ryzen-branded hardware include Acer, Asus, Dell, HP, and Lenovo. Models that specifically use AMD’s Ryzen 5 2500U all-in-one chip include the HP Envy x360 (15M-BQ121DX) starting at $749, two Lenovo Ideapad 720s 13 Platinum editions starting at $699, the Dell Inspiron 17 5000 starting at $859, and many more. The MateBook D 14-inch laptop is the first device from Huawei to sport AMD-based hardware. 

In North America, Huawei is typically known for its family of smartphones. But the company entered the notebook market in early 2016 with the launch of its first MateBook followed by the MateBook X and MateBook D laptops, and the MateBook E 2-in-1 PC  in 2017. The MateBook X Pro made its debut this year during the Mobile World Congress show in Barcelona. 

AMD said during its Computex presentation that its Ryzen all-in-one chips are the world’s fastest processors for ultra-thin notebooks. According to one of the slides, the Ryzen 7 2700U chip delivers 28 percent better performance in Cinebench R15 than Intel’s Core i7-8550U chip. In 3DMark 11, AMD’s chip shows 103 percent more graphics performance than Intel’s integrated graphics in the Core i7 chip.  

Part of AMD’s Computex notebook presentation also showcased HP’s just-launched Envy x360 13-inch notebook. According to AMD’s Kevin Lensing, it “has enough graphics performance to out-perform some notebooks with discrete graphics.” Other manufacturers that took the stage to reveal AMD-backed laptops included Dell, Asus, and Lenovo. 

Editors’ Recommendations

• HP just unveiled your next laptop – all 11 of them to be exact
• HP’s mainstream Pavilion PCs refreshed with latest AMD Ryzen, Intel Core CPUs
• Acer crams a Ryzen 7 CPU, discrete RX Vega 56 graphics into a 17-inch laptop
• Huawei MateBook X Pro review
• Huawei MateBook X Pro vs. Dell XPS 13