Lenovo’s convertible laptops and tablets haven’t always been known for brisk performance, but you definitely won’t have that problem this year. The PC maker is launching three new machines, two of which (the Yoga 920 convertible and Miix 520 tablet)…
Source: Engadget – Lenovo’s Yoga 920 touts a quad-core chip and long-range voice control
Monthly Archives: August 2017
Lenovo's mixed reality headset offers built-in tracking for $350
Windows Mixed Reality headsets are coming out of the woodwork at IFA, and now it’s Lenovo’s turn to add to the introductions. It’s launching the Explorer, and the headgear will sound very familiar if you’ve seen other models — not that this is neces…
Source: Engadget – Lenovo’s mixed reality headset offers built-in tracking for 0
Artist's wild tattoos tell a story about rebirth & interconnectedness
These beautiful works of body art aren’t your typical tough guy tattoos.
Source: TreeHugger – Artist’s wild tattoos tell a story about rebirth & interconnectedness
Dealmaster: Get an FHD UltraSharp monitor for $180 and more with Labor Day steals
Greetings, Arsians! Courtesy of our friends at TechBargains, we have a new batch of deals to share ahead of Labor Day weekend. Dell’s Labor Day sale is happening now, with steals on monitors, laptops, and more. Now you can get an FHD UltraSharp IPS monitor for just $179, an Inspiron 14 7000 notebook with Core i5 CPU and 128GB SSD for $629, and a bunch of other items for low prices.
Check out the rest of the deals below as well.
Ars Technica may earn compensation for sales from links on this post through affiliate programs.
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Source: Ars Technica – Dealmaster: Get an FHD UltraSharp monitor for 0 and more with Labor Day steals
Autonomous car legislation heads to US House for vote next Wednesday
Source: Engadget – Autonomous car legislation heads to US House for vote next Wednesday
The Palm Brand Will Return in 2018
Palm faded into obscurity after the rise of iOS and Android, but the brand is allegedly making a comeback with new devices: TCL, which acquired the rights to the brand from HP in 2011, may announce a new smartphone early next year. It is unlikely that it’ll run webOS like previous models.
…TCL Marketing Manager Stefan Streit revealed that new Palm devices would be announced in early 2018. He did not say what products are under development, but it’s safe to assume that at least one smartphone is in the works. Like the new BlackBerry devices, they will most likely run Android; webOS is only under active development as an operating system for LG smart TVs. Streit said that the new devices will be targeted towards adults who grew up with the Palm brand.
Discussion
Source: [H]ardOCP – The Palm Brand Will Return in 2018
Tesla Model S Hits 300,000 Miles in Two Years, Saving $60,000 on Fuel Costs
Transport company Tesloop has reached 300,000 miles on one of their Model S vehicles and estimates that they would have spent between $70,000 and $86,000 in fuel costs and maintenance if a comparable gas-powered car was used for their service. Thanks to electric technology, it only had to spend $10,492 over two years, with a total of 12 days in the shop.
“…we have seen that electric, supercharged vehicles can be deployed at utilization levels unheard of with gas vehicles. And while saving over $60,000 on fuel and maintenance is a substantial economic win, we feel the bigger win is that this car is ready for another 900,000 miles over the next 6 years under its current warranty. A gas car with 300k miles would be near the end of its useful lifespan. This means that the economics for mobility services on electric is more attractive than non-electric vehicles by a multiple, and when combined with autonomous driving features, the economic advantage in cost per mile will create unprecedented disruption in the overall automotive industry.”
Discussion
Source: [H]ardOCP – Tesla Model S Hits 300,000 Miles in Two Years, Saving ,000 on Fuel Costs
This three-wheel EV is still the most fun thing we’ve driven all year
Jonathan Gitlin
Without a doubt, the most fun thing I’ve driven all year is also the cheapest. It’s the Arcimoto SRK: a three-wheeled electric vehicle that remains the one thing I liked about CES 2016. Since then the Oregonian startup has been beavering away, refining the design of the $12,000 EV as it readies for production next year. The SRK made its way to DC recently, and that meant another chance to drive it—this time on some familiar city streets. Yet again, the experience blew me away.
It’s a tandem trike, with each front wheel powered by its own 25kW (34hp) electric motor. But don’t let the handlebars fool you; with seats, seatbelts, and a roof, even the bike-phobic like me are quite at home here. In fact, earlier versions of Arcimoto’s platform actually used a steering wheel and pedals before evolving into the SRK, and it corners with almost no body roll. There’s a 12kWh lithium-ion battery pack, good for about 70 miles (112km) of range, although a 20kWh pack will also be available. Depending on the state, you don’t need a motorcyle license to drive it, but for those where that doesn’t apply, you can take the test in the SRK.
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Source: Ars Technica – This three-wheel EV is still the most fun thing we’ve driven all year
Mathematician Who Claimed 'P Is Not Equal To NP' Says His Proof Is Wrong
Earlier this month, Norbert Blum, a German mathematician, had published a research paper in which he implied that P is not equal to NP. The abstract of the post read: Berg and Ulfberg and Amano and Maruoka have used CNF-DNF-approximators to prove exponential lower bounds for the monotone network complexity of the clique function and of Andreev’s function. We show that these approximators can be used to prove the same lower bound for their non-monotone network complexity. This implies P not equal NP. Since the publication of that paper, several mathematicians have raised concerns with Blum’s methodology, with some saying that there are flaws in it. Blum has now updated the research paper to add: The proof is wrong. I shall elaborate precisely what the mistake is. For doing this, I need some time.
Read more of this story at Slashdot.
Source: Slashdot – Mathematician Who Claimed ‘P Is Not Equal To NP’ Says His Proof Is Wrong
Philips has its own pair of cheap Bluetooth earbuds
One of the standout trends at IFA is the number of companies flinging themselves onto the Truly Wireless earbud bandwagon. It’s clear that it’s not just a niche product that Bragi and Samsung are catering to, but an audio product for everyone. Becaus…
Source: Engadget – Philips has its own pair of cheap Bluetooth earbuds
Acer Announces Switch 7 Black Edition 2-in-1: Core i7, GeForce MX150, TB3, Fanless
This week at IFA Acer has introduced their first 2-in-1 convertible laptop with a discrete GPU. Based on Intel’s 8th generation Core i-series CPU, the Switch 7 Black Edition system has a 13.5” display and uses a special passive cooling system that cools down the system’s CPU and GPU without using any fans. The notebook will not be very affordable, but it will also be rather unique.
In a bid to satisfy demands of users seeking for higher performance graphics, notebook makers this year decided to adopt discrete GPUs for low-power and relatively affordable laptops. To some degree, this happened because the performance of Intel’s iGPUs hasn’t shifted much as of late and, PC makers need to demonstrate performance improvements compared to previous-generation computers. A good news for the end-user is that there will be many more laptops powered by Intel’s 8th generation Core processors with entry-level discrete GPUs than there were last year from different manufacturers. Acer’s new convertible will be one of them.
The Acer Switch 7 Black Edition will be based on Intel’s Core i7 8000-series CPU (presumably featuring four cores) accompanied by NVIDIA’s GeForce MX150 discrete graphics chip (GP108, 384 stream processors, 24 texture units, 8 ROPs) with 2 GB of GDDR5 memory. The CPU and the GPU will be cooled using Acer’s dual LiquidLoop fanless cooling system that does not use any fans and is therefore utterly quiet. The machine will use solid-state storage and it is logical to expect the Switch 7 Black Edition to feature all modern I/O capabilities, including 802.11ac Wi-Fi, Bluetooth, Thunderbolt 3, USB, a MicroSD card reader and so on.
The Switch 7 Black Edition will come with a 13.5” IPS touch-enabled display with a 2256×1504 resolution and equipped with a stylus powered by Wacom’s EMR technology. The tablet itself will weight 1.15 kilograms (2.5 lbs) and given dimensions of the tablet, it is logical to assume that the system is to be equipped with a decent battery. Interestingly, the Switch 7 Black Edition will also have an optical under-glass fingerprint sensor design with POA (power on authentication). As for the materials, the 2-in-1 will be made of aluminum.
Acer plans to start selling the Switch 7 Black Edition in the North America and Europe this December. In the U.S., the machine will start at $1699, whereas in EMEA its MSRP will start at €1999. As usually, configurations will vary by region and country.
Gallery: Acer Switch 7 Black Edition
Related Reading:
- Acer Announces Nitro 5 Spin 15.6″ Gaming Convertible: 8th Gen Core i7, GeForce GTX 1050
- Acer Predator 21 X Laptop with Curved Display Now Available, Only 300 to Be Made
- Acer Launches TravelMate Spin B1: Apollo Lake Convertible with Windows 10 S for $299
- Acer Adds 12-Inch Switch 3 & Switch 5 2-in-1s to Kaby Lake Laptop Lineup
Source: AnandTech – Acer Announces Switch 7 Black Edition 2-in-1: Core i7, GeForce MX150, TB3, Fanless
How to Lose an Accent, According to a Dialect Coach
Actor and voice coach Amy Jo Jackson has consulted on productions of Venus in Fur, Henry IV, and the Broadway production of Kinky Boots. An experienced actor herself, whose credits include The Laramie Project, Into the Woods, Twelfth Night, and The Rocky Horror Show, Jackson teaches actors and non-actors how to reduce…
Source: LifeHacker – How to Lose an Accent, According to a Dialect Coach
'Katamari Damacy' creator's next game will be released in 2018
Source: Engadget – ‘Katamari Damacy’ creator’s next game will be released in 2018
Congressional Hearing About Net Neutrality Postponed Because Tech CEOs Didn't Want To Testify
A congressional hearing on net neutrality that was slated for September 7 isn’t happening after several major tech companies did not accept invitations for their CEOs to testify. Executives from Amazon, Google, Facebook, Netflix, and Verizon were invited to address the House Energy and Commerce Committee, but—even…
Source: Gizmodo – Congressional Hearing About Net Neutrality Postponed Because Tech CEOs Didn’t Want To Testify
XCOM 2: War of the Chosen Debuts For Linux
Feral Interactive has delivered a punctual release of XCOM 2: War of the Chosen for Linux and macOS gamers…
Source: Phoronix – XCOM 2: War of the Chosen Debuts For Linux
Europe's 10 best cities for an eco-friendly vacation
Plus, how to be more eco-friendly while traveling.
Source: TreeHugger – Europe’s 10 best cities for an eco-friendly vacation
AMD unveils its cheapest Threadripper CPU yet
Intel and AMD are duking it out once again to see how many cores they can cram into a single CPU, and that’s great news for PC enthusiasts across all budgets. Professionals likely won’t have any qualms dropping $1,000 or $2,000 for their 16- and 18-c…
Source: Engadget – AMD unveils its cheapest Threadripper CPU yet
Guy Spends 481 Hours Beating The Super Mario Maker Level He Created
This is a video of Twitch streamer and Youtuber Failstream finally beating the nightmare level he built in Mario Maker after some 481 hours of attempting it. For reference, that’s longer than I’ve ever done anything besides sleep or lay in the shower until it runs cold, gets hot again, then run colds again wondering why there aren’t enough hours in the day.
Keep going for the video.
Source: Geekologie – Guy Spends 481 Hours Beating The Super Mario Maker Level He Created
A “Game” About Bail Teaches You About the Horrors of Bail
Bail, either in the form of money or property, is used to ensure the suspect of a crime returns for their day in court. You may not think simply paying bail is a life-changing incident, but according to a mini game made by documentary film organization Brave New Films, paying (or not paying) bail can significantly…
Source: LifeHacker – A “Game” About Bail Teaches You About the Horrors of Bail
Why These Bats Laugh in the Face of North America’s Most Venomous Scorpion
When pallid bats are stung by an Arizona bark scorpion, they shrug it off as if nothing even happened, which is odd considering this predatory arachnid is the most venomous scorpion in all of North America. New research explains how this unusual level of immunity is possible—a finding that could translate to an…
Source: Gizmodo – Why These Bats Laugh in the Face of North America’s Most Venomous Scorpion