Intel’s next generation NUC is coming soon and recent leaks have given us a good look at its planned specifications. The Intel NUC 11 Extreme Compute Element is a small, graphics card-sized PC designed for very compact cases. Despite its size, it looks like Intel won’t be cutting down on anything, offering up to a Core i9-11980HK CPU and 64GB of RAM.
Just like the previous NUC 9 Extreme, the slide leaked on Chiphell shows that the NUC 11 Extreme, codenamed “Driver Bay”, will have three CPU tiers to choose from. Options include Tiger Lake-H45 Core i9, Core i7, and Core i5 processors. These processors will be paired with up to 64GB of DDR4-3200 SODIMMs in a dual-channel configuration.
Image via Chiphell.
The slide further details the NUC 11 Extreme specifications, which include 3x M.2 slots for PCIe 4.0/3.0 storage and support for Intel Optane Memory M10, H10 and Optane SSDs. For display connectivity, there’s an HDMI 2.0b connector and 2x Thunderbolt 4 ports, supporting up to 3x 4K displays with the Intel iGPU. The mini-PC will also feature 6x USB-A 3.1 connectors, Intel 2.5G and/or 10G network interfaces, Bluetooth 5, and Wi-Fi 6.
Comparing both the NUC 9 Extreme and the NUC 11 Extreme, both units seem to be similarly sized with some aesthetic differences. The single 8-pin power connector is at the same position as its predecessor, on the top right corner. The cooling solution has been modified with a slightly bigger fan and located closer to the centre. The cover has also been changed, replacing the old Intel logo with Intel’s skull.
We recently spent some time modding the Intel NUC 9 Extreme, so if you are interested in mini-PCs, be sure to check out our series on that, HERE.
KitGuru says: The NUC 11 Extreme is shaping up to be very powerful, especially for its size. Have any of you used an Intel NUC before? What do you think of the upcoming NUC 11 Extreme?
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Windows 10X reportedly coming H2 2021 for education and business devices
Back in 2019, Microsoft announced an operating system dedicated to dual-screen devices named Windows 10X. …
João Silva 12 hours ago Featured Tech News, Operating Systems
Back in 2019, Microsoft announced an operating system dedicated to dual-screen devices named Windows 10X. Initially scheduled for a release in 2020, Microsoft changed its focus onto devices with a single screen and changed the release date to H1 2021. Now, a new report suggests the release has been delayed once again, with Microsoft planning to release it in H2 2021.
According to Windows Central, Microsoft plans to release the final build of Windows 10X in late spring, but the first devices featuring it may only arrive a few months after. Microsoft refused to comment on the delay, but it has likely occurred to ensure stability at launch.
Some have theorised that the delay could be down to Microsoft introducing support for Win32 apps. However, Windows Central’s sources claim that Microsoft still has no plans to support Win32 on Windows 10X. Instead, users will need to find alternatives, such as Windows Virtual Desktop, or cloud-based apps.
Windows 10X has been in the works for a couple of years now, aimed at entry-level and business PCs. Microsoft’s previous attempt at this came in the form of Windows 10 S, which was also aimed at students.
KitGuru says: This is Microsoft’s second attempt at re-building Windows 10 for the purposes of education and business. It could be a while before we see it in action though. Microsoft typically makes Windows OS announcements each year in April, so we should have an update on this soon.
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Intel NUC 11 Extreme Compute Element to feature up to Intel Core i9-11980HK
Intel’s next generation NUC is coming soon and recent leaks have given us a good …
Home/Component/Graphics/AMD Radeon Software update adds Performance Tuning tool and improves Radeon Boost and Anti-Lag
João Silva 12 hours ago Graphics
Besides a multitude of fixes, AMD’s latest Radeon Software 21.3.1 driver also comes with some new improvements for Radeon Boost and Radeon Anti-Lag, as well as a new stress test to ensure all of your settings are stable.
With the AMD Radeon Software Adrenalin 2020 Edition 21.3.1 driver, users can take advantage of Anti-Lag in DirectX 12 titles. Radeon Boost also received DX12 support, allowing users to optimise selected games featuring Variable Rate Shading.
Another feature included in this driver is the Performance Tuning Stress Test, a new built-in stress tool to test GPU overclock stability. AMD has also redesigned portions of the UI to simplify the process.
The following list includes all the fixes coming with AMD Radeon Software 21.3.1 driver:
Radeon Software may sometimes have higher than expected CPU utilization, even when a system is at idle.
A system hang or crash may be experienced when upgrading Radeon Software while an Oculus™ VR headset is connected to your system on Radeon GCN graphics products.
Minecraft DXR may exhibit corrupted or missing textures when ray tracing is enabled on Radeon RX 6000 series graphics products.
An application crash may occur in Call of Duty: Modern Warfare with ray tracing on Radeon RX 6000 series graphics products.
Lighting fails to render correctly on Radeon RX 6800 series graphics products in Star Citizen.
A black screen may occur when enabling and disabling Enhanced Sync while vsync is enabled in some Vulkan API games.
A black screen or system hang may occur on Hybrid Graphics systems for some Vulkan API games when Enhanced Sync is enabled.
Bethesda launcher may experience an application crash on startup when launching some games.
Users may be unable to create a new scene in the Radeon Software Streaming tab on first launch or after a settings factory reset.
Game specific performance tuning profiles may fail to load when a global performance tuning profile has been created or set.
Disabling HDCP support and performing a factory reset and/or system restart may sometimes trigger a system crash.
Epic Games social overlay or launcher may exhibit color corruption.
Xuan-Yuan Sword VII may experience an application crash with DirectX 12 ray tracing enabled on Radeon RX 6000 series graphics.
Color corruption may be experienced in Cyberpunk 2077™ when Radeon Boost is enabled.
Display flicker or corruption may occur on high refresh rate/resolution multi-monitor system configurations on Radeon RX Vega series graphics.
Audio loss or cut-out may intermittently occur on some TV displays when Windows® audio is set to use 5.1 or 7.1 speaker configurations.
The new Radeon Software graphics driver also adds support for Radeon RX 6700 graphics and DOOM Eternal: the Ancient Gods – Part Two. Lastly, it also brings back Frame Rate Target Control (FRTC) and enhances Vulkan support.
You can download the new AMD Radeon Software Adrenalin 2020 Edition 21.3.1 driver HERE.
KitGuru says: The Performance Tuning Stress Test and DirectX 12 support on Radeon Boost and Radeon Anti-Lag are welcome additions to the software. Did you already try these new features? What do you think of them so far?
Matthew Wilson 2 days ago Featured Tech News, Software & Gaming
One of Microsoft’s big features for backwards compatible games on Xbox Series X/S consoles has been Auto HDR, enabling High Dynamic Range across a number of SDR-only games. Now, PC gamers are also going to benefit, with Microsoft preparing to enable Auto HDR for over 1,000 PC games.
Auto HDR will be enabled in both DirectX 11 and DirectX 12 games. DirectX Program Manager, Hannah Fisher, explained the benefits of Auto HDR in a developer blog post:
“While some game studios develop for HDR gaming PCs by mastering their game natively for HDR, Auto HDR for PC will take DirectX 11 or DirectX 12 SDR-only games and intelligently expand the colour/brightness range up to HDR. It’s a seamless platform feature that will give you an amazing new gaming experience that takes full advantage of your HDR monitor’s capabilities.”
In an example image (seen above), we can see how Auto HDR impacts the luminance in a seen from Gears 5. Of course, Gears 5 already has native HDR support, so while Auto HDR doesn’t bring the same level of colour detail, it gets quite close. In games that don’t support HDR at all, Auto HDR can make an impressive difference.
Currently, Auto HDR is in preview, available to Windows Insider build testers. Since the feature is still in testing, there are some bugs to work out and there will be additional optimisation, as Auto HDR does use some GPU compute power. Just a few games support the featue for now, but as testing continues, more games will be added, with plans to enable Auto HDR across the top 1,000 DX 11 and DX 12 titles.
Discuss on our Facebook page, HERE.
KitGuru Says: If you have an HDR-capable monitor and happen to be a Windows Insider, then this is worth checking out. Auto HDR works well on the Xbox Series X, so it will be interesting to compare that experience to the same feature on PC.
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The Raspberry Pi Pico is a marvellous bit of kit, but it is missing one key feature, Wi-Fi! We first stumbled upon the idea of adding Wi-Fi to the Raspberry Pi Pico while reviewing the Cytron Maker Pi Pico, which provided an ESP-01 interface for an ESP8266 variant board. However this was rather limited.
After CircuitPython Lead Developer Scott Shawcroft appeared on The Pi Cast, our weekly Pi-themed show, we learned that Adafruit had an ESP32 based add-on board which provided basic Wi-Fi connectivity and so after a day of tinkering we created this tutorial that shows how to get your Raspberry Pi Pico online.
To get Wi-Fi on Raspberry Pi Pico, you will need:
A Raspberry Pi Pico
Adafruit Airlift WiFi Featherwing Co-Processor
8 x Male to Male jumper wires
Breadboard
The goal of this tutorial is to get our Raspberry Pi Pico connected to the Internet via Wi-Fi, to access the OpenWeather service API and get the weather for our chosen location. This raw data is sent to the Python shell, but it could be easily sent to an OLED screen, LCD or used to trigger a sequence of events to occur.
Wiring the Raspberry Pi Pico for Wi-Fi
For this tutorial we will need header pins soldered to the Raspberry Pi Pico and to the Featherwing Airlift. As we are using both boards in a breadboard, the included male headers will suffice. If you intend to use the Featherwing with an Adafruit Feather board, such as the Feather RP2040 then ensure that you’ll need to have female headers soldered to the top of the microcontroller. Please note that in the diagram the positions of MISO, MOSI and SCK on the Featherwing are correct; ensure that you identify these pins and don’t rely on counting pins as on the real board there is an extra GPIO pin on the Featherwing.
Image 1 of 3
(Image credit: Tom’s Hardware)
Image 2 of 3
(Image credit: Tom’s Hardware)
Image 3 of 3
(Image credit: Tom’s Hardware)
Pin Mapping
(Image credit: Tom’s Hardware)
Raspberry Pi Pico
Adafruit Airlift WiFi Featherwing Co-Processor
VSYS
USB
GND
Any GND pin
GPIO 10
SCK
GPIO 11
MOSI
GPIO 12
MISO
GPIO 13
ESPCS
GPIO 14
ESPBUSY
GPIO 15
ESPRST
Installing CircuitPython on Raspberry Pi Pico
Flashing CircuitPython to the Raspberry Pi Pico is simple.
Download the latest version of CircuitPython for the Pico.
Press and hold the BOOTSEL button on the Pico and insert a USB cable into the Pico and your computer.
Copy the CircuitPython UF2 file to the RPI-RP2 drive. The drive will unmount and disappear while flashing the code. A new drive CIRCUITPY will appear, confirming that the flash was a success.
Download the libraries archive for the version of CircuitPython that you have downloaded. In our case we downloaded 6.2.0 so we need to download Bundle Version 6.
Extract the contents of the download to a folder.
Copy the following files / folders to the lib folder on the CIRCUITPY drive.
adafruit_bus_device
adafruit_minimqtt
adafruit_io
adafruit_esp32_spi
Adafruit_requests
Creating an OpenWeather Account
For this tutorial we will be using the OpenWeather API to get the weather data for any location across the world. To use the API we need to sign up for a free account.
Create an account on the OpenWeather site and log in.
Navigate to My APi Keys, found in the dropdown menu for your username.
Under Create Key, type TomsHardware and click GENERATE.
Keep this page open as will need the API key later.
Writing CircuitPython Code
CircuitPython has the same syntax and feel as Python and MicroPython but we have a choice of editor, unlike MicroPython which restricts us to just Thonny. With CircuitPython we can use Thonny, Mu or, for advanced users, Visual Studio Code. For this part of the tutorial we used Visual Studio Code, but it really doesn’t matter as we are just editing a text file.
1. Open code.py, found in CIRCUITPY, delete any text in the file.
2. Import a series of CircuitPython libraries necessary for this project to work. The board, busio and digitalio libraries handle communication with the GPIO, for example the SPI interface. Requests, sockets and esp32spi handle network connectivity via the ESP32. The last library, secrets, doesn’t yet exist. We shall create that later.
import board
import busio
from digitalio import DigitalInOut
import adafruit_requests as requests
import adafruit_esp32spi.adafruit_esp32spi_socket as socket
from adafruit_esp32spi import adafruit_esp32spi
from secrets import secrets
3. Add a line to print a message to the Python Shell, this simply states what the project will do.
print("Raspberry Pi Pico WiFi Weather Station")
4. Create a new object, JSON_URL. This object will store a URL that contains the location that we wish to search for, and an OpenWeather API key that we generated earlier. Replace the LOCATION with the town / city and API KEY with your OpenWeather API key.
5. Create three objects, used for ESP32 connectivity via the SPI interface. Chip Select (CS), ready and reset are used to enable and read the ready state of the ESP32 co-processor.
8. Set up the code to use sockets, a means to connect two devices on a network, in our case to connect the Raspberry Pi Pico to the Airlift WiFi Featherwing.
requests.set_socket(socket, esp)
9. Create a loop for connecting to Wi-Fi. The next six lines handle connecting to our WiFi AP. The loop works by checking the ESP32 for a connection. While there is not a connection, the loop will keep looping until a connection is made. Inside this loop is an exception handler that tries to connect to our WiFi using the SSID and password found in the secrets library, something we shall create later. If a connection is not made, an error is presented.
while not esp.is_connected:
try:
esp.connect_AP(secrets["ssid"], secrets["password"])
except RuntimeError as e:
print("could not connect to AP, retrying: ", e)
continue
10. Add three lines. The first will print a message informing us that the code is fetching the weather data, the second line creates an object, r, that stores the returned data from the OpenWeather API call and the third line prints the HTTP status code for debug purposes. A 200 code means that everything is working, but a code in the 400 range means that there is a problem with the API.
print("Fetching weather data")
r = requests.get(JSON_URL)
print(r.status_code)
11. Add a line to print the minus character, -, forty times, creating a separator on the Python output.
print("-" * 40)
12. Use a print function to print the temperature data found in the returned JSON object. Using r.json() we can look inside the data for two keywords, ‘main’ and ‘temp_max’ and directly place them in the print function. At the end of the line we add the ‘C’ as the returned temperature data is in Celsius.
print("The current temperature is",r.json()['main']['temp_max'],"C")
13. Add these final two lines to print another separator line before closing the requests object.
print("-" * 40)
r.close()
14. Save the code as code.py to the root of the CIRCUITPY drive.
Complete Code for Wi-Fi on Raspberry Pi Pico
import board
import busio
from digitalio import DigitalInOut
import adafruit_requests as requests
import adafruit_esp32spi.adafruit_esp32spi_socket as socket
from adafruit_esp32spi import adafruit_esp32spi
from secrets import secrets
print("Raspberry Pi Pico WiFi Weather Station")
JSON_URL = "http://api.openweathermap.org/data/2.5/weather?q=LOCATIONl&appid=APIKEY&units=metric"
esp32_cs = DigitalInOut(board.GP13)
esp32_ready = DigitalInOut(board.GP14)
esp32_reset = DigitalInOut(board.GP15)
spi = busio.SPI(board.GP10, board.GP11, board.GP12)
esp = adafruit_esp32spi.ESP_SPIcontrol(spi, esp32_cs, esp32_ready, esp32_reset)
requests.set_socket(socket, esp)
while not esp.is_connected:
try:
esp.connect_AP(secrets["ssid"], secrets["password"])
except RuntimeError as e:
print("could not connect to AP, retrying: ", e)
continue
print("Fetching weather data")
r = requests.get(JSON_URL)
print(r.status_code)
print("-" * 40)
print("The current temperature is",r.json()['main']['temp_max'],"C")
print("-" * 40)
r.close()
Creating a Secrets File for Wi-Fi Login
The secrets.py file is where we can store our Wi-Fi SSID, username and password. In our main code, it acts in the same manner as a Python library, because we import the library and then call the dictionary containing the SSID and password. Before any of this can happen, we need to create the secrets.py file.
1. Create a new file in your text editor.
2. Create a dictionary, secrets, that contains your SSID and password for your router. Set the timezone to match your location.
3. Save the file assecrets.py in the same location as code.py.
Running the code for Wi-Fi on Raspberry Pi Pico
The code will autorun but we can only see the output when connected to the Python Shell. The easiest way to achieve this is using a terminal emulator such as PuTTY.
1. Download PuTTY and install.
2. Connect your Pico to the computer (if it isn’t already connected).
3. Find the COM port number for your Pico. In Windows, you do this by opening the Device Manager, looking for Ports, clicking on the drop down menu and locating the entry for your Pico (it’s not clearly marked so you may need to plug and unplug to see which disappears). Ours was on COM4.
(Image credit: Tom’s Hardware)
4. Open PuTTY, click on Serial and then set the serial line to match the COM port found in Device Manager. Set the Speed to 115200 and then click Open.
(Image credit: Tom’s Hardware)
PuTTY will connect and show the Python Shell
5. Press CTRL+D to restart the shell and run the code. After a few seconds, the latest weather for your location will be displayed.
If you’re the kind of person who’d be amused to learn that a humble printer can blue screen your entire Windows 10 PC, here’s a dose of schadenfreude to welcome you into the weekend: when Microsoft tried to fix those blue screen issues with a Monday patch, the patch may have not gone quite as planned — some users started reporting their printers would simply spit out blank pages or ones with missing graphics.
Now, the company’s released a second patch to address those issues too (via ZDNet):
Microsoft identified an issue that affects Windows 10 devices which applied the March 2021 security update released March 9, 2021 and the out-of-band updates released March 15, 2021, and a resolution has been expedited. Affected devices might receive unexpected results when printing from some apps or to some printers. Issues might include missing or solid color graphics, misalignment/formatting issues, or printing of blank pages/labels.
Some users say that it works, and may even fix some additional blue-screening computers. A few say they’re still having issues. If you’re affected, good luck to you!
Astell & Kern — the company best known for its high-end portable digital audio players — is making a USB-C DAC (digital-to-analog converter) that’s designed to help get better-sounding audio from modern smartphones and computers that may lack a 3.5mm headphone jack.
If you want to use any digital device with a 3.5mm headphone jack, you need a DAC. Older devices that had 3.5mm headphone jacks featured integrated DACs (some better than others, like LG’s famous Quad DAC system on its former flagships).
But the death of the 3.5mm headphone jack on modern smartphones in favor of exclusively USB-C (or in Apple’s case, Lightning ports) has left a gap for audiophiles. Now if you want to use older headphones or sound setups, you’ll need a USB-C to 3.5mm headphone jack dongle — which, by default, is already technically a DAC. (In fact, some, like Apple’s $9 USB-C dongle, are apparently fairly decent.)
But the new Astell & Kern USB-C Dual DAC promises a higher-fidelity experience, offering two CS43198 DACs paired with an analog amplifier to offer a better sound experience, with support for 32bit/384kHz playback. And given the $150 price tag, it had better offer a better experience than Apple or Google’s sub-$10 dongles.
Astell & Kern says it’s drawing on its experience of creating portable media players to build the new USB-C DAC, and while the DAC itself doesn’t have an external power supply (instead drawing power from the phone or computer), the company says it can still drive a pair of “high impedance headphones with a 2Vrms (Condition No Load) output level.”
The new DAC should be compatible with “most” Android smartphones and tablets and both macOS and Windows 10 computers. But Astell & Kern says that iOS devices — even USB-C ones like Apple’s recent iPad Pro lineup — won’t be compatible.
The new Astell & Kern USB-C Dual DAC is available to preorder now from the company’s website ahead of a planned May release date.
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Any business laptop that comes out these days is entering a tough field full of very established players. The world is already stuffed full of ThinkPads and Latitudes, which have strong followings, cover price ranges across the board, and are highly attuned to what workers need.
So my question with lesser-known business laptops is usually: Where does this fit? What customer is it catering to who might be underserved by a ThinkPad?
With its TravelMate line (specifically the TravelMate P6), Acer seems to be going for two potential openings. The first is that the TravelMate is, as the name implies, specifically intended for frequent business travelers. It’s light, portable, and sturdy, at the expense of some other traits. And the second is its price. Starting at $1,199.99, the TravelMate line is targeting a more price-conscious demographic than many business laptops that would be considered “premium” are. I think the TravelMate succeeds in filling these two niches in particular. But it has some other drawbacks that make it tough to recommend for a general audience.
The aspect of the TravelMate that should be a big help to mobile business users is the port selection. Despite being quite thin, the laptop is able to fit a USB Type-C (supporting USB 3.1 Gen 2, DisplayPort, Thunderbolt 3, and USB charging), two USB 3.1 Type-A Gen 1 (one with power-off USB charging), one HDMI 2.0, one microSD reader, one combination audio jack, one Ethernet port (with a trap-door hinge), one DC-In jack for Acer’s adapter, one lock slot, and an optional SmartCard reader. The fewer dongles and docks you have to travel with, the better.
Portability is another priority here and is another one of the TravelMate’s highlight features. At just 2.57 pounds and 0.65 inches thick, the TravelMate should be a breeze to carry around in a backpack or briefcase. Acer says it’s put the product through a slew of durability tests for weight and pressure, drops, shocks, vibrations, and other hiccups you may encounter during the day.
Another area that’s likely important to some mobile professionals is videoconferencing capability. I found that to be a mixed bag here. The TravelMate’s four-microphone array had no trouble catching my voice, in both voice recognition and Zoom meeting use cases. Acer says they can pick up voices from up to 6.5 feet away. The webcam also produces a fine picture (though this unit doesn’t support Windows Hello for easy logins) and has a physical privacy shutter. The speakers are not great, though — music was tinny with thin percussion and nonexistent bass.
Acer promises that the TravelMate can survive “the bumps from airport security, accidental drops, and other mishaps.”
The TravelMate also includes some business-specific features including a TPM 2.0 chip and Acer’s ProShield security software.
In other, less business-y areas, though, the TravelMate has a few shortcomings. Shoppers looking for anything more than portability out of the chassis may be disappointed. While most of the TravelMate is made of magnesium-aluminum alloy, it has a bit of a plasticky feel — and while the keyboard is sturdy, there’s considerable flex in the screen. And then there’s the aesthetic: the P6 is far from the prettiest computer you can buy for $1,199.99. It’s almost entirely black, with very few accents (and the ones it has are a drab gray color). And the bezels around the 16:9 screen are quite chunky by modern standards. Plus, the 16:9 aspect ratio is falling out of fashion for a reason — it’s cramped for multitasking, especially on a 13- or 14-inch screen — and the panel maxed out at 274 nits in my testing, which is a bit too dim for outdoor use.
The color is called “mild black.”
The TravelMate looks and feels like it was made a bit better than budget fare. But it also looks and feels closer to an Aspire 5 than it does to a top ThinkPad. For context, you can get an Aspire 5 with identical specs to this TravelMate model for just over $700. Another comparison: the Swift 5, a gorgeous consumer laptop that’s even lighter than the TravelMate, can be purchased with comparable specs for just $999.99. This is all to emphasize that you’re sacrificing a bit of build quality (as well as some extra money) for the TravelMate’s weight and business-specific offerings.
The touchpad is also not my favorite. For one, I had some palm-rejection issues. Those didn’t interfere with my work per se, but it was still unnerving to see my cursor jumping around the screen while I was typing. In addition, the touchpad on my unit had a bit of give before the actuation point, meaning one click required me to make (and hear) what felt like two clicks. And its off-center placement meant that I was constantly right-clicking when I meant to left-click, and I had to consciously reach over to the left side in order to click with my right hand. Finally, the click itself is shallow and far from the most comfortable.
I also didn’t love the power button. It contains a fingerprint sensor, which worked quite well. But the button itself is stiff and very shallow. I know this sounds like a small nitpick, but it was really irksome and made turning the TravelMate on in the morning more of a hassle than it could’ve been.
Some TravelMate models support facial recognition, but my model did not.
The TravelMate model that I received to review is sold out everywhere I’ve looked as of this writing. The closest model to it is listed at $1,199.99 (though it’s cheaper through some retailers) and comes with a Core i5-10310U, 8GB of RAM, and 256GB of SSD storage. My unit is the same, but it has a Core i5-10210U. Those processors don’t have a significant performance difference, so my testing here should give you a good idea of what to expect from that model. You can also buy a model with a Core i7-10610U, 16GB of memory, and a 512GB SSD for $1,399.99. Both configurations run Windows 10 Pro and include a 1920 x 1080 non-touch display.
For my office workload of emails, spreadsheets, Zoom calls, etc., the TravelMate did just fine. I sometimes heard the fans spinning at times when my load wasn’t super heavy, but the noise wasn’t loud enough to be a problem. Note that this processor has Intel’s UHD graphics, rather than its upgraded Iris Xe graphics, which means the system wouldn’t be a good choice for gaming, video software, or other graphics work.
But there’s one area where the TravelMate really impressed, and it’s one that’s quite useful for travelers: battery life. Running through my daily workload at 200 nits of brightness, my system averaged nine hours and 15 minutes of continuous use. That’s almost twice what the budget Aspire 5 got with my same workload. It also beats the Swift 5 and the pricier ThinkPad X1 Nano. If your workload is similar to (or lighter than) mine, you should be able to bring this device around an airport or conference for a full work day without being attached to a wall.
The notebook can charge up to 50 percent in less than 45 minutes.
One performance complaint, though: this thing comes with bloatware. My unit was pre-installed with all kinds of junk, including games (Amazon was pinned to the taskbar) and other software like Dropbox. Most annoyingly, it came with Norton, which bugged me with annoying pop-ups all the time and also seemed to impact battery life: the TravelMate consistently lasted around an hour longer after I uninstalled the program. It doesn’t take too long to uninstall everything, but I’m still morally put off by the idea of so much cheap crapware being loaded onto a laptop that costs over $1,000. And it’s especially troubling to see on a business laptop, because it can expose users to cybersecurity risk.
The TravelMate line is filling a pretty specific niche, and it fills it just fine. If you’re a frequent business traveler who needs a light device with plentiful ports and all-day battery life, you’re shopping in the $1,199 price range, and you’re willing to overlook a mediocre touchpad, dim 16:9 display, and other hiccups, then the P6 will be a better choice for you than something like a pricier and heavier Dell Latitude or the shorter-lived and port-starved ThinkPad X1 Nano.
That said, the P6 has enough drawbacks that I think the bulk of customers would be better served by other laptops. Those who like the Acer brand may like some of Acer’s other offerings — especially those who don’t need the business-specific security features. The Swift 5 is lighter, nicer-looking, and more affordable than the TravelMate, with a better touchpad, screen, and processor. And budget shoppers can find much of what the TravelMate offers in any number of cheaper laptops. The Aspire 5 and the Swift 3 don’t have the TravelMate’s battery or port selection, but they do improve upon its touchpad, audio (in the Aspire’s case), and looks (in the Swift’s case). And, of course, there’s a litany of other laptops in this price range — from HP’s Spectre x360 to Dell’s XPS 13 — that are excellent in almost every way and also offer 3:2 screens.
Ultimately, the TravelMate isn’t a bad laptop — but if it’s the best laptop for you, you probably know who you are.
In an odd disclosure that comes after Intel recently released the details of its 11th-Generation Core Rocket Lake-S processors, the company has unveiled a “new” Adaptive Bost Technology that allows the chip to operate at up to 100C during normal operation. This new tech will feel decidedly familiar to AMD fans, as it operates in a very similar fashion to AMD’s existing boost mechanism that’s present in newer Ryzen processors. This marks the fourth boost technology to come standard with some Intel chips, but in true Intel style, the company only offers the new feature on its pricey Core i9 K and KF processors, giving it a new way to segment its product stack.
In a nutshell, the new Adaptive Boost Technology (ABT) feature allows Core i9 processors to dynamically boost to higher all-core frequencies based upon available thermal headroom and electrical conditions, so the peak frequencies can vary. It also allows the chip to operate at 100C during normal operation.
In contrast, Intel’s other boost technologies boost to pre-defined limits (defined in a frequency lookup table) based on the number of active cores, and you’re guaranteed that the chip can hit those frequencies if it is below a certain temperature and the motherboard can supply enough power. Even though Intel has defined a 5.1 GHz peak for ABT if three or more cores are active, it doesn’t come with a guaranteed frequency – peak frequencies will vary based upon the quality of your chip, cooler, PSU, and motherboard power circuitry.
(Image credit: Intel)
Think of ABT much like a dynamic auto-overclocking feature. Still, because the chip stays within Intel’s spec of a 100C temperature limit, it is a supported feature that doesn’t fall into the same classification as overclocking. That means the chip stays fully within warranty if you choose to enable the feature (it’s disabled by default in the motherboard BIOS).
Intel does have another boost tech, Thermal Velocity Boost, that allows the processor to shift into slightly higher frequencies if the processor remains under a certain temperature threshold (70C for desktop chips). However, like Intel’s other approaches, it also relies upon a standard set of pre-defined values and you’re guaranteed that your chip can hit the assigned frequency.
In contrast, ABT uplift will vary by chip — much of the frequency uplift depends upon the quality of your chip. Hence, the silicon lottery comes into play, along with cooling and power delivery capabilities. We’ve included a breakdown of the various Intel boost technologies a bit further below.
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(Image credit: AMD)
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(Image credit: AMD)
Intel’s approach will often result in higher operating temperatures during intense work, but that doesn’t differ too much from AMD’s current approach because ABT is very similar to AMD’s Precision Boost 2 technology. AMD pioneered this boosting technique for desktop PCs with its Ryzen 3000 series, allowing the chip to boost higher based upon available thermal and electrical headroom, and not based on a lookup table. Still, the company dialed up the temperature limits with its Ryzen 5000 processors to extract the utmost performance within the chips’ maximum thermal specification.
As you can see in AMD’s official guidelines above, that means the processor can run at much higher temperatures than what we would previously perceive as normal, 95C is common with stock coolers, triggering some surprise from the enthusiast community. However, the higher temperatures are fully within AMD’s specifications, just as Intel’s upper limit of 100C will fall within its own boundaries.
Here’s the breakdown of Intel’s various boost mechanisms:
Turbo Boost 2.0: Increased frequency if chip operates below power, current, and temperature specifications.
Turbo Boost Max 3.0: Fastest cores are identified during binning, then the Windows scheduler targets the fastest two active cores (favored cores) with lightly-threaded applications. Chip must be below power, current, and temperature specifications.
Single-Core Thermal Velocity Boost: Fastest active favored core can boost higher than Turbo Boost Max 3.0 if below a pre-defined temperature threshold (70C) and all other factors adhere to TB 3.0 conditions.
All-Core Thermal Velocity Boost: Increases all-core frequency when all cores are active and the chip is under 70C.
Adaptive Boost Technology: Allows dynamic adjustment of all-core turbo frequencies when four or more cores are active. This feature doesn’t have a guaranteed boost threshold — it will vary based on chip quality, your cooler, and power delivery.
Overall, AMD’s Precision Boost 2 and Intel’s Adaptive Boost Technology represent both company’s attempts to extract the maximum performance possible within the confines of their respective TDP limits. In its traditional style, AMD offers the feature as a standard on all of its newer Ryzen processors, while Intel positions it as a premium feature for its highest-end Core i9 K and KF processors. As you would imagine, we’ll have full testing of the feature in our coming review.
AMD’s latest Radeon driver update, Adrenalin version 21.3.1, adds several new features to team red’s graphics cards, but the biggest update is a new stress testing utility that allows you to check the stability of your overclocked AMD graphics card right from the Adrenalin software.
When you install the 21.3.1 driver, the new stress test option should be available to you called “Performance Tuning Stress Test.” According to AMD, Adrenaline has also been updated to help novice overclockers with newer temperature gauges and easier-to-understand performance readouts, PC Gamer reported. AMD also said it added more indicators to show where performance is being limited on your best graphics card.
(Image credit: PCGamer)
We aren’t sure how much better this stress test is compared to stress testing your graphics card in popular games and applications like 3DMark, Superposition and your favorite graphically demanding video game. But it is nice that you can now stress test right from the Adrenaline software without using any other software to see if your GPU overclock is stable or not.
AMD didn’t say if this new stress test was limited to newer Radeon GPUs, so we assume that this new stress testing utility will work on any Radeon GPU that supports the 21.3.1 driver.
More Adrenalin 21.3.1 Updates
A few more highlights from 21.3.1 include added support for Doom Eternal: The Ancient Gods – Part Two, as well as major updates to Radeon Boost and Radeon Anti-Lag with both technologies now supporting the DirectX 12 API. Plus, there are a few more updates to Vulkan support.
Here’s the full list of issues the driver fixes, as per AMD:
Radeon Software may sometimes have higher than expected CPU utilization, even when a system is at idle.
A system hang or crash may be experienced when upgrading Radeon Software while an Oculus VR headset is connected to your system on Radeon GCN graphics products.
Minecraft DXR may exhibit corrupted or missing textures when ray tracing is enabled on Radeon RX 6000 series graphics products.
An application crash may occur in Call of Duty: Modern Warfare when ray tracing is enabled on Radeon RX 6000 series graphics products.
Lighting fails to render correctly on Radeon RX 6800 series graphics products in Star Citizen.
A black screen may occur when enabling and disabling Enhanced Sync while Vsync is enabled in some Vulkan API games.
A black screen or system hang may occur on Hybrid Graphics systems for some Vulkan API games when Enhanced Sync is enabled.
Bethesda launcher may experience an application crash on startup when launching some games.
Users may be unable to create a new scene in the Radeon Software Streaming tab on first launch or after a settings factory reset.
Game specific performance tuning profiles may fail to load when a global performance tuning profile has been created or set.
Disabling HDCP support and performing a factory reset and/or system restart may sometimes trigger a system crash or hang on boot.
Epic Games social overlay or launcher may exhibit color corruption.
Xuan-Yuan Sword VII may experience an application crash with DirectX12 ray tracing enabled on Radeon RX 6000 series graphics.
Color corruption may be experienced in Cyberpunk 2077 when Radeon Boost is enabled.
Display flicker or corruption may occur on high refresh rate/resolution multi-monitor system configurations on Radeon RX Vega series graphics.
Audio loss or cutout may intermittently occur on some TV displays when Windows audio is set to use 5.1 or 7.1 speaker configurations.
It might take longer than expected for Windows 10X to debut. Windows Central reports that Microsoft planned to have the operating system ready to ship in the first half of the year; now it’s said to be aiming for the second half.
Windows 10X was revealed in February 2020 as Microsoft’s plan for dual-screen devices and foldable PCs. The operating system was supposed to debut in fall 2020 on the Surface Neo as well as products from Dell, Asus, HP, and Lenovo.
We even got a peek at Windows 10X via a virtual machine Microsoft released to help developers prepare for the dual-screen future that seemed oh-so-imminent until the COVID-19 pandemic forced much of the tech industry to scuttle their plans.
Microsoft announced in May 2020 that it was shifting Windows 10X’s focus to single-screen devices, and in July 2020 it said the operating system wouldn’t debut until 2021, with a version for dual-screen devices scheduled for release in 2022.
Windows Central said that, according to its anonymous sources, Windows 10X’s release window has shifted to the second half of 2021 “to ensure the product is ready and robust for a smooth release.” An exact timeframe wasn’t provided.
The report also indicated that Microsoft has developed this version of Windows 10X for “low-cost educational and enterprise focused PCs.“ Consumer products will instead receive the Sun Valley user experience update to Windows 10 this year.
We’ve reached out to Microsoft for more information about Windows 10X’s launch window and what device categories the company’s targeting with this initial version of the operating system. We’ll update this post if the company responds.
(Pocket-lint) – The HP Spectre x360 13 is a bit of a dream convertible laptop. Not much has changed in this 2020-2021 version apart from a shift to Intel’s 11th Gen processors. But these bring a significant jump in performance, especially for gaming, with no downsides.
You have plenty of laptops to choose from with this much cash to spend. You could get a (admittedly non-convertible) MacBook Air, a Dell XPS 13 2-in-1, or a Lenovo Yoga 9i (although the Shadow Black model we saw we can’t recommend).
Particular benefits of the HP Spectre x360 13 include an ultra-small footprint, a near-perfect hinge design that’s far more sturdy than most, and a great keyboard. This is a style laptop that doesn’t compromise on the basics, and that matters because no matter how expensive a laptop looks or feels, you always take the outer gloss for granted quickly enough.
Design
Dimensions: 16.9 x 194.5 x 306mm
Weight: 1.3kg (1.28kg measured)
Unibody aluminium shell
HP Spectre laptops are some of the most striking, and perhaps contentious, slim-and-light models we review all year. The HP Spectre x360 13’s look hasn’t changed much in this latest generation, but is still worth a mention.
Pocket-lint
It has a thing for angles – like the 45-degree cut-outs in the corners, and peaked contoured edges. It all gives the Spectre x360 a distinct and angular appearance – but not one that all will instantly like. However, HP tempers the look by keeping everything bar the screen border a sedate silver. A couple more striking two-tone finishes are available if you want to fully embrace the Spectre’s provocative style.
All the HP Spectre x360 13’s panels are aluminium, rather than magnesium. HP could have used the latter to bring the weight below its currently perfectly respectable ~1.3kg. But then you’d lose some of the cool, metallic feel that works hand-in-hand with the laptop’s severe look.
The Spectre x360 13’s build is exceptional too. There is zero keyboard flex, real Apple-grade rigidity, and the integrity of the flippy hinge is best-in-class stuff.
Pocket-lint
Use the rival Samsung Galaxy Book Flex 2 on your knees and you’ll notice the screen actually wobbles slightly from the motion. There’s almost none of that in the Spectre x360.
However, the HP’s footprint is actually one of the most notable things here. The Spectre x360 is tiny for a 13-inch machine, shaving off a significant amount of depth. Some of you won’t appreciate this as much as the sub-1kg weight of lighter alternatives. But it helps this laptop fit in smaller bags or onto cramped tables.
Screen
13-inch IPS LCD touchscreen with stylus support
Full HD resolution (1920 x 1080 pixels)
100% sRGB colour, 460-nit brightness
Part of this footprint is down to HP’s cutting down of the screen border at the bottom edge. And, of course, because the HP Spectre x360 13 has a widescreen display rather than the 3:2 aspect ratio some prefer for productivity apps.
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Are you in that crowd? HP caters for you too, now. Hunt down the 14-inch version of the HP Spectre x360 13, which trades the small footprint for more screen space and a larger touchpad. Yes, a “14 13”, weird naming, isn’t it?
HP sent us the “entry-level” screen version of the HP Spectre x360 13. It has a Full HD IPS LCD screen, rather than the 4K OLED you can get if you’re willing to spend more (and probably sacrifice battery life as a result)
This LCD isn’t a true wide colour gamut screen – but we still think it is great. It delivers very high contrast for this style of display, making blacks look rich and deep even when the brightness is maxed. And that top brightness is high enough to work outdoors comfortably enough.
Resolution is the one obvious shortfall. While 1080p lets you see slight pixellation in text – which is why you might choose to buy a MacBook Air instead – it’s still not a low resolution per se. Where almost all Windows laptops of this type offer 1080p as a starting resolution, and an ultra-high res one as a pricey upgrade, all MacBook Air models have 1600p screens, which wipe out that slight pixellation.
Pocket-lint
The HP Spectre x360 13 also supports a digitiser stylus, with pressure sensitivity. Looking online, it seems you may get one in the box with some packages, but ours didn’t include the stylus (based in the UK, so it may be a regional thing). This doesn’t seem as essential an accessory as it does in the Lenovo Yoga 9i, though, as there’s nowhere to store then pen in the laptop itself.
Keyboard and Touchpad
2-level backlight
Textured glass touchpad
The HP Spectre x360 13 is at heart a pretty straightforward laptop. It’s a good job, then, that HP has the basics aced.
Pocket-lint
For one, it has a very good keyboard. There’s plenty of key travel, zero flex to the keyboard plate, and meaty-but-quiet feedback when you press the keys. This is not necessarily what you’d expect from a style-driven portable laptop in 2021. But HP has not forgotten this element is pretty important for those who actually work eight hours a day in front of the thing.
There’s a two-level backlight for confidence when typing in darker rooms. And the only concession to the Spectre’s low-depth case design is that a row of function buttons are shifted to the right of the keyboard. We guarantee you’ll press Page Up/Down accidentally a hundred times, but you’ll get used to the layout in the end.
The touchpad is trimmed down more substantially to fit the Spectre x360 13’s shape, but is still very good. It has a smooth textured glass surface, and a confident clicker that isn’t affected by pressure places around the pad itself.
Pocket-lint
There’s a hint of pre-click float, which is usually something to complain about. But here it actually seems deliberate, to lend the pad a greater sense of click depth.
The HP Spectre x360 13 also has a little fingerprint scanner, below the arrow keys. It is not as subtle as a pad built into a keyboard key or a power button, but then HP doesn’t exactly have much space to work with here and its responsiveness is sound enough. Plus, as you can see, subtlety isn’t the name of the game when it comes to design.
There’s also, sadly, no room for a good webcam. A 720p camera sits in the screen surround, and it doles out a soft, noisy image like the vast majority of laptops in this class. Puts it on par with a MacBook then, but that’s another way of saying it’s not nearly good enough for this day and age.
Performance
Intel Core i7-1165g7 CPU
16GB DDR4 RAM
512GB Intel Optane SSD
The HP Spectre x360 13 is an Intel Evo laptop. This is a new quality seal from Intel that ensures you get quick-resume from sleep, a Thunderbolt 4 port, fairly fast charging, and good battery life too. And it all revolves around Intel’s 11th Gen processors.
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Our HP Spectre x360 13 has an Intel Core i7-1165g7 processor with 16GB RAM and a 512GB Intel Optane SSD. This makes Windows 10 fly. And while it doesn’t quite have the raw power of the MacBook Pro’s M1 processor, there are not going to be any compatibility headaches – as this is a more conventional CPU.
Gaming is the most noticeable performance improvement you’ll see in this generation. Laptops like this traditionally use the graphics chipset baked into the main processor, and Intel’s traditionally are not all that good. But the HP Spectre x360 13 has the Intel Xe chipset, which brings performance up to that of an entry-level Nvidia dedicated graphics card.
We’ve tested a bunch of laptops with Xe graphics recently. They let you play Skyrim at Ultra graphics settings, Subnautica at a fairly pretty Medium, Euro Truck Simulator 2 with everything turned on, and Kingdom Come: Deliverance at 900p with good results.
How about GTA V? That runs just fine too, delivering frame rates in the 40s at the default graphics settings. Intel has finally caught up with AMD, delivering results similar to what you’d see in a Ryzen 7 4700U laptop – like the Lenovo Yoga Slim 7 – or a last-gen Intel one with a dedicated Nvidia MX350 graphics card.
Pocket-lint
We’ve been waiting for this moment for ages: you can treat a laptop like the HP Spectre x360 13 a bit like a last-gen games console, even though it is not remotely made for the purpose.
The HP Spectre x360 13 is also silent when you do light work that doesn’t tax the processor, causing the fans to start spinning. These latest-generation chipsets seem to have a better handle on heat than their predecessors. It’s not silent when you run GTA V, of course, but avoids the annoying high-pitch whirr you sometimes get with small laptops.
The HP Spectre x360 13’s speakers are reasonable, but not quite as the same level as those of a MacBook Pro or Lenovo Yoga 9i. There’s the small portion of bass that largely separates good speakers from poor ones and the tone is even enough, but maximum volume doesn’t break out of the so-so laptop mould.
Battery Life
60Wh battery
65W charger
USB-C charging
The HP Spectre x360 13 has a 60Wh battery – the same size this series has used for a few generations now. It’s a mid-size battery – which is no surprise given the laptop’s footprint – but lasts very well considering the laptop uses an Intel CPU, which aren’t quite as frugal on power as the latest AMD Ryzen models.
Best laptop 2021: Top general and premium notebooks for working from home and more
By Dan Grabham
·
Pocket-lint
In our hands it lasted 12 hours 15 minutes when streaming video over Wi-Fi at the sort of brightness level you might use indoors. Not bad, right? The Intel Evo mark guarantees nine hours of general use, so the HP Spectre x360 13 is a good way ahead of that.
Its charger is a 65W brick – uh oh, it’s not exactly in keeping with the laptop’s elegant style – but at least it’ll bring the charge to around 50 per cent in a mere half-hour.
Verdict
The HP Spectre x360 13 is a laptop focused on quality. Its build is exceptional. You get the cool and hard feel of aluminium, very low-flex panels and a non-wobbly convertible display hinge. Its keyboard is far better than the thin, clicky designs used in plenty of slim laptops. And while the weight isn’t dramatically low, this laptop’s footprint is among the smallest in its class.
Sure, you don’t get a slot-in stylus and for the deepest display colour you’ll need to upgrade to the 4K OLED version, but HP has aced the parts that affect your day-to-day experience using this machine. Don’t be confused by the funky angular design, HP knows the importance of getting the basics right. Oh, and it costs less than the Dell XPS 13 2-in-1, which is an added bonus. It’s top marks all round.
View offer on HP Store (sponsored link)
Also consider
Dell XPS 13 2-in-1
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It’s pricier for the same spec, but you have to pay big to get the comparable Dell XPS convertible. It also has a shallower keyboard and a larger footprint, although the touchpad is a lot bigger too, which may appeal.
Read our review
MacBook Air
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Apple doesn’t make a convertible laptop – but the Air is probably the laptop you might consider in this HP’s stead. It has a sharper display and doesn’t use a fan at all, so stays silent 24/7. However, the keyboard is shallower, which may be an issue for those who spend a lot of typing tapping out emails and docs.
Portable music player specialist Astell & Kern has launched a USB-C DAC cable to enhance the sound quality of an Android phone, Windows 10 PC, tablet PC or MacOS computer.
As we bask in an age of high-quality streaming and increasingly high-performing headphones, the weak link in on-the-go listening is invariably the standard audio output of such devices. Portable DACs such as the AudioQuest DragonFly Cobalt, Audiolab M-DAC nano and Zorloo Ztella have come in to help right that wrong, and now Astell & Kern is stepping in with a solution of its own for the increasing number of USB-C-ported devices on the market.
Essentially, the AK USB-C Dual DAC Cable is designed to be the link between USB-C devices and headphones, and improve the audio quality in the process. (Astell & Kern says the cable doesn’t support iPhones and iPads due to the dual DAC incompatibility and power restrictions of iOS devices.)
(Image credit: Astell & Kern)
The DAC is founded on two Cirrus Logic CS43198 MasterHIFi digital-to-analogue chips, which support high-resolution audio playback up to native PCM 32-bit/384kHz DSD256. Astell & Kern is behind a number of excellent, What Hi-Fi? Award-winning portable music players, so it’s not surprising to learn it has carried its expertise in circuit and amplifier design, and DAC implementation, into this DAC cable. To that end, the circuit features the bespoke capacitors found in its players and has been optimised to prevent power fluctuations. The analogue amplifier is designed to drive a variety of headphones, including power-hungry and high-impedance models (with a 2Vrms output level).
That impressive-looking twisted cable – made up of Technora aramid fibre at its core, wrapped by silver-plated copper and a further copper layer, then finished with separate shielding treatment – promises to not only physically withstand the daily grind but also, importantly, block external noise and thus reduce signal interference.
The AK USB-C Dual DAC Cable’s polished metal zinc alloy casing has an angled surface that resonates with the aesthetic of the company’s portable music players. The fact it’s the size of a packet of gum and weighs just 25g means it can discreetly slip into your desktop set-up or pocket without adding much bulk.
The Astell & Kern AK USB-C Dual DAC Cable is priced £109 ($149) and will be available from April in the UK and May in the US.
MORE:
Best DACs 2021: USB, portable and desktop DACs
Read our Astell & Kern reviews
The Astell & Kern A&norma SR25 is our favourite portable music player
When Microsoft announced that Auto HDR would make its way to the Xbox Series X and S, many wondered if it would also make an appearance on Windows 10. Today, Microsoft has announced that a test build of Windows 10 (21337) is currently available and incorporates Auto HDR.
To give the preview a test drive, you’ll need to be a member of the Windows Insider Program (Dev Channel) to gain access to the Windows 10 21337 build (see also how to get Windows 10 for free or cheap). If you aren’t already a member, you can join and access the proper channel here. You’ll also need a display that’s capable of handling an HDR signal. If you don’t have a monitor, you can also try using a 4K TV if you have one of those.
Auto HDR is a technology developed by Microsoft for use with the Xbox Series family of consoles and Windows. It uses artificial intelligence to convert standard dynamic range (SDR) material to a high dynamic range (HDR) image. This is made possible thanks to Microsoft’s use of machine learning., which then trains the Auto-HDR algorithm on what to look for when converting from SDR to HDR.
In the image below, Microsoft has provided examples of an SDR image (left), Auto HDR image (middle), and one in native HDR (right). As we can see by the heatmap, the lighting or luminance isn’t as pronounced in the Auto HDR example but does provide the benefit of HDR, without the impact that running a title at native HDR image would produce.
(Image credit: Microsoft and Xbox)
As of now, there’s a limited amount of titles that support Auto HDR, but Microsoft says that more PC games, both DirectX 11 and 12, will benefit from Auto HDR. The company says that is working through the process of selecting titles and will announce the selection of games when they become available.
Currently, Auto HDR is a preview/beta build and Microsoft is still working to improve it. If you do enable the preview, you will encounter bugs, and things may not work correctly. So be sure to provide any feedback to Microsoft via its feedback hub app.
Microsoft’s Presenter Coach, which helps you practice presentations, has been available on the web version of PowerPoint for a while now, but it’s finally coming to the desktop and mobile versions of the app. According to Microsoft, the feature will now be available on Mac, Windows, iOS, Android, and, of course, the web.
PowerPoint Presenter Coach listens to you while you practice a presentation out loud — it analyzes what you’re saying, and can warn you if you’re talking too fast or slow, using filler words like “um” or “ahh,” or just reading the words off the slide (a personal pet peeve of mine). Trying it out on both PowerPoint for Windows and iOS, it worked shockingly well, doing pretty much everything Microsoft says it should. At the end it gives you a little report, telling you what you need to practice.
Along with the expanded availability, there are also some new ways that the feature can try to make your presentation better: it can look at body language (how close you are to the camera, if you’re making eye contact or putting things in front of your face), and warn you if you’re repeating words or saying them wrong. And yes, it still tells you not to swear in your presentation.
PowerPoint for web (seen here) censors the profanity, but the version for Windows hilariously doesn’t.
When I tried it, the feature didn’t show up in the Mac version of the app, but I was able to use it on iOS. Microsoft was not immediately available for comment about when the feature would show up on the Mac, or on whether the vocal and video analysis was done on-device or in the cloud for the desktop and mobile versions.
For the privacy-conscious, though, it is worth noting that when I tried it in airplane mode, it told me I had to connect to the internet to use the coaching feature.
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