Microsoft has begun taking preorders for its new Surface Pro LTE, technically known as the Surface Pro With LTE Advanced. We’ve rounded up the launch reviews from multiple publications. Before we dive into the reviews themselves, let’s take a quick look at where things stand today. The 2017 Surface Pro (hereafter the “Surface Pro”) was lauded for improved battery life, but in other areas, including available ports, inflexible configuration options, and Microsoft’s decision to stop bundling the Surface Pen and removing the clip for easy pen storage from the Type Cover. The general consensus from reviewers was that the Surface Pro was a fine tablet, but unlikely to move the dial one way or the other as far as consumer opinions.
SpaceX has yet another Falcon 9 launch scheduled for tomorrow, and there’s something special about this one, but it’s not the payload. When this rocket lifts off, of a Falcon 9 since SpaceX first sent the vehicle up in 2010. This doesn’t include the recent test flight of the Falcon Heavy, which is basically three Falcon 9 rockets. The Falcon 9 has evolved considerably since its first test flights to become the only fully reusable launch platform in the world. There were some bumps in the road, though. When it first launched in 2010, the Falcon 9 was just another expendable rocket like the popular Atlas V.
Researchers around the world are toiling to develop machine learning technologies that will allow your car to recognize objects in the real world and drive itself. However, it can only see what’s right in front of it. A team at Stanford University has developed a system that could one day allow your to so it can make earlier, smarter decisions. The technology developed by Stanford scientists is based on super-fast laser pulses, which is convenient. All current self-driving car vision systems use compatible lidar scanners that map the world around the car. In laboratory testing, the team at Stanford was able to use these “picosecond” to scan an object behind a screen without looking directly at it.
Ever since Intel and AMD jointly unveiled that new Intel Kaby Lake CPUs would be paired with an on-package Radeon RX Vega-derived GPU, there’ve been questions about what kind of performance this solution would offer. Now, we know a bit more about it, and the figures are encouraging. Integrated graphics has long been caught in a certain trap. Gamers rarely want to invest much money into a combined CPU + GPU solution when CPUs can last a decade these days, but GPUs still advance at a quicker pace. Combine this with the high up-front cost of a large on-package solution and the difficulty of cooling a CPU + GPU configuration while still providing a high level of performance, and most gamers haven’t wanted to pay the top-dollar cost of a high-end integrated solution, while low-end buyers don’t usually care much about gaming.
AMD’s Ryzen 7 family reignited the desktop performance wars last year after nearly seven years of small iterative improvements. The company’s Zen architecture proved more competitive than most expected, and AMD’s top-end desktop cores ruled the multi-threaded roost until Coffee Lake — and arguably past that, given how hard it was to find Coffee Lake in stock during October and November of last year. AMD has already told investors and enthusiasts to expect a new Zen CPU core in the not-too-distant future, but this new revision is a refinement of the existing chip built on GlobalFoundries tuned 14nm process (rebranded as 12nm).
Charter has appealed a recent loss in the New York Supreme Court. That ruling established that Charter could face a lawsuit from the state of New York. The original lawsuit was filed by Eric Schneiderman against Charter and its Time Warner Cable subsidiary, Spectrum, and alleged that Charter had been advertising internet speeds it could not deliver. The alleged that Charter had been running a racket against its own customers for years. We’re all familiar with the “up to” speeds that ISPs typically list, and there’s similar general consumer understanding that performance can and will vary over time. What set Charter’s case apart is that it sold customers plans that functionally require DOCSIS 3.0 modems, yet shipped hardware that only supported DOCSIS 1.0 or 2.0.
Many users are still waiting on an update to Android 8.0 Oreo, but Google is nearing the first developer release for the next version of the OS. According to infamous leaker Evan Blass, Google is targeting the middle of this month for the Android P developer preview. We won’t have all the details when the dev preview rolls out, but it will definitely answer some questions. Last year, the launched on March 21. In 2016, the Android N preview rolled out to devices in early March. So, this leak could end up being accurate even if it’s not based on any real information.
Drones offer a simple and unique way to create amazing video footage. Most prosumer models now feature 4K video, and pretty good autofocus, autoexposure, and auto white balance. But there is a big difference in the quality of video you get by simply pressing the Record button in your flight app, and what you can create by capturing with the right accessories and settings and then spending some time post processing. We’ll show you how you can up your game when it comes to drone videography. We’ll use the popular Mavic Pro to highlight specific accessories and plug-ins of value, but there are similar options for other prosumer models including the Phantom product line and the Spark.
Modern phones have matured to the point that there’s often relatively little performance difference between high-end devices. Visual technologies, like display or camera quality, are another matter, particularly when you factor in subtleties of color accuracy and battery life. For years, Samsung and Apple have been duking it out for the title of best display, but the fight was often apples-to-oranges for the simple fact that Apple relied on LCDs for the iPhone while Samsung used OLEDs for its Galaxy and Galaxy Note devices. When OLEDs were new, Apple’s LCDs often beat Samsung’s AMOLED panels by multiple metrics; as time passed it became more a question of which technology you preferred.
