Laptops

Microsoft is bringing the feature we’ve always wanted to Windows

Published

December 8, 2016

Monch Lopez

The dream of a Windows 10 smartphone running desktop apps is apparently alive and well. And perhaps next year, it might arrive at a store near you.

Microsoft today announced a partnership with top mobile chip maker Qualcomm at a hardware developer conference in Shenzhen, China that will basically allow next-generation ARM chips to deliver a full-fledged Windows 10 experience, support for peripherals and mainstream applications included. So, yeah, we’re talking a better execution of Windows RT, which tried but ultimately failed to make ARM devices play nicely with Windows.

[irp posts=”7256″ name=”Microsoft Surface Studio is the all-in-one PC of our dreams”]

Microsoft says it is building an emulator into Windows 10 that will allow forthcoming Snapdragon-powered phones and tablets to run Adobe Photoshop, Google Chrome, Microsoft Office, or any of the million existing desktop apps right now. They should even be able to have a go at Crysis 2 without problems.

It is said the Snapdragon 835 will be the first Qualcomm chipset to offer hardware emulation, but it won’t be the last, and that the first ARM-based PCs aren’t due for release until the second half of next year.

Microsoft isn’t keen on explaining how the technology works, and, unfortunately, the emulator won’t run on today’s hardware, so we’ll have to wait until next year to find out. You can bet, though, that Snapdragon PCs should sell at lower price points and easily outlast their Intel and AMD counterparts, which is what Microsoft is pushing for here.

Think how much more compelling Windows 10 ultraportables would be if they were more affordable and offered all-day battery life without asterisks. It would have been the final nail in the coffin for Intel’s Atom family of processors, except the company had already thrown in the towel not too long ago.

Where does the Surface phone fit into all of this? Your guess is as good as ours; Microsoft is still mum on the fabled Windows 10 device. But it’s likely that — fingers crossed — when it does show up, it will have a Qualcomm chip under its bonnet.

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Related Topics:Qualcomm Snapdragon 835 Windows 10

Computers

Intel 9th-Gen Core processors feature ‘world’s best gaming processor’

Headlined by the Core i9-9900K

Published

October 9, 2018

Marvin Velasco

Intel’s latest lineup of desktop processors, dubbed the 9th generation, were unveiled earlier today in an event in New York. They’re headlined by the Core i9-9900K, which Intel calls the “world’s best gaming processor.”

It’s definitely a powerful chip, owning eight cores and 16 threads with a single-core turbo frequency of 5GHz and base speed of 3.6GHz. It offers all sorts of speed boosts compared to the previous generation, but you’ll need a Z390-based motherboard to reach its full potential.

Included in the lineup are the Core i7-9700K and i5-9600K, which are equipped with eight and six cores, respectively — no extra threads here. All three chips, unfortunately, are still based on the 14nm process introduced years ago, with Intel releasing an updated 10nm process only in 2019.

Pricing is as follows: US$ 488 for the Core i9-9900K, US$ 374 for the Core i7-9700K, and US$ 262 for the Core i5-9600K. Pre-orders begin today with a rollout happening later in October.

In addition, Intel announced seven new Intel Core X-series processors, which include the Core i9-9980XE (US$ 1,979), i9-9960X (US$ 1,684), i9-9940X (US$ 1,387), i9-9920X (US$ 1,189), i9-9900X (US$ 989), i9-9820X (US$ 898), and i7-9800X (US$ 589). All will become available by November.

Built on Intel’s Mesh Architecture, the top-of-the-line model holds 18 cores with 36 threads to handle the most demanding tasks needed by professionals. Even wilder is the upcoming Intel Xeon W-3175X and its 28 core and 56 thread count, but it has no price yet — only a release date of December 2018.

Computers

Microsoft announces Windows 10 October 2018 Update

What’s new in Windows 10?

Published

October 3, 2018

Daniel Morial

The sixth major update for Microsoft’s popular operating system is here. During their event, Microsoft announced the immediate availability of the Windows 10 October 2018 Update.

The latest version of Windows 10 comes with a bunch of new features that Microsoft has been testing for a while, including a new snipping software, a dark theme for File Explorer, a cloud-enabled clipboard, and a new sign-in option.

Microsoft now focuses on Android phones since Windows 10 Mobile is practically dead. The new built-in Your Phone app lets users seamlessly connect and use Android phones with their PC. Additionally, using the Microsoft Launcher, users can also access their Timeline on mobile. On iOS, Your Phone is able to send the web pages being viewed in Edge on the PC.

The Search tool is also getting an upgrade. Users will now automatically get a preview of all results in search, including documents, emails, and files.

SwiftKey, a Microsoft-owned keyboard app, is finally available in the touch keyboard.

There are improvements coming to Edge too, like an offline dictionary and grammar tools. Windows Mixed Reality and Office get updated features as well.

Windows 10 October 2018 is available for direct download today. The automatic rollout will start next week.

To know more about the new update, you may head over to the Windows Blog.

Computers

Microsoft refreshes product lineup with Surface Pro 6, Surface Laptop 2, Surface Studio 2

Incremental updates

Published

October 3, 2018

Marvin Velasco

The Microsoft Headphones may have stolen the show during the recent product launch, but the slew of updated Surface devices serve their purpose, as well.

Surface Pro 6

First up is the Surface Pro 6, which continues to be the flagship convertible notebook of Microsoft.

This year’s model is simply a refresh with a bold new color. Now available in matte black, the Surface Pro 6 comes with Intel’s 8th-generation processors for even more power under the hood.

Besides those, it’s mostly the same as the previous model. You still get the signature hinge, 12.3-inch touch display, and colorful selection of detachable keyboards.

It’ll become available by October 16 with a starting price of US$ 899 for the Intel Core i5 variant.

Surface Laptop 2

Next we have the Surface Laptop 2. Like the aforementioned Surface Pro 6, this model is mostly just a refresh.

It’s equipped with Intel’s latest 8th-generation chipset, along with the same matte black finish. Everything else is identical to the original, from the 13.5-inch touchscreen LCD to the Alcantara keyboard and port selection — still no USB-C in sight, however.

Microsoft claims it’s 85 percent faster thanks to the updated specs, and that all-day battery life is still possible.

Like the Surface Pro 6, the Surface Laptop 2 will go for US$ 899 and will begin shipping in mid-October.

Surface Studio 2

Finally, there’s the Surface Studio 2, and it’s the “ultimate creative studio” — for obvious reasons.

This all-in-one PC is equipped with the newest chips from NVIDIA and Intel, making it the fastest Surface device you could possibly buy today.

The 28-inch touchscreen is still around, but it’s brighter and offers more contrast as compared to before, plus it has 4,096 levels of pressure sensitivity when using the Surface Pen.