Earlier this week we told you about what Microsoft brough to the table on the last event, and today we realized that the also want to give you a special discount in any of their Surface line up (but the new Studio PC) if you exchange your Macbook.
Yes! As you can see from the capture above, the Microsoft Store is offering up to $650 for your old laptop.
Obviously the offering may vary depending on the state of your product, the closer you get to pristine condition (with box and original kits), the higher the discount.
The promo code will be valid until December 15, 2016 and the offers started yesterday October 27, 2016 at 12:00PM PST and will go all the way to November 7, 2016, 11:59PM PST.
This is a great offering considering that outdated processor in some old MacBooks, but the decision is yours.
Would you change your Mac for a Windows PC? Let us know in the comment section below or join us over Twitter
During an event yesterday, Microsoft unveiled their two new offerings in the computer department.
Aiming not only to consumers that need portability but also the ones that need a powerhouse at home, we now see the company focusing once again in hardware…Well except mobile phones anyway..
Surface Book I7
There’s no big news on the portable side as what we have is a revindication of what I should have been the first offering.
The Surface Book is a great device, but for the more demanding professionals is was aimed, Not having the greatest battery life and some compatibility issues was a let down. But those flaws were attacked and now we have a new offer with the latest I7 processor (hence the name).
Also, they improved the graphics performance and increased the battery by 30%, everything else remains the same as previous models.
They even made a video just to say that, take a look:
The new model will be available starting in November and will start at $2,399 with pre-orders already open.
Surface Studio
This was the main attraction during the event, dubbed as “Surface Studio” this All-in-one PC is aimed to professional photographers, designers as well as Illustrators.
With a huge 28″ LCD PixelSense Display and a resolution of 4,500 x 3,000 (3:2 aspect), the Studio is Microsoft take on Apple’s iMac series.
Only one big difference though, the panel is completely tactile, which offer a whole new world of possibilities.
The spec sheet is quite impressive:
Display
Screen: 28″ PixelSense Display
Resolution: 4500 x 3000 (192 DPI)
Color settings: Adobe sRGB, DCI-P3 and Vivid Color Profiles, Individually color calibrated
Touch: 10-point multi-touch
Aspect Ratio: 3:2
Surface Pen
Zero Gravity Hinge
Wi-Fi: 802.11ac Wi-Fi wireless networking, IEEE 802.11 a/b/g/n compatible
Bluetooth: Bluetooth 4.0 wireless technology
Xbox Wireless built-in3
Dimensions and weight
Display: 25.09 x 17.27 x 0.44 in (637.35 x 438.90 x 11.4 mm)
Base: 9.84 x 8.66 x 1.26 in (250.00 x 220.00 x 32.20 mm)
Weight: 21.07 lbs max (9.56 kg)
Connections and expansions
4 USB 3.0
Full-size SD card reader (SDXC compatible)
Mini Displayport
3.5mm headset jack
Compatible with Surface Dial onscreen interaction1
Cameras
Windows Hello2 face sign-in camera 5.0MP front-facing camera with 1080p HD video
Audio
Dual microphones
Stereo 2.1 speakers with Dolby Audio Premium
3.5mm headset jack
Buttons and keyboard
Physical buttons: Volume and power
Surface Pen
Surface Keyboard
Surface Mouse
In the box
Surface Studio
Surface Pen
Surface Keyboard
Surface Mouse
Power cord with grip-release cable
The Surface Studio will be available in December with some pre-orders being available for the holiday season, the next batch will have to wait till next year.
The price tag of the base model will be $2,999.00 going all the way up to $4,199.00 for the high-end model.
Capable of Pen input as you’d expect from a Surface product, that’s not the only trick under the sleeve.
Pair with the “Zero Gravity Hinge” that allows it to go from monitor to drawing desk, the addition we are really impressed is the Surface Dial.
As You can see from the video above, the Dial is not just an extra tool to have around, Its what will complement the experience when your primary work is on the designing or editing process.
With haptic feedback to let you know you’re changing option without seeing using the radial input, add free location on the screen and you ready to work whenever you want.
As extra, the little gadget with not only be compatible with the new Studio Pc, but also with the Surface Book and the Surface Pro 4.
The can get a standalone Dial once available for $99 with just one color option (looks fine to me), but if you pre-order the Surface Studio before next month you’ll one for free.
But tell us, Do you think Microsoft is offering a solid option against the iMac or the MacBook that are currently on the market? Will be good enough to compete with today’s announcements from Apple?
Let us know in the comment section or join the conversation on Twitter
360° videos where added to YouTube last year as impulse for VR technology, with their very own Spotlight Stories and some other extras, the 360-degree live streaming will now be way more immersive thanks to the addition of Spatial Audio.
With Spatial audio build in, the streaming transform into an almost “live experience.
From the announcement we know that some of the artists performing this weekend at Coachella are going to have this almost “7.1 audio” capability.
But for your own enjoyment here’s a sample of what would it sound like:
YouTube has been working with companies like VideoStitch,Two Big Ears, ALLie, Vahana VR and Orah 4i to assure their software if totally compatible with the platform.
So, it will be available on more videos and locations to allow people from all around the globe to enjoy this.
The goal is no just entertainment, as the company also aims to make tours and travel-like experiences available, students can have a tour around the pyramids without leaving the classroom.
We’ve been having 360° videos for long, but now those videos are going to be way more useful for other things besides entertainment.
Neal Mohan, Chief Product Officer of YouTube says:
What excites me most about 360-degree storytelling is that it lets us open up the world’s experiences to everyone. Students can now experience news events in the classroom as they unfold. Travelers can experience faraway sites and explorers can deep-sea dive, all without the physical constraints of the real world. And today’s kids dreaming of going to a basketball game or a concert can access those experiences firsthand, even if they’re far away from the court. What were once limited experiences are now available to anyone, anywhere, at any time.
In addition to this incredible feature, the usual live streaming video can now be made in 360 degrees.
Now user will be allowed to stream in high quality thanks to the new support fpr 1440p at 60fps resolution, leaving no room to complain about it.
User just need to have a compatible hardware and they are ready to roll.
What are your thoughts on VR? Do you think we are there yet? Which video you would to experience on 360° spatial audio form? Let us know in the comment section below
How to keep our files and documents safe, is something that has bothered us since the beginning, but apparently, a team from the Optical Research Center from the University of Southampton have developed a way to record data in “5 dimensions” and make it last billions of years.
They use a method that uses ultrafast laser impulse to create nanoscale dots aligned into three layers that are five-millionths of a meters apart.
So using a single 1″ inch disc which is more durable than traditional storage options as well they can also fit 360TB into the disc.
According to the team each disc should be able to preserved the data up to 13.8 billion years (which also means we’re not going to be here to see it is indeed capable of that)
Th guys have already encoded various texts of mankind history like the UN’s Universal Declaration of Human Rights, King James Bible, Magna Cartaand Isaac Newton’s Optick as copies.
Also named “Superman Memory Crystal ” when they showed for the first time in 2013 as it resembles a the one found on Superman movies of old, they should be ready for commercial use in a couple a years and you will have something like a DVD reader to look what you have there.
Professor Peter Kazansky, from the Optoelectronics Research Centre, said:
“It is thrilling to think that we have created the technology to preserve documents and information and store it in space for future generations. This technology can secure the last evidence of our civilization: all we’ve learnt will not be forgotten.”
What do you think about this? Will this be the solution mankind has been asking for since forever to preserved they knowledge to future generations?
Tell of what you think about the “Superman memory crystal” in the comments section or tweet using #techbuzzireland
The internet giant known as Google, develop its business through the internet therefore they are the most interested on having more people using it.
There is where this new project comes in, meet Skybender
Something that you may not know is the fact that even in 2016 only 40% of world population have internet access, reason why, enterprises like Nokia (before and now) and Google are doing their best to improve this situation.
Recently “The Guardian” found out they are testing Solar powered drones to deliver internet access all over the world is a secret project codename “Skybender”.
Building their own prototype transceivers and drones Google experiment with millimetre-wave radio transmissions, this technology can THEORETICALLY transmit up to 40 times more data than current 4G/LTE networks.
This idea was born under the same roof as Project Loon which have the same principle but with self powered balloons, thing that has cause some inconvenience as they enter restricted air zones ending in a not so nice situation.
The improve idea has also newer carriers, in this case the responsible for delivering the data will be a drone and no a common one, Meet the Solara 50, a solar powered drone that’s almost as big as a plane, literally speaking.
This will granted better data transfer rates, as the technology use at the moment has a short range compare to normal cellular signals.
The testing is being held at New Mexico’s desert in Virgin Galactic’s Gateway and we expect to have more details about this new project as well updates about Project Loon in the coming months.
What do you think of this? Are you agree on having drones flying all over? Leave your thoughts on the comment section below.
As the year is starting many of you are planning on upgrade you PC’s or laptops but if you’re thinking of getting the latest and greatest specs the only version of Windows you can use is Windows 10
Although as today, there’s more than 200 millions devices running Windows 10 there’s also millions of other that still prefer to use the old but reliable Windows 8/8.1 or even Windows 7, (specially companies)
And given the fact this versions of the OS are going to get updates ’till 2020 and 2023 is not a bad idea at all, but there’s a catch.
After CES las week, Microsoft has made official their commitment to Windows 10 as a “One OS to rule them all” therefore, they want to W10 to be on more and more devices.
So with the announcements of the upcoming silicon such as :
Intel’s “Kaby Lake”
Qualcomm’s “8996”
and AMD’s “Bristol Ridge”
Microsoft is planning on rely on this manufactures “a better integration between software and hardware to improve performance” on every device.
How? There’s going to be limitations on how the devices will perform under certain OS, if you have W7 or W8 your system is not going to be well optimize, but if you have W10 you will get up to 30x better graphics and 3x battery life (which is certainly unfair as it’s a really big difference in graphics)
You still are going to be able to install any of the former versions but without the proper optimizations your system will be very vulnerable.
Actually, even the recently announced Skylake silicon is going to have a downfall as those who are still on W7 or W8.1 just going to get security updates until July 17th of 2017.
So this is one of those situation in which you have to choose between to two worst options.
But, what are your thoughts on this matter? Are you happy with this decision?
Or do you think is worth the risk keeping up the old W7 or the not so old W8.1 around?
Let us know in the comment below or tweet us at @jimboireland or @VicenteA_George
For quite a time now we’ve had Chrome OS the system used to run Android on a PC like environment.
But sometimes it feels short when competing against monsters like Windows or Mac OS and then is when this newly additions enters the scene.
Discover Remix OS 2.0
What is it?
Is an Android based operating system, design to offer the best of both worlds, the almost unlimited selection of app the Google Play Store has at your disposal and a almost full desktop experience you’ve dreaming of.
Remix OS has it all:
True Multitasking
A Taskbar
A Notifications Center
Full Keyboard commands
A working Right-click
A File Manager
Full suite of Google Play apps
Future software Updates
This OS has being developed by the Jide team, previously known for making pretty good Android tablets and its built upon the Android x86 initiative.
And they have made a pretty impressive system, worth notice! This is not a public software, although is available for everyone from Jide’s page, for the moment is meant for developers as is still on “Alpha”.
But if you’re interested on this, you’ll be able to dual boot Windows/Mac and “Android” on you PC, the best part of it is that you can even install the OS on a pendrive us booted up directly from there!
On Remix OS you’ll have two offerings, the well known Google Play Store and their own “Remix Store” for full compatible apps.
Everything on the OS looks really well design, but has a strong influence from Microsoft’s Windows 10 like the Notification Tray
All future software updates will hit the place you have destined for it, and it’ll run on most PCs without a particular OS version needed it, which is pretty awesome.
Obviously this desktop software attempt is really solid, but is has the occasional bugs and it won’t replace you current fully working (in most cases) OS.
Are you interested in try it out? you can go over HERE
If you do, please let us know in the comment section, or tweet us using #techbuzzireland
Samsung’s keynote was one of the most unexpected yesterday at CES and they did what they do best, impress everyone with something unexpected.
The Galaxy TAB line is really well known by now, keeping Android on the tablet market for a while. But this time though the Galaxy line has seen a step in other direction.
Meet the Galaxy Tab Pro S
And as you can see its looking like a Surface Pro.
The new slate from Samsung runs on Windows 10 OS and they claim to have a “truly powerful 2-in-1”
The device itself is 6.3 mm thin and has 693 gm making it easily portable, also the TAB Pro S comes with a full sized keyboard cover with a built in kickstand and touchpad.
Packs a gorgeous 12 inch 2K Super AMOLED display which will boost the 5,200 mAh battery lasting, one accordingly to Samsung should go up to 10.5H and can be fully charge in just 2.5H
Also it comes with the Intel Core M processor with 4GB of RAM and either 128GB or 256GB of storage, and is the first Windows tablet to come with LTE Cat 6 support.
This is just one of the many announcements we’ll see this week, so stay tuned for more #CES2016 coverage
This year was great for gadgets that boost up our productivity on he go, like the IPad Pro, the stunning Surface Book and last but not least the Surface Pro 4 which was unveiled earlier this year and you can see our full coverage here.
But back then it wasn’t available everywhere to buy but today we received the news that is going to be officially available in India as soon as next week on January 7th
As you can see after all the wait is finally going to happen for our Indian readers the very next week.
There’s no word about full prices and available along the country but as a far as we know the “lower 128GB an Intel Core m3 with 4GB RAM model” could go for Rs. 67,999 and the powerhouse variant with 256GB an Intel Core i7 and 16GB of RAM could go for somewhere around Rs. 1,32,99 which means the other variants are going to be in between these prices.
The Surface Pro line is a well known productivity tool and made ir widely available is great, paired with Windows 10 this thing is a beast.
From consuming media to full work presentations the Surface Pro 4 packs everything you could need in a beautiful portable size.
We’ll bring more info once the day comes, but till then, let us know! Will you pick one for yourself? Sound below in the comments or Tweet us using #techbuzzireland
