Author Archives: Devindra Hardawar

Microsoft Surface Pro Copilot+ hands-on: Slimmer bezels and AI smarts

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Microsoft's new Surface Pro, its first hybrid Copilot+ PC tablet, doesn't look much different than its predecessors. It's still a sleek and sturdy tablet with a kickstand. But the screen looks a bit more impressive, thanks to slimmer bezels, and it's potentially more useful on the go when paired with the $350 Surface Pro Flex keyboard, which lets you type wirelessly. As a Copilot+ AI PC though, its true value lies under the hood, thanks to a 45TOPS neural processing unit in Qualcomm's Snapdragon X Elite and X Plus chips.

Surface Pro Copilot+
Photo by Devindra Hardawar/Engadget

Without fully testing its AI capabilities, it's hard to make any final judgements on the Surface Pro just yet. Perhaps Microsoft's Recall feature, which can instantly retrieve anything you've done on your computer, could actually be useful. In a short demo, I was able to scrub through several days worth of PC usage, including doodles from people attending the launch event. Perhaps you'll find some value from the NPU-enabled features in Photoshop and other apps. But during my short hands-on session, there wasn't really much to see.

That's honestly a bit disappointing. This Surface Pro, which Microsoft is calling the 11th edition, was also an opportunity to rework the tablet's aging kickstand and overall design. Thinner screen bezels just aren't enough. The new Surface Pro Flex Keyboard is also surprisingly expensive at $350 ($450 when bundled with the Slim Pen). It's upgrades are useful: You can detach it from the Surface Pro and still keep typing away, and it also has a more modern haptic touchpad. But it's merely an optional upgrade, not a standard feature for the Surface Pro. The wireless typing experience was responsive, from my testing, but the Flex Pro Flex Keyboard also feels a bit flimsy on its own, without the weight of the tablet holding it down.

Microsoft's existing typing covers, the $140 Surface Pro Keyboard and the $180 Surface Pro Signature Keyboard, are still around and far more compelling for the price. This recent batch of computers was a perfect opportunity for the company to bundle a keyboard cover with the Surface Pro, but alas, that's still not happening. (I've been asking Microsoft about bundling a keyboard with its Surface tablets every year since they debuted — I guess I'll just have to keep asking.)

Surface Pro Copilot+
Photo by Devindra Hardawar/Engadget

The Surface Pro starts at $999 with a Qualcomm Snapdragon X Plus chip, 16GB of RAM and a 256GB SSD. You can also bump up to an OLED model which includes the Snapdragon X Elite chip for $1,500. That model can also be configured with up to 1TB of storage and 32GB of RAM. 

Catch up on all the news from Microsoft's Copilot AI and Surface event today!

This article originally appeared on Engadget at https://www.engadget.com/microsoft-surface-pro-copilot-hands-on-slimmer-bezels-and-ai-smarts-185349396.html?src=rss

Surface Pro 10 for Business review: A safe upgrade for IT workers

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I knew what to expect from the Surface Pro 10 for Business the minute Microsoft announced it: A faster processor with a neural processing unit (NPU) inside the same case as the Surface Pro 9. As the first "AI PC" Surface devices, the Pro 10 for Business tablet and its more traditional sibling, the Laptop 6, seemed disappointing. And the fact that you could only buy it on Microsoft's website, or through enterprise resellers, made it seem as if the company was trying to hide its shame.

But after testing the Surface Pro 10 tablet (I'll omit the "For Business" part of its name for the rest of the review, you get it), I realized Microsoft just wanted to make a PC upgrade to appease IT workers. It’s boring; there aren't any major new features to learn, and your company's existing Windows software will all work just fine. No alarms, no surprises.

I can accept this Surface Pro 10 for what it is because we know Microsoft has some intriguing consumer-focused Surface hardware on the horizon. The company has invited media to an event in Seattle on May 20th (a day before its Build conference begins), where we expect to see some consumer-focused Surface devices powered by Qualcomm's new Snapdragon X Elite chips. It makes sense for Microsoft to take a bigger risk with its consumer hardware, instead of the machines IT workers need to manage.

Both the Surface Pro 10 and Laptop 6 for Business are powered by Intel's new Core Ultra chips. These are the company's first processors to include an NPU for handling AI tasks. Admittedly, there aren't many AI-driven features in Windows 11 yet, but we're expecting to see Microsoft sell some new AI capabilities at Build.

For now, having an NPU means you can use Windows Studio Effects, which can glam up your video chats with blurred backgrounds and other features. By tapping into your NPU, instead of your CPU or GPU, Windows 11 can also handle those tasks more efficiently, and without slowing down the rest of your system. Who wouldn't want that?

Design-wise, the Surface Pro 10 is almost exactly the same as the Pro 9 — the 13-inch 120Hz PixelSense screen returns, and Microsoft is still relying on its clunky kickstand to prop up the tablet. But at least the company shoved in a new 1440p webcam with a wider field of view, which should lead to clearer video chats.

Geekbench 6 CPU

3DMark Wildlife Extreme

Cinebench R23

Microsoft Surface Pro 10 for Business (Intel Core Ultra 5 135U, Intel graphics)

2,085/8,827

2,546

1,555/7,153

Microsoft Surface Laptop 6 for Business (Intel Core Ultra 7 165H, Intel Arc graphics)

2,351/12,531

4,200

1,662/10,298

Microsoft Surface Pro 9 5G (SQ3, Adreno 8cx Gen 3)

N/A

2,959

575/1,866

In spite of its lack of updates, the Surface Pro 10 is still a reliable and capable hybrid tablet. It delivered fast performance, a great display and excellent battery life. Here are my favorite things about it:

  • Intel's Core Ultra 135U chip is slightly faster than the 12th-gen processors used in the Surface Pro 9: It reached 5,772 points in PCMark 10, compared to its predecessor's 4,010 points.

  • That Core Ultra chip's NPU also makes the Pro 10 more future-proof. It'll be ready to tackle AI features as they appear (developers like Adobe and Audacity are already working on several).

  • Microsoft's PixelSense display still looks fantastic, with bold colors and enough brightness to use outdoors in direct sunlight.

  • While I would have liked to see a newer design, its case still feels shockingly slim and sturdy. It feels like an iPad, even though it's running Windows 11.

  • The Surface Pro 10 lasted 12 hours and 19 minutes on the PCMark 10 Modern Office battery benchmark. That’s better than the vast majority of ultraportables we’ve seen this year, and it’s only an hour less than the latest Dell XPS 13.

Surface Pro 10 for BUsiness
Photo by Devindra Hardawar/Engadget

For a machine that starts at $1,200 though, the Surface Pro 10 is lacking in a few key ways:

  • For a "Pro" device, it has too few ports for accessories.

  • Its trademark kickstand is just a pain to live with now. It's still awkward to hold on your lap, and it also makes the Pro 10 impossible to use on small surfaces (like my beloved standing desk laptop riser).

  • The Surface Pro Keyboard is still sold separately, and it's still far too expensive at $140 (there are also pricier models if you really want to punish yourself). Nobody will ever buy a Surface tablet on its own! Microsoft's inability to recognize this basic truth has haunted these systems since their inception.

  • It may be undercut by the upcoming consumer-focused Surface Pro 10. Qualcomm's Snapdragon X Elite chips are Arm-based, so they'll have to run an Arm version of Windows 11 and rely on emulation for older apps. But their NPUs also offer 45 TOPS (trillions of operations per second) for AI tasks, while the Core Ultra chips only hit 10 TOPS on their NPUs. These differences may not mean much for the next year or so, but they may make the Snapdragon Surface Pro 10 more future proof as we see more AI features roll out.

Surface Pro 10 for BUsiness
Photo by Devindra Hardawar/Engadget

At this point, you're better off waiting to see how Microsoft's new consumer-focused Surface hardware performs before investing in either the Pro 10 or Laptop 6. But, as I said at the start, these systems aren't really meant for consumers anyway. They exist to give IT workers a way to update their inventory without having to significantly shift their workflows.

This article originally appeared on Engadget at https://www.engadget.com/surface-pro-10-for-business-review-a-safe-upgrade-for-it-workers-172033986.html?src=rss

Surface Pro 10 for Business review: A safe upgrade for IT workers

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I knew what to expect from the Surface Pro 10 for Business the minute Microsoft announced it: A faster processor with a neural processing unit (NPU) inside the same case as the Surface Pro 9. As the first "AI PC" Surface devices, the Pro 10 for Business tablet and its more traditional sibling, the Laptop 6, seemed disappointing. And the fact that you could only buy it on Microsoft's website, or through enterprise resellers, made it seem as if the company was trying to hide its shame.

But after testing the Surface Pro 10 tablet (I'll omit the "For Business" part of its name for the rest of the review, you get it), I realized Microsoft just wanted to make a PC upgrade to appease IT workers. It’s boring; there aren't any major new features to learn, and your company's existing Windows software will all work just fine. No alarms, no surprises.

I can accept this Surface Pro 10 for what it is because we know Microsoft has some intriguing consumer-focused Surface hardware on the horizon. The company has invited media to an event in Seattle on May 20th (a day before its Build conference begins), where we expect to see some consumer-focused Surface devices powered by Qualcomm's new Snapdragon X Elite chips. It makes sense for Microsoft to take a bigger risk with its consumer hardware, instead of the machines IT workers need to manage.

Both the Surface Pro 10 and Laptop 6 for Business are powered by Intel's new Core Ultra chips. These are the company's first processors to include an NPU for handling AI tasks. Admittedly, there aren't many AI-driven features in Windows 11 yet, but we're expecting to see Microsoft sell some new AI capabilities at Build.

For now, having an NPU means you can use Windows Studio Effects, which can glam up your video chats with blurred backgrounds and other features. By tapping into your NPU, instead of your CPU or GPU, Windows 11 can also handle those tasks more efficiently, and without slowing down the rest of your system. Who wouldn't want that?

Design-wise, the Surface Pro 10 is almost exactly the same as the Pro 9 — the 13-inch 120Hz PixelSense screen returns, and Microsoft is still relying on its clunky kickstand to prop up the tablet. But at least the company shoved in a new 1440p webcam with a wider field of view, which should lead to clearer video chats.

Geekbench 6 CPU

3DMark Wildlife Extreme

Cinebench R23

Microsoft Surface Pro 10 for Business (Intel Core Ultra 5 135U, Intel graphics)

2,085/8,827

2,546

1,555/7,153

Microsoft Surface Laptop 6 for Business (Intel Core Ultra 7 165H, Intel Arc graphics)

2,351/12,531

4,200

1,662/10,298

Microsoft Surface Pro 9 5G (SQ3, Adreno 8cx Gen 3)

N/A

2,959

575/1,866

In spite of its lack of updates, the Surface Pro 10 is still a reliable and capable hybrid tablet. It delivered fast performance, a great display and excellent battery life. Here are my favorite things about it:

  • Intel's Core Ultra 135U chip is slightly faster than the 12th-gen processors used in the Surface Pro 9: It reached 5,772 points in PCMark 10, compared to its predecessor's 4,010 points.

  • That Core Ultra chip's NPU also makes the Pro 10 more future-proof. It'll be ready to tackle AI features as they appear (developers like Adobe and Audacity are already working on several).

  • Microsoft's PixelSense display still looks fantastic, with bold colors and enough brightness to use outdoors in direct sunlight.

  • While I would have liked to see a newer design, its case still feels shockingly slim and sturdy. It feels like an iPad, even though it's running Windows 11.

  • The Surface Pro 10 lasted 12 hours and 19 minutes on the PCMark 10 Modern Office battery benchmark. That’s better than the vast majority of ultraportables we’ve seen this year, and it’s only an hour less than the latest Dell XPS 13.

Surface Pro 10 for BUsiness
Photo by Devindra Hardawar/Engadget

For a machine that starts at $1,200 though, the Surface Pro 10 is lacking in a few key ways:

  • For a "Pro" device, it has too few ports for accessories.

  • Its trademark kickstand is just a pain to live with now. It's still awkward to hold on your lap, and it also makes the Pro 10 impossible to use on small surfaces (like my beloved standing desk laptop riser).

  • The Surface Pro Keyboard is still sold separately, and it's still far too expensive at $140 (there are also pricier models if you really want to punish yourself). Nobody will ever buy a Surface tablet on its own! Microsoft's inability to recognize this basic truth has haunted these systems since their inception.

  • It may be undercut by the upcoming consumer-focused Surface Pro 10. Qualcomm's Snapdragon X Elite chips are Arm-based, so they'll have to run an Arm version of Windows 11 and rely on emulation for older apps. But their NPUs also offer 45 TOPS (trillions of operations per second) for AI tasks, while the Core Ultra chips only hit 10 TOPS on their NPUs. These differences may not mean much for the next year or so, but they may make the Snapdragon Surface Pro 10 more future proof as we see more AI features roll out.

Surface Pro 10 for BUsiness
Photo by Devindra Hardawar/Engadget

At this point, you're better off waiting to see how Microsoft's new consumer-focused Surface hardware performs before investing in either the Pro 10 or Laptop 6. But, as I said at the start, these systems aren't really meant for consumers anyway. They exist to give IT workers a way to update their inventory without having to significantly shift their workflows.

This article originally appeared on Engadget at https://www.engadget.com/surface-pro-10-for-business-review-a-safe-upgrade-for-it-workers-172033986.html?src=rss

Engadget Podcast: Reviewing the iPad Pro M4 and iPad Air

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We've spent some time with the iPad Pro M4 and new iPad Air... and the iPad Pro is still a bit too pricey for us. This week, Cherlynn and Devindra chat with Engadget Deputy Editor Nathan Ingraham about his reviews and why he still prefers the iPad Air. Also, we wrap up Google I/O 2024 with a Project Astra hands on, and we chat about Apple bringing eye tracking to iPhones and iPads as an accessibility feature.

Listen below or subscribe on your podcast app of choice. If you've got suggestions or topics you'd like covered on the show, be sure to email us or drop a note in the comments! And be sure to check out our other podcast, Engadget News!

  • Nate Ingraham reviews the iPad Pro M4 and iPad Air: Powerful, but pricy – 1:11

  • Google I/O news wrap up – 20:11

  • OpenAI’s new GPT-4o can talk, sing, and sounds a little flirty – 28:36

  • Intel brings back the days of FireWire data transfer with Thunderbolt Share – 31:43

  • New accessibility features from Apple: eye tracking and expanded wake word options – 35:48

  • Biden administration quadruples tariffs on Chinese EVs (along with solar and other hardware) – 43:20

  • Listener Mailbag: The age old question of what to do with your old tech – 55:48

  • Working on – 1:01:32

  • Pop culture picks – 1:05:45

Hosts: Cherlynn Low and Devindra Hardawar
Guest: Nathan Ingraham
Producer: Ben Ellman
Music: Dale North and Terrence O'Brien

This article originally appeared on Engadget at https://www.engadget.com/engadget-podcast-reviewing-the-ipad-pro-m4-and-ipad-air-113044130.html?src=rss

Engadget Podcast: Reviewing the iPad Pro M4 and iPad Air

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We've spent some time with the iPad Pro M4 and new iPad Air... and the iPad Pro is still a bit too pricey for us. This week, Cherlynn and Devindra chat with Engadget Deputy Editor Nathan Ingraham about his reviews and why he still prefers the iPad Air. Also, we wrap up Google I/O 2024 with a Project Astra hands on, and we chat about Apple bringing eye tracking to iPhones and iPads as an accessibility feature.

Listen below or subscribe on your podcast app of choice. If you've got suggestions or topics you'd like covered on the show, be sure to email us or drop a note in the comments! And be sure to check out our other podcast, Engadget News!

  • Nate Ingraham reviews the iPad Pro M4 and iPad Air: Powerful, but pricy – 1:11

  • Google I/O news wrap up – 20:11

  • OpenAI’s new GPT-4o can talk, sing, and sounds a little flirty – 28:36

  • Intel brings back the days of FireWire data transfer with Thunderbolt Share – 31:43

  • New accessibility features from Apple: eye tracking and expanded wake word options – 35:48

  • Biden administration quadruples tariffs on Chinese EVs (along with solar and other hardware) – 43:20

  • Listener Mailbag: The age old question of what to do with your old tech – 55:48

  • Working on – 1:01:32

  • Pop culture picks – 1:05:45

Hosts: Cherlynn Low and Devindra Hardawar
Guest: Nathan Ingraham
Producer: Ben Ellman
Music: Dale North and Terrence O'Brien

This article originally appeared on Engadget at https://www.engadget.com/engadget-podcast-reviewing-the-ipad-pro-m4-and-ipad-air-113044130.html?src=rss

Engadget Podcast: The good, the bad and the AI of Google I/O 2024

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We just wrapped up coverage on Google's I/O 2024 keynote, and we're just so tired of hearing about AI. In this bonus episode, Cherlynn and Devindra dive into the biggest I/O news: Google's intriguing Project Astra AI assistant; new models for creating video and images; and some improvements to Gemini AI. While some of the announcements seem potentially useful, it's still tough to tell if the move towards AI will actually help consumers, or if Google is just fighting to stay ahead of OpenAI.

Listen below or subscribe on your podcast app of choice. If you've got suggestions or topics you'd like covered on the show, be sure to email us or drop a note in the comments! And be sure to check out our other podcast, Engadget News!

Hosts: Cherlynn Low and Devindra Hardawar
Music: Dale North

This article originally appeared on Engadget at https://www.engadget.com/engadget-podcast-the-good-the-bad-and-the-ai-of-google-io-2024-221741082.html?src=rss

Engadget Podcast: The good, the bad and the AI of Google I/O 2024

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We just wrapped up coverage on Google's I/O 2024 keynote, and we're just so tired of hearing about AI. In this bonus episode, Cherlynn and Devindra dive into the biggest I/O news: Google's intriguing Project Astra AI assistant; new models for creating video and images; and some improvements to Gemini AI. While some of the announcements seem potentially useful, it's still tough to tell if the move towards AI will actually help consumers, or if Google is just fighting to stay ahead of OpenAI.

Listen below or subscribe on your podcast app of choice. If you've got suggestions or topics you'd like covered on the show, be sure to email us or drop a note in the comments! And be sure to check out our other podcast, Engadget News!

Hosts: Cherlynn Low and Devindra Hardawar
Music: Dale North

This article originally appeared on Engadget at https://www.engadget.com/engadget-podcast-the-good-the-bad-and-the-ai-of-google-io-2024-221741082.html?src=rss

With Gemini Live, Google wants you to relax and have a natural chat with AI

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While Google and OpenAI have been racing to win the AI crown over the past year, we've seemingly reverted away from the idea of speaking to virtual assistants. Generative AI products have typically launched with text-only inputs, and only later add the ability to search images and basic voice commands. At Google I/O today, the company showed off Gemini Live, a new mobile experience for natural conversations with its AI. 

Google offered up a few potential use cases; You could have a conversation with Gemini Live to help prepare for a job interview, where it could potentially ask you relevant questions around the positions. It could also give you public speaking tips if you want to research a speech. What makes Gemini Live unique is that you'll be able to speak at your own pace, or even interrupt its responses if you'd like. Ideally, it should be more like having a conversation with a person, instead of just voicing smart assistant commands or generative AI queries.

At I/O, Google also showed off Project Astra, a next-generation virtual assistant that takes the concept of Gemini Live even further. Astra is able to view your camera feed and answer questions in real-time. It's unclear how long that'll take to arrive, but Google says some of Astra's live video features will come to Gemini Live later this year. Gemini Live will be available for Gemini Advanced subscribers in the next few months.

Catch up on all the news from Google I/O 2024 right here!

This article originally appeared on Engadget at https://www.engadget.com/with-gemini-live-google-wants-you-to-relax-and-have-a-natural-chat-with-ai-181329788.html?src=rss

With Gemini Live, Google wants you to relax and have a natural chat with AI

Posted on by

While Google and OpenAI have been racing to win the AI crown over the past year, we've seemingly reverted away from the idea of speaking to virtual assistants. Generative AI products have typically launched with text-only inputs, and only later add the ability to search images and basic voice commands. At Google I/O today, the company showed off Gemini Live, a new mobile experience for natural conversations with its AI. 

Google offered up a few potential use cases; You could have a conversation with Gemini Live to help prepare for a job interview, where it could potentially ask you relevant questions around the positions. It could also give you public speaking tips if you want to research a speech. What makes Gemini Live unique is that you'll be able to speak at your own pace, or even interrupt its responses if you'd like. Ideally, it should be more like having a conversation with a person, instead of just voicing smart assistant commands or generative AI queries.

At I/O, Google also showed off Project Astra, a next-generation virtual assistant that takes the concept of Gemini Live even further. Astra is able to view your camera feed and answer questions in real-time. It's unclear how long that'll take to arrive, but Google says some of Astra's live video features will come to Gemini Live later this year. Gemini Live will be available for Gemini Advanced subscribers in the next few months.

Catch up on all the news from Google I/O 2024 right here!

This article originally appeared on Engadget at https://www.engadget.com/with-gemini-live-google-wants-you-to-relax-and-have-a-natural-chat-with-ai-181329788.html?src=rss

Google unveils Veo and Imagen 3, its latest AI media creation models

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It's all AI all the time at Google I/O! Today, Google announced its new AI media creation engines: Veo, which can produce "high-quality" 1080p videos; and Imagen 3, its latest text-to-image framework. Neither sound particularly revolutionary, but they're a way for Google to keep up the fight against OpenAI's Sora video model and Dall-E 3, a tool that has practically become synonymous with AI-generated images.

Google claims Veo has "an advanced understanding of natural language and visual semantics" to create whatever video you have in mind. The AI generated videos can last "beyond a minute." Veo is also capable of understanding cinematic and visual techniques, like the concept of a timelapse. But really, that should be table stakes for an AI video generation model, right?

To prove that Veo isn't out to steal artist's jobs, Google has also partnered with Donald Glover and Gilga, his creative studio, to show off the model's capabilities. In a very brief promotional video, we see Glover and crew using text to create video of a convertible arriving at a European home, and a sailboat gliding through the ocean. According to Google, Veo can simulate real-world physics better than its previous models, and it's also improved how it renders high-definition footage.

"Everybody's going to become a director, and everybody should be a director," Glover says in the video, absolutely earning his Google paycheck. "At the heart of all of this is just storytelling. The closer we are to be able to tell each other our stories, the more we'll understand each other."

It remains to be seen if anyone will actually want to watch AI generated video, outside of the morbid curiosity of seeing a machine attempt to algorithmically recreate the work of human artists. But that's not stopping Google or OpenAI from promoting these tools and hoping they'll be useful (or at least, make a bunch of money). Veo will be available inside of Google's VideoFX tool today for some creators, and the company says it'll also be coming to YouTube Shorts and other products. If Veo does end up becoming a built-in part of YouTube Shorts, that's at least one feature Google can lord over TikTok.

Google IO 2024
Google

As for Imagen 3, Google is making the usual promises: It's said to be the company's "highest quality" text-to-image model, with "incredible level of detail" for "photorealistic, lifelike images" and fewer artifacts. The real test, of course, will be to see how it handles prompts compared to Dall-E 3. Imagen 3 handles text better than before, Google says, and it's also smarter about handling details from long prompts.

Google is also working with recording artists like Wyclef Jean and Bjorn to test out its Music AI Sandbox, a set of tools that can help with song and beat creation. We only saw a brief glimpse of this, but it's led to a few intriguing demos: 

The sun rises and sets. We're all slowly dying. And AI is getting smarter by the day. That seems to be the big takeaway from Google's latest media creation tools. Of course they're getting better! Google is pouring billions into making the dream of AI a reality, all in a bid to own the next great leap for computing. Will any of this actually make our lives better? Will they ever be able to generate art with genuine soul? Check back at Google I/O every year until AGI actually appears, or our civilization collapses.

Catch up on all the news from Google I/O 2024 right here!

This article originally appeared on Engadget at https://www.engadget.com/google-unveils-veo-and-imagen-3-its-latest-ai-media-creation-models-173617373.html?src=rss