Here's our first look at the Surface Book, Microsoft's answer to the MacBook Pro

Source: http://www.engadget.com/2015/10/06/microsoft-surface-book-hands-on/

Wow. Microsoft finally did it. After years or rumors and speculation the company finally unveiled its very own laptop. Not a tablet that could replace a laptop (though there's that too), but a bona fide laptop, with an attached keyboard. Well, almost. The Surface Book at first glance looks like a traditional clamshell notebook with a touchscreen. In fact, though, it's more like a lovechild between the Surface and Lenovo's Yoga line. Which is to say, it has a removable display that supports pen input but, when attached, it can also flip back 360 degrees into tablet mode. Oh, and on the inside, it has enough horsepower to take on the MacBook Pro. I just got my first look here at Microsoft's "Windows 10 Devices" keynote in New York City. Here are some hands-on photos for now -- I'll update this post soon with impressions.Slideshow-326504

At three and a half pounds, the Surface Book feels heavier than I expected. But then I remembered it's been a while since I've reviewed a Windows laptop like this. Most of the Windows notebooks that cross my desk these days compete on thinness and lightness, sometimes at the expense of performance. Microsoft is taking a different approach: the Surface Book is as well built as any MacBook, and claims to be as powerful too, but the tradeoff is that it's also about as heavy as a MacBook Pro. If you compare it to the Dell XPS 13 or Lenovo Yoga 3 Pro you might be disappointed by its heft, but then, you'd also me putting it in the completely wrong class of product.

Before I get to performance, though, I do want to linger on the design. The Surface Book is gorgeous. Solid. Yes, its aluminum design and blunt edges bear some similarity to the MacBook Pro, but it still feels every bit worth its $1,499 price tag. It belongs in a small echelon of truly premium, luxurious-feeling computers, with the MBP and even the Chromebook Pixel making for some good company.

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LG's 2nd Watch Urbane is the first Android Wear device with LTE

Source: http://www.engadget.com/2015/09/30/lg-watch-urbane-2nd-edition/

Tonight LG took the wraps off of the new V10 phone and its latest smartwatch, the Watch Urbane 2nd Edition. Like the first model, it has a circular display but one-ups its predecessor by arriving as the first device to combine Android Wear with a built-in cellular connection for calls and data, so you can leave your phone at home -- something even the upgraded Apple Watch can't do. LG already had a webOS-powered Watch Urbane LTE that could go it alone, while Samsung's Gear S ran Tizen. Packing Android Wear means this watch should have more apps ready for internet-connected use even when your phone and WiFi are out of range. Behind its 1.38-inch 480x480 res P-OLED display there's a 570mAh battery that LG claims can still last through the day with the help of a Power Saving Mode. There's no word on price or exact release date yet, but it's coming to the US and Korea first. Slideshow-324552

Source: LG

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LG's new superphone has two screens and two selfie cameras

Source: http://www.engadget.com/2015/09/30/lg-v10-smartphone-dual-cameras/

LG's renaming its powerful flagship smartphone series, here's the V10 and it marks a new smartphone start, with some notable features all on the front of the thing. The company is literally doubling down on features, with two five-megapixel cameras for selfie sufferers and a curious second screen that's connected to the first one. That extra display is right above the 5.7-inch QHD main display, but works separately. You'll be able to keep it on constantly to show weather, time date and battery status "without impacting battery life", according to LG. Turn on the entire phone however, and you can then use that top display for app shortcuts even when you're in the midst of another app -- or anywhere that's not the home screen. Now about those cameras...

The thinking is that two cameras (taking separate images at the standard 80-degree angle) is a better idea than a wide-angle lens, and that fish-bowl effect that happens at the edges. Self-portraiture can come in two flavors: the standard 80-degree kind, or the cram-everyone-in 120-degree option which stitches the two images together. (The lenses are apparently "just far enough apart to provide two different points of view"). LG's most baffling new feature this time around is "Multi-view Recording" which engages all three cameras on the V10. We don't know why you'd do that.

Less pointless, however, is manual video recording mode. Now that smartphones are capturing 4K video it makes a huge amount of sense to offer up more controls to those that can handle the added complication. Shutter speed, frame rate, ISO, white balance and focus can all be tinkered with, and movies can also be recorded in a cinematic 21:9 ratio. Other notable features here include and wind noise filter and audio monitor to adjust the sensitivity of all three mics during recording. You can even meddle with directional audio recording. Get ready to power-use like it's 2012 too, because the phone has microSD card storage expansion and a removable 3,000mAh battery, something that's probably a necessity if you're a a burgeoning 4K film auteur. The phone launches this month in Korea in two kinds of blue (doubling up), black, white and beige. It's set to roll out elsewhere (including the Asia, Europe and the US) later.

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Article: LG brings ultra light Gram laptops to the US as Microsoft Signature Editions

Coming to Microsoft Stores across the United States today is a new range of Windows 10 laptops from a familiar brand. Better known to US consumers for its TVs, home appliances, and smartphones, LG is debuting its premium LG Gram Ultra PCs to an American audience, confident that it can capitalize ...

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Predator drones could soon hide under dielectric 'invisibility cloaks'

Source: http://www.engadget.com/2015/09/21/predator-drones-invisibility-cloak/

America's fleet of Predator UAVs could soon become even harder to shoot down (or even detect for that matter) thanks to a new kind of camouflage developed at UC San Diego. UCSD professor Boubacar Kante and his team published their findings last month in the journal Progress In Electromagnetics Research and will submit a separate report to the Department of Defense later this month, according to reports from the Army Times. The material, dubbed the "dielectric metasurface cloak," builds on earlier work from Duke University in 2006. It's essentially a thin layer of Teflon studded with ceramic particles and capable of modulating wavelengths of energy along the electromagnetic scale (including both visible light and radar).

The technology isn't exactly new but it is a heck of a lot better than what the DoD has access to now. "Previous cloaking studies needed many layers of materials to hide an object, the cloak ended up being much thicker than the size of the object being covered," Li-Yi Hsu, the study's lead author said in a statement. "In this study, we show that we can use a thin single-layer sheet for cloaking."

The current generation of Teflon camouflage has to be literally slathered onto drones. For example, to block out a missile's guidance radar using a 3 cm wavelength, the Teflon coating would need to be ten times as thick as the wavelength, or 30 cm. A dielectric metasurface cloak, on the other hand, would provide the same degree of protection but only require a 3mm-thick coat, one tenth the thickness of the incoming signal.

The new material isn't perfect just yet. Since its thickness determines which wavelength it can block, the material can currently only cancel a single wavelength at a time. And even with the appropriate wavelength, the system only works if the incoming signal hits it at a 45 degree angle (within 6 degrees or so). Despite these shortcomings however, the DoD is reportedly very keen on implementing the camouflage system. Barring any setbacks the camo could enter active service within five to ten years, Kayla Matola, a research analyst for Homeland Defense & Security Information Analysis Center, told the Army Times.

[Image Credit: top art - DoD, inline - UCSD]

Via: Washington Post

Source: Army Times, UCSD

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