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- Microsoft Surface Pro X review: Sleek, but software hasn't caught up yet - CNET
- Adobe Unveils Photoshop Camera App - Fstoppers
- Microsoft successfully archives Warner Bros. 'Superman' movie on a piece of glass - TechSpot
| Microsoft Surface Pro X review: Sleek, but software hasn't caught up yet - CNET Posted: 05 Nov 2019 07:40 AM PST  The Surface Pro X falls into a very small, very exclusive category of PC products. It's one of only a handful of new releases every year that prompt colleagues to proactively email me, asking where, when and how to get one. It's easy to see why it's got some serious buzz. The standard Surface Pro 7 is the dictionary definition of a Windows tablet-laptop hybrid, and has been that way for the past several generations, falling into a somewhat too-comfortable middle age. There have been some minor design, component and feature tweaks, but the last few versions have been almost painfully unadventurous, which is really saying something for a category that would have seemed sci-fi-like just a decade ago. But Microsoft hasn't let its PC hardware group hit cruise control. The dual-screen Surface Neo and Duo prototypes are already among 2020's most anticipated products, even if that's based on a just a few cursory sneak peeks. And one piece of future tech that's here already is the Surface Pro X, a new take on the tablet-plus-keyboard concept that combines the feel of a PC with the DNA of a smartphone. The X factorYou can tell the Pro X is supposed to feel futuristic because it's named X. And not X as in 10, like the iPhone X. This is a real X-Files, X-Men, X-Com, etc.-type X, the universal shorthand for the mysterious unknown. This is, after all, a tablet of secrets. It fits most of the Surface Pro 7's features into a slimmer, lighter body. It tucks an LTE SIM card into a hidden slot under a magnetic panel. Most importantly, it takes a redesigned stylus and fits it into an innocuous magnetic cutout built right into the tiny fold where the clip-on keyboard meets the magnetic hinge.  There's more. This is a slimmer, sleeker, more refined take on the Surface Pro idea. The keyboard cover remains excellent, backlit with frankly a more satisfying click to its keys than a MacBook. The high-res 2,880x1,920-pixel screen is surrounded by a slim, modern bezel, and the rear kickstand remains perfectly adjustable, if still not exactly lap-friendly. So why then does the Surface Pro X feel like such a missed opportunity? The physical redesign is spot on, but diving deeper into the hardware specs and a confusing price structure, there's a lot that makes me scratch my head. It's underpowered relative to Intel-based tablets, it charges too much for its must-have accessories and software support is hit or miss.  Watch this: First look at Surface Pro X, Pro 7, Laptop 3 5:52 ARM twistingMost of these issues stem from the fact that this is not a typical Intel-powered Windows PC (or even an AMD-powered one). It's one of a very small subset of PCs that run Windows from an ARM chip, similar to the ones that are found inside most modern smartphones. Microsoft calls this processor the SQ1, and it's a collaboration between Microsoft and Qualcomm, based on the latter's Snapdragon chips. The Pro X, along with the upcoming Samsung Galaxy Book S, is arguably the third wave of these ARM-powered PCs, which started with a handful of initial models from HP, Lenovo and Asus. Most of these, like the Asus NovaGo, overpromised and underdelivered, with higher-than-expected prices and lots of performance and software limitations, and lacking the promised 20-hour-plus battery life that was supposed to make up for these shortcomings. It's tough to be a solution in search of a problem, when your device isn't too big on solutions. Your typical Chromebook is similarly limited, but buyers have come to accept that in exchange for simplicity, security and, most importantly, prices that hit a sweet spot of around $300-$400. Most of the ARM-powered laptops and 2-in-1s to date have been premium-priced systems, making them a tough sell. The new mathAnd it's exactly that math that trips up the Surface Pro X more than anything else. The design, from the excellent screen-to-bezel ratio to the hidden stylus, is great, and makes this my favorite Surface to date in terms of an actual hands-on experience. But, while the Intel-based Surface Pro 7 starts at $749, the more limited Pro X starts at $999. Based purely on the hands-on feel, and the more agreeable size and weight, I'd be willing to front the extra $250 as a kind of luxury tax. After all, that's what you can expect to pay for a new MacBook Air, if you take advantage of the frequent $100-off deals some retailers offer on that hugely popular 13-inch laptop.  But the biggest historical Achilles' heel of the Surface Pro family muddies the water. That excellent clip-on magnetic keyboard and the newly redesigned stylus don't come included in the box, no matter which configuration you buy. They're sold separately, even though I've never seen a Surface Pro, X or otherwise, in the wild or in a commercial, without them. The Surface Pro X keyboard is $139 extra, and the best thing I can say about that is that it's less than the $159 you'll pay for a very, very similar Surface Pro 7 keyboard. The stylus, truly different than the regular Surface Pen, as it's been flattened to tuck into its secret hinge home, is an astonishing $144 extra, as opposed to the standard $99 Surface Pen. That's more than a 25% premium, on top of a starting price that's already more than any previous ARM-powered Windows PC. But maybe it's worth the extra investment, as the engineering is so tight overall, making for a device that feels and looks great. It really depends on what you plan to use it for.  The Surface Pro 7 (left) next to the Surface Pro X. Sarah Tew/CNETWork in progressTry to install Photoshop CC right now, and you get the following message: "Your computer's 32-bit system cannot run the latest version of Photoshop CC, which requires a 64-bit computer. Please follow the instructions to download the last compatible version." Adobe is well aware of the issue, has already demoed a version of its Fresco painting app for the Surface Pro X and says, "We're working hard to bring other key parts of Creative Cloud to the Surface Pro X as soon as possible." Running Windows apps on something other than a Windows PC starts to get confusing quickly. The basic rule of thumb comes from Microsoft's own documentation: "Drivers for hardware, games and apps will only work if they're designed for a Windows 10 ARM-based PC." There's more on the specifics of how the SQ1 chip works here, but the takeaway is, "mainstream software for x86 chips won't run on ARM machines." So what's the pitch here, except that Adobe apps are coming at some point and standard things like Office already work? Much like on a Chromebook, any web-based tool I tried worked great, and that's easily 75 percent of my usual needs: Webmail, Netflix, social media and so on. And that's certainly a legitimate argument to make. It's just easier when you're talking about a $300 Chromebook (or even a $650 Chromebook) than a $1,269 tablet-plus-keyboard-plus-stylus combo.  Another big benefit is an always-on LTE connection, via a Micro-SIM slot hidden under a magnetic panel behind the kickstand. That's still something of a rarity in laptops and tablets, and even the Surface Pro 7 will have to wait for a LTE-ready version. The downside is that you have to actually pay for the monthly service, as is true of LTE iPads and your phone. The other big touted benefit is the supposed extralong battery life of ARM-based laptops. In previous generations, we've found the 20-plus hour claims to be oversold, coming in at about a dozen hours instead. For the Surface Pro X, Microsoft only claims "up to 13 hours of battery life based on typical Surface device usage." In our initial testing, the Pro X ran for 8 hours, 50 minutes while streaming video, which is respectable but not record-breaking. Battery testing and benchmarks are continuing in the CNET Labs, and we'll update with final scores when available. There's so much I really like about the bold new Surface Pro direction. The slimmer design; better display and bezel; great stylus implementation; decent battery life; and excellent keyboard experience. But the relatively high price, especially considering the cost of accessories, the software compatibility issues and tough spec comparisons with the mature Surface Pro 7 make this ideal for only a small subset of the tablet-toting population. |
| Adobe Unveils Photoshop Camera App - Fstoppers Posted: 04 Nov 2019 06:09 PM PST  Alongside a plethora of app updates and new releases, today, Adobe previewed the Photoshop Camera app at its Adobe MAX 2019 keynote presentation. Recently popularized by the ever-increasing capabilities in today's most popular smartphones, computational photography is all the rage today. Photoshop Camera is Adobe's take on what Apple, Samsung, and Google think they do best. Adobe doesn't have a smartphone, but it arguably has some of the best talent for the area where software and photography meet. While today was just a preview (Photoshop Camera is not yet available), Adobe has a decent chance of producing some incredible results. With multiple filters and "lenses," Photoshop Camera promises to unlock creative options with a deeper and slightly more robust playground of graphics additions compared to what today's most popular social media apps offer. To clarify, we're talking about lenses as in a Snapchat lens or filter. These are background or foreground elements added in post to make your images pop. Adobe also partnered with musician Billie Eilish to create several Eilish-styled lenses (you'll recognize the point of inspiration if you know her latest music videos). On the image capture side, Photoshop Camera uses Adobe Sensei's AI engine to recognize subject location and type in your photos to apply sophisticated features for each individual application. Photoshop Camera even "understands the technical content (i.e. dynamic range, tonality, scene-type, face regions) of the photo and automatically applies complex adjustments. With luck (and a lot of hard work), Adobe will be able to harness the power in phones such as the latest iPhone 11 Pro as well as in their Photoshop algorithms to help us get closer and closer to DSLR-quality smartphone images. Photoshop Camera will be available to the public sometime in 2020. Stay tuned for reviews as we get our hands on a preview version soon. |
| Microsoft successfully archives Warner Bros. 'Superman' movie on a piece of glass - TechSpot Posted: 05 Nov 2019 03:15 AM PST Forward-looking: Data storage and archiving technologies are areas of particular interest for companies like Warner Bros., where a significant chunk of the world's entertainment media is produced and archived. To help with preserving this film and television content, Warner Bros. and Microsoft collaborated to give a first proof of concept test for Project Silica, a Microsoft Research project that uses laser optics and AI to store data in quartz glass.A piece of silica glass measuring 7.5 cm x 7.5 cm x 2 mm was able to hold the entire Superman (1978) movie in the shape of three-dimensional nanoscale gratings and deformations as part of Project Silica led by Microsoft Research, resulting in 75.6 GB of data inside the durable quartz glass that's no bigger than a drink coaster. Redmond's research arm worked with Warner Bros. to store data by encoding it with laser and then used machine learning algorithms to decode images and patterns created by polarizing light as it shone through the glass. "Storing the whole 'Superman' movie in glass and being able to read it out successfully is a major milestone," said Mark Russinovich, Azure's CTO. For Microsoft, the project focuses on developing long-term storage technologies for the cloud to meet exponential growing needs and shifting away from traditional magnetic media in favor of more durable silica glass.
Project Silica's application of turning digital data into physical artifacts is what piqued the interest of Warner Bros., which currently uses reels of film in temperature and humidity-controlled cold storage vaults to preserve its iconic and vast library of movies and TV shows. It also has its own digital archives that are subject to content migration every three years to avoid any degradation issues. The company had been in search of a long-term storage solution for archiving its assets, one that offers to store "cold" data — archival data that may have tremendous value or that companies are required to maintain — but that doesn't need to be frequently accessed. "That had always been our beacon of hope for what we believed would be possible one day, so when we learned that Microsoft had developed this glass-based technology, we wanted to prove it out," said Warner Bros. CTO Vicky Colf.
Unlike the company's current storage methods that require continuous maintenance and monitoring due to their fragility, the glass quartz used in Project Silica proved to be quite durable after it was baked, boiled, microwaved, flooded, demagnetized and scourged with steel wool, but reported no loss of data. Its deployment in large-scale data centers could potentially lower the environmental footprint of such facilities as they won't need energy-intensive air conditioning or other systems to maintain air quality. "We are not trying to build things that you put in your house or play movies from. We are building storage that operates at the cloud scale," said Ant Rowstron, partner deputy lab director of Microsoft Research Cambridge in the UK, which worked with the University of Southampton on Project Silica.
Using silica glass instead of film reels for archiving is also said to bring qualitative improvements to data. "When we shoot something digitally — with zeros and ones representing the pixels on the screen — and print that to an analog medium called film, you destroy the original pixel values. And, sure, it looks pretty good, but it's not reversible," said Brad Collar, SVP of global archives and media engineering at Warner Bros. He said that using a medium like silica glass enables data to be read back exactly like when it came out of the camera, preserving original pixels in the best possible manner. Combine it with the high costs of creating archival film negatives for all digitally shot TV content, Project Silica could potentially become a cheaper, higher-quality replacement for creating physical archives. Contrary to pits and lands created on the surface of optical discs, Project Silica involves burning "voxels" into glass in a 3D array to allow for a high storage density, where a 2 mm thick piece of glass can contain over 100 layers of voxels that physically deform the glass through laser pulses. The encoded data is also read faster as compared to spooling tape storage as algorithms can quickly pinpoint anywhere within the glass, potentially reducing lag time for retrieving the required information. "If Project Silica's storage solution proves to be as cost-effective and as scalable as it could be — and we all recognize it's still early days — this is something we'd love to see adopted by other studios and our peers and other industries," said Colf, adding that if the solution works for them, it can also benefit anyone who wants to preserve and archive content. |
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