Technology - Google News

Hard drives are about to get supercharged - Engadget
HP’s new Envy x360 15 with AMD Ryzen chips starts at $749.99 - The Verge
A company will pay you $2400 to stay away from screens for 24 hours - KSL.com

Hard drives are about to get supercharged - Engadget

Posted: 22 Mar 2021 07:15 AM PDT

Do you still use a device with a mechanical hard drive in it? Flash storage has become so cheap and ubiquitous that outside of backup systems and NAS, SSDs and flash memory now hold the data on most of our devices. Hard drive shipments peaked in 2015, and fewer are sold every year, but in terms of terabytes sold, hard drives are more important than ever. With web storage and backups, we're dumping more of our data into the cloud, and add in AI and big data, and global server capacity is increasing faster than ever.

Flash is making inroads in servers, but physical hard disks still form the backbone of data farms. Larger drives have a lot of advantages for server operators. A bigger disk has greater "areal density" — how much data is stored per square inch — which can improve disk speed, and swapping larger disks into an existing system is almost always cheaper way to boost capacity than builder out new server racks. Disk capacity has continued to grew steadily, but with recent 16TB and 18TB drives, we're approaching the limits of conventional technology.

It works like this. Hard drives store data by changing the polarity of magnetic "bits" on the drive platter. Essentially they write data by changing these bits so magnetic North is pointing either up or down. These bits are arranged into concentric rings called "tracks". You can increase the storage capacity of a hard drive in a few ways: Add more disks (also called "platters"), add more tracks per platter or make the bits smaller (increase the bits per track). Each of these has a few problems, though.

For one, we're just out of space to add platters. An 18TB drive may be cramming nine platters into a standard hard drive enclosure. Adding more bits or tracks have their own problems, too. To make either smaller, you also need to shrink the write head. If the head is too much larger than the tracks or the bits, you're liable to accidentally overwrite neighboring bits when you try to write, like trying to use a giant marker to write on narrow-lined paper.

You can shrink the write head, but this makes it harder to generate the magnetic field needed to write data. You can cope with this by changing the platter material — by lowering its "coercivity" or how resistant it is to outside magnetic fields — but this introduces a new problem. At the scale of nanoparticles, like those on a hard drive, materials with low coercivity have a tendency to randomly flip their magnetic polarity, not good if you want reliable, long-term data storage.

The solution may be two new techniques called microwave and heat-assisted magnetic recording, or MAMR and HAMR. These use an energy source, either a microwave-generating device called a "spin-torque oscillator" or a laser, or change the platter material's coercivity. This, coupled with a more stable platter material and a smaller write head, lets you pack more data onto each platter. Toshiba just shipped the first MAMR drive, an 18TB model, earlier this month, and MAMR drives from Western Digital are expected shortly. Seagate has 20TB drives out to enterprise partners, and we may get consumer versions of those as well.

It's still early days with both these bits of tech, but drives made with these methods (collectively called "energy assisted magnetic recording" or EAMR), should enable drives up to 60TB and possibly beyond. Add other changes like dual-actuator designs that could double read speeds, and hard drives should see huge improvements in the next few years.

For more info on how HAMR and MAMR actually work, along with another technique from Western Digital called EPMR, check out the full video, and see our list of sources here

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HP’s new Envy x360 15 with AMD Ryzen chips starts at $749.99 - The Verge

Posted: 22 Mar 2021 05:00 AM PDT

HP has announced two new budget workstations for content creators: an Envy x360 15 and an Envy 17. The 15-inch convertible, starting at $749.99, is available with both AMD Ryzen 7 and Intel 11th Gen processors. The 17-inch clamshell starts at $999.99 and is Intel only.

The Envy x360 comes in either "natural silver" or "nightfall black" and includes a magnetic active pen. Its bezels appear to have shrunk slightly since last year's model. Models have an 88.7 percent screen-to-body ratio and weigh around four pounds. (Not that last year's model had terrible bezels, but I'll never say no to more screen real estate.) You can configure it with a 4K OLED display as well as an Nvidia MX450 graphics chip.

The top Intel model will include a Core i7-1165G7, while AMD models go up to a Ryzen 7 5700U. I tested the former in last year's Dell XPS 13, and it delivered a noticeable performance increase over its 10th Gen predecessor, particularly in integrated graphics.

The HP Envy 17 on a desk, open. The screen displays a photo editing software. On its left is a camera and a bin of notebooks, on its right are a notebook, a pair of earbuds, and a lamp.

The larger Envy 17 has an 86.3 percent screen-to-body ratio and weighs just over 5.5 pounds (a bit less than last year's model). It also comes with an MX450 and a 4K display (though there's no OLED option). You can configure it with up to 1TB of PCIe SSD storage and 32GB of memory.

HP's Envy x360 15 (Intel) in tent mode on a yellow background seen from above. To its right is a pair of headphones and to its left is a stylus. Above it is a stack of multicolored post-it notes. The screen displays a photo-editing software.

Both models have a 19 percent larger touchpad than their predecessors as well as a physical camera shutter.

In the past, I've been very impressed by the Envy line. Last year's Envy x360 13 was one of my favorite laptops of 2020 and my favorite under $1,000: it delivered a sturdy and attractive chassis, a great keyboard, strong performance, and all-day battery life. (Basically, I had very few complaints.) They tend to be good options for budget and midrange shoppers who are still looking for excellent specs.

Last year's Envy x360 15 offered great value for its price. At the $749.99 price point, this year's base model (with a Ryzen 5 5500U) seems like it will be fairly competitive with Lenovo's Yoga C740 (which starts at $794.99 for more storage but a weaker 10th Gen Intel processor). The Envy 17 is also competing on price with Dell's XPS 17, which is almost $1,000 more for comparable specs. I'll have more information about how this device actually compares to those when I've gotten my hands on one myself.

All of the models are available for preorder now and will ship in April. The Envy x360 15 starts at $749.99, and the Envy 17 starts at $999.99.

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A company will pay you $2400 to stay away from screens for 24 hours - KSL.com

Posted: 22 Mar 2021 05:29 AM PDT

NEW YORK (CNN) — Doom-scrolling getting you down?

Put the phone away for an hour. Or, better yet, make it 24 hours — you might just get $2,400 out of it.

Reviews.org, a company that tests home services and products, is holding a 24-hour digital detox challenge. They'll pay their chosen challengers over two grand to survive a whole day without screens.

"If you've got the desire to ditch your devices for a day but still need to get paid, this is the perfect opportunity for you," the company wrote on its website where aspiring digital detoxers can go to apply.

Glued to social media? Perfect (for the contest)

To help determine who should apply, the company asks some discerning questions.

"Have you always wanted to win reality competitions like American Ninja Warrior, but you've been too busy trying to beat Mario Kart and Mortal Kombat instead?" Reviews.org asks potential applicants.

"Do you know a little too much about your old acquaintances from social media?"

According to the company, the ideal candidate is someone who is "definitely into tech" and up for a challenge. And while it might seem easy to take an Instagram detox for a day — the challenge is a bit more involved.

It's not as easy as it sounds

Those selected for the challenge will not only have to swear off their phones for the day, but television, gaming, computers, smartwatches and smart home devices (think smart speakers) are also off limits.

But, the company clarifies, microwaves are still okay.

The challengers will receive safes to store their electronics in for the 24 hours, along with a $200 Amazon gift card to put together a tech-free "survival kit," the company wrote.

Some survival kit suggestions from Reviews.org include a typewriter to replace computers, writing paper to replace texts, and paints and brushes to replace the fine art of the selfie.

Challengers will have to review the survival kit and give feedback on the experience after completing the challenge, but they'll do so while holding the coveted "2021 Digital Detox Challenger" title.

Screen time is a growing health risk

The company's challenge comes at a time when "screen time" has taken on new meaning.

The pandemic has forced many people to work remotely and students to study online, making screens more of a necessity than ever before.

According to a 2019 report from nonprofit Common Sense Media, U.S. teens were spending an average of more than seven hours per day on screen media for entertainment alone.

"We have a feeling someone out there needs a break," Reviews.org wrote.

To apply, the company requests a bit of personal information and a 100-word question about why you're right for the challenge. Applications will be open until March 26 and winners will be announced on the company's YouTube page on March 29.