DT’s Andy Boxall on a couple of suspect Google products, Microsoft ports Edge browser to iOS and Android phones, the ThinkPad laptop turns 25.
Det är en kamera som tar bilder av ditt liv
After reviewing the slate of new hardware presented by Google at yesterday’s event, a couple of… unusual… products stand out: the language translating Pixel Buds earbuds and the Google Clips camera. The on-stage demos were pretty slick, especially for the Pixel Buds, which Google claims can essentially translate spoken languages in near real-time – the Star Trek Universal Translator made real.
But will it work in real life? Executing a rehearsed demo is one thing, executing a major language faux paus in another country due to an inaccurate translation is quite another. Suffice to say, real world use is needed to truly test this tech and we’re planning to bring you an in-depth evaluation as soon as it comes out.
As for the Google Clips camera, a sort-of life-logging device, DT’s Andy Boxall is asking the question perhaps few others are: Who wants this kind of tech? And why did Google think it was a good plan to make it into a product right now? They certainly aren’t the first to market with the life logger idea, and we can’t say the form factor lends itself to a public buying frenzy – but who knows? Check out Andy’s somewhat contrarian take on Google’s new toys.
Phone on Edge
In case you don’t already have enough web browsers on your iPhone or Android phone, good news: You can now add Microsoft’s minimalist Edge browser to the pack. Because, hey, the more the… browsier, I guess. Anyway, the Edge app does come with a very useful feature known as “continue on PC,” which will push the page you’re on to a computer – well, a Windows computer – for a more desktop experience if you feel the need for it.
That’s pretty cool, but will it help Microsoft put a dent in Chrome’s desktop and mobile browser dominance? Time will tell of course, but we’re willing to at least give it a try. Go here to see how you can give your mobile phone some Edge.
Internet? What’s that?
Hey, want to buy a laptop? Check it out: It runs at 100 meghertz, has 8 megabytes of RAM (expandable to 40 megabytes), has a color LCD screen and best of all, it even plays CD-ROMs. And all for just a tick under $8,000 fully optioned up. Such a deal, right? Well it was in 1992, when the first ThinkPad laptop, the model 700C, hit the market, ostensibly ushering in the age of the modern (and capable) business laptop PC.
Then called an “IBM Thinkpad,” the iconic black-box-with-that-red-dot design has defined “business laptop” ever since, and ThinkPad caretaker Lenovo is honoring the long line of machines with a throwback version of sorts, called the T470. Sure, it looks sort of the same, but the rest of the machine is thoroughly up to date with a solid state hard drive, HD display, and a real-world price tag under $2,000 with all the options.
Sadly, there’s no 2X CD-ROM drive (or a disk drive of any sort), but there’s no denying the influence ThinkPads have had over the years, so we’ve picked out the best of the many versions that have come out over the years and collected interviews with the people who brought the originals to market. And do check out the great video by SiliconClassics on YouTube as they put a vintage ThinkPad Model 755 through its paces.
We’ve got more news on our Facebook page and YouTube channel, and be sure to tune in to this week’s DT podcasts: Close to the Metal (computers and such) on Tuesday, Trends with Benefits (general tech shenanigans) on Thursdays, and Between the Streams (movie and TV topics) every Friday.
