New HP Chromebook X360 12 appears prior to an official announcement

While there are numerous HP Chromebook X360 models across a $1,000 price range, consumers and students are probably most familiar with the $299 HP Chromebook X360 11. That entry-level device uses an 11.6-inch display with rather large bezels. And it appears to be getting an upgrade, losing some bezel size and gaining a barely larger 12-inch display in the new HP Chromebook X360 12.

This model hasn’t been officially announced yet, but it does currently appear on Amazon’s site, complete with all of the specifications. Roland Quandt spied both the product listing and shared it on Twitter (via Brandon Lall), as well as a bevy of official HP Support videos for the HP Chromebook X360 12.

Here’s a full view look at the newly designed HP Chromebook X360 12 with the older model underneath it. The look is far more up to date and you can easily see the diminished bezel size:

The 12-inch model appears sleeker, has a new hinge mechanism for what looks to be a 3:2 display and the B&O logo, indicating tuned speakers if you’re into that sort of thing. I’d say that the older Chromebook might be better suited for students as it appears more ruggedized to me. It’s possible that HP will sell both models instead of replacing the 11.6-inch Chromebook with one that has a barely bigger display.

The internal specifications that Amazon provides for the HP Chromebook X360 12 don’t quite make sense to me. Here’s the listing, which I’ll follow up with my reasoning for that statement:

CPU: Dual-Core Intel Celeron N with 2.6 GHz clock speed

GPU: Intel UHD Graphics 620

Memory: 4 GB LPDDR4 RAM

Storage: 32 GB eMMC

Screen: 12-inches with HD+ resolution and touch support

The processor and GPU combination is what stands out to me as being odd: According to Intel, the Celeron N4000 would be the dual-core CPU with that maximum clock speed. But the N4000 uses the Intel UHD Graphics 600 GPU, so that’s not lining up. I’m guessing the display is actually 12.3- or 12.5-inches as well.

And frankly, if the display is HD+ as Amazon says, it really doesn’t make sense to have a dual-core Celeron from 2017 powering a Chromebook with a higher-end design like this.

My gut says while there may be a low-end configuration with Celeron or Pentium options, as well as HD or FHD display, we’ll see models with Intel Core chips, more storage, and RAM as well.

Note that HP does sell a similar looking HP Chromebook X360 14 model (shown above) with an MSRP of $599. That device is powered by an Intel Core i3-8130U and the previously mentioned Intel UHD Graphics 620, paired with 8 GB of RAM and 64 GB of eMMC storage as well as the B&O tuned speakers.

If the HP Chromebook X360 12 is offered with similar internals, I’d guess an MSRP between $400 and $450 in such a configuration for those that want a nice-looking, solid-performing but more portable 2-in-1 Chromebook.

Samsung Galaxy Note10 and Note10+ are the first Wi-Fi Certified 6 smartphones

The Samsung Galaxy Note10 and Note10+ are the first smartphones to get the “Wi-Fi Certified 6” designation from the Wi-Fi Alliance. This signifies that the Notes fully support the new standard and will allow networks to function optimally.

The Notes aren’t alone, the Galaxy S10 trio also features Wi-Fi 6 connectivity. However, it seems they are not getting the “Certified” accreditation. You can find the full list of devices here. Note that the new iPhone 11 trio also features Wi-Fi 6 connectivity, but isn’t on the Certified list yet.

In case you missed it, Wi-Fi adopted a user-friendly naming scheme last year. Wi-Fi 6 is the new name of the 802.11ax standard, Wi-Fi 5 is 802.11ac and so on.

As for what’s new in Wi-Fi 6, it helps mobile devices save battery with the Target-Wakup Time. TWT tells the phone when it needs to wake up to transfer data and lets it sleep the rest of the time. There are also enhancements to MIMO and coding efficiency, which allow more data to be pushed through the same bandwidth. TWT helps here too, by ensuring that only a few devices are awake at the same time, reducing congestion.

There are already several hotspots and routers supporting the new standard like the Huawei 5G CPE Pro and the Asus RT-AX88U.

See how an AI system classifies you based on your selfie

Modern artificial intelligence is often lauded for its growing sophistication, but mostly in doomer terms. If you’re on the apocalyptic end of the spectrum, the AI revolution will automate millions of jobs, eliminate the barrier between reality and artifice, and, eventually, force humanity to the brink of extinction. Along the way, maybe we get robot butlers, maybe we’re stuffed into embryonic pods and harvested for energy. Who knows.

But it’s easy to forget that most AI right now is terribly stupid and only useful in narrow, niche domains for which its underlying software has been specifically trained, like playing an ancient Chinese board game or translating text in one language into another.

Ask your standard recognition bot to do something novel, like analyze and label a photograph using only its acquired knowledge, and you’ll get some comically nonsensical results. That’s the fun behind ImageNet Roulette, a nifty web tool built as part of an ongoing art exhibition on the history of image recognition systems.

As explained by artist and researcher Trevor Paglen, who created the exhibit Training Humans with AI researcher Kate Crawford, the point is not to make a judgement about AI, but to engage with its current form and its complicated academic and commercial history, as grotesque as it might be.

“When we first started conceptualizing this exhibition over two years ago, we wanted to tell a story about the history of images used to ‘recognize’ humans in computer vision and AI systems. We weren’t interested in either the hyped, marketing version of AI nor the tales of dystopian robot futures,” Crawford old the Fondazione Prada museum in Milan, where Training Humans is featured. “We wanted to engage with the materiality of AI, and to take those everyday images seriously as a part of a rapidly evolving machinic visual culture. That required us to open up the black boxes and look at how these ‘engines of seeing’ currently operate.”

It’s a worthy pursuit and a fascinating project, even if ImageNet Roulette represents the goofier side of it. That’s mostly because ImageNet, a renown training data set AI researchers have relied on for the last decade, is generally bad at recognizing people. It’s mostly an object recognition set, but it has a category for “People” that contains thousands of subcategories, each valiantly trying to help software do the seemingly impossible task of classifying a human being.

And guess what? ImageNet Roulette is super bad at it.

I don’t even smoke! But for some reason, ImageNet Roulette thinks I do. It also appears to believe that I am located in an airplane, although to its credit, open office layouts are only slightly less suffocating than narrow metal tubes suspended tens of thousands of feet in the air.

ImageNet Roulette was put together by developer Leif Ryge working under Paglen, as a way to let the public engage with the art exhibition’s abstract concepts about the inscrutable nature of machine learning systems.

Here’s the behind-the-scenes magic that makes it tick:

ImageNet Roulette uses an open source Caffe deep learning framework (produced at UC Berkeley) trained on the images and labels in the “person” categories (which are currently ‘down for maintenance’). Proper nouns and categories with less than 100 pictures were removed.

When a user uploads a picture, the application first runs a face detector to locate any faces. If it finds any, it sends them to the Caffe model for classification. The application then returns the original images with a bounding box showing the detected face and the label the classifier has assigned to the image. If no faces are detected, the application sends the entire scene to the Caffe model and returns an image with a label in the upper left corner.

Part of the project is also to highlight the fundamentally flawed, and therefore human, ways that ImageNet classifies people in “problematic” and “offensive” ways. (One interest example popping up on Twitter is that some men uploading photos appear to be randomly tagged as “rape suspect” for reasons unexplained.) Paglen says this is crucial to one of the themes the project is highlighting, which is the fallibility of AI systems and the prevalence of machine learning bias as a result of its compromised human creators:

ImageNet contains a number of problematic, offensive and bizarre categories – all drawn from WordNet. Some use misogynistic or racist terminology. Hence, the results ImageNet Roulette returns will also draw upon those categories. That is by design: we want to shed light on what happens when technical systems are trained on problematic training data. AI classifications of people are rarely made visible to the people being classified. ImageNet Roulette provides a glimpse into that process – and to show the ways things can go wrong.

Although ImageNet Roulette is a fun distraction, the underlying message of Training Humans is a dark, but vital, one.

“Training Humans explores two fundamental issues in particular: how humans are represented, interpreted and codified through training datasets, and how technological systems harvest, label and use this material,” reads the exhibition description “As the classifications of humans by AI systems becomes more invasive and complex, their biases and politics become apparent. Within computer vision and AI systems, forms of measurement easily — but surreptitiously — turn into moral judgments.”

Verizon could carry OnePlus phones beginning in 2020

Verizon may soon carry OnePlus phones. According to Android Police, sources say Verizon and the Chinese manufacturer signed a deal and that the phones could arrive in 2020. It’s unclear which model (or models) that would include, but PhoneArena claims the OnePlus 7T Pro 5G McLaren Edition will be a Verizon exclusive in the US.

This is all still hearsay, though, as neither Verizon nor OnePlus have announced the partnership. Given that OnePlus is now available through T-Mobile and Sprint, a Verizon deal wouldn’t be entirely surprising. OnePlus is expected to unveil the 7T at a North American event on September 26th. With any luck, we’ll learn more about the rumored Verizon deal then.

Of course, the US trade war with China could put a damper on sales. The US plans to implement a 15 percent tariff on Chinese-made smartphones beginning this December. As Android Police points out, that could increase the base price of a 7 Pro by $100, making the phone a bit less attractive.

Verizon owns Engadget’s parent company, Verizon Media. Rest assured, Verizon has no control over our coverage. Engadget remains editorially independent.

Windows 10 1903 is Now Having Problems with Network Adapters

Microsoft has acknowledged another problem in Windows 10 version 1903 where user’s are reporting that their network adapters suddenly stop working after installing a cumulative update.

In the Windows 10 Health Dashboard, Microsoft has stated that some Intel and Broadcom Wi-Fi adapters are having a compatibility issues with NEC computers and will cause the adapter to no longer work.

“Microsoft and NEC have found incompatibility issues with Intel Centrino 6205/6235 and Broadcom 802.11ac Wi-Fi cards when running Windows 10, version 1903 on specific models of NEC devices. If these devices are updated to Windows 10, version 1903, they will no longer be able to use any Wi-Fi connections. The Wi-Fi driver may have a yellow exclamation point in device manager. The task tray icon for networking may show the icon for no internet and Network & Internet settings may not show any Wi-Fi networks.”

Microsoft has not indicated what cumulative update is causing this issue, but as found by WindowsLatest, users have reported [1. 2] that their WiFi adapters started showing that they were not connected after installing the Windows 10 KB4515384 cumulative update.

“KB4515384 broke my Intel NIC. It kept reporting ‘disconnected’. I downloaded the Intel 24.0.0.11 drivers, and did a fresh install, but no luck…still disabled. I uninstalled the kb, and I’m back in business. I’m running Intel driver 12.18.8.22 successfully pre-update, if that helps anyone. Now, I sit and wait and hope MS fixes!”

While Microsoft has stated that this issue is only affected NEC computers, from the user’s reports it is also affecting WiFi adapters on motherboards such as X470 AORUS GAMING 7, MSI Gaming Pro Carbon X370, Gigabyte GA-AX370-Gaming 7, MSI B450 Gaming Pro Carbon AC, and MSI Gaming X470 M7 AC.

Even more confusing is that some of the users are exhibiting these issues on their LAN adapters and not just wireless adapters.

For now, though, Microsoft has issued a compatibility hold on affected devices so that they will not be offered the Windows 10 version 1903 update.

Microsoft posts workaround

As a workaround, Microsoft has stated that you can simply right-click the wireless adapter and select Enable to get the adapter working again.

“If you are using an affected device and you have already installed Windows 10, version 1903, you can mitigate the issue disabling then re-enabling the Wi-Fi adapter in Device Manager. You should now be able to use Wi-Fi until your next reboot.”

Unfortunately, this fix only works for that session and it will be disabled on the next reboot.

For those who wish to use the workaround, you can follow these steps:

Open the Network Status page by searching for Network Status in the Start Menu and selecting its search result when it appears.

When the Network Status page opens, click on Change adapter options as shown below.

A page will open showing all of the computer’s network adapters. Find the adapter that is not working, right-click on it, and select Enable as shown below.

Your adapter should work again until the next reboot, which will require you to perform these steps again.

For a complete fix, affected Windows 10 v1903 users will need to wait for a fix to be released by Microsoft.

Pixel 4’s latest leaks come with one disappointing news

Another day, another set of leaks for Google’s worst-kept secret of 2019. It’s probably for the best since fans will have an idea what they’re getting into before the day arrives. So far the leaks have been to everyone’s expectations, but that doesn’t mean there are no disappointing turns. In fact, even in this latest flood of new information, there is one small detail that makes the Pixel 4 look less competitive than this year’s late 2019 flagships.

The appearance of the Pixel 4 and Pixel 4 XL is hardly any secret by now. Google even preempted those leaks by confirming that it will indeed be putting a square camera bump on its flagships this year. More than just renders, though, the past few days have been filled with leaks of actual functional units, most of them coming from Vietnam.

The Verge has been given yet another batch of live photos of the device showing off this year’s rendition of the black and white “Panda” design. Fans of that dual-tone theme might be disappointed to see a different spin on those colors. There’s also the top bezel that’s thicker than the bottom, giving it a rather unbalanced but look for the sake of more functionality.

These photos also reveal the specs of the phone, which is also no secret by now. In addition to the processors and cameras from the photos, XDA dives into the Google Camera app version 7.0 to see the capabilities the Pixel 4 will offer. That includes the earlier features like Audio Zoom as well as new AR-based ones like Measure Mode and a mysterious “McFly” Rewind Mode.

Moving to benchmarks, it seems that the Pixel 4 may have yet one more bad news for fans. In addition to just getting a Snapdragon 855, not the 855 Plus, it seems that Google’s flagships will be using a slightly older UFS 2.1 storageinside. The speed difference might not be night and day compared to UFS 3.0 but it does mean that the Pixel 4 will score lower in benchmarks compared to the likes of Samsung’s Galaxy phones.

iPhone 11, 11 Pro and 11 Pro Max: 6 things you didn’t know about Apple’s new phones

Apple’s press event, where it debuted the iPhone 11, 11 Pro and 11 Pro Max, came and went on Tuesday. And while a lot of noise was made about the handsets’ creepy-looking camera setups, the 11 Pro’s polarizing Midnight Green color and the obnoxiously termed “slofie,” there were a few other iPhone 11 features that flew under the radar.

It’s understandable why these details were overlooked — either Apple didn’t make them explicit during its keynote or the features, though useful, aren’t exactly “sexy.” Now that the dust has settled from the Tuesday’s hubbub, however, we can take a closer look at some of some small but interesting details about the iPhone 11 you might have missed.

The iPhone 11, 11 Pro and 11 Pro Max have Wi-Fi 6

Similar to the Galaxy S10 Plus, the new iPhones have the next generation of wireless networking known as Wi-Fi 6. As CNET Senior Editor Ry Crist puts it, “Devices that support Wi-Fi 6 still speak that same Wi-Fi language to talk to each other — they just talk faster and more efficiently than before.”

Compared to Wi-Fi 5, Wi-Fi 6 “supports faster top transfer speeds; lets devices send more information with each individual transmission; lets routers and other access points service more devices at once; helps sensors and other wireless gadgetsconserve battery power by scheduling transmissions; and facilitates better, faster performance in dense, crowded environments like airports and stadiums.”

But you likely won’t see any perks in your iPhone 11 now. Wi-Fi 6 isn’t officially certified yet, and Wi-Fi 6 routers are expensive. And even if you do have one, your top speeds only reach whatever your service provider caps you off at anyway. Think of this tidbit as more like future-proofing your phone, instead of an immediate benefit.

They have an Ultra Wideband chip

Apple didn’t make a big deal about this feature during the keynote, but it does care enough to point it out on its product site. The company designed a new chip called U1 for “spatial awareness,” and it helps iPhones find other iPhones more precisely when they’re in close proximity.

Apple says this improves AirDrop, a service that lets iPhone users quickly share files with nearby iPhones. Starting Sept. 30 with the release of iOS 13.1, the new chip will allow you to “point your iPhone toward someone else’s, and AirDrop will prioritize that device so you can share files faster.”

Tantalizingly, Apple added that “that’s just the beginning.” Many believe that the U1 chip is actually laying the groundwork for a long-rumored Apple tile tracker.

iPhone 11 Pro and Pro Max ship with 18W USB-C chargers

Though fast charging has been available to Android users for years, the feature will now be available to iPhone 11 Pro and Pro Max users. Previously, Apple would include 5-watt chargers in the box, but the more premium iPhones will have an 18-watt USB-C charger and a USB-C-to-Lightning cable bundled with the phone. The new charger will apparently charge the iPhone 11 Pro up to 50% in 30 minutes, according to Apple.

They’re heavier this year

While the iPhone 11 and the iPhone XR weigh the same, the iPhone 11 Pro and 11 Pro Max are a tad heavier than their 2018 counterparts (the iPhone XS and XS Max, respectively). As you can see by the chart below, the 11 Pro weighs 11 grams (about 0.4 ounces) more while the 11 Pro Max weighs 18 grams more.

While you may not notice it in real life, especially if you don’t have one in each hand, CNET Senior Editor Scott Stein did say he noticed they felt denser compared to last year’s models during his brief hands-on with them. The added weight is likely due to the extra camera lens and the bigger battery.

iOS 13.1 is coming 11 days after iOS 13

Apple’s latest OS, iOS 13, will be available for download on Sept. 19. And since the iPhone 11 phones ship out on Sept. 20, you can be sure that they will already have iOS 13 right out of the box.

An update to iOS 13, known as iOS 13.1, will come out 11 days later, on Sept. 30. We’re not sure what exactly this small update will include, although we do know that iOS 13.1 will enable the aforementioned U1-powered AirDrop feature.

iPhone 11 says goodbye to 3D Touch for good

Apple began to phase out its 3D Touch feature last year, starting with the iPhone XR. Debuting in 2015 in the iPhone 6S, 3D Touch allowed you to access additional menu options and commands by hard-pressing your finger against the screen. Now, however, the feature is absent on all three new iPhone 11s.

Instead, the company replaced 3D Touch with Haptic Touch. Haptic Touch works relatively the same way, except instead of having to press down harder on the screen, you’ll need to merely long-press on the item. This confirmed rumors that have been floating around since last year, about Apple ditching the technology for either its 2018or 2019 iPhone lineup, according to MacRumors.

At Just $329, Apple’s New iPad May Finally Replace Your Laptop

Ever since its inception, the iPad has operated in the liminal space between toy and tool. Great for streaming movies and casually browsing, it’s never quite been enough to replace a laptop. Apple’s newest iPad may change that.

At its event in Cupertino this month, Apple revealed the specs on its newest entry-level tablet. The 7th-generation model will feature a 10.2-inch Retina display, A10 Fusion chip, smart connector for a full-sized keyboard and a host of cool new multitasking features in iPadOS.

The net effect: an iPad that’s significantly more powerful than its predecessors — possibly enough so to fill the needs of light laptop users. What’s more, the price is set at a reasonable $329. (Apple’s compatible iPad keyboard will run you an additional $160.)

Will the extra utility and approachability of Apple’s entry-level iPad make the Pro somewhat less appealing? Time will tell…

New Surface Leak Reveals Microsoft’s Confident Challenger

Microsoft has announced a major launch event in New Yorkwhere it is widely expected to reveal the latest Surface hardware, and it looks like there could be a surprise in store for Surface Laptop fans.

Taking place on October 2nd, the latest information is that Microsoft will be updating the Surface Laptop portfolio to include its first 15-inch model. Although the Surface Book has a 15-inch screen option (and Apple is heavily rumored to up the 15-inch MacBook Pro to a 16-inch display, assuming Apple really cares about this market), the appearance of the 15-inch option with the Surface Laptop opens up a new audience to Microsoft.

I would expect any 15-inch Surface Laptop to follow in the shadow of both the existing Laptop and the larger Surface Book machines to continue using the 3:2 ratio screens. With the higher price of the Surface Book, having a Surface Laptop option with the larger screens opens up a different market segment that is looking for the expansive screen at a lower price point.

I’m more intrigued by the chipset options. Until now Microsoft has worked with Intel, but there have been some indications that AMD has been under consideration in the past, as reported here on Forbes over the summer:

There’s a strong argument that if Microsoft is looking to keep the ecosystem in balance then it should be looking at other manufacturers such as AMD. Not only does that show other manufacturers that Windows 10 is not just for Intel silicon, it ensures that Microsoft and AMD share competencies that can ensure a wide and varied pool of components.

Qualcomm is also an option for Microsoft, especially if it is looking for 4G LTE and 5G connectivity in the future, but I would expect the more mobile and enterprise-focused Surface Go to be a better fit for Qualcomm’s 8CX chipset launched earlier this year.

Three devices are on deck and ready for some upgrades at the October launch event. One is the aforementioned Surface Laptop which looks a sure bet, as does the next generation Pro in the form of the Surface Pro 7. But anticipation is cooling on the potential of a third Surface Book.

And will we see a dual-screened Surface break cover? We’ll find out at the start of next month.

Latest Windows 10 cumulative update causes network adapter failure for some users

Microsoft’s latest round of Patch Tuesday updates for Windows 10 were released earlier this week, bringing a number of unexpected issues. First, the Redmond giant confirmed that problems with the Start menu and Windows Search were being investigated. Later, reports started emerging from users regarding audio issues including missing audio effects and volume sounding much lower than usual. More specifically, the problems are being faced by those on build 18362.356.

This doesn’t seem to have been the last of unanticipated issues, however, as some users are experiencing network adapter failures as well (via Windows Latest).

According to a user on the Microsoft community forum, “After installing the latest update KB4515384, my Intel wireless network card and Intel lan card have stopped working. Device Manager reports a device error and cannot start it. Deinstalling KB4515384 solved the problem.”

Another user documented the problem on the Feedback Hub in the following way:

“KB4515384 breaks ethernet and wifi adapters on my PC. Appears to create new devices as they’re labelled ‘#2’ and when exposing hidden devices in Device Manager the previously named devices appear. Uninstalling these / new or old drivers do not fix the issues (i.e. “ethernet unplugged” which it is clearly not). Only option was to uninstall this update.”

Meanwhile, users on Reddit have reported facing similar problems, with one user stating that downloading the latest Intel drivers or performing a fresh install did not help in resolving the problem. As such, Ethernet and Wi-Fi capabilities end up being disabled for these users.

Users affected by this bug can attempt to re-enable the network adapter via Device Manager, and then reboot their systems. However, by all accounts so far, it does seem that the only fix for now is to uninstall the KB4515384 cumulative update. Although Microsoft has not officially acknowledged the issue yet, users will be hoping that a proper workaround is detailed soon.