Lenovo unveiled refreshed versions of the company’s laptops ahead of the IFA 2024 event that began on Friday. The company announced new versions of its ThinkPad, ThinkBook, Yoga and IdeaPad laptops that are equipped with the latest Intel Core Ultra (Series 2) or AMD Ryzen AI 9 series processors. The latest additions to the company’s Copilot+ PC lineup include the Lenovo ThinkPad X1 Carbon Gen 13 Aura Edition and the Lenovo Yoga Slim 7i Aura Edition — these models were developed in collaboration with Intel.

The company also showed off the Auto Twist AI PC proof of concept that allows users to switch modes using voice commands at IFA 2024. The device supports dual degree of freedom automatic rotation, allowing it to keep users in the centre of the screen during video calls and meetings. The Auto Twist AI PC can also automatically shut itself via a smart lid when the device is not in use, according to the company.

Lenovo’s Auto Twist AI PC proof of concept
Photo Credit: Lenovo

Lenovo ThinkPad X1 Carbon Gen 13 Aura Edition, Yoga Slim 7i Aura Edition Price

Lenovo ThinkPad X1 Carbon Gen 13 Aura Edition pricing is expected to start at EUR 2,699 (roughly Rs. 2,51,800) and the laptop will be available in select regions including Germany, France, Switzerland, and the UK in November. The Lenovo Yoga Slim 7i Aura Edition will be available to purchase later this month in Europe, starting at EUR 1,399 (roughly Rs. 1,30,500). 

Lenovo ThinkPad T14s Gen 6, ThinkBook 16 Gen 7+, Yoga Pro 7, IdeaPad Slim 5 Price

The Lenovo ThinkPad T14s Gen 6 is priced at EUR 2,199 (roughly Rs. 2,05,200) and will go on sale in November, while the Lenovo ThinkBook 16 Gen 7+ starts at EUR 999 (roughly Rs. 93,200) and will be available in December.

Pricing for the Lenovo Yoga Pro 7 begins at EUR 1,699 (roughly Rs. 1,58,500) while both Lenovo IdeaPad Slim 5 models will start at EUR 699 (roughly Rs. 65,200) — these models will go on sale in Europe in September and October, respectively.

Lenovo ThinkPad X1 Carbon Gen 13 Aura Edition Specifications

The company’s most expensive laptop model unveiled ahead of IFA 2024 is the ThinkPad X1 Carbon Gen 13 Aura Edition, which is powered by up to Intel Core Ultra 7 (Series 2) processors with Intel Arc Xe2 graphics, paired with up to 32GB of RAM. It sports a 14-inch 2.8K OLED display with a 120Hz refresh rate and 400nits peak brightness level.

You get up to 2TB of PCIe Gen5 SSD storage on the ThinkPad X1 Carbon Gen 13 Aura Edition, and the laptop supports 5G, Wi-Fi 7, and Bluetooth 5.4 connectivity. It is equipped with two Thunderbolt 4 ports, two USB 3.2 Gen 1 Type-A ports, an HDMI 2.1 port, and a 3.5mm audio jack.

Lenovo ThinkPad X1 Carbon Gen 13 Aura Edition
Photo Credit: Lenovo

The laptop is equipped with a 57Wh battery that can be charged at 65W. It has a full-HD camera with a privacy shutter and support for Windows Hello facial recognition, along with two speakers with Dolby Atmos and two microphones. Lenovo says that the laptop chassis is made of carbon fibre and recycled magnesium, and it weighs 0.98kg. 

Lenovo Yoga Slim 7i Aura Edition Specifications

Lenovo has also equipped the Yoga Slim 7i Aura Edition with up to Intel Core Ultra 7 (Series 2) processors, along with up to 32GB of RAM and up to 1TB of PCIe Gen 4 SSD storage. The laptop sports a 15-inch 2.8K LCD screen with a 120Hz refresh rate and a peak brightness level of 500nits. it is equipped with four speakers with Dolby Atmos and four voice ID microphones.

Connectivity options on the Yoga Slim 7i Aura Edition include Wi-Fi 7, Bluetooth 5.4, two Thunderbolt 4 ports, a USB 3.2 Gen 1 Type-A port, an HDMI 2.1 port, and an audio jack. The laptop packs a 70Wh battery and is equipped with a full-HD infrared camera with a privacy shutter. It weighs 1.46kg, according to the company.

Lenovo ThinkPad T14s Gen 6 Specifications

The Lenovo ThinkPad T14s Gen 6 sports a 14-inch WUXGA IPS LCD screen with a 400nits peak brightness level and up to 45 percent coverage of the NTSC colour gamut. It is powered by unspecified AMD Ryzen AI Pro series processors, paired with up to 64GB of LPDDR5X RAM. The laptop also comes with up to 1TB of PCIe Gen 4 SSD storage.

Bluetooth 5.4 and Wi-Fi 7 networks are supported on the Lenovo ThinkPad T14s Gen 6 model, along with 5G connectivity. The laptop has two Thunderbolt 4 ports, two USB 3.0 Type-A ports, an HDMI 2.1 port. It is equipped with a 58Wh battery that can be charged using a 65W GaN adapter. The ThinkPad T14s Gen 6 has a 5-megapixel infrared camera with a privacy shutter, along with two microphones and two speakers with Dolby Atmos. The laptop weighs 1.3kg.

Lenovo ThinkBook 16 Gen 7+
Photo Credit: Lenovo

Lenovo ThinkBook 16 Gen 7+ Specifications

Equipped with an AMD Ryzen AI 9 365 processor with Radeon 880M graphics, the Lenovo ThinkBook 16 Gen 7+ can be configured with up to 32GB of LPDDR5X RAM and up to 2TB of PCIe SSD storage. The laptop has a 16-inch IPS LCD screen with a 165Hz refresh rate and 400nits peak brightness level. It features a full-HD RGB infrared camera with a privacy shutter and time of flight sensor.

The laptop supports Gigabit Ethernet and Wi-Fi 7 connectivity, while the Bluetooth version is currently unclear. It has a Thunderbolt 4 port, a USB 3.2 Gen 2 Type-C port, two USB 3.1 Gen 1 Type-A ports, a USB 2.0 Type-A port, an HDMI 2.1 port, an Ethernet port, a 3.5mm audio jack, and a MicroSD card reader. The ThinkBook 16 Gen 7+ packs an 85Wh battery with support for 100W charging and weighs 1.9kg.

Lenovo Yoga Pro 7 Specifications

Lenovo’s Yoga Pro 7 model is equipped with an AMD Ryzen AI 9 processor with Radeon 780M graphics, along with 32GB of LPDDR5X RAM and 1TB of PCIe Gen 4 SSD storage. The laptop sports a 14.5-inch 2.8K OLED screen with a 120Hz refresh rate and 100 percent coverage of both sRBG and DCI:P3 colour gamuts.

The company says that the Yoga Pro 7 supports Wi-Fi 6E and Bluetooth 5.3 connectivity, and has a USB 4.0 Type-C port, a USB 3.2 Gen 2 Type-C port, a USB 3.2 Gen 1 Type-A port, an HDMI 2.1 port, and a 3.5mm audio jack. It has four speakers with Dolby Atmos and four microphones. The laptop is equipped with a 73Wh battery and weighs 1.54kg.

Lenovo Yoga Pro 7
Photo Credit: Lenovo

Lenovo IdeaPad Slim 5 (15-inch), Lenovo IdeaPad Slim 5 (13-inch) Specifications

The Lenovo IdeaPad Slim 5 is available in 15.3-inch and 13.3-inch display options with LCD screens that have a peak brightness level of up to 400nits. The larger variant is also available with a 2.5K OLED panel. Both laptops are powered by unspecified AMD Ryzen 7000 series processors with Radeon graphics, paired with up to 32GB of LPDDR5X RAM.

According to the company, these laptops offer up to Wi-Fi 6E and Bluetooth 5.3 connectivity. They are equipped with two USB 3.2 Gen 2 Type-C ports, two USB 3.2 Gen 1 Type-A ports, an HDMI 2.1 port, a 3.5mm audio jack, and a MicroSD card reader. The 15-inch model is equipped with a 70Wh battery and weighs 1.49kg, while the 13-inch laptop has a 54.7Wh battery and weighs 1.15kg.

(Except for the headline, this story has not been edited by NDTV staff and is published from a syndicated feed.)

OnePlus 13 was launched in China on October 31. One of the standout features of the smartphone is its Hasselblad-tuned triple rear camera. The company has now bolstered its feature set even further with the introduction of a new dedicated macro mode that lets users capture close-up images using the OnePlus 13’s ultra-wide angle camera. Notably, this development comes ahead of the smartphone’s anticipated debut in global markets.

OnePlus 13 Macro Mode Uses 50-Megapixel Ultrawide Camera for Macro Photography

In a post on the Chinese social media platform Weibo, OnePlus announced that its latest software update for the new OnePlus 13 in China introduces a new dedicated macro mode for close-up photography. It is denoted by a flower petal icon in the top right corner of the default camera app.

Following its rollout, users can take pictures with the macro mode using the smartphone’s 50-megapixel ultra-wide angle lens. Since the OnePlus 13 is currently only available in China, the update is limited to the aforementioned region too.

For photography, the OnePlus 13 is equipped with a triple rear camera setup tuned by Hasselblad. It comprises a 50-megapixel primary camera with OIS and an f/1.6 aperture, a 50-megapixel ultrawide camera with an f/2.2 aperture, and a 50-megapixel periscope telephoto camera (3x optical, 6x in-sensor, 120x digital) with OIS and an f/2.6 aperture. There’s also a 32-megapixel camera with an f/2.4 aperture on the front for selfies.

OnePlus 13 Specifications

OnePlus 13 sports a 6.82-inch Quad-HD+ (1440×3168 pixels) LTPO AMOLED screen with a 120Hz refresh rate, 4,500 nits of peak brightness and Dolby Vision support. It is powered by the Snapdragon 8 Elite chip and an Adreno 830 GPU, paired with up to 24GB of LPDDR5X RAM and up to 1TB of UFS 4.0 inbuilt storage. The handset packs a 6,000mAh battery with 100W Flash Charge (wired) and 50W Flash Charge (wireless) support.

Arm Holdings is canceling a license that allowed longtime partner Qualcomm to use Arm intellectual property to design chips, escalating a legal dispute over vital smartphone technology.
Arm, based in the UK, has given Qualcomm a mandated 60-day notice of the cancellation of their so-called architectural license agreement, according to a document seen by Bloomberg. The contract allows Qualcomm to create its own chips based on standards owned by Arm.

The showdown threatens to roil the smartphone and personal computer markets, as well as disrupting the finances and operations of two of the most influential companies in the semiconductor industry.

Qualcomm sells hundreds of millions of processors annually — technology used in the majority of Android smartphones. If the cancellation takes effect, the company might have to stop selling products that account for much of its roughly $39 billion (roughly Rs. 3,27,890 crore) in revenue, or face claims for massive damages.

The move ratchets up a legal fight that began when Arm sued San Diego-based Qualcomm — one of its biggest customers — for breach of contract and trademark infringement in 2022. With the cancellation notice, Arm is giving the US company an eight-week period to remedy the dispute. 

Representatives for Arm declined to comment. A Qualcomm spokesperson said the British company was trying to “strong-arm a longtime partner.”

It “appears to be an attempt to disrupt the legal process, and its claim for termination is completely baseless,” the spokesperson said in an emailed statement. “We are confident that Qualcomm’s rights under its agreement with Arm will be affirmed.” 

The two are headed to a trial to resolve the breach-of-contract claim by Arm and a countersuit by Qualcomm. The disagreement centers on Qualcomm’s 2021 acquisition of another Arm licensee and a failure — according to Arm — to renegotiate contract terms. Qualcomm argues that its existing agreement covers the activities of the company that it purchased, the chip-design startup Nuvia.

Nuvia’s work on microprocessor design has become central to new personal computer chips that Qualcomm sells to companies such as HP and Microsoft. The processors are the key component to a new line of artificial intelligence-focused laptops dubbed AI PCs. Earlier this week, Qualcomm announced plans to bring Nuvia’s design — called Oryon — to its more widely used Snapdragon chips for smartphones. 

Arm says that move is a breach of Qualcomm’s license and is demanding that the company destroy Nuvia designs that were created before the Nuvia acquisition. They can’t be transferred to Qualcomm without permission, according to the original suit filed by Arm in the US District Court in Delaware. Nuvia’s licenses were terminated in February 2023 after negotiations failed to reach a resolution.

Like many others in the chip industry, Qualcomm relies on an instruction set from Cambridge, England-based Arm, a company that has created much of the underlying technology for mobile electronics. An instruction set is the basic computer code that chips use to run software such as operating systems.

If Arm follows through with the license termination, Qualcomm would be prevented from doing its own designs using Arm’s instruction set. It would still be able to license Arm’s blueprints under separate product agreements, but that path would cause significant delays and force the company to waste work that’s already been done. 

Prior to the dispute, the two companies were close partners that helped advance the smartphone industry. Now, under newer leadership, both of them are pursuing strategies that increasingly make them competitors. 

Under Chief Executive Officer Rene Haas, Arm has shifted to offering more complete designs — ones that companies can take directly to contract manufacturers. Haas believes that his company, still majority owned by Japan’s SoftBank Group Corp., should be rewarded more for the engineering work it does. That shift encroaches on the business of Arm’s traditional customers, like Qualcomm, who use Arm’s technology in their own final chip designs. 

Meanwhile, under CEO Cristiano Amon, Qualcomm is moving away from using Arm designs and is prioritising its own work, something that potentially makes it a less lucrative customer for Arm. He’s also expanding into new areas, most notably computing, where Arm is making its own push. But the two companies’ technologies remain intertwined, and Qualcomm isn’t yet in a position to make a clean break from Arm.

Arm was acquired in 2016 by SoftBank, and part of it was sold to the public in an offering in September of last year. The Japanese company still owns more than 80 percent of the Arm.

Arm has two types of customers: companies that use its designs as the basis for their chips and ones that create their own semiconductors and only license the Arm instruction set.

Qualcomm is no stranger to licensing disputes. The company gets a large chunk of its profit from selling the rights to its own technology — a key part of mobile wireless communications. Its customers include Samsung Electronics and Apple, the two biggest smartphone makers.

Qualcomm emerged victorious in 2019 from a wide-ranging legal fight with Apple. It also won a court decision on appeal against the US Federal Trade Commission, which alleged that the company was using predatory licensing activities.

© 2024 Bloomberg LP

(This story has not been edited by NDTV staff and is auto-generated from a syndicated feed.)

Gemini is getting upgraded with a new feature that will allow it to remember specific information about a user’s interests and preferences. On Tuesday, Google announced the new update for its artificial intelligence (AI) chatbot. With this, users can ask Gemini to remember information about themselves and it will continue to tailor its responses accordingly in all future conversations. This feature is currently only available to the paid subscribers of the chatbot and can be accessed on both the Web and the app.

Gemini Can Now Remember Users’ Interests and Preferences

Memory function in AI models is one of the most requested features. The capability allows the AI to remember certain information across sessions, and the user does not have to repeat the information in prompts over and over. This information can be anything from the user’s name and birthday to their preferred response style and profession. This limitation is also a major bottleneck that prevents chatbots from becoming a companion or assistants to humans, as every new conversation always starts with a blank slate.

Recently, AI firms have recognised this shortcoming and have begun working on this feature. Earlier this year, OpenAI added the Memory feature in ChatGPT. Other major players such as Anthropic and Microsoft also have a similar function available in their chatbots.

But so far, Google’s AI bot could not remember the context from a previous conversation even if the user explicitly told it to not forget it. However, with the update rolled out on Tuesday, users will finally be able to do this.

In its updates page, the tech giant detailed the new feature dubbed Saved Info. With this, users can tell Gemini to remember their interests and preferences. This can be done either via natural conversations by adding “Remember” or “Do not forget” before the information or manually by visiting the Saved Info page.

Once certain information has been saved by Gemini, it will remember it in all future conversations. Users can also take advantage of this feature by customising and structuring the responses generated by the AI chatbot. Google says users can view, edit, or delete any information shared with Gemini, and whenever the AI chatbot uses the Saved Info, it will display it on the screen.

Notably, the company did not reveal whether it can access the information shared with Gemini via Saved Info or if the AI will be trained on such data. It is also not clear whether deleting a piece of information from Saved Info will also delete it from Google’s AI servers. The feature is currently available in English with the Gemini Advanced subscription. Notably, the subscription can be purchased as part of the Google One AI Premium Plan.

Microsoft said it is cutting 650 jobs in its Xbox unit, the third such layoff this year as the company tries to rein in costs and integrate its $69 billion (roughly Rs. 5,79,115 crore) acquisition of Activision Blizzard, Bloomberg News reported on Thursday.

The gaming industry saw mass layoffs, studio shutdowns and project cancellations in the first half of the year, triggered by a slow recovery in spending by gamers after player engagement rates peaked during the pandemic.

The job cuts will affect mostly corporate and supporting functions, the report said, citing a memo sent to staff by Xbox chief Phil Spencer.

No games, devices or experiences are being canceled and no studios are being closed as part of these adjustments, the report said, citing the memo.

Microsoft and Xbox did not immediately respond to Reuters’ requests for comment.

Microsoft had closed its deal for Activision Blizzard last year, which boosted its heft in the video-gaming market with best-selling titles, including Call of Duty, to better compete with industry leader Sony.

The technology giant had said in January it would let go of 1,900 employees at Activision Blizzard and Xbox.

In May, Xbox shut down a number of gaming studios, including Arkane Austin.

Research firm Newzoo dialed back its annual growth forecast for the global videogame market last month, as console sales underperform amid a relatively light release schedule of games this year.

© Thomson Reuters 2024

(This story has not been edited by NDTV staff and is auto-generated from a syndicated feed.)