Month: June 2024

30 out-of-sight Android app shortcuts worth surfacing

June 27, 2024 /

I sure do love me a good time-saver. And sometimes, the best time-savers of all are the ones that are right under the surface of our favorite apps and services, just waiting to be seen — and/or remembered.

I’ll admit it: Even as someone who uses and thinks about Android more than any sane human should, I frequently find myself surprised by how often I stumble onto something that I knew about at some point but long ago forgot to keep using. It happens almost shockingly often — and it’s happened yet again, my dear friend, with a powerful shortcut system built right into Android and supported by oodles of my favorite apps.

The system is called, rather fittingly, app shortcuts. It’s been around since 2016’s Android 7.1 release, and it was originally framed as a response to Apple’s once-buzzworthy 3D Touch feature on the iPhone.

And that, as I wrote at the time, is the true Achilles’ heel of Android’s app shortcuts: The system tries too hard to emulate Apple’s original approach in that area instead of focusing on what makes sense for Android and would provide the best possible experience in our preferred environment. Heck, looking back at what I said about the shortcuts all those years ago seems almost eerily prophetic and like a too-perfect prologue to what we’re talking about today:

Their presence is completely hidden, with no visual cues whatsoever; you’d have to happen to long-press an icon to find them, and even then, you might not fully grasp what happened or why those items appeared. Users who know about the options are likely to forget they exist and underutilize them, too, as often happens with non-obvious commands in a user interface. Out of sight, out of mind — it’s a very real phenomenon.

And here we are, many years later, talking about how so many of us forget to take advantage of these time-saving treasures. The especially tricky thing about Android’s app shortcuts is that even if you do remember that they exist in general, you never know which apps take full advantage of the system and which don’t — or when any given app is updated with a richer set of shortcut options — unless you just haphazardly press icons every few weeks to see what, if anything, happens.

When you do press the right icons, though, you’re bound to be delighted by the bounty you unearth. And with a teensy bit of tinkering, you can make some of those shortcuts even more useful.

So enough of my blathering: It’s time to discover — or perhaps rediscover — the productivity-boosting potential of Android’s app shortcuts.

[Psst: Love shortcuts as much as I do? My Android Shortcut Supercourse will teach you even more advanced time-saving tricks for your phone. Sign up now for free!]

Android app shortcuts 101

Real quick, first, we need to back up for a quick primer on what exactly Android’s app shortcuts are and how you can put ’em to use: At the simplest possible level, Android app shortcuts are basically just direct links to specific functions within apps on your phone — ways you can get to individual actions or areas within an app without having to go through the typical process of opening the app up, plopping around through its menus, and tapping multiple commands to get where you want to go.

See?

Android app shortcuts: Google Keep
A list of available app shortcuts for the Google Keep Android app.

JR Raphael, IDG

You can access app shortcuts by pressing and holding your finger down on any app’s icon — either on your home screen or in your app drawer — for about a second. And here’s where the true time-saving potential comes into play: You can also place any of the shortcuts you encounter directly onto your home screen for even easier one-tap access. Just press and hold the shortcut you want when you see it appear, then drag it into any open space in your home screen and let go.

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Long-press, tap, and drag to bring any Android app shortcut directly onto your home screen for even easier ongoing access.

JR Raphael, IDG

So where might this be helpful? Well, in plenty of places, you goofy ol’ goat. Let’s talk some specifics.

Your Android app shortcuts superlist

Like a proper deranged geek-scientist, I’ve been sifting through dozens upon dozens of different productivity-oriented apps to identify some of the most broadly useful and yet woefully underutilized app shortcut actions available on Android today. Ready to find something new and useful that’s probably already on your phone?

Here we go:

1. Google Docs

Unearth those bashful app shortcuts for the Google Docs Android app, and you can move straight into a new document or open up the search function to find what you need within your existing documents without first having to open up the app and poke around.

2. Google Sheets

Press your favorite fingie down onto the Sheets icon to reveal similar shortcuts for starting up a new spreadsheet or searching for existing items within that arena.

3. Google Drive

Long-pressing on the Drive Android app gives you direct links for searching, uploading a new file, or — one of my personal favorites — scanning a physical document via your phone’s camera.

4. Gmail

Gmail sports hidden Android app shortcuts for starting a new message or jumping directly into any account’s inbox (provided that you have multiple accounts connected to your phone, of course).

5. Google Calendar

Press and hold the Google Calendar app’s icon, and you’ll find a simple shortcut for creating a new event as well as for creating a new Google-Tasks-connected task.

6. Business Calendar

If you’re using Business Calendar — my personal favorite Android calendar app and my go-to recommendation for an upgraded Android calendar experience — you can see those same new event and new task shortcuts by long-pressing that app’s icon.

7. Google Tasks

Speaking of Tasks, pressing and holding that app will surface a one-tap shortcut for creating a new task directly within the service.

8. Todoist

If you’re using Todoist — a much more feature-rich Tasks alternative and one of the best cross-platform productivity apps around — don’t feel left out. Long-pressing its icon will reveal swift shortcuts for starting new tasks as well as for searching through your existing tasks and opening the app directly to your tasks inbox or today view.

9. Google Keep

Note-takers, take note: Google’s Keep Android app has a handy collection of note-creating shortcuts, including one-touch commands for firing up a new text note, photo note, list note, or audio note — all tucked quietly away within its icon.

10. Google Messages

You can long-press Google’s Android Messages app to waltz your way directly into any recently viewed message thread without having to first open up the app and hunt around to find it.

11. Slack

With Slack, long-pressing the app’s icon will reveal single-tap shortcuts for jumping directly into any recently accessed workspace or conversation connected to your phone.

12. Google Phone

Speaking of speaking to people, pressing that squishy phalange of yours down onto the official Google Phone app’s icon will give you one-touch shortcuts for dialing any recent contacts you’ve called — no app-opening or other steps required. (The Google Phone app comes preinstalled by default on Pixels and certain other devices but can be downloaded and used on any Android device.)

13. Google Meet

Got Meet? Save yourself steps by pressing and holding its icon to find single-step shortcuts for starting a new meeting, sending a video to someone else in your Meet contacts, or starting a call with a specific recent contact from your list.

14. Google Contacts

Long-press the Contacts app to find shortcuts for adding a new contact or opening a contact you’ve interacted with recently on your phone. (Like the Google Phone app, Google Contacts comes preinstalled by default on Pixels and certain other devices but can be downloaded and used on any Android device — and that’s a wise move to make, in general, especially if you’re using a Samsung product.)

15. Google Clock

The official Google Clock app on Android has app shortcuts for starting a stopwatch or a timer right from your home screen as well as for creating a new alarm without all the usual effort. (Once more, if you’re using a device where the app isn’t already installed by default, you can just go grab it from the Play Store!)

16. Trello

My fellow Trello fanatics, this one’s for you: The Trello Android app icon holds shortcuts for starting a new card with a single tap or for jumping into any recently opened board associated with your account.

17. Notion

Notion is an awesome app for organization and efficiency, and you can make yourself more efficient yet by embracing the hidden shortcuts for starting a new page or pinning a page within its Android app icon.

18. Recorder

Pixel pals, listen up: In a just-added new convenience, pressing and holding the icon for Google’s excellent Pixel Recorder audio transcription tool will now show you a simple shortcut for starting a new recording without having to first wade your way into the app.

19. Google Maps

In the Android Maps app, you can launch guided navigations to any of your saved places (including “home,” “work,” and “that deli where I eat so much salami I can’t move”) by pressing your finger to the app’s icon and then selecting the spot you want.

20. TripIt

TripIt is one of the best Android travel apps out there, and long-pressing its icon presents you with an easy way to get to your list of upcoming trips as well as any pending travel alerts and updates.

21. Chrome

Long-pressing the Chrome Android app icon will surface options for zipping right into a new tab — or incognito tab, even — right from your home screen. (Bonus: The same is true for Firefox and other Android browser apps, too!)

22. Camera

On both Pixels and Samsung Galaxy devices, press and hold the Camera app icon to find simple shortcuts for skipping over the rear-facing camera interface that typically comes up when you open the app and instead moving right into the front-facing camera view or a video-recording mode.

23. Google Photos

In what may be the most useful Android app shortcut of all for me, personally, pressing and holding the Photos icon will present you with a one-tap path to hopping straight into your screenshots for incredibly easy on-demand access.

24. Google Files

Need to get to your downloads in a jiff? Long-press the Google Files app icon to transport yourself there without any detours. (This is specific to the Google Files app, which isn’t the same as the My Files app Samsung sticks onto its devices but can be installed and used there — or on any other Android device — as well.)

25. Nest

The Nest app gives you shortcuts to commonly opened connected gadgets, so you can skip right over to the control panel for your home office camera or deskside Smart Display without all the usual steps.

26. YouTube

The next time you’re wasting time watching panda videos during the workday watching very important work-related videos on your phone, remember that a long-press on the YouTube app icon will let you skip straight into the service’s search function as well as your subscriptions screen.

27. Pocket Casts

For your on-the-go podcast listening pleasure, the superb Pocket Casts app has hidden roads directly to its search screen as well as to your subscriptions collection, an “up next” player area, and a collection of new releases from podcasts you follow.

28. Venmo

If you use Venmo for paying vendors and/or velociraptors, make yourself a mental note that its icon holds hidden shortcuts to the send and request functions along with a transfer-to-bank option for any incoming payments.

29. Settings

On Pixels, the Android Settings app has handy shortcuts for hopping straight into certain commonly used areas of your system settings — such as the Wi-Fi and Battery sections.

30. Play Store

Last but not least, the Play Store app has a supremely helpful shortcut for popping right into the “My Apps” area of the Play Store — where you can peek through any pending updates to your various installed applications and apply ’em immediately. So long, cumbersome menu-wading!

This list could go on more or less indefinitely, depending on what specific Android apps you use, but you get the idea. And if you want to take this same concept even further, there’s an easy way to expand your Android app shortcuts on a completely customized level and make ’em even more useful yet.

The power is officially in your hands. Embrace it wisely — and this time, don’t forget to keep using it.

Get even more advanced shortcut knowledge with my free Android Shortcut Supercourse. You’ll learn tons of time-saving tricks for your phone!

Make Slack’s design update work for you

June 27, 2024 /

If you’re a Slack user, you’ve probably noticed some differences in the way the chat app looks and works. The company refreshed the user interface of its desktop app last year and has continued to make minor adjustments since then.

These UI tweaks are meant to help you navigate your workspace and collaborate with your teammates more efficiently. Here’s how to make the best use of the new design.

In this article:

  • Get around quickly with streamlined navigation
  • Jump-start collaboration with the ‘Create new’ button
  • Optimize your workspace for maximum efficiency

Get around quickly with streamlined navigation

As Slack added more features over the years, its interface got more cluttered and confusing. So its updated interface features a simplified navigation bar that surfaces the most used items while keeping everything else a click or two away.

home view in slack with sidebar and main window

Slack’s Home view provides an overview of your workspace.

Howard Wen / IDG

The bar along the left is the main way you navigate Slack. By default, you’ll see buttons marked Home, DMs, Activity, Later, and More. Each shows a different view in the second column — what Slack calls the sidebar — or lets you take specific actions.

Home: This view gives you an overview of the activity in your Slack workspace.

At the top of the sidebar are options that give you quick access to ongoing conversations:

  • Unreads: shows all unread messages from your channels and direct messages (DMs) in the main panel of your workspace.
  • Threads: shows all the message threads that you’re taking part in.
  • Drafts & sent: shows your message drafts and messages you’ve sent.

You can hide any of these items from the Home view sidebar. We’ll cover this and other customization options later in the story.

Next are sections for Channels (which lists the conversation groups you’re a member of), Direct messages (listed by the names of teammates you have DMs with), and Apps that are installed on your Slack workspace. If you’ve marked any channels or DMs with a star, you’ll also see a Starred section, and there may be other sections in your workspace as well.

You can drag-and-drop the section names to rearrange their order, or click the down arrow to the left of any section name to collapse that section for a cleaner view.

If you’re on a paid plan, you can create custom section names. See below for more details.

To filter your conversations, click the upside-down, striped triangle at the top right of the sidebar. You can filter your conversations by those that you haven’t read, in which you are mentioned, or by the section they’re categorized under.

DMs: This view lists all your direct messages. They’re ordered chronologically, with the most recent at the top.

direct messages view

Click DMs in the navigation bar to see all your direct messages in reverse chronological order.

Howard Wen / IDG

Activity: This view lists recent activities in your channels and direct messages. Click the options across the top of the sidebar to sort them by messages in which you’re @ mentioned, threads you’re participating in, reactions to your messages, and more.

Later: This view lists the messages and threads that you have marked “Save for later” or asked to be reminded about at a set date or time. You can also use this view to create new reminders for yourself: click the + sign at the top right of the sidebar and fill out the panel that appears with a date, time, and description for the reminder.

More: Click the three-dot icon to open a menu with additional views. These include Automations, Huddles, Canvases, Files, Channels, People, and External connections. Click any menu item to see all items of that type — for example, Files shows all files that have been shared in your DMs or channels, Channels lets you browse all the channels in your Slack workspace, and People shows all the members of your workspace.

more button menu

The More button gives you access to a variety of useful views.

Howard Wen / IDG

If you belong to multiple Slack workspaces, you may see an additional navigation bar to the left of the main nav bar. This has a button for each workspace you’re a member of so you can easily switch between them. A small icon at the top left of the Slack app window (“Show/Hide workspace switcher”) lets you toggle the additional nav bar on and off.

Jump-start collaboration with the ‘Create new’ button

To post a message or create a new collaboration area in your workspace, you don’t need to navigate to a particular location — you can do it from anywhere in Slack by clicking the Create new button. It’s the + icon on the lower left of your workspace, just above your profile headshot. You’ll see several options for starting collaboration areas in your workspace.

create new button menu

Use the “Create new” button to start new collaboration areas quickly.

Howard Wen / IDG

Message: Compose and post messages. A new, blank message will open in the main panel of your workspace. In its To: field, type the name of the channel where you want to post the message, or type the name of a teammate you want to DM. A dropdown lists suggested channels and teammates that you can select.

Huddle: Start a video or audio chat. On the panel that opens, you’ll be prompted to type (or select from a dropdown list) the name of a teammate to start the huddle with.

Canvas: Available only with a paid plan. Start a workspace where you can create, manage, and share content with your teammates. We cover this feature in more depth later in the story.

Channel: Start a new group conversation with your teammates. You’ll be prompted to type a name for a new channel where you and your teammates can collaborate, and to designate whether the channel is public (anyone in your workspace can join it) or private (members must be invited to join).

Optimize your workspace for maximum efficiency

Slack’s new interface is highly customizable, which means you can tweak it to show exactly what you want to further increase your productivity.

Customize the navigation bar and Home view

For starters, you can control what buttons appear on your nav bar on the left. In the bar, click the three-dot icon above More. At the bottom of the menu that opens, click Customize navigation bar.

This opens the Preferences panel. Make sure Navigation is selected on the left. Then select the items that you want to appear on the nav bar by checking the box next to each item. If an item is left unchecked, it will still be accessible from the navigation bar by clicking the three-dot icon.

navigation preferences in slack

Check the items you want to appear on the navigation bar.

Howard Wen / IDG

To customize what appears in your Home view, click Home on the left side of the Preferences panel and make your selections.

Create custom sections in the sidebar

This feature is available only with a paid plan.

You can create custom sections that appear in the sidebar in Home view. Then you can move channels, direct messages, and installed apps into a custom section. For example, you could create a custom section for a specific project and then place the channels, DMs, and apps related to this project inside this custom section.

Click Home on the navigation bar. In the sidebar, move the pointer over one of the existing section names — Channels, Starred, or Direct messages — and click the down arrow that appears to its right. On the menu that opens, select Create > Create section. You’ll be prompted to type in a name for your new section, and you can optionally pick an emoji to represent it.

creating custom sidebar section

Creating a custom section for the sidebar.

Howard Wen / IDG

Your new custom section will appear in the sidebar. You can drag-and-drop channels, direct messages, and apps into it. And you can drag-and-drop your custom section to reorder it further up or down the sidebar list.

Customize the workspace theme

You can change the color scheme of your Slack workspace by choosing a theme that you find easier to read or simply more pleasing visually. Themes really come in handy when you’re a member of multiple workspaces — you can apply a variety of themes to your workspaces to help differentiate them at a glance.

To get started, click your profile picture at the bottom left of the Slack window and select Preferences. On the Preferences panel, click Themes on the left, which opens the Color Mode settings.

selecting a theme in slack

Selecting a theme for a workspace.

Howard Wen / IDG

Select a predesigned theme: You’ll see a variety of predesigned Slack themes, from single colors to lively color combos. Click a theme to apply it to your workspace. When you leave the Themes tab or close the Preferences pane, you’ll be asked to confirm that you want to keep the new theme.

Create a custom theme: Click the Custom theme tab. You can then select the colors for the specific elements of your Slack window and tweak some visual effects. If you want to let AI design your theme, click Surprise me.

creating a custom theme in slack

Creating a custom theme.

Howard Wen / IDG

Only you can see the custom theme you’ve created; it won’t change the theme for others in your workspace. But you can share it with others. Next to “Theme colors,” click the Share button to copy a link to your theme. You can paste this link in a message and send it to someone. When they click the link, they can apply your theme to their Slack workspace.

OpenAI brings its ChatGPT app to all Mac users

June 26, 2024 /

OpenAI has been testing its ChatGPT Mac desktop app among paying subscribers for the last few weeks. Now, it has opened its new desktop app to anyone with a Mac.

Coming so soon after Apple announced at WWDC that ChatGPT will be integrated within Siri and some apps across its platforms, the introduction must be a sign of the times. Apple’s decision to support ChatGPT and other generative AI (genAI) platforms across its ecosystem should expose millions of users to tools they might not have yet tried out.

A nice integration for Mac users

If you’ve already used ChatGPT on a browser or through other applications, you’ll be familiar with what it can accomplish. The smart chatbot can help get things done, source information, improve your work, and much more. (Though, as always, be careful of any hallucinations or errors that might crop up.)

The integration seems to be a solid combination of the ease-of-use of the Mac and the powerful tools within ChatGPT. In effect, that means the tools within the chatbot are easily available from almost anywhere on your Mac.

It is just the beginning, of course, as Apple has already promised deeper integration between its platforms and ChatGPT as an adjunct to Apple Intelligence. Announced at this month’s developer conference, Apple described plenty of uses for the technology, including in Writing tools.

What can the ChatGPT app do on a Mac?

In a series of short videos shared via OpenAI’s Twitter/X feed, the company described some of what you can achieve. On your Mac, the Chat GPT app can:

  • Respond to the well-known and familiar Option-Space shortcut to invoke a ChatGPT query.
  • Take a screenshot of a specific window or your entire screen to request feedback or advice on what is there — for example, when seeking to improve code.
  • Search past ChatGPT conversations for specific items.
  • Quickly and easily ask about anything on your computer using copy and paste.
  • And of course, as you engage in conversation, you can refine and improve the exchange to produce more useful results.

You do gain access to standard Voice Mode (so you can speak to ChatGPT). But OpenAI has already promised a new version of Voice Mode powered by GPT-4o will be introduced in the coming weeks. That version will introduce the new audio and video capabilities introduced within GPT-4o.

“Whether you want to brainstorm a new idea for your company, prepare for an interview or have a topic you’d like to discuss, tap the headphone icon in the bottom right corner of the desktop app to start a voice conversation,” the company said.

The trickle becomes a flood

While ethical, environmental, and trust issues continue to delay the kind of rapid deployment of AI aficionados had originally anticipated, there’s little doubt usage will accelerate as platforms like Apple’s weave support inside them.

For most enterprises, this demands implementation of device management systems to help protect against unapproved use of these tools, particularly around confidential data. Apple is responding to this need with device management controls in macOS to constrain use of Apple Intelligence/OpenAI. It is already possible to manage app installs on Macs using MDM systems.

The new app is available for Apple Silicon (M-series) Macs running macOS 14 or later. Similar apps are already available for iPads and iPhones, but not Windows, where they’re expected later this year. You can download the Mac app here. 

Please follow me on Mastodon, or join me in the AppleHolic’s bar & grill and Apple Discussions groups on MeWe.

ChatGPT users speechless over delays

June 26, 2024 /

OpenAI has delayed the release of ChatGPT’s much-anticipated new Voice Mode feature, saying it needs another month” to refine the technology before offering it to a limited group of users in an alpha test.

“We had planned to start rolling this out in alpha to a small group of ChatGPT Plus users in late June, but need one more month to reach our bar to launch,” the  company said in social media platform X.

It said it “needs one more month to reach our bar to launch.”

OpenAI was more optimistic back in May, when it showcased Voice Mode during the Spring Update event at which it launched the faster and more capable GPT-4o large language model.

“We plan to launch a new Voice Mode with these new capabilities in an alpha in the coming weeks, with early access for Plus users as we roll out more broadly,” it said then, referring to users of its $20/month ChatGPT Plus subscription service.

With the introduction of GPT-4o, OpenAI said it was able to cut the voice response to time around 320 milliseconds, from 5.4 seconds for GPT-4, creating a more natural and real-time conversational experience.

Safety and scalability concerns take center stage

OpenAI gave two reasons for the launch delay: safety and scalability.

It emphasized its commitment to responsible AI development and the need for the model to effectively “detect and refuse certain content.” This suggests concerns about potential misuse of the technology for generating harmful or offensive speech.

Scalability also appears to be a hurdle. OpenAI said it aims to ensure the feature functions smoothly for millions of users while maintaining real-time responsiveness. This requires robust infrastructure capable of handling the increased processing demands.

“Exact timelines depend on meeting our high safety and reliability bar,” the company added in the post. “We are also working on rolling out the new video and screen sharing capabilities we demoed separately, and will keep you posted on that timeline.”

More competition for ChatGPT

OpenAI’s delay in Voice Mode rollout creates an interesting scenario in the burgeoning field of AI voice capabilities.

Competitors like Anthropic, with its Claude 3.5 Sonnet model, have already showcased voice-enabled interaction during demos.

Similarly, Google’s AI research arm, DeepMind, has been making strides in voice-based AI with its LaMDA language model,.

“Anthropic has joined this year’s intense AI race with models designed to compete head-on with recent announcements from OpenAI and Google,” said Neil Shah, VP for research and partner at Counterpoint Research. “Generative AI is a blue ocean opportunity, and each company, including Anthropic and OpenAI, will need to target specific use cases and segments. Anthropic, for example, is focusing on coding, writing, and workflow optimization.”

Beyond dedicated AI models, large language models such as Bard (Google AI) and Jurassic-1 Jumbo (AI21 Labs) are also constantly evolving, with some incorporating basic functionalities for voice interaction and response generation.

Even Microsoft’s Copilot programming assistant has begun to integrate voice-based guidance for developers.

OpenAI’s iterative approach: safety first

OpenAI’s decision to prioritize safety and scalability reflects a cautious yet responsible approach. Launching a powerful voice-enabled AI requires careful consideration of potential risks and ensuring the technology can handle widespread use without compromising performance.

“As part of our iterative deployment strategy, we’ll start the alpha with a small group of users to gather feedback and expand based on what we learn,” said the company.  

This iterative approach allows them to refine the model based on real-world user interactions and mitigate potential issues before a wider release.

While the delay may disappoint some users eager to experience Voice Mode, it does show a certain caution in the face of recent criticism of OpenAI’s attitude to safety. It has been working to restore confidence in that area with a series of appointments to its new safety and security committee.

5 Copilot+ PC AI features you can use at launch

June 26, 2024 /

New Copilot+ PCs are officially on the shelves and Microsoft’s marketing is all about explaining that these laptops include Windows 11 AI features you can only use on this sort of system.

But what exactly does that mean in practical terms? Here’s exactly what you get on one of these “next-generation AI PCs” today.

Copilot+ PCs are more than just “AI”

Before we get to the AI features, there’s one thing to know: the marketing isn’t focusing on the most interesting things about these PCs. AI hype aside, these are the first truly competitive Arm-based Windows PCs. They offer dramatically improved battery life and performance.

With Qualcomm’s Snapdragon X Elite hardware, it looks like the PC world finally has hardware that will go toe to toe with Apple’s Arm-based M-series Macs. And that’s making Intel sweat, too: Just look at the huge battery life improvements Intel is teasing for its next-generation Lunar Lake chips.

While everyone’s talking about AI, the big story is all-day battery life with snappy performance — all with compatibility with most existing Windows apps. That’s a big deal for business users (and a big deal for PC users in general).

That’s good news, because the AI features on these Copilot+ PCs feel a bit like a work in progress. They’re more of a demonstration of what’s possible: Application developers will be able to tap into the fast neural processing unit (NPU) to add AI features into their Windows applications.

There’s just one problem: Most AI tools do all the hard processing work in the cloud, which means you could just as easily run them on a Chromebook or iPad as you could on a powerful Windows PC. Will lots of applications switch to doing that AI number-crunching on your PC hardware instead?

Want more Windows advice — plus tips and tricks for making the most of your PC? Sign up for my free Windows Intelligence newsletter to get three things to try every Friday and free Windows Field Guides as a special welcome bonus.

The Microsoft Recall factor

Then there’s this: The Copilot+ PC’s biggest and splashiest feature, Recall, isn’t even available at launch. Faced with privacy and security-related criticism, Microsoft frantically scrambled to remove Recall days before launch so it could be delayed.

Microsoft still says Recall will launch on these PCs in the coming months. But first, it will be tested in preview form with Windows Insiders.

When it launches, Recall will take screenshots of your PC’s display every five seconds. Then, you can choose to use plain language queries to search those Recall snapshots. You’ll be able to type things like, “Find that PowerPoint presentation about the quarterly budget. It had a chart with some orange bars.”

Without Recall, the Copilot+ AI PC features aren’t extremely impressive — they’re neat and nice to have, but there’s nothing here you’d race out and buy a new PC for (except the long battery life, which is impressive — but that has nothing to do with AI).

Paint Cocreator upgrades your drawings with AI

Microsoft Copilot+ PC: Paint Cocreator
The Cocreator tool in Paint makes for a great on-stage demo, but you’ll get more professional and realistic results with a cloud-based AI image creation tool.

Chris Hoffman, IDG

On Copilot+ PCs, Microsoft Paint has a “Cocreator” feature that will upgrade your drawings with AI as you draw. This feature uses the NPU hardware in a Copilot+ PC to do the AI-image-generating.

This is different from the existing “Image Creator” feature in Microsoft Paint, which uses Microsoft’s Image Creator — ultimately relying on OpenAI’s DALL-E 3 model running on cloud servers. All Windows 11 PCs have access to that, while Copilot+ PCs have both buttons on Paint’s toolbar.

Here’s the catch: To use this feature, you have to sign into a Microsoft account. While it uses a Copilot+ PC’s local hardware, it doesn’t work offline. For “AI safety” — to ensure the image generation model doesn’t generate anything terrible — the image your PC generates is sent to Microsoft’s cloud servers and only shown to you if it’s approved.

So, while this is neat, it does seem like you might as well just use some kind of cloud-based AI image generation tool. You could likely get better, higher-quality, more realistic results.

Restyle Image in Photos

Microsoft Copilot+ PC: Photos Restyle
The Restyle tool requires a Microsoft account and an internet connection. 

Chris Hoffman, IDG

The edit view in Windows 11’s Photos app gains an “AI” button on Copilot+ PCs. This launches a tool that lets you “restyle” your photos, using generative AI to change them. For example, you could transform them into the style of an impressionist painting, watercolor art, anime, or cyberpunk.

Once again, this is a neat parlor trick, but this feature is also dependent on Microsoft’s cloud servers for safety checking. You can’t use it offline. And, while I haven’t spent a lot of time trying to fine-tune the prompts, it does seem like the results are much less impressive than you’d get with a state-of-the-art AI image generation model running on more powerful cloud servers, particularly when it comes to professional, business purposes.

Image Creator in Photos

Microsoft Copilot+ PC: Photos Image Creator
The built-in Image Creator requires an internet connection – so why not just use a cloud-based image generation tool?

Chris Hoffman, IDG

The Photos app also gains an Image Creator tool, which you can access from its sidebar. Once again, this AI image generator just isn’t producing the quality of results that you see from a state-of-the-art cloud-based AI image generator, like the results we’re seeing from Midjourney or Adobe Firefly.

As with all the other AI image tools, this won’t work offline — it does the AI image generation work on your Copilot+ PC but has to phone home to Microsoft’s servers before it shows you the image.

Live Captions for real-time transcription and translation

Microsoft Copilot+ PC: Live Captions bar
Live Captions are displayed on a floating bar at the top of your PC’s screen.

Chris Hoffman, IDG

On a Copilot+ PC, you can get live captions of any audio — audio playing on your PC or spoken audio picked up via your microphone. It adds real-time captions to anything. Just launch the “Live Captions” application from the Start menu.

This does work entirely offline. In fact, that’s one of the advantages: Your average Windows 11 PC has Live Captions, too. The main difference with a Copilot+ PC is that the translation happens on your PC’s hardware itself, so it works offline and will be snappier under bad network conditions.

Additionally, on a Copilot+ PC, this experience has built-in translations. Live Captions can understand 44 different languages and will translate them to English subtitles — something that could be very advantageous in the right sort of business scenario.

Windows Studio Effects for your webcam

Microsoft Copilot+ PC: Windows Studio Effects
Windows Studio Effects are neat, but most of them can also be found on Intel laptops released earlier this year.

Chris Hoffman, IDG

Copilot+ PCs offer Windows Studio Effects for real-time webcam effects in your meetings. You can blur your background or fake eye contact so it looks like you’re always looking directly at your webcam.

These particular features aren’t new, and they’re found on those first-generation AI PCs powered by Intel Meteor Lake chips as well. On a Copilot+ PC, however, there are also “Illustrated,” “Animated,” and “Watercolor” options that can add a generative AI-powered filter to your webcam image in real time. Your mileage may vary, but I found those creative filter effects to be very subtle. And they seem more relevant for playful, personal purposes than for professional company calls.

Overall, though, Windows Studio Effects are nice to have for online meetings — especially tweaks like eye contact and background blurring. And, because they use the NPU, they don’t slow down your PC or drain its battery.

What about Copilot?

Microsoft Copilot+ PC: Copilot offline
Copilot doesn’t use Copilot+ PC hardware to do anything extra.

Chris Hoffman, IDG

Like first-generation AI PCs, Copilot+ PCs have a Copilot key on their keyboard for quickly launching Microsoft’s Copilot AI assistant. That’s all they have. The Copilot experience doesn’t use the Copilot+ PC hardware in any way. It all runs entirely on Microsoft’s cloud servers, just as it does on current Windows 11 or Windows 10 PCs.

In fact, the Copilot PC is less integrated with Windows 11 in some ways. These machines have the “new” Copilot application Microsoft recently announced — it’s not a sidebar anymore, it’s a floating window. However, it’s also a progressive web application, and it doesn’t integrate with Windows at all. That means you can’t say “Turn on dark mode,” or “Empty my recycle bin.” Perhaps those features will arrive in the future. Either way, all Windows 11 PCs will get this new Copilot app experience eventually. But there’s nothing special here for Copilot itself.

Third-party NPU experiences

Microsoft and Qualcomm are proud of the neural processing unit (NPU) in these Copilot+ PCs. They’re capable of 40+ TOPS — that’s “trillion operations per second.”

Beyond features integrated into Windows itself, the idea is that this baseline level of NPU performance allows app developers to integrate AI features in their Windows apps. While a Copilot+ PC is something unique now, future hardware from Intel (with Lunar Lake, launching later this year) and AMD (with Strix Point, also launching later this year) will deliver that kind of NPU performance as well. At that point, all new Windows PCs will meet this requirement.

It’s not just about Windows. It’s about what third-party apps can do with this hardware.

There’s not a lot available yet. For example: While Adobe Photoshop does now have a native Arm version that can run better on the Snapdragon X Elite hardware, the Adobe Firefly AI image generation features built into Photoshop still uses Adobe’s cloud servers — not the NPU.

Should you buy a Copilot+ PC?

The big reason to buy one of these first Copilot+ PCs is for the combination of battery life and strong day-to-day performance. If it’s time for a new PC, they’re worth a look.

If you’re just looking for AI, I would consider waiting — there’s not a lot here yet. And if you’re particularly interested in Recall, good news: It’s not out yet, and when it does arrive in a few months, there’s a good chance you’ll be able to pick up a Copilot+ PC on sale. Score.

Eventually, though, all new Windows laptops — whether they have Intel or AMD x86 chips, Qualcomm Arm chips, or an Arm chip from another manufacturer — will meet these “Copilot+ PC” specifications and be capable of running these AI experiences.

The only question is if you want to be an early adopter.

Let’s stay in touch! Sign up for my free Windows Intelligence newsletter — I’ll send you three things to try every Friday. Plus, get free copies of Paul Thurrott’s Windows 11 and Windows 10 Field Guides (a $10 value) as soon as you sign up.

Congress warns Microsoft about foreign hackers again — will it matter this time?

June 26, 2024 /

To get things done using the power of the US government, President Theodore Roosevelt used to advise, “Speak softly and carry a big stick.” No need to rage and roar to accomplish what you want — instead, rely on the considerable power of the federal government to get things done.

How things have changed. These days when it comes to reining in Big Tech, the motto of Congress has essentially become “Speak loudly and carry a small stick.” Call a public hearing, rant and rave about the untrammeled power of major tech players — then do nothing.

Take, for example, the recent mid-June hearing in which the House Committee on Homeland Security grilled Microsoft President Brad Smith about how the company allowed Chinese government-supported hackers to carry out what The New York Times calls “a devastating hack of federal government networks” while maintaining its business presence on Chinese soil.

At the hearing, Congress members demanded that Microsoft harden its security, and questioned its commercial presence in China. Then the hearing ended. Congress had spoken loudly — perhaps not nearly as loudly as it should have, but at least it was more than a whisper.

After that? No big stick. In fact, no stick at all. Microsoft continues to have the largest share of the federal government’s IT budget. And it still hasn’t faced any consequences for allowing Chinese hackers to run wild through government networks. 

However, there’s some evidence that Microsoft might finally face real pushback from the feds, including possible revenue losses. To see why that may happen, let’s first take a deeper look at the Chinese hack and Microsoft’s presence in China.

Storm-0558 runs amok

A year ago, the Chinese-government sponsored espionage group Storm-0558 conducted an audacious feat of hacking — it broke into the email accounts of high-level government officials, including Commerce Secretary Gina Raimondo, Ambassador to China Nicholas Burns, and Rep. Don Bacon (R-NE), all of whom help oversee the US relationship with China.

That was just the tip of the iceberg. Some 25 US government agencies were hit; 60,000 emails from the State Department alone were stolen by the hackers.

As I detailed earlier this year, the attack was made possible by stunning acts of incompetence. The Chinese hackers used a cryptographic key to carry out the exploit — a key created in 2016 that was supposed to have been retired in 2021 but wasn’t. Why didn’t Microsoft retire it? Because the company couldn’t make its consumer keys more secure, and so rather than solve the problem, it left the key lying around in an insecure place. Storm-0558 stole it, used it to forge user credentials, and then used those credentials to hack into government email accounts.

In April, the US Department of Homeland Security (DHS) delivered a  blistering report, blaming the hack on a “cascade of Microsoft’s avoidable errors.” The report said the company “failed to detect the compromise of its cryptographic crown jewels on its own, relying instead on a customer to reach out to identify anomalies the customer had observed.”

The report, according to The Washington Post, exposed Microsoft’s “shoddy cybersecurity practices, lax corporate culture and a lack of transparency.”

Microsoft’s presence in China

Meanwhile, while China hacks Microsoft, Microsoft keeps a presence in China. Smith told Congress that the company’s commercial presence there accounts for an estimated 1.4% to 1.5% of its overall sales. That might not sound like much, but the company’s revenue for the fiscal year ending in March 2024 was $236.6 billion, meaning Microsoft took in approximately $1.5 billion from its Chinese office.

Given Chinese hacking of Microsoft and its customers, including the federal government, Congress members at the hearing asked why the company kept its presence in China, especially since the revenue represents such a small part of the company’s overall sales.

“Is it worth it?” Rep. Carlos Gimenez, (R-FL), asked bluntly.

Smith gave an answer only a lawyer could love — or understand, for that matter. The Times paraphrased the answer this way: “Mr. Smith argued that Microsoft’s business in China served American interests by protecting the trade secrets of Microsoft’s American customers operating there and learning from what’s going on in the rest of the world.”

Got it? Me, neither. The real reason is simpler: Microsoft didn’t become the world’s most valuable company (or second-most valuable company, depending on the day) by leaving money on the table, even if it’s only 1.4% of its total sales.

The ‘not-a-gotcha’ hearing

Smith’s grilling was pretty tame. Rep. Bennie Thompson, (D-MS), telegraphed that before the questioning began. “This is not a gotcha hearing,” he assured Smith.

After it was over, not much seemed to have changed. Microsoft continues to be a target for Chinese hackers, and the company still has a Chinese office. And Microsoft continues to reap billions from the federal government including, ironically, for cybersecurity services.

But there are some small signs that perhaps Microsoft could eventually face consequences for lax security practices.  Multiple tech industry groups that include Microsoft competitors have launched a lobbying campaign, arguing that having the federal government rely so heavily on a single vendor for tech products and services is inherently a cyber risk.

In a letter to top government officials and Congress, they argued that best security practices require that the government “switch to a multi-vendor environment” —  in other words, stop relying so heavily on Microsoft and let other companies in on the action.

There’s evidence that at least some in Congress are listening. In late May, Sens. Eric Schmitt, (R-MO), and Ron Wyden, (D-OR), sent a sharp letter asking the Pentagon to back off from a plan to expand its use of Microsoft products: “We write with serious concern that the Department of Defense (DoD) is doubling down on a failed strategy of increasing its dependence on Microsoft at a time when Congress and the administration are reviewing concerning cybersecurity lapses that led to a massive hack of senior U.S. officials’ communications….

“We are deeply concerned that DoD is choosing not to pursue a multi-vendor approach that would result in greater competition, lower long-term costs, and better outcomes related to cybersecurity.”

The DoD, of course, doesn’t need to heed the letter. But Microsoft is clearly starting to feel some heat. Smith told Congress that in response to the Chinese hack, Microsoft launched what he calls “the single largest cybersecurity engineering project in the history of digital technology.” 

If that’s true, and if it stops future attacks like the Chinese one, Microsoft will likely be sitting pretty. I wouldn’t expect the feds to cut back on Microsoft contracts. But if he’s wrong and there’s another major hack, I’d bet that for once Congress will speak loudly, carry a big stick — and cut back on government contracts with the company.

AI regulation: While Congress fiddles, California gets it done

June 26, 2024 /

In the US, artificial intelligence (AI) regulation is a hot mess.

There are about 650 proposed state bills in 47 states and more than 100 federal congressional proposals related to AI, according to Multistate.ai. New York alone is home to 98 bills and California has 55. Then there are the executive orders from President Joseph R. Biden Jr. that have spun off many working groups and galvanized several government regulatory agencies.

When regulations are codified in so many ways by so many sources in so many places, the chance for conflicting directives is high — and the result could stifle business and leave loopholes in protections.

AI’s complexity adds to the confusion as do the numerous aspects of AI that warrant regulation. The list is lengthy, including job protection, consumer privacy, bias prevention and discrimination, deepfakes, disinformation, election fraud, intellectual property, copyright, housing, biometrics, healthcare, financial services, and national security risks.

So far, the federal government has dragged its feet on AI regulation, seemingly more focused on party politics and infighting than in crafting useful measures. As a result, Congress has not been an effective tool for structuring regulation policy.

The time for congressional action on AI regulation was two or three years ago. But with little being done federally, the states, particularly California, are attempting to fill the breach.

California jumps out front

California is out in front on consumer protections for AI. In 2018 — even before the public arrival of generative AI (genAI) in late 2022 — the state passed a transparency law that requires disclosure when genAI tools are used for deceptive communications to incentivize a purchase or sale of goods or services in a commercial transaction, or to influence a vote in an election. California has also passed laws on bias prevention in AI-based pre-trial criminal justice tools, deepfake use in electoral campaigns, and banning the use of facial recognition to analyze images captured by police body cams. (The state is nearing the possible release of additional consumer protections introduced in draft form late last year.)

Among other bills, California is formulating a model-level-approach to AI regulation, known as CA SB-1047. The legislation sets its sights on frontier models and the big tech companies that are developing them.

OpenAI defines frontier models as “highly capable foundation models that could possess dangerous capabilities sufficient to pose severe risks to public safety.” SB-1047 would establish a new California agency to regulate large AI models and verify compliance. To be certified, developers would have to provide safeguards, security protections, prevention of critical harms, and built-in a facility that would enable a complete shutdown of the model.

This bill is the one being most closely watched by the tech industry.

Already, AI bills introduced by California and other states “are having a ripple effect globally,” according to The New York Times, quoting Victoria Espinel, CEO of the Business Software Alliance, a lobbying group representing big software companies. Causing its own ripple effect, the European Union adopted the comprehensive AI Act in March; it will be rolled out in stages beginning in 2025.

Follow the EU’s lead

What’s wrong with the US that it is unable to formulate and legislate a unified set of AI regulations like the EU? And do so in a timely manner? Senate Majority Leader Chuck Schumer, D-NY, has been working on AI regulation with industry leaders, but the effort doesn’t seem to be going anywhere quickly.

We’re well past the point of debating whether regulation is needed, yet many pundits are still arguing the point as if there were some doubt of its necessity. Those in the US in a position to foster comprehensive regulatory policies for AI should come together, roll up their sleeves, and craft policy.

California has done a great job, but its policies are not binding outside of its borders. The US is more freewheeling and supportive of business innovation than many other nations. That can be  one of this country’s strengths. But genAI, and AI in general, has the potential to be as destructive as it can be constructive. We ignore that risk at out peril.

The next 12 to 18 months will see significant AI legislation play out around the globe. The US is in danger of missing that timeframe. It’s time to catch up.

Microsoft’s bundling of Teams may have violated EU antitrust rules

June 25, 2024 /

Microsoft broke European Union competition law by bundling Teams with other Office 365 applications, the European Commission said in a preliminary finding published Tuesday. If Microsoft fails to defend itself, the company could face billions of dollars in fines and other penalties.

The EU’s antitrust regulator said it had sent Microsoft a statement of objections outlining its finding that the company had given its Teams communications service an unfair advantage by bundling it with subscriptions to Office 365 and Microsoft 365, the suite of software-as-a-service applications that also includes Word, Excel, and PowerPoint.

Teams enables workforce collaboration via video and chat and surged in popularity during the Covid-19 pandemic, reaching over 300 million global users in 2023.

“The Commission preliminarily finds that Microsoft is dominant worldwidein the market for SaaS productivity applications for professional use,” it said in a news release posted Tuesday.

The company’s practice since at least April 2019 to tie Teams to its core SaaS productivity apps has restricted market competition for similar products as well as defended Microsoft’s own “market position in productivity software as well as its suites-centric model from competing suppliers of individual software,” the Commission concluded.

“In particular, the Commission is concerned that Microsoft may have granted Teams a distribution advantage by not giving customers the choice whether or not to acquire access to Teams when they subscribe to their SaaS productivity applications,” the Commission’s said.

Interoperability limits between competing offerings and Microsoft’s apps also bolstered Microsoft’s advantage and prevented its rivals from competing, and in turn innovating, to the detriment of customers in the European Economic Area, the Commission said, referring to the 27 EU countries plus Iceland, Norway and Liechtenstein.

Investigation a year in the making

The decision follows a nearly year-long investigation that started last July and was sparked by a July 2020 competition complaint against the software giant by then enterprise messaging application Slack, which has since been bought by Salesforce.

Microsoft first unbundled Teams from its Office suites in the European Economic Area and Switzerland in August 2023 to try to appease EU officials during the investigation, then extended that move worldwide in April.

Neither effort apparently did anything to dissuade the Commission from considering Microsoft in violation of competition rules, a decision that was foreshadowed when the Competition said in May that it planned to include Teams in its inivestigation of Microsoft for anticompetitive practices despite the company’s concessions.

For its part, Microsoft plans to continue to address remaining concerns the Commission has over Teams as it awaits further decisions by the Commission, such as what, if any, financial consequences the company will face.

“Having unbundled Teams and taken initial interoperability steps, we appreciate the additional clarity provided today and will work to find solutions to address the Commission’s remaining concerns,” Brad Smith, Microsoft vice chair and president, said in a statement emailed to Computerworld.

The road ahead

Microsoft now gets a chance to present its defense. However, if it’s unable to sway the Commission from its preliminary decision, it could be forced to pay a fine of up to 10% of its annual worldwide revenue under EU law, and the Commission may also impose remedies to end the infringement.

“This EU chargesheet proves what was feared: Microsoft didn’t do enough to provide a level playing field to the Team’s competitors,” noted Pareekh Jain, CEO of EIIRTrend & Pareekh Consulting.

It now has its work cut out for it to unbundle Teams and create interoperability for competitors’ software to avoid penalties and damages, Jain noted.

It’s about a decade since EU regulators last levelled anti-trust charges against Microsoft: Its failure to offer Windows 7 users a choice of browser drew a €561 million (then about $731 million) fine.

To date, Microsoft has racked up around €2.2 billion ($2.4 billion) in fines for tying or bundling products together in a way that was deemed anti-competitive by EU regulators.

Why Apple is now in the server market

June 25, 2024 /

The rush to build global cloud infrastructure to support artificial intelligence (AI) has turned Nvidia into a top three tech stock and will likely nurture innovation in processor design and energy creation — but Apple may need to serve itself.

Apple needs to bring more for less

The IEA says global electricity demand to drive data centers will more than double by 2026. That’s even as consumption of AI services such as OpenAI spikes when devices (including new iPhones) gain easy access to them.

To satisfy demand, tech firms must tweak more computational performance and additional energy efficiency from the chips they put inside both servers and edge devices. But this push for efficiency and low power reflects what Apple has been trying to do with its own silicon development for years. Apple Silicon chips were way ahead of the wider industry on both metrics (at least for consumer devices) long before generative AI (genAI) climbed through the Overton Window. 

While attention on server processors rests with Nvidia, the M4 processor inside the iPad Pro could be seen as harbinger of what is to come. At 38 trillion operations per second, we know it has the fastest Neural Engine you can get. Ever modest, Apple has described the M4 iPad as the best AI PC money can buy, and those same processors are also coming to servers.

Apple is now in the server market

The company’s Private Cloud Compute (PCC) system consists of proprietary Apple servers running Apple Silicon chips to provide responses to Apple Intelligence queries.  

While these are only being situated in US data centers at this time (as that’s the only place Apple Intelligence will be made available on launch), it’s easy to expect the company will deploy these highly secure systems globally *except in the EU in the coming months. 

It must. As Apple Intelligence launches globally, Apple will find itself needing to ramp up its international server infrastructure to meet the demands for AI its billion or so customers might make. 

But one data center at a time, server by server, Apple is already in the server market. Motivated by privacy, these Apple servers also meet wider industry needs around energy consumption and performance requirements.

It makes sense for Apple to expand this provision, perhaps even to offer highly secure, low energy server services to enterprise users, but it’s more likely to drive its streaming services while lowering energy consumption.

There’s another chip coming

It is worth noting that Apple hasn’t yet hit a performance ceiling. Very likely to be tumbling off production lines right now, the next iPhone chip is expected to be a 3nm processor. This might deliver even faster Neural Engine performance than you get inside the M4, which means the next iPhone will be capable of handling even bigger calculations at higher speeds for less energy than Apple’s best available current chip delivers now. Apple also has a road map toward 2nm chips, which will maintain that pattern of performance and energy efficiency.

All of this means the company already has a road map toward processor performance that it can now apply to the server market it abandoned in 2011, when it discontinued the Xserve. 

This is true corporate social responsibility

Apple already knows it isn’t good enough to just put high-performance chips inside servers and edge devices if they consume vast quantities of energy. To mitigate this, the company has already invested hundreds of millions of dollars in reducing energy consumption across its entire ecosystem, including major investments in renewable energy supply. It will not turn back time.

With that in mind, it will want to widen its ecosystem of low power, high performance iCloud servers, and when doing so it makes sense for it adopt those servers across its other online services over time. After all, if it can build servers and services that can be delivered at lower energy requirements without compromise on performance, why wouldn’t it do so?

For Apple, adoption of these may be an easy win in terms of its environmental performance data. But at what point will these systems become a service offering in their own right? What value could they unlock for the company?

However the eventual story ends, it’s interesting that by focusing on energy efficiency and computational performance for iPhone chips (and the PA Semi purchase), Apple put itself in a good position to meet the then-unseen challenges of server-based AI — and the space between the lines suggests we’re not near the end of that particular story just yet….

Please follow me on Mastodon, or join me in the AppleHolic’s bar & grill and Apple Discussions groups on MeWe.

Digital nomads just got huge screens and fast internet

June 25, 2024 /

The digital nomad lifestyle — traveling while working via a laptop and the internet — has always come with downsides. 

When you have a home office, you can control your tools and gear. When you’re a digital nomad, you have to compromise. Specifically, you can’t carry a giant display — and you can’t always find fast internet. 

Suddenly, both of these pain points are being erased.

Virtual screens get real

A great many of us need or prefer a very large screen, or several screens; we crave screen real estate for multitasking. (Software developers, who are more prone to digital nomad living than most, tend to favor acres and acres of screen real estate.)

Big screens just weren’t an option for digital nomads — until now. We suddenly have a variety of much-needed new or improved options for giant virtual desktop screens. 

Apple Vision Pro

Apple — which is rumored to have stopped working on its Apple Vision Pro headset in favor of a cheaper, smaller future spatial computing device next year, according to a report from The Information — recently improved its virtual Mac desktop screen feature for existing Apple Vision Pro users. 

At WWDC 2024 earlier this month, Apple unveiled its new visionOS 2.0, which upgrades the virtual Mac display feature. The original version showed a Mac desktop at a resolution of 2560×1440 — less than one 4k monitor. The new version enables the equivalent of two 4k screens connected into a single display that wraps around the user in a holographic semicircle. 

The new feature is nice for existing Apple Vision Pro users, but the platform is still generally too expensive ($3,499), bulky, uncomfortable and Apple-centric for many digital nomads who just want a bigger screen. 

The good news is that other more affordable and lighter-weight options have also emerged. 

Xreal Beam Pro

Xreal last week announced the Beam Pro — a gadget the size and shape of a smartphone that delivers a spatial computing experience to the company’s Xreal AR glasses: Air, Air 2, Air 2 Pro, Air 2 Ultra. 

The device runs on Android 14, uses Xreal’s NebulaOS, and  features a 6.5-in. 2K touchscreen display that allows users to control and interact with augmented reality (AR) content displayed through the glasses. It runs on a Qualcomm Snapdragon platform and offers access to apps in the Google Play Store, as well as streaming services and cloud gaming platforms.

The Beam Pro has two 50-megapixel rear cameras, which capture spatial and 3D videos and images. It also has two USB-C ports, allowing the glasses and Beam Pro to be powered simultaneously. The device supports Nvidia CloudXR tech, which uses Nvidia RTX GPUs for rendering.

Best of all, the Beam Pro can be used to connect to laptops or desktops for screen mirroring through its two USB-C ports. 

Xreal Beam Pro costs $200 and there’s a bundle deal with the Beam Pro, plus the glasses, that’s 10% of the price of Apple Vision Pro. Better Xreal glasses raise that price, but even the most expensive bundle costs a fraction of the Apple Vision Pro. 

Rokid AR Lite

The Rokid AR Lite is a new spatial computing platform that combines the Rokid Max 2 AR glasses and the Rokid Station 2 host unit. The Rokid Max 2 glasses weigh just 75 grams and offer a 50-degree field of view with 1080-by-1200-pixel resolution and up to 600 nits of brightness. You can adjust the lenses to match your vision, so you can see clearly despite the particulars of your eyesight.

The Rokd Station 2 runs on the Snapdragon 6 Gen 1 mobile platform and Rokid’s YodaOS. It enables system-level 3DoF (3 degrees of freedom) tracking and enables you to run up to three apps simultaneously across holographic floating screens. The “Giant Screen Mode” can enlarge a single app up to a 300-in. virtual display.

Sightful Spacetop G1

The Sightful Spacetop G1, which I wrote about more than a year ago, is a Chromebook-like cloud computing laptop with AR glasses instead of a screen. The device gives you the equivalent of a 100-in. display, which appears to float in space in front of you.

The Spacetop G1 is based on the Qualcomm Snapdragon QCS8550 platform, which includes a KRYO CPU, Adreno 740 GPU, and AI processing capabilities. It comes with 16GB of RAM, 128GB of storage and runs on the company’s proprietary Chromium-based operating system, Space OS. 

The AR glasses have two OLED display panels that provide 1920×1080 pixels per eye at a 90Hz refresh rate. The glasses offer a 50-degree diagonal field of view and support custom prescription lenses. 

Connectivity options include Wi-Fi 7, Bluetooth 5.3, and 5G/LTE support. The base unit features two USB-C ports for peripherals and includes a 5-megapixel webcam, and two open-ear speakers in the glasses to provide the audio. 

The entire system, including the glasses, weighs just 3.08 lbs — great for carrying around in a backpack. The Spacetop G1 is expected to ship in October. 

Big bandwidth gets small

For digital nomads like me who travel from place to place, internet connectivity ranges from great to non-existent. As a write this, I’m staying in a 300-year-old house in Provence. The house is beautiful, but the Wi-Fi is only so-so — until it stops completely, which happens every 20 minutes or so. (The Airbnb listing promised fast fiber.) 

In fact, on Thursday I guest-hosted on Computerworld’s Today in Tech podcast, and had to book a private booth at a great co-working place and maker space here in Provence called The FabLab of Pernes. Without the co-working space, I wouldn’t have been able to do the podcast.)

Suddenly, the days of having to rely on local resources for internet connectivity are numbered. 

SpaceX Vice President of Starlink Engineering Michael Nicolls  last week unveiled a new portable version of its Starlink satellite internet terminal called the Starlink Mini — a small, portable satellite dish with a built-in Wi-Fi router. 

Later, Vice President of Starlink Business Operations at SpaceX Chad Gibbs demonstrated the device from the back of a Cybertruck, going from a brand new Starlink Mini in the box to achieving 180 Mbps in roughly two minutes. 

The Starlink Mini costs $599, $100 more than the regular dish. Current Starlink customers can add Mini Roam to their existing residential service for an extra $30 per month; it provides 50GB of mobile data, with extra data beyond that limit costing more. 

The Starlink Mini is more power efficient than other devices, and it can be powered by a power bank battery — no wall plug needed.The month of June 2024 has radically changed the digital nomad proposition. Suddenly, we can carry gigantic displays and fiber-equivalent internet connectivity in our backpacks. For digital nomads it’s a big-screen, better-connected new world.