Technology

The Always Connected PC was a joint Microsoft-Qualcomm effort to create a laptop product that was better than the iPad Pro. [Disclosure: both companies are clients of the author.] At the heart of this effort was the realization that those using a tablet like the iPad pro as a laptop likely wanted a laptop in the first place.

Initial reviews of the two Always Connected PCs in the market (Asus/HP) have been less than glowing, but I think thatbecause reviewers are thinking of this like a regular laptop and not an iPad Pro alternative. Thus, I took the best of the Always Connected PCs & the Asus NovaGo TP370QL& on the road for a month.

Applefocus on the image isn&t just about marketing; itabout unleashing whole new ways of interacting with devices as the company quietly moves to twin machine intelligence with computer vision in a host of new ways.

What has Apple done

WWDC 2018 saw numerous OS improvements with this in mind. These enhancements extend across most of its platforms. Think about:

• Core ML: Applenew machine learning framework that lets developers build computer vision machine learning features inside apps using very little code. Supported features include face tracking, face detection, landmarks, text detection, rectangle detection, barcode detection, object tracking, and image registration.
• ARKit 2: The capacity to create shared AR experiences, and to allow others to also witness events taking place in AR space, opens up other opportunities to twin the virtual and real worlds.
• USDZ: Applenewly revealed Universal Scene Description (USDZ) file format allows AR objects to be shared. You can embed USDZ items in a web page or share them by mail. You&ll see this evolve for use across retail and elsewhere.
• Memoji:More than what they seem, Memojicapacity to respond to your facial movements reflects Applegradual move to explore emotion sensing. Will your personal avatar one day represent you in Group FaceTime VR chat
• Photos:Apple has boosted the app with the capacity not just to identify all kinds of objects in your images, but also by developing a talent to recommend ways to improve an image and/or suggesting new image collections based on what Siri learns you like. CoreML and improved Siri mean Google Lens must be in Applesights.
• Measure:Applenew ARKit measurement app is useful, but it also means that AR objects can begin to offer a much more sophisticated ability to scale, and it provides the camera sensor (and thus the AI) with more accurate information pertaining to distance and size.

Other features — such as Continuity Camera (which lets you use your iPhone to scan an item for use by your Mac) and Sirinew Shortcuts feature — make it easier for third-party developers to contribute to this attempt.

Apple users got their first peek at iOS 12, macOS Mojave and watchOS 5 on Monday at the company's annual Worldwide Developers Conference, with Apple highlighting the features and functions that will be included when the platforms are updated this fall. The target audience, naturally, is developers.