Microsoft Education launches various products to battle dominant Chromebooks, including $40 Pen

Microsoft is serious about growing its presence in the educational market. The company teamed up with partners Lenovo, Dell and Acer to unveil more affordable education-focused Windows laptops and 2-in-1's. The company also unveiled a lower-cost version of its Surface Pen called the Classroom Pen which can work with Surface devices. 

The Classroom Pen is an education-only product, so consumers won't have an opportunity to buy these more affordable devices.

The educational market is a segment that Microsoft and Apple have been trying to retain a foothold in but which is currently dominated by Google's Chromebooks.

Apple released a more affordable iPad and with Pencil capability last year to remain relevant and Microsoft launched various products aimed at this market. The first was the Surface Laptop, then Windows 10 S and also the adorable Surface Go. With more affordable Windows devices now available, educators and teachers now have a variety of choice for educational computers.

Source: Thurrott

Apple CEO Tim Cook advocates for privacy in recent TIME Op-Ed

Photo by Gadjo Cardenas SevillaBy Gadjo Cardenas Sevilla

Today's leading technology companies and their CEO's look to provide leadership not just in the technology space but also in various moral and ethical areas. Microsoft's CEO Satya Nadella is pushing ethics in AI and Machine Learning as guiding principles for the future.

Apple and its CEO Tim Cook have been loudly beating the drum in protection of user privacy which has culminated in an Op-Ed Apple took out on Time magazine with Cook weighing in on user's right to privacy and the many steps that government and regulation can protect these rights.

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Samsung Galaxy Note 9, Google Pixel 3 earn top marks for selfie cameras from DxOMark's test

Today's flagship smartphones are all about camera performance and when it comes to taking selfies, the two best devices in the market according to DxOMark are the Google Pixel 3 and the Samsung Galaxy Note 9.

These two devices are noted for capturing natural skin tones and preserving details, vivid colours and depth. Since selfie camera use is as dominant as the rear feacing camera (being deployed 40 per cent of the time), DxOMark devised new criteria for testing front-facing shooters focusing on skin tone, colour accuracy, sharpness, exposure, contrast and depth. 

Google's Pixel 3, with its dual frong-facing camera setup (ideal for group selfies as well), and the Samsung Galaxy Note 9 garnered scores of 92. They were followed by the Xiaomi's Mi Mix3, Apple iPhone XS Max and the Samsung Galaxy S9 Plus which earned scores of 84, 82, and 81 respectively.

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Dyson launches new Pure Hot+Cool purifier with improved filtration and total room cleaning

Dyson continues to innovate in the indoor purifier and fan and heater speace. The new Dyson Pure Hot+Cool is the only purifier with the ability to clean a whole room properly, with upgraded heating and cooling functions, new sensors, a LCD screen, and better filtration ideal for these frigid Canadian winters! This new Pure Hot+Cool purifier offers year-round whole room air purification that delivers heating in the winter and personal cooling in the summer.

This launch represents a significant step for Dyson as we now have over 605,000 connected purifiers and have collected 2.5 billion data points, making us one of the largest international networks of indoor air quality monitors in the world.

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