Lenovo isn't just devoting its energy to high-end laptops at Mobile World Congress 2022. The company has revamped its IdeaPad Gaming lineup with systems aimed at relative newcomers to portable PC gameplay. The AMD-powered IdeaPad Gaming 3 and Intel-based IdeaPad Gaming 3i both sport 15- and 16-inch screens (including a 1600p 165Hz display option on 16-inch models) and a "cleaner" overall design with better port access and improved cooling to keep them quiet. You can also expect the latest CPU options, including Ryzen 6000 H-series chips in the Gaming 3 and up to 12th-gen Core for the Gaming 3i.

Your video choices vary depending on your processor. IdeaPad Gaming 3 buyers will have to make do with up to GeForce RTX 3050 Ti graphics, while Gaming 3i buyers can max out their laptops with either an RTX 3060 or Intel's Arc. You do get to use speedier DDR5 memory in the AMD-based machines where you 'settle' for DDR4 in the Intel variants, however. Both PC families are otherwise very similar, with support for up to 32GB of RAM and 1TB of SSD storage. You'll have to be content with one USB-C 3.2 port, but there are two USB-A 3.2 ports as well as HDMI 2.0 and Ethernet.

Lenovo

The 15-inch models debut first, with the IdeaPad Gaming 3i arriving in April with a $990 starting price. The similarly-sized Gaming 3 surfaces in May for $930. Wait until June and you can buy the 16-inch versions of either computer, beginning at $1,140 for the Gaming 3 and $1,490 for the Gaming 3i. Regardless of the PC you own, there's a $100 Legion M600s Qi mouse (shown at middle) due in September that promises a 19,000DPI sensor, "lossless" Bluetooth and USB connections, RGB lighting and its namesake Qi wireless charging.

And yes, there are some comparatively ordinary IdeaPads for those less interested in gaming than creativity. The IdeaPad Flex 5 and Flex 5i (below) convertible laptops respectively use AMD Ryzen 5000 U-series and Intel 12th-gen Core U-series processors while coming in 14- and 16-inch variants. They're thinner and lighter than their predecessors with weight starting at 3.3lbs. You can only splurge for an 1800p OLED screen with the 14-inch Flex 5i, but everyone has the option of upgrading to 1400p (14-inch models) or 1600p (16-inch) LCDs if the default 1200p display isn't enough.

Both updated 2-in-1 laptops are decidedly more affordable than their gaming-oriented siblings. The Flex 5i is the most affordable of the two, and will arrive in May starting at $620 for a 14-inch version and $900 for the 16-inch edition. Opt for the Flex 5 and you'll find a higher $690 starting price when it ships in May, but a low $750 entry point for its 16-inch counterpart.

Lenovo

Catch up on all of the news from MWC 2022 right here!

Lenovo is coming to Mobile World Congress 2022 with a small flood of IdeaPad tablets, including one of the relatively few Windows tablets on the market. The IdeaPad Duet 5i (shown above) mates a 12.3-inch Surface-style detachable tablet with Windows 11 and Intel's 12th-gen Core ultraportable chips. It won't have the 13-inch 120Hz display of the Surface Pro 8, but the size and refresh rate might be worth the tradeoff if you're more interested in CPU power or portability.

The Duet 5i supports up to a Core i7-1255U chip, 16GB of LPDDR4x memory (sorry, no DDR5 here) and 1TB of SSD storage. The two USB-C 3.2 ports, 11 hours of claimed battery life and 5MP front and rear cameras won't stand out, but you might appreciate the color-accurate 1600p screen, optional pen input and a relatively light 1.8lbs body.

The Windows tablet won't ship until July, but it will start at $750 with a keyboard cover included. Even with baseline specs (a Pentium 8505, 4GB of RAM and 128GB of storage), it may represent a better value than some Windows slates.

Lenovo

There are plenty of choices if you prefer Google-powered devices. Lenovo is trotting out three Chrome OS IdeaPad devices, including the 14-inch Flex 5i Chromebook (middle), 15-inch Flex 3i Chromebook and 11-inch Duet 3 Chromebook. The Flex 5i convertible is a clear step up from past models with up to 12th-gen Core processors, a 16:10 ratio full HD display, 8GB of RAM, 512GB of storage and a 1080p webcam. The more modest Flex 3i peaks with a Pentium N6000 chip, 8GB of RAM, 128GB of eMMC storage and a 720p camera. And the Duet 3 detachable may be worth noting if you're looking for an upgrade from its predecessors — you'll find a Snapdragon 7c Gen 2 chip, up to 8GB of RAM and as much as 256GB of eMMC storage.

The Flex 3i and Duet 3 Chromebook models will arrive in May, both of which start at $400. Wait until June and you can buy the Flex 5i Chromebook starting at $500.

There is one Android model in the mix. The third-generation Tab M10 Plus you see below is a solid budget Android 12 tablet with either a Snapdragon 680 (with 4GB or 6GB of RAM) or MediaTek G80 (3GB or 4GB of RAM), a 10.6-inch 2,000 x 1,200 pen-optional display and up to 128GB of expandable storage. You'll also find 8MP front and rear cameras and a lone USB-C 2.0 port. It doesn't ship until June, but the $190 entry price could make it a relatively easy choice.

Lenovo

Catch up on all of the news from MWC 2022 right here!

Lenovo has refreshed its ThinkPad lineup once again with the latest version of its beefy X1 Extreme laptop. The performance-focused ThinkPad X1 Extreme Gen 5 is powered by a 12th-gen Intel Core i9 H-Series processor up to i9 and supports NVIDIA's latest GeForce RTX laptop GPUs.

Vapor chamber cooling and integrated liquid metal thermal paste deliver up to a 10 percent performance boost, Lenovo claims. The system can have up to 64GB of DDR5 memory and up to 8TB of SSD storage. In other words, this isn't exactly an entry-level laptop.

There's Dolby Voice noise canceling support, along with a Dolby Atmos speaker system. Some of the display options include Dolby Vision support. There's a 16-inch, 16:10 aspect ratio panel option with a refresh rate of 165Hz and low-blue-light tech. Other options have features such as touch input, factory color calibration and up to 600 nit brightness with 4K resolution.

Lenovo

In addition, the laptop comes with a 90Wh battery, WiFi 6/6E and 5G connectivity, a Full HD front-facing camera and a SD Express 7.0 card reader. Like other current ThinkPad X1 Models, Tile's tracking tech is built in. You'll be able to track the laptop for up to 14 days, even when it's switched off.

The ThinkPad X1 Extreme Gen 5 will be available in June. It starts at $2,049.

On top of that, Lenovo has revealed new business-centric ThinkPad T series laptops. The company is largely moving that lineup to panels with a 16:10 aspect ratio and low-blue-light tech. As with the X1 Extreme, there are Full HD camera options and support for Dolby Audio, Dolby Voice and WiFi 6E.

Lenovo

There's a new 16-inch ThinkPad T16 alongside the 14-inch ThinkPad T14s Gen 3 and T14 Gen 3. The business-focused laptops will run on either 12th-gen Intel Core or AMD Ryzen Pro 6000 Series processors. Opting for an Intel-powered model means you can add a NVIDIA GeForce MX 550 or RTX 2050 GPU. Otherwise, the systems will use integrated graphics. There are two battery options for each device too, as well as built-in Tile support.

The ThinkPad T14 Gen 3 and T16 will be available in April, starting at $1,399 and $1,419, respectively, for Intel models. AMD-powered versions of either size start at $1,299. Timing and pricing for the ThinkPad T14s Gen 3 are a bit different. Intel models will arrive in June, starting at $1,529, while AMD versions will be available in May from $1,399.

Lenovo

Meanwhile, Lenovo says the ThinkVision M14d monitor is the world’s first 14-inch mobile display with a 16:10 aspect ratio. It has an IPS 2.2K panel with a resolution of 2240 x 1400. There's power passthrough support, so you'll only need one USB-C cable connected to a computer or tablet. There's a second USB-C port to which you can connect certain peripherals, such as an external storage drive or a phone.

The ThinkVision M14d, which comes with a protective sleeve, weighs less than 1.3 pounds (600 grams) and has a 60Hz refresh rate. It will ship in July and cost $299.

Lenovo also announced the ThinkBook 14s Yoga Gen 2 and ThinkBook 13s Gen 4, which have dual-tone color highlights and an anodized aluminum exterior design. They run on 12th-gen Intel Core processors and have Thunderbolt 4 and WiFi 6E connectivity. The 2-in-1s will be available in April, starting at $849 for both the 13-inch and 14-inch variants.

Lenovo

Catch up on all of the news from MWC 2022 right here!

TCL's affordable 30-series smartphone family has just grown considerably with no less than five new models, making for a total of seven. The new devices start at just €139 for the TCL 30 E and go up to €249 for the TCL 5G, while offering some nice features like 50-megapixel triple cameras on all models, along with AMOLED displays and 5,000 mAh batteries. Along with the phones, TCL introduced the NXTPAPER MAX 10, the latest and largest tablet using its full color paper-like display. 

The new smartphone models are the TCL 30 5G (€249), TCL 30+ (€199), TCL 30 (€179 ), and TCL 30 SE (€149 ) and TCL 30 E (€139). They share some common features, with all models having a 50-megapixel main rear camera setup and 5,000 mAh minimum batteries. All but the TCL 30 E have rear triple AI cameras as well, with the 30 E packing having a dual rear cameras. The TCL 30 5G, TCL 30+, and TCL 30 also have slightly bigger 5010mAh batteries and support 18W fast charging. 

The top-end TCL 30 5G is the only model with 5G capability, and also offers an ultrawide front camera. You also get a 6.7-inch 60 Hz FHD+ AMOLED screen, MediaTek Dimensity 700 CPU, 4GB of RAM and 64GB of expandable storage. 

TCL

The next two models, the TCL 30+ and TCL 30 have similar features, but lack 5G support and have lower-end MediaTek Helio G37 chipsets. The TCL 30+ has an ultrawide front camera like the 5G model, but that's missing on the TCL 30. Finally, the TCL 30 SE and 30 E (above) step things down another notch, as it were, with smaller 6.52-inch mini-notch displays, slightly smaller batteries with no fast charging and MediaTek G25 chipsets.

As the prices imply, all the models are set to be launched in Europe. Given that the first two 30-sieres models came to the US, we can hope that some or all of the models might be sold here too — but TCL has yet to say which other regions will get them. 

TCL

On top of the smartphones, TCL launched another tablet that uses its color paper-like screen, the NXTPAPER MAX 10 (above). It follows last year's 8.88-inch NXTPAPER and uses the same low-power reflective LCD that “reuses natural light" so there's no need for backlighting, according to TCL. However, it packs a larger 10.36-inch display with an 83% screen-to-body ratio. 

Other features include 4G or WiFi connectivity, a MediaTek MT8788 chipset, 13-megapixel rear/8-megapixel front cameras and an 8,000 mAh battery. It goes on sale starting in Asia from mid Q2 2022 and will be available starting from €269 in Europe, but again, TCL didn't say where else it would be sold. 

Samsung may be best known for its Galaxy phones, TVs and household appliances, but I think its laptops deserve more recognition. At MWC 2022 today, the company unveiled the next generation of its Galaxy Book series of PCs. Last year’s models brought vibrant AMOLED panels while maintaining strikingly sleek profiles. This time around, the new Galaxy Book 2 series offers upgraded webcams and processors, improved S Pens and a gorgeous new burgundy color option

At the moment, there are three models in the lineup: the convertible Galaxy Book 2 360, the clamshell Galaxy Book 2 Pro and the Galaxy Book 2 Pro 360, which is not only a mouthful of a name but also a high-end 2-in-1. They all sport 13-inch screens, with the Pro and Pro 360 also coming in 15-inch versions. A fourth “Business” model is coming later this year, and it’s the only 14-inch option of the lot, which is interesting given the laptop industry has generally been moving towards that size.

Like most computers launching this year, the Galaxy Book 2s run Windows 11 and come equipped with Intel’s 12th-gen Core i5 or i7 processors. But Samsung’s strength is, as always, in its displays and this year's AMOLEDs can hit up to 500 nits of brightness, making for easier viewing in challenging lighting conditions. At a recent hands-on one evening in New York, I wasn’t able to take the machines out to read under direct sunlight as the sun had already set. In the brightly lit demo space as well as under our spotlights, though, it was easy to watch videos on the Galaxy Books.

Cherlynn Low / Engadget

Like I said last year in my review of the Book Pro 360, the new model’s 16:9 aspect ratio feels outdated in an era where most laptops have shifted to 16:10 screens. This leaves a thumb-wide bezel below the display that could otherwise display a few extra lines of text at least. Still, they all run at 1,920 x 1,080 which is probably a more power-efficient option than 4K for machines that are this thin and light.

I also enjoyed the vibrant colors on the AMOLED panels (which support HDR), almost as much as I enjoyed scrawling “I love cake” on them. The Book 2 Pro 360 comes with an S Pen, while the 360 supports it but doesn’t ship with one. The Pro, meanwhile, isn’t touch-enabled and doesn’t work with the stylus. There’s not much new about the S Pen here — Samsung says it's improved the latency, though it hasn't shared details beyond that. The pen is still a separate accessory that you might leave behind by accident. I miss when Samsung included a smaller version of it in an onboard slot in the Galaxy Book Flex.

Besides the new chips and brighter displays, the main upgrade for this generation of the Galaxy Book is higher-resolution webcams. Specifically, all three models now offer 1080p cameras that, based on my limited experience so far, already take better pictures than their predecessors. Samsung had aggressive beauty filters built into last year’s Galaxy Book Pro 360 for some reason, resulting in poorly exposed pictures from its 720p camera. This time, thankfully, the camera app looked like the stock Windows version with no strange filters on my face.

Cherlynn Low / Engadget

In fact, it seems like Samsung’s cleaned up its software in general. Things from previous models like a faux privacy screen and a security feature that would snap pictures of people making failed login attempts were nowhere to be seen. That doesn’t necessarily mean they’re gone — I didn’t have time to hunt them down during the hands-on. But the demo units presented a fairly clean Windows 11 experience, from what I saw.

The last new offering in the Galaxy Book 2 is a burgundy color option (limited to the Pro 360) and I am ashamed to admit this might be my favorite thing about Samsung’s latest laptops. It’s the same shade as you get in the S22 Ultra, and after covering boring silver, black, white and even copper laptops for years, I’m just grateful for something that’s not just different but that’s beautiful. Samsung’s notebooks have been some of the more colorful around, like its fiery red Chromebook or the cobalt blue Book Flex. I never knew I could lust after a burgundy laptop, but here I am coveting a PC for its color.

I also really liked how light and thin the Book 2 Pro is (13-inch version weighs 0.87kg or 1.91 pounds), and in spite of its daintiness it felt premium and sturdy. Samsung’s laptops might not look as elegant as HP’s Spectre series, but they certainly give Dell’s XPS or Microsoft’s Surface products some competition.

Cherlynn Low / Engadget

But back to features that will make more of a difference in your daily workflow. The 15-inch Book 2 Pro 360 has a comfortable, spacious keyboard and gigantic touchpad that was responsive during my time with it. I hardly ever use numpads anymore, but the larger models come with them, which could be handy for those working with numbers a lot. I also enjoyed typing on the 13-inch versions of the Galaxy Book 2 — there’s enough travel and satisfying feedback.

My main gripe with the Galaxy Book 2 is the $50 price hike. The Book 2 Pro 360 starts at $1,250, up from last year’s $1,200, and I’m not sure a brighter screen and sharper webcam alone are worth the difference. I’d also need to test these devices out for longer to gauge their real-world performance and determine things like battery life and thermal efficiency. The good news is there’s still time — pre-orders start on March 18th, with availability beginning on April 1st. The Galaxy Book 2 360 starts at $900, and is only available from April 1st onwards, while the Book 2 Pro goes for $1,050.

Catch up on all of the news from MWC 2022 right here!

TCL seems to love showing off eye-catching prototypes at shows, and today it’s doing the same for MWC 2022. Alongside an array of new phones and tablets, the company just debuted a concept device tentatively called the “Ultra Flex” — a phone with a 360-degree rotating hinge and a flexible display that bends along with it. That means this thing can fold in on itself as well as out towards the world.

This is a technically challenging proposition, since the screen has to undergo much more flexing than those that only bend one way. The strip that’s right above the hinge, in particular, would probably suffer the most stress.

In fact, it’s so prone to breaking that the unit we saw at our hands-on in New York never did turn on. Its 8-inch, 2,480 x 1,860 PLP AMOLED screen remained disappointingly dark, though TCL reps did show us photos of it working earlier that day. For now, we can only take their word for it.

TCL

The display wasn’t the only engineering challenge for this prototype: The 360-degree hinge also needed some finessing. Each time I folded and unfolded the device, most of the movement was smooth until the screen’s halves were close to touching. That’s when it made unsettling noises and felt like crunching cereal under a membrane. TCL has not shared any specifics on how the hinge and display work, either, keeping those details confidential for now. It’s clear that this prototype is nowhere close to being a real product.

Why would we even want a device that can fold both ways? TCL reps said it would offer the benefits of both inward-folding devices like the Galaxy Z Fold as well as those that bend outwards like Huawei’s first Mate X foldable. Having a panel you could fold outwards could offer a preview for your camera subjects to see how they look while you frame them up, for example, or let you present slides to someone facing you. Given that Huawei has since adopted Samsung’s approach instead of sticking with an outside-facing flexible screen, it appears that style of foldable might not be very feasible.

Still, I liked the Ultra Flex prototype’s matte blue finish and the mock quad-camera array on the back. The pliable, corrugated backing for the hinge also added an interesting touch to the design, and a slot on the bottom left indicates potential for the inclusion of an onboard stylus.

Cherlynn Low / Engadget

We also got to see the company’s “Fold n’ Roll” concept device in person for the first time since it was unveiled in April last year. This is a foldable 6.7-inch phone that uses a motorized mechanism that, at the push of a button, unfurls more of its screen to make an 8.8-inch 2,880 x 2,160 canvas. Like the Ultra Flex, this prototype felt janky, and getting the device to roll out its screen was like asking a dog to sit. Sometimes it worked as expected, sometimes pushing the button did nothing and sometimes the mechanism would whir away but the screen would struggle to move.

At least on this device the screen was working… Ish. For the first half of the demo session, the Fold n’ Roll was stuck on the lock screen, and didn’t respond to any touches or swipes. By some miracle, it eventually unlocked and revealed the Android home screen, but still refused to register any taps. I launched a grand total of zero apps on this prototype, helplessly watching it do nothing as I jabbed at the screen. It reminded me of the panel on Motorola’s Razr — both felt like they were slightly detached from the rest of the components below, like a piece of tape stuck to itself and no longer adhering to the rest of the roll.

The only thing it did was actually recognize when the additional bit of screen had finished rolling in or out, and change its aspect ratio and size to fill up and match the new widths. At this point I was so happy something worked that I was probably too impressed by a feature that should be expected, rather than a bonus.

Cherlynn Low / Engadget

Were these prototypes buggy as hell? Yes. Was I intrigued by them regardless? Also yes. We all love being distracted by interesting new form factors and product types, especially as non-foldable smartphone hardware matures and stagnates. As foldables continue to pique our interest and actually become better over the years, who knows what other shapes they might evolve into?

TCL hasn’t said if these prototypes are worth pursuing and turning into actual products, but the company has promised that it plans to launch a foldable phone that costs hundreds less than the competition. Though that has yet to happen, we did see a canceled product last year codenamed Chicago. It’s very similar to Samsung’s Galaxy Z Flip 3, though with a different external screen and camera setup, as well as a slightly more textured finish. I was impressed how nice this looked in person, and the hinge felt less resistant than the Z Flip 3’s. Until TCL starts selling these for real, though, all of its prototypes and concepts remain aspirational. I get that there are global supply issues potentially in the way, but at this point it feels like TCL has teased us for too long.

Catch up on all of the news from MWC 2022 right here!

A lot of Engadget readers – and to be honest, Engadget editors – are obsessed with e-ink devices. Whether they’re productivity workhorses or digital canvases, the tech has slowly continued to inch beyond the one-handed e-readers of the last decade.

The latest addition is a substantially-sized e-ink tablet from Huawei. The MatePad Paper has a 10.3-inch grayscale screen with an anti-glare, reflective display to aid low-light use. The Paper can reproduce 256 shades of greyscale to display text and images – and even video — although I'm not sure why you'd want B&W video.

You probably already noticed it’s got surprisingly small bezels for an e-ink device. Huawei says it’s honed the tablet down to an 86.3 percent screen-to-body ratio, with a book spine-inspired design ensuring there's something for you to hold. All that e-paper, coupled with the size of the thing, sets it apart from pretty much every other e-ink device we’ve seen so far. (The Kindle DX was a long time ago.)

Alongside 32 levels of backlighting, the device is also compatible with Huawei’s M Pencil, which usually launches alongside its more typical tablets. This means you can scribble, annotate and edit your documents and books, which is a very useful tool when it comes to e-ink devices. Notably, Huawei has been able to refine the sensitivity of the textured screen to 26ms. It might not be quite as super smooth as an S22 Ultra – or even Huawei’s other tablets, but it's notable on a matte e-ink surface. Is this the perfect digital note-taking device?

Continuing Huawei’s push to connect all of its devices as seamlessly as possible, you can connect the MatePad Paper to the company’s laptops, PCs, tablets and phones. Huawei says the tablet will appear like a USB drive, and you can drag and drop your notes and annotated PDFs across to your laptop. This is possible thanks to the company's propriety operating system, HarmonyOS.

Huawei product announcements come with the usual proviso, however. The hardware is exciting – and tempting for anyone who works with lots of books, documents and digital paperwork — but you’ll be constrained by HarmonyOS. 

The company says it's still growing out the ecosystem, but the onus remains on app creators and companies as to whether they’ll offer support. For example, There are a few ways I could check out my Kindle books on the MatePad Paper – maybe I could use the web-based reader? – but it won’t be as seamless as Amazon hardware. Then again, the MatePad Paper is also capable of more than a simple Kindle.

Huawei didn’t announce the availability and pricing of the MatePad Paper ahead of its MWC presentation. We’ll update this report when we hear more.

Catch up on all of the news from MWC 2022 right here!

Huawei’s top laptop series has gone through a few iterations, but the company has made some notable upgrades to its 2022 MateBook X Pro, without losing what we’ve liked from these laptops over the last few years. Yes, it’s still slim, yes it’s still understated. Yes, we don’t know if it’ll ever appear in the US.

The 2022 model will land with 11th gen Intel U series processors (a spokesperson added that 12th-gen MateBooks would arrive later this year), and a bigger screen. Huawei has expanded the screen up to 14.2 inches from the 13.9 inches of its predecessor, while simultaneously making the body even slimmer. Above the 3,120 x 2,080 display, there’s a HD micro camera – fortunately Huawei hasn’t moved it back to the peek-a-boo webcam keyboard button.

This is also Huawei’s first laptop to support the P3 color gamut and over 1 billion colors and reaches refresh rates of 90Hz too. And for those into touch displays, there's 10-point multitouch compatibility too. 

Inside the new wedge design, there are now triple air intakes, up from a single intake last year, including one built into the keyboard. Huawei says this results in 60 percent more airflow through the device. And it might be put to use. The new MateBook X Pro has a new 'performance mode' — accessed through a keyboard shortcut. Huawei says this boosts the CPU's thermal design power (TDP) to 30W for a "performance uplift". 

The MateBook X Pro comes with a 90W SuperCharge function that can give 3 hours of use on just a 15-minute charge. (And this all comes from a tiny 180-gram charger that looks more like a phone charger.) 

Plug a phone into one of the four USB-C ports and you’ll get up to 50 watts of charge, too. Huawei has also upgraded the sound in its latest laptop, with six speakers dotted around the MateBook X Pro. That's a lot. There are also four mics dotted around the perimeter to improve audio recording and conference calls. 

These are the big changes, but a lot is staying the same. There’s still a large trackpad (with some new “free touch” gestures, including one for swiftly scrobbling through video), a chiclet keyboard and Huawei’s Mobile App engine (for running Huawei’s mobile… apps on your laptop). 

Huawei

Alongside a new e-ink device, Huawei is also launching a new OLED hybrid PC. The 2-in-1 MateBook E comes with two keyboard options — alas likely to be sold separately or bundled with the PC, depending on region.

Alone, the 12.6-inch MateBook E weighs just over 700 grams (1.5 pounds) and is a slender 7.99mm thick. It will run on 11th-gen Intel Core processors with Intel's embedded Iris X graphics. Huawei's second-generation stylus will also work with the hybrid — the first time it's been compatible with the MateBook series — supporting 4,096 levels of pressure sensitivity and 2ms responsiveness. A magnetic keyboard folio, seen above, will allow you to adjust the view of the 2-in-1 while working, while a new Glide keyboard peripheral, adds an extra USB port to the device and will, according to Huawei, allow you to hold it in one hand. For spreadsheets on the go? 

The company is holding onto other details – including, crucially, price – for its big MWC reveal. We’ll update this story when it’s streamed this weekend. 

Catch up on all of the news from MWC 2022 right here!

On Saturday morning, as Russia’s invasion of Ukraine entered its third day, some of the country’s official government websites went down following a series of alleged cyberattacks. Among the sites that aren’t accessible as of the writing of this article include that of the Kremlin and the country’s Ministry of Defence. Several Twitter accounts claiming affiliation with Anonymous say the international hacking collective is behind the attacks.

“Faced with this series of attacks that Ukraine has been suffering from the Russian dictator Vladimir Putin, we could not help but support the Ukrainian people,” said one account. At the start of the conflict, the group said it would launch a “cyber war against the Russian government.” However, the Kremlin has denied Anonymous is behind the attacks, according to CNN.

It’s believed Anonymous is also responsible for hacking several Russian state TV channels. People have uploaded videos showing those channels playing Ukrainian music and displaying images of the country’s flag and other nationalistic symbols. 

The collective has also pledged to “keep the Ukrainian people online as best we can,” even as the invasion takes a heavy toll on the country's internet infrastructure. While there hasn’t been a widespread blackout, some parts of Ukraine, particularly those areas where fighting has been the most intense, have seen greatly diminished access. That's something that has prevented people from staying in touch with their loved ones.

Who wouldn't want an AI-driven robot sidekick; a little mechanical pal, trustworthy and supportive — the perfect teammate. But should such an automaton be invented would it really be your teammate, an equal partner in your adventurous endeavors? Or would it simply be a tool, albeit a wildly advanced one measured against today's standard? In the excerpt below from Human-Centered AI, author and professor emeritus at the University of Maryland, Ben Shneiderman, examines the pitfalls of our innate desire to humanize the mechanical constructs we build and how we are shortchanging their continued development by doing so.

University of Oxford Press

Excerpted from Human-Centered AI by Ben Shneiderman. Published by Oxford University Press. Copyright © 2021 by Ben Shneiderman. All rights reserved.

Teammates and Tele-bots

A common theme in designs for robots and advanced technologies is that human–human interaction is a good model for human–robot interaction, and that emotional attachment to embodied robots is an asset. Many designers never consider alternatives, believing that the way people communicate with each other, coordinate activities, and form teams is the only model for design. The repeated missteps stemming from this assumption do not deter others who believe that this time will be different, that the technology is now more advanced, and that their approach is novel.

Numerous psychological studies by Clifford Nass and his team at Stanford University showed that when computers are designed to be like humans, users respond and engage in socially appropriate ways. Nass’s fallacy might be described as this: since many people are willing to respond socially to robots, it is appropriate and desirable to design robots to be social or human-like.

However, what Nass and colleagues did not consider was whether other designs, which were not social or human-like, might lead to superior performance. Getting beyond the human teammate idea may increase the likelihood that designers will take advantage of unique computer features, including sophisticated algorithms, huge databases, superhuman sensors, information abundant displays, and powerful effectors. I was pleased to find that in later work with grad student Victoria Groom, Nass wrote: “Simply put, robots fail as teammates.” They elaborated: “Characterizing robots as teammates indicates that robots are capable of fulfilling a human role and encourages humans to treat robots as human teammates. When expectations go unmet, a negative response is unavoidable.”

Lionel Robert of the University of Michigan cautions that human-like robots can lead to three problems: mistaken usage based on emotional attachment to the systems, false expectations of robot responsibility, and incorrect beliefs about appropriate use of robots. Still, a majority of researchers believe that robot teammates and social robots are inevitable. That belief pervades the human–robot interaction research community which “rarely conceptualized robots as tools or infrastructure and has instead theorized robots predominantly as peers, communication partners or teammates.”

Psychologist Gary Klein and his colleagues clarify ten realistic challenges to making machines behave as effectively as human teammates. The challenges include making machines that are predictable, controllable, and able to negotiate with people about goals. The authors suggest that their challenges are meant to stimulate research and also “as cautionary tales about the ways that technology can disrupt rather than support coordination.” A perfect teammate, buddy, assistant, or sidekick sounds appealing, but can designers deliver on this image or will users be misled, deceived, and disappointed? Can users have the control inherent in a tele-bot while benefiting from the helpfulness suggested by the teammate metaphor?

My objection is that human teammates, partners, and collaborators are very different from computers. Instead of these terms, I prefer to use tele-bots to suggest human controlled devices. I believe that it is helpful to remember that “computers are not people and people are not computers.”

UOP

Margaret Boden, a long-term researcher on creativity and AI at the University of Sussex, makes an alternate but equally strong statement: “Robots are simply not people.” I think the differences between people and computers include the following:

Responsibility Computers are not responsible participants, neither legally nor morally. They are never liable or accountable. They are a different category from humans. This continues to be true in all legal systems and I think it will remain so. Margaret Boden continues with a straightforward principle: “Humans, not robots, are responsible agents.” This principle is especially true in the military, where chain of command and responsibility are taken seriously. Pilots of advanced fighter jets with ample automation still think of themselves as in control of the plane and responsible for their successful missions, even though they must adhere to their commander’s orders and the rules of engagement. Astronauts rejected designs of early Mercury capsules which had no window to eyeball the re-entry if they had to do it manually — they wanted to be in control when necessary, yet responsive to Mission Control’s rules. Neil Armstrong landed the Lunar Module on the Moon—he was in charge, even though there was ample automation. The Lunar Module was not his partner. The Mars Rovers are not teammates; they are advanced automation with an excellent integration of human tele-operation with high levels of automatic operation.

It is instructive that the US Air Force shifted from using the term unmanned autonomous/aerial vehicles (UAVs) to remotely piloted vehicles (RPVs) so as to clarify responsibility. Many of these pilots work from a US Air Force base in Nevada to operate drones flying in distant locations on military missions that often have deadly outcomes. They are responsible for what they do and suffer psychological trauma akin to what happens to pilots flying aircraft in war zones. The Canadian Government has a rich set of knowledge requirements that candidates must have to be granted a license to operate a remotely piloted aircraft system (RPAS).13 Designers and marketers of commercial products and services recognize that they and their organizations are the responsible parties; they are morally accountable and legally liable.14 Commercial activity is further shaped by independent oversight mechanisms, such as government regulation, industry voluntary standards, and insurance requirements.

Distinctive capabilities Computers have distinctive capabilities of sophisticated algorithms, huge databases, superhuman sensors, information-abundant displays, and powerful effectors. To buy into the metaphor of “teammate” seems to encourage designers to emulate human abilities rather than take advantage of the distinctive capabilities of computers. One robot rescue design team described their project to interpret the robot’s video images through natural language text messages to the operators.The messages described what the robot was “seeing” when a video or photo could deliver much more detailed information more rapidly. Why settle for a human-like designs when designs that make full use of distinctive computer capabilities would be more effective.

Designers who pursue advanced technologies can find creative ways to empower people so that they are astonishingly more effective—that’s what familiar supertools have done: microscopes, telescopes, bulldozers, ships, and planes. Empowering people is what digital technologies have also done, through cameras, Google Maps, web search, and other widely used applications. Cameras, copy machines, cars, dishwashers, pacemakers, and heating, ventilation, and air conditioning systems (HVAC) are not usually described as teammates—they are supertools or active appliances that amplify, augment empower, and enhance people.

Human creativity The human operators are the creative force — for discovery, innovation, art, music, etc. Scientific papers are always authored by people, even when powerful computers, telescopes, and the Large Hadron Collider are used. Artworks and music compositions are credited to humans, even if rich composition technologies are heavily used. The human qualities such as passion, empathy, humility, and intuition that are often described in studies of creativity are not readily matched by computers. Another aspect of creativity is to give human users of computer systems the ability to fix, personalize, and extend the design for themselves or to provide feedback to developers for them to make improvements for all users. The continuous improvement of supertools, tele-bots, and other technologies depends on human input about problems and suggestions for new features. Those who promote the teammate metaphor are often led down the path of making human-like designs, which have a long history of appealing robots, but succeed only as entertainment, crash test dummies, and medical mannequins. I don’t think this will change. There are better designs than human-like rescue robots, bomb disposal devices, or pipe inspectors. In many cases four-wheeled or treaded vehicles are typical, usually tele-operated by a human controller.

The DaVinci surgical robot is not a teammate. It is a well-designed tele-bot that enables surgeons to perform precise actions in difficult to reach small body cavities (Figure 14.1, above). As Lewis Mumford reminds designers, successful technologies diverge from human forms. Intuitive Surgical, the developer of the DaVinci systems for cardiac, colorectal, urological, and other surgeries, makes clear that “Robots don’t perform surgery. Your surgeon performs surgery with Da Vinci by using instruments that he or she guides via a console.”

Many robotic devices have a high degree of tele-operation, in which an operator controls activities, even though there is a high degree of automation. For example, drones are tele-bots, even though they have the capacity to automatically hover or orbit at a fixed altitude, return to their take-off point, or follow a series of operator-chosen GPS waypoints. The NASA Mars Rover vehicles also have a rich mixture of tele-operated features and independent movement capabilities, guided by sensors to detect obstacles or precipices, with plans to avoid them. The control centers at NASA’s Jet Propulsion Labs have dozens of operators who control various systems on the Rovers, even when they are hundreds of millions of miles away. It is another excellent example of combining high levels of human control and high levels of automation.

Terms like tele-bots and telepresence suggest alternative design possibilities. These instruments enable remote operation and more careful control of devices, such as when tele-pathologists control a remote microscope to study tissue samples. Combined designs take limited, yet mature and proven features of teammate models and embed them in devices that augment humans by direct or tele-operated controls.

Another way that computers can be seen as teammates is by providing information from huge databases and superhuman sensors. When the results of sophisticated algorithms are displayed on information-abundant displays, such as in three-dimensional medical echocardiograms with false color to indicate blood flow volume, clinicians can be more confident in making cardiac treatment decisions. Similarly, users of Bloomberg Terminals for financial data see their computers as enabling them to make bolder choices in buying stocks or rebalancing mutual fund retirement portfolios (Figure 14.2, below). The Bloomberg Terminal uses a specialized keyboard and one or more large displays, with multiple windows typically arranged by users to be spatially stable so they know where to find what they need. With tiled, rather than overlapped, windows users can quickly find what they want without rearranging windows or scrolling. The voluminous data needed for a decision is easily visible and clicking in one window produces relevant information in other windows. More than 300,000 users pay $20,000 per year to have this supertool on their desks.

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In summary, the persistence of the teammate metaphor means it has appeal for many designers and users. While users should feel fine about describing their computers as teammates, designers who harness the distinctive features of computers, such as sophisticated algorithms, huge databases, superhuman sensors, information-abundant displays, and powerful effectors may produce more effective tele-bots that are appreciated by users as supertools.