Australia’s Far North Queensland has been declared essentially dengue-free for the first time in about a century, following an intensive release campaign. Other targeted efforts are making strong progress in Asia and South America, where authorities have long tried to wipe out mosquito populations with insecticides.
“Our Wolbachia method is natural and self-sustaining,” Green says. “As a large-scale public health intervention, we believe that this a cost-effective way. The evidence so far is that it can sustain itself in local populations for up to seven years. And we expect it will continue.”
How machine learning and AI will help take the fight global
The Program’s data science partner, Gramener, is developing machine learning for the AI model. It will tap the Program’s existing release point records as well as many other datasets on human population densities, land use, industrial sites, weather, and other variables. Satellite imagery will be a big part of mapping out large urban areas with strategic and granular accuracy.
The aim is to have the ability to pinpoint multiple impactful release points within blocks of as little as 100 square meters.
“We want to target the areas where our intervention is needed most,” Green says. “We will be able to release Wolbachia mosquitoes where they will have the most effect with analysis at a countrywide scale instead of at a neighborhood scale. Our ambition is to be able to look at a whole country and run the model over all its urban areas and let it give an unprecedented snapshot of where we can have the most impact.”
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Joppa says machine learning and AI are potent tools for not-for-profits that want to tackle big challenges but have limited resources.
“The World Mosquito Program started with the objective of figuring out how to attack a problem. In this case, they worked out how to neutralize the disease-carrying ability of mosquitoes. Then they worked out where they needed to release these mosquitoes.
“They started collecting tons of data. It then became a really messy data problem as they tried to compare a bunch of different data sets to work out where they could be most efficient.
“Ultimately, this is where machine learning comes in. It allows you to take all of that data, abstract it down to a single estimate of probability and map it out. It is cost-effective, and it is super scalable. Instead of figuring out data visualization and analytics for one particular area, you can now do it for an entire city, for an entire country, for the entire world.
“That is because the data sets they are using are globally generalizable. One model that works here can work everywhere.”
Top imagery: Wolbachia mosquitoes are released in rural Fiji.
Citizen confidence in government institutions and public servants depends on trust. Citizens need to trust that the individuals and agencies representing them will act in good faith to protect their interests. Whether it’s the safety of food, medications, infrastructure, information, or national security, the sustainability of the social contract between the government and its constituents requires persistent attention to retain the public’s trust.
For governments to function, the flow of data on a massive scale is required—including sensitive information about critical infrastructure, public safety, and security. The higher the stakes in data sensitivity, the more attractive the information is to malefactors for reasons that range from financial gain to political influence. It should come as no surprise that the security of government information systems is subject to constant attempted attacks.
Until recently, the prevailing paradigm for system security was to protect the perimeter—that is, protect the network’s entry and exit points, typically through firewalls or virtual private networks (VPNs). This model is built on implicit trust that access is legitimate by default for anyone inside the perimeter. The basis for this implicit trust in traditional network security is becoming obsolete in the wake of changes such as the expansion of the mobile workforce, the rapid growth in digital data, the proliferation of shadow IT, and the rise of cyberattacks. Today, more and more organizations are pivoting to a Zero Trust model for security where all users and devices—both inside and outside the network—are deemed untrustworthy by default and the same security checks are applied to all users, devices, applications, and data.
Security considerations for government institutions
Consider the information needed by social workers employed by a child protection agency to do their job promoting the safety and development of at-risk children, some of the most vulnerable citizens in society. To screen a child for investigation requires judgment based on quality information. To take a child into protective custody requires even more exacting discernment. Before a court makes a final decision to remove a child from their family, multiple professionals from various agencies need to conclude there’s reasonable cause to believe that the health, safety, or welfare of the child is at risk. In order to make these important decisions, the stakeholders need appropriate access to the relevant information across functions and agencies. And they need to coordinate with each other.
A social worker may be a civil servant or a contractor using an agency-supplied device or a personal phone. They may be inspecting environments where children live or go to school, or they may be taking information from healthcare providers or law enforcement. The range of information they interact with is diverse and extensive, and its transmission across relevant agencies is made more complex by compliance standards pertaining to data protection and privacy.
Some questions governments ask themselves to support the free and trusted flow of information to empower social workers include:
What data do social workers need to do their jobs?
Should access to relevant sensitive information apply at all times, or would it be appropriate to impose time limits?
What information is safe to store on personal devices—for example, photos that are relevant to the case?
What to do if the identity or the device of a social worker becomes infected through malware?
This can potentially wreak havoc on data privacy or the safety of the vulnerable population they are trying to serve and could open the agency up to civil liability if not properly protected.
Given these questions and the complexity of cybersecurity concerns and data privacy, it’s hard to justify an approach that is premised on implicit trust and unfettered access to sensitive data. In addition to trust considerations, public sector organizations also need to enable productivity and collaboration. Striking the right balance between productivity and security need not be all or nothing.
The Zero Trust model
The Zero Trust security model adheres to three pillars:
Explicit verification of every access request.
Use of least privileged access with just-in-time adaptive risk-based access policies.
Assume breach mentality to minimize potential damage to, or loss of data from, additional parts of the organization.
In our example, all information requests would be treated as though they originate from an uncontrolled (external or compromised) network. But this need not impede the social worker’s productivity. With the right governance, social workers can and should have access to the relevant information. Governing parameters might include restricting access to information about non-clients. Another parameter may be to set access expiration dates, or determine which devices are eligible for access. If a device or an agency worker’s identity becomes compromised, their access can be mediated by identity management or data governance rules that enable productivity while being mindful of security.
For an agency to retain its commitment to the constituents it serves and uphold data privacy standards, implicit trust within a data estate no longer makes sense. An end-to-end Zero Trust approach aims to build security into the entire digital estate, across your identities (usernames and passwords), devices, network, infrastructure, applications, and data.
Microsoft 365 helps governments on the Zero Trust journey
With Microsoft 365, governments can take immediate steps towards a Zero Trust security model. The first step in building a secure environment is explicit verification of identity. Phishing is one of the most common types of cyberattacks. It can lead to a user’s credentials being compromised and opens the doors for attackers to steal valuable information. Sensitive data may be what cybercriminals want, but an identity breach is often the preferred tactic to get to the data. Protecting identity and managing access is therefore a pivotal first step in a cybersecurity strategy. This is because identity can act as the new control plane that connects all the organization’s data dispersed across multiple applications, on-premises and in the cloud, and accessed by multiple devices and users.
Getting identity management right is a defensive imperative and it can enable an organization to save time and resources. Azure Active Directory (Azure AD) is a powerful identity management solution that helps modernize access management and provide end-to-end visibility across the entire digital estate by connecting all applications and services to a single control plane. This is key to implementing a Zero Trust model because setting policies to define the right user experience at each access request ensures users are allowed the least privileged access necessary to perform their role. With Azure AD, organizations can also deploy a variety of passwordless authentication solutions from Windows Hello to FIDO 2.0 keys, further strengthening their access security.
Another pillar of the Zero Trust model is the principle that policies define how devices are used in the workplace; this is important as employees increasingly use their own devices at work. Under Zero Trust, the “health” of the device is a gating variable for access policies. With Microsoft Intune, mobile application management and mobile device management (MDM), part of the new Microsoft Endpoint Manager platform, organizations can verify and make the health of the device a precondition to access data. MDM enables comprehensive remote management of mobile devices, including remote data wipe if needed.
10 tips for enabling Zero Trust security
Widespread adoption of public cloud services and the growth of a mobile workforce have rendered perimeter-based security models obsolete.
The final pillar of Zero Trust addresses the need to govern access by network to prevent lateral movement in the event of a breach. Microsoft 365 offers many services to help monitor and detect threats and protect sensitive data:
Microsoft Cloud App Security detects unusual behavior across Microsoft and third-party cloud apps. It can identify high risk usage and remediate automatically to limit risk to an organization.
Office 365 Advanced Threat Protection (ATP) provides continuous, real-time detonation capabilities to find and block threats, including malicious email links and attachments.
Microsoft Defender ATP protects endpoints in real-time by detecting and responding to threats.
Azure ATP detects risky and suspicious user activities and generates alerts.
Azure Information Protection provides controls to help secure email, documents, and sensitive data no matter where it’s stored or whom it’s shared with.
What makes Microsoft unique is the native integration of all these services allowing for holistic security management across each of the Zero Trust pillars, resulting in an orchestrated response to protect agencies’ digital estates end-to-end. This also serves to simplify the Zero Trust journey by eliminating the complexity of trying to make multiple different cybersecurity solutions work together that were not designed to integrate with one another.
Microsoft services are enhanced by the powerful insights captured by the Microsoft Intelligent Security Graph—the centerpiece of Microsoft’s differentiation in cybersecurity—which reasons over more than 8 trillion security signals from 1.2 billion end points and hundreds of millions of identity, email, and document transactions. Microsoft employs unique human and artificial intelligence (AI) to make sense of these vast and complex cybersecurity signals to connect the dots to find the signal in the noise.
Microsoft Intelligent Security Graph
Advanced analytics link massive amounts of threat intelligence and security data to provide you unparalleled threat protection and detection.
Cyberattacks are becoming more frequent, better organized, and increasingly sophisticated. Governments recognize the seriousness of these concerns and are searching for solutions to update their security posture in the new cybersecurity era with limited budgets and insufficient skills.
Microsoft 365 provides best-in-class productivity apps while protecting identities, devices, applications, networks, and data. With Microsoft 365 security services, governments can take confident steps in the direction of a modern, Zero Trust security environment.
We’re
excited and humbled to share that Sea of Thieves has now been played by
more than ten million players, reinforcing its status as the most successful
new IP from Xbox this generation.
It’s
mind-blowing to think of that many people setting sail on the Sea of Thieves,
and it’s all been made possible by the support and passion of our fantastic
community.
For
everyone at Rare, the Sea of Thieves community represents the very best
of what gaming can be. It’s home to players from more than eighty different
countries, bringing together gamers on Xbox Game Pass, Xbox One and Windows 10 PC
and creating countless stories and moments that people can treasure. Seeing
these stories shared through social media or other community spaces is
something that inspires the team every day. To every person who’s played Sea
of Thieves, thank you.
Our community will be at the centre of our January update – ‘Legends of the Seas’ – which will be available to all players for free from Wednesday January 15. Not only will this update celebrate our community and its stories, it will also feature two limited-edition gifts to mark our 10 million player milestone. Log-in to the game between January 15 and 22 and claim a free custom sail and a special new emote.
Once again, on behalf of everyone at Rare I’d like to say thank you to everyone who’s been on this journey with us so far. The best news is that we’re just getting started and have big plans for the coming year. See you on the seas!
Threat intelligence is often spoken about as being a key pillar of cybersecurity. But what is it and why is it so important?
In our latest #TechTalk, John Lambert, Distinguished Engineer and General Manager of the Microsoft Threat Intelligence Center (MSTIC), explains how, while all organizations work to manage their security risks in cyberspace, these risks become threats when combined with malicious intent. The goal of threat intelligence is to give organizations context and awareness about the online threats they face and to help them prioritize their responses.
Cybersecurity threats reflect the geopolitical contests, competitions and conflicts occurring in the world, John explains. This means that many organizations face threats from adversaries seeking to cause financial, reputational, or even geopolitical damage. Microsoft studies the most significant threat actors in order to understand the techniques they use, and to build defensive measures into the services offered to customers. Every month Microsoft blocks around five billion attacks – including malware attacks and phishing emails, as well as more targeted threats – by tracking and limiting the actors behind them.
John also discusses how the use of artificial intelligence (AI) systems, which can be taught to detect and respond to cyberattacks, is speeding and scaling up Microsoft’s defensive efforts. However, he also warns of the new cyber-challenges that the same technology can bring, particularly in relation to the manipulation of image and speech patterns to spread disinformation via ‘deep fakes’.
In order to respond to the growth and sophistication of cyberthreats, John argues that organizations facing common threat actors need to work together far more proactively and share information to be able to anticipate and defend against common threats. At the same time, individuals can help protect themselves more thoroughly by better managing their passwords and credentials.
The world’s largest retail conference is fast approaching and we want to make sure you make the most of it. I love going to NRF because not only can we celebrate what went well coming off of our busiest time of year, but we can look forward to an exciting year ahead. I don’t know about you, but I can’t believe we are in 2020! There has never been a more exciting time to be at the intersection of retail and technology. Challenging? Certainly. Opportunity? Lots of it.
In fact, at NRF, I’m thrilled to talk about the opportunity we have as an industry with sustainability during my Retail 2020: The dawn of sustainability big ideas session. I think 2020 is going to be a breakout year for sustainability in retail because consumers are demanding it. We’re going to hear more about how retailers and brands are stepping up and embracing sustainability like never before. You’ll see new concepts from startups who are putting established players to shame and, of course, we’re excited to showcase the latest technology and the role it can play in enabling the industry to be more sustainable.
There are so many more things to see and do at NRF. In between networking and idea-gathering, make sure to carve out some time to check out the following:
Hear Satya Nadella, Microsoft CEO, in the opening keynote discuss how technology is transforming the retail industry and how to deliver a superior customer experience.
Sign up for a Microsoft booth tour (Booth #4501) and experience the technology as if you were walking inside a store. Whether its solutions for grocery, fashion, back office, out of store or supply chain, this tour will allow you to easily get up close and personal with the Microsoft vision for the future of retail.
Tour our Flagship Microsoft store on 5th Avenue. At the crown jewel of Microsoft’s retail activations, this 90-minute tour will provide you insights into the vision and roadmap for store technology. You will learn how Microsoft strives to deliver best-in-class customer service and knowledge and hear from select store staff on their various roles and responsibilities, ranging from merchandising, planogram, and inventory to technical support, store management, small business sales, and community development.
Visit the FQ lounge—We’re proud to present ideas on how women can help shape the future of AI and get more girls into STEM. These sessions fill up fast so plan to get there early!
NRF is also a great place to keep an eye on industry trends. Here are a few to keep an eye out for:
Clickstream to brickstream: Transforming the store by bringing the best of digital and in-store together, consumers expect any engagement with a retailer to be seamless.
AI drives ROI: AI is going to be a big one again this year, especially when we think about that seamless experience and being able to personalize products, promotions, and experiences.
Last click to last mile: A laser focus on last-mile delivery to meet the consumer demand for speed and transparency.
I’m excited to showcase Microsoft’s and our partner solutions. I look forward to seeing you at the event where we can reimagine the future of the retail industry, together.
As customers think about more about security and mobility, new devices from Acer, Dell, HP, and Lenovo—announced this week at Consumer Electronics Show (CES) in Las Vegas—provide a productive, secure experience for on-the-go professionals.
Acer
Acer introduced the TravelMate P6, a durable, thin-and-light notebook and the TravelMate P2, a modern device for an increasingly mobile workforce.
The TravelMate P6 battery can be charged up to 50 percent in less than 45 minutes making it an excellent choice for professionals on the go. The 180-hinge allows users to lay it flat to easily share the screen. In addition, the TravelMate P6 is certified for Microsoft Teams and delivers crystal-clear videoconferencing via a four-mic array that picks up vocals from up to 6.5 feet away. The TravelMate P6 also offers powerful security features, including Windows Hello, which allows users to sign in using fingerprint or facial recognition.
The TravelMate P2 features high-speed connectivity, all-day battery life, and is easy to deploy and manage. The TravelMate P2 is built with connectivity at the forefront making it a reliable choice for mobile workers. And a wide host of customization options enables the TravelMate P2 to adapt to work on anything.
Both the TravelMate P6 and P2 run Windows 10 Pro. To learn more, visit Acer.com.
Dell
Dell Technologies introduced the Latitude 9510, the world’s smallest and lightest commercial 15-inch PC, which easily fits into a small work bag. At only 3.2 pounds, professionals can travel light without carrying extra weight of battery chargers, adapters, or speakerphone pucks needed for a work day. The Latitude 9510 includes artificial intelligence (AI) and machine learning to improve battery life based on charge patterns and power usage, as well as launch frequently used applications faster. In addition, users can sign in quickly and securely with Windows Hello.
The Latitude 9510 runs on Windows 10 Pro and will be available globally March 26, 2020. Learn more at Dell.com.
HP
HP announced the HP Elite Dragonfly, the first world’s laptop with built-in Tile technology, which allows users to easily find a lost notebook. Running on Windows 10 Pro, the HP Elite Dragonfly is made with ocean bound plastic material with more than 82 percent of the mechanical parts made from recycled materials. HP Elite Dragonfly with optional Tile integration and HP Sure View Reflect is expected to be available starting February 2020. HP Elite Dragonfly with 5G and latest processor is expected to be available later in the summer. Visit HP, Inc. for more information.
Lenovo
Lenovo announced the ThinkPad X1 Fold, and ThinkBook Plus, both designed to improve productivity on the go.
The ThinkPad X1 Fold offers a new form factor giving professionals—who frequently switch between phone, tablet, and laptop—multiple ways to use the PC without compromising on performance or screen size. Built from a combination of lightweight alloys and carbon fibre and covered in a leather folio cover, the ThinkPad X1 Fold can easily slip into the smallest of bags. Running Windows 10 Pro, the ThinkPad X1 Fold offers the durability and reliability users expect from any ThinkPad.
The ThinkBook Plus features an innovative e-Ink display on the cover, so users can take notes or create illustrations with the digital pen and then sync to Microsoft OneNote. In addition, essential notifications can be received when the lid is closed allowing users to stay focused during meetings. The ThinkBook Plus leverages the power of Windows 10 to quickly launch apps and Smart Power On simplifies Windows Hello authentication with the fingerprint integrated into the power button.
To learn more about these and other devices announced today, visit Lenovo.com.
ASUS is having a busy day at CES 2020. In the afternoon it announced the Zephyrus G14 from its ASUS ROG brand and new Ryzen-powered TUF Gaming laptops, in addition to the company’s morning announcements of new laptop and desktop computers.
Zephyrus G14
The Zephyrus G14 brings premium innovations to a wider audience with an ultra-slim form factor at just 17.9mm thin and 1.6kg, all without compromising performance. The Zephyrus G14 gaming notebook features RTX graphics for high frame rates when playing popular games, and also lets gamers choose between high refresh or high resolution for their display; the choice of 120Hz refresh rate or WQHD resolution panels allows users to optimize for gaming or creating content. And to deliver nonstop speed, this new laptop is equipped with a ROG-exclusive 4th generation AMD Ryzen processor that has eight cores and 16 threads in a more energy-efficient 35W power envelope.
Making the G14 extra portable are up to 10 hours of battery life, thanks to the ability to charge from compatible Type-C power packs. And the G14 is fine to look at, both aesthetically with subtle styling in Moonlight White or Eclipse Gray, and functionally, with the optional AniMe Matrix display that deepens personalization, enabling users to show custom graphics, animations and other effects across more than a thousand mini LEDs embedded in the lid.
The Zephyrus G14 will be available later in 2020.
ASUS TUF Gaming laptops are known for delivering high performance while standing up to the rigors of life on the go. At CES 2020, ASUS is introducing an all-new TUF Gaming family of laptops focused on further gains in performance, ruggedness and versatility.
TUF Gaming A17
The 15-inch TUF Gaming A15 and F15, along with their 17-inch A17 and F17 siblings, deliver an unprecedented experience for the price. Key to the experience is potent processing power, thanks to a choice between 4th Gen AMD Ryzen Mobile CPUs and upcoming 10th Gen Intel Core processors. NVIDIA Turing-based GPUs up to the GeForce RTX 2060 feed frames into fast displays that refresh at up to 144Hz and use AMD FreeSync technology to ensure smoother, tear-free gaming across a wide range of titles.
Gamers who plan to spend long hours away from an electrical outlet can choose from bigger battery options – despite the smaller size of the units – ranging up to 90Whr, while the compact chassis make the new laptops easy to carry, and rugged, too, with updated military-grade durability testing demonstrating their ability to survive in the field.
For more details on the Zephyrus G14 and the new TUF Gaming laptops, including availability, head over to ASUS Edge Up and the ASUS Newsroom.
Dell delivered welcome news at CES for new and price-conscious gamers with the announcement of the newly redesigned Dell G5 15 SE (Special Edition). It is the first Dell G Series laptop to feature 3rd Gen AMD Ryzen 4000 H-Series Mobile Processors (up to 8 cores and 16 threads) paired with the latest AMD Radeon RX 5000M Series graphics. The two chips work seamlessly together using AMD SmartShift technology to optimize performance by automatically shifting power as needed between the Ryzen processor and Radeon graphics, giving gamers precisely what they want at each moment of play.
Dell G5 15 Special Edition
New features worth calling out include the Game Shift macro key, which allows quick launch of game-ready settings for enhanced performance, reducing latency and sharpening images for fast, immersive gaming. Also, Dell’s Alienware Command Center offers a hub for controlling in-game and peripheral lighting settings, integrating nahimic 3D audio to provide a 360 degree sound experience with Audio Recon overlay, and providing a central game library for easy customization.
The G5 15 SE’s thin, sleek redesign features a modern “fighter plane” look wrapped in a premium iridescent silver finish with metallic accents. Along with a 15.6-inch FHD display panel, the new G5 15 SE has an optional 144Hz refresh rate, optional four-zone RGB keyboard with WASD and optional 68WHr battery for those who don’t want to stop when they game on the go.
Did we mention the price? Dell is making the new G5 15 SE truly affordable with a starting price of $799.99 beginning in mid-April.
At CES, Acer unveiled two new Swift 3 models in its popular ultra-portable notebook series: a 13.5-inch model (SF313-52/G) powered by the latest 10th Generation Intel Core processors and a 14-inch model (SF314-42) powered by the latest AMD Ryzen 4000 series mobile processors.
Acer Swift 3 (SF313-52/G)
The Acer Swift 3 (SF313-52/G) clocks in at 0.63 inches (15.95 mm) thin and 2.62 pounds (1.19 kg) and delivers a high 83.65% screen-to-body ratio. The screen’s 3:2 aspect ratio gives 18% more room, in the form of vertical height, to read on.
It includes the latest NVIDIA graphics and a long-lasting battery that offers users up to 16 hours of productivity [1]. It also supports fast-charging, providing up to four hours of use on just a 30-minute charge [2] and Windows Hello via a fingerprint reader for easier and more secure logins.
Once logged in, a full function USB Type-C port gives users fast data transfer speeds over Thunderbolt 3, USB 3.1 Gen 2 or DisplayPort.
The Acer Swift 3 (SF314-42) is just 2.6 lbs (1.2 kg) light and 0.65 inches (16.55 mm) thin and comes in a lightweight metal chassis. The screen features a high screen-to-body ratio with ultra-narrow bezels.
It has up to 16GB of LPDDR4x RAM, Wi-Fi 6 (802.11ax) and up to a 512 GB PCle SSD. It also supports more secure and faster logins via Windows Hello, and Wake on Voice, allowing users to interact with Cortana when the screen is off.
[1] Listed battery life is based on MobileMark 2014 productivity mode testing with wireless on. Details of MobileMark 2014 testing are available at www.bapco.com. Battery life rating is for comparison purposes only. Actual battery life varies by model, configuration, application, power management settings, operating conditions and features used. A battery’s maximum capacity decreases with time and use.
[2] “Use” refers to video playback and “charge-time” is under the condition of the device being switched off during charging.
Lenovo closed out its announcements at CES with some big reveals: what it claims as the “world’s first 5G PC” [1] and a special limited-edition laptop that incorporates designs inspired by the company’s partnership with Ducati.
The Lenovo Yoga 5G is the world’s first 5G PC, which means it supports both millimeter wave full-band and sub-6GHz 5G networks, so it’s capable of satisfying your need for speed with ultra-fast connectivity, reduced latency and wider bandwidth. Download large files nearly instantly or stream a high-resolution video with true Full HD clarity even in highly populated areas like airports with 5G [2]. First previewed at COMPUTEX, this ultra-portable 2-in-1 laptop is the first-ever PC powered by the Qualcomm Snapdragon 8cx 5G Compute Platform, bringing you high-speed 5G network connectivity that’s up to 10 times faster than 4G through a service provider [2] when on the move and reliable Wi-Fi access at home. Need to edit video footage in real-time on set and then upload the finished film? Or how about faster screen refreshes for smoother mobile gaming? It’s all possible with lightning-fast download speeds supported by nine built-in antennas for a stronger signal. It’s also super-light at 2.86lbs (1.3kg).
The new premium Lenovo Yoga Slim 7 laptop comes in two ultraslim sizes: 14-inch or 15-inch. Both options have Windows 10 and the convenience of the exclusive Lenovo Q-Control Intelligent Cooling feature that uses artificial intelligence (AI) to optimize battery life by an average of up to 20% [3]. Even more AI-enabled features are offered via Lenovo Smart Assist on the Yoga Slim 7, including a boost to attention-sensing functionality from Glance by Mirametrix. It has up to 10th Gen Intel Core i7 with Intel Iris Plus graphics. It also includes hands-free login and auto-logoff via IR camera and Windows Hello, plus an adjustable Smart Battery that transitions capability based on usage behavior, temperature and whether the device is plugged in.
Two years ago, Lenovo brought its smarter technology to the racetrack by becoming the key technology partner of Ducati. Lenovo’s branding can be seen on Ducati racing bikes and MotoGP riders’ uniforms, and now, for the first time, Ducati’s branding will be on the special edition thin and light laptop: The Lenovo Ducati 5.
It’s got wrap-around racing stripes, a colorful gift box and companion carrying sleeve with an emblazoned Ducati shield.
“These devices feel special, almost custom-built. And with only 12,000 machines in this limited-edition made, it’s tailored for the biggest Ducati fans,” says Brian Leonard, Lenovo Intelligent Devices Group’s vice president of Design. “As a team, we spent our time concerned with which aesthetics were going to resonate well with fans of Ducati and Lenovo – a design that fused the two brands. A look and feel that was understated but special to allow diehard Ducati fans to appreciate the quality of the finishes and unique details.”
Among those details: Notebook colors inspired by one of the Panigale street bikes, the special stitching pattern on the sleeve that matches the detailing on Ducati’s bike seats and typeface used to stamp individual serial numbers on the bottom laptop covers and on the commemorative cards is the same one Ducati uses to mark its collector edition bike parts.
[1] Based on research conducted by Lenovo in November 2019 of laptops sold by major PC manufacturers shipping > 1 million units worldwide annually.
[2] Requires 5G network service and separately purchased cellular data plan that may vary by location. Additional terms, conditions and/or charges apply. Connection speeds will vary due to location, environment, network conditions and other factors.
[3] AI-enabled middle setting extends battery life an average of up to 20% based on Intel verification testing. Actual performance will vary with use, system configurations and settings.
