IFA 2018: Next@Acer Live Blog (10:30am CEST, 8:30am UTC)

04:07AM EDT - The first official press event this year at IFA 2018 is Acer. We're expecting a glut of Whiskey Lake notebooks, plus a few extras about Predator.

04:08AM EDT - We're going to start here in about 20 minutes or so

04:08AM EDT - But Acer has a few of the new models already on display

04:08AM EDT - Here's the Spin 3 with Whiskey Lake update

04:09AM EDT - All the hardware on display here laptop wise looks identical to previous gen for the most part, save CPU updates

04:12AM EDT - We have press releases, under embargo for another hour or so

04:27AM EDT - A few minutes to start

04:30AM EDT - Venue is full now

04:30AM EDT - Intro video time... 'Maximize'

04:31AM EDT - Jason Chen, CEO to the stage

04:32AM EDT - Be part of a great momentum

04:32AM EDT - Break the barrier between technology and people

04:32AM EDT - Whole series of product first to market

04:32AM EDT - New technologies to the world

04:33AM EDT - Today's theme is to minimize the user effort and maximize the value and experience

04:33AM EDT - Starting with StarVR

04:33AM EDT - Recording cinematic experiences

04:34AM EDT - At SIGGRAPH, announced StarVR One

04:34AM EDT - 210-degree Horizonal field of view, 130-degree vertical

04:35AM EDT - professional gamut (Adobe RGB)

04:35AM EDT - Integrated eye-tracking

04:35AM EDT - dynamic foveated rendering

04:35AM EDT - SteamVR Tracking 2.0

04:35AM EDT - Scalable Optical Tracking

04:36AM EDT - StarVR One XT and StarVR One

04:36AM EDT - StarVR One is the best VR headset you can find today

04:37AM EDT - Unique wide viewing angles

04:37AM EDT - Enlarged the vertical as well

04:37AM EDT - Natural immersion

04:37AM EDT - close to reality

04:37AM EDT - AMOLED display

04:37AM EDT - 'Crystal Clear'

04:38AM EDT - Foveated rendering helps with rendering bandwidth

04:38AM EDT - Eyetracking helps with analytics

04:38AM EDT - 450 grams total weight

04:39AM EDT - Designed for comfort

04:39AM EDT - Changing the business strategy

04:39AM EDT - Expanding from location-based entertainment and expanding to enterprise ecosystems

04:39AM EDT - Enterprise gets development kits for enterprise use

04:39AM EDT - Plug and play access to StarVR

04:39AM EDT - Experience on the show floor

04:40AM EDT - Maximize Vision, Minimize Boundaries

04:40AM EDT - Now Acer MR Mixed Reality

04:40AM EDT - Next Gen of Acer MR

04:40AM EDT - Aver OJO 500

04:41AM EDT - 'o-ho five hundred;

04:41AM EDT - Adjustable IPD optics

04:41AM EDT - Does this automatically

04:42AM EDT - Patented sound system

04:42AM EDT - Can hear the environment

04:42AM EDT - >aka open backed headphones

04:42AM EDT - The design is modularized

04:42AM EDT - Hot swappable design for optics

04:43AM EDT - Import for hygiene in lots of foot traffic scenarios

04:43AM EDT - Now core business

04:43AM EDT - Aspire Z 24

04:44AM EDT - AIO

04:44AM EDT - 23.8-inch FHD IPS borderless

04:44AM EDT - 8th Gen plus Optane

04:44AM EDT - MX150 graphics

04:44AM EDT - Dolby Audio

04:45AM EDT - Supports Alexa and Cortana

04:45AM EDT - Quad-mic array

04:45AM EDT - Pushing the limit of the border like a smartphone

04:45AM EDT - Liquid loop cooling for silence

04:46AM EDT - far-field comms

04:46AM EDT - Four microphones do beamforming

04:46AM EDT - Next

04:46AM EDT - Aspire 7 notebook

04:47AM EDT - Kaby G

04:47AM EDT - 1.5kg, 15-inch

04:47AM EDT - Narrow Bezel display

04:47AM EDT - Latest 8th Gen

04:47AM EDT - 4K display

04:48AM EDT - Looks nice, if I'm honest

04:48AM EDT - >I wonder what PL2 is

04:48AM EDT - Using lightweight body, weight is down 25%

04:48AM EDT - HDMI port, two USB 3.1 (on left side)

04:48AM EDT - fingerprint reader

04:48AM EDT - Webcam at top

04:49AM EDT - Next

04:49AM EDT - Combining thin and light

04:49AM EDT - Material and structure

04:50AM EDT - >I don't think they've used Barium, Xenon, and Iodine

04:50AM EDT - New swift 5

04:51AM EDT - Swift 5 has taken the mantle of lightest 14-inch in the past

04:51AM EDT - Now 15-inch

04:51AM EDT - 8th Gen Whiskey Lake

04:52AM EDT - 15.-6inch FHD

04:52AM EDT - 5.87mm narrow Bezel

04:52AM EDT - Magnesium-Lithium and Magnesium-Aluminium alloy

04:52AM EDT - 990 grams

04:52AM EDT - Light and tough

04:52AM EDT - Micro-arc oxidation

04:52AM EDT - Ceramic finish

04:52AM EDT - Adds to strength and rigidity

04:53AM EDT - Seve Long from Intel on stage

04:54AM EDT - VP Sales and Marketing, GM Client Computing Sales

04:54AM EDT - *Steve

04:54AM EDT - Maximizing reasons for people to buy

04:54AM EDT - Working with Acer for decades

04:54AM EDT - Intel's job is to continue bringing innovation to market

04:55AM EDT - >Some comment about 5 year old devices

04:55AM EDT - Gaming, creators, casual users

04:55AM EDT - Discussing the update to 8th Gen

04:56AM EDT - Whiskey Lake

04:56AM EDT - Here's our piece on the new processors

04:56AM EDT - https://www.anandtech.com/show/13275/intel-launches-whiskey-lake-amber-lake

04:56AM EDT - Gigabit Wi-Fi, USB 3.1

04:57AM EDT - Now Swift 7

04:57AM EDT - Thinnest computer in the world for 2 gens already

04:58AM EDT - Under 1 kg, under 1cm

04:59AM EDT - 14-inch

04:59AM EDT - 15% smaller than last gen, same screen size

04:59AM EDT - 8th Gen

04:59AM EDT - Mg-Li and Mg-Al alloys

04:59AM EDT - Minimize bezels again

04:59AM EDT - 4.27mm bezels

05:00AM EDT - 92% screen-to-body ratio

05:00AM EDT - >where's the webcam ?

05:00AM EDT - Now for Gaming

05:01AM EDT - Acer Predator leading in 33 countries

05:02AM EDT - Laptop GTX or AMD R9/Rx dGPU excluding Apple

05:02AM EDT - Predator Orion

05:02AM EDT - New RTX GPUs in each of the Orions

05:03AM EDT - Including RGB control on new desktops

05:03AM EDT - Orion 9000 has special feature for infused RGB

05:03AM EDT - Oh, only the 9000 is addressable. The rest just pulse

05:04AM EDT - Music mode

05:04AM EDT - Cases have EMI compliant DIY-Adaptable cases

05:05AM EDT - Now Predator X

05:06AM EDT - Dual Xeon

05:06AM EDT - Dual GPU

05:07AM EDT - Created for Gamers, Developers, Creators

05:08AM EDT - Not addressing the issue of NUMA

05:08AM EDT - >We tested dual CPUs on gaming years ago with horrendous results

05:09AM EDT - Redefining thermal solutions

05:10AM EDT - 297 patents on thermal technology

05:10AM EDT - 4th gen fan for notebooks

05:11AM EDT - Airflow increase of 10% over previous gen for same noise

05:11AM EDT - >They just showed a graph of 10% as being 50%

05:11AM EDT - Serrated edge

05:12AM EDT - Acer's solution vs standard plastic fan

05:13AM EDT - Different edge designs

05:13AM EDT - >It's funny that laptops speak about 5 CFM. Desktop fans go up to 130 CFM

05:14AM EDT - Now in Predator Triton 900

05:14AM EDT - This is the laptop with the reversible display

05:15AM EDT - 4K G-Sync

05:15AM EDT - 'Useful for work as well as gaming'

05:16AM EDT - Clicks into laptop mode

05:16AM EDT - keyboard at the front

05:16AM EDT - Mechanical keyboard with RGB

05:16AM EDT - switchable trackpad

05:16AM EDT - Pushing the limits of performance

05:17AM EDT - Next

05:17AM EDT - The Game Cave concept

05:17AM EDT - The ultimate gaming experience

05:18AM EDT - Predator Thoronos

05:18AM EDT - Gaming Chair with three screens

05:18AM EDT - >Something OcUK was selling years ago

05:19AM EDT - Motorized cockpit

05:19AM EDT - Immersion is key

05:19AM EDT - Chair has vibration functions

05:20AM EDT - Experiences changes

05:20AM EDT - On the show floor

05:21AM EDT - The best is yet to come, in 2019

05:21AM EDT - Sponsorship tie-in with the Predator films

05:22AM EDT - That's a wrap!