The Intel CES 2019 keynote looks to the future, as Chipzilla reveals 2 processor families-- Ice Lake and Lakefield, both based on 10nm technology. Also announced is Project Athena, an "innovation program" for advanced laptops.

Ice Lake denotes the first Intel volume 10nm processor family. Based on Sunny Cove architecture, it features Intel DL Boost instruction sets to accelerate AI workloads and integrated gen 11 graphics with Adaptive Sync (FreeSync) support. The platform integrates Thunderbolt 3 and the Wifi 6 wireless standard, and promises improvements on the battery life front. The first products featuring Ice Lake processors will be of the laptop variety, and will be available in OEM partner devices by Q4 2019.

The Windows 10 October update brings more capabilities to Windows Hello, the Microsoft login system-- now offering not only facial recognition, fingerprint or PIN, but also support for USB or NFC FIDO2 devices.

As a Microsoft blogpost insists, "passwords can be difficult to remember, are often reused and can be used to hack your account anywhere, anytime, from any device." Windows Hello already sidesteps the need for a password through facial recognition or fingerprint readers, while the Windows Security provides clear alerts in case one needs improve account protection.

Samsung presents an update to its Exynos system-on-chip (SoC) range-- the Exynos 9 Series 9820, a processor the company says offers a new design and CPU configuration compared to the previous 9810 chip.

According to the S. Korean giant, the 9820 features a 2+2+4 setup, meaning it has two 4th generation custom CPUs as top performing units, two Cortex A75 CPUs as mid-tier performance cores and four Cortex A55 CPUs for maximum power efficiency. The result is a single-core performance boost of 20% compared to the 9810 (the chip inside the Galaxy S9), or a 40% boost in power efficiency. In addition, multi-core performance is up by 15%, while broadband speeds clock at up to 2.0Gbps.

The iPad Pro is not the only Apple product getting some update love-- the company also has refreshes of the MacBook Air, now featuring a Retina display and Touch ID, and boosted version of the compact Mac Mini desktop PC.

“The first MacBook Air revolutionized Mac with its thin wedge-shaped aluminum design. It forever changed the entire industry for portable computers and became the world’s most loved notebook,” the compan ysays. “Redesigning MacBook Air started with a stunning Retina display and all-day battery life, and then we added Touch ID and the Apple T2 Security Chip, the latest processors, incredible sound, the third-generation keyboard and Force Touch trackpad, high speed Thunderbolt 3 ports, and of course macOS Mojave in a beautiful, thinner, lighter, all-aluminum design that a whole new generation of MacBook Air customers are going to love.”

Microsoft revenues reach $29.1 billion in fiscal Q1 2019 (ending 30 September 2018)-- a 19% Y-o-Y increase, with net income reaching $8.8bn, up 34% Y-o-Y, on operating income of $10bn, a 29% Y-o-Y increase.

“We are off to a great start in fiscal 2019, a result of our innovation and the trust customers are placing in us to power their digital transformation,” CEO Satya Nadella says. “We’re excited to help our customers build the digital capability they need to thrive and grow, with a business model that is fundamentally aligned to their success.”

The Windows Maker sees growth across the three main divisions, namely Productivity and Business Processes, Intelligent Cloud and More Personal Computing. Productivity and Business Processes covers Office, LinkedIn and Dynamics products and services, and has revenues grow by 19% Y-o-Y to $9.8bn, with all segments seeing growth. For instance, Office commercial revenues are up by 17% Y-o-Y, while Office consumer revenues are up by 16% Y-o-Y. LinkedIn also sees impressive 33% Y-o-Y revenue growth, with record levels of engagement.

AMD appears bullish in Q3 2018, with revenues growing by 4% Y-o-Y to reach $1.65 billion and gross margin reaching 40%-- but sales did not satisfy the expectations of Wall Street, leading to plummeting share prices.

"We delivered our 5th straight quarter of year-over-year revenue and net income growth driven largely by the accelerated adoption of our Ryzen, EPYC and datacenter graphics products," CEO Dr Lisa Su says. "Client and server processor sales increased significantly although graphics channel sales were lower in the quarter. Looking forward, we believe we are well positioned for further market share gains as we continue making significant progress towards our long-term financial targets."

AMD attributes the growth in gross margin to products such as Ryzen (desktop and mobile) and EPYC (server), as well as IP-related revenues. The company is finding success in laptops, with 54 such machines carrying AMD chips set to debut this year, and processor ASPs are also on the up on both Y-o-Y and Q-o-Q basis.

The next company with an October hardware event is, of course, Google-- and the search giant looks to celebrate its 20th birthday with a slew of products, namely the Pixel 3 smartphone, Pixel Slate tablet and the Echo Show-style Home Hub.

The next flagship Android phone, the Pixel 3 comes in two variants, the 5.3-inch regular and 6.3-inch XL. Both feature the Snapdragon 845 SoC with 4GB RAM inside a matte glass body comlete with notch for the front-facing dual-lens 12MP camera array. Such a camera should allow for better selfies, since one of the lenses offers a wider field of view. Interestingly the rear-facing camera is a single-lens affair, if one beefed up with cloud-powered AI smarts and a "Visual Core" co-processor developed with Intel.

The Microsoft October event is all about the Surface hardware updates, as the Windows developer presents the Surface Pro 6, Surface Laptop 2, Surface Studio 2 and a pair of Cortana-enabled headphones dubbed the Surface Headphones.

“We understand the way people work and live is changing, with different areas of our lives are blending together, and the need to spend our valuable time on the things that really matter is increasing,” Microsoft chief product officer Panos Panay states. “To do this, the technology needs to fade to the background so you can get into your most creative state, your flow.”