12/05/2025

MONDAY | MAY 12, 2025

23

LYFE

Swift, sleek, smart

GADGET REVIEW

D O brick-and-mortar offices cramp your style? Do you do most of your business and meetings over the web? Are you among the envied few who have hybrid or full work-from-home privileges? Then, the Acer Swift 16 AI was probably made for you – savvy, digital age professionals who are often on the move and prefer firepower in a svelte package. And svelte it is, measuring at 9.92mm thick and weighing a mere 1.46kg. You will not have any issues lugging this (essentially) thin crust pizza across the city or international borders. What is more impressive is what you get for all that weight. If you are used to IPS monitors at the office, the first thing likely to blow you away is the laptop’s absolutely

and crisp. Speaking of AI, the laptop

o Acer’s latest laptop for digital nomads

has a nifty Activity Indicator LED light on the touchpad’s top-right corner that lights up whenever its AI features are active. Perhaps drawing inspiration from Hollywood sci-fi – think KITT’s red lights from Knight Rider – you will always know when the device is firing up its smart capabilities. But if you know when it is “thinking”, it knows when you are around. Powered by the webcam sensor, Acer User Sensing 2.0 locks the laptop when you walk away and wakes it when you return – obviously useful against prying eyes and especially when you travel. You can also switch screens by glancing from your laptop’s monitor to another. These conveniences may seem small at first, but will be pleasantly welcomed by nomadic professionals and freelancers who are just as likely to frequent cafes as they are beaches. Combined with its processing muscle and stunning display, the Acer Swift 16 AI makes a compelling package at RM5,699. If you move around a lot and/or have ever laboured (painfully) on a heavy company-given laptop, you might want to consider this investment.

gorgeous 16-inch WQXGA+ Oled display. Watching movies – or pretty much any kind of content – during your downtime is a mesmerising experience, thanks to its deep, inky blacks and exceptional contrast. When it is time to work, the wide colour gamut and near-impeccable colour accuracy make photo editing and digital art creation an absolute joy. And with an Intel Core Ultra 7 (Series 2) processor, the laptop can

An indicator on the touchpad lights up whenever AI features are active.

how you appear and sound on screen. That is where Acer’s PurifiedView 2.0 and PurifiedVoice 2.0 come in. Powered by AI sorcery, the former helps visually with automatic framing, gaze correction and advanced background blur, while the latter squelches unwanted background noise to ensure your voice comes in clear

deliver of computational performance, easily handling general productivity tasks and artificial intelligence (AI)-powered workloads. But what really impressed us is the thoughtful suite of quality-of-life features that Acer armed this thing with. Online meetings have exploded in popularity since the pandemic, but are still frequently plagued by low-quality video and sound. And given that first impressions matter – like it or not – your career may be riding on over 120 TOPS

The laptop measures 9.92mm in thickness and weighs only 1.46kg.

The Acer Swift 16 AI sports a gorgeous 16-inch WQXGA+ Oled display.

Mystery author Agatha Christie giving writing lessons, thanks to AI

THE BBC is not raising the dead, but it is getting close. Thanks to artificial intelligence (AI), author Agatha Christie – who has been dead for almost half a century – becomes the central figure in a new writing course launched by the BBC Maestro platform. The aim is to teach people how to write like the Queen of Crime, guided by a digital version of the author herself. Entitled Agatha Christie: Writing , this course offers aspiring writers valuable insight into the art of constructing a good crime story. The course is based on Christie’s own words, taken from her letters, interviews and personal writings. Actress Vivien Keene helps bring Christie’s presence to life on screen. To create this digital version of the British author, her appearance and voice were recreated with the help of AI and BBC archives. “In a world-first, Christie – bestselling novelist of all time – will offer aspiring writers an unparalleled opportunity to learn the secrets behind her writing, in her own words. Using meticulously restored archival interviews, private letters and writings

researched by a team of Christie experts, this pioneering course reconstructs Christie’s own voice and insights, guiding students through the art of suspense, plot twists and unforgettable characters,” said the accompanying statement. This is not a bot that generates text on the fly. The project is based on authentic content, organised by a team of experts, including academics, researchers, creative professionals and author specialists. AI is used here as a reconstitution tool, not as an autonomous writing device. This is reflected in the process used to develop the voice, since those of the legendary author and actress Keene have been blended to create the AI version of Christie’s voice. “You can hear my voice is not anything like Christie’s,” said Keene, quoted by The Hollywood Reporter . “And so I tried to get just the cadence… Her voice is pretty distinctive, actually, her voice and she is very shy and feisty, and she does not really like being interviewed. And so I started to put the voice on thinking that they want

me to use my voice in the final edit. But it has been re-speeched, I think is the word.” In all, Agatha Christie: Writing includes 11 videos accompanied by 12 exercises, for a total duration of 2.5 hours. Viewers will learn how to set the scene for a mystery, maintain suspense, construct a revelation or play with the reader’s expectations, all in the style of Christie. The project was developed with the agreement of the writer’s literary estate, represented by her great-grandson James Prichard. “They have been deeply involved from the beginning, and they have made sure this is not just something that Christie would have understood, but, we hope, as a bit of an innovator herself, would have really enjoyed,” said Nicki Sheard, CEO of brands and licensing at BBC Studios, quoted by The Hollywood Reporter . For the BBC, it is also an ambitious showcase for its BBC Maestro educational platform, which already offers courses led by the likes of Serena Williams, Kevin Hart, Kris Jenner and Stephen Curry. – ETX Studio

Legendary British author Christie is celebrated to this day for her riveting murder mysteries. – AFPPIC