The inescapable anti-feature of being in the Australian media is that one must, on a regular basis, make the pilgrimage to Sydney. Unfortunately, I’ve lost count of the number of times I’ve been forced to traverse the bowels of Sydney’s Kingsford Smith Airport. However, one must sacrifice for his craft. I think there are worse fates.
At least this time it was interesting.
Last Tuesday (June 18), Microsoft launched the Copilot+ PCs worldwide.
Co-pilot + computers It’s Microsoft’s latest step into the world of artificial intelligence, and it’s designed to make your computer feel like a helpful friend. These new machines come equipped with a Neural Processing Unit (NPU), which is essentially a mini AI brain It can perform 40 trillion operations per second.
Microsoft claims these are the fastest and smartest Windows PCs ever, capable of performing tasks that would make other computers scream and vomit in defeat.
That’s why I found myself standing in front of the Microsoft Experience Center in Sydney on Pitt Street.
Media events can be pretty boring, but the promise of free drinks and canapés is enough to attract frivolous journalists like me. However, this immediately felt different. The invitation promised a lot: This is not just an event. It’s your passport to the new world of technology, a world of possibilities – where creativity and productivity know no bounds.
Well, I’m interested.
Once inside, guests were given a boarding pass and passport and told that we would be traveling to five “destinations” designed to showcase the new Microsoft Copilot+ PC features.
Once we ‘checked in’, we were left to wander the two-level store and dive into the new PCs first hand.
It wouldn’t be a techno event without a DJ.
All night I wondered if this fruit was for eating or for decoration. But this isn’t a fruit blog, well, not yet. Anyway, let’s dive into what was on offer, shall we?
8. Sending destination: AI mail assistance
I started playing with a laptop on one of the benches, not knowing that I had inadvertently stumbled upon the first destination. This leg was about experiencing the power of Word’s co-pilot. The premise was simple – write a poem on a postcard from the holiday destination of your choice. I felt like writing a report on North Korea, but I didn’t want to be put on any blacklists.
Of course, Copilot isn’t just a Word thing — it’ll be there to help you do basically anything on your new set of computers.
7. Copilot+ PCs: Welcome to the new world of technology
I was excited about this because he was in his little room, guarded by a guy who took your boarding pass and said things like “this is going to be about a 10 minute wait” – which is interesting. What could be there? What’s worth waiting 10 minutes for? The fact that it was described as a personal experience made it even more appealing.
Upon entering a dark room, I was greeted by a Copilot+ supercomputer and instructed me to stand on the keys, walk around, do a little dance—whatever pleased me.
Then the personal side began.
By that I mean he knows my name, and that’s about the character he’s got. I stood there watching a brief presentation, and then it was over. Somewhat frustrating, but now I can say I danced on a giant keyboard.
6. These gaming chairs
Okay, so that wasn’t a Copilot+ PC feature, but oh my. Very comfortable. One day, when I make it big, I will have a big mahogany dining table that will seat 16 people and it will be round, heavy and sturdy. And all around him will be these chairs. Absolute comfort for the player.
5. Copilot Explorer: Travel the web
Next stop was another spin on the Copilot+ PC (regular size) to experience the power of Copilot when used on the web. The mission was to plan a vacation, so I wrote a simple letter explaining that I wanted to see as many volcanoes in Japan as possible. In seconds, your entire itinerary is created. We have truly entered the era of personal travel.
Sure, many LLMS can do this, but what sets Copilot+ apart is that AI is integrated directly into the system rather than relying on cloud-based processes. This local processing ensures faster, more personal and potentially more personalized interactions.
4. The mastermind of memory
This was the only destination on the ground floor and it was all about the Copilot+ PC calling feature. The way it was done was really fun. An employee was hiding in a corner next to the DJ booth and told me that Microsoft had marked six random items throughout the building with the Copilot logo. I’ve been asked if I remember seeing any. Although I saw at least one throughout the night, my mind didn’t really register it. Or they. This was normal – if we held on to everything we knew, we would have an instant nervous breakdown. At least I will.
This exercise was a very clever demonstration of the power of the copilot summon feature, which is essentially a subscription program that… It takes a screenshot of your device every five seconds And stored locally, so (in theory) only you can access it.
In real-world use, Recall allows users to easily find and remember information they previously viewed on their computer. It works by indexing and understanding the content you interact with, making it searchable through natural language queries.
For example, if you vaguely remember seeing an interesting article about an elephant that could stand on one leg, but can’t remember where or when you saw it, you can ask your co-pilot to find it, and it will scan the previous nine months of your life. activity.
This feature aims to combat the modern problem of information overload by helping users recover things that might otherwise be lost in the massive sea of data we face on a daily basis.
Of course, it wasn’t without that, shall we say, Disagreements – As expected from something that takes screenshots of your device every five seconds. at present, Microsft has recalled its recall featuredelaying the offering for the time being.
3. Pork belly
The smart ones among you will probably suspect that ham isn’t one of the new Microsoft Copilot+ PC features. But gosh I hope it is. I hope that every time you turn on one of your new computers, a magical entity will appear and present you with a cute little painting of it This is specific Pork belly.
Media events usually have snacks, appetizers, hors d’oeuvres, what have you, but this time was different. I had one taste and needed more. I counted for seconds, then thirds, and the only thing keeping me from attacking the entire plate was the social stigma that would come from my colleagues watching my pupils dilate to complete black as I descended into a great white shark-like feeding frenzy.
Microsoft, give this chef a raise.
2. Co-Create – Bring your ideas to life
This part was really cool. Using Cocreator in Paint, we were asked to use a set of basic prompts and digital ink strokes to create a piece of art. Artistic ability was not important here – the sticky shapes served as a guide, and the Cocreator did the rest.
I’m an uncomplicated guy. I love monkeys, I love goats, and I love football. As you can see, it was already a masterpiece on the left, but Cocreator added some great finishing touches.
Then this nice young man brought this creativity to life on what is now my favorite bag.
1. The special gift
Throughout the night, there were hints of a special gift for anyone who visited and had their passport stamped at all five destinations. could it be? Could we all just give up on a brand new Copilot+ PC? Absolutely not. However, anticipation increased. All night I kept wondering what could be so special about this gift. Then the moment came.
Huge ass umbrella.
Don’t get me wrong, I love umbrellas as much as the next guy. I would consider myself an umbrella fan. I appreciate what they did for the community. But I struggled to figure out what umbrellas had to do with all this. Was I stupid? Was there a hidden, deeper meaning that I didn’t understand?
Maybe I thought it was because the whole thing was travel themed. But then, wouldn’t the umbrella be small and compact? This thing was huge. I wondered if they would let me bring it on the plane to Melbourne.
But as I walked the streets of Sydney with my giant umbrella, I came to appreciate it more. I have never held an umbrella so large and at the same time so smooth – it opened instantly with the push of a button. It closed with the agility and ease of an umbrella half its size. It was strong and durable, yet elegant and beautiful.
Eventually, she was taken from me as I went through Sydney airport security on my way back to Melbourne, but our separation was temporary. After some tests on the explosives, it became clear.
When I returned to Melbourne, I asked the co-pilot what the parachute might mean.
deep.