Slashdot Mirror
HP's EliteBook 800 G6 Notebook Series Adds Convenience, Privacy Features (pcworld.com)
HP today announced its latest Elitebook 800 G6 line of business notebooks, boasting additional privacy options and a security software agent that HP says will make them more capable against zero-day attacks. From a report: HP's new models -- the EliteBook 830 G6, HP EliteBook 840 G6, and HP EliteBook 850 G6, plus the HP EliteBook x360 830 G6 -- offer up to 18 hours of battery life, a behind-the-glass privacy shutter, and options for a 1,000-nit screen that can be used outdoors. HP said it will ship most of the models in May, while the x360 model is expected to ship in June. Prices have not been announced. According to specifications provided to PCWorld, all four notebooks will share common Core i5-8265U and Core i7-8565 Whiskey Lake processors from Intel, while the Elitebook 830 G6 and EliteBook x360 830 G6 will offer a Core i3-8145U option as well. Wi-Fi 6 and Bluetooth 5.0 also appear for the first time in this generation, HP said.
The members of the EliteBook lineup differ by screen size. The EliteBook 830 G6 and x360 830 G6 offer 13.3-inch displays. The 840 G6 is a 14-inch laptop, and the 850 G6 is a 15-inch machine. As many business notebooks do, HP has innovated on two axes: improving the hardware, as well as building in additional software and services. The company seems especially proud of the latter, specifically what it calls Sure Sense. The technology will be included on all of the newly announced EliteBook PCs. With Sure Sense, the company believes the lightweight software agent can react in real time to unknown threats, intelligently deciding whether they represent a risk to the system. The idea, HP said, is to provide an additional layer of security against so-called "zero-day" attacks that may come out of the blue and install ransomware or worse on corporate machines.
The members of the EliteBook lineup differ by screen size. The EliteBook 830 G6 and x360 830 G6 offer 13.3-inch displays. The 840 G6 is a 14-inch laptop, and the 850 G6 is a 15-inch machine. As many business notebooks do, HP has innovated on two axes: improving the hardware, as well as building in additional software and services. The company seems especially proud of the latter, specifically what it calls Sure Sense. The technology will be included on all of the newly announced EliteBook PCs. With Sure Sense, the company believes the lightweight software agent can react in real time to unknown threats, intelligently deciding whether they represent a risk to the system. The idea, HP said, is to provide an additional layer of security against so-called "zero-day" attacks that may come out of the blue and install ransomware or worse on corporate machines.
what a wonderful world
"and a security software agent that HP says will make them more capable against zero-day attacks.... that it opens them up to..." FTFY
Never really thought about it before, but a very bright screen meant for outdoor use is a great niche to produce a laptop for.
"There is more worth loving than we have strength to love." - Brian Jay Stanley
What's the difference between this laptop any any other Windows laptop running Bromium's secure platform and a $1. webcam cover?
So, how long until it's discovered that SureSense has an administrative back door password that is the same on every machine?
It's the only Privacy feature I need when I buy a new computer.
Will $CURRENT_YEAR be the year of the Linux Desktop?
So, we have a (relatively) cheap webcam cover gimmick, a bunch of additional software that threatens to add more bloat than usefulness**, and one neat thing (the bright-enough-to-read-outdoors bit.)
** Lets face it - unless you're upper tech/R&D or upper management/CxO for a Fortune 50 corp or you work for a DoD contractor? Who really cares what someone else can sort-of-maybe see on your laptop screen? As long as you practice basic security hygiene, it's going to be pretty worthless to the casual shoulder-surfer, and most of us don't rate a dedicated super-spy eyeballing over our shoulder while trying to glean access to sensitive tech...
I get it, sometimes shoulder-surfing can get some pretty neat access to stuff, but people who open/display sensitive crap like that in public aren't going to have the presence of mind to make sure their electro-shutter-privacy-thingy is on.
I dunno - maybe it's just me, but the whole thing reeks of gimmicks that are either physical, or that add bloatware drivers to an OS ('doze) with more than enough stuff to disable/remove as it is (save for the screen brightness - that's kinda cool.)
Quo usque tandem abutere, Nimbus, patientia nostra?
And for a limited time, slashdotters can get an extra 10% off, or a free external hard drive. Just use the code SLASHVERTIZEMENT at checkout!
Velociraptor = Distiraptor / Timeraptor
If HP cared about privacy, they would go to bat for their customers against Microsoft's forced telemetry, advertising, and data profiling in Windows 10.
If they really cared about privacy, they'd offer a barebones version of this model that you can put your own OS on, with downloadable modules for whatever hardware that the mainline RH/Debian distros don't already support. *shrug*
Quo usque tandem abutere, Nimbus, patientia nostra?
All HP laptops that I've come across have been utter crap. At least on these models, the internal GPU chips fail due to crap internal airflow designs and crap thermal pads. I've revived a few of them but they almost always die again even after re-pasting and blowing the suckers out (after a complete disassembly). Even the HP printers I've owned have all died early. The only decent HP product I own is a Proliant G7 server, but that *should* be good given its target use and audience. These laptops are utterly boring, the only thing that interests me is the ability to use the screens outdoors, but that is such a seldom use-case that I wouldn't buy a laptop just for that. Next.
That thing will not be used by any of my clients if IT has any say in the matter.
First rule of holes; When in one, stop digging.
Where's the story here?
Am I wrong in assuming this article boils down to "Next model HP laptop will include standard hardware, and some software that will be immediately wiped by everyone who purchases it"?
No option for a high-res screen, no option for larger than 1 TB SSD. Apple was there 7 years ago. Next.
17779 eligible voters in a district, 17779 'vote' as one. This is Russia.
Obligatory, "How can it be secure/private/etc. when it runs Windows 10" comment that I know will be downvoted....
two axes: improving the hardware, as well as building in additional software and services. The company seems especially proud of the latter, specifically what it calls Sure Sense
They are proud of their bloatware
are we really going to put our trust in HP written software?
your only hope is that it is removable, as long as it's not something that is running on a chip like the T2 'security' cpu from Apple.
On a long enough timeline, the survival rate for everyone drops to zero.