ASUS’ new Zenbook, Vivobook laptops debut at Computex Taipei 2019
ASUS’ latest Zenbook and Vivobook laptops were in the spotlight at the brand’s majestic booth at Computex Taipei 2019, a mega international ICT tradeshow Mirror Business visited in Taipei, Taiwan.
As Computex’s 1,685 exhibitors from 5,508 booths showcased their latest products, applications and technologies in Artificial Intelligence, Internet of things, 5G, Blockchain, gaming and Extended Reality - ASUS’ groundbreaking laptop innovations were its forte.
The debut ASUS’ star products, soon to be added to its line-up in Sri Lanka, are highperforming and multitasking laptops with smartphone features integrated into them.
Zenbook Pro Duo
The grandest, even personified by a mammoth replica at the booth’s entrance, was ASUS’ Zenbook Pro Duo, featuring the Screenpad Plus revolutionary full-width secondary touchscreen.
The 15.6-inch laptop’s 14-inch Screenpad Plus and the primary display integrate seamlessly and it can be used just like any standard second display in Windows.
This unique 4K Screenpad Plus offers users two separate LCDS on a single portable device. The high-resolution 32:9 aspect-ratio touchscreen, sitting directly above the laptop’s keyboard, provides a greatly enlarged visual workspace while the standard laptop form is unaffected.
“Screenpad Plus’ built-in Screenxpert software includes a wide selection of useful apps, tools and utilities, allowing users easily enjoy the efficiency benefits of Screenpad Plus. Users can take advantage of many time-saving features and functions built into the Screenxpert control software to simplify multiscreen window and app management. These include quick controls such as App Switcher, Viewmax and App Navigator. They enable intuitive interactions and easy crossscreen referencing between the main display and Screenpad Plus. The Task Group feature lets users lock instantly into work mode by opening multiple tasks with a single touch,” ASUS said.
It was demonstrated how users could drag discrete apps, toolbars or menus onto Screenpad Plus and make the main screen clutter-free. Creators are capable of docking their tools such as video previews, timeline controls, code windows or audio mixer panels onto Screenpad Plus.
Social communications apps could be placed on Screenpad Plus, thus respond instantly to messages while working, without having to switch between windows.
“Zenbook Pro Duo is powered by up to a ninthgeneration Intel Core i9 eight-core processor with up to a 5GHZ Turbo Boost frequency and 32GB of DDR4 RAM.
The gaming-grade NVIDIA Geforce RTX 2060 GPU, powered by the NVIDIA Turing architecture, is a game-changing GPU that offers users the power of ray-tracing for the ultimate visual realism.
An up to 1TB PCIE 3.0 x4 SSD ensures ultrafast data access at all times. The full set of I/O ports includes a Thunderbolt 3-enabled USB Type-c (USB-C) port.
The latest Intel Wi-fi 6 with Gig+ (802.11ax) takes wireless speeds to the next level, for super smooth connections to the world,” ASUS further said.
Zenbook Pro Duo offers great visuals with its 4K UHD (3840 x 2160) OLED touchscreen.
Its latest version of ASUS Numberpad dual-function touchpad is a Led-illuminated numeric keypad.
It was stated the display is a frameless four-sided ASUS Nanoedge design with ultraslim bezels for “immersive” visuals and an ultracompact form factor.
There’s also Amazon Alexa voice support, with a dedicated light bar at the front of the laptop that illuminates to indicate it’s listening.
Zenbook Pro Duo’s sibling is Zenbook Duo: A smaller 14-inch ultraportable version with 12.6inch FHD Screenpad Plus, Intel Core i7 CPU and Geforce MX250 GPU.
Zenbook Edition 30
Mounted on a spectacular high-tech platform displaying the years of ASUS journey was a very special laptop - the exclusive Zenbook Edition 30, ASUS’ limited-edition 30th anniversary model.
In 2006, ASUS had created the S6F Leather Collection, the world’s first laptop to incorporate genuine-leather panels. Zenbook Edition 30 brings a “futuristic twist to that classic look,” ASUS said.
Its lid is encased in fine-quality genuine pearl white Italian leather, hand-crafted and handstitched for a perfect fit appearance and to give a “pure, bold-style statement”.
Zenbook Edition 30 has rose gold anodised diamond-cut edges and a trim bar. Its lid is decorated with an exclusive 18-karat rose-goldplated 30th anniversary logo, giving Zenbook Edition 30 an eye-catching look of luxury.
Although not on display at the booth, it was revealed Zenbook Edition 30 is exclusively equipped with a complete set of premium accessories, including a pearl white mouse, a leather-look box, a mouse pad and a genuineleather sleeve.
Zenbook 13/14/15
Another tech marvel the enthusiasts flocked around to experience at ASUS was the new Zenbook 13, Zenbook 14 and Zenbook 15 premium Windows 10 laptop series, distinctive for ASUS Screenpad 2.0, a 5.65-inch touchscreen offering manifold productivity and efficiency boosting features and benefits.
“Powered by the new Screenxpert software, Screenpad 2.0 interactive secondary touchscreen includes a collection of handy ASUS utilities: Quick Key enables one-tap automation of complex keyboard sequences, Handwriting for natural text input and Number Key for rapid data entry. The revised smartphone-like interface is more intuitive. Having the world’s most compact designs, the new ultralight and ultraportable Zenbook models boast the smallest footprints in their class, a feat made possible by the frameless Nanoedge displays.
The displays feature ultraslim bezels on all four sides, creating up to a 95 percent screento-body ratio that maximises the screen area in the minimum physical space.
The new Zenbook series lets users do more and do it quicker. The new models’ highperformance components include up to eighth generation Intel Core i7 quad-core CPUS, up to NVIDIA Geforce GTX 1650 Max-q graphics, 16GB RAM, ultrafast PCIE SSDS and gigabit-class Wi-fi 5,” ASUS revealed.
Its features make Zenbook ideal for creating complex documents, mining data, retouching photos, editing videos or gaming. They allow ultrafast downloads and smooth streaming with greater range and more stable network connections.
Designed for non-stop, on-the-go lifestyles, the new Zenbook series gives users the freedom to work longer hours - up to 14 hours for Zenbook 13 and 14 and 17 hours for Zenbook 15.
Vivobook Ss
Attractive also were ASUS’ newly launched sleek and ultraportable Vivobook S14 and S15, a makeover to appeal to the young, in varied unconventional bright colours - moss green, punk pink, cobalt blue, transparent silver or gun metal, “adding a dash of personality to mobile computing”, ASUS said.
Upgrading the laptop experience, Vivobook S14 and S15 are also the first in the series to feature the Screenpad 2.0 touchscreen.
These laptops too incorporate the new frameless four-sided Nanoedge display design that gives them more compact dimensions and an “immersive” viewing experience, as it possesses an up to 88 percent screen-to-body ratio.
“Powered by up to Intel Core i7 processors and NVIDIA Geforce MX250 discrete graphics, these laptops feature up to a 1TB PCIE SSD.
Intel-powered Wi-fi 6 (802.11ax) delivers superfast networking speeds that are up to 3X faster than Wi-fi 5 (802.11ac), with 4X the network capacity and 75 percent-lower latency to reduce large 4K video transfer times by up to 70 percent.
They are the first Vivobook models to feature an infra-red camera that offers hands-free face login: Advanced biometrics work seamlessly with Windows Hello, allowing users to wake their laptops and log in with a simple look.
Harman Kardon-certified audio provides high-quality detailed sound that’s second to none,” ASUS added.
Computex Taipei 2019
Co-organised by the Taiwan External Trade Development Council and Taipei Computer Association, Computex is based on Taiwan’s complete ICT clusters. It covers the whole spectrum of the ICT industry, from established brands to start-ups and from ICT supply chain to Internet of things ecosystems.
Held from May 28 to June 1, 2019, the five show days of Computex 2019 had seen 42,495 international buyers and ICT professionals from 171 countries flooding into the show.
The top 10 buyer countries were China, the US, Japan, South Korea, Hong Kong, Thailand, Singapore, Germany, Malaysia and India. From 25 countries, 467 tech start-ups had also showcased their innovations.
Taiwan, with strong research and development, manufacturing capabilities and intellectual property right protection, is considered a strategic destination for foreign companies and investors looking for partners in global technology ecosystems. Computex Taipei 2020, to be held from June 2 to 6, 2020, is to mark Computex’s 40th anniversary.