computex2013
Latest
ASUS ROG reveals 'the ultimate gaming machine', the Poseidon Formula One
ASUS cannot get enough of Computex, and today its PC gaming arm is rolling out some high powered new kit. This is the Poseidon Formula 1, housing the apex of ROG's gaming hardware know-how and brandishing its new Poseidon GTX 700 series GPU. It pairs NVIDIA's GeForce GTX 700 graphics series with a hybrid cooling system, with ASUS' CoolTech combing blower and axial fans into one design, forcing air over the heatsink in multiple directions. Augmenting this is a liquid cooling system that ROG promises can reduce operating temperatures by up to 31 degrees Celsius, likely ensuring some impressive overclocking feats. The system is built upon ROG's new Maximus VI motherboard that packs even more thermal cooling assistance, as well as the company's SupremeFX audio card which will give gamers 120dB headphone output with a 600 Ohm headphone amplifier to improve volume and clarity. If that didn't quite satisfy your thirst for specs, check out the slide show below and the press release after the break. Richard Lai contributed to this report. %Gallery-190235%
ASUS teases upcoming mechanical ROG 'Armor Keyboard' for gamers
ASUS' ROG presentation here at Computex wasn't all meaty graphic powerhouses -- it also displayed a new mechanical keyboard for discerning typists gamers, albeit underneath a piece of black cloth. We were told that the temporarily named "Armor Keyboard" wasn't quite ready to show off its design just yet, but when it comes out towards the end of Q3 this year it will, surprisingly, boast the title of ASUS' first in-house-designed mechanical gaming keyboard. As you'd expect, this backlit device will feature "ultra-responsive" mechanical key switches, as well as dedicated media and programmable hot keys located along the periphery. We'll be keeping an eye out for more information about it later this year, naturally. Richard Lai contributed to this report. %Gallery-190232%
MSI shows off a concept gaming laptop with a touchscreen trackpad (hands-on)
Hot on the heels of announcing some fresh gaming notebooks, MSI is showing off yet another laptop -- albeit, one you can't buy yet. The GS70 Stealth is a 17-inch gamer's machine, and by most indications, it's designed to go head to head with Razer's Blade lineup. At 3.9kg (8.6 pounds) it's reasonably light for a system with this screen size, and with an all-aluminum chassis, it has a more premium feel than other MSI machines (not to mention some competing models from brands like Alienware). What really makes us think of Razer, though, is the secondary display on the interior, which doubles as a touchpad. Unfortunately, because the unit we handled was an early-stage prototype, it wasn't actually functioning as it should, but MSI says the display would allow for touch input, since the primary 17.3-inch (1080p) screen will be non-touch. In short, then, the company thinks this might present a good compromise for folks who want a touchscreen handy, but would rather it not be the main display where they're viewing games. And who knows? Even if you don't crave touch input, it might still make for a neat secondary display, especially if you've got games running at full-screen. No word on when this will come out or how much it will cost, but MSI is going to release essentially the same system, just with a regular touchpad. Look for it in August with a starting price around $1,699 (we've included shots of that below, if you're curious).%Gallery-190221%
ASUS' 31.5-inch 4K monitor priced at $3,799, 39-inch version coming in Q3 (eyes-on)
Yeah, we want one too. Here at Computex, ASUS is showing off its new 31.5-inch 4K monitor, which we just learned will cost $3,799. (Oh come now, don't get all sticker-shocked on us.) The photos below speak for themselves, really, but suffice to say, the combination of that 3,840 x 2,160, 140-ppi panel and that matte, anti-glare finish make for some stunning images. And because the bezels are so thin, photos more or less extend from one end of the screen, uninterrupted. Still think you'll have room to spare after taking into account this monitor's big footprint? ASUS is also prepping a 39-inch version with mostly the same specs (except for pixel density, obviously). We've got pictures of that guy too, though we still don't know how much it'll cost. Look for the 31.5-inch model to ship in June, with its big brother following sometime in Q3. And if a $3,800 monitor isn't in the cards, well, that's what hands-on galleries are for.%Gallery-190223% Zach Honig contributed to this report.
ASUS ROG announces G750 gaming laptop with NVIDIA GeForce GTX 700M series graphics
ASUS ROG has finally gone official with its new gaming rig. The ROG G750 ties together one of NVIDIA's latest mobile graphics card (on stage, it was the GeForce GTX 765M) with a stylish brushed aluminium keyboard surround. Since its last gaming laptops, ROG has added an amplifier within the headphone socket to really crank up in-game sound effects and music. It'll pack in 4th generation Intel Core i7 processors, while the backlit keyboard includes a gamer-friendly isolated arrow key cluster and large multi-point touchpad. We've added an official press shot and some close-up slides below. Richard Lai contributed to this report. %Gallery-190233%
NVIDIA CEO demos new stylus touchscreen tech, uses Tegra 4 image processing to reduce battery drain
Elaborating from the battery-saving PRISM screen tech that we saw on Tegra 3 devices, the NVIDIA CEO Jen-Hsun Huang showed off a new software-based touchscreen technology that allows you to use a simple capacitive stylus with a degree of pressure-based input. Showing of his writing skills at Computex on an experimental 7-inch tablet, he used a simple (ie. non-digitizer) stylus to write at several different thicknesses, utilizing a flat surface at the other end of the pen to erase any mistakes -- there's sensitivity to the millimeter, apparently. NVIDIA reckons this will improve battery life while using the stylus and offers a high detection rate (thanks to the software-based processes) for slick, curved lines. The primary hardware necessary? No less than NVIDIA's new Tegra 4 chip, of course, and DirectTouch. Check out the gallery of the stylus in action below, and we can expect the company to elaborate on which devices will house the feature in the near-future. %Gallery-190209%
Gigabyte shows four prototype BRIX mini PCs, including models with projectors and wireless charging
Gigabyte said that we'd have at least a few BRIX mini PCs to choose from. At Computex, however, it's showing four new prototypes that could lead to a much larger catalog. Two of them are run-of-the-mill designs with AMD Kabini and Intel Haswell processors -- nice enough, but more evolution than revolution. The other two are decidedly more exotic, though. One includes a wireless charging pad to charge a smartphone in a pinch, while the other carries a pico projector for on-the-spot presentations. Although Gigabyte hasn't mentioned whether or not these BRIX models will reach production, we'd wager that the conservative systems are more likely to reach our desks.
Toshiba outs the PX35t all-in-one with a mouse little enough for women to use
In addition to announcing some new laptops for back-to-school season, Toshiba took the opportunity to refresh its lone all-in-one desktop. This new model, the PX35t, comes with a new look, borrowing some design cues from the televisions Toshiba introduced back at CES. Really, it's that aluminum, U-shaped chin that keeps it looking sort of TV-like, though the new pedestal stand helps too. Inside, it will be offered with Haswell Core i3, Core i5 and i7 CPUs. At the high end (somewhere in the $1,300 range) you can trick it out with up to 1TB of HDD storage, 16GB of RAM and a Blu-ray drive. A Toshiba rep also told us it will also be available with optional discrete graphics -- specifically, the NVIDIA GeForce 740M. Either way, you get a 23-inch 1080p touchscreen (no IPS), four Harman Kardon speakers and a mix of Sleep-and-Charge and Sleep-and-Music ports. Interestingly, Toshiba says the target market for its all-in-ones skews more female, so it deliberately tailored the mouse for smaller hands (Ed. note: fits like a glove.) The keyboard, however, is cushy enough that even men should be able to use it comfortably. Look for the whole package to ship this month, starting at $1,030.%Gallery-189974%
Toshiba intros three Android tablets, two with Tegra 4 and a 2,560 x 1,600 screen (update: hands-on video)
Could three times be a charm for Toshiba? After striking out with its "Thrive" Android tablets and then coming up a bit short with the "Excite" line, the company is completely scrapping its tablet lineup and replacing it with three new models. These include the Excite Pure, Excite Pro and Excite Write, and while they share the same plastic design, 10-inch form factor, ports and Android 4.2 OS, they each offer something a little different on the inside. Starting with the Pure, it's a $300 tablet running with last year's specs -- namely, a Tegra 3 SoC, a 1,280 x 800 screen with Gorilla Glass 1 and no rear camera. Storage is capped at 16GB, but since all of these have a microSD slot, 16GB or 32GB isn't really a hard limit. Moving up the line, the Excite Pro steps up to a Tegra 4 chip, 32GB of storage, an 8MP rear camera, Harman Kardon sound and a 2,560 x 1,600, 300-ppi Gorilla Glass 2 screen to match the Nexus 10. As you can see in our hands-on shots, it was meant to be used with an optional keyboard case, though you can technically use that dock with any of these tablets, since they all share the same hardware. That will arrive in early July for $500, putting it in line with the iPad and other premium tablets like the ASUS Transformer Pad Infinity. Finally, the Excite Write is exactly what it sounds like: a tablet with pen support. Specifically, it has a Wacom digitizer with support for 1,024 levels of pressure sensitivity. Accordingly, Toshiba is also pre-loading its own TruNote and TruCapture apps to assist with note-taking. That digitizer aside, the Write shares all the same specs as the Excite Pro: Tegra 4, 32GB of storage, an 8-megapixel camera and a 10.1-inch, 2,560 x 1,600 display. This, too, will be available next month, with an MSRP of $600. In the meantime, check out our hands-on photos after the break.
Toshiba refreshes its PC lineup with new mainstream notebooks, a gaming laptop
If you're going to unveil a completely refreshed PC lineup, you may as well do it the week Intel launches some new processors (and, you know, the week a big computer show is going on). Toshiba just announced a slew of new models, including an all-in-one, a redesigned gaming notebook and mainstream laptops in various sizes. It'd be silly to overwhelm you with details right here, since everything from the designs to the GPUs have changed, but if you follow us past the break we've got a neat summary of everything Toshiba introduced today, complete with pricing, specs and a few hands-on photos too.
Qualcomm unveils Snapdragon 400 with built-in LTE, new reference tablet designs
Qualcomm doesn't want to reserve the fastest wireless technology for its highest-end processors: it's launching a new quad-core edition of its Snapdragon 400 chip, the MSM8926, with both 3G and LTE built-in. The 1.2GHz, Cortex-A7 part will handle the faster wireless speeds alongside 42Mbps HSPA+ and China-friendly TD-SCDMA. It will also continue to support shorter-range technology like 802.11ac WiFi and Miracast streaming. The newer Snapdragon should arrive late this year alongside a matching Reference Design tablet. In the shorter term, the company is also introducing 7- and 10-inch versions of the Reference Design tablet that will be based on earlier, 3G-only versions of the Snapdragon 400 (the MSM8230 and MSM8030). These variants are targeted at developing world markets, and should be display on the Computex show floor this week -- naturally, we're hoping to get a first-hand look.
E Ink launches Mobius flexible display for your next smartwatch
Although smartwatch makers have had access to e-paper for a while, there have been few such displays tailor-made for our wrists. E Ink is more than willing to fill that void with a new, watch-oriented version of its Mobius screen. The flexible, 1.73-inch panel won't floor anyone with its 320 x 240 grayscale picture, but it can be cut into timepiece-friendly shapes that take more abuse than a typical e-reader. More importantly for us end users, E Ink already has at least one hardware partner lined up: Sonostar is using the tiny Mobius for a smartwatch this summer, and the odds are that the company won't be alone.
We're live from Computex 2013 in Taipei!
Over the last year, some key manufacturers have opted to reduce their dependence on major trade shows, instead deciding to launch new devices at blowout private events. That's not the case at Computex. As the home of substantial technology players such as Acer, ASUS and HTC, Taiwan is no stranger to innovation. Its capital city, Taipei, has played host to this annual IT show for more than three decades, and judging by the activity today, the event remains vitally important to the country, and the industry as a whole. We had a chance to check out a tremendous number of new products on the first day alone, but we'll continue delivering news and hands-ons throughout the week. For a look at what we saw on Monday in Taipei, click past the break. Then check out our event hub for a complete look at Computex 2013.
Mozilla inks deal with Foxconn to co-develop Firefox OS devices, shows off its first-ever tablet
In between the packed schedule at Computex earlier today, our brethren over at Engadget Chinese managed to sneak into the joint event held by Foxconn and Mozilla. As you may have already heard, the former company has signed on to become the 19th member of the latter's Firefox OS alliance, and it's already working on at least five devices. That said, it's unclear whether these include the first-ever Firefox OS tablet (pictured above) that was present at the event. And no, we weren't allowed to touch this mysterious device. The two groups will also cooperate on the software side, and Mozilla took the opportunity to indicate the healthy growth in its app ecosystem, with well-known apps like AccuWeather and SoundCloud jumping on board. But will that be enough? We'll see how the developing countries react to the first Firefox OS phones when they come out in the summer. Press release after the break.
ASUS launches dual-band router with combined 1900Mbit/s speeds
Some of ASUS' big Computex 2013 launches today involved the latest 802.11ac WiFi flavor, and since you'll need to feed them with a router packing the same tech, ASUS has also announced one of those: the RT-AC68U. The company claims it's the first dual-band 802.11ac router with AC1900 data rates up to 1900 Mbit/s, thanks to AiRadar beamforming, which helps bring a stronger connection and 150 percent better range, too (if accurate). You'll also be able to share files between ASUS routers with USB-attached drives thanks to a router-to-router sync mode, negating the need for a switched-on PC or other device. There's no word on pricing or availability, but the previous RT-AC66U flagship ran about $200 or so -- so we'd be surprised if it came in under that figure.
Hands-on with the Dell XPS 11: meet Dell's answer to the Lenovo Yoga (video)
Just a short while ago we brought word that Dell had quietly announced the Dell XPS 11, an 11.6-inch Ultrabook with a hinge that folds all the way back into tablet mode, with the keyboard disabled after it passes 180 degrees. Yep, it is what it sounds like: a direct strike at Lenovo's Yoga convertibles. As we said in our earlier report, it won't actually be available until the holiday season, but fortunately we just had a chance to get hands-on with a prototype unit here at Computex. So, we're prepared to share a few first impressions, even though certain minor details like price and specs have yet to be finalized. Meet us past the break for the full preview.%Gallery-190109%
ASUS adds liquid-cooled Haswell to its ROG TYTAN G30 gaming desktop (video)
It's fair to say that Haswell doesn't do much for desktop enthusiasts -- a few percentage points of compute performance perhaps, but nothing like the major improvements for mobile SKUs and integrated graphics. Nevertheless, those questing after every extra FLOP probably ought to take note that ASUS is about to bring out a Haswell-equipped version of its ROG TYTAN desktop. We have no pricing or availability yet, just an official video that popped up on ASUS's official YouTube channel during the weekend. It promises a water-cooled Core i7-4770K with one-button overclocking to 4.1GHz, alongside an NVIDIA GeForce GTX 680. That choice for graphics seems a bit strange, given the launch of the GTX 770 and 780 last week -- but it's possible the spec will be updated, or that more expensive options will have the newer cards. We won't know either way until ASUS puts out some info pricing and availability, and we'll update this post if that happens.
ASUS FonePad Note FHD 6 hands-on at Computex 2013 (video)
ASUS is joining the big smartphone / tablet / don't call it a phablet fight, and its first salvo is the 6-inch FonePad Note FHD 6. We don't have to tell you that it's big, and that it stretched the limits of our hands when we briefly played with it. The 1080p display is suitably crisp enough, although this early demo unit was unable to be steered any further than the lock screen. However, that screen should at least look familiar to anyone who's played with the first FonePad. There's also a built-in stylus to use with it, one that's almost half as long as the phone itself, and this can be holstered in the back -- making it awfully like the Galaxy Note in more than just name. It's also worth noting the dual front-facing speakers, although there was no chance to test audio quality. Catch our brief eyes-on video after the break.%Gallery-190086%
ASUS Transformer Book Trio: a hybrid laptop running Windows and Android (hands-on)
If you thought ASUS was done announcing new products here at Computex, get ready for at least one more surprise. The company just unveiled the Transformer Book Trio, a dockable tablet that can run Windows and Android. At first glance, it's visually quite similar to the Transformer Book we just reviewed, except this time it has 11.6-inch, 1080p screen. And, you know, twice as many operating systems. If you're wondering how that works, there's a physical hotkey allowing you to switch OSs, similar to the setup on the Transformer AiO, which was announced last year at this same show. It's important to note, though, that that hotkey will only work if you have the tablet latched into the keyboard dock; once you unplug the tablet it will only run Android Jelly Bean. Spec-wise, dual operating systems amounts to dual processors, with a fourth-generation Core i7-4500U processor powering the Windows 8 experience, and a 2GHz Intel Atom Z2580 chip handling Android Jelly Bean. In fact, Intel EVP Tom Kilroy made an appearance at ASUS' press event in Taipei to help formally introduce the product. Continuing on, dual OSs also means multiple batteries: the package includes a 33Wh cell as well as a 19Wh one. As for storage, you've got a 1TB HDD inside the dock, and 64GB of flash storage inside the tablet proper. If you're looking for a price, ASUS isn't planning on announcing that today, but a company rep did confirm the Trio is slated for a Q3 launch. For now, you'll find a hands-on video and few first impressions after the break. %Gallery-190087%
ASUS announces VivoPC home theater PC packing Windows 8, 802.11ac WiFi
During a chock-a-block event at Computex 2013, ASUS just announced the VivoPC, a compact Windows 8-based home theater PC that can also double as your primary desktop. It'll let you stream HD video via a newfangled 802.11ac WiFi connection, and has a similar spun metal design to the freshly announced VivoMouse. The mini-PC will also feature ASUS's SonicMaster audio, but that's all we know so far in terms of specs -- of course, as soon as we find out such minor details as, say, processor, RAM and storage, we'll update you right here.
