Articles about ASUS

ASUS is bringing some much-needed excitement to the Chromebook market with its newly announced CX14 and CX15 series computers. These new ChromeOS laptops deliver a fresh mix of style, performance, and environmental awareness. These 14-inch and 15.6-inch laptops are built for everyday users but with enough polish to appeal to professionals and students alike. What sets them apart isn’t just the design, but more importantly, the surprising variety of configurations. Not to mention, there is optional support for Google’s Chromebook Plus platform, which includes a year of Google One AI Premium at no extra cost.

The CX14 and CX15 models come in seven different color choices including Misty Green, Cream Pink, Rock Grey, Fabric Blue, and Quiet Blue. There are also three distinct finish types: Crystallice, Washi, and Paint. Believe it or not, the finishes are more than just for looks. For instance, the Paint version is mixed with diamond and stone particles, giving it 2.5 times the abrasion resistance of traditional coatings. ASUS clearly wants these Chromebooks to look good for the long haul, and the company is using 30 percent post-consumer recycled plastics in the chassis to help reduce environmental impact. Very cool, ASUS!

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ASUS is one of the first motherboard manufacturers taking steps to ensure that its customers will be able to enjoy Windows 11. The company has released BIOS updates for a number of its boards which automatically enable TPM 2.0 support.

The hardware requirements for Windows 11 have proved confusing and controversial in just about equal measure, but it is the need for TPM 2.0 that has caught many people off guard. Even for people with systems that have TPM 2.0 and therefore support Windows 11, there is the potentially difficult process of enabling the feature. With its latest BIOS updates for both AMD and Intel mobos, ASUS has eliminated this step so there is no need to manually enable it.

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If you have been following news recently, you can't have missed the fact that there is confusion and annoyance about the minimum system requirements for Windows 11. As well as making some relatively recent processor effectively obsolete, the latest version of Windows's need for TPM 2.0 is standing in the way of many potential upgrades.

For system builders concerned about the compatibility of their hardware, ASUS has updated its support documents to provide details information about which of its motherboard are compatible with Windows 11.

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The Wi-Fi 6E revolution is upon us, and very soon, the market will be flooded with routers that utilize the new standard. If you aren't familiar, Wi-Fi 6E is notable for utilizing a 6GHz band. Of course, only Wi-Fi 6E devices can take advantage of this new technology, so not only will you need a router, but in the case of laptop and desktop computers, new Wi-Fi cards too.

While Wi-Fi 6E USB dongles are sure to hit the market eventually, desktop owners would be wise to instead opt for a PCIe card for maximum performance. Thankfully, at CES 2021, ASUS announced such a card and it looks incredible. Called "PCE-AXE58BT," it plugs into a PCIe 1x (or larger) slot and utilizes an external antenna base which, thanks to its cable, can be moved around for optimal placement. This is superior to cards that come with antennas that connect directly to the card.

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Yesterday we reported about a warning from Kaspersky that the ASUS Live Update Utility had been hacked to deliver ShadowHammer backdoor malware. ASUS has now released a patch to secure systems, and Kaspersky has released a tool that you can use to check whether you have been affected by the malware.

It's important that ASUS users install the patch -- described as a "critical" update by the company -- to secure their systems, but it's also a good idea to use Kaspersky's utility to see whether your computer has been infected with ShadowHammer.

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Kaspersky Lab reports that the software update system used by ASUS was hijacked by hackers and used to deliver a backdoor-laden piece of malware to users. The company estimates that around a million users may have been affected by what it describes as "one of the biggest supply-chain incidents ever".

Back in January, the security firm discovered that a threat actor interfered with the ASUS Live Update Utility, adding a backdoor to it. Signed with an official ASUS certificate and carefully crafted to be precisely the same size as the official tool, the malware -- dubbed ShadowHammer -- went unnoticed for some time.

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If you are a fan of light and thin laptops, you are probably very satisfied with the current crop of notebooks on the market. Whether you want Windows 10, macOS, or Chrome OS, there are plenty of svelte machines from which to choose. It is quite remarkable to see how much power can be packed into such a slim body.

ASUS has a new addition to its VivoBook 14 series, and it looks very pretty. The "X420," as it is called, features a "frameless display." This is really jut marketing speak for extremely thin bezels. As you can see from the images, there actually is a frame. While the selling point is a misnomer, it is impressive nonetheless. The X420 is not form over function either -- the internal specs are respectable too.

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At Computex, ASUS has revealed its new ZenBook Pro 15 laptop. This is a high-performance machine, but this is a laptop that's about more than just raw power.

In addition to the 8th Generation Intel Core i9 hexa-core processor and 16GB of 2400Hz DDR4 RAM, the new ZenBook Pro has an innovative trackpad. As well as controlling the mouse cursor, the traditional trackpad has been replaced with a ScreenPad -- a touch-sensitive screen that can display apps, shortcuts and other information.

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Today at Computex 2018 ASUS Republic of Gamers unveiled its first gaming smartphone, the ROG Phone.

That this is a gaming smartphone is not the only "first" claimed by ASUS; it is also described as the world's first smartphone with a 3D vapor-chamber cooling system called GameCool. At the event, ASUS also revealed the ROG Rapture GT-AX11000 router with Wi-Fi speeds of over 10,000Mbps, as well as ROG Ryujin and ROG Ryuo CPU coolers, and ROG Thor 1200W Platinum power supply.

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Mesh networking systems are all the rage these days, and it isn't hard to see why. Traditional wireless routers can be deficient in large houses, failing to reach all of the rooms. It can be quite frustrating to experience dead zones in your home, and fiddling with range extenders can be annoying. Mesh networks blanket your home in glorious Wi-Fi by utilizing several well-placed access points.

Today, ASUS unveils its latest mesh networking system. Called "Lyra Trio," it is comprised of three AC1750 access points. The 802.11ac devices are pyramid-shaped and contain vertical 3x3 MIMO antennas. If you don't have experience with setting up a home network, don't worry -- you can use a special smartphone app (Android and iPhone) to do so easily.

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It used to be, if you wanted a gaming laptop, there was a huge price to pay. No, I am not talking about a financial price, although they can be expensive. Actually, I am referring to the excessive weight and thickness. A portable gaming machine was historically a very big and bulky product.

These days, however, a gaming laptop can be quite svelte comparatively. They are continually getting thinner and lighter. Today, ASUS unveils its latest such notebook, the ROG Zephyrus M. That "ROG" stands for "Republic of Gamers," which is ASUS' premium gaming brand. This new laptop certainly is premium, as it features a hexacore Core i7 processor, 16GB of RAM, and either an NVIDIA GeForce GTX 1060 or 1070 -- depending on configuration. This is all crammed into a very thin body. And yes, the keyboard features RGB lighting, because... Gaming!

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The iPhone X is the best iPhone that you can get right now, but it's most certainly not the best looking. You can probably tell where I'm going with this: the notch. It may set it apart from other smartphones, but it's a pain to look at on a $1,000 device.

Apple probably had its reasons when it decided to go with that design and, I believe, this will be improved upon in future iterations. Trouble is, other manufacturers think it's something worth copying, not avoiding like the plague. The New ZenFone 5 comes with a notch and it is not the only one. By the looks of it, the upcoming Huawei P20 will follow suit.

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There have been lots of devices revealed at MWC 2018 this week, and it is little surprise that there are handsets copying the look of Apple's iPhone X. In this number are the ASUS ZenFone 5 and ZenFone 5Z, both of which feature a controversial "notch" at the top of their screens.

It is clear the look of the latest ZenFones have been inspired by the iPhone X, and it's hard to imagine that Apple's lawyers are not considering allegations of plagiarism. In all, there are three phones in the family: the high-end ZenFone 5Z, the mid-range ZenFone 5, and the budget ZenFone 5Q (known at the ZenFone 5 Lite in some parts of the world).

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Apple is selling the $1,000 iPhone X nowadays, and yeah, there is a place for it. Shockingly, when the "X" first came out, people were not only willing to pay a high premium for Apple's latest, but they waited in line to do so. Think about that -- queuing up to part with a grand! If you have that kind of money, more power to you, but I know a lot of people are hurting financially out there -- the iPhone X is simply not achievable for them.

If you don't have a lot of money, do not worry -- you can still get a quality smartphone for much less. You can opt for an older iPhone model, or if you are particularly low on cash, choose Android. Google's operating system powers many affordable devices, and now, ASUS unveils a very intriguing model that is exclusive to Verizon. The "ZenFone V Live," as it is called, has respectable specifications, looks great, and best of all, it costs an insanely low $168.

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Dell revealed more information about its first Windows Mixed Reality headset yesterday, and now it is ASUS' turn to do the same. The company, which is among the first supporters of the platform, chose IFA 2017 to talk about price and expands on the specs that it has.

The Windows Mixed Reality Headset (yes, that's its actual name), which we first read about back in late-May, has a pretty cool design, featuring "hundreds of 3D polygons and a glossy tone-on-tone effect."

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