Angry owl is angry: ASUS does a badass gaming headset
When ASUS announced its new mainstream gaming sub-brand Strix two weeks ago, it also unveiled the Strix Pro gaming headset which, to be frank, didn’t look that good in the official renders. Luckily, we stumbled across the real deal at Computex, and its glowing orange owl eyes immediately got us fixated on them. These cans feature a “thunderous” 60mm neodymium-magnet driver in each side, and they’re further enhanced by noise cancellation — enabled by the USB control box — that’s apparently over 90 percent effective. Conveniently, the microphone boom is detachable, so that you can use the headset as a normal pair of headphones.
Alas, we weren’t able to test the headset properly at the booth, but it did feel comfortable thanks to the hexagonal ear cushions and the top cushioned elastic band. If you want one, we’ve been told that the Strix Pro will be priced around $100 when it gradually rolls out globally starting in July.
Hands-on photos by Zach Honig.
Asia’s biggest tech show is ASUS’ show
While covering Computex 2014 this year, we saw ASUS Chairman Jonney Shih take to the stage no-less than three times. Granted, two were to showcase his company’s seemingly limitless product launches, but he also snuck on stage at Intel’s keynote — arguably the only other company that makes an impact at the Taipei. ASUS is a Taiwanese company and when Shih appears, several lines of journalists pop up (as do their flashes), and the light show pretty much continues until he leaves — the home crowd like him. It also helps that the chairman comes across as super enthused whenever he talks up the products — we can recall a particularly cheerful “ubiquitous cloud computing” exclamation at last year’s showcase).
There’s also the fact that ASUS exceeds even Samsung when it comes to producing previously unseen form factors. From phone tablets to tablet phones, hybrids, and this year, a ‘five-in-one’ PC with a built-in smartphone. After a relentless flurry of announcements, journalists, analysts and bloggers are then unleashed into smallish demo area, where, if you’re lucky, there’s two of the new flashy devices to share around a room of hundreds. Apple events might carry a higher degree of pressure, but the chaos of an ASUS press launch at Computex, remains… unique. Here’s how ASUS made this Taipei tech event its own:
Filed under: Cellphones, Laptops, Tablets, ASUS
ASUS shows off a 14-inch USB touchscreen monitor
ASUS is demoing quite a few alleged “world firsts” at its Computex booth. In addition to a 32-inch curved LED monitor, there’s a 14-inch USB touch monitor on hand here in Taipei. We’re used to seeing USB monitors here — ASUS had one at this same venue last year, actually — but the addition of touch is definitely the standout feature this time around.
For anyone looking to get some work done, the ability to navigate an external display with 10 fingers is definitely appealing. The demo at ASUS’ booth showed the monitor connected to an ASUS VivoTab, but imagine using the monitor connected to your Surface Pro 3 (or any other device with USB 3.0, really) to focus on a project in Photoshop. In my brief time with the monitor, 10-finger touch works well, and the modest 1,366 x 768 resolution didn’t detract from the product’s usefulness. It’s currently a prototype, so there’s no price or availability info to share for now.
Filed under: Peripherals, ASUS
Engadget Daily: new features in iOS 8, Apple invades the connected home, and more!
Today, we explore Apple’s push into the connected home, uncover a few lesser-known iOS 8 features, take a look a net neutrality and go hands-on with ASUS’ Llama Mountain reference tablet. Read on for Engadget’s news highlights from the last 24 hours.
Here are a few lesser-known new features in iOS 8
Yesterday, Apple unveiled a bunch of new features coming to iOS 8, but many of them didn’t make it to the spotlight. Read on as our own Brad Molen uncovers a few of the lesser-known but awesome additions to the mobile OS.
Apple attempts to conquer the connected home
Many companies have tried their hands at home automation and failed to stir things up. Android @ Home ring any bells? With its new HomeKit platform, Apple might have the market power to pull it off, but can it succeed?
Intel’s Windows 8.1 Pro Broadwell tablet is thinner than the iPad Air
What you’re looking at is Intel’s Llama Mountain reference tablet, or Pro Broadwell for short. It’s a mouthful for sure, but this slate manages a thinner profile than the iPad Air and has an eight-hour battery life.
Congratulations, internet: you collapsed part of the FCC website with comments
How much does net neutrality matter? Enough that the Federal Communications Commission’s website is receiving so many complaint submissions that it’s suffering under heavy traffic. Read on for everything you need to know about the open internet.
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Filed under: Misc
ASUS’ new external Blu-ray drive does 7.1 audio at a fair price
While ASUS continues to impress us with a slew of PCs and mobile devices at Computex, let’s not forget that it still makes some nice peripherals. One thing that surprised us at the ASUS booth was a pretty external Blu-ray drive aimed at audio buffs. Dubbed the Blu-ray Prime, this USB 3.0 device claims to be the “world’s only optical drive with 7.1-channel audio output,” courtesy of the integrated ASUS Xonar sound card, which packs a Cirrus Logic CS4398 DAC and a C-Media CM6631A audio processor, plus optical output. It also features a 600-ohm headphone amplifier and a clean 114dB signal-to-noise ratio. Expect the Blu-ray Prime to hit various markets for about $199 in Q4, after the DVD version is released in Q3 for half the price.
Photos by Zach Honig.
Filed under: Peripherals, ASUS
Acer shows off the first 4K monitor with NVIDIA’s stutter-reducing G-Sync tech
It’s been nearly eight months since NVIDIA unveiled G-Sync, a new technology for game monitors that reduces lag, stuttering and screen tearing. In that time, none of these displays has been widely available, though we have been treated to an in-person demo or two. Finally, though, Acer is on the verge of releasing a G-Sync monitor, and it appears to be the first with 4K resolution, to boot. The XB280HK (pictured above) is a 28-inch display with a 3,840 x 2,160 TN panel — a big improvement over the Philips 1080p model we saw back at CES. Separately, ASUS just announced the ROG Swift PG278Q, here at Computex; that’s a 27-inch G-Sync monitor with 2,560 x 1,440 resolution. See? They don’t all have to be capped at 1,920 x 1,080.
Like other G-Sync displays, both of these match your GPU’s refresh rate with the monitor’s as a way of eliminating the sort of bumpiness you’d normally get if you extended your gameplay onto a bigger screen. The in-person demo we got today reminded us how effective the technology is, especially in side-by-side comparisons with older monitors. But don’t take our word for it — the demo video embedded below does a better job capturing the benefits than any hands-on walk-through we could put together. Even if you’re already aware of how the technology works, you might want to check it out; it’s the clearest demonstration of the technology we’ve seen yet. As for the question of “when can I buy these?”, well, we’re not actually sure yet. No word on when either of these will arrive or how much they’ll cost, but the Acer model, at least, is slated to ship in Q2, which means it should go on sale very soon.
ASUS introduces us to the ‘world’s largest’ curved LED monitor
ASUS announced a slew of high-profile devices at its press conference yesterday, but the company’s booth at Computex still turned up a few gems today. Among them: a prototype of a 32-inch curved LED monitor, which ASUS says is the largest of its kind.
At least in its current incarnation, the monitor’s curve is very slight — the company’s experimenting with the ideal amount of bend in the display, and a rep said the subtle curve currently in place helps avoid any image warping. The 2,560 x 1,440 (WQHD) panel itself looks pretty crisp, though because of the display’s large size, you can clearly make out individual pixels. ASUS chose VA (vertical alignment) technology for the screen, which combines the best features of TN and IPS panels to offer wide viewing angles and accurate colors. Thanks to the combination of display tech, the slight curve and a glare-deflecting matte finish, the LED monitor can comfortably accommodate a family of four watching a movie. Entertainment is clearly the main focus here, and a DisplayPort connection is on board for grabbing content from your laptop.
As a prototype, the 32-inch curved monitor doesn’t have a set price tag or a launch date at this point. ASUS did say that it will cost more than its $800 models but less than its 4K monitors, which is admittedly a pretty big range. For now, though, you can check out a few photos in our hands-on gallery above.
Zach Honig contributed to this report.
Filed under: Displays, Home Entertainment, ASUS
ASUS crams 4K gaming into sleek and distinctive laptop
What should a company do immediately after unveiling an incredible 4K laptop that’s only 19 mm thick? Why, repeat the feat while throwing in some gamer-level GFX from NVIDIA on the way. You might have heard that we were particularly impressed with ASUS’ Zenbook NX500: Besides the specifications, it was quite the looker too. However, if brushed-metallic finishes aren’t your thing, maybe the moody black and red undertones of the ROG GX500 will be more to your liking. Has the Razer Blade finally got competition in the slimline gaming laptop market? We prodded and poked ASUS ROG’s new beast earlier today, and we reckon it’s a yes.
Back to that screen. Yes, it’s 4K and that’s incredible in its own right, but ASUS is also ensuring it delivers on color reproduction to, with 100 percent of NTSC’s color gamut, and 106 percent of Adobe’s RGB. In the flesh, the display is astoundingly crisp, while the fact that it’s IPS means it’s probably going to be Netflix-friendly too — especially when that 4K content starts rolling.
Streaming only video would be a gross underuse of the GX500, however, which crams in a powerful NVIDIA GeForce GTX 860M GPU for gaming muscle, while still weighing just shy of five pounds. The burning question remains: How do games run? We wish we could tell you, but unfortunately ASUS’s ROG launch event was mostly showcasing on-the-rails gaming footage, and the throng of pro gamers and reporters made gaming pretty much impossible. At least for now, early impressions are that it’s yet another impressive laptop screen from ASUS, while the keyboard felt far more responsive than we thought it would, given the shallow frame of the GX500. We’re also hoping it’s just the next step in a gaming rig design revolution.
ASUS’ Chromebook C300 is yet another well-made budget laptop
Lenovo, HP and other big-name laptop makers are on board; now ASUS is embracing the Chromebook movement with its first two laptops running Google’s browser-based software. The 11.6-inch Chromebook C200 is already available for pre-order, but its larger sibling, the C300, has yet to received a launch date. Still, the 13.3-inch laptop is here at Computex, and I spent a few minutes playing with the $249 device.
At just over 3.1 pounds, it’s not feather-light, but the C300 still feels very manageable. The chiclet keyboard is well-spaced and comfortable overall. Design-wise, there’s not much to distinguish this laptop from the growing list of Chromebooks, though it does run Intel’s new Bay Trail-M chip under the hood. Based on a few minutes of use, nothing about the C300 stands out as particularly remarkable; instead, it looks to be the latest addition to a sea of well-made, cheap laptops — possibly with a small performance edge thanks to its latest-gen processor. ASUS says the C300 will go on sale soon, so stay tuned.
Zach Honig contributed to this report.
Android 4.4.3 OTA rollout started for Nexus devices, factory images also available
Long awaited, or better said rumored, Android 4.4.3 has started rolling out on LG Nexus devices after reaching Sprint’s Nexus 5 in April.
First in line is Asus Nexus 7 (2013) which is now receiving Andoid 4.4.3 build KTU84L. This update is just a bit shy of 74MB, so have that in mind. Other Nexus devices should follow in the coming days. Have in mind though that not everyone will get the update in the coming days, this rollout (like usual) will come in waves to owner of certain Nexus devices and it might take a while ’till it reaches your device. The update itself brings a lot of bug fixes and a refreshed Phone app.
Android 4.4.3 factory images are also available for certain Nexus devices, you can get them here.
VIA: Android Central
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