WORLD’S FIRST LIQUID-COOLED LAPTOP | Republic of Gamers pushes gaming to the extreme

MANILA, Philippines — Republic of Gamers (ROG), the World’s undisputed No. 1 gaming laptop, celebrates its 10th Anniversary with a bang with the much-anticipated launch of its most powerful laptop yet, the ROG GX700.

With unmatched specs and industry-leading innovations, the Republic of Gamers rocks the entire gaming industry with the ROG GX700′s liquid-cooled design — a world’s first — guaranteeing users a gaming experience like never before.

With such an incredible feat, the Republic of Gamers makes another unprecedented move by inviting only a select few to get to experience for themselves just how powerful and one-of-a-kind this gaming laptop is.

Only 20 of the country’s most avid and top gamers and hardcore users will only be able to exclusively get their hands on this limited-edition beast of a machine as it set to hit the Philippine shores. These very few, lucky individuals – collectively, the “Legendary 20” – will surely make history as one of the first people to experience the powerhouse gaming device that is the ROG GX700

The perks and the works: The ultra-exclusive ‘Legendary 20′

For the Legendary 20, the ROG GX700 is packed with an arsenal of accessories and items that will further highlight the exclusivity of this elite gaming group: an ROG Sica Gaming Mouse, ROG Command Case (a premium black luggage case that not only ensures that the ROG GX700 is kept safe, but also for the user to bring the ROG GX700 wherever you want in absolute comfort and style); a Personalized Legendary 20 Luggage Tag (a stylish bag tag that proudly displays the name of the respective owner) and finally, a Legendary 20 Jacket (a decked-out Legendary 20 signature-style jacket tailor-fit to the Legendary 20 member).

Aside from owning these items and the bragging rights of being one of the very few to own the majestic ROG GX700 not only in the Philippines, but also in the entire world, members of the exclusive Legendary 20 are also automatically entitled to top-notch perks and privileges including: VIP-access to any and all ROG-related events in the country, and participation in exclusive Legendary 20 activities, which includes a private DOTA tournament with an ROG endorser.

GX700 – Desktop class performance in a laptop 

The flagship GX700VO being the world’s first water-cooled gaming laptop is capable of overclocking because of its exclusive hydro overclocking system.

Powering up this beast is a powerful Intel Core i7-6820HK (Overclocking Unlocked) Quad-Core processor. When the laptop is docked to its water-cooling station, the said CPU can be overclocked to a remarkable 4GHz in stable voltage. In addition, the onboard 32GB DDR4 RAM at 2133MHz can also be overclocked as high as to 2800 MHz.

Of course graphics is also Best in Class. The ROG GX700VO is equipped with a desktop class NVIDIA GeForce GTX 980 that has 8GB of GDDR5 VRAM. When water-cooled, it allows the chip to run in its full potential, thereby eliminating the bottleneck of low thermal headroom. Speed is not only in processing but also in storage on the GX700VO, which is packed with two 256GB NVMe PCIe SSD set-up in RAID0, allowing up to 3.5GB/s read/write speeds.

And highlighting the trump card of this notebook, the “Hydro Cooling System,” which made this notebook the world’s first water-cooled notebook, is the pinnacle of this year’s innovation for ASUS and ROG. Featuring two radiators, and a behemoth of fans with variable speed control through the built-in ROG Command Control Center software; the cooling module allows for the system to run cooler in idle, and be overclocked as wanted, or needed, and allows for a full desktop replacement for all those wanting to lug around a system that’s highly capable of Full-HD gaming.

source: interaksyon.com

REVIEW. The Asus Zenfone 2: Power overwhelming

MANILA, Philippines - Performance and price are the key elements needed in the battle for phone supremacy and Asus has stepped into the arena with its champion in the mid-range category: the Asus Zenfone 2.

Well, technically the phone is a mid-range phone, but the muscle it packs can blow away just about anyone even some phones on the “high end” range. By muscle, we mean the 64-bit architecture on the Intel Quad Core Atom (running at 2.3Ghz on our test phone) AND the 4GB RAM. Topped off with the PowerVR G6430 GPU, the Zenfone 2 is a beast.

BODY. The Zenfone 2’s body handles well, with its curved backside resting well in most palms. The faux metal back gives the phone a slick feel to it. Finger smudges are virtually undetectable.

The buttons however, can be worrisome. The power/lock button for one is situated at the top. Turning the phone off or locking it may prove bothersome for people with small hands. Another boo-boo is the volume controls at the back. If you’re into music or movies, adjusting volume can be a pain.

For its price tag, the Zenfone 2 offers almost the same high-end phones do: the 5.5-inch IPS LCD display, the 1080x1920 resolution, and for screen protection, the Corning Gorilla Glass 3. Oh, it also supports dual-sim and microSD cards up to 64GB.

PERFORMANCE. The Zenfone 2’s RAM and CPU is overkill. The test phone we have is the Quad Core 2.3Ghz / 4GB version and to put it simply, opening multiple high-end games at once and shifting between those apps is a breeze. Its GPU also gives smooth frame rates on today’s games and pushing the phone to its limits has been very enjoyable. It’s hard to believe that all that power is packed inside a budget-friendly phone.


The Zenfone 2 comes with Android Lollipop, but it also comes with apps that can pretty much take most of your time trying to figure out. What’s amazing about the Zen UI though is the ability to create separate and secure profiles (work and personal) eliminating the need for two phones. In other words, another person can borrow your phone without you having to worry if they’ll dig up your stuff.

Customization is for the creative and the Zenfone 2 offer users the ability to customize everything—from fonts to icons to overall look. It caters to your style. Period. 

With great power comes great… battery consumption and the Zenfone 2, like a lot of today’s phones, can fall prey to its own behemoth specs. In wake of this, the Zenfone 2 has a feature called quick charge. 30 minutes of charging can fill up as much as 60 percent of life to a dead phone. With the battery consumption, we hope Asus will address the issue in its coming updates.

CAMERA. The Asus Zenfone 2 comes with 13MP camera with a dual-tone LED flash. The front cam packs a 5MP camera and it’s not shabby even in low light. The camera however can take its time to process every after shot (in low light) but the results are worth it. Action shots can be troublesome as the HRD proves long to process, resulting in not so sharp images.

The camera app does sport some cool features like beautification and GIF Animation. The options are straightforward that all you have to do is choose and click.

VERDICT. Asus Zenfone 2 has set a new standard in the budget and performance competition in smart phones. Setting aside the battery issue, this phone will be hard to match. You don’t have to second guess should you plan to purchase it given its souped-up specifications. Quality doesn’t have to be expensive and Asus proves just that.

source: philstar.com

Asus unveils ‘detachable laptop’ Transformer Book T-100

MANILA, Philippines — ASUS recently introduced its new Transformer Book T-100 in the Philippine market, as the Taiwan-based hardware maker expects high demand for detachable laptops before the year ends.

During the launch, Armelle Baylen, deputy channel manager at Asus Technology Philippines told Interaksyon.com the introduction of T100 in the Philippine market would boost its sales during the Christmas season this year.

Asus is targeting to sell 6,000 units of T-100 for the months of November and December in the local market, she said, as the company is focusing as its main product during the Holiday season.

“The T100 will create a new product for the IT industry,” she said.


T100 is a two-in-one ultraportable laptop with a detachable 10.1 inch tablet HD display.

It has an Intel Atom ‘Bay Trail’ Z3740 quad-core processor and a detachable 1366 x 768 IPS display that can be used as a standalone Windows 8.1 tablet.

“It has slim design and durable finish and one of the lightest and 10-inch tablets around,” Baylen said.

The 10.5 mm thin tablet has a display that features IPS technology for a wide 178-degreee viewing angle.

Its lightweight keyboard dock has precision-engineered keys for comfortable extended use, plus a large multi-touch touchpad with full Windows 8 gesture support.

Bundled with Microsoft Office Home & Student 2013 and an unlimited Asus webstorage, the T100 is available in the market for P23,995 with 64GB internal storage.

At the same event, Asus introduced newest offerings in the new N series, the world’s first notebook with a Quad-Speaker Array and Subwoofer powererd by 4th generation Intel core processors, equipped with NVIDIA GeForce graphics for outstanding visual performance. While the introduction of the G750 gaming notebook comes as a full desktop replacement in a sleek notebook form factor without comprimisng performance.

For multitasking and entertainment, on the other hand, Asus unveiled the X550 notebook, which also powered by 4th generation Intel Core processor; together with its spun-circle finish and patterned palm rests, the X-series adds a touch of elegance to everyday computing.

source: interaksyon.com

ASUS Launches MicroATX Motherboards For Superior HTPC Performance

ASUS announced a new range of microATX motherboards with onboard HDMI and DVI ports for Intel® and AMD processors with integrated graphics, and USB 3.0 ports with performance-enhancing ASUS USB 3.0 Boost technology. By removing the need for a discrete graphics card, the new motherboards provide a more affordable option for home entertainment PCs that can fully exploit high-performance USB 3.0 storage.

CPU-integrated graphics support with onboard HDMI and DVI ports The latest Intel 22nm CPUs feature Intel HD 4000 integrated graphics, while AMD Socket FM2 Athlon and A-Series APUs have integrated AMD HD 7000 Series discrete-level Radeon GPUs.


The processors provide excellent 2D and 3D graphics performance, without the need for a separate graphics card, which in turn results in lower PC build costs.

The new ASUS microATX motherboards support the integrated graphics features of both processor families, and each model features both an HDMI port for use with HDTVs and a DVI port for connection to desktop displays.

The ASUS B75M-A, H61M-PLUS, H61M-A/USB3 and H61M-A are microATX motherboards designed for Intel processors; the A85XM-A, A55M-A/USB3, A55M-A are for AMD APUs.

The microATX form factor and reduced cooling requirements of these new motherboards make them ideally suited for compact desktop and home entertainment PCs.

USB 3.0 has data-transfer speeds up to 10-times faster than USB 2.0.

The new microATX motherboards announced today improve upon this further with exclusive ASUS USB 3.0 Boost technology, for data transfer speeds up to 1.7-times faster than ordinary USB 3.0. USB 3.0 Boost uses the industry standard USB Attached SCSI Protocol (UASP) to increase data throughput by using multiple channels in parallel, rather than just the one channel of ordinary USB 3.0.

This allows USB 3.0 Boost to use the entire bandwidth of a USB 3.0 connection for significant time savings with large file transfers and smoother HD video streaming.

UASP requires a UASP-enabled drive or drive enclosure to deliver its full performance benefits, but ASUS USB 3.0 Boost technology also incorporates an optimized ‘turbo’ mode for data transfer speed improvements from any standard USB 3.0 device.

USB 3.0 Boost is supported by the ASUS B75M-A, H61M-PLUS and H61M-A/USB3 Intel-based motherboards.

source: mb.com.ph

Asus Fonepad Is a 7-Inch Tablet That Can Make Calls

BARCELONA — Didn't we tell you that the lines between smartphones and tablets are blurred? Case in point: the Asus Fonepad, a 7-inch tablet that's also a phone.

Beware: the Fonepad is a completely different device than the PadFone Infinity. There's no smartphone-becomes-tablet witchery here; the Fonepad is a 7-inch tablet, powered by Android 4.1 and sporting a 3G chip. You can use it to make calls, although we don't think a 7-inch device is ideal for the task.

The Fonepad looks pretty much exactly like Google's Nexus 7, which is hardly surprising since Asus makes that device as well.

However, the Fonepad is very different from most other Android tablets in a one important way: it's powered by the new Intel Atom Z2420 processor (for comparison, the Nexus 7 is powered by ARM's Cortex-A9 CPU).

Intel vice president Hermann Eul claims the processor "delivers the power, performance and flexibility required to accommodate a range of devices and market needs." However, the actual CPU model in the Fonepad is a single-core Atom clocked to 1.2GHz, which doesn't inspire confidence. With our short time with the Fonepad, we've tested Eul's claim, and we can say that the Fonepad feels snappy, on par with other tablets of its size of the iOS and Android variety.

Other specs include a 1280x800 7-inch IPS screen, 8/16GB of storage (expandable via SD memory cards), and a 3-megapixel camera that can record 720p video. All of that is crammed into a case that weighs 340g and is 10.4mm thick.

The device will be available from March 2013, with prices starting at €219 ($286) for the 8GB version.

source: mashable.com

Get your personal ‘Dropbox’ service with new Asus routers

MANILA, Philippines — If the 2GB of storage space provided by popular cloud service Dropbox is too small for your mobile needs, why not create your own personal cloud instead? With the recently launched AiCloud service that comes with new routers from Asus, you can do exactly that.

Now you don’t have to pressure your friends to sign up with Dropbox to get that additional cloud storage you need through referrals. Just purchase any of Asus’s new RT-AC66U, RT-N66U, or RT-N16 routers, hook up your own hard drive at the back of the panel, and you can easily access your files wherever you may be via the Internet.

Cloud storage services are a dime a dozen these days, what with the skyrocketing popularity of Dropbox and the recent launch of Google Drive, which easily gives users 5GB of storage for any file at Google’s own servers.

But Asus’s AiCloud service is actually a suite of three cloud products that users can easily use with their newly purchased WiFi routers, explained Kristian Villuga, product manager for routers at Asus Philippines.

These three cloud options are: Cloud Disk, Smart Access, and Smart Sync. Cloud Disk turns a pair of router and USB drive into a network-attached storage, accessible to anyone with access to the wireless connection; Smart Access, meanwhile, lets users view and use their files even outside the wireless connection and via the Internet; Smart Sync, on the other hand, ensures that all files uploaded via various cloud storage services such as Asus WebStorage are synchronized on the user’s phone or computer.

All three services are accessible through smartphones via a proprietary AiCloud application that can be downloaded from Apple’s App Store or at the Google Play Store.

Aside from featuring the new cloud storage service, the latest addition to Asus’s line of routers, the RT-AC66U, is said to be the most high-end model in the market, delivering data rates of up to 1.3Gbps, unrivaled by any consumer-grade wireless routers available today.


Below are the technical specifications of the RT-AC66U:

ASUS RT-AC66U Wireless Router
802.11 a/b/g/n/ac/u
450+1300Mbps data rate
2.4Ghz, 5.1~ 5.8Ghz
64-bit WEP, 128-bit WEP, WPA2-PSK, WPA-PSK, WPA-Enterprise, WPA2-Enterprise
1x WAN, 4x LAN, 2x USB2.0

If having your own “Dropbox” service seems like a good deal to you, prepare to fork up P11,990 for Asus’s new router — definitely a steep price to pay to be able to gain access to such perks.

source: interaksyon.com

ASUS Releases Two GeForce GTX 650 Ti DirectCU II Graphics Cards

Dual-fan ASUS GeForce GTX 650 Ti DirectCU II graphics cards present very attractive options for those interested in moving up to the DirectX 11 and 28nm era for home multimedia, graphics-reliant productivity, and detailed gaming. Exclusive ASUS features include the DirectCU II thermal design for 20% cooler and 3X quieter operation, DIGI+ VRM and Super Alloy Power for extended longevity and greater stability, and GPU Tweak user-friendly overclocking. The cards further support four-screen displays via NVIDIA 3D Surround technology. ASUS offers two GeForce GTX 650 Ti DirectCU II variants, including TOP and OC versions.

ASUS GeForce GTX 650 Ti DirectCU II cards offer high-output products well-suited to a wide range of PC DIY needs. Derived from the NVIDIA? GK106 core, they maintain an excellent cost-to-performance ratio for customers.

The TOP version uses specially-picked GPUs that are aggressively-tested and factory-overclocked to 1033MHz boost clock (105MHz above reference) The OC version runs 954MHz boost (26MHz above reference). Both cards ship with 1GB GDDR5 video memory set to 5400MHz.

DirectCU II runs 20% cooler and three times quieter

Unique to all ASUS performance graphics cards, the DirectCU II cooler consists of copper heatpipes in direct contact with the GPU, a larger dissipation area made of thermally-efficient materials, and dual noise-dampening fans. The latter are of special interest, as ASUS GeForce GTX 650 Ti DirectCU II cards are unique in their category by offering a twin fan design.

Overall, DirectCU II results in 20% cooler performance to improve stability and increase overclocking tolerance, plus three times quieter operation ? perfect for pleasant gaming and home multimedia environments.

DIGI+ VRM and Super Alloy Power increase performance, reliability, and longevity

ASUS GeForce GTX 650 Ti DirectCU II products retain the exclusive features that are at the heart of new ASUS graphics cards. Their DIGI+ VRM digital voltage regulation sets them apart, allowing for more delicate voltage adjustments and refined overclocking. As the GTX 650 Ti core offers customers a considerable overclocking margin, DIGI+ VRM control helps unlock these nascent capabilities. To aid in this, Super Alloy Power solid state capacitors, concrete-core buzz-free chokes, and MOSFETs handle heavy load and extended operation with ease. The design allows for 30% less power noise to boost stability, and its long-lasting components translate into 2.5 times the longevity of reference cards.

GPU Tweak taps flexible graphics card tuning and management

The exclusive GPU Tweak utility also joins the package to assist GeForce GTX 650 Ti DirectCU II buyers in making the most of graphics card power. Easy core and clock adjustments, fan speed controls, and voltage modification allow customers to change card parameters.

source: mb.com.ph

Asus ‘surprised’ by high Ultrabook demand in price-sensitive PH market

MANILA, Philippines — Taiwanese PC vendor Asus said it did not expect the high demand for its Ultrabook line from Filipino consumers considering the steep price slapped on initial units, a local executive said recently.

Despite the quick depletion of stocks, Asus Philippines System Technical PR Eason de Guzman admitted that they are still cautious about the Ultrabook market in the Philippines, which is largely known as a price-sensitive market.

In fact, De Guzman said they only brought in about 200 for the initial batch of Asus Zenbook Ultrabooks to be sold locally, which have quickly been lapped up by consumers in about a month’s time.

Launched in November, the 13-inch Asus Zenbook UX31 retailed for P59,995, while the lower-end 11-inch UX21 model was sold for P53,995.

Despite the expensive price tag, De Guzman said consumers still went for the Ultrabook models. “The demand for the Ultrabook was really unprecedented in the Philippines,” he said. “We were a little bit hesitant of [launching] the Zenbook here, because we’re a price-sensitive market. That is why we were really shocked.”

The ASUS executive said they have plans of bringing in a fresh batch by the second week of April — around the same volume of units–along with the limited edition hot pink model.

Still, De Guzman said they have observed that consumers who are capable of buying a P40,000 computer would still opt for a high-performance one instead of the portability offered by Ultrabooks.

“They would still prefer the high-end performance notebook, even if still a little bit bulky,” he said. “People who buy Ultrabook buy it for the portability and the design.”

While Ultrabooks constitute just a minute part of the computer company’s overall sales, the executive said they are seeing big potential for the new segment “because Intel is really pushing for Ultrabooks.”

The plan, according to him, is to have Ultrabooks the standard form factor for notebooks in three years’ time. Intel had earlier announced they are seeing as much as 40 percent Ultrabook penetration by the end of 2012.

He further disclosed that they are looking to do a refresh of their Zenbook line this year, especially after the launch of Intel’s new processors. ”

“During the upgrade of Intel processors in April 29, look forward to announcement from Asus as well,” he added.

Just recently, Asus launched a hot pink version of its Zenbook UX31 Ultrabook, which brandishes a neon pink color on the lid while the inner body is coated in black. The unit’s keyboard prints are also printed in pink to make the unit stand out from its counterparts.

The hot pink Zenbook still boasts of incredible speed with 2 seconds Instant On, incredible performance with 2nd Gen Intel Core processors and incredible beauty with a 3mm
height in front and 9mm height at the back.

It will retail for P59,995 and will become available by the first week of April.

source: interaksyon.com