Computex 2018: the latest news from the world's biggest computer show

Computex 2018, biggest computing show of the year, has now kicked off, and there's already been a large number of announcements. The biggest names in computing have come to Taipei for Computex 2018, which runs from June 5 until June 9, including AMD, Intel, Nvidia and Asus, and of course we are also there, reporting on the latest news from the show floor.

We’ll also be bringing you hands-on reviews of the top technology that’s on show, including cutting-edge laptops, stunning monitors and more peripherals than you can shake a joystick at.

Cut to the chase

• What is it? A huge global technology show that focuses on computing
• When is it? June 5 – June 9
• What's on show? The very latest laptops, PCs, monitors, peripherals and more

Computex 2018 reviews

While we're at Computex 2018, we'll be getting time to test out some of the most exciting tech that's been shown off. Here you'll find our hands-on reviews of the best kit.

Asus ROG Strix Hero II

Asus continues to impress us at Computex 2018, this time with the Asus ROG Strix Hero II, a very nicely designed affordable gaming laptop that proves a low price doesn't mean you have to make compromises when it comes to power and looks. With an Intel Core i7-8750H, GTX 1060 6GB, Full HD 144Hz display 16GB 2666Mhz RAM, 256GB PCIe SSD and a 1TB FireCuda SSHD, it's a very nice performer when it comes to games. 

Asus ZenBook S

We've got our hands on the Asus ZenBook S, which is another awesome Ultrabook from Asus, a company which seems to have really nailed the form factor. This 13-inch laptop has a gorgeous design and a pretty reasonable price tag to boot!

Asus ZenBook Pro 15

The Asus ZenBook Pro 15 has been shown off at Computex 2018, and it's certainly impressed us. Not only does it have an Intel Core i9 processor and Nvidia GTX 1050 Ti graphics card, but it also has a 5.5-inch screenpad just below the keyboard, where the mouse pad usually is.

Check out our hands-on video above to find out what we think of this innovative design.

Roccat Vulcan 120 AIMO

Roccat brought its gorgeously-designed gaming keyboard, the Roccat Vulcan 120 AIMO, and we've had some time to test it out. Did we like it? Check out our review to find out (spoiler alert: yes we did. A lot).

Asus VivoBook S

The Asus VivoBook S15 and VivoBook S14 are at Computex 2018, and these colorful laptops are aimed at catching the eye of mainstream consumers.

They come in Firmament Green, Star Grey, Silver Blue, Gun Metal, and Icicle Gold colors, and feature Asus' new ErgoLift hinge, which lifts the back of the laptop up when opened, making it more comfortable to type on.

Asus ROG Phone

Asus has surprised us all by announcing its own gaming-focused smartphone at Computex 2018.

With a gorgeous AMOLED screen 6-inch screen and powerful specifications, this is one hell of a smartphone, so make sure you check out our Asus ROG Phone hands-on review.

If you want to see it in action, then we've also got a video review where we look at the handset in detail.

Computex 2018 latest news

You'll find all the latest news from Computex 2018 here. We're at the event, so make sure you check back here regularly to keep up with all the coolest tech and important announcements.

Razer ports its mechanical key switches to third-party keyboard

We're big fans of Razer's self-made and designed keyboard switches and now you'll soon see them on keyboards not made by Razer itself. The gaming hardware maker announced it will be bringing its Green, Orange and Yellow mechanical switches to third-party keyboards soon.

Additionally, Razer is about to make synchronizing the RGB lighting between your all your peripherals and PC components less of a chore. At Computex 2018, the company also announced a new partnership with MSI, NZXT, AMD, Thermaltake, Lian Li, Vertagear, Gigabyte, and Ducky. The Razer Chroma Connected Devices Program will allow more RGB lighting-enabled devices, such as the Vertagear RGB gaming chair we saw at CES 2018, to work with Chroma.

Gigabyte Sabre gaming laptops get an Optane injection

Intel Optane Memory came to laptops a few months back, but only now are we seeing it introduced in a gaming laptop for the 'first time.' Gigabyte proudly smashed that record by introducing a refreshed line of Sabre gaming laptop equipped with the said storage speed-boosting memory, faster 120Hz screens, and of course, Intel Coffee Lake processors. 

Asus Project Precog is a dual-screen AI-powered laptop from the future

Asus has been very busy at Computex 2018, and it's revealed an incredibly innovative new laptop, which is currently known as Project Precog. With a second screen that acts like a smart keyboard, and which can also show apps and videos, and powered by artificial intelligence, Project Precog is shaping up to be a very exciting device, which Asus hopes to release in 2019.

Intel looks set to launch 28-core CPU later this year

One of the most exciting announcements at Computex 2018 is the new that Intel is set to launch a 28-core processor that's clocked at 5GHz. That would certainly lead to incredible performance, but it will probably be accompanied by an incredible price tag as well.

Intel also finally confirmed its Core i7-8086K processor, which hits 5GHz without overclocking, making it the most powerful Coffee Lake desktop processor to date.

Asus ZenBook S is an ultra-ergonomic Ultrabook

Asus has announced an all-new type of Ultrabook laptop known as the Asus ZenBook S, or UX391 at Computex 2018. Like the VivoBook S laptops it's also shown in Taipei, the ZenBook S comes with an ErgoLift Hinge to angle the keyboard to make typing on it more comfortable.

It's got a 13.3-inch touchscreen with ultra-thin, 5.9mm bezels and a resolution of either 1,920 x 1,080 or 3,840 x 2,160. Asus’s Tru2Life video technology enhances either screen’s contrast, sharpness and playback smoothness through pixel analysis.

Powering that display is an Intel 8th generation Core processor – your pick of the Core i5-8250U or Core i7-8550U – with Intel HD Graphics 620. Backing up that chip is up to 16GB of DDR3 memory at 2,133MHz and as much as 1TB of PCIe SSD storage.

Qualcomm announces the Snapdragon 850 CPU for PCs

Computex 2018 is quickly becoming the event where Qualcomm announces its new chipset for Windows 10 devices. This year the company rolled out its second generation Snapdragon 850 processor designed to improve the performance, longevity and wireless connectivity of Always Connected PCs.

Corsair introduces Vengeance RGB PRO memory

If you really want your gaming rig to stand out, then you'll love Corsair's new  Vengeance RGB PRO RAM, which has been announced at Computex 2018.

These RAM sticks get a light bar to run across the top, with 10 individual LEDs on each stick of RAM, so you can now display a flowing spectrum of which can customised through Corsair’s new iCUE software.

Corsair’s new Vengeance RGB PRO series is engineered to perform hitting a top speed of 4,600MHz without overclocking. And, if users want to push their RAM even father, users can tweak the XMP 2.0 profile with ease through a single motherboard setting. 

Asus ROG Phone aims to be the ultimate gaming smartphone

Asus has announced its new gaming-focused smartphone at Computex 2018, with the ROG Phone set to be an amazing hand-held gaming device... which also makes phone calls.

It's billed as the first smartphone in the world to run with a 3D vapor-chamber cooling system, and it is powered by a Qualcomm Snapdragon 845 octa-core chip with the clock speed pushed up to 2.96GHz.

It also features a 6-inch AMOLED screen with HDR support and 90Hz refresh rate.

Asus Strix Scar II and Hero II gaming laptops get Intel Coffee Lake CPUs

Asus has announced that refreshed versions of its 15-inch ROG Strix Scar Editon and ROG Strix Hero Edition gaming laptops will now feature nearly bezel-less screens. 

On top of slimming down the machines, Asus has also granted both of its eSports-focused machines new 1080p IPS panels rated with a 144Hz refresh rate and 3ms response time. 

Asus announces new monitors

Asus has announced several new monitors at Computex 2018, including the 4K Asus CG32UQ, which has been specifically targeted at console gamers.

It's got a 31.5-inch screen, Adaptive Sync and supports HDR10, which Asus plans to make it a great screen for PS4 Pro and Xbox One X owners. It also features Halo Sync lighting for more immersive gaming.

Asus also announced the Asus VG49V, which comes with an incredibly wide 32:9 aspect ratio, 49-inch screen size and 144hz refresh rates. Its resolution is 3840 x 1080, and the screen is curved to make using this ultra-wide aspect ratio more comfortable.

Finally, Asus also revealed the Asus ProArt PA34V, a monitor that's been carefully calibrated for creative professionals.

Nvidia's Jetson Xavier and Isaac aim to launch a new era of autonomous machines

Computex isn't just about consumer computing devices, as Nvidia showed when it announced its Jetson Xavier, which it claims is the single biggest robotics project Nvidia has worked on, and its first computer designed specifically for robotics.

Nvidia also announced the Isaac platform, which will power a new generation of autonomous machines.

Acer equips its 2018 PC gaming lineup with AMD hardware

Acer has announced AMD processor and graphics options for its entire, freshly-revealed PC gaming hardware lineup. 

This includes the Acer Predator Helios 500, a 17.3-inch laptop with 2nd generation AMD Ryzen processors and a Radeon RX Vega 56 GPU.

Acer also unveiled its desktop gaming PCs, including the Predator Orion 5000, which will come with a choice of AMD hardware as well. 

Here’s everything we know so far about what is likely to be shown at Computex 2018 by the biggest brands in the world.

Acer

Acer always has a big presence at Computex, and not just because it takes place in its home town of Taipei. At Computex 2017, Acer impressed us with a new line of Acer Spin laptops, and this year we expect to see some more innovative laptops that push the boundaries of the form factor.

So, a closer look at the recently-announced updated Nitro 5 gaming laptop with the latest 8th generation Intel Core i7 and Core i7+ processors and Nvidia 1050 Ti would be nice.

The slimline all-in-one Aspire S24 PC may also be there, and we’d like to see more innovations when it comes to Acer’s 2-in-1 laptops and Chromebooks.

AMD

AMD has been on a roll lately, with its Ryzen processors bringing in very strong sales, and its Ryzen 2nd Generation processors, like the AMD Ryzen 5 2600X and the AMD Ryzen 7 2700X getting rave reviews. Not to mention companies like Acer populating their high-end gaming laptops with AMD hardware. With the fantastic year AMD is having, we’re expecting a victory lap from the hardware maker at this year’s show.

So, we can expect to hear about what’s next for AMD’s Ryzen processors, and maybe even see some laptops that have the second generation installed – Acer for one has already announced new Ryzen- and Vega-powered gaming laptops ahead of the show. Even more likely, we may see the announcement of Ryzen Threadripper 2nd Generation at the show.

We’ll also get some news about AMD’s Radeon graphics cards as well, which have also been doing pretty well of late.

Asus

Asus is always a very popular draw at Computex, and we don’t expect it to be any different this year. Asus has a lot of fingers in a lot of pies, so expect new gaming laptops, as well as components and peripherals to boot.

Asus was also early to hype up its Computex 2018 appearance by releasing a video that appears to tease the announcement of a new ZenBook laptop. Asus’ range of ZenBooks are gorgeously designed and slimline ultrabooks, so we’re really looking forward to seeing what it has in store.

The video, which features Wonder Woman star Gal Gadot, is titled ‘Unleash your creative power’, so we’re convinced this will be a laptop that comes with enough processing and graphical chops for image and video editing. It could very well be a Kaby Lake-G powered Ultrabook going by everything we know.

We may also get a glimpse of the recently-announced ZenPhone Max Pro (M1) smartphone as well.

Intel

Last year Intel took to the stage at Computex to talk about its amazingly-powerful Core i9 processors, and we expect the chipmaker to go large this year as well.

AI (Artificial Intelligence) looks like it could be a major theme at Computex 2018, and Intel will be heavily invested, so we could see some announcements around that.

We’re also expecting Intel to show off a number of laptops with its latest processors inside, including the H-series Intel Core CPUs. On the desktop front, there are rumors of a new i7-8086K, celebrating the 40th anniversary of Intel’s first CPU, the Intel 8086. We’ve also seen rumors of new chipsets, suggesting we might see the announcement or even launch of Cannon Lake and Kaby Lake-X processors. 

Nvidia

Nvidia is another huge company that will be at Computex 2018, and will also have a lot to say about AI.

We might see some new laptops showing off Nvidia’s mobile GPUs (maybe even Turing-powered ones?), and also hear about how Nvidia’s components are powering the next generation of virtual reality games and experiences.

Also, continuing from GTC 2018, Nvidia’s GPU Technology Conference, we’ll likely hear more about the company’s work on self-driving cars, smart cities, healthcare and high-performance computing. Hopefully, we’ll also see the announcement of the GTX 1180, reportedly powered by its Turing architecture. However, there have been some recent leaks that point to the next-generation mainstream graphics cards launching in August instead. 

Microsoft

Microsoft is also a reliable presence at Computex, and with the ever-evolving Windows 10 we may get a chance to see what’s coming up in Redstone 5.

Last year Microsoft went into detail about its collaboration with Qualcomm, which saw the creation of Windows on Snapdragon laptops, that offer mobile-phone like battery lives and features. Could we see another innovative collaboration this year?

We may also see some new headsets for its Mixed Reality platform as well.

Dell

We haven’t heard many rumors coming from Dell recently – likely because it’s hot off the release of the new XPS 15 2-in-1. However, that doesn’t mean we should count them out completely. There are still plenty of laptops they could announce, from Alienware to more budget-focused machines. 

Either way, we know Dell is going to be at the show. What it’s going to announce, however, we’ll just have to wait and see.

MSI

MSI is hot off of the release of the beautiful GS65 Stealth, so we haven’t heard many rumors about what it’s planning for Computex. But we know MSI is planning something. Last year, it showed off a wide swath of gaming peripherals, and while that’s not as exciting as a new gaming laptop, we think we’ll see some exciting laptops featuring 8th-generation Intel Coffee Lake processors.

Gigabyte and Aorus

There’s a lot that Gigabyte can do at Computex this year, and if a report from Tom’s Hardware is to be believed, we could see Gigabyte jump in on the SSD market with Aorus-branded SSDs.

Beyond that, we could also see Gigabyte detail some Aorus laptops featuring Coffee Lake processors and Nvidia MaxQ graphics that may end up topping our list of the best gaming laptops. This wouldn’t be too far from what we saw last year, either.

HP

HP has had a busy week, announcing the new line of Envy laptops, an Envy all-in-one (which supports Alexa) and has announced that many of its upcoming PCs will be using Ryzen Pro processors. So, what could be left for Computex? 

Well, we could see them announcing the new line of Spectre laptops. Sure, the fantastic 2017 Spectre 13 launched in November, but we’ve seen crazier things. All we know is HP will be at the event. We’ll just have to wait and see what happens.

Qualcomm

Qualcomm might be known for its mobile processors and Computex might be a computing event – but we think Qualcomm could announce something huge. Last year Qualcomm and Microsoft teamed up to bring us Snapdragon-powered mobile PCs made by the likes of Asus, HP and Lenovo. 

That must have worked out, because Qualcomm is coming back this year. We don’t know what they’re going to show off, but maybe they have something to do with that rumored 10-inch Surface?

Samsung

We don’t know anything about what Samsung is planning for Computex 2018, we just know it’ll be there. We could see a new Chromebook, or maybe a Notebook that takes advantage of 8th-generation Coffee Lake processors? Again, we’ll just have to wait and see. Personally, we hope for a worldwide release of the Samsung Odyssey Z 15.

Lenovo

Lenovo is another laptop manufacturer that’s going to be at the show, and we’ve been hearing very specific rumors of an Intel Canon Lake-powered laptop as of late. The Lenovo IdeaPad 330 has been rumored to come sporting the first 10nm CPU, the Intel Core i3-8121U. The laptop seems to already have been listed in China, so that only increases the chances we’ll see it actually announced at the show.

Otherwise, we’re expecting Lenovo to announce a wide range of notebooks. We’re not sure whether we’ll see a follow-up to the wildly popular Yoga 920, but we may see a new Yoga Book along with some ThinkPad laptops, which are popular with students.

This is another manufacturer where we’ll just have to wait and see what they have to offer for Computex 2018.

• Here’s everything that happened at last year’s Computex

• Bill Thomas has also contributed to this article

Contributer : Techradar - All the latest technology news https://ift.tt/2HwsSua