What's New @ ASUS?

Next, we paid a visit to the ASUS booth. Yes, we already covered the ASUS Eee PC 901/1000 series launch but ASUS was demonstrating more than just their Eee PCs. So, let's take a look and see what new products they have in store for us this year!

ASUS R50A UMPC

Not satisfied with cornering the netbook market with their Eee PC, ASUS also launched their ASUS R50A UMPC. Powered by a 1.33 GHz Intel Atom processor, it comes with 1 GB of RAM and 32 GB of flash memory. Unlike netbooks, it doesn't have a keyboard but its 5.6" display has a comparable resolution of 1024 x 600. It even runs on Windows Vista.

At just 520 g, it is pretty light although it is certainly much bulkier than PDAs. Aesthetically, it looks like a PSP from the front but its underside design certainly leaves a lot to be desired - it looks like the underbelly of a whale! Here are the ASUS R50A UMPC's specifications :

ASUS Matrix

No, this is not a tie-up between ASUS and the Wachowski brothers although the new ASUS Matrix line of graphics cards feature Matrix-like cooler designs. What the ASUS Matrix series of graphics cards offer over their regular graphics cards are the ASUS Super Hybrid Engine and a new Hybrid Cooler.

What the ASUS Super Hybrid Engine does is dynamically adjust the voltage, clock speeds and fan speeds of the ASUS Matrix graphics card according to the load. In short, this is more of a power saving feature, rather than a performance enhancement or overclocking feature. The Hybrid Cooler is merely a much sleeker version of their usual cooler.