ASUS Zenbook A16 is one of the first Copilot+ PCs/laptops based on the Qualcomm Snapdragon X2 Elite Extreme 18-core Armv9 SoC and is now available for $1,699 on BestBuy or $1,999 on the ASUS website. The laptop features a 16-inch “3K” OLED with touchscreen, 48GB of RAM, a 1TB NVMe SSD, HDMI 2.1 video output, WiFi 7 and Bluetooth connectivity, and a few Thunderbolt and USB ports. ASUS Zenbook A16 (UX3607) specifications: SoC – Snapdragon X2 Elite Extreme (X2E-96-100) CPU – 18x Armv9 cores with 12 Prime cores up to 5.0 GHz (single/dual core) / 4.4 GHz (multicore), and 6 Efficiency cores up to 3.6 GHz GPU – Adreno X2-90 @ 1.85 GHz with support for DirectX 12.2 Ultimate, Vulkan 1.4, OpenCL 3.0 VPU Encode: HEVC, AVC: Dual 8K UHD @ 30 FPS, AV1: 8K UHD @ 15 FPS, UHD @ 60 FPS Decode: AV1, HEVC, AVC: Dual 8K @ 60 […]
MediaTek MT7902 wireless chipset finally gets a Linux driver
MediaTek MT7902 wireless modules are used in many Windows laptops, but so far, a Linux driver has been missing. This is about to change, as Mediatek has finally committed a patchset for MT7902 to the mainline Linux mailing list. This is personal. I bought an ASUS Vivobook 16 in August 2023, and Ubuntu 22.04 worked pretty well out of the box, except for support for the Wi-Fi 6E and Bluetooth module, detected as “Network controller: MEDIATEK Corp. Device 7902” with lscpi but without working drivers. Since then, I’ve been using the laptop connected to the USB dock with Ethernet support when at home, or using USB tethering with my phone when on the road. I initially thought it might just be a matter of time before the driver is ported to Linux, but it took well over two years. I was far from being alone in my ordeal, and you […]
AsteroidOS 2.0 open-source smartwatch OS released, now supports around 30 devices
AsteroidOS 2.0 Linux-based, open-source smartwatch operating system has just been released with features such as always-on display support, Tilt-to-Wake, a customizable QuickPanel, multiple launcher styles, Nightstand mode, performance improvements, and support for about 30 devices. It’s been a long journey. We first noted the open-source project in 2016 when Florent Revest showcased a basic user experience on the LG G Watch, just before giving a talk at FOSDEM 2016 introducing AsteroidOS. This was followed by the launch of the Connect Watch (crowdfunded) AsteroidOS smartwatch in 2017 by a French company (which didn’t get funded), and AsteroidOS 1.0 was released in 2018. So it’s been ten years since it all started, and the developers have now released AsteroidOS 2.0. AsteroidOS 2.0 highlights: New features Always-on Display, Tilt-to-wake, Palm-to-sleep Heart rate monitor app Initial step counting support Music volume control Compass support Support for Bluetooth HID and Audio Design, Usability, and App Improvements […]
Linux 6.19 Release – Main changes, Arm, RISC-V, and MIPS architectures
Linus Torvalds has just released Linux 6.19 on the Linux Kernel Mailing List (LKML): No big surprises anywhere last week, so 6.19 is out as expected – just as the US prepares to come to a complete standstill later today watching the latest batch of televised commercials. The betting man would expect them all to be AI-generated, but maybe some enterprising company decides to buck the trend? Doubtful, but there’s always a slight chance. But for anybody outside the US, maybe taking the newest kernel out for a spin instead is an option? I have more than three dozen pull requests for when the merge window opens tomorrow – thank you to all the early maintainers. And as people have mostly figured out, I’m getting to the point where I’m being confused by large numbers (almost running out of fingers and toes again), so the next kernel is going to […]
Compact, fanless DIN-Rail Intel Core Ultra 5 235U/7 265U industrial PC targets AMR, robotics, and computer vision
ASUS IoT PE1000U is a compact (160 x 110 x 63 mm) fanless DIN-rail industrial Edge AI PC powered by an Intel Core Ultra 5 235U/ 7 265U (Series 2) processor and designed for AMR (Autonomous Mobile Robots), robotics, and computer vision applications. Housed in a fanless, MIL-STD-810H-rated, rugged IP40-rated chassis, the PE1000U supports SO-DIMM DDR5 memory, SATA and NVMe storage, features two 2.5GbE RJ45 ports, four USB ports, four COM ports, onboard CAN Bus and DIO interfaces, as well as DisplayPort and HDMI outputs for dual 4K display setups for HMI or machine-vision monitoring. As an industrial computer, it accepts a wide 9-36V DC power input, includes built-in ignition control, and can operate in environments with temperatures ranging between -25°C and 70°C. ASUS IoT PE1000U specifications: Arrow Lake SoC (one or the other) Intel Core Ultra 5 235U CPU – 12-core (2P+8E+2LPE) / 14 threads processor @ 2.0 GHz […]
ASUS IoT PE3000N – An MIL-STD-810H-grade, modular NVIDIA Jetson T5000 Edge AI platform for robotics and automation solutions
Debashis just wrote about the Firefly EC-ThorT5000 embedded PC powered by an NVIDIA Jetson Thor T5000 system-on-module yesterday, and the ASUS IoT PE3000N is another rugged, modular Edge Platform powered by the 2,070 FP4 TFLOPS SoM offering MIL-STD-810H compliance, 12-60V input, 25GbE links, and support for up to sixteen GMSL cameras. The PE3000N features one HDMI 2.0 video output, GbE and 10GbE RJ45 ports, M.2 sockets for storage and wireless expansion, a PCIe x4/x8 slot, and several USB ports, as well as four 25GbE links and AGX CSI connector for up to 16x GMSL cameras for “high-bandwidth sensor fusion and advanced machine vision”, even in the most challenging environments. The Jetson T5000 embedded system also offers a scalable chassis and modular I/O layers that support interfaces such as PoE, GMSL, CAN, and QSFP28 within a compact 2U height. ASUS IoT PE3000N specifications: SoM – NVIDIA Jetson Thor T5000 module CPU […]
Linux 6.17 release – Main changes, Arm, RISC-V, and MIPS architectures
Linux 6.17 has just been released on LKML: No huge surprises this past week, so here we are, with kernel 6.17 pushed out and ready to go. Below is the shortlog for just the last week – not the full 6.17 release – as usual. It’s not exciting, which is all good. I think the biggest patch in there is some locking fixes for some bluetooth races that could cause use-after-free situations. Whee – that’s about as exciting as it gets. Other than that, there’ the usual driver fixlets (GPU and networking dominate as usual, but “dominate” is still pretty small), there’s some minor random other driver updates, some filesystem noise, and core kernel and mm. And some selftest updates. This obviously means that the merge window for 6.18 will open tomorrow, and I already have four dozen pull requests pending. Thanks to the proactive people – you know who […]
Intel Processor N150 and N250, Core i3-N355 Alder Lake-N Refresh SoCs show up in ASUS NUC 14 Essential mini PCs
Intel Processor N150, Processor N250, and Core i3-N355 new Alder Lake-N processors have recently shown up in the upcoming ASUS NUC 14 Essential mini PCs and offer a small performance boost compared to existing variants such as the N100, N200, and Core i3-N305. The upcoming NUC 14 Essential family also includes one model with the existing Processor N97 CPU, supports up to three 4K displays via HDMI, DP, and USB-C connectors, offers 2.5 GbE networking, six USB 3.2 Gen 2 ports, and a single USB 2.0 port. ASUS NUC 14 Essential (NUC14MNK) specifications: Alder Lake-N SoC Intel Processor N97 quad-core processor @ up to 3.4 GHz (Turbo) with 6MB cache, 24EU Intel UHD graphics; TDP: 6W Intel Processor N150 quad-core processor @ up to 3.6 GHz (Turbo) with 6MB cache, Intel graphics; TDP: 6W Intel Processor N250 quad-core processor @ up to 3.8 GHz (Turbo) with 6MB cache, Intel graphics; […]

