Nearly a year and a half after openAI introduced consumer-oriented generative AI models, consumer electronics and laptop makers have made a dedicated effort to incorporate gen-AI capabilities into their new lineup of products. At the Computex Taipei 2024, an annual computer expo hosted in Taiwan, brands like Asus, Acer, and Tecno introduced a lineup of new commercial, consumer, and gaming laptops fully outfitted with gen-AI capabilities. Brands such as Asus and Acer which are Windows PCs are part of a new category of PCs announced by Microsoft, monickered as Copilot+PCs.
These Copilot+PCs boast a better battery life, higher computation capabilities and a multitude of generative AI-led features. Let us take a look at products launched at Computex.
Asus’ lineup includes categories such as creator-focused, portable, gaming, and mainstream laptops with a seamless AI experience. Asus launched its first Copilot+ PC ASUS Vivobook S 15 (S5507), an all-purpose AI-enabled PC. The new ASUS ProArt series with P16, PX13 and PZ13 is created specifically with the design community in mind. The AsusProArt lineup streamlines the creative process using gen-AI features such as Asus’s native StoryCube and MuseTree apps, and the ProArt Creator Hub control centre. There’s also the new lightweight Asus Zenbook S 16, and the TUF Gaming laptop series A14 and A16 ideal for gamers.
Acer’s all in one PC series also got an AI boost. The new Acer Aspire C24 (C24-195ES) and Acer Aspire C27 (C27-195ES) are powered by up to an Intel Core Ultra 7 processor 155U with Intel AI Boost and Intel Graphics built-in. Acer launched three more products portable category, the Acer TravelMate P6 14, TravelMate P4 Spin 14, and TravelMate P4 16.
There are three new gaming monitors in the Predator lineup featuring vivid OLED displays, high refresh rates, promising ultra-smooth performance.
Tecno
Tecno tickled people’s interest with its robotic dog, which was also up for play at MWC 2024. It also introduced the TECNO Megabook T16 Pro Ultra, the company’s first AI PC. It is powered by an Intel Core Ultra 7 processor to support Al Image Generation and Al Copilot. Also spotted in TECNO’s Computex booth is the MINI PC G1, touted as the world’s smallest water-cooled gaming PC. It features a dedicated graphics card along with high-performing processors and GPUs.
Tecno also had the TECNO CAMON 30 Premier 5G smartphone with features such as AIGC (AI-Generated Content) Portrait, AI Erase, Social App Turbo, and Universal Tone. Taiwan’s home-grown MSI also announced several next-gen AI+ gaming and business productivity laptops featuring the latest Intel and AMD processors. AMD too, introduced a lineup of end-to-end AI infrastructure to enable the new lineup of PCs to carry fast computation needed for AI features.
NVIDIA
Dr. Lisa Su, chair and CEO, said in her keynote at Computex – “At COMPUTEX, we were proud to be joined by Microsoft, HP, Lenovo, Asus and other strategic partners to launch our next-generation Ryzen desktop and notebook processors, preview the leadership performance of our next-generation EPYC processors, and announce a new annual cadence for AMD Instinct AI accelerators.”
Qualcomm, too, unveiled a new series to power Copilot+ PCs, Qualcomm CEO Cristiano Amon said at the expo, “The PC is reborn. Copilot+ PCs powered by Snapdragon X Elite are the fastest, most intelligent Windows PCs ever built with AI integrated throughout the system and can deliver multi-day battery life.”.
Nvidia said that they will roll out their most advanced AI chip platform, called Rubin, in 2026. Jensen Huang, Co-founder and CEO of Nvidia said, “Today, we’re at the cusp of a major shift in computing…The intersection of AI and accelerated computing is set to redefine the future.”
The writer is in Taiwan at the invitation of ASUS