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Weekly Tech Recap - № 218 - ZenBook Pro Duo, Asus Prime Utopia, HiddenWasp, Yono earbud, Facebook fading

May 31, 2019.

The lavishly-endowed ZenBook Pro Duo

ZenBook Pro Duo

ZenBook Pro Duo

ZenBook Pro Duo. © ASUSTeK Computer Inc.

At the Computex trade show, hardware builder Asus unveiled an over-the-top laptop: the ZenBook Pro Duo. Besides its main 4K, 15-inch OLED display, it has a second, 3840×1100px, 32:9 IPS touchscreen just above the keyboard. Redundant, you say? Not if you want to permanently display the apps you use or monitor on a regular basis alongside your main line of work: for example, Slack and a terminal window. You can even have two different virtual 16:9, 1080px displays on the secondary screen. Designers and artists will find it handy to keep their numerous creative tools palettes always visible while having their main creation permanently displayed full-screen on the 4K display. Did we mention the third display? The trackpad on the right can display a number pad.

The ZenBook Pro Duo’s other specs are up to par: up to an eight-core Intel Core i9 processor, an Nvidia GeForce RTX 2060 GPU, a Thunderbolt 3 port, two USB-A ports, an HDMI port and a headphone jack. Asus also announced the Zenbook Duo, a smaller version of the dual-display laptop, with a 14-inch main display, a 12.6-inch secondary display, an Intel Core i7 processor and an Nvidia GeForce MX250 GPU at optimal configuration. Prices have not been announced (though they’ll likely be high). Asus has said that the machines would be available in the third quarter of 2019.

The Verge, “The Asus ZenBook Pro Duo is an extravagant laptop with two 4K screens.”

 

Asus Prime Utopia

Asus Prime Utopia

Chairman Jonney Shih introduces the concept motherboard Prime Utopia at Computex 2019. © ASUSTeK Computer Inc.

Asus, the Taiwanese hardware company that started out as a motherboard maker in 1989, is celebrating its 30th birthday by presenting the Prime Utopia, its vision for the future of desktop PCs. The idea is to throw off the shackles of Intel’s ATX motherboard specification, created back in 1995 and long-overdue for a makeover, 25 years later. It would seem that Asus’ goal with this new creation is to at least start a conversation about modernizing the standard. But let’s not get our hopes up: remember Intel’s experience in 2004, when it tried and failed to modernize its own standard? The BTX motherboard was just a more sensible version of the ATX. For example, the chipset that controls the USB ports on an ATX card is located about as far away from the back of the PC as possible. BTX fixed that. But PC makers and case builders rebelled and scuttled the project. One of the great features of the Asus concept that we’d like to have right this minute is the modular Mini-PCIe components so that different ports (USB, Ethernet, etc.) can be easily hot-swapped at will.

Asus Prime Utopia

Asus Prime Utopia. © PCWorld, A. P. Murray.

The Verge, “The Asus Prime Utopia is a radical concept for the future of motherboards.”

PCWorld, “Kill ATX? The radical Asus Prime Utopia looks like a PC plucked from an alternate timeline.”

 

Linux malware flew under the radar

European Hornet (Vespa crabro).

Frelon européen (Vespa crabro). © iStock.

Researchers have discovered a sophisticated piece of Linux malware that has escaped detection by all 59 commercially-available AV products and that appears to be actively used in targeted attacks. Dubbed HiddenWasp, it is a complete suite of malware, including a Trojan Horse, a rootkit and an initial deployment script. While it is not yet known how machines get swarmed in the first place, we do know that the goal is to remotely control the victim, with the ability to download and execute code, upload files and perform a variety of other commands. That’s different from most Linux malware, which exists to perform denial of service attacks or mine cryptocurrencies. Some of the code appears to be borrowed from the infamous Mirai botnet. To tell if your system is infected, check your ld.so files. If they don’t contain the string /etc/ld.so.preload, you’ve been stung.

Intezer, “HiddenWasp malware stings targeted Linux systems.”

Ars Technica, “Advanced Linux backdoor found in the wild escaped AV detection.”

 

With Yono, you know when you’re fertile

Playdate

Playdate

Yono. © Yono Labs.

Pregnancy can be a chancy business, as all women – and their partners – know. Ruling out pregnancy is now possible, but falling pregnant is still not guaranteed, to the dismay of many hopeful moms. Now, they have another device in their arsenal: the Yono earbud. This wearable (or “hearable”, since it’s worn in the ear) monitors a woman’s body temperature and other signals all night long. The data is then cleaned up using an algorithm and big data to more accurately predict her fertile days. Vanessa Xi, founder and CEO of Yono Labs, explains that her product came about through “personal painful experience.” The Yono is already on the market: Xi says her team released a beta version for testing in 2017 and has been steadily improving the device since then.

IEEE Spectrum, “A wearable that helps women get / not get pregnant.”

 

Facebook fading

Social Media.

© iStock.

Are you spending less time on Facebook? You’re not alone; in fact, you’re part of a trend. According to a study by eMarketer, daily time spent on Facebook declined by 3 minutes among U.S. users in 2018, from 41 minutes in 2017; and usage is expected to further decline in 2019. Debra Aho Williamson, principal analyst at eMarketer, attributes the slide to Facebook’s News Feed changes, which reduced clickbait and other publisher content, as well as an overall lack of popularity with teens – a worrying trend for the future of the platform. Snapchat usage has been stable year over year, at 26 minutes per day, while Instagram is experiencing growth, rising from 22 minutes in 2016 to 26 minutes in 2018, with a projected 29 minutes in 2021. Adding up Facebook, Snapchat and Instagram usage, you’d be led to believe that American adults (age 18+) are spending 1.5 hours per day on social networks, which is huge. But the figures are misleading, since eMarketer tracks multitasking between platforms as if it were dedicated time with each. For example: 1 hour spent going back and forth between Snapshat and Facebook is counted as one hour for each.

Mashable, “Facebook’s engagement is sinking with no end in sight.”