ASUS

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High-severity vulnerabilities affect a wide range of Asus router models

ASUS, Biz & IT, routers, Security, vulnerabilities / /

IT’S PATCH TIME ONCE AGAIN —

Many models receive patches; others will need to be replaced.

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High-severity vulnerabilities affect a wide range of Asus router models

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Hardware manufacturer Asus has released updates patching multiple critical vulnerabilities that allow hackers to remotely take control of a range of router models with no authentication or interaction required of end users.

The most critical vulnerability, tracked as CVE-2024-3080 is an authentication bypass flaw that can allow remote attackers to log into a device without authentication. The vulnerability, according to the Taiwan Computer Emergency Response Team / Coordination Center (TWCERT/CC), carries a severity rating of 9.8 out of 10. Asus said the vulnerability affects the following routers:

A favorite haven for hackers

A second vulnerability tracked as CVE-2024-3079 affects the same router models. It stems from a buffer overflow flaw and allows remote hackers who have already obtained administrative access to an affected router to execute commands.

TWCERT/CC is warning of a third vulnerability affecting various Asus router models. It’s tracked as CVE-2024-3912 and can allow remote hackers to execute commands with no user authentication required. The vulnerability, carrying a severity rating of 9.8, affects:

Security patches, which have been available since January, are available for those models at the links provided in the table above. CVE-2024-3912 also affects Asus router models that are no longer supported by the manufacturer. Those models include:

  • DSL-N10_C1
  • DSL-N10_D1
  • DSL-N10P_C1
  • DSL-N12E_C1
  • DSL-N16P
  • DSL-N16U
  • DSL-AC52
  • DSL-AC55

TWCERT/CC advises owners of these devices to replace them.

Asus has advised all router owners to regularly check their devices to ensure they’re running the latest available firmware. The company also recommended users set a separate password from the wireless network and router-administration page. Additionally, passwords should be strong, meaning 11 or more characters that are unique and randomly generated. Asus also recommended users disable any services that can be reached from the Internet, including remote access from the WAN, port forwarding, DDNS, VPN server, DMZ, and port trigger. The company provided FAQs here and here.

There are no known reports of any of the vulnerabilities being actively exploited in the wild. That said, routers have become a favorite haven for hackers, who often use them to hide the origins of their attacks. In recent months, both nation-state espionage spies and financially motivated threat actors have been found camping out in routers, sometimes simultaneously. Hackers backed by the Russian and Chinese governments regularly wage attacks on critical infrastructure from routers that are connected to IP addresses with reputations for trustworthiness. Most of the hijackings are made possible by exploiting unpatched vulnerabilities or weak passwords.

High-severity vulnerabilities affect a wide range of Asus router models Read More »

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The ROG Ally X leaks, with twice the battery of the original and way more RAM

ASUS, asus rog ally, gaming, gaming handheld, handheld pc, ROG Ally, steam deck / /

Handheld gaming PCs —

This handheld has more RAM than my gaming PC, though the chip stays the same.

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Heavily altered image of a ROG Ally X, with

Enlarge / VideoCardz’ leaked image of a ROG Ally X, seemingly having gone through the JPG blender a couple times.

Asus’ ROG Ally was the first major-brand attempt to compete with Valve’s Steam Deck. It was beefy and interesting, but it had three major flaws: It ran Windows on a little touchscreen, had unremarkable ergonomics, and its battery life was painful.

The Asus ROG (Republic of Gamers) Ally X, which has been announced and is due out June 2, seems to have had its specs leaked, and they indicate a fix for at least the battery life. Gaming site VideoCardz, starting its leak reveal with “No more rumors,” cites the ROG Ally X as having the same Ryzen Z1 Extreme APU as the prior ROG Ally, as well as the same 7-inch 1080p VRR screen with a 120 Hz refresh rate.

VideoCardz' leaked image, seemingly from Asus marketing materials, with the ROG Ally X's specifications.

VideoCardz’ leaked image, seemingly from Asus marketing materials, with the ROG Ally X’s specifications.

The battery and memory have changed substantially, though. An 80-watt-hour battery, up from 40, somehow adds just 70 grams of weight and about 5 mm of thickness to the sequel device. By increasing the RAM from 16GB to 24GB and making it LPDDR5, the ROG Ally X may be able to lend more of it to the GPU, upping performance somewhat without demanding a new chip or architecture. There is also a second USB-C port, with USB4 speeds, that should help quite a bit with docking, charging while playing with accessories, and, I would guess, Linux hackery.

How does it feel? Only Sean Hollister at The Verge knows, outside of ASUS employees. The sequel has lost the weirdly sharp angles on the back, and more of your hand fits around the back, without the rear buttons being accidentally triggered so easily. The triggers and buttons all seem to have received some feedback-based upgrades to durability and feel.

If Asus sticks close to the $800 price point (that was also leaked), it could compete with the Steam Deck OLED on features and flash, if not library and polish. But as I’ve said before, perhaps somewhat defensively, bring on the flashier handheld PCs.

Expanding the viability of handheld PC gaming means more developers targeting these systems, in specs or just accessibility. More demand for new types of handhelds makes the whole field more interesting and competitive. Microsoft, which is keenly aware of this developing market and is contemplating a more cloud-based and less Xbox-centered gaming future, can only make Windows better on handhelds because the bar is pretty low right now.

All of that gives me more games to play on the couch while the rice is cooking, whether or not the device I’m holding has more and faster RAM and better USB-C ports than my gaming PC.

The ROG Ally X leaks, with twice the battery of the original and way more RAM Read More »

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Meta debuts Horizon OS, with Asus, Lenovo, and Microsoft on board

ASUS, Horizon OS, Instagram, Lenovo, mark zuckerberg, Meta, meta quest, Mixed Reality, Republic of Gamers, rog, Tech, xbox, Xbox Cloud Streaming, Xbox Game Pass / /

Face Operating Systems —

Rivalry with Apple now mirrors the Android/iOS competition more than ever.

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The Meta Quest Pro at a Best Buy demo station in October 2022.

Enlarge / The Meta Quest Pro at a Best Buy demo station in October 2022.

Meta will open up the operating system that runs on its Quest mixed reality headsets to other technology companies, it announced today.

What was previously simply called Quest software will be called Horizon OS, and the goal will be to move beyond the general-use Quest devices to more purpose-specific devices, according to an Instagram video from Meta CEO Mark Zuckerberg.

There will be headsets focused purely on watching TV and movies on virtual screens, with the emphasis on high-end OLED displays. There will also be headsets that are designed to be as light as possible at the expense of performance for productivity and exercise uses. And there will be gaming-oriented ones.

The announcement named three partners to start. Asus will produce a gaming headset under its Republic of Gamers (ROG) brand, Lenovo will make general purpose headsets with an emphasize on “productivity, learning, and entertainment,” and Xbox and Meta will team up to deliver a special edition of the Meta Quest that will come bundled with an Xbox controller and Xbox Cloud Gaming and Game Pass.

Users running Horizon OS devices from different manufacturers will be able to stay connected in the operating system’s social layer of “identities, avatars, social graphs, and friend groups” and will be able to enjoy shared virtual spaces together across devices.

The announcement comes after Meta became an early leader in the relatively small but interesting consumer mixed reality space but with diminishing returns on new devices as the market saturates.

Further, Apple recently entered the fray with its Vision Pro headset. The Vision Pro is not really a direct competitor to Meta’s Quest devices today—it’s far more expensive and loaded with higher-end tech—but it may only be the opening volley in a long competition between the companies.

Meta’s decision to make Horizon OS a more open platform for partner OEMs in the face of Apple’s usual focus on owning and integrating as much of the software, hardware, and services in its device as it can mirrors the smartphone market. There, Google’s Android (on which Horizon OS is based) runs on a variety of devices from a wide range of companies, while Apple’s iOS runs only on Apple’s own iPhones.

Meta also says it is working on a new spatial app framework to make it easier for developers with experience on mobile to start making mixed reality apps for Horizon OS and that it will start “removing the barriers between the Meta Horizon Store and App Lab, which lets any developer who meets basic technical and content requirements release software on the platform.”

Pricing, specs, and release dates have not been announced for any of the new devices. Zuckerberg admitted it’s “probably going to take a couple of years” for this ecosystem of hardware devices to roll out.

Meta debuts Horizon OS, with Asus, Lenovo, and Microsoft on board Read More »

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MacBooks, Chromebooks lead losers in laptop repairability analysis

Apple, ASUS, chromebooks, Google, laptops, MacBook, repairability, right to repair, Tech / /

Disappointing Disassembly processes —

Analysis heavily weighs how hard the brands’ laptops are to take apart.

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A stack of broken Chromebook laptops

Enlarge / A stack of broken Chromebook laptops at Cell Mechanic Inc. electronics repair shop in Westbury, New York, U.S., on Wednesday, May 19, 2021.

Chromebooks and MacBooks are among the least repairable laptops around, according to an analysis that consumer advocacy group US Public Interest Research Group (PIRG) shared this week. Apple and Google have long been criticized for selling devices that are deemed harder to repair than others. Worse, PIRG believes that the two companies are failing to make laptops easier to take apart and fix.

The “Failing the Fix (2024)” report released this week [PDF] is largely based on the repairability index scores required of laptops and some other electronics sold in France. However, the PIRG’s report weighs disassembly scores more than the other categories in France’s index, like the availability and affordability of spare parts, “because we think this better reflects what consumers think a repairability score indicates and because the other categories can be country specific,” the report says.

PIRG’s scores, like France’s repair index, also factor in the availability of repair documents and product-specific criteria (the PIRG’s report also looks at phones). For laptops, that criteria includes providing updates and the ability to reset software and firmware.

PIRG also docked companies for participating in trade groups that fight against right-to-repair legislation and if OEMs failed to “easily provide full information on how they calculated their products.”

Chromebooks, MacBooks lag in repairability

PIRG examined 139 laptop models and concluded that Chromebooks, “while more affordable than other devices, continue to be less repairable than other laptops.” This was largely due to the laptops having a lower average disassembly score (14.9) than the other laptops (15.2).

The report looked at 10 Chromebooks from Acer, Asus, Dell, and HP and gave Chromebooks an average repair score of 6.3 compared to 7.0 for all other laptops. It said:

Both of these lower averages indicate that while often considered an affordable choice for individuals or schools, Chromebooks are on average less repairable than other laptops.

Google recently extended Chromebook support from eight years to 10 years. PIRG’s report doesn’t factor in software support timelines, but even if it did, Chromebooks’ repairability score wouldn’t increase notably since the move only brought them to “industry norms,” Lucas Gutterman, Designed to Last campaign director for the US PIRG Education Fund, told me.

The Chromebooks PIRG considered for its report.

Enlarge / The Chromebooks PIRG considered for its report.

He added, though, that the current “norm” should improve.

At the very least, if it’s no longer financially viable for manufacturers to maintain support, they should allow the community to continue to maintain the software or make it easy to install alternative operating systems so we can keep our laptops from getting junked.

Turning to its breakdown of non-ChromeOS laptops, PIRG ranked Apple laptops the lowest in terms of repairability with a score of D, putting it behind Asus, Acer, Dell, Microsoft, HP, and Lenovo. In this week’s report, Apple got the lowest average disassembly score out of the OEMs (4 out of 10 compared to the 7.3 average)

MacBooks, Chromebooks lead losers in laptop repairability analysis Read More »

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The 5 most interesting PC monitors from CES 2024

ASUS, CES, dell, Features, lg, Monitors, msi, oled, Tech / /
Dell UltraSharp 40 Curved Thunderbolt Hub Monitor (U4025QW)

Enlarge / Dell’s upcoming UltraSharp U4025QW.

Scharon Harding

Each year, the Consumer Electronics show brings a ton of new computer monitor announcements, and it’s often difficult to figure out what’s worth paying attention to. When it comes to the most interesting models this year, there were two noteworthy themes.

First of all, my complaint in 2022 about there not being enough OLED monitors was largely addressed this year. CES revealed many plans for OLED monitors in 2024, with a good number of those screens set to be appropriately sized for desktops. That includes the introduction of 32-inch, non-curved QD-OLED options and other smaller screens for people who have been waiting for OLED monitors in more varied form factors.

Secondly, with more people blending their work and home lives these days, CES brought hints that the line between gaming monitors and premium monitors used for general or even professional purposes will be blurring more in the future. We’re not at the point where the best productivity monitor and ideal gaming monitor perfectly align in a single product. But this week’s announcements have me imagining ways that future monitors could better serve users with serious work and play interests.

For now, here are the most intriguing monitors from CES 2024.

Dell UltraSharps hit 120 Hz

  • Dell started adding 120 Hz models to its UltraSharp series.

    Scharon Harding

  • This monitor is VESA DisplayHDR 600-certified.

    Dell

  • Ports include Thunderbolt 4 with 140 W power delivery. There’s also a pop-out box of ports by the monitor’s chin.

    Dell

Dell UltraSharp monitors have long attracted workers and creatives and, with their USB-C connectivity, even Mac users. The last few CES shows have shown Dell attempting to improve its lineup, with the most landmark innovation being the introduction of IPS Black. With CES 2024, though, Dell focused on improved video resolution.

Dell’s UltraSharp 40 Curved Thunderbolt Hub Monitor (U4025QW), pictured above, is a 39.7-inch ultrawide with a 5120×2160 resolution and a 120 Hz refresh rate. As most monitors are aimed at workers still using 60 Hz, this is a big step up for people with systems capable of supporting 11,059,200 pixels at 120 frames per second. Such speeds have been relegated to gaming monitors for a while, but with TVs moving to higher refresh rates (with encouragement from gaming consoles), more people are becoming accustomed to faster screens. And with other attributes, like a 2500R curve, we wouldn’t blame workers for doing some light gaming on the U4025QW, too.

But Dell says the refresh rate boost is about increasing eye comfort. The UltraSharp U4025QW is one of two monitors with 5-star certification from TÜV Rheinland’s new Eye Comfort program, which Dell helped create, a Dell spokesperson told me last month at a press event.

According to TÜV, the certification program “is no longer limited to the old low-blue-light or flicker-free labels” and now “covers a broader range of safety indicators, such as ambient brightness, color temperature adjustment and regulation, and brightness.” New requirements include brightness and color temperature control for different ambient lighting. Dell’s ultrawide covers this with an integrated ambient light sensor.

The certification also requires a minimum 120 Hz refresh rate, which is probably where Dell got the number from. A Dell spokesperson confirmed to Ars that the use of IPS Black didn’t impact the monitor’s ability to get TÜV certifications and that it could have theoretically earned five stars with another panel type, like VA.

Dell announced bringing 120 Hz to the UltraSharp lineup in November when it debuted two 24-inch and two 27-inch UltraSharp monitors with 120 Hz refresh rates. At CES, Dell proved this upgrade wasn’t a fluke relegated to its smaller UltraSharps and went all in, bringing the refresh rate to a top-line ultrawide 5K Thunderbolt 4 monitor.

The U4025QW has an updated version of ComfortView Plus, which uses hardware to lower blue light levels. I’ve seen it function without making colors turn yellowish, as some other blue-light-fighting techniques do. After not significantly updating ComfortView Plus since its 2020 release, Dell now says it’s using a “more advanced LED backlight” to reduce blue light exposure from 50 percent to under 35 percent.

The effects are minimal, though. Dell-provided numbers claim the reduced blue light exposure could reduce eye fatigue by 8 percent after 50 minutes, but we should take that with a grain of salt. It’s nearly impossible to quantify how well blue light reduction techniques work from person to person.

The UltraSharp U4025QW releases on February 27, starting at $2,400.

The 5 most interesting PC monitors from CES 2024 Read More »

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Portable monitors could make foldable-screen gadgets finally make sense

ASUS, CES, foldable, Monitors, oled, Tech / /

  • Asus plans to release this foldable OLED monitor in 2024. Electronics retailer Abt Electronics captured footage of it on display at CES.

  • The monitor has a metal chassis and glossy coating.

  • The monitor could help workers quickly add more screen space to setups.

  • In its video, Abt Electronics showed off different angled views of the monitor.

  • Like other foldables, the crease can seemingly catch reflections and glare when the device is bent.

  • Port selection.

  • The portable monitor will come with a sleeve.

Foldable screens have been bending their way into consumer gadgets over the last few years. But with skepticism about durability, pricing, image quality, and the necessity of such devices, foldable screens aren’t mainstream. With those concerns in mind, I haven’t had much interest in owning a foldable-screen gadget, even after using a foldable laptop for a month. However, the foldable portable monitor that Asus is showing at CES in Las Vegas this week is an application of foldable OLED that makes more sense to me than others.

Asus’ ZenScreen Fold OLED MQ17QH announced on Tuesday is a 17.3-inch portable monitor that can fold to a 12.5-inch size. The monitor has 2560×1920 pixels for a pixel density of 184.97 pixels per inch. Other specs include a 100 percent DCI-P3 coverage claim and VESA DisplayHDR True Black 500 certification.

When I think of the ways I use portable monitors, foldability makes more sense than it does with other device types. For example, I love working outside when possible, and an extra 17.3-inch screen that’s easy to carry would make long work sessions with an ultraportable laptop more feasible. The Fold OLED’s 17.3 inches is near the larger size for a portable monitor, but the fold and comparatively light weight should make it feel more transportable than similarly sized monitors that don’t fold in half.

Regarding dimensions and weight, Asus compares the monitor to a 13-inch thin-and-light laptop. The monitor weighs 2.58 lbs—that’s notable heft for something meant to be lugged around (the smaller Lenovo ThinkVision M14 weighs 1.3 pounds, for comparison). But 2.58 lbs is still on the lighter side for a 17-inch-class monitor (Asus’ 17-inch ROG Strix XG17AHP is 3.88 lbs), and Asus’ foldable is similarly thin.

Asus credits a “waterdrop-style hinge” for the monitor’s thin size. It’s 0.38 inches (9.7 mm) thick when unfolded, which should translate to about 0.76 inches (19.4 mm) when the monitor is folded shut.

It feels more natural for a portable monitor to add a fold for easy transport, since portability is right in the device category’s name.

Plus, a portable monitor doesn’t have the same types of component and cooling concerns as computing devices like laptops and phones do.

Crease concerns

I haven’t seen Asus’ foldable monitor in person, so I can only speculate on image quality. The monitor is still being finalized, but based on images and video from people who’ve seen the ZenScreen Fold OLED in person at CES and my experience using foldables, I expect the display to show a crease that picks up reflections and/or glare when bent. But considering that a portable monitor will typically be open flat, this doesn’t matter the same way it would with other types of foldable devices.

However, what matters is whether that crease is still visible when the monitor’s flat. A portable monitor is likely to be viewed from different angles, which could make even a slight crease pop. For what it’s worth, The Verge reported that the Asus monitor’s crease seemed to “disappear” when flat, but I remain highly cautious.

Asus’ monitor announcement showed confidence that “you’ll hardly be able to tell that there’s a hinge behind the display” when it’s open because of the waterdrop-style hinge, which is the same hinge type that the Samsung Galaxy Z Fold 5 uses, as pointed out by The Verge. The hinge type reportedly makes for a looser feel when the device is closed. Samsung Display has claimed that this puts less stress on the display and minimizes the gap seen when the foldable is shut. Asus’ announcement noted that the foldable monitor’s hinge uses “hundreds of parts,” which “all but eliminat[e] the gap.”

A close-up of the hinge, shown on-video by Abt Electronics.

Enlarge / A close-up of the hinge, shown on-video by Abt Electronics.

Like with any other foldable, though, durability remains a concern. A portable monitor may be moved around frequently, and Ars has seen firsthand how fragile a foldable screen can be, including with those small-gap designs.

Speaking of different viewing angles and visibility outdoors (and in bright rooms), the use of OLED suggests that this monitor won’t be as bright as some LCD portable monitors. That could limit visibility, depending on your use case.  Asus hasn’t shared a brightness spec for the ZenScreen Fold.

Portable monitors could make foldable-screen gadgets finally make sense Read More »

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Laptops’ 2023 quantum leap: 5 computers we’ll still be talking about in 2024

Apple, ASUS, Features, laptops, Lenovo, Tech / /
hand reaching for laptop, with blue swirls in the background

You’ll never uncover The Next Great Thing if you don’t deviate from the norm. When looking back at 2023’s laptops, we can see that many were merely refreshed designs—approaches that already work. But what happens when a company explores a design that, though not the most appealing today, might lead us to a new trend tomorrow?

You might end up with some computers that many, or even most, people aren’t currently interested in buying. But you could also end up glimpsing the designs that influence future laptops.

The laptops we’re about to look at all defied trends in some way, and we’re curious to see if they impact the laptop industry beyond 2023. We’ll also look at the challenges these ideas might face in the future—and some ways they could improve.

Lenovo’s laptop with dual 13.3-inch screens

  • A company called SZBOX is already selling a similar design, and I don’t think it’ll be the last.

    Scharon Harding

  • I was able to multitask like never before on a 13-inch-size laptop.

    Scharon Harding

  • Lenovo’s depiction of the Yoga Book 9i’s various forms. There has to be a useful idea somewhere in there, right?

    Lenovo

With the number of secondary screens already being built into laptops, Lenovo’s Yoga Book 9i, as striking as it appears, was a somewhat expected progression. But Lenovo actually pulled it off with a legitimate PC featuring most of the bells and whistles found among traditional premium laptops. With the design serving practical use cases in an improved form factor, I expect it to not only be imitated (one small firm is already selling a laptop like this) but to also give the concept of foldable-screen laptops a good run for their money.

The Yoga Book 9i, with its pair of 13.3-inch OLED screens, isn’t kicking off this list solely because it’s creative, flashy, or unique. It’s because, as detailed in our Lenovo Yoga Book 9i review, it proved itself an effective way to boost the amount of multitasking one can reasonably do on a 13-inch-size laptop. Lenovo’s revision of how to use a 13-inch chassis could improve options down the line for the many people seeking that golden area between ultra-portability and productivity potential.

On the Lenovo laptop’s 26.6 inches of cumulative screen, I was able to do the types of things that would only bring me frustration, if not a headache, on a single 13.3-inch panel. Want to take notes on a video call while monitoring your news feeds, having a chat window open, and keeping an eye on your email? That’s all remarkably manageable on a laptop with two full-size screens. And that PC is easier to lug around than a laptop and portable monitor.

What’s next?

The dual-screen setup worked well for small-laptop multitasking. But the polarizing lack of an integrated physical keyboard and touchpad challenge this form factor’s longevity. Easily accessible touchscreen controls are handy, but you can’t really replicate the reliable tactility and comfort of a keyboard and touchpad with touchscreens. A super portable laptop suddenly feels less portable when you have to remember to bring its accessories.

Still, I think this design has a place in the increasingly mobile world of computing. Future designs could improve with less reflective screens, given that reflectivity is especially distracting on a dual-screen laptop where one screen can cast reflections on the other.

Moving from OLED could help improve battery life to some degree. But, as you might have guessed, a laptop with two 13.3-inch OLED displays won’t be winning any laptop battery-life contests. Further, I wonder what price improvements could be made by foregoing OLED.

But many of the creative laptop designs these days opt for OLED, due to its high image quality, flexibility, and broad market appeal from more mainstream tech implementations, like OLED smartphones and TVs. This presents an ongoing price obstacle for a laptop design that already leans niche.

Laptops’ 2023 quantum leap: 5 computers we’ll still be talking about in 2024 Read More »