A new Asus Zenbook is in town with an interesting design and the latest Intel Core Ultra Lunar Lake processors. When it comes to Windows-based Ultrabooks, the Zenbook has always been right there among the best. Therefore, when Asus reached out for a review of the new Zenbook S 14 OLED (UX5406), I immediately said yes. All Zenbook models so far have had excellent design, nice displays, and decent battery life. However, the new Zenbook S 14 takes everything up a notch. After using it for about two weeks now, here’s why it’s now my new favourite Windows ultrabook.

The new Asus Zenbook S 14 OLED was launched in India last month at a starting price of Rs. 1,42,990. The top-end variant we received for review comes with 32GB RAM + 1TB storage and is priced at Rs. 1,49, 990. Both options in India are available with the Intel Core Ultra 7 258V (Series 2) CPU and Intel Arc 140V GPU. The chipset also has a dedicated NPU for AI tasks.

Asus Zenbook S 14 OLED (UX5406S) Design: Unique

• Dimensions – 31.15 x 21.39 x 1.19 ~ 1.29cm
• Weight – 1.20 kg
• Colours – Zumaia Gray, Scandinavian White

Asus has used a new material for the lid of the Zenbook S 14 OLED. It’s called ‘Ceraluminium’, and it’s supposedly the best of two worlds – ceramic and aluminium. Without going into too much detail, the material is both tough and withstands scratches/smudges. And truly, the lid hardly attracts any fingerprints. The lid also features silver lines running across with the Asus Zenbook logo on the top left corner. It truly stands out among all the boring laptop lids out there.

The ceraluminium lid hardly attracts any fingerprints

The laptop also has a geometric grille above the keyboard, which has 2,715 CNC machined vents that boast a unique design. This is also claimed to improve airflow efficiency.

The geometric grille design also features the new Asus logo

The rest of the laptop features an all-metal build and comes with US MIL-STD 810H certification. There’s no flex anywhere on the laptop. The hinge also seems durable, and you can open the lid with one finger. However, the hinge doesn’t go 180 degrees. You’ll find the intake vents at the bottom and two slits on the sides for 2 of the 4 speakers. Meanwhile, the exhaust ports are at the back.

You get enough ports on the Zenbook S 14 OLED

Despite being just 1.2cm thick, Asus has managed to add an HDMI 2.1 port, dual USB Type-C ports, a USB Type-A port, and a 3.5mm combo audio jack.

Asus Zenbook S 14 OLED (UX5406S) Display: Great for business and pleasure

• Size and type – 14-inch OLED (Touch and non-Touch)
• Resolution – 3K (2,880 x 1,800), 16:10
• Refresh rate – 120Hz

The 14-inch OLED display on our review unit has touch support, and you can also get a non-touch panel if you opt for the 16GB RAM and 512GB storage variant. Touch support is a nice feature, but I hardly used it during my two weeks using the laptop. It’s not really very useful on a traditional laptop.

The display is quite good though, and you’ll have a great time watching content as well as working. Being an OLED panel, you get great colours, deep blacks, and good brightness (400 nits, as claimed by Asus). It also offers HDR, Dolby Vision, 100 percent DCI-P3 colour gamut coverage, and is Pantone Validated. You can choose between different colour gamut in the MyAsus app.

You can choose between touch or non-touch display on the Zenbook S 14 OLED

Overall, it is a great display for all kinds of work. However, working outdoors is not ideal as the display gets a glossy coating. Viewing angles are on point, though.

Asus Zenbook S 14 OLED (UX5406S) Keyboard, Touchpad, speakers, and webcam

• Keyboard – Backlit Chiclet style, Copilot key
• Speakers – 4 x Harman/Kardon with Dolby Atmos
• Web camera – 1080p IR camera

The keyboard is one area where Asus could’ve done better, but I shouldn’t be complaining because it’s not easy to have a great keyboard in such a slim chassis. The laptop has a chiclet-style setup with a good distance between keycaps and decent travel. It is also backlit with three levels of brightness control, and it gets plenty bright at night. There’s a dedicated Copilot key as well. It’s a nice typing experience but nothing exceptional.

The keyboard doesn’t have a lot of travel, but is still quite nice to use

The touchpad on the laptop is fast, smooth, and supports multi-touch gestures. Click feedback is also good. Asus has also included edge controls on the touchpad that let you easily adjust volume brightness, and seek through a video. Once again, it would’ve been nicer if Asus also included the touch keypad function on the touchpad.

The Zenbook S 14 OLED speakers also turned out to be quite good. I’m very rarely impressed by speakers on Windows laptops, and the four-speaker setup (although facing downward) managed to wow me. The speakers are loud and crackle-free, and there’s decent bass as well. It’s still nothing like the speakers on the Dell XPS 13 or a MacBook Air/Pro, but it’s close.

Lastly, the webcam situation is not the greatest and I think Apple’s MacBook still has an upper edge. The quality is good in daylight conditions, but things get choppy in low-light situations. You do get Windows Hello support thanks to the included IR sensor, but it sometimes doesn’t work if the lighting conditions aren’t favourable.

Asus Zenbook S 14 OLED (UX5406S) Software: Useful apps included

• OS – Windows 11 Home/Pro
• Apps – MyAsus, ScreenXpert

Our review unit came pre-installed with Windows 11 Home and the usual Office suite. There’s also the kinda useful Copilot chatbot, which I only used about 5 times in two weeks. Apart from the Windows suite of software, you get some AI features such as Live captions, and Studio Effects.

The MyAsus app lets you manage all kinds of features on the laptop

Asus has also included StoryCube, which is essentially an organiser that leverages AI to group and sort media, make searching for photos or videos easier, and create or edit highlight videos. There’s also the MyAsus app for managing laptop settings and changing power profiles and the ScreenXpert app for customising multi-window use.

It’s also worth noting that since this is an Intel-based laptop, you’ll have no trouble with app support. Everything will simply work well together.

Asus Zenbook S 14 OLED (UX5406S) Performance: Great for work and light gaming

• CPU – Intel Core Ultra 7 258V
• RAM – Up to 32GB LPDDR5X
• Storage – Up to 1TB M.2 NVMe
• GPU – Intel Arc

Talking about everything working well together, the Intel Core Ultra 200V chipsets use a SoC design, which means that the RAM is integrated into the package. The advantage here is that it communicates better with the CPU, NPU, and the GPU. However, there’s no way to upgrade the RAM. The Core Ultra 7 258V chipset on the Zenbook S 14 is paired with the new Xe 2 GPU, which can now actually play some games and the new NPU 4, which is claimed to deliver up to 47 TOPs for AI features.

The laptop also features a new Intel Arc GPU

While overall performance across basic tasks is excellent, the chipset did not do better than the Snapdragon X Elite chipset or even the AMD Ryzen AI 9 HX series processor in CPU benchmarks.

However, running in Balanced or Full Performance mode will not notice any lag. The power draw is managed well, and the heat is minimal to non-existent under normal usage. The fans only ran at full blast during gaming or when running benchmarks. The laptop got hot under these scenarios, including the area above the keyboard. You can also enable the Full Performance mode when running on battery.

Talking about gaming, the improved Intel Arc GPU left me impressed. I was able to play Forza Horizon 4, Expeditions: A MudRunner Game, and a few other similar titles with decent frame rates (45-55 fps). When it comes to integrated GPU performance, the Intel chipset does much better than Qualcomm’s Snapdragon SoC.

Connectivity options on the laptop are also solid. There’s Bluetooth 5.4 and Wi-Fi 7, both of which worked without any issues. 

Asus Zenbook S 14 OLED (UX5406S) Battery: Keeps on going

• Capacity – 72Wh
• Charger – 65W

For a laptop running an Intel chip, the battery performance is on par with what Apple provides with its M series chips or even the new Qualcomm Snapdragon X processors. It’s not there yet, but I was easily able to manage a full 10-12 hour work day on the Zenbook S 14. This included running Chrome with multiple tabs, desktop apps for WhatsApp and Slack, Outlook mail, some YouTube, and lots of editing.

The Zenbook S 14 OLED weighs about 1.2 kg

The new Intel Core Ultra Lunar Lake sips battery, and Asus has also provided a large 72Wh cell to offer long usage hours. Charging is also fast thanks to the 65W fast charger, and 20 to 100 percent of the charge takes about 50 mins.

Asus Zenbook S 14 OLED (UX5406S) Verdict

I haven’t been this impressed with a Windows ultrabook in a long time. A thin and light, compact laptop that checks most boxes is a rarity, but that might be a thing of the past with the new Asus Zenbook S 14 OLED. The new design is catchy, you get enough performance for work as well as light gaming, and the battery life is actually ultra for an ultrabook. Pricing isn’t too bad either, seeing how other similarly specced ultrabooks from Dell, HP, Samsung, or Microsoft cost about the same.

If you’re looking for a light, compact, and powerful ultrabook with excellent battery life, the Asus Zenbook S 14 is a good choice and worth the money. You will not be disappointed. 

India’s advanced GSAT-20 satellite has come under the control of the Indian Space Research Organisation (ISRO) following a successful deployment by SpaceX‘s Falcon 9 rocket. Launched from Cape Canaveral, Florida, on Tuesday, the satellite aims to enhance broadband connectivity throughout India, with a particular focus on rural and remote regions and the ability to enable in-flight internet services.

Smooth Transition to ISRO’s Master Control Facility

The initial communication and control of GSAT-20 were transferred to ISRO’s Master Control Facility (MCF) in Hassan, Karnataka, early Wednesday. ISRO confirmed that the satellite, weighing 4,700 kg, is in good health, and all systems are fully functional. Teams at the MCF are now conducting a series of complex orbital manoeuvres to guide GSAT-20 from its transfer orbit to a geostationary orbit at an altitude of approximately 36,000 kilometres.

Orbital Adjustment and Testing to Begin

Over the coming days, the satellite’s onboard propulsion system will be used for orbit-raising procedures, a process that is expected to take about two weeks. Once in its final orbit, GSAT-20 will undergo in-orbit testing to verify the performance of its high-capacity Ka-band payload. This payload has the capacity to deliver data transmission speeds up to 48 Gbps, making GSAT-20 India’s most advanced communication satellite to date.

Significance of India’s Connectivity Goals

GSAT-20 represents a significant achievement in India’s satellite communication capabilities. The Ministry of Science and Technology’s Dr Jitendra Singh highlighted that the satellite will play a key role in extending internet services, particularly in regions with limited connectivity options. The collaboration with SpaceX for the launch marks a strategic step in India’s increasing involvement in global space initiatives.

Looking Ahead

The GSAT-20 launch and its operational success reflect India’s expanding technological reach in space communication. As the MCF continues to monitor and adjust the satellite’s positioning, expectations remain high for the positive impact it will bring to India’s connectivity infrastructure.

Anthropic released Claude’s desktop apps for Mac and Windows on Thursday. The move comes after both OpenAI and Perplexity launched native apps for macOS. Claude desktop for Mac and Windows is currently in beta, however, all users can download and install the app for the device. While the company did not specify if the app version will get any additional features over the web client, it is said that users are getting early access to Claude AI assistant and the Claude 3.5 Sonnet AI model with the new apps.

Anthropic Releases Claude Apps for Mac and Windows

In a post on X (formerly known as Twitter), the official handle of Anthropic announced the release of the new desktop apps. For Windows, the AI firm has released separate x64 and arm64 versions of the app. The company also claims that the desktop app will offer a faster and more focused experience. It is also said to be “designed for deep work.”

Interested individuals can download the Mac and Windows desktop apps from here. Notably, Windows users can use the shortcut of Ctrl + Alt + Space to quickly boot up the app from any screen in the entire system. A 9to5Mac report also claims that the macOS app offers easy access to Anthropic’s AI assistant as well as the Claude 3.5 Sonnet AI model.

The latter’s access is also important. Recently, Anthropic introduced the Computer Use tool for Claude, which is powered by 3.5 Sonnet. The capability allows users to prompt the AI to complete a task on the device. While the feature has not yet been rolled out to users, it is understandable why the AI firm needed a dedicated app to make the feature usable.

Computer Use is an agentic AI feature that lets Claude run complex tasks on a desktop, imitating a human user. Interestingly, Claude can imitate keystrokes, button clicks, and cursor movements using specialised software. Adding this ability with computer vision will allow the AI chatbot to see information on the screen and take appropriate action to complete a task.

Apart from this, users can also use the voice mode feature with the desktop apps for Mac and Windows. More details about the apps, such as size, permissions required, and compatible versions, were not shared by the company.

Redmi Note 14 series was launched in China in September comprising three models: a base, a Pro, and a Pro+ variant. It is now expected to make its debut in India soon as the successor to the Redmi Note 13 series. Xiaomi India has now teased the forthcoming arrival of the purported smartphone lineup on its social media handles. This development comes amidst the imminent launch of the Redmi A4 5G as an entry-level 5G handset with a Snapdragon chipset in India.

Redmi Note 14 Series Launch Teased

In a post on X (formerly Twitter), Xiaomi India teased the upcoming launch of a smartphone. An image accompanying the teaser carries the text, “Ready for a Noteworthy Rival?”. While it does not explicitly reveal the smartphone’s name, it is speculated to be a reference to the upcoming Redmi Note 14 series that was previously confirmed to make its India debut in December.

Redmi Note 14 series has already been launched in China, but it remains to be seen if the Indian variant will have similar specifications as the Chinese models. Redmi Note 14, Note 14 Pro and Note 14 Pro+ are expected to make their debut in India, replacing the Redmi Note 13 series.

Redmi Note 14 Series Specifications

All handsets in the Redmi Note 14 series are equipped with a 6.67-inch OLED screen with a 120Hz refresh rate. The Redmi Note 14 Pro+ and Note 14 Pro are powered by Snapdragon 7s Gen 3 and Dimensity 7300 Ultra chipsets, respectively, while the base model has MediaTek Dimensity 7025 Ultra SoC under the hood.

Both the Redmi Note 14 Pro models have a 50-megapixel primary camera and an 8-megapixel ultrawide camera. The Note 14 Pro+ has a 50-megapixel portrait telephoto camera, while the Pro model has a 2-megapixel macro camera. The former packs a 6,200mAh battery with 90W fast charging support, while the latter is backed by a 5,500mAh battery with 44W fast charging capability.

Apple is reportedly working on a display technology with up to 90Hz refresh rate that could make its way to upcoming iPad Air models. Apple’s iPad, iPad Mini, and iPad Air models are equipped with LCD screens with a 60Hz refresh rate, and the Air lineup could be updated with a higher refresh rate. The improved display technology could reportedly also make its way to the 24-inch iMac and even Apple’s Studio Display. Apple is also rumoured to be working on equipping the iPhone 17 series with 120Hz displays.

Citing an anonymous source that reached out to them, Mike Hurley and Jason Snell, hosts of the Upgrade podcast (via 9to5Mac) claim that Apple is working on a new screen technology that will be used to equip the company’s next-generation iPad Air with a 90Hz display. The current generation Air model has a 60Hz screen and Apple’s M2 chip, while its successor could arrive with the M3 chip.

The information shared by the source also suggests that the iPad Air will only be the first Apple device to arrive with the purported 90Hz display. The company will reportedly “working on expanding it to other models or products like a 24-inch Mac and a next-gen Studio Display.”

While Apple has typically limited access to displays with a high refresh rate to its ‘pro’ smartphone and tablet models, recent reports suggest that the company could launch the iPhone 17 and iPhone 17 Slim/ Air with a 120Hz screen. Most smartphone vendors offer handsets with 120Hz refresh rates at lower prices than the regular iPhone, so it’s not surprising that Apple could be keen to close the gap in technology on its standard iPhone models.

It’s worth taking these claims with a grain of salt, considering that Apple only launched its M2 iPad Air model earlier this year. The company is also very secretive about its upcoming products, so we’re unlikely to see concrete information related to the purported display upgrades for Apple’s next iPad Air, Studio Display, and 24-inch iMac models until they are unveiled by the firm.

A recent study conducted by researchers from The University of Texas, Austin and the University of California, Los Angeles, has given significant insights into how ancient European populations adapted to their environments over 7,000 years. Published in Nature Communications, the research utilised ancient DNA from skeletal remains, applying advanced statistical techniques to detect genetic changes that are absent in modern populations. The analysis spanned historical periods from the Neolithic to the late Roman era, examining over 700 samples sourced from archaeological sites across Europe and parts of modern Russia.

Revealing Evolutionary Changes

Lead researcher Vagheesh Narasimhan, Assistant Professor of Integrative Biology and Statistics at UT Austin, highlighted the significance of the study, stating that ancient DNA provides a direct glimpse into historical populations, bypassing the limitations of modern genetic analyses. Subtle genetic adaptations, often obscured by recombination or population mixing in contemporary genomes, were revealed through the study’s novel methodology.

Key Genetic Adaptations Identified

The findings identified 14 key genomic regions subjected to significant natural selection across different time periods. Traits associated with vitamin D synthesis and lactose tolerance were among those that became prominent during later eras. These adaptations likely played a crucial role in aiding survival in less sunny climates and during periods of food scarcity when dairy products became a vital nutrition source.

Immune Responses and Agricultural Shifts

Selective pressures on immune-related genes were also observed, particularly as populations faced new diseases with the advent of agriculture and societal changes. However, nearly half of the adaptive signals detected in the earliest periods were found to have vanished over time due to factors such as genetic drift or inter-population mixing.

The research sheds light on how environmental challenges shaped human evolution and the eventual disappearance of once-advantageous traits. By studying ancient DNA, the historical dynamics of human adaptation are being pieced together, offering a clearer picture of our evolutionary past.

Microsoft Recall — the company’s upcoming feature for Copilot+ PCs — is facing yet another delay. The Redmond company was expected to roll out its Recall feature to Windows Insiders last month. However, it is unlikely to be available for another couple of months, according to the company. The feature is designed to run on Windows 11 Copilot+ PCs and captures screenshots of user activity, and it has faced a lot of criticism since it was first announced, due to privacy and security concerns.

Senior Product Manager Brandon LeBlanc confirmed to The Verge that the Recall feature will only roll out to Windows Insiders program members by December. “To ensure we deliver on these important updates, we’re taking additional time to refine the experience before previewing it with Windows Insiders,” the executive told the publication.

What is Microsoft’s Recall Feature?

Originally announced in May, the new Recall feature is an AI feature designed to run only on Copilot+ PCs. It can help users find things on their computer by taking screenshots of all their activities and allowing them to search the contents of that screenshot at a later date. The announcement of the feature was met with intense criticism from privacy advocates and security experts, who pointed out several flaws with the initial version of Recall.

After the backlash, Microsoft halted its plans to roll out Recall to Windows Insiders testers in June and revealed that it would arrive in October instead. Since then, the company has announced several sweeping changes to the Recall feature that are designed to improve its security.

For example, Recall for Windows will now store encrypted data, and the encryption keys are protected via the CPU’s trusted platform module (TPM). Microsoft says that the feature can only be used inside a secure environment, in order to protect user data from being accessed by other users.

Microsoft has also made some changes to Recall, in order to protect user data from being compromised by malware — the feature will include anti-hammering and rate limiting measures. Meanwhile, access to Recall and the feature’s settings can only be unlocked using Windows Hello authentication, with a PIN as a fallback method.

The company has also clarified that Recall will be opt-in for all users with a Copilot+ PC and that it can be completely removed. If the feature is rolled out to Windows Insiders by December, we can expect Microsoft to finally release it for all Copilot+ PC owners over the next year.