Satoshi Kon’s Manga Deserve Just as Much Love as His Iconic Anime
Whenever folks think of the late Satoshi Kon, the first thing that usually comes to mind is the legendary anime director’s films: Perfect Blue, Millennium Actress, Tokyo Godfathers, Paprika, and the trippy Paranoia Agent TV show. But what doesn’t get enough love is Dream Fossil and Opus, Kon’s works as a manga creator before he became a household name. Manga, I’d argue, make for the perfect bookend for folks like myself who’ve made his films an annual rewatch to appreciate the full scope of his unique ability to blur the lines between dreams and reality.
While I’d heard of Opus before, I stumbled upon Dream Fossil by complete happenstance while browsing my local bookstore. In the same way, Tatsuki Fujimoto 17-26 piqued my interest as a collection of short stories before he hit it big with Fire Punch and Chainsaw Man, Dream Fossil: The Complete Stories of Satoshi Kon was the quickest purchase of my life. Why? Well, it’s a collection of fifteen short stories he wrote before he dove into directorial work. As a fan of Kon, whom critically acclaimed directors like Christopher Nolan and Darren Aronofsky have paid homage to (and ripped off, respectively), I was curious to see the kinds of works the auteur wove before stunning the world with his anime. Unsurprisingly, I walked away from the book with a newfound appreciation for Kon, with inklings of ideas he’d revisit in the larger arc of his work, while learning a couple of really cool facts about him I hadn’t connected the dots on before.
If I were to pin down the overall vibe of the 15 short stories in Dream Fossil, I’d say they’re the less-depressing doppelgänger of Paranoia Agent. Sure, there are speculative fiction thrillers in there to showcase his ability to dream up imaginative stories. Key among them are Carve, a tale about two twins gifted with ESP trying to survive in a FUBAR world; Guests, a humorous tale about a family trying their damnedest to ignore that their fancy countryside house is haunted by ghosts; and Toriko, his two-part Akira-esque dystopian story about a rebellious boy running away from robot police in a desperate attempt to avoid being tossed into a rehabilitation center for the crime of buying cigarettes and sneaking liquor from his parents’ cabinet.
Picnic, the full-color short story Dream Fossil‘s editor’s notes all but declare as the sister tale to Akira, came with the casual mention that Kon was a former assistant to Akira creator Katsuhiro Otomo, a fact that makes a lot of sense when I think about their uncannily similar art styles and the themes in their works. We love the goated assistant-to-mentor pipeline in manga.
But my absolute favorite short stories in Dream Fossil were the ones teeming with slice-of-life whimsy. Tales like Summer of Anxiety, where a bike rider strikes up a meet-cute romance with a woman while being chased by her ex.Or Joyful Bell, a story about a mall Santa who spends his night helping a little girl find her way home while she pesters him about getting her a daddy for Christmas. But my favorite of all of Kon’s short stories was Beyond The Sun, an unserious Looney Tunes-like adventure about a nurse giving chase to her elderly patient after her hospital bed unlocks and it becomes the whole town’s problem. Every one of these stories had the magical ability to conjure up a visceral sense of nostalgia, like the heat of the summer sun on my skin as I walked under trees to the school bus in elementary school. And it managed to do so for a time I wasn’t alive for. Mind you, this was Kon before the world really knew what he was about.
While Dream Fossil touches on the latent potential Kon had at the onset of his career, Opus lands with a painful what-if that made me go, “Oh my god, it ends like that?!” out loud at my big age.
Whenever folks think of the big what-if of Kon’s career, they often think of Dream Machine, his proposed fifth film that never came to be before he died in 2010 at the age of 46. But the pang of agony I felt after reading Opus was leagues beyond my everyday misery over the indefinite hiatuses of Ai Yazawa’s Nana and Takehiko Inoue’s Vagabond.
Opus, in my humblest opinion, is the most ambitious, experimental story Kon has ever concocted. Like what-if-Paprika-were-a-manga levels of ambition. What’s more, despite its metanarrative premise being pretty common, I’ve never experienced a story quite like Kon’s. Opus follows Chikara Nagai, a famous mangaka on the verge of penning the final page of Resonance, his beloved sci-fi manga. The only problem is that the final page of the manga is stolen by the very character he planned to shockingly kill on that page, leading to Nagai being spirited away into his own series.
Since this is Satoshi Kon we’re talking about, what follows in the manga’s rousing adventure isn’t as clear-cut as Nagai and Satoko, the heroine of Nagai’s manga, teaming up to fetch the final page from her rogue sidekick and save the day. Things are far messier than that. For starters, the fact that Nagai wastes no time revealing that he made Satoko and the world she inhabits—including all the trauma she’s experienced thus far—for entertainment value (and to please his editor) leaves her existentially conflicted about helping him. The manga dives headfirst into how messy their whole arrangement is through imaginative panels that take full advantage of using the medium as a canvas to tell its meta story.
Key among its breathtaking panel work are moments where over-detailed background art gives way to rough outlines of crowd shots and characters mixed with a flood of overlapping panels where characters break reality, diving through a maze of memories and graphic novel volumes like ripping portals through a page.
Witness the stunning remaster of PERFECT BLUE, coming to 4K UHD Steelbook for the first time ever. Packed with tons of extras including interviews & lectures from director Satoshi Kon.
But my big “oh shit” moment with Opus is that its manga never reaches a conclusion. You see, the series was halted so Kon could take a hiatus and make Perfect Blue. That hiatus ended up being permanent and Opus was never completed. Worse yet, it ends on a cliffhanger. Like, I’m talking Berserk-level cliffhanger from when Kentaro Miura passed away. Thankfully, there’s a half step toward a happy ending to the shock I felt in real time flipping through the not-climax of Opus. In the greatest bit of posthumous metanarrative writing I’ve ever seen, the folks at Dark Horse were able to acquire an additional rough chapter that Kon worked on for Opus but never officially released and add it to the end of the manga.
While I won’t give away what happens in the additional chapter, I will say that it goes even further beyond how over-the-top meta Opus already was. It had me guffawing and misty-eyed. But more importantly, it cemented Kon’s legacy as an absolute master of his craft.
Whenever folks think of the late Satoshi Kon, the first thing that usually comes to mind is the legendary anime director’s films: Perfect Blue, Millennium Actress, Tokyo Godfathers, Paprika, and the trippy Paranoia Agent TV show. But what doesn’t get enough love is Dream Fossil and Opus, Kon’s works as a manga creator before he became a household name. Manga, I’d argue, make for the perfect bookend for folks like myself who’ve made his films an annual rewatch to appreciate the full scope of his unique ability to blur the lines between dreams and reality.
While I’d heard of Opus before, I stumbled upon Dream Fossil by complete happenstance while browsing my local bookstore. In the same way, Tatsuki Fujimoto 17-26 piqued my interest as a collection of short stories before he hit it big with Fire Punch and Chainsaw Man, Dream Fossil: The Complete Stories of Satoshi Kon was the quickest purchase of my life. Why? Well, it’s a collection of fifteen short stories he wrote before he dove into directorial work. As a fan of Kon, whom critically acclaimed directors like Christopher Nolan and Darren Aronofsky have paid homage to (and ripped off, respectively), I was curious to see the kinds of works the auteur wove before stunning the world with his anime. Unsurprisingly, I walked away from the book with a newfound appreciation for Kon, with inklings of ideas he’d revisit in the larger arc of his work, while learning a couple of really cool facts about him I hadn’t connected the dots on before.
If I were to pin down the overall vibe of the 15 short stories in Dream Fossil, I’d say they’re the less-depressing doppelgänger of Paranoia Agent. Sure, there are speculative fiction thrillers in there to showcase his ability to dream up imaginative stories. Key among them are Carve, a tale about two twins gifted with ESP trying to survive in a FUBAR world; Guests, a humorous tale about a family trying their damnedest to ignore that their fancy countryside house is haunted by ghosts; and Toriko, his two-part Akira-esque dystopian story about a rebellious boy running away from robot police in a desperate attempt to avoid being tossed into a rehabilitation center for the crime of buying cigarettes and sneaking liquor from his parents’ cabinet.
Picnic, the full-color short story Dream Fossil‘s editor’s notes all but declare as the sister tale to Akira, came with the casual mention that Kon was a former assistant to Akira creator Katsuhiro Otomo, a fact that makes a lot of sense when I think about their uncannily similar art styles and the themes in their works. We love the goated assistant-to-mentor pipeline in manga.
But my absolute favorite short stories in Dream Fossil were the ones teeming with slice-of-life whimsy. Tales like Summer of Anxiety, where a bike rider strikes up a meet-cute romance with a woman while being chased by her ex.Or Joyful Bell, a story about a mall Santa who spends his night helping a little girl find her way home while she pesters him about getting her a daddy for Christmas. But my favorite of all of Kon’s short stories was Beyond The Sun, an unserious Looney Tunes-like adventure about a nurse giving chase to her elderly patient after her hospital bed unlocks and it becomes the whole town’s problem. Every one of these stories had the magical ability to conjure up a visceral sense of nostalgia, like the heat of the summer sun on my skin as I walked under trees to the school bus in elementary school. And it managed to do so for a time I wasn’t alive for. Mind you, this was Kon before the world really knew what he was about.
While Dream Fossil touches on the latent potential Kon had at the onset of his career, Opus lands with a painful what-if that made me go, “Oh my god, it ends like that?!” out loud at my big age.
Whenever folks think of the big what-if of Kon’s career, they often think of Dream Machine, his proposed fifth film that never came to be before he died in 2010 at the age of 46. But the pang of agony I felt after reading Opus was leagues beyond my everyday misery over the indefinite hiatuses of Ai Yazawa’s Nana and Takehiko Inoue’s Vagabond.
Opus, in my humblest opinion, is the most ambitious, experimental story Kon has ever concocted. Like what-if-Paprika-were-a-manga levels of ambition. What’s more, despite its metanarrative premise being pretty common, I’ve never experienced a story quite like Kon’s. Opus follows Chikara Nagai, a famous mangaka on the verge of penning the final page of Resonance, his beloved sci-fi manga. The only problem is that the final page of the manga is stolen by the very character he planned to shockingly kill on that page, leading to Nagai being spirited away into his own series.
Since this is Satoshi Kon we’re talking about, what follows in the manga’s rousing adventure isn’t as clear-cut as Nagai and Satoko, the heroine of Nagai’s manga, teaming up to fetch the final page from her rogue sidekick and save the day. Things are far messier than that. For starters, the fact that Nagai wastes no time revealing that he made Satoko and the world she inhabits—including all the trauma she’s experienced thus far—for entertainment value (and to please his editor) leaves her existentially conflicted about helping him. The manga dives headfirst into how messy their whole arrangement is through imaginative panels that take full advantage of using the medium as a canvas to tell its meta story.
Key among its breathtaking panel work are moments where over-detailed background art gives way to rough outlines of crowd shots and characters mixed with a flood of overlapping panels where characters break reality, diving through a maze of memories and graphic novel volumes like ripping portals through a page.
Witness the stunning remaster of PERFECT BLUE, coming to 4K UHD Steelbook for the first time ever. Packed with tons of extras including interviews & lectures from director Satoshi Kon.
But my big “oh shit” moment with Opus is that its manga never reaches a conclusion. You see, the series was halted so Kon could take a hiatus and make Perfect Blue. That hiatus ended up being permanent and Opus was never completed. Worse yet, it ends on a cliffhanger. Like, I’m talking Berserk-level cliffhanger from when Kentaro Miura passed away. Thankfully, there’s a half step toward a happy ending to the shock I felt in real time flipping through the not-climax of Opus. In the greatest bit of posthumous metanarrative writing I’ve ever seen, the folks at Dark Horse were able to acquire an additional rough chapter that Kon worked on for Opus but never officially released and add it to the end of the manga.
While I won’t give away what happens in the additional chapter, I will say that it goes even further beyond how over-the-top meta Opus already was. It had me guffawing and misty-eyed. But more importantly, it cemented Kon’s legacy as an absolute master of his craft.
Want more io9 news? Check out when to expect the latest Marvel, Star Wars, and Star Trek releases, what’s next for the DC Universe on film and TV, and everything you need to know about the future of Doctor Who.
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#Satoshi #Kons #Manga #Deserve #Love #Iconic #Anime
Amazon’s rolling out a free software update for Echo Hub devices that gives the home screen a much-needed update to the interface it launched with in 2024. It had already added Alex Plus AI support, but the new interface has a cleaner, fully customizable layout that fits more smart home info and controls on the screen than the previous version.
The Echo Hub is also getting access to Ring AI’s Video Search feature that lets you use natural language to search through your smart home camera footage, as well as Alexa Plus summaries of detected camera events.
These are the five new features Amazon highlighted for the Echo Hub:
Amazon’s rolling out a free software update for Echo Hub devices that gives the home screen a much-needed update to the interface it launched with in 2024. It had already added Alex Plus AI support, but the new interface has a cleaner, fully customizable layout that fits more smart home info and controls on the screen than the previous version.
The Echo Hub is also getting access to Ring AI’s Video Search feature that lets you use natural language to search through your smart home camera footage, as well as Alexa Plus summaries of detected camera events.
These are the five new features Amazon highlighted for the Echo Hub:
#Amazons #Echo #Hub #customizable #Rings #featuresAmazon,Amazon Alexa,News,Smart Home,Tech">Amazon’s Echo Hub gets a customizable new look and Ring’s AI features
Amazon’s rolling out a free software update for Echo Hub devices that gives the home screen a much-needed update to the interface it launched with in 2024. It had already added Alex Plus AI support, but the new interface has a cleaner, fully customizable layout that fits more smart home info and controls on the screen than the previous version.
The Echo Hub is also getting access to Ring AI’s Video Search feature that lets you use natural language to search through your smart home camera footage, as well as Alexa Plus summaries of detected camera events.
These are the five new features Amazon highlighted for the Echo Hub:
That’s the bet behind Theker, an AI robotics startup that aims to go beyond robots trained for a single task. “If you always have to put the same cookie in the same box, that works perfectly, but most processes aren’t like that,” co-founder Carla Gómez Cano told TechCrunch.
Theker is designed for that messier reality. Unlike humanoid robots designed around a fixed form — think Boston Dynamics — Theker’s machines are built to be reconfigured. Their hands, arms, and overall form can be swapped out or resized depending on the task, whether that’s sorting packages, packing clothing, or handling bottles and cans in a warehouse.
That Inditex, Zara’s parent company, signed on as an early backer is a signal of where Theker’s ambitions start, not where they end. The company’s broader goal is to move beyond retail into heavier industrial settings like manufacturing, where the complexity and scale of manual tasks is even greater.
This generalist ambition has helped cement Theker’s status as one of Europe’s hot startups to watch — and raise capital accordingly. The Barcelona-based startup has just raised $85 million in what it’s calling “Europe’s largest ever robotics Series A.” (We haven’t found a larger one in our records, either.)
Less than a year after a record seed round, this Series A was led by American VC firm CRV and backed by a mix of traditional and strategic investors, including Samsung and Aglaé Ventures, the investment vehicle tied to LVMH chairman Bernard Arnault.
Gómez Cano said Samsung is not a client yet but that the two are in advanced discussions. Theker would welcome having the Korean company as a customer, supplier, and investor simultaneously — a trifecta that would give the startup both revenue and credibility in manufacturing at scale.
She also noted that she and co-founder Jiaqiang Ye Zhu “didn’t build Theker to run pilots,” so the team skips innovation departments entirely and goes straight to logistics or operations, where deals are real and timelines are shorter.
To demonstrate that the company can actually deliver on that, Theker has a showroom in central Barcelona, and plans to open others as it expands across Europe, the U.S. and Asia. It will also grow its headcount across tech, deployment, and sales.
“We already received 15,000 job applications and have to filter like crazy,” Gómez Cano said. She estimated that the team could grow from dozens to up to 120 people by the end of the year, then caught herself: “I am saying that, but I also said that we’d raise $30 or $40 million!”
That Theker managed to raise twice its target also reinforces the startup’s conviction in keeping its HQ in Barcelona, a growing robotics hub, and in Europe’s tech ecosystem more broadly. “It has never been a barrier to acceleration for us, so we are making the most of it,” Gómez Cano said.
When you purchase through links in our articles, we may earn a small commission. This doesn’t affect our editorial independence.
That’s the bet behind Theker, an AI robotics startup that aims to go beyond robots trained for a single task. “If you always have to put the same cookie in the same box, that works perfectly, but most processes aren’t like that,” co-founder Carla Gómez Cano told TechCrunch.
Theker is designed for that messier reality. Unlike humanoid robots designed around a fixed form — think Boston Dynamics — Theker’s machines are built to be reconfigured. Their hands, arms, and overall form can be swapped out or resized depending on the task, whether that’s sorting packages, packing clothing, or handling bottles and cans in a warehouse.
That Inditex, Zara’s parent company, signed on as an early backer is a signal of where Theker’s ambitions start, not where they end. The company’s broader goal is to move beyond retail into heavier industrial settings like manufacturing, where the complexity and scale of manual tasks is even greater.
This generalist ambition has helped cement Theker’s status as one of Europe’s hot startups to watch — and raise capital accordingly. The Barcelona-based startup has just raised $85 million in what it’s calling “Europe’s largest ever robotics Series A.” (We haven’t found a larger one in our records, either.)
Less than a year after a record seed round, this Series A was led by American VC firm CRV and backed by a mix of traditional and strategic investors, including Samsung and Aglaé Ventures, the investment vehicle tied to LVMH chairman Bernard Arnault.
Gómez Cano said Samsung is not a client yet but that the two are in advanced discussions. Theker would welcome having the Korean company as a customer, supplier, and investor simultaneously — a trifecta that would give the startup both revenue and credibility in manufacturing at scale.
She also noted that she and co-founder Jiaqiang Ye Zhu “didn’t build Theker to run pilots,” so the team skips innovation departments entirely and goes straight to logistics or operations, where deals are real and timelines are shorter.
To demonstrate that the company can actually deliver on that, Theker has a showroom in central Barcelona, and plans to open others as it expands across Europe, the U.S. and Asia. It will also grow its headcount across tech, deployment, and sales.
“We already received 15,000 job applications and have to filter like crazy,” Gómez Cano said. She estimated that the team could grow from dozens to up to 120 people by the end of the year, then caught herself: “I am saying that, but I also said that we’d raise $30 or $40 million!”
That Theker managed to raise twice its target also reinforces the startup’s conviction in keeping its HQ in Barcelona, a growing robotics hub, and in Europe’s tech ecosystem more broadly. “It has never been a barrier to acceleration for us, so we are making the most of it,” Gómez Cano said.
When you purchase through links in our articles, we may earn a small commission. This doesn’t affect our editorial independence.
#Theker #raised #85M #build #factory #robot #doesnt #specialize #TechCrunchAutomation,theker">Theker just raised $85M to build the factory robot that doesn’t specialize in anything | TechCrunch
Humanoids aren’t quite ready to replace factory workers, but the industry can’t wait. Faced with labor shortages, manufacturers have shown growing interest in startups that promise faster automation without the usual tradeoffs.
That’s the bet behind Theker, an AI robotics startup that aims to go beyond robots trained for a single task. “If you always have to put the same cookie in the same box, that works perfectly, but most processes aren’t like that,” co-founder Carla Gómez Cano told TechCrunch.
Theker is designed for that messier reality. Unlike humanoid robots designed around a fixed form — think Boston Dynamics — Theker’s machines are built to be reconfigured. Their hands, arms, and overall form can be swapped out or resized depending on the task, whether that’s sorting packages, packing clothing, or handling bottles and cans in a warehouse.
That Inditex, Zara’s parent company, signed on as an early backer is a signal of where Theker’s ambitions start, not where they end. The company’s broader goal is to move beyond retail into heavier industrial settings like manufacturing, where the complexity and scale of manual tasks is even greater.
This generalist ambition has helped cement Theker’s status as one of Europe’s hot startups to watch — and raise capital accordingly. The Barcelona-based startup has just raised $85 million in what it’s calling “Europe’s largest ever robotics Series A.” (We haven’t found a larger one in our records, either.)
Less than a year after a record seed round, this Series A was led by American VC firm CRV and backed by a mix of traditional and strategic investors, including Samsung and Aglaé Ventures, the investment vehicle tied to LVMH chairman Bernard Arnault.
Gómez Cano said Samsung is not a client yet but that the two are in advanced discussions. Theker would welcome having the Korean company as a customer, supplier, and investor simultaneously — a trifecta that would give the startup both revenue and credibility in manufacturing at scale.
She also noted that she and co-founder Jiaqiang Ye Zhu “didn’t build Theker to run pilots,” so the team skips innovation departments entirely and goes straight to logistics or operations, where deals are real and timelines are shorter.
To demonstrate that the company can actually deliver on that, Theker has a showroom in central Barcelona, and plans to open others as it expands across Europe, the U.S. and Asia. It will also grow its headcount across tech, deployment, and sales.
“We already received 15,000 job applications and have to filter like crazy,” Gómez Cano said. She estimated that the team could grow from dozens to up to 120 people by the end of the year, then caught herself: “I am saying that, but I also said that we’d raise $30 or $40 million!”
That Theker managed to raise twice its target also reinforces the startup’s conviction in keeping its HQ in Barcelona, a growing robotics hub, and in Europe’s tech ecosystem more broadly. “It has never been a barrier to acceleration for us, so we are making the most of it,” Gómez Cano said.
When you purchase through links in our articles, we may earn a small commission. This doesn’t affect our editorial independence.
gaming laptops. But what if you’re tired of the conventional gaming laptop that has a screen on top and a keyboard on the bottom? That’s exactly the problem Asus wants to solve, as it has just opened pre-orders for its latest premium gaming product in India. The new lineup is headlined by the flagship ROG Zephyrus Duo, which features two screens and an NVIDIA GeForce RTX 5090 graphics card. Along with that, the company has also announced refreshed versions of the Zephyrus G14 and G16, the TUF Gaming A14, and the creator-focused ProArt PZ14. Here’s everything you need to know about them.
What’s Up With The Zephyrus Duo?
The biggest announcement is the new ROG Zephyrus Duo, ASUS’s latest take on the dual-screen gaming laptop concept. The laptop features two 16-inch 3K OLED touch displays, allowing users to run games, editing tools, livestream controls, or AI applications simultaneously. ASUS says the system is powered by up to an Intel Core Ultra 9 Series 3 processor and an NVIDIA GeForce RTX 5090 graphics card.
The secondary display can be used for multitasking, while a 320-degree hinge and detachable wireless keyboard allow the laptop to be used in multiple modes. ASUS has also included its Intelligent Cooling system with liquid metal thermal compound and a tri-fan setup to keep temperatures under control. The ROG Zephyrus Duo starts at ₹5,49,990, while the top-end RTX 5090 variant costs ₹6,99,990.
Zephyrus and TUF Series Get RTX 50-Series Upgrades
ASUS has also refreshed its popular Zephyrus G14 and G16 gaming laptops with NVIDIA’s latest RTX 50-series GPUs. The Zephyrus G14 continues to target users who want a powerful gaming laptop in a compact package. It weighs just 1.5kg and features a 3K ROG Nebula HDR OLED display with 100% DCI-P3 color coverage. ASUS pairs the display with Intel Core Ultra processors and up to RTX 5070 Ti graphics.
The larger Zephyrus G16 is aimed at users looking for more screen real estate without sacrificing portability. Despite packing a 16-inch display and a 90Wh battery, the laptop weighs under 2kg. It comes with Intel Core Ultra 9 processors and up to RTX 5080 graphics, depending on the configuration.
ASUS has also announced the TUF Gaming A14, a more affordable gaming laptop that weighs just 1.46kg. The laptop runs on AMD’s new AI-powered Gorgon Point processor paired with NVIDIA GeForce RTX 5060 graphics. ASUS says it has been designed for students, gamers, and creators who need a portable machine without giving up gaming performance.
Pricing starts at:
TUF A14 – ₹1,99,990
Zephyrus G14 Refresh – ₹2,59,990
Zephyrus G14 RTX 5070 – ₹3,69,990
Zephyrus G16 RTX 5070 Ti – ₹4,19,990
Zephyrus G16 RTX 5080 – ₹5,09,990
ProArt PZ14 for Creators
For creators, ASUS has introduced the new ProArt PZ14, a lightweight 2-in-1 device with a detachable keyboard. The laptop features a 14-inch 3K ASUS Lumina Pro OLED touchscreen with 100% DCI-P3 coverage and Pantone validation. It is powered by Qualcomm’s Snapdragon X2 Elite processor and offers up to 80 TOPS of AI performance. ASUS says the device can deliver up to 22 hours of battery life and supports the ASUS Pen for creators who sketch, design, or edit on the go. The ProArt PZ14 is priced at ₹2,69,990.
gaming laptops. But what if you’re tired of the conventional gaming laptop that has a screen on top and a keyboard on the bottom? That’s exactly the problem Asus wants to solve, as it has just opened pre-orders for its latest premium gaming product in India. The new lineup is headlined by the flagship ROG Zephyrus Duo, which features two screens and an NVIDIA GeForce RTX 5090 graphics card. Along with that, the company has also announced refreshed versions of the Zephyrus G14 and G16, the TUF Gaming A14, and the creator-focused ProArt PZ14. Here’s everything you need to know about them.
What’s Up With The Zephyrus Duo?
The biggest announcement is the new ROG Zephyrus Duo, ASUS’s latest take on the dual-screen gaming laptop concept. The laptop features two 16-inch 3K OLED touch displays, allowing users to run games, editing tools, livestream controls, or AI applications simultaneously. ASUS says the system is powered by up to an Intel Core Ultra 9 Series 3 processor and an NVIDIA GeForce RTX 5090 graphics card.
The secondary display can be used for multitasking, while a 320-degree hinge and detachable wireless keyboard allow the laptop to be used in multiple modes. ASUS has also included its Intelligent Cooling system with liquid metal thermal compound and a tri-fan setup to keep temperatures under control. The ROG Zephyrus Duo starts at ₹5,49,990, while the top-end RTX 5090 variant costs ₹6,99,990.
Zephyrus and TUF Series Get RTX 50-Series Upgrades
ASUS has also refreshed its popular Zephyrus G14 and G16 gaming laptops with NVIDIA’s latest RTX 50-series GPUs. The Zephyrus G14 continues to target users who want a powerful gaming laptop in a compact package. It weighs just 1.5kg and features a 3K ROG Nebula HDR OLED display with 100% DCI-P3 color coverage. ASUS pairs the display with Intel Core Ultra processors and up to RTX 5070 Ti graphics.
The larger Zephyrus G16 is aimed at users looking for more screen real estate without sacrificing portability. Despite packing a 16-inch display and a 90Wh battery, the laptop weighs under 2kg. It comes with Intel Core Ultra 9 processors and up to RTX 5080 graphics, depending on the configuration.
ASUS has also announced the TUF Gaming A14, a more affordable gaming laptop that weighs just 1.46kg. The laptop runs on AMD’s new AI-powered Gorgon Point processor paired with NVIDIA GeForce RTX 5060 graphics. ASUS says it has been designed for students, gamers, and creators who need a portable machine without giving up gaming performance.
Pricing starts at:
TUF A14 – ₹1,99,990
Zephyrus G14 Refresh – ₹2,59,990
Zephyrus G14 RTX 5070 – ₹3,69,990
Zephyrus G16 RTX 5070 Ti – ₹4,19,990
Zephyrus G16 RTX 5080 – ₹5,09,990
ProArt PZ14 for Creators
For creators, ASUS has introduced the new ProArt PZ14, a lightweight 2-in-1 device with a detachable keyboard. The laptop features a 14-inch 3K ASUS Lumina Pro OLED touchscreen with 100% DCI-P3 coverage and Pantone validation. It is powered by Qualcomm’s Snapdragon X2 Elite processor and offers up to 80 TOPS of AI performance. ASUS says the device can deliver up to 22 hours of battery life and supports the ASUS Pen for creators who sketch, design, or edit on the go. The ProArt PZ14 is priced at ₹2,69,990.
#ASUS #ROG #Zephyrus #Duo #RTX #PreOrder #IndiaAsus">ASUS ROG Zephyrus Duo With RTX 5090 Now Available for Pre-Order in India
It’s no secret that Asus knows how to make gaming laptops. But what if you’re tired of the conventional gaming laptop that has a screen on top and a keyboard on the bottom? That’s exactly the problem Asus wants to solve, as it has just opened pre-orders for its latest premium gaming product in India. The new lineup is headlined by the flagship ROG Zephyrus Duo, which features two screens and an NVIDIA GeForce RTX 5090 graphics card. Along with that, the company has also announced refreshed versions of the Zephyrus G14 and G16, the TUF Gaming A14, and the creator-focused ProArt PZ14. Here’s everything you need to know about them.
What’s Up With The Zephyrus Duo?
The biggest announcement is the new ROG Zephyrus Duo, ASUS’s latest take on the dual-screen gaming laptop concept. The laptop features two 16-inch 3K OLED touch displays, allowing users to run games, editing tools, livestream controls, or AI applications simultaneously. ASUS says the system is powered by up to an Intel Core Ultra 9 Series 3 processor and an NVIDIA GeForce RTX 5090 graphics card.
The secondary display can be used for multitasking, while a 320-degree hinge and detachable wireless keyboard allow the laptop to be used in multiple modes. ASUS has also included its Intelligent Cooling system with liquid metal thermal compound and a tri-fan setup to keep temperatures under control. The ROG Zephyrus Duo starts at ₹5,49,990, while the top-end RTX 5090 variant costs ₹6,99,990.
Zephyrus and TUF Series Get RTX 50-Series Upgrades
ASUS has also refreshed its popular Zephyrus G14 and G16 gaming laptops with NVIDIA’s latest RTX 50-series GPUs. The Zephyrus G14 continues to target users who want a powerful gaming laptop in a compact package. It weighs just 1.5kg and features a 3K ROG Nebula HDR OLED display with 100% DCI-P3 color coverage. ASUS pairs the display with Intel Core Ultra processors and up to RTX 5070 Ti graphics.
The larger Zephyrus G16 is aimed at users looking for more screen real estate without sacrificing portability. Despite packing a 16-inch display and a 90Wh battery, the laptop weighs under 2kg. It comes with Intel Core Ultra 9 processors and up to RTX 5080 graphics, depending on the configuration.
ASUS has also announced the TUF Gaming A14, a more affordable gaming laptop that weighs just 1.46kg. The laptop runs on AMD’s new AI-powered Gorgon Point processor paired with NVIDIA GeForce RTX 5060 graphics. ASUS says it has been designed for students, gamers, and creators who need a portable machine without giving up gaming performance.
Pricing starts at:
TUF A14 – ₹1,99,990
Zephyrus G14 Refresh – ₹2,59,990
Zephyrus G14 RTX 5070 – ₹3,69,990
Zephyrus G16 RTX 5070 Ti – ₹4,19,990
Zephyrus G16 RTX 5080 – ₹5,09,990
ProArt PZ14 for Creators
For creators, ASUS has introduced the new ProArt PZ14, a lightweight 2-in-1 device with a detachable keyboard. The laptop features a 14-inch 3K ASUS Lumina Pro OLED touchscreen with 100% DCI-P3 coverage and Pantone validation. It is powered by Qualcomm’s Snapdragon X2 Elite processor and offers up to 80 TOPS of AI performance. ASUS says the device can deliver up to 22 hours of battery life and supports the ASUS Pen for creators who sketch, design, or edit on the go. The ProArt PZ14 is priced at ₹2,69,990.
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