The NovaGo, which Asus bills the world’s first gigabit LTE-capable laptop, was unveiled by CEO Jerry Shen at this week’s second annual Snapdragon Technology Summit in Maui, Hawaii.
In recent years, the rise of the smartphone has raised our expectations when it comes to the availability of internet access. There was once a time when it was assumed that mobile connectivity would be slower and less stable than a home Wi-Fi connection – but a new wave of always on, always connected hardware is attempting to change things.
The Asus NovaGo boasts a gigabit Qualcomm Snapdragon X16 LTE modem. The company claims that this allows the device to deliver download speeds better than typical home Wi-Fi can manage: A two-hour movie can reportedly be downloaded in as little as 10 seconds.
The laptop is powered by the Qualcomm Snapdragon 835 mobile PC processor. It can operate for up to 22 hours on a single charge, and last for 30 days in its modern standby mode. It also features a built-in eSIM to ensure users aren’t caught short when traveling internationally.
“Today marks the beginning of a new era of personal computing, and ASUS is very proud to be paving the way with Qualcomm Technologies and other partners to develop this new landscape for ‘always connected’ Windows on Snapdragon PCs,” said Shen at the event. “The Asus NovaGo reinvents the concept of laptop connectivity and productivity — it’s the world’s first laptop that is connected anywhere, at any time, with the new gigabit LTE network.”
The NovaGo is part of what’s being described as a new category of computers that are always on and always connected. While improving upon what might be expected of mobile internet connectivity, these systems also aim to imitate the convenience of a smartphone.
Users can wake the NovaGo from sleep mode at the touch of a button, and the laptop will be ready for action in the same way a smartphone would be. While it’s asleep, it will wake up intermittently to check for emails and notifications, and perform other similar tasks.
The introduction of touch interfaces and 2-in-1 form factors has had a huge impact on the Windows laptop market. Now, we’re seeing manufacturers take further inspiration from smartphones in terms of connectivity and sophisticated sleep modes – and the results could help us be more productive.
Asus is offering two configurations, starting with the $599 version which comes with 4GB of RAM and 64GB of storage. The second configuration starts at $799 and comes with 8GB of RAM and 256GB of storage.
