While vending machines have gained quite a bit of social media attention lately, with the more quirky options of cakes, choc tops, or even freshly butchered meat popping up on many Australian TikTok and Instagram feeds, a new trend has emerged within the corporate sector with Micro Markets firmly on the rise. The Australian-owned industry leader in customised vending and unattended retail solutions, Provender, has seen a growing appetite for its GrabNGo. These are essentially bespoke convenience stores that are fully automated, self-service, and offer a curated menu chosen by the business. This concept is not new internationally, often a corporate staple in the USA and UK; however, Australia is now seeing the real benefits of providing an easy-to-access food and beverage solution for their employees or students. There are various reasons why this is a welcome addition to different business sectors; from a lack of healthy food options within remote corporate parks to 24-hour food service for shift workers and affordable options for students.
Another trend emerging within the corporate sector, particularly linked to the return to office push, is providing employees with meal allowances, a perk that is warmly embraced when the cost of living is so high. “Our GrabNGo Micro Market concept is a true reflection of our corporate mantra of Eat Well, Work Well and Be Better,” said Antony Dutton, Managing Director of Provender. “Offering quality food that is quick and easy to access for your staff will most certainly help you achieve your employee productivity and wellness goals.” “In many business cases, we see employees have very limited access to good food and healthy choices, often having to travel for the majority of their meal breaks and therefore, spending precious break times on the hunt, rather than utilising their downtime for rest, or for socialising.” Provender Micro Markets offer total convenience, with a simple tap-and-go system, freshly prepared healthy meals, fruits, bakery items, snacks, and dairy products. “By eliminating cafeteria line-ups, they tend to become an office hub, a space where colleagues gather not just to eat but to connect, collaborate, and recharge. It’s a game-changer for workplace culture,” said Dutton.
Another key aspect of this workplace solution is that Provender provides the installation, the ongoing service, the maintenance and the regular fulfilment of the Micro Market at absolutely no cost to the business. This is not only an innovative approach to office fit-out and HR but at no cost at all to the business, it is the most financially attractive way to increase employee satisfaction available in modern workplaces.The evolution of company vending machines, office catering and in house cafeterias to Micro Markets has been driven by the corporate sector’s changing needs and its shift to a more conscious way of doing business, putting people first. This transition has opened up huge opportunities for Provender, which is continuously innovating in close collaboration with its clients, Amazon, ING, Harvey Norman, Sydney University and Linfox, just to name a few.
As ecommerce penetration surges, the cost of delivery and retailer-advertised delivery costs are increasing, according to a new report from Shippit. Since 2018, delivery costs for standard shipping have increased from $9 to $10.26, while retailer-advertised delivery estimates have surged from 2 days to 5.6 days. For express delivery, they have increased from $12 and 1.4 days, to $14.24 and 2.3 days.
However, actual delivery times are decreasing, with many retailers appearing to inflate their estimates to avoid falling short of customer expectations. Today, the average delivery takes just 2.2 days; less than 2.6 days in 2023 and considerably less than the 5.6-day estimate that retailers advertise.
Based on research of thousands of consumers and retailers, and a data analysis of hundreds millions of orders, the State of Shipping report also found that:
Free delivery has decreased significantly, falling from 81% of retailers in 2018 to 70% in 2024;
The average minimum spend threshold to qualify for free delivery has increased 20%.
In 2018, 49% of retailers provided free returns, but that number has now dropped below 20%.
There has been a 136% increase in express shipping since 2018, as consumers prioritise getting their goods as fast as possible.
However, there is a growing disparity in the supply and demand of same day delivery, with just 9% of retailers offering it, yet two in three (61%) customers would happily pay for it
The global employment authority Employment Hero today unveiled a new tool that will bring unparalleled transparency to the employment marketplace. SmartMatch will provide real-time market insights, seamless connections and advanced matching capabilities for employers and job seekers, ensuring everyone finds their perfect fit together.
Informed via up-to-the minute data aggregated from over 2 million employees and over 300,000 SMEs globally, SmartMatch will now empower employers with real-time insights and equip job seekers with the knowledge to discover the best opportunities for their skills and experience.
SmartMatch goes beyond traditional salary benchmarking tools that are often out of date and informed by user submitted data, surveys and job listings. In addition to this added functionality, SmartMatch will continue to pipe relevant talent to employers, allowing them to make faster recruitment decisions. While job seekers will continue to be able to view and apply for previously hidden job opportunities.
For employers, SmartMatch delivers real-time salary data, market insights, and advanced matching capabilities, empowering employers to make informed decisions on compensation, retention, and hiring – they be will able to:
Access the latest salary data for any role in real-time, based on the wages of millions of employees.
Confidently ensure they’re paying their team fairly.
Gain an edge by knowing what their competitors are paying.
Proactively assess if their team is at risk of leaving based on their salary and benefits.
Uncover the potential to hire top talent within their budget by adjusting parameters like location or experience level, embracing a global remote workforce.
Explore the impact of expanding their salary limits to attract higher expertise and talent.
For job seekers, SmartMatch provides real-time salary insights and market value assessments, empowering job seekers to discover their worth and find higher-paying opportunities – they will be able to:
Discover their true worth and the value of their skills and experience in the job market.
Unlock strategies to boost their pay by upskilling, transitioning to new roles, and understanding what employers are offering for their job.
Find higher-paying opportunities with their existing skills, whether in the same role or new ones.
Compare their value to others in the market and see how they stack up.
Employers looking to fill a position, or support salary conversations with existing employees, can use SmartMatch to understand the market’s current remuneration rates, and find ideal talent matched in line with a particular role, filtered by pay grade, industry, location and seniority. They can also conduct a competitor analysis to see what their peers are paying staff for the same or similar roles. Similarly, job seekers can enter their current or desired job title to discover a wealth of real-time insights – and potentially maximise their earning potential based on their skills, experience and location.
Employment Hero CEO and co-founder, Ben Thompson, says: “SmartMatch is providing unprecedented transparency for both employers and job seekers. Employers are now able to view salaries and talent in a way that traditional job boards and benchmarking tools – which lack live, accurate data – simply cannot match. We have live, region-specific payroll data, so we know the exact salary ranges for specific roles, all across Australia.
“For job seekers, SmartMatch will redefine their job search with unique insights into real-time salaries, allowing them to understand their worth and maximise their potential market value based on their skills, experience and location.
“In addition, SmartMatch then goes another step further in the employment lifecycle by actually matching employers with talent and vice versa. For employers, this means they can both fill roles currently vacant, while also building pools of talent for future hiring needs. For job seekers, this means finding that dream role that makes the most of their individual skills, experience and preferences.”
Why is it vital to bring transparency to the employment marketplace?
Data released today from Employment Hero’s inaugural SmartMatch Employment Report has revealed year-on-year median wage growth of 8.8%. These figures are more than double the WPI wage growth figure released by the ABS back in May – which reported 4.1% annual wage growth*.
“There is a current lack of real-time transparency in the employment marketplace and what someone is worth today is not necessarily what they were worth yesterday. As it stands, the data that employers and job seekers have access to is either out of date, unverified or not revealing the complete employment picture. This is especially true with wage data. Because of this the market is negotiating blindly.
“For example, the ongoing ‘wageflation’ that our 8.8% wage increase reveals is an important metric that must be considered by decision makers, especially when viewed in the context of the RBA’s ongoing battle against inflation. The impacts of potentially unsustainable wage growth must also be weighed against ASIC’s findings that business failure rates are nearing recession levels.
“We believe that our live payroll informed data increases transparency and can support businesses and employees to make better decisions around employment, this may include conversations around salary or offer forms of remuneration.
“In fact, this is exactly why we launched SmartMatch and for anyone interested in these wage insights, I would urge them to SmartMatch themselves via our SmartMatch tool.” concluded Ben Thompson.
Employment Hero’s SmartMatch Employment Report is built from the real-time employment data of the 300,000 businesses and 2+ million employees that are served by the employment platform. The figures are broken down by state, industry, age and employment type.
Employers and job seekers can visit smartmatch.employmenthero.com now to discover their true worth and find their perfect fit.
Zoom Video Communications, Inc. announced the rollout of Zoom Docs, its AI-first collaborative docs solution, starting today. Zoom Docs is powered by Zoom AI Companion, the company’s generative AI assistant available at no additional cost*, to help drive productivity and seamless collaboration throughout Zoom Workplace.
“Zoom Docs is our first Zoom Workplace product with generative AI built in from the ground up; it effortlessly transforms information from Zoom Meetings into actionable documents and knowledge bases, so teams can stay focused on meaningful work,” said Smita Hashim, chief product officer at Zoom. “Zoom Docs is included at no additional cost with Zoom Workplace paid licenses, creating even more value for our customers. With AI Companion available every step of the way, Zoom Docs is purpose-built to empower people to ‘work happy’ and give them more time back in their day.”
Zoom Docs transforms team collaboration
Zoom Docs can help solve critical challenges facing modern workforces, including time wasted on repetitive tasks, information overload, and facilitation of cross-functional alignment. By utilizing Zoom AI Companion to convert meeting outcomes into actionable documents, Zoom Docs can jumpstart content creation and adapt to different individual and team needs to help boost workers’ productivity.
Zoom Docs’ AI-firstcapabilities help Zoom Workplace users make teamwork more collaborative and effective, optimize productivity by keeping information organized, and reduce silos by empowering teams to communicate and share information more fluidly. Potential use cases for Zoom Docs include:
Meeting collaboration: Zoom Docs simplifies meeting collaboration with AI Companion by transforming meeting content into meaningful documents, centralizing meeting summaries with meeting docs, and facilitating co-editing on docs within meetings.
Business documents: Whether creating content, business proposals, or reports, AI Companion for Zoom Docs makes content generation, revision, summarization, and translation easy for global teams.
Project planning: Planning complex projects can be messy. Zoom Docs can help with time-saving templates for project briefs and tracking for a variety of use cases like product launches, marketing campaigns, and event management, consolidating project-related materials, and improving visibility across progress tracking, status updates, and timelines.
Information hub: Useful for knowledge-base creation, team onboarding, and goal tracking, users can build robust wikis for a single source of information.
Additional AI-first capabilities help teams do their best work
With the power of AI Companion, Zoom Docs simplifies work and brings information together for optimal results.
Turn AI Companion meeting summaries into easily editable docs, freeing up time spent on note-taking and manually copying notes into a shared document with templates for one-on-ones, stand-up meetings, brainstorming, project updates, discussions, Q&As, customer success, user feedback, and more.
Generate content based on AI Companion meeting transcripts. Use custom or preset commands or queries with AI Companion to further create and revise content.
Revise and summarize content such as articles, plans, and outlines, change tone and style, catch grammatical and spelling errors, and translate content into nine languages (with support for additional languages planned) for multilingual teams with AI Companion.
Maximize meeting effectiveness to drive better outcomes
Meetings are core to Zoom Workplace, and Zoom Docs builds on that experience by enhancing collaboration before, during, and after meetings, empowering users to stay more aligned and achieve better results.
Start and schedule meetings from a Zoom Doc to connect with colleagues and quickly streamline workflows.
Create, share, and co-edit docs during meetings. Meeting attendees can follow along with the presenter, co-edit, and comment on the doc in real time without leaving the meeting window. Attendees on mobile devices can view in-meeting doc collaboration without signing in.
Create an editable and shareable doc that includes relevant meeting information from a meeting in a customizable format.
Streamline permission sharing to reduce time spent granting access to docs with bulk permission settings for meeting attendees, and the ability to grant temporary access to meeting attendees to collaborate during the meeting. Users can also share Zoom Docs in Team Chat channels and with individuals in specific chats directly from Zoom Docs.
Share docs across Zoom Workplace via Zoom Team Chat or Zoom Mail, or invite colleagues to collaborate live in Zoom Meetings to streamline editing.
Get work done in one place for better results
Adapt docs to different individual and team needs to keep collaboration fluid and information organized.
Customize docs with content blocks for texts, tables, images, charts, and more to help increase efficiency and reduce information management across multiple apps. Add data tables for team collaboration and planning to track assignments and projects. Add checklists, images, videos, and callouts to make the doc more engaging, and utilize the multi-column layout for greater flexibility in organizing content.
Embed content from across Zoom Workplace and third parties like Zoom Whiteboard, Google Drive, Figma, X, and YouTube to make information centrally accessible.
Stay organized by starring frequently used docs or quickly filtering docs by author for quick access.
Optimize team collaboration
Reduce silos and keep collaborators informed, connected, and aligned.
Keep an eye on progress using tables, checklists, and trackers for activities, due dates, status, and assigned owners, with various views like Kanban boards, calendars, and galleries.
Organize team documents in dedicated wikis to provide central locations for shared information.
Group, filter, sort, and search datatables to easily visualize information and quickly locate the needed data.
Edit concurrently with up to 100 users in a single Zoom Doc, and tag teammates in edits and comments.
Quickly add, remove, and change permissions for internal teammates and external users to confidently share and collaborate on a doc’s contents.
Zoom Docs with AI Companion is included with all paid Zoom Workplace plans*. Basic (free) users can create up to 10 shared docs and unlimited personal docs without AI Companion but can upgrade to Zoom Workplace Pro, Business, or Enterprise plans for access to AI Companion capabilities across Zoom Workplace, including Docs. Account owners and admins may enable or disable AI Companion for Zoom Docs.
Zoom Docs is available beginning today for users of the Zoom Workplace app, version 6.1.6 or later, which can be downloaded from the Zoom website, and users can also access Zoom Docs from the Docs web homepage or the Zoom Web App.
As several coal-fired power plants along Australia’s east coast close and critical new gas and clean energy projects face delays, the region anticipates Blackouts Looming and significant electricity supply disruptions by 2027, with “reliability gaps” emerging as early as 2025, according to a report by the Australian Energy Market Operator.
This convergence of factors presents a critical challenge for businesses that rely on dependable power to sustain productivity and customer service levels, such as retail, healthcare and professional services. Estimates from insights agency Gartner indicate the cost of unplanned disruptions can be up to $5,600 per minute, while a new report by CISCO digital resilience agency Splunk further reveals the staggering financial toll of downtime.
In response, PSS Distributors announces the launch of their advanced UPS (Uninterrupted Power Supply) systems, designed to protect small businesses from downtime and data loss during power outages. PSS Distributors’ UPS systems provide a robust solution by offering uninterrupted power backup during outages, ensuring seamless continuity of essential operations. Equipped with state-of-the-art features like automatic voltage regulation (AVR) and battery backup, these systems immediately transition to backup power at the first sign of disruption.
“Our UPS systems are essential for small businesses navigating unpredictable power reliability,” says Terrence Daniel, General Manager at PSS Distributors. “They are designed to maintain business operations smoothly during outages, safeguarding against the costly impacts of downtime and protecting critical data.”
PSS Distributors’ UPS solutions not only ensure operational continuity but also bolster resilience against unforeseen power fluctuations and equipment damage.
Furthermore, PSS Distributors underscores the scalability and ease of integration of their UPS systems, making them suitable for businesses of all sizes and technical capabilities.
In addition to implementing UPS systems, Daniel shares five tips with small business owners for mitigating the risks associated with power disruptions:
Diversify power sources: Explore alternative energy solutions such as renewable sources (solar panels, wind turbines) or generators to supplement UPS systems during extended outages.
Cloud backup: Adopt cloud-based data backup solutions to store critical business information off-site, ensuring accessibility even during prolonged power failures.
Surge protection: Safeguard sensitive electronic equipment against damage from power surges or spikes by installing a UPS with the highest level of surge protection, such as PSS’s UPS with a galvanic isolation transformer.
Emergency lighting: Maintain battery-powered emergency lighting systems by complying with annual mandatory check-ups to ensure workplace safety and visibility during power outages.
Employee training: Educate staff on emergency protocols, including proper equipment shutdown procedures during power disruptions and safe navigation in low-light conditions.
Norton, a consumer Cyber Safety brand of Gen™, has reinvented its Virtual Private Network (VPN) and unveiled Norton Ultra VPN, a new all-in-one VPN combining speed and reliability with advanced security, privacy and identity features to give people a higher level of protection from today’s cyber threats.
To help people browse online safely, take control of their privacy and enjoy their favourite content on-the-go, all Norton VPNs now include worldwide content access, service compatibility upgrades, and more protocols for people to choose from for better online experiences. Additionally, Norton improved its no-log policy, which has been audited by an independent third party, giving customers confidence that their privacy is protected.
“Today, people need more from their VPN. They need help protecting themselves and their families from an ever-increasing spectrum of modern threats,” said Leena Elias, Chief Product Officer at Gen.
“We reimagined our lineup with this in mind, innovating with our award-winning technology to create tailored solutions that provide the most comprehensive online protection, helping people everywhere to regain control of their Cyber Safety with the perfect VPN for their lifestyle.”
Norton now offers three VPN plans: Norton Secure VPN for individuals in need of a fast, easy-to-use and reliable VPN service[1]; Norton Ultra VPN for individuals and couples looking for additional security and privacy protection; and Norton Ultra VPN Plus for families looking to protect their household with an all-in-one solution.
VPN: A fast, secure and reliable private internet connection to access your favorite content at home and on-the-go.
Privacy Monitor (US and Canada): Included with Norton Ultra VPN Plus, Privacy Monitor scans people-finder websites for exposed personal information every 90 days and helps you opt-out of these websites for improved online privacy.
Security
Malware and Scam Protection: Blocks dangerous websites and helps keep malware, ransomware, phishing and other scams at bay with real-time protection.
Parental Control: Pinpoints the location of Android or iOS devices, sets boundaries for physical locations[2], and blocks harmful or inappropriate websites to help children explore the internet safely.
Password Manager: Create and manage passwords in one secure place. Includes an encrypted vault, detects duplicate passwords and suggests ways to improve password security.
Identity
Dark Web Monitoring[3]: Notifies you if your personal information – such as email addresses, phone numbers or credit card numbers – have been exposed and found on the dark web, so that you can secure your accounts and take the necessary steps to protect your identity.
Norton Ultra VPN is available today and compatible with Windows, Mac, Android, and iOS platforms, protecting up to ten devices in the highest tier. For more information, please visit https://au.norton.com/products/norton-vpn
ASUS has announces the launch of its latest range of AMD-powered AI laptops in Australia. This new lineup, featuring AI-enabled models including the ProArt P16, ProArt PX13, Zenbook S 16, Vivobook S 16, Vivobook S 14, ROG Zephyrus G16, TUF A14, and TUF A16, represents a significant leap forward in both performance and design, catering to a wide range of users from students, professionals, creatives and gamers.
Elevating Performance and Design with AMD Ryzen AI 9 HX 370 Processor
The new ASUS laptops are powered by the AMD Ryzen™ AI 9 HX 370 processor, delivering top-tier performance and advanced AI capabilities. Each model offers unique features tailored to specific user needs, from ultraportable design to gaming excellence.
Bradley Howe, Head of Consumer, ASUS Australia, explains, “This new AMD lineup builds on our launch of AI PCs earlier this year. Our focus is on supporting Australians in their AI journey, whether they’re just discovering AI or are already regularly using it. The rise of AI-enabled apps and the integration of AI capabilities highlight the need for high-performance machines to deliver better quality experiences.”
In fact, a recent CSIRO report shows that 68% of Australian businesses have already implemented AI technologies, with a further 23% planning to implement them in the next 12 months. These businesses report an average time saving of 30% across all AI-related initiatives, underscoring the transformative potential of AI.
“Our screen technology, with ASUS Lumina OLED for lifestyle and Nebula Display for gaming, ensures that as consumers use AI for creation, productivity, learning, and gaming, they do so on the best display technology available. Even for those not using AI daily, our devices’ performance and extended battery life are greater than our previous generations, making them smarter and more powerful than ever.”
“At AMD, we push the boundaries of what is possible in high-performance computing. Together with ASUS, we are pleased to announce their latest range of AI PCs based on our latest AMD Ryzen™ AI 9 HX 370 processor,” said Peter Chambers, Managing Director, APAC and Country Manager, Australia. “The AMD Ryzen AI 9 HX 370 combines AMD’s latest Zen5 cores, high-performance graphics and the highest-performing AI PC NPU available. This performance, in tandem with ASUS’ innovative designs, delivers class-leading products that allow creators, students, gamers, and professionals to unlock their full potential.”
This latest wave of AI products is part of ASUS’ ethos around making premium technology available for every Australian. The company is leading the charge in driving the AI revolution in the PC industry by bringing high-performing and innovative products to market to ensure that there is a high-performing AI PC available for every Australian. With the latest range of AI PCs, ASUS aims to focus on bringing top-tier performance, technologies and features to allow Australians to create, work and learn smarter than before. The company is drawing on its extensive experience and formidable partnerships with AMD, NVIDIA, Microsoft, Adobe, Pantone, Dolby and CapCut and is poised to lead the charge into this new era.
With the increasing prevalence of AI in everyday applications, from content creation tools like Canva and Adobe to productivity apps, the integration of AI capabilities has become essential. Recent research from Microsoft’s Work Index Report highlights that Australian workers are leading the way in adopting generative AI technology in the workplace, with a remarkable 84% utilising it—significantly higher than the global average of 75%. Eager to lift the weight of work, employees who are using AI say it saves time, boosts creativity, and allows them to focus on their most important work. These advancements require high-performance machines to run smoothly and efficiently, justifying the need for AI-enabled PCs. ASUS’s latest lineup addresses this demand by offering powerful AI-enhanced features across its range of laptops. With this latest announcement, ASUS has the most comprehensive AI-enabled PC lineup.
ProArt P16 and PX13: Creative AI Powerhouses
The new ProArt P16 and ProArt PX13 laptops are designed to meet the needs of every creator, from everyday users and outdoor content creators to seasoned professionals. These models empower users to create easier, faster, and smarter, thanks to their powerful performance and innovative features. Both laptops are equipped with the AMD Ryzen™ AI 9 HX 370 processor, offering exceptional processing power for demanding creative tasks. Additionally, they come with a free three-month Adobe Creative Suite subscription and a six-month CapCut Pro subscription, enhancing the creative workflow right out of the box.
The ProArt P16 features a stunning 16-inch high-resolution display that provides accurate colour representation, making it perfect for graphic designers, video editors, and other creatives. Its robust build ensures durability, while the advanced cooling system maintains optimal performance during intensive tasks. The PX13, on the other hand, offers a more compact 13-inch form factor without compromising on power, making it ideal for creatives on the go. Both models are equipped with ample storage and memory options to handle large files and multitasking efficiently.
Both models feature ASUS-exclusive StoryCube and MuseTree apps, enabling smarter and more streamlined creative workflows. StoryCube is a smart, convenient, and powerful digital asset-management tool with AI assistance for scene categorisation and clip generation, allowing users to manage and export their file libraries effortlessly. MuseTree transforms inspiration into imagery swiftly, enabling users to generate more creativity through simple graphical interactions while intelligently storing and managing their ideas. The devices also include a dedicated Copilot key for quick access to your everyday AI companion.
The 16-inch ProArt P16 laptop delivers unparalleled on-the-go creative experiences with its cutting-edge components housed in a premium-feel black chassis that’s just 14.9 mm thin and 1.85 kg light. Powered by a 50 TOPS NPU integrated into the AMD Ryzen™ AI 9 HX 370 processor and an NVIDIA GeForce RTX 4070 Laptop GPU that can deliver up to 321 TOPS, it is the first AI PC of its kind built for advanced AI workflows across creativity, gaming, productivity, and more. The GeForce RTX 4070 Laptop GPU provides creatives with RTX AI acceleration in top 2D, 3D, video editing, and streaming apps, significantly enhancing performance in tasks like video editing with DaVinci Resolve, AI Speech Enhance in Adobe Premiere Pro, and 3D rendering in Autodesk Arnold. Additionally, the ProArt P16 has access to exclusive NVIDIA AI software like NVIDIA Broadcast, RTX Video, and the ChatRTX tech demo.
For increased portability, the 1.38 kg 13-inch ProArt PX13 convertible laptop excels in any user scenario, with a 360° hinge allowing seamless transitions between laptop, tent, stand, or tablet modes. Whether creating on-the-go or working from home, its high-resolution 3K ASUS Lumina OLED display ensures life-like visuals that captivate and inspire. Powered by up to an AMD Ryzen™ AI 9 HX 370 processor, the ProArt PX13 is an NVIDIA Studio-validated laptop with up to a GeForce RTX 4070 Laptop GPU that delivers over 300 TOPS for an advanced AI PC experience. This enables creators to unlock unique AI capabilities and dive into AI-accelerated workflows, from textures and lighting effects to AI-generated imagery. Along with ultrafast WiFi 7 connectivity, the PX13 features extensive I/O ports, including twin 40 Gbps USB4 for fast charging and external displays, HDMI 2.1 FRL, and a UHS-II MicroSD card reader for quick action-cam transfers.
Additionally, ASUS has partnered with CapCut to offer users an exclusive six-month CapCut Pro membership program across the new ProArt laptop lineup. This membership provides access to premium features and thousands of assets, offering a flexible editing workflow, magical AI tools, and a comprehensive stock library.
ASUS Zenbook S 16 OLED (UM5606): New Zen with Superior AI
Introducing the ASUS Zenbook S 16, the first thin and light 16-inch new-era ASUS AI PC, combining performance with sophistication. This premium ultraportable laptop measures an astonishingly slim 1.1 cm and weighs just 1.5 kg with 20 hours of battery life*. Despite its sleek design, it houses a formidable AMD Ryzen™ AI 9 HX 370 processor, delivering up to 28 W TDP and a dedicated NPU AI chip delivering 50 TOPS from the NPU to enable faster & smarter day-to-day tasks. Its dedicated Copilot in Windows key enables quick access to Copilot in Windows AI experiences.
The Zenbook S 16 boasts an all-metal chassis with an outer lid made from Ceraluminum™, ASUS’ innovative new material that combines the aesthetic and tactile qualities of ceramic with the strength of aluminium. Ceraluminum™ is not only durable but also provides a pleasantly warm and tactile feel. Available in Zumaia Gray, the device is as visually striking as it is functional.
Despite the thinness of the Zenbook S 16, connectivity has not been compromised. Its highly efficient 78 Wh battery delivers 22 hours of battery life* and a full array of I/O ports, including two USB4®, USB 3.2 Type-A, HDMI®, an audio jack, and an SD card reader. Users will appreciate the fast responsiveness enabled by up to 2 TB PCIe® 4.0 x4 SSD and up to 32 GB LPDDR5x RAM.
The immersive 16-inch 3K ASUS Lumina OLED 16:10 panel with a 120 Hz refresh rate, NanoEdge bezels, and a 90% screen-to-body ratio offers stunning visuals. Certified by TÜV Rheinland, it delivers a high degree of eye protection with low blue light and flicker-free technology to support long screen time usage. The six-speaker sound system delivers immersive audio, while AI Noise Cancellation helps deliver clear conference calls. Additionally, a 40%-larger than the previous generation 16:10 touchpad supports smart gestures for easy navigation and control.
The Zenbook S 16 also prioritises enhanced privacy features. ASUS AiSense tracks your presence through the camera, automatically dimming when you look away, while ASUS Adaptive Lock protects your personal space by sensing when you are not present and then automatically locking the screen.
Vivobook S 16 (M5606) & Vivobook S 14 (M5406) OLED – Your Everyday Laptop
Additionally, the existing ASUS Vivobook S OLED lineup has been refreshed to feature an AMD Ryzen™ AI 9 HX 370 processor to provide the latest AI capabilities to the widest range of users, making them the ultimate everyday laptops. The 14-inch ASUS Vivobook S 14 (M5406) and the 16-inch ASUS Vivobook S 16 (M5606) have been reimagined with even slimmer and lighter designs than previous Vivobook generations. Sporting elegant all-metal chassis, these laptops start at a mere 1.39cm thick and weigh as little as 1.3kg. Alongside their exceptional portability and minimalist aesthetics, they boast uncompromising performance powered by the latest AMD Radeon® graphics, up to 32 GB LPDDR5X memory, and lightning-fast up to 1 TB PCIe® 4.0 SSD storage. Enhanced cooling is ensured by the ASUS IceCool thermal technology, now featuring two heat pipes, two 97-blade IceBlade fans, and two air vents.
The S 16 and S 14 models include a dedicated Copilot key, refined new colours, a 180° hinge, an IR camera with a physical shutter, full I/O ports, and Harman Kardon-certified Dolby Atmos® audio, making them versatile and user-friendly. These features make the Vivobook S 14 and S 16 OLED models the perfect choice for users seeking a stylish, powerful, and reliable laptop for everyday use, ensuring they can handle any task with ease and efficiency.
