PC Watch

ASUS announced it will release two creator-focused laptops equipped with NVIDIA's RTX Spark AI processor in Japan from late October.

• •The availability of the creator-focused laptops ProArt P16 (H7607) and ProArt P14 (H7407) in Japan was announced.
• •Release is scheduled for late October or later, with specific prices and dates to be announced later.
• •Sales channels will include the ASUS Store, Amazon.co.jp, and major electronics retailers.

An article introducing the venue and AI-related business exhibits at Japan HP's annual event, the HP Future of Work AI Conference 2026.

• •Japan HP held the HP Future of Work AI Conference 2026 on October 7.
• •The venue featured a stage area for speeches and exhibition booths showcasing AI-related businesses.
• •The event was bustling with many attendees.

Microsoft officially announced the Surface Laptop Ultra with NVIDIA RTX Spark, with sales starting October 16 in Japan and other regions.

• •Microsoft held a press conference in San Francisco on October 7 to officially announce the new product.
• •Pre-orders are already open, with sales scheduled to begin on October 16 in Japan and other regions.
• •The announced models include 18-core/24GB and 20-core/128GB configurations.

Intel Japan celebrated its 50th anniversary in 2026 with a ceremony in Tokyo on October 7, inviting government officials and partners to reflect on half a century of relationships.

• •Intel's Japanese subsidiary reached its 50th anniversary in 2026.
• •A commemorative ceremony was held in Tokyo on October 7, inviting government officials, corporate partners, and athletes.
• •Speakers reflected on five decades of relations with Japan and expressed expectations for collaboration in the next 50 years.

HP Japan announced two 14-inch mobile laptops under 1kg that support local AI processing via NPU.

• •Two models were announced: the business-oriented 'HP EliteBook 8 G2iW 14' and the consumer-oriented 'HP OmniBook X Aero 14'.
• •Both products feature lightweight chassis designs weighing under 1kg.
• •Support for local AI processing utilizing NPU is explicitly stated.

MSI will release two 16-inch gaming laptops for its 40th anniversary on October 14, priced at 458,800 and 589,800 yen.

• •MSI will release the 'Crosshair-16-Max-HX-E2WGK-2740JP' and 'Stealth-16-AI+B3WI-2741JP' gaming laptops on October 14 to mark its 40th anniversary.
• •Both models are open price, with direct sales prices of 458,800 yen and 589,800 yen respectively.
• •The products are offered as gaming laptops equipped with 16-inch displays.

HP launched the 16-inch HP ZBook Ultra G3a mobile workstation with Ryzen AI Max PRO 400, offering a limited direct-sales model bundled with a headset.

• •The 16-inch HP ZBook Ultra G3a Mobile Workstation was released on October 7.
• •The standard price starts at 639,100 yen, while a limited direct-sales model bundled with the Poly Voyager 4320 UC headset starts at 575,300 yen.
• •It features the Ryzen AI Max PRO 400 processor, supporting up to 192GB of memory.

Local LLM inference engine Strata now supports Ryzen AI Max/Max+ series, enabling Qwen3.8-Flash-Next operation with 128GB of memory.

• •Version 0.1.40 of the open-source local LLM inference engine Strata was released on October 6.
• •Experimental support for AMD's Ryzen AI Max/Max+ series was added.
• •The engine can now run Qwen3.8-Flash-Next by utilizing 128GB of memory.

ASUS launched the 14-inch Zenbook 14 UX3480 mobile notebook, allowing users to choose processors from Core Ultra 3, Ryzen AI 300, or Snapdragon X series.

• •ASUS will gradually release the 14-inch Zenbook 14 UX3480 series starting October 7.
• •Users can choose processors from the Core Ultra Series 3, Ryzen AI 300 Series, or Snapdragon X Series.
• •The product demonstrates diversification of processor options in the mobile notebook PC market.

Google released the image generation and editing AI model Nano Banana 2.1, claiming superior quality to top models at half the output cost.

• •Google released the image generation and editing AI model Nano Banana 2.1 on October 6.
• •It will be gradually provided in the Gemini app, Google AI Studio, Gemini API, Google Search AI Mode, Google Ads, Google Flow, and Google Stitch.
• •It is noted that cheaper models are beginning to outperform top-tier models.