Asus is expected to lift the cover off the upcoming Asus ZenFone 3 at the beginning the summer during Computex Taipei 2016, but until that moment comes, it appears that the Taiwanese tech company is working on improving the user experience for owners of the Asus ZenFone Zoom and ZenFone 2 Laser through a couple of new hefty software updates. The new software packages are being rolled out as we speak and include numerous improvements to the camera software along with various other fixes.
Starting off with the Asus ZenFone Zoom camera phone – specifically the “ZX551ML” variant – the update bumps the software version number to 2.26.40.72(MR3.2) and brings improvements to the camera’s Auto Exposure accuracy, Auto Focus speed, and Auto White balance; it increases digital zoom image quality, fixes the NR zoom parameter failure, and fixes a handful of other bugs related to the camera application. The same update also brings improvements to the modem which should result in fewer “SIM drop” issues; it enables eMMC ver5.1, and disables the ALAC codec.
As for the Asus ZenFone 2 Laser, at the moment, the new update is being rolled out for the “ZE601KL” variant and brings the software version number to “1.16.40.1338”. The changelog mentions the addition of “Asia/Manila” timezone, a new Pano Sphere mode for the camera application, and the ability to adjust the color cast of ambient light in Beautification mode. The update also fixes an issue that caused the device to lose service when using two STK SIM cards; it adds Android for Work, sounds settings for Screenshots, and is accompanied by several application updates.
According to Asus, the software update is now being pushed to eligible customers OTA (over-the-air), and it should take roughly one week for the system to complete the rollout on all terminals. However, assuming that you own one of the two Asus smartphones, you can also try triggering the update manually from the phone’s Settings menu, under “About” > “System Update”. Other Asus ZenFone 2 Laser and ZenFone Zoom variants should receive the update too, eventually, but as yet there’s no official word on the matter. It doesn’t hurt trying, so if you own other variants aside from “ZX551ML” and “ZE601KL” you can manually check for new system updates too.
