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Asus Readies Ion-Based Nettop and Eee Keyboard for Fall Launch

Paul Lilly — Fri, 21 Aug 2009 10:10:31 -0500

According to news and rumor site DigiTimes, Asus plans to keep busy this fall launching a number of new products. Among them are an Nvidia Ion-based Eee Box, Eee Top all-in-one PC, and two ultra-thin notebooks under its U/UX series.

The 20-inch Eee Top will come with an Intel dual-core Atom 330 processor and cost around $670. Details on the Ion-based rig remain sparse, though it will reportedly sell for a little over $300. Both of these -- along with the ultra-thin notebooks -- will launch in September.

A month later, Asus plans to launch the Eee Keyboard for somewhere between $400 and $500. The Eee Keyboard will work as a fully-functional PC and sport a wireless connection hub.

Image Credit: Asus

Intel's Moblin OS Demoed On Eee Keyboard PC

Andy Salisbury — Tue, 16 Jun 2009 16:07:46 -0500

In the past, Asus’ Eee Keyboard was only shown off running versions of Windows XP, but in a more recent demo at Computex, the low-profile PC was shown off running Intel’s Moblin OS.

While XP seemed like a nice choice for the keyboard PC, sticking with something simple (and Linux based) seems even better, given that this machine will be ideal for surfing the net from your couch.

There’s been no official word if this will come as an option for the Eee Keyboard, but there’s little doubt that we’ll find out in the coming weeks.

Image Credit: RBB Today

Asus Demos Wiimote Wannabe at CeBIT

Andy Salisbury — Tue, 03 Mar 2009 17:20:05 -0600

This morning Asus showed off one of their newest gaming related products, the Eee Stick, which is intended to get more people into gaming. The Eee Stick will come in many different colors, and oh yeah, they look and act exactly like a Wiimote.

There’s no word yet on what crowds Asus hopes to get with their Eee Sticks, but it is clear that they’re looking to make their own stake in the casual gaming crowd.

Currently there’s no word on pricing or availability.

Image Credit: Engadget

Asus's Eee Keyboard is Real, and Starts at Just $400

Andy Salisbury — Tue, 03 Mar 2009 16:18:37 -0600

A little while back Asus was toying with the idea of fitting a home theater PC inside a keyboard, and now we can happily say that this product is finally on its way.

The Eee Keyboard will come with wireless HDMI and a small touchscreen, and is expected to arrive in May or June, costing only $400-$600. Jerry Shen, Asus’ CEO, says that there are two models being worked on, a wired and a wireless version. It’s reported that the wireless capability is the difference between the $400 and $600 machines.

Underneath the hood it will have a 1.6GHz Atom processor, 1GB RAM, a 16 or 32GB SSD, WiFi and Bluetooth built in. It will also feature wireless HDMI, 2 USB 2.0, VGA, HDMI and audio in/out ports.

Image Credit: Asus

Asus Announces the Beefed up Eee PC 1000HE

Andy Salisbury — Tue, 03 Feb 2009 14:42:02 -0600

Asus is typically good about tossing out press releases when they drop a new product, but this time around they’ve just put up their latest netbook up for pre-order, hoping that we’d catch on. Well, as you might have guessed by now we did, and without further adieu, let me introduce to you the Asus Eee PC 1000HE (E is for extended!).

The new little beastie will feature a 10-inch LED screen, a 160GB HDD, a 1.66GHz Atom N280 processor, and built in 802.11b/g/n wireless and Bluetooth 2.0. It’ll all come wrapped in a very modest $399 (and an additional $25 off if you’re in the Facebook group), and will run for up to 9.5 hours using Asus’ Super Hybrid Engine battery technology.

If you’re looking to pre-order, be sure to check this out.

Image Credit: Asus

Asus' Express Gate, is it a Useless Gimmick or a Glimpse of the Future?

Chris Moody — Wed, 23 Jul 2008 10:59:29 -0500

Over at PCmag.com, they bring up an interesting point about Asus’ new ROM boot chip and "Express Gate"; how it will affect users psychologically. We are not talking about power users, but just regular end users and how they feel about Linux.

For power users, there just isn’t much draw on Express Gate. So it lets you boot into a basic OS with a web browser and Skype in five seconds. Not really a big deal since most power users keep their machines on 24/7, or maybe let them sleep/hibernate. They also may have a dual boot system to a full featured Linux OS as well. This leaves power users scratching their heads asking why. Had Asus decided to make use of this Linux on ROM to provide things like diagnostics, data recovery, BIOS configuration/updating, or hardware systems monitoring, they would have had us at “hello”.

End users on the other hand, are more likely to power their systems on and off. For these folks having the option to boot quickly to use a web browser for a few minutes before rushing off someplace makes sense. More importantly it gets them using Linux without being obvious about it. I am sure Asus likes this idea as it will warm users up to their Eee line using the Linux OS. This could spool up to be a big deal if other manufacturers pick up on the idea and start serving up their own Splashtop Linux ROM chips on their motherboards.

The effect becomes that there will be more users comfortable using Linux and that could eat into Microsoft’s market share. If this takes off, Microsoft has little choice but to make it’s OS capable of going instant on, or creating a super light and cheap version of Windows that can do the same thing (like Windows CE, but better).

Do you think this might take off? Can we expect Microsoft to follow suit and do their own instant on OS?

Are Tiny Netbook PCs a Threat to Big Manufacturers?

Chris Moody — Mon, 21 Jul 2008 11:27:21 -0500

Anyone that has used a smart phone for browsing the internet knows that those little screens are just too small to be really comfortable to use. We also know that we don’t like to tote a notebook PC around on the chance that we need to use the internet for something.

The industry has known we needed something between a notebook PC and a smartphone sized device. It has taken several stabs at it, but nothing has quite stuck until a new breed of device has started to hit the market, called netbooks. These power sipping, devices are made primarily for checking email and surfing the internet at a low cost, some selling for $300. The PC industry is set to sell tens of millions of these devices. Good deal for the PC industry, right?

Maybe not. The NYTimes.com reports that industry analysts say that the emergence of this new class of low-cost, cloud-centric machines could threaten big market companies like Microsoft, Intel, HP, or Dell. “When I talk to PC vendors, the No. 1 question I get is, how do I compete with these netbooks when what we really want to do is sell PCs that cost a lot more money?” said J. P. Gownder, an analyst with Forrester Research.

Why are netbooks such a threat? Paul Moore, senior director of mobile product management for Fujitsu says, “We’re sitting on the sidelines not because we’re lazy. We’re sitting on the sidelines because even if this category takes off, and we get our piece of the pie, it doesn’t add up”. He adds, “It’s a product that essentially has no margin.” That makes the netbook category unpopular to large system builders. Netbooks often make use of open source software for it’s OS (although Microsoft Windows is available on many), which makes netbooks unpopular with Microsoft.

Marketing research firm, IDC is predicting that the category could grow from less than 500,000 units in 2007 to over nine million units by 2012.

While the big companies may not like this new category of PC, they can’t ignore it. Expect to see entries from Dell and HP soon, although they are likely to invest only small amounts of attention to a market with little margin for development.

Asus Eee Mania Continues

Chris Moody — Wed, 02 Jul 2008 10:54:47 -0500

Are you tired if the Asus Eee mania yet? Surely not! LaptopMag.com reports on some leaked photos of an Eee Monitor or more likely an all-in-one PC. There looks to be a camera in at the top with microphone. The Denon logos in the corners with the grill suggest built in speakers. On the back looks to be a phone jack, Ethernet jack, 4 USB ports, various audio ports and a cable lock port. It seems to have a clear plastic foot at the bottom, and is shown in either black and white colors. LaptopMag.com reports it’s rumored to have a built-in TV tuner and a starting price of $500, but believe that when you see it. Soon we may have Eee coffee makers and toasters.

More photos are available here.