ASUS CEO: Windows 7 touchscreen Eee PCs in mid-2009, $250 model on the way

We heard the rumor now ASUS' CEO, Jerry Shen, confirms in an interview with Laptop that ASUS will slap a touchscreen and Windows 7 into a new Eee PC sometime in the second half of 2009. A statement likely to make a few project managers at Microsoft uncomfortable as that cuts into the official early 2010 padding built into their Win7 Gantt charts. The touch-enabled Eee PC model(s) could come in the form of a convertible tablet although Shen wouldn't specify -- he only promised more details in Q1, presumably at CES. Unsurprisingly, ASUS has no plans to put Vista onto Eee PCs at all. Also noteworthy is the introduction of "more exciting" Eee PC rigs in Q1 and Q2 in prices ranging from $250 (yes, $250) to $700. Steadily inching closer to that ellusive $199 Eee PC.

Other interesting points from the interview:

• Eee Top all-in-one PC will be released at the end of this month
• EeeStick (and compatible games) is to be released soon as both an Eee PC bundle and as a separate accessory (depending upon country) priced somewhere between $50 and $100
  
• Two new "Eee products" (not Eee PCs if we read this correctly) will be announced in January
  
• Eee PC devices will be limited to 10-inch, and smaller displays -- Shen describes the netbook as a platform to consume content whereas a laptop is for creating content
• ASUS is focused on improving battery life and startup times on future Eee PCs -- adding more power, like dual-core Atoms, is not a priority

[ace1000_x @ Oct 21st 2008 4:22AM]

Marvelous...

[d00b @ Oct 21st 2008 8:53AM]

A tidbit not included in Engad's synopsis is that Asus' netbooks will bypass Vista and go straight from XP to Win7 (presumably for the touchy stuff). If the CEO wasn't just making wild swags, then that would mean a) Win7 is modular enough to fit within the netbooks' HW reqs, and b) MS will oblige with a low enough licensing fee to 'incentivize' Asus & gang to switch from XP. Or, of course, it might well be that Toucheees (you hear it here first!) will be the premium segment with beefed up hardware and pricing to accomodate Win7's "regular" requirements.

Either way, hasta la Vista. Can't say we'd miss ya.

[diode3diode @ Oct 21st 2008 1:13PM]

Touchscreen Eee PC? Yes, FINALEEEeee!!!!

[allislost @ Oct 21st 2008 4:30AM]

It's nice, but does it while? Does it?

[LordFarkward @ Oct 21st 2008 6:09AM]

I don't think it can while. It can when, though.

[allislost @ Oct 21st 2008 9:52PM]

HA!

[Crazy_maniac @ Oct 21st 2008 4:30AM]

That Chinese is huge!

[j_g_puff @ Oct 21st 2008 6:31AM]

Yeah, Samsung would never model their laptops alongside grinning giants...

[gilliu00_ @ Oct 21st 2008 6:51AM]

That EEE PC is tiny! haha

[Sisyphus @ Oct 21st 2008 10:37AM]

Duck... Duck.... GOOSE!

[micklol @ Oct 21st 2008 12:44PM]

Taiwanese.

As a Canadian living in Taiwan for more than 5 years, I know there's a difference between the two.

[b33kewl @ Oct 21st 2008 1:50PM]

Touchscreen? Yes! I wanted a touch screen laptop for a while,as a matter of fact, anyone who knows of a 12in(or bigger) laptop that's touchscreen, with a good battery life, at a reasonable price please post a link.

[jakem @ Oct 21st 2008 7:55AM]

Have a look at HP's website. I believe they have a touchscreen laptop that might suit you (sorry, I can't remember their model numbers). From memory, one of their consumer laptops includes a touchscreen.

[thedesolate1 @ Oct 21st 2008 10:59AM]

Its the TX2500... it doesn't have a similarly priced or better yet less priced worthy competitor. I have been eying it for some time but I am concerned about the heat and noise issues. I am absolutely posisitve that someone out there will make an affordable, quiet,silent and slick looking consumer grade netbook tablet with a 12 inch screen sometime next year. THEY HAVE TO! preferably with an nvidia 9400/9600m and a media remote and a wacom full kit.

Here's a good review on it:
http://www.studentbuyingguide.com/2008/07/hp-tx2500z-review/

[me @ Nov 20th 2008 6:35AM]

dell lattitude xt

[Cro @ Oct 21st 2008 5:41AM]

well ... I guess I am not the first one to note it, but it sounds that after the "i" we will have the "eee" ?
iMac, iTunes, iPhone ... eeePC, eeeStick, eeePhone ... Both are overused branding but at least the former was short to type.

[L @ Oct 21st 2008 5:41AM]

Wow, an Engadget post about Eee's without the words "brand dilution" or similar things? Bravo!

Too bad they're not interested in making a 12" or so netbook. I got a 1000H a couple of days ago, and while I really really like it, I'd love to have a slightly bigger variant.

And I hope they do a 10" slate touchscreen PC. I think there are quite a few people interested in something like that, but usual slate laptops were just too expensive for most people as a secondary portable device...

[therealmusashi @ Oct 21st 2008 5:48AM]

e•lu•sive

[BOGRASH @ Oct 21st 2008 6:25AM]

ballmers gonna be pissed

[Andy @ Oct 21st 2008 6:53AM]

hooray for an eee convertible tablet... Make it half the price of Gigabyte's convertible (I might be ok with a little more than half the price), and we're good to go.

[meist3r @ Oct 21st 2008 6:57AM]

Can I get the Linux version for 50$ then? Thanks.

[Carlos Raúl @ Oct 21st 2008 10:52AM]

Make it 2

[avis @ Oct 21st 2008 8:13AM]

Asus..most prolific! hmmm

[Adrian Williams @ Oct 21st 2008 8:25AM]

Windows 7 won't be ready in 09'

[Dan Z @ Oct 21st 2008 9:59AM]

There is new leadership on the Windows team, so its not going to be a repeat of Vista.

My guess for the release date: July 7th, 2009 (7/7/09 for Windows 7, its perfect)

[Ed T @ Oct 21st 2008 1:38PM]

Longhorn/Vista had "new leadership" twice IIRC, and it still turned out to be a stinking turd kludge. The problem is Ballmer, and until he leaves the scene there will be no progress.

[JAmerican @ Oct 21st 2008 6:54PM]

Dan Z, that's also Bungie Day. lol

[Evan @ Oct 21st 2008 8:41AM]

What are Windows 7's system requirements? New versions of Windows always require heftier hardware specs, and Windows 7 is supposedly based on Vista, so it would require at least what Vista requires. And Windows Vista certainly does not run well on anything small and cheap.

[ZeRo @ Oct 21st 2008 11:45AM]

Well if I am not mistaken... Windows 7 is modular so the install may or may not be smaller than Vista. So I wouldn't doubt that it could possibly run windows 7. The question though, is how well if at all?

[ilh @ Oct 21st 2008 12:42PM]

Vista as a matter of fact runs quite well on an eee.

[Ordeith @ Oct 21st 2008 2:16PM]

Windows 7 Kernal can run on a Cell Phone.

What they add to the kernal is the big question.

[Jay @ Oct 21st 2008 8:49AM]

I can't take a CEO seriously that sits like that.

[htd @ Oct 21st 2008 9:15AM]

he's not white either.

[Ian @ Oct 21st 2008 9:26AM]

If he was white, he'd be asking for a bailout from the government.

Hi GM.

[CosterMonger @ Oct 21st 2008 9:55AM]

so that translates to $550 when it's released?
when will the Eee make julien fries?

[ssrat_ @ Oct 21st 2008 9:56AM]

My bad I fell asleep on the keyboard someone shorten it up please

[Conceyted @ Oct 21st 2008 10:25AM]

"Is there a plan to use Atom’s dual core processor in those future Eee PCs?
In many people’s point of view the current Atom is pretty good. In the future we think the netbook we will focus more on the core consumption. We will work on making battery life longer and more mobility but not in the computing. Actually we are working on technology called ExpressTest which improves boot up time and battery. All our Eee PCs will use this technology and the first to use it is the Eee PC S101."

Really? No dual-core atom? Not sure that is a smart decision! Maybe if you just made the EEE-PC 901TDC (Touch Dual Core) and the 901T (Touch) then people could decide if they wanted extended battery life or dual core power. What an idea!

[thedesolate1 @ Oct 21st 2008 11:02AM]

Ssrat=FAIL

now on to the matter at hand. Didn't they promise such low prices on the Original EEE and then ended up rising it?

[Chibi @ Oct 21st 2008 11:08AM]

My finger just died abit while scrolling.
Put some ASCII art instead for cripes sake.

[ZeRo @ Oct 21st 2008 11:45AM]

Well if I am not mistaken... Windows 7 is modular so the install may or may not be smaller than Vista. So I wouldn't doubt that it could possibly run windows 7. The question though, is how well if at all?