ASUS Eee Keyboard now on track for August launch

Last we had heard, ASUS' convention-busting Eee Keyboard was due to be released by the end of June but, as you may have noticed, it's now almost the end of June and there's still no Eee Keyboard in sight. ASUS has now finally come out and cleared up the situation, however, saying that the PC-in-a-keyboard / keyboard-in-a-PC is now due to be released sometime around the end of August. Unfortunately, it's not clear if that'll be the XP-based version we've been seeing all along, or the Moblin-based version that just cropped up earlier this month (or both), and there's still no word on a price either.

[Via Pocket-lint]

[Pretol @ Jun 25th 2009 4:34PM]

sinclair z80 forevuh!!!

[jmzrbnsn @ Jun 25th 2009 11:06PM]

zX80

[Andrew @ Jun 25th 2009 4:36PM]

This is nothing new. Remember the Commodore 64 or the other Atari 8-bit machines? The just weren't as pretty.

[Makavre @ Jun 25th 2009 4:41PM]

Didn't you post these same words on some article a while back ago ??

Anyways, this keyboard seems very practical ..... can't wait for pricing.

[m @ Jun 25th 2009 8:29PM]

so what's the problem? especially if you enjoyed your c64, i don't see the point in complaining.

[Alistair loveless @ Jun 25th 2009 4:37PM]

didnt i see this in shadowrun as a cyberdeck?

like 10 15 years ago..
what i would like to see is the opposite of this... basically and empty shell computer that is just a screen and keyboard and ou can slide an iphone in and bam whole comp on the iphone using the keyboard and screen and use the iphone as a trackpad

[Samunosuke Ode @ Jun 25th 2009 4:37PM]

Wtf?

[meikaat @ Jun 25th 2009 4:38PM]

When I first saw this I really couldn't think of a situation where I'd prefer this over a netbook, especially considering they will be around the same price.

Oddly... I actually really want one of these now though. I could set it up in my living room with a spare 15" lcd I have, and wall mount the whole thing, so people who come over to my apartment can have something to just hop online on, or share youtube videos quickly.

[joe @ Jun 25th 2009 4:40PM]

this loses the fight to my IBM Model M

[russlar @ Jun 25th 2009 5:03PM]

dude, a brick wall would lose a fight against a model m

[CraigJ @ Jun 25th 2009 5:54PM]

All keyboards do. But then again the Model M doesn't have a PC in it either...

[smak @ Jun 25th 2009 4:41PM]

Though I don't see it in the picture, if Asus puts a big dumb Eeeeeeeeeeeee logo on it, forget it.

[Matt @ Jun 25th 2009 4:42PM]

When this comes out someone needs to put Android on it!

[bob e @ Jun 25th 2009 4:45PM]

Win 7 please, I could use one for my flat panel TV

[GRAMMAR POLICE @ Jun 25th 2009 5:57PM]

Flat Panel TV? You from 1998?

[letstakeawalk @ Jun 25th 2009 6:24PM]

I was thinking this would be great to have with a flat-panel TV as well... I wonder what Grammar Police is gibbering on about? Everybody is buying flat-panels these days.

http://www.engadget.com/2009/05/11/flat-panel-tv-sales-jump-23-over-last-year-vizio-leads-the-way/

[jon @ Jun 25th 2009 7:07PM]

I think that was his point, now that flat panel sets are the default, we can leave the term behind.

Sorta like how people stopped saying horseless carriage, once cars became the norm.

[GRAMMAR POLICE @ Jun 25th 2009 8:42PM]

Gee whiz, thanks for those stats letstakeawalk. I thought this whole flat panel craze would have died down by now and everyone would return to their television cabinets.

[letstakeawalk @ Jun 25th 2009 11:51PM]

I can see your point, but it's not as if bob e was using anachronistic terminology. His comment was clearly written to express a specific item; Grammar Police could certainly find no specific reason to complain, and instead he made a snarky reply to insinuate that there was some problem.

Way to go, you get 'em, GP!

BTW, could you try to make your tenses agree? "I [would have] thought this whole flat panel craze would have died down by now and everyone would [have] return[ed] to their television cabinets." Ugh, there are some serious grammar problems in that sentence...

[GRAMMAR POLICE @ Jun 25th 2009 4:45PM]

Reminds me of this Amiga I once had...

[Freddie @ Jun 25th 2009 4:57PM]

Forgive me for not knowing, but will this do 1080p video?

[jon @ Jun 25th 2009 5:32PM]

No it will not, unless something has changed it has standard netbook internals.

[axendo @ Jun 25th 2009 5:34PM]

Forgiven. No, although if they option the Nvidia Ion when it comes out it would, then this would be a great computer to have in your living room, or for me to carry around with me on my carrier:)

[West Town @ Jun 25th 2009 6:39PM]

you own a carrier?

[Apfel Maus @ Jun 25th 2009 5:00PM]

looks great

[enlightnin @ Jun 25th 2009 5:05PM]

Call me unimaginative, but what would one do with this? Isn't it just a spin on "all-in-one"?

So what would you do with it?

[jon @ Jun 25th 2009 5:51PM]

Combined with a cheap lcd monitor, it's a new spin on the basic Atom nettop. It won't have the horsepower for anything more.


What I'd love to see is, this form factor+one of the new HD capable mobile SoCs(tegra, snapdragon or OMAP3)+Flash 10 for mobile+wireless HD, and the ability to stream HD content off a media server.

Hook it up to a HDMI receiver to play music off the media server using the screen on the keyboard, or play videos through the same receiver to the tv and control playback with the touchscreen.

That would be an interesting HTPC alternative.

[Ben @ Jun 25th 2009 5:07PM]

My plasma awaits.

[DEMETRI @ Jun 25th 2009 5:13PM]

can someone tell me what exactly is so great about mobin?

[Kelvinyam @ Jun 26th 2009 2:58AM]

It's Moblin, not Mobin. Anything that's open source is popular and grabbing tons of attention now a days. Just like people loves free stuff.

[Yuki @ Jun 25th 2009 5:21PM]

I've been waiting for this for a really long time.
Its so pretty and shinny.
LOL!
We'll see if the price makes it worth the wait.

[Rainier @ Jun 25th 2009 5:27PM]

At first glance, I thought that was a very long calculator!

[crsh @ Jun 25th 2009 5:52PM]

I'm concerned about the placement of the screen, just seems to be completely in the way. Oh well, it's a secondary display, not a primary one.

[ijyt @ Jun 25th 2009 6:06PM]

Does it come in black?

[Nitesh @ Jun 25th 2009 6:26PM]

I'm so confused...Why would the put the screen on the SIDE?!

[sam @ Jun 25th 2009 7:04PM]

That's a secondary touchscreen, not the main screen. It's used for icons and such.

This thing looks awesome and I want one, but I have absolutely no possible use for it, so I guess I will manage without. :)

[Another Geek @ Jun 25th 2009 8:30PM]

Where else do you want it? In the middle of the keyboard? :S

[Poo_and_Wee @ Jun 25th 2009 6:40PM]

Do any other USB isolated keyboards exist like this and the ones made by that OTHER company? I'd really like to use one that didn't have a netbook inside it, or have the control key in a dodgy place.

[simbr @ Jun 25th 2009 7:57PM]

This is the only keyboard like this that exists (excluding old home computers obviously) and having the netbook inside is the whole point and the CTRL key is exactly where it should be.

[Poo_and_Wee @ Jun 25th 2009 9:29PM]

I just mean an external keyboard with isolated keys, like this and the apple ones, which suck for PC games because of the ctrl placement, and they're a bloody nightmare to remap. Not an actual system-in-a-keyboard like this and the Amiga 500. Just a keyboard.

[Pretol @ Jun 25th 2009 11:20PM]

Suprisingly ALL other keyboards don't have a "netbook inside"... And CTRL is exactly where it should be...

Dude, you're SO high right now... it's awesome ha?

[Matt @ Jun 25th 2009 8:20PM]

So it's a Keeeyboard?

[andres @ Jun 26th 2009 12:55AM]

i prefer eeeboard. it rolls off the tongue

[BLToday @ Jun 25th 2009 8:44PM]

I would love to use it. BUT I'm clumsy, I lose at least 1 keyboard per year due to splits.

I think i rather have a slim computer that attaches to the back of my screen and just a wireless keyboard.

[HalfJoey @ Jun 25th 2009 10:05PM]

Does any company make stand alone keyboard like this without the touch screen? I like the feel of typing on it, and i know the Apple keyboards are like that, but i need something that fully supported with Windows.

[Kelvinyam @ Jun 26th 2009 2:53AM]

Under what scenario would someone use this? In the kitchen? I mean you can hardly use it without an external monitor. The attached screen is too small to be useful other than launching programs. And this thing doesn't look sexy enough to deserve a place next to my Flat Panel TV. Opps, I mean TV.

[Riley @ Jun 26th 2009 3:38AM]

Why is this not called the Keeeboard?