Switched On: A keyboard PC seeks to Eee-peat success
By Ross Rubin 
posted Sep 29th 2009 5:34PM
posted Sep 29th 2009 5:34PM
A top-slice reincarnation of the pioneering Commodore 64, the Eee Keyboard has a full complement of ports and can run Windows, but its two standout features are a 5" LCD that replaces the numeric keyboard and wireless high-definition output to a television. Much like the original Eee PC, it is unlikely that the Eee Keyboard would be anyone's primary PC. In fact, Asus's keyboard-footprint computer will have to overcome a number the same problems PCs and other information products like WebTV have had in the living room. But Asus may be hitting the market at a critical inflection point -- for a few reasons.
First, PCs now have something to offer the living room besides DVR functionality. It's no coincidence that, after years of nay saying the importance of IP support, a wide range of TV manufacturers are now supporting Internet connectivity in their TVs and Blu-ray players. Never before have consumers been able to use the Internet to access such a wide range of commercial programming from services ranging from Amazon On Demand to YouTube.
The PC, though, is nearly a universal client for these video options, and can handle a breadth of TV shows available via streaming. At the recent TechCrunch50 event, a startup called Clicker debuted a service that makes searching for online TV shows at least as convenient as searching for them on a DVR. Furthermore, having video delivered via broadband removes many of the wiring complexities of DVRs and circumvents many of the challenges of interfacing with a locked-down set-top box from a TV service provider.
In the digital living room that has seen add-on devices struggle, the Eee Keyboard will certainly break out of the set-top box. |
With the increased penetration of HDTVs featuring high resolution and progressive scanning, TVs are more like PC monitors today than they were during the WebTV days. The unique design of the Eee Keyboard may also be able to overcome some of the challenges faced by previous home theater PC efforts such as HP's Digital Entertainment Center. It is a fraction of the size of an HTPC, and much simpler and quieter. Finally, wireless HD technologies such as the ultra wideband technology slated to be used by the Eee Keyboard enable high-definition video to be transferred from PCs to televisions without HDMI cables.
Another intriguing hardware feature of the Eee keyboard is its 5" touch-screen LCD. This raises intriguing possibilities both for traditional computing (where the screen could hold anything from a simple digital photo to an IM or Twitter client) and in a living room setting, where the screen offers the tantalizing possibility of hosting a programming grid or TV search feature similar to the i.TV app on the iPhone.
But implementation of such technologies could make it difficult for Asus to create the kind of disruptive pricing it did with the original Eee netbook, and consumers have long shown an aversion to using keyboards in the living room, much less ones that would be as large and in need of a charge as often as the Eee Keyboard. The Eee Keyboard may also find itself squeezed between the integration of simple streaming services in the television and affordable netbooks for things requiring better Web access. But in the digital living room that has seen add-on devices struggle, the Eee Keyboard will certainly break out of the set-top box.
Ross Rubin is director of industry analysis for consumer technology at market research and analysis firm The NPD Group. Views expressed in Switched On are his own.
This thing is sooo hot! :)
Its not hot enough.. its not fruity and doesn't even have a compass!!
well my 5 HDTVs (4 LCD + 1 plasma Kouro 60") are all HDMI wired to my 2 desktops and to my NAS, the one on the second floor also via a wifi media extender (it was there before the wiring and includes DVD player) nonetheless if its priced under or very near 500 euros I'll buy it anyway. I'm sure I'll find some use for it.
Thank you Plexus for sharing how wealthy you are to afford 5 HD televisions and other luxury items.
Because thats really not pretentious at all, you know?
Oh.PPIE - Apparently he loves to talk about himself and his buying prowess, here's another post of his from today.
"I have an HTC Hero and although I also own a Nokia N97 and an HTC touchHD, and I have owned iPhone 3GS, Omnia(i900) and other (older) smartphone..."
Congrats Plexus, you just won the douche-of-the-day award.
ION and wireless HDMI, please. This would be the ultimate add on for my HDTV. Stream 720p (god willing, 1080p) from my networked drives, MCE interface on the 5" screen, video output onto the HDTV. I'd pay $400 for that :)
if this thing comes out being a great living room pc i wouldn't mind paying a cool 1000+ just because its all in an awesome form factor
Cross your fingers and just hope to the unicorns that the 5" display is at least 1920x1080 or I'm not buying it
I thought this thing was meant to come out ages ago? Would love to use this purely as a keyboard with a decent desktop, not a PC itself.
Best username evar!
I'd like to see a twat that could actually make tweets, in real life.
Surely that's just a laptop/notebook whatever you want to call it, but with a crap screen that is barely useable. If you're going to have to plug it into an external to use it properly anyway then it begs the question why not get the netbook or nettop. And to be perfectly honest, it would look better too.
I am very, very intrigued. if they get the price right i think this will catch on. its basically an HTPC in a keyboard. i think a lot of people might be interested especially since its all wireless.
Oh hahahaha
I think its kick ass! DO WANT
Hope it comes with some type of wireless HD transmission , so I can just connect it to my hdtv wireless
It does from my understanding.
Someone needs to get fired over that pun.
I agr-eee
who cares what this guy says , i want one....
When you walk into my livingroom you'll see a gigantic logitech remote, along with about 4 other remotes for everything else, x box, wii, playstation 3 controllers, and a few empty beer cans.
This thing will fit right in
Just a few? Its the internet, you can be honest and say two dozen beer cans. We won't judge.
Also, you forgot the bong and the Playboy magazines strewn about. Like Wes said, we won't judge.
great concept but didn't you skip the one major reason that no one wants this in their living room? It has a single core Atom CPU and it lacks the Ion, so it can't handle HD. For just a few bucks more you can buy a Mac Mini or whatever HTPC you want and get so much bang for your buck.
well, at least you have all features of PC and can use any online service. Also remember specs are not fully revealed in addition this is 1st addition....
It does seem like it would be easier to transmit the mere input commands to the computer that is HDMIed to the TV than to send all video and audio to the TV and hold the screen-less laptop in your lap.
But it's a cool product anyway. Personally, I think it would be cool to link it to an LCD screen in a car.
Agreed. There might be something to the local display so you can navigate Hulu to the point where you click Play, but having the guts next to the great big display and using the radio to transmit the information to the little tiny display seems easier no?
I'd love to be able to use the touchscreen as a trackpad and have my TV as a monitor.
I'd pay $600 for one with a dual core atom, ion and a multi touch capacitive touch screen
Yeah that'll run for a long time without being plugged in. Hey maybe it'll have a dual-core battery compartment so you can be switching out one set of batteries while the others are running down...
where's the mouse?
I think it's a touch screen. If not it should be.
Man, i love this keyboard ... dont care how much it cost .... (well, as long as is under the 1k mark)
im so buying for the holidays ...
I don't think a PC in keyboard guise brings any meaningful functionality vs an all in one. Does this have the foot print of a keyboard? yeah, but you still need a monitor. I'd rather have a all-in-one nettop, like the MSI M22. Guess what? In so far as you still need a keyboard and a monitor, the eeeBoard offers no tangible benefit. Can you transport it from place to place? sure but if that was your prime need, to do that, you might as well only pay a little more and get a netbook with a 10" lcd. wanna see that desktop on a pretty 22"+ monitor? Great, netbooks have VGA out. Netbooks>eeeBoard.
With wireless HD, if this thing comes in at the right price point, it will kick butt.
Are you kidding? Plug it into a spare HDMI port on my projector and alternate between online TV/Netflix and surfing from bed? Done and done, provided it comes in at a tolerable Eee-like price point.
Could this thing be battery powered as well?
If it is for living room use, cables can hamper its usage.
Also, it would be great if the touchscreen can display remote control widgets that have integration with with a fullon Vista or W7 Media Center.
afaik there is a battery integrated which should last roughly an hour or so.
Since this is the first release, they will see a lot of issues from users just like the first eee. But it will still sell like hotcakes.
Laugh all you want, but the biggest reason I wouldn't buy this: I can't stand standard keyboards. I've been using ergonomics for at least the last ten years, and every time I have to use my laptop, my typing slows significantly (or mistakes increase dramatically). If anything, it seems like a big, beefy ergonomic keyboard would actually give them even more room to work with.
Why the C64 reference? The C64 that I remember was chubby and grey.
the eee-board is a really nice idea and sure there will be a bunch of people who will find it great, but i cant see the great advantages over an ordinary wireless keyboard (with trackpad) in combination with a htpc of any kind. of course we geeks love the touchscreen, but a standard htpc seems much more versatile to me.
Well with my 7 HDTVs (3x LCD 50 inch widescreen 3:2, 2x Sony Bravia DLP, 1x Plasma, and 1x Kuoro) all HDMI wired to a Falcon Northwest Mark V w/ custom paint, a PS3 60gb, a golden Wii, an original Nintendo with all the games, and a Mac Pro quad core as my media center, all wired through my NAS and home gigabit T1 line,nonetheless if its priced under or very near 500 euros I'll but it anyway. I'm sure I'll find some use for it.
Since my keyboard likes coffe more than i do - i don't think it's a good idea to merge pc and keys this way unless i can get an extra keyboard to this keyboard-pc.
what is with this current fad of making the enter key the same size as shift? its bloody annoying
have we seen wireless HDMI in any other devices recently? I would love to be optimistic about how that is going to perform but I find it a bit strange that this is going to be one of the wireless HDMI pioneers.... Anyone know how that works? does it come with one pre-paired dongle for your TV, do you have to buy a $100 dongle to pair with the computer, any ideas?