ASUS Eee Pad rumored to have multitouch, Tegra
By Donald Melanson 
posted December 22nd 2009 7:52PM
posted December 22nd 2009 7:52PM
Details on ASUS's rumored Eee Pad were fairly light when the rumors first surfaced, but it looks like things are now starting to get fleshed out a bit more as we near a possible announcement at CES next month. The latest word comes from Netbooknews' sources, who have reportedly all but confirmed that the tablet / handheld will indeed have full multitouch capabilities, and that it definitely won't be running Windows CE (still no word what it will be running). Slightly less certain but more interesting is talk that the Eee Pad will run on NVIDIA's Tegra platform -- or, possibly, Tegra 2, which just so happens to be slated to launch at CES as well.
I don't see why they don't just take one of their thin netbooks and slap the multitouch screen where the keyboard/touchpad would be.
W7 is very tablet friendly.
@Ducman69
Windows 7 requires an x86 CPU and 1-2GB to be comfortable. The only CPU a hardware maker can really consider without running Windows 7 into the ground is an Intel Atom, and those use up WAY too much power compared to any ARM chip. Plus, when you consider the fact that the Windows interface is still designed primarily for keyboard and mouse with some touch integration, it's just not the best.
On the other hand, Android was designed for touch from the beginning and has MUCH lower requirements on hardware. If ASUS isn't rolling it's own OS, it'll probably use Android.
@Ducman69 Cuz hardly anybody wants one of those, including me? Whereas some enough people *might* want a tablet to justify developing one?
@Jeff Kibuule - Battery life, weight, and performance of the standard netbook running W7 is just fine, and would only be made thinner and lighter not having to house a hinge and physical keyboard and touchpad.
If netbooks are still selling like hotcakes, and they absolutely are (up 103% despite the already massive growth the year prior), I don't see the problem.
There are in fact standard touchscreen and tablet netbooks available, but I don't need the weight and size increase for the keyboard/touchpad/hinge mechanism.
I lost the game.
@Rusty Shackleford
Crap! Me too.
2010 will be the year of touch pad. Touch me!
Put Windows 7 on it and it'll sell. Put Linux on it and it'll be returned. Ball your court.
@fatslug Tegra is ARM based. You can't run standard Windows on it.
I'd snap on a netbook version of this. And I'm sure there will be a bunch at CES. Can't wait...
@fatslug Agree about the whole Windows/Linux thing, but those aren't the only choices. Obviously people think an Apple Tablet/Slate might be successful. And it would likely run a variant of the iPhone OS... browser, apps, video, etc. I'd wager Google Chrome OS would be the obvious choice for this except for the fact that Chrome isn't supposed to come out till late next year...
The Apple Tablet will destroy this. Bam!
@teapower
Lets see, pay $1,200 for a giant iPhone or $400-$500 for this. No brainier.
@teapower
If both products materialize, the Apple Tablet will probably cost 2x or even 3x as much.
@teapower
You're totally right teapower. Asus tried pulling this crap before when they tried to invent that ill-fated 'NetBook' market but as predict it failed as it couldn't compete with thousand dollar 13 inch MacBooks.
@teapower
What did the 5 fingers say to the face?
SLAP
I'm Rick James Bitches
@teapower Not completely correct. The software on Apple's Tablet (if it ever comes out) WOULD crush the software that ASUS might develop for its own tablet. Which is why I wouldn't buy one of those. But it might just be possible for something like Google Chrome OS to create a market for something like this. Sure it might not be quite as fancy as an Apple Tablet might be, but it will almost certainly be cheaper. And its going to come out whether Apple ever makes a tablet or not...
Lets see.
Possible Android? Yup.
Powerful enough to maybe actually run Flash? Yup.
Built using tech that prob. won't break the bank? Yessir!
Make it at least 10" and affordable and you got a sale Asus!
@Flaystus ... you had me until you didn't say "Priceless!" at the end there.
It needs to be the RIGHT SIZE! It can't be too heavy. We need to be able to hold it up using one hand for a long time. The bigger the display the bigger the battery will have to be. If you can make it 10" and still make it light enough then do that. But if you can't, then make it 9". Or whatever. And if you can't make it light enough no matter what you do, forget it until we get big OLED displays or we get some magical battery tech breakthrough.
Here come 20 Eee Pads models.
ok all this hype about tablets...noone realized that you have to hold the thing with at least one hand, cannot set it on a desk/table.
think about that.
@pencilmind
I have. Thus why I'm looking for one about 10"
Is it weird that I have absolutely *zero* interest in a 10" touchscreen tablet PC like this or the rumored Apple one, but a 7" one that's an upgraded version of that new Archos tablet sounds like a great idea in the future?
I don't know. Maybe it's because they all look like big eBooks while the Archos tablet looks like an actual computer.
The TEEEgra
let's hope that asus is working with adobe or some big e-book distributor, they sure need some publishing company support run against their competitors...
The biggest problem with current Intel based netbooks is cost. They are simply too expensive.
I would pay maximum $250 for a tablet for home with:
- 10" LCD, ideally PixelQi, at least 1024*768
- > 10 hrs battery runtime when browsing + playing video
- > 512 Mb RAM
- decent Linux support, ideally Ubuntu UNR.
- Firefox 3.5 (I use AdBlock and other exts) Some crappy browser will not do.
- full Flash support, 25fps 720p streaming with no framedrop (youtube and friends)
- 1080p h264+divx video playing over HDMI out (my own movies stored on the NAS, displayed on the TV)
- well working OpenOffice to view MS documents
- a way to install FBReader (ebook reading)
If it comes with Android, Crome OS or WinCE, I might buy it, hoping that Tegra2 will be popular enough to get a dedicated Linux distro soon enough.
Currently, this price can be reached only with an ARM SOC like the Tegra2 and a royalty free OS.
Anyone who contributed a design to the WEPC brainstorm (from ASUS and Intel) received an E-mail with a link, where you can break a code-lock and glimpse some renders. It reminded me of the design study we've seen previously here:
http://www.engadget.com/2009/01/10/video-asus-airo-laptop-with-amazing-sliding-keyboard/
My bad, missed the 'tablet' bit.
As an artist, I'd like a nice, large tablet (14" or up) capable of running programs like Photoshop with Wacom Cintiq-like performance and portablity. I have a tablet pc now but it's nowhere near as accurate as I'd like it to be. Right now it's good for illustration inking (not drawing) and cleaning up those illustrations after scanning. These upcoming tablets look nice but it doesn't look like quite what I want yet.