ASUS EeeKeyboard PC delayed again, now shipping in April
By Thomas Ricker 
posted March 2nd 2010 6:11AM
posted March 2nd 2010 6:11AM
posted March 2nd 2010 6:11AM
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NOW WITH ION2!! Right?
...no...
@n0ne this thing is out of control!
@emopoops This thing is this year's Nuvifone!
@n0ne
If this had an ion2 then I would get it...but how can they justify the pricetag if it doesn't? so lame asus, we all expected so much more from you.
By the time this comes out its specs are going be dated, i thought this came out late 2008
@OCEAN CLAK That sounds about right. Seriously though, it's a good idea in concept, but their implementation really leaves room for improvement. It seems completely awkward to be typing and looking on a screen to the right of both your hands. it would have made much better sense to put the screen in the middle. Regardless, I think Duke Nukem Forever has a better chance of being released before this at the rate it's going.
@Khris The screen is for input. Like menus, program stats, weather, etc. You don't type and try to look to the right, the screen is supposed to be a secondary display. The tv is your main display.
I think the screen also doubles as a touchpad.
@jonschu Unless things have drastically changed, the integrated screen can be used for more than just input.
http://www.engadget.com/2009/03/03/hands-on-with-asus-eee-keyboard/
@OCEAN CLAK I would guess that you're not supposed though you can use the screen as a display, ASUS is releasing the product with the expectation that you'll use an HDMI cable to connect it to your HDTV and watch movies or something.
It's still a cool concept and I still haven't seen a netboard like it.
I don't think netboard is a word yet, so I'm safe.
Hope this delay means they've moved on to the Atom 450. If this thing rolls out packing a 270, there is going to be some serious nerd rage.
You have to be sufficiently high to convince yourself that fixing a screen into a peripheral like this is a commercially viable idea. So much of this industry follows the same path — putting screens on things for no good reason.
All of this has been tried before in the late 80's and 90's like fusing strange things into the desktop keyboard such as a paper scanner, trackball, coffee cup warmer, and god knows what else. Turns out people don't particularly care for the clutter on their primary input device.
I guess ASUS could sell EeeKeyboard to few geeks if it was priced at $40 like a novelty item on ThinkGeek. But $500? You could buy an iPad and interface it with your computer that would give you more flexibility and options.
Just sayin'
@(Unverified)
I'm willing to believe that they were sufficiently high.
@(Unverified)
iPad doesn't have a physical keyboard, which is a dealbreaker fo' sure.
Besides, what if the buyer doesn't want to get lock down on Apple and wants to tinkle around with their hardware/software?
EeeKeyboard PC is the answer in the end.
@(Unverified)
Did you just say the iPad was more open than a full PC? Interesting theory.
how about selling it without that screen, just as a keyboard? I'd buy it.
Why don't they shoehorn a pico projector into it? Surely it'd be better than that tiny screen.
@KeeBaud
erm, you do realize that's an input device, not intended for use as the primary display? although I s'pose this would be fun with that, too.
"Sir, could you be still? I'm trying to multitask and you're the only one here with a white shirt."
I was thinking more along the lines of a head-mounted display, though...
For so long have I been waiting to hang out indefinitely
@c w j
wow great idea. yes that'd be really cool to use this w/ a goggle display.
This looks like the bastard child of an iPhone mated with an Apple Aluminum Keyboard...
So.. what exactly is the purpose of this? can someone explain?
@dimithra
I believe this is simply the innards of in a keyboard form factor. I'd assume you can connect this to an external monitor and bam! Instant nettop.
@phobic99 Innards of a netbook that is.
Get out of my keyboard!
Microsoft's broken up, color coded keyboards were a test case for such insanity.
The golden rule of IT if it works don't touch it! They should think out it
This is the company that designed the GUI. It seems that the picture used in this post is outdated.
http://artua.com/view/gui/name/asus-eee-keyboard/
I can't wait to play Duke Nukem Forever on this!
It takes portable media in the other direction. Instead of trying to stream media from the PC to the TV, just take the PC to the TV (which is already able to access your home server itself).
You will be able to unplug the PC from the monitor in the other room and carry it to the TV, all without shutting down and while still having a display (albeit a small one) that you can use to configure the new display in case it doesn't want to work right off, say, if the PC is trying to send 1080p to a TV that only does 720p. Once your media is going, you can use the small display for control duties.
And you don't have to worry about if the streamer can handle Hulu or Flash 10, if you can do Facebook or MySpace, if you can play online games, QuickTime files, RealMedia, AVI, etc., because you're using a standard Windows PC and you can play anything it can handle. I wouldn't call it a home theater PC, but it covers many of the bases.
Whoops - it's the PC that can already access your home server, not the PC.
After all these years and the comment system overhauls, we still can't edit our own posts.
"It's the PC that can already access your home server, not the TV."
@Michael Pollard
yeah is a good plan :) I think it'd be pretty viable if they have the right hardwear in it to make it worth the $$$
(btw proved your point, with the no edit function :p )
Wow. I'd actually forgotten this thing was coming out at all.