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ASUS U50VG announced, naming scheme remains impenetrable


Coming in today with no fewer than five new laptops -- the U50VG, K50AB, K70AB, K50IJ and F52Q -- the king of market segmentation is clearly still in good form. Announced in Italy today, the main attraction for Intel fans is the U50VG, which sports a 2.1GHz Core 2 Duo T6500 chip alongside 4GB of memory, 250GB storage, and a Geforce G 105M for a price of €943 or $1,320. A backlit chiclet keyboard, WiFi and a 16:9 display stretching to 15.6-inches fill out the spec sheet. The AMD-based AB variants are 15.6 (€793 / $1,107) and 17.3-inches (€868 / $1,212) respectively -- their main attraction being an ATI Mobility Radeon HD4570 purring inside -- whereas the latter two models are targeted at the budget-conscious crowd. Click through for exhaustive specs and info on each model.

[Via Slashgear]

Asus Eee PC T101H launching this fall to a world in crisis


As all you hardcore ASUS-heads undoubtedly recall, we got our first fleeting images of the Eee PC T101H way back in January. Now here we are six months later and man, how the world has changed: Jacko's in a better place, there's been a coup in Honduras, civil unrest in Iran, and Lindsay Lohan has started a new line of spray-on suntan. Sensing that the world is ripe for another bombshell, ASUS has finally released the specs on its up-and-coming 10.1-inch resistive touchscreen netvertible. Just like the 8.9-inch T91, the T101H sports an Intel Atom Z520 1.33GHz processor, a max 2GB memory and a 16GB SSD. The display supports 1024 x 600 resolution, and the battery boasts up to a 5.4 hour lifespan. According to SlashGear, "wireless options include WiFi b/g/n, Bluetooth and a 3G module, together with GPS and digital TV, though it's unclear whether those final three are standard on a single T101H model, or will be spread out among several versions as with the T91." The bad boy is expected to launch by the end of August / early September 2009 in the UK. No word on the OS (Windows 7 doesn't drop until late October, so Windows XP Home is a good guess) or price. Video after the break.

[Via SlashGear]

Google names Chrome OS compatriots, Dell noticeably absent

Acer, Adobe, ASUS, Freescale, Hewlett-Packard, Lenovo, Qualcomm, and Texas Instruments -- according to the latest Chrome OS update from Google, you're looking at the company's initial ragtag team of co-conspirators for its entry into the operating system business. With Adobe's involvement, we can assume Flash support is a given, and the others unsurprisingly run the gamut of netbook and smartbook players. We can't help but notice a couple of conspicuous absences on that list, including Intel and Dell. With Intel, you don't need to partner to work on its chips, but we gotta imagine it'd help by offering more support, and as for Dell, we don't know about that one, but there's still plenty of time for the Big G to enlist more companies in the lead up to its second half 2010 debut.

Update: Google updated the list to include Toshiba.

Video: ASUS Eee Keyboard gutted, soldering secrets revealed

Oh the carnage! A prototype ASUS Eee Keyboard made a wrong turn at Albuquerque only to end up gutted in a French orgy of gadget terrorism. Nine screw removals later and we see the stand-alone PC with its 5-inch, 800 x 480 pixel touchscreen splayed, 1.66GHz Atom N280 processor and all. Unfortunately, easy access does not mean easy upgrades as the RAM is soldered to the motherboard. Other notables are the Silicon Image HDMI transmitter that allows 1080p playback over HDMI and 1880mAh battery that should provide an estimated 1 hour and 40 minutes of use before hitting the mains. Blogeenet also has a pretty thorough video overview of ASUS' customized UI running on XP; after the break, son.

Shadowy modder gives Eee PC a risky back alley trackball implant


Remember that guy who uber-hacked his Eee PC with a GPS, Bluetooth, draft-n WiFi, FM transmitter, SDHC card reader, modem, USB hub, 2GB RAM? Well, we got one more for him. This enterprising gentleman, fed up with suffering through the three-finger scroll of his Eee PC 901, integrated the trackball of his Apple Mighty Mouse into the netbook's palm rest. Of course, this took some time and effort: in the end, the trackball leads had to be unsoldered from the mainboard, the trackball itself soldered to the mainboard, and the whole shebang installed under the surface of the netbook itself. But you know what? It works. That is, until the Mighty Mouse itself craps out -- as they have been known to do. Still, it's all in a day's work for a heroic modder. Right? Hit that read link for the step-by-step, but not before you peep the vid after the break.

ASUS rolls out RT-N16 wireless router


It's not a dual-band router, but it looks like ASUS has just about all the other bases covered with its new RT-N16 model. Apparently "engineered for the future" (too bad, present), this one naturally packs full 802.11n capabilities, along with a "powerful CPU" and 128MB of memory to help it eek out every last bit of bandwidth, and both four LAN ports and a pair of USB ports to accomodate your non-wireless devices. Otherwise, you can expect to get ASUS' own EZ UI, which promises quick and easy setups and customization, and all the the usual basic security measures you'd expect, including support for WPS. No word on a price just yet, but it looks like this one should be rolling out soon, if it hasn't hit stores already.

ASUS unleashes USB 2.0 Blu-ray drive -- government denies knowledge


ASUS has taken a pretty basic USB Blu-ray drive and given it a fine veneer of high-gloss looks. The SBC-04B1S-U isn't fancy stuff -- 4.8x maximum Blu-ray disc reading, 8x DVD burning, a USB 2.0 connection, and Windows (but not OS X) compatibility. The bright blue 'X' on the side also flashes and has a dedicated app just to control its brightness. None of this will help, of course, when the strobing 'X' attracts the attention of the entire underground world of paranormal conspiracy theorists to your bedroom as if you threw up the alien Bat-Signal -- but, you know, whatever. There's no word yet on pricing or availability for this attractive, skinny dude.

[Via SlashGear]

ASUS' Eee PC Seashell 1101HA gets hands-on treatment ahead of European launch

Make no mistake, ASUS knows it's onto something with the sleek new Eee PC seashell form factor. We've seen the 1101HA and its 3G-equipped fraternal twin 1101HGO before, and now Trusted Reviews has managed one more glimpse before the netbook goes on sale in Europe later this month. The biggest selling point for this over the other seashell models like 1008HA or 1005HA is gonna be the 11.6-inch screen, but beyond that, it looks like you're getting slightly gimped right shift key, but on the bright side, there's also a removable battery. As the site notes, this particular model happened to have the ASUS logo displayed on the back of the lid, which is in stark contrast to the typical Eee branding we see in its place. Still no word on an US release, but we're holding out hope it'll follow suit pretty quickly after the overseas launch.

ASUS G60 gaming laptop rolls out, gets examined


Eye-catching paint job aside, ASUS's new G60 "Republic of Gamers" gaming laptop may not seem all that different from the company's previous G50 model at first (or second) glance, but there are indeed a few somewhat notable differences both inside and out. Perhaps the most significant is a new 16-inch screen which, in addition to being ever so slightly larger than the previous 15.4-incher, also packs a full 1,920 x 1,080 resolution. Otherwise, you can expect to get a Core 2 Quad processor, 4GB of DDR3 RAM, up to 1TB of storage from the dual hard drives, GeForce GTX 260M graphics, and a Blu-ray drive, to name but a few expectedly high-end specs. Still no official word on a release over here, but it looks like folks in the UK will be able to pick this one up in September for £1,500, or just under $2,500. In the meantime, you can hit up the links below for a closer look.

[Via Pocket-lint]

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]

ASUS Eee PC Seashell 1005HA available for pre-order, shipping July 1st


Looks like those of you interested in ASUS' newest little netbook, the Eee PC Seashell 1005HA, won't have to wait very long to have your dreams fulfilled. In fact, it's popping up for pre-order right now. The 1005HA (which we just played with extensively) is nearly identical to the already available 1008HA, but with a longer-lived, swappable six-cell battery, and without those little port doors we found to be somewhat troublesome in our review of the unit. It runs $389 and is expected to ship on July 1st. Hit the read link to check out the pre-order good times.

[Thanks, Nate]

ASUS Eee PC 1005HA hands-on and impressions


ASUS has certainly changed the netbook game a bit with its Eee PC Seashell line, aesthetically-speaking, anyway. Slimmed down and sleek, the Seashell's one of the handsomest netbooks we've seen. When we reviewed the 1008HA just a few weeks back, we had just a few minor issues with it, but overall, found it to boast a solid user experience. The Eee PC Seashell 1005HA is nearly identical to its elder brother, but presents some small changes for the better without sacrificing these now famous looks. Read on for our full impressions and hands-on photo gallery.

Disney and ASUS announce Netpal netbook for kids


Past Disney gadgets may have been heavier on the Disney than the gadget, but we're guessing there'll be at least a few parents out there a little envious of ASUS's new Disney-branded Netpal netbook for kids, which will be available in your choice of "Princess Pink" or "Magic Blue" colors (the latter replete with tiny Mickey Mouse icons). In addition to that eye-catching exterior, each netbook also packs a custom, kid-friendly Disney interface, along with a range of built-in parental controls, and some customizable themes based on Mickey Mouse, Toy Story, Wall-E, and other Disney properties. As you might expect, however, the netbook itself is just a standard 8.9-inch Eee PC, but it is at least available with either a 16GB SSD drive or a standard 160GB hard drive. No word on a release date just yet, but it looks like this one will set you back $350.

[Via GadgetMix.com]

Garmin-Asus G60 slated for August launch, will be last non-Android Linux phone for the couple

Garmin-Asus G60 slated for August launch, will be last non-Android Linux phone for the couple
What's that, you're still holding your breath waiting for the G60 release? Breathe, child, breathe, it's still going to be a little while before you can get your nav on with this celly. Obviously it didn't make the first half of the year as initially planned, but the Garmin-Asus partnership is now saying that the phone will still arrive at its retail destination before 2010, with some places seeing it in just two months time. Why the delays? Apparently its custom flavor of Linux is at least part of the problem, leading the corporate couple's marriage counselors to suggest a move to Android for all future, non-WinMo handsets -- devices that, contrary to earlier reports, will also launch before the end of the year. So, G60 in August, or potentially even hotter Android nav phone a few months later? Decisions, decisions.

Video: ASUS Eee Keyboard running Moblin


Among the approximately two gazillion other things we saw at Computex this year, ASUS has demoed one of its Eee Keyboard PCs running Moblin. Currently just a prototype, it's unclear whether or not this guy sports different hardware than the device we've been seeing (we're guessing not), or whether this will become available when the XP version does sometime this month. That said, we're hoping that you can sleep better at night knowing that such a beast exists. We sure can. Video after the break.

[Via SlashGear]
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