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ASUS retools Eee Keyboard, swaps in capacitive touchscreen

by Darren Murph posted Nov 4th 2009 at 3:02PM

At this point, we're beginning to wonder if we'll ever see ASUS' Eee Keyboard on store shelves. Heck, we've even see it drop by the all-knowing FCC, yet the company has apparently delayed the official debut once more. The kids over at Register Hardware were able to sit down with a tweaked version of the device, which is now slated to ship in early 2010. What's different? ASUS threw out the old resistive touchscreen that we'd played with before and swapped in a capacitive panel like the one in SE's XPERIA X10, Apple's iPhone and Nokia's X6. Engineers assert that touch response was far better with capacitive, and at least in this application, it simply made more sense. We're also given a good look at the external WiFi / UWB antenna that we spotted in the aforesaid FCC filing, which is being used over a sleek internal option due to possible interference from the metallic enclosure. Other than that, most everything else has remained the same, though we are told that a non-metallic iteration is in the works for those who hate awesome things.

ASUS' 12.1-inch Eee PC gets pictured, a little more real

by Darren Murph posted Oct 20th 2009 at 11:33AM

Not that we've never heard of a 12.1-inch Eee PC before, but given the abundance of 10-inch options currently saturating the market, we'll take all the expansion we can get. Slated to arrive as the largest Eee Seashell member of all time, the 1.4 pound Eee PC 1201HA is now staring at a mid-November release (at least in Italy), and it should bring along a "full-size" keyboard (with a borked Shift key), a 250GB hard drive, Windows 7, a 6-cell battery good for "up to eight hours" under ideal conditions and your choice of four colors: black, red, silver or blue. You'll also find WiFi, a built-in webcam and a price tag of €399 ($596), though only time will tell if it's saddled with a near-ancient Atom N270.

ASUS Eee PC T91MT multitouch tablet listed on Amazon.de for October 22nd

by Ross Miller posted Oct 19th 2009 at 6:56AM

Surprise! Another "new" computer coming out October 22nd alongside Windows 7, or at least rumored to be. This time it's the previously-rumored ASUS Eee PC T91MT, which has wound up as a listing on Amazon Germany. Same processor and 8.9-inch screen size as the T91, but with a 160GB HDD instead of solid-state. Since it's Windows 7, there's now multitouch support, hence the "MT." The color options are black and white and it'll set you back about 506 euros ($754). Oh, you wanted US prices and release dates? Show a little more patience, why don't ya?

[Via Netbooknews.de]

Eee Keyboard splayed, detailed by FCC

by Thomas Ricker posted Oct 12th 2009 at 7:44AM

Several of the documents hidden from our anxious eyes during the FCC filing have now gone public. Not only can you visually inspect its innards, the feds have also laid bare the full spec sheet for the ASUS Eee Keyboard model EK1542. Beneath the 5-inch, 800 x 480 pixel touch panel (with stylus) we'll be getting Windows XP Home running on an Intel Atom N270, 945GSE / ICH7-M chipset with Broadcom AV-VD905 video decoder, 1GB of DDR2 memory, either 16GB or 32GB of flash storage, 4-hour battery, Bluetooth, 802.11b/g/n WiFi, gigabit Ethernet, HDMI and VGA outputs, integrated stereo speakers and mic, 3x USB, headphone and mic jacks, and external WiFi / UWB antenna. The Eee Keyboard's on-board Ultra-Wideband (UWB) throws 720p content to your TV within a 5-meter range (10-meters for non-video transmissions) via a UWB receiver packing 2x USB ports, another mini-USB port, audio out, and HDMI. You can even connect to two external monitors at the same time using UWB and either VGA or HDMI cable. Now all we need is a final date and price... ASUS?

Gallery: Eee Keyboard splayed, detailed by FCC

[Via EeePC.it]

ASUS Eee Top ET2002T and ET2203T touchscreen all-in-ones land in October

by Paul Miller posted Sep 25th 2009 at 9:37AM

Looks like we've got ourselves another Windows 7 launch, folks. The Eee Top ET2002 and ET2203, which have graced these pages with their touchscreens before, have ironed out an all-too-familiar launch date (October 22nd) and some fairly competitive Europe prices, weighing in at £559 and £819, respectively. That's roughly $893 and $1,312 US, but usually the UK to US conversion on these is dramatically less than the true conversion rate (though we feel rather bad for the folks in the UK, in our own patronizing, American sort of way). Either way we're happy to see NVIDIA ION popping up again, and the whole concept of a low-end touchscreen PC is certainly intriguing with Windows 7 along for the ride.

ASUS adds textured pattern 'wow-factor' to purported Eee PC 1001HA

by Darren Murph posted Sep 21st 2009 at 12:09AM

Whenever an Eee PC roadmap leaks out, it's generally followed by a torrent of new machines that are just marginally different than the ones before. Granted, we've got Microsoft to thank for that, but it's still getting tougher by the day to keep all of these things from running together. Shortly after having a peek at the supposedly upcoming Eee PC 1201n comes this -- a smattering of hands-on shots of the purported Eee PC 1001HA. Slated to be available with Linux, Windows XP or no OS at all (saywha?), this here Eee could very well slot into the Seashell lineup given that bold pattern lathered on the chassis. Internally, you'll find the tired Atom N270, 1GB of RAM, a 160GB hard drive and an ExpressCard-to-Zzzzzzz adapter. But hey, at least that 3-cell battery means you'll be computing for days on end, right?

ASUS' Ion-infused Eee PC 1201n netbook emerges overseas

by Darren Murph posted Sep 20th 2009 at 11:53AM

If ASUS is hoping to stick with that "mid-October" launch date here in North America, we'd say it better get whatever units it has laying around loaded up with an English-speaking version of Windows and onto a large vessel destined for a US port. Still, it's good to see some "proof" that the roadmapped Eee PC 1201n -- a 12-inch netbook with NVIDIA's Ion technology -- is actually on schedule for an autumn release, even if said "proof" is a product listing on an Asian e-tailer's website. Unfortunately, the machine is still humming along on Intel's near-ancient Atom N270 processor, though the 2GB of RAM, high(er) resolution panel, real man's GPU and Windows 7 operating system should help move things along. Per usual, we don't expect ASUS to confirm or deny the legitimacy of this slip, but if you're in the market for an Eee, this may be all you needed to hold off just a bit.

[Via NetbookItalia]

ASUS: Eee Keyboard to launch in October, C64 fans unite!

by Thomas Ricker posted Sep 14th 2009 at 7:13AM

Looks like those DigiTimes sources were right: the ASUS Eee Keyboard will officially launch in North America and Europe in October. And while CEO Jerry Shen is keeping quiet on pricing, the original $400 to $500 estimates should hold-up. The Commodore 64-esque keyboard PC originally announced at CES in January features an integrated 5-inch display, 1.6GHz Atom processor, 1GB of memory, either 16GB or 32GB of SSD storage, 802.11b/g/n WiFi, Bluetooth, HDMI and wireless UWB HDMI. And given the October launch, we're expecting this thing to run Windows 7 unlike the XP prototypes we've seen so far. Maybe Moblin too, if you want to save a nickle.

ASUS planning dual screen Eee Reader: world's cheapest e-book reader

by Darren Murph posted Sep 7th 2009 at 3:03AM

Don't you just love it when a plan comes together? You betcha. After catching an up close and personal glimpse at ASUS' dual panel touchscreen concept at CeBIT this past March, we soon forgot ASUS even had such a beast in the R&D lab. Just over a week ago, however, all those fond memories came rushing back with an off-the-wall rumor that the company just might push out an Eee-book reader later this year. Fast forward to today, and the Times Online has it that such a device is very real, and it should be out and about before the year's end.

According to president Jerry Shen, the Eee Reader will become the planet's cheapest e-book reader, though a premium model could also be launched to satisfy those craving higher-end features -- probably amenities like inbuilt 3G, a web browser and expandable storage. The dual screen form factor would enable users to read books as books were intended to be read, or they could use the secondary panel to surf the web, type on a virtual keyboard or whatever else ASUS dreams up. We're told that the firm is aiming for the £100 ($163) mark on its low-end model, and based on the affordability of its Eee PCs, we'd say it'll probably get awfully close. Hey Kindle, you skeered yet?

[Via BestTabletReview, thanks Rob]

Eee Keyboard tantalizingly within reach at the FCC

by Nilay Patel posted Aug 31st 2009 at 1:21PM

The ASUS Eee Keyboard has been delayed a couple times since it first made our hearts race at CES, but it looks like those rumors of an October launch might actually come true: the new-age C64 has just arrived at the FCC for a little government work. Interestingly, the test reports indicate the presence of a UWB radio in addition WiFi and Bluetooth, so it looks like we'll see the planned wireless HDMI model even after the spec pretty much hit the skids earlier this summer. We'll see how it goes -- and if we get that interesting Moblin version alongside the Windows edition when this thing eventually ships. Fingers crossed!

ASUS to launch Eee-book reader this year?

by Thomas Ricker posted Aug 27th 2009 at 6:23AM

According to DigiTimes, ASUS president Jerry Shen says he plans to launch an Eee-branded ebook reader by the end of 2009 at the earliest. That's a tasty nugget of news all on its own. However, what would DigiTimes be without adding some good ol' Taiwanese rumor-mongering? As such, they add that MSI is investigating the reader market as well. But that's just common sense, we don't need "industry sources" to tell us that manufacturers are looking for ways to make money in new markets now do we?

ASUS puts Snapdragon smartbook on hold, breaks hearts of Androids everywhere

by Tim Stevens posted Aug 25th 2009 at 7:47AM

It was but a few months ago that we were lusting after a svelte little fanless Snapdragon Eee PC running Android and being demo'd at Computex. Now, ASUS is letting us all down softly, saying that project has been put on the shelf -- presumably to make room for another string of cookie-cutter netbooks. CEO Jerry Shen says "I don't see a clear market for smartbooks," which is true enough, but we're guessing the big laptop players didn't see a clear market for netbooks at first, either. So, not exactly great news for those looking for even cheaper and even more portable portables, but don't lose all hope: it wasn't that long ago that Western Digital said the SSD market didn't exist, and now look at 'em.

ASUS' Ion-based Eee Top ET2002T makes itself known in France

by Donald Melanson posted Aug 18th 2009 at 6:02PM

ASUS sort of got official with its Eee Top ET2002T back at Computex in June, but it's looks like things are now a whole lot more real in France, where Blogee.net has gotten the pics and the complete specs of the all-in-one desktop. In addition to that all-important (and already known) Ion chipset, this one comes packing a 20-inch 1,600 x 900 display, an Atom 330 processor, 2GB of RAM, a 250GB hard drive, a DVD burner, and even an HDMI input in case you want to simply use it as a display, among some other fairly standard specs (detailed at the link below). Still no word on an official price or release over here, unfortunately, but it'll apparently be available in Europe in "several weeks" and run a not so low €598, or about $845.

ASUS' 11.6-inch 1101HA netbook finally on sale in America

by Darren Murph posted Aug 5th 2009 at 4:31AM

Call it coincidence or call it fate, but just as soon as we saw Samsung's 11.6-inch N510 netbook go on sale across the pond, ASUS' long-awaited 11.6-inch Eee PC 1101HA has netted itself a date with UPS here on US soil. The machine is the first in the Seashell range to boast a display larger than 11 inches, though the atypical WXGA (1,366 x 768) panel is about the only thing that'll turn heads. Within, you'll find an exceedingly bland array of parts: an Atom Z520 processor, 1GB of RAM, GMA 500 integrated graphics, a 160GB hard drive (still with us?), three USB 2.0 sockets, a 1.3 megapixel camera, WiFi, Ethernet, Bluetooth and audio in / out jacks. If you aren't down with waiting to see what kind of netbook revolution coincides with the launch of Windows 7, you can order yours up from the links below for $429.99.

[Via Netbooked]

Read - BuyDig.com order page
Read - NewEgg.com order page

DIY Eee Keyboard is big, beautiful, and highly coveted

by Ross Miller posted Aug 2nd 2009 at 6:52AM

The ASUS Eee Keyboard is thin, sleek, and has a touchscreen pad. This do-it-yourself is bulky, uses a green backlight, and has instead a wireless mouse and numpad. Still, there's something magical and all kinds of wonderful about this home project, essentially an Eee PC 900 shoved into a Sven Multimedia EL 4002 keyboard. All you need is a VGA cable hooked up to a monitor and you're officially good to go. Itching to recreate this beaut for yourself? Hit up the read link for a plethora of in-process screenshots and some commentary from its maker.

[Via Liliputing]