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ASUS: Eee Keyboard to launch in October, C64 fans unite!
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 to launch Eee-book reader this year?
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?
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ASUS Eee Top climbing to 20- and 22-inches by June
Like the Eee Top all-in-one PC but 15.6-inches is just too wee for your taste? Fine, you'll have the chance to grapple with 20- and 22-inchers, according to ASUS CEO Jerry Shen, sometime in the first half of 2009. Drop Windows 7 into these touchscreen monuments to mediocrity and we're in.
ASUS: $200 Eee PC in 2009
Finally, the promise of the $200 Eee PC is, uh, promised again. Jerry Shen, apparently in a meeting with analysts, said that ASUS will launch an Eee PC priced at US$200 in 2009. He also said that 7- and 8.9-inch Eee PCs will be phased out of the market to be replaced by 10-inch models. Although that sounds like it opens the possibility for a 10-inch Eee PC for $200 we're not counting on it. Shen also noted that 70% of all Eee PCs are now loaded with XP (a latecomer to netbooks) and hard disk drives compared to 30% with Linux and SSDs. Microsoft, you win again.
ASUS CEO: Windows 7 touchscreen Eee PCs in mid-2009, $250 model on the way
We heard the rumor now ASUS' CEO, Jerry Shen, confirms in an interview with Laptop that ASUS will slap a touchscreen and Windows 7 into a new Eee PC sometime in the second half of 2009. A statement likely to make a few project managers at Microsoft uncomfortable as that cuts into the official early 2010 padding built into their Win7 Gantt charts. The touch-enabled Eee PC model(s) could come in the form of a convertible tablet although Shen wouldn't specify -- he only promised more details in Q1, presumably at CES. Unsurprisingly, ASUS has no plans to put Vista onto Eee PCs at all. Also noteworthy is the introduction of "more exciting" Eee PC rigs in Q1 and Q2 in prices ranging from $250 (yes, $250) to $700. Steadily inching closer to that ellusive $199 Eee PC. Other interesting points from the interview: Eee Top all-in-one PC will be released at the end of this month EeeStick (and compatible games) is to be released soon as both an Eee PC bundle and as a separate accessory (depending upon country) priced somewhere between $50 and $100 Two new "Eee products" (not Eee PCs if we read this correctly) will be announced in January Eee PC devices will be limited to 10-inch, and smaller displays -- Shen describes the netbook as a platform to consume content whereas a laptop is for creating content ASUS is focused on improving battery life and startup times on future Eee PCs -- adding more power, like dual-core Atoms, is not a priority
ASUS launches Eee Storage, takes your Eee PC to the cloud... kind of
Apparently Jerry Shen and the homegirls / boys at ASUS want to get a slice of that sweet cloud pie. According to a report, the computer-maker has launched a service called Eee Storage, which provides 20GB of online storage for Eee PC users, as well as access to downloads of around 3,000 pieces of free software and games. The company hopes to expand the service -- which uses a drag and drop interface for file management -- into a full blown "store" where users can download music and "various other content." In the picture above you can see Jerry demonstrating the service to a group of bemused high school reporters.
ASUS: 10-inch Eee PC coming this year, Atom in June
Jerry Shen, ASUS CEO, is casually twisting Eee PC fans into a tizzy this morning. At the launch of the 8.9-inch Eee PC 900 in Taiwan, he uttered the magical phrase "10-inch Eee PC" for the first time. Expected sometime later this year, Shen said that the 10-inch screen will be the biggest allowed on the Eee PC. Good for you Jerry, but we've got the feeling that you've completely forgotten about the original promise of a $200, 7-inch laptop. Surely we're due for a price drop now that the 900 is out, right?Update: Asus also confirmed that an Atom-based Eee PC will launch at the Computex show just like we heard. No details about the screen size or any other specs were provided.
Asus spills more details on the 9-inch Eee
In a recent interview, Asus CEO Jerry Shen talked up the company's newest edition to the Eee family, and also dropped a few more details on the forthcoming laptop. Apparently, the new set of miniature PCs will up the SSD capacity, with sizes ranging from 8GB in the XP-equipped model, up to 12GB or 20GB in the Linux versions -- though it's hard to say why the smaller-footprint Linux would need more drive space. Shen also revealed that there are tentative plans to release WiMAX and HSDPA-enabled models sometime in Q3 of 2008, and he confirmed that come May the company will trade up to Intel's Diamondville (er, Atom) chips. In addition, more colors are on the way, and the base price in the US will be $499 at launch -- though that figure is expected to drop in the following months.[Via Eee Site]
