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ASUS' Eee Keyboard gets unboxed
It's been quite a haul since ASUS debuted its Eee Keyboard two CESes ago, but the device is now finally nearing a release, and the folks at Netbook News have now come through with one of the first unboxings of the final retail packaging. There's not many surprises left at this point, of course, but the packaging itself is at least suitably minimal, and also contains the Eee Keyboard's UWB receiver and antenna, along with a slew of different cables. Head on past the break for the video and, if you missed it, be sure to check out our own most recent hands-on with the device right here.
ASUS EeeKeyboard up for pre-order, priced at $599 in the States
Jumpin' Jehosaphat! After well over a year of false starts, delays, teases and purported prices, ASUS' PC-in-a-keyboard is just about ready to ship to eager Americans. If you'll recall, we heard a few weeks back that late April would finally bring about Stateside shipments of the EeeKeyboard, and amazingly, the price seems to have remained constant with what we heard back in January. A fresh product listing over at Amazon shows off a $599 asking price, and as for specs, we're told that it'll roll with a 1.6GHz Atom N270 CPU, 1GB of DDR2 memory, Windows XP Home, 802.11b/g/n WiFi, a gigabit Ethernet jack, Bluetooth 2.1, a 16GB SSD, HDMI out, integrated UWB receiver, a trio of USB 2.0 sockets and a 5-inch LED-backlit, multitouch display with an 800 x 480 resolution.Mum's the word on a definite ship date, but hit up the source link to secure your place in line.
ASUS EeeKeyboard finally shipping at the end of April
We'll give you a few seconds to re-read that headline and recover from the initial shock, but yes, after almost a year of delays the EeeKeyboard is in fact ready for prime time -- ASUS confirmed that the Atom-based HTPC keyboard will go on sale in the US in three weeks. We don't have firm details on pricing, but we're assuming the battery-powered PC with an integrated five-inch touchscreen, HDMI-out, and UWB will range somewhere between $500 to $600. We should know more soon as well as have a real-life review unit, but we're curious, will you actually be putting some Eee in your living room? Oh and there's a new EeeKeyboard promo video after the break in case you've missed our numerous hands-on vids.
ASUS T101MT gets the quick and dirty video review treatment
We've already witnessed ASUS' netvertible undergo some hands-on testing, but the units inspected up until now have all been pre-production devices. Well, finally a retail T101MT has made its way out to online scribes and we've got the first video review for your delectation. We're told that the machine is still pretty thick and a tiny bit too heavy to comfortably hold in one hand for long periods of time, but also that the previous touchscreen issues have been rectified -- it is now "responsive and precise." The general theme is that you shouldn't expect too much out of it, particularly since a 480p YouTube clip gobbled up 95% of the T101MT's CPU cycles and still provided only a choppy picture, but if your ambitions are sufficiently moderate, ASUS' latest could prove a versatile little machine. Video awaits after the break and a summary review can be found at the source. Update: The YouTube video played was a stop-motion animation running at 5fps and therefore shouldn't be considered representative of the T101MT's video performance. What should be taken as representative is the fact that it maxed out the CPU.
ASUS EeeKeyboard PC hands-on (slight return)
Has it really been almost a year (to the day!) since we last gave some first-hand thoughts on ASUS' audacious Eee Keyboard PC? Given the recent news of an apparent April release date, we thought we'd give the perennially-delayed machine another walkthrough, albeit via the touchpad only since it wasn't connected to an external display. The software is definitely still in need of some work -- we managed to crash the sucker within minutes, but the startup to Windows XP (the full version) was quick and admittedly pretty interesting to witness -- maybe at some point we could get a miniature game of Peggle going. When working, the menu was pretty smooth. None of the shortcuts were working, unfortunately , as the internet was down in the booth. As a keyboard, it feel pretty strong, resilient, and most of all clicky. Live through us vicariously, via still shots and moving pictures below. %Gallery-86976%
ASUS Eee PC 1018P, 1016P and 1015P prepping for a CeBIT debut
Looks like there won't be a shortage of new laptops and netbooks next week at CeBIT, and if Blogeee is to be believed ASUS will be showing up with at least three new 10.1-inch Eee PCs. The most exciting of the bunch seem to be the executive-aimed 1016P and 1018P, which will both apparently have an aluminum chassis and 14 hours of battery life. The .7-inch 1018P is said to be the thinnest netbook ASUS has ever created, and sport an integrated fingerprint reader and USB 3.0. Uh, USB 3.0 in a netbook? We don't see why not. Finally there's the 1015P, which seems to just be an refresh of the 1005PE with a matte display and a wider touchpad. It sounds triple E exciting, but we promise to find out more on these little guys next week when we are live in Deutschland.
ASUS gets official with swivel-screen multitouch Eee PC T101MT
Thanks to the oh-so-revealing pages of the FCC, we already knew that ASUS had yet another multitouch-enabled Eee PC in the works, but there's just nothing quite like the satisfaction of seeing an official portal launched to celebrate the reality of being. The Eee PC T101MT is a swivel-screen netvertible that packs a 10.1-inch resistive multitouch display (1,024 x 600), Windows 7, up to 2GB of DDR2 memory, Bluetooth 2.1+EDR, 802.11b/g/n WiFi, a 160GB or 320GB hard drive, 0.3 megapixel webcam and a 6.5 hour battery. You'll also get a VGA output, a trio of USB 2.0 sockets, Ethernet audio in / out, an SD / SDHC / SDXC card reader (nice!) 500GB of internet-accessible ASUS WebStorage and your choice of white or black. Per usual, there's nary of a mention of a price or release date just yet, but you can check out what fun awaits you in the demonstration video just past the break. %Gallery-85452%
ASUS Eee PC 1008P (Seashell) review
What do you do if your netbooks are starting to look so last season? Well if you're ASUS, you hire a leading industrial designer like Karim Rashid to revamp it, of course. The Eee PC 1008P's snazzy new design and removable battery certainly caught our eye at CES, but now so is its $499 pricetag. Positioned as a designer netbook, the 1008P is a mixed bag of specs -- it has got the now-typical Intel Atom N450 processor, boasts 2GB of RAM and larger 320GB hard drive, as well as a disappointingly small three-cell battery. So, are the 1008P's slimmer body and eye-catching design enough to make you shell out $100 more than the typical netbook? And how does the the smaller capacity battery compare to the $380 Eee PC 1005PE's that lasts for eight hours on a charge? Follow on past the break for some answers. %Gallery-84682%
ASUS exec confirms Eee Pad tablet plans, picks a bad day
We've been hearing rumors of a Tegra-powered Eee Pad tablet for quite a while now, and it looks like ASUS exec Eric Chen has now finally confirmed the obvious, responding to a question about ASUS' tablet plans by saying, "yes, sure. We have the Eee Pad." Unfortunately, he didn't offer too much else in the way of details, saying only that it will have an ARM CPU and a 3G connection, and that Asus is paying particular attention to the user interface (even citing the iPhone as an example). Somewhat curiously, Chen also apparently dropped the term "Eee Book" when talking about ASUS' other plans, which would seem to be the first time it's been used in any sort of official capacity, although it's not clear exactly what he was referring to.
ASUS DR-570 e-reader to sport 6-inch OLED color screen, 122 hours of battery life
Well, isn't this a doozy. ASUS was a bit of a no-show in the e-reader arena at CES, but has dropped some knowledge on the Times Online's InGear: it's building a 6-inch color OLED e-reader, which flies in the face of previous rumors about an ASUS e-reader entry. The device, currently dubbed the DR-570 and pictured to the left, will play back Flash video, includes WiFi and 3G, and supposedly can last for 122 hours on one charge under "real world conditions." It's supposed to be released by the end of the year, and while from anybody else we'd assume this would cost an arm and a leg, the ASUS brand gives us some hope that we might actually be able to afford one when it hits. [Thanks, Ian S.]
ASUS' Ion-powered EeeBox EB1012 resurfaces on Amazon in sub-$400 range
Well, would you look at that? Materializing after the fog of CES, ASUS' Eee Box EB1012-B0257 nettop, known colloquially as "the low-cost home theater PC we've been longing for," has popped up on Amazon. In case you forgot, this little guy's packing Intel's 1.6GHz Dual Core N330 Atom processor, NVIDIA Ion, 2GB RAM, 160GB HDD, Windows 7, HDMI out, 802.11b/g/n, and a sextet of USB 2.0 ports. Still no release date but at least we have a better idea as to its cost of entry: $399, with a 3 percent / $12 discount care of the online retailer. Only color being shown right now is a sleek black, but as we saw last time, there should be a white model in the pipeline for some point in the indeterminable future. [Thanks, Joel]
ASUS Eee Keyboard gets a price and launch date
We saw it clear the FCC a few months back, and retooled slightly shortly thereafter, and it looks like ASUS' Eee Keyboard is now finally nearing an actual release. The latest official word is that it'll roll out sometime in February, and run between $499 and $599. No more last minute spec changes from the looks of it, which means you can expect the usual Atom N270 processor, 1GB of RAM, a 16GB SSD (upgradeable to 32GB), and a built-in battery that promises to last for four hours -- and, of course, that 5-inch touchscreen. Considering how long this thing has been floating about, however, we'll have to see this one for ourselves to fully believe it.
ASUS considering closing divisions responsible for LCDs, Eee Stick?
ASUS has seen its share of restructuring over the years, and it looks like it could be about to go through another fairly significant shake-up -- at least if some of the leads DigiTimes has picked up actually pan out. The first (and seemingly more likely) of those is that the company is supposedly considering shutting down its division that builds "opto-mechatronics products" like the Eee Stick, which itself was formed from the remnants of the company's old optical drive department, and has reportedly already seen its size shrink from one hundred team members to just twenty. Potentially even bigger than that, however, is talk that ASUS might possibly be thinking about getting out of the LCD business. Not surprisingly, however, there's even less hard evidence for that -- just some word that the division is facing "fierce competition" that's inflicting some losses. For its part, ASUS is flatly denying that it's considering any such shutdowns -- and don't worry about the Eee PC, it seems that ASUS is actually increasing its investment in that division to develop more Pine Trail-based netbooks.
ASUS Eee Pad rumored to have multitouch, Tegra
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.
Eee PC 1005HR unboxed complete with 1366 x 768 display
It's taken ASUS a while, but there's finally an Eee PC with more than 600 pixels of vertical resolution -- the new Eee PC 1005HR sports a 10.1-inch 1366 x 768 display, which is good enough for 720p HD. Of course, it's debatable whether or not the 1.6GHz Atom N280 and integrated GMA 950 graphics can actually make decent use of that much screen, but at least you'll be able to rock some huge spreadsheets. Or at least you'd be able to if you were in Japan, where this unit was found -- there's sadly no word on availability or pricing Stateside. Check a video after the break.
ASUS delivers Eee PC T91MT to Amazon.com, completes world tour
It was only two weeks ago when the ASUS T91MT -- the first-ever Windows 7 convertible netbook -- dropped by Amazon's German site, and now the Eastern wind from Taiwan has finally reached US soil. Amazon.com buyers are offered pretty much the same configuration as their European counterpart: Intel Atom Z520, 8.9-inch multitouch swivel screen, 1GB RAM and Windows 7 Home Premium. While there's only one color option available for now, those who're cool with white will be spoiled with a 32GB SSD -- twice as much as the German version yet $200 cheaper. Any students out there going to pick one of these up for some improved note-taking before Christmas exams? [Thanks, Bernard]
ASUS retools Eee Keyboard, swaps in capacitive touchscreen
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
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
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
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-75317%[Via EeePC.it]