Multi-Touch Eee PC Video Demonstration

This video demonstration at YouTube shows off the multi-touch capability of the Eee PC 900 very well.

Newest Eee PC Has Multi-Touch Trackpad

The next generation Eee PC laptop by Asustek Computer will come with a multi-touch trackpad in addition to the larger screen, better Web cam and increased data storage, a company representative said Thursday.
 
The Eee PC 900 boasts an 8.9-inch screen, larger than the 7-inch display on the original Eee PC 701 model, along with a 1.3-megapixel camera and 12G-byte solid-state disk drive (SSD). The Web cam on the Eee PC 701 is only 0.3-megapixels and the largest SSD is 8G-bytes.

The Eee PC 900’s oversized touchpad works similar to the Macbook Air. Using two fingers, a person can zoom in and out of documents and photos, scroll up and down, and more, an Asustek representative said.

A picture of the Eee PC 900 can be found on the Federal Communications Commission’s Web site, where details were submitted for approval by the U.S. government regulator.

A few things the Eee PC 900 will not have include a touchscreen and GPS (global positioning system), the Asustek representative said, despite some news reports to the contrary.

The Eee PC 900 will come pre-loaded with either Microsoft Windows XP or Linux OSs, the representative said. More at Yahoo.

Acer low-cost PC expected to be cheaper than second-generation Eee PC

The free on board (FOB) price of Acer’s 8.9-inch low-cost PC is expected to be priced around US$50 less than the FOB price of Asustek Computer’s second-generation Eee PC, according to sources at notebook OEMs.

With the company’s large economy of scale, Acer has set the FOB price of its low-cost PC at US$250-300, while the market ASP (average selling price) is estimated will be around US$350-400.

Asustek has decided not to engage in a price competition with Acer and has set the FOB price of its 8.9-inch second-generation Eee PC at around US$300-350, while the market ASP should fall between US$400-500, added the sources.

However, Asustek might launch its 8.9-inch Eee PCs earlier in April this year in order to gain advantage in an earlier release time, noted the sources. More at DigiTimes. Thanks to Luca.

Eee PC Gets 3G Competition

Taiwan’s Elitegroup Computer Systems (ECS) has revealed plans to launch a low-cost laptop to compete against Asustek’s Eee PC, but which uses 3G (third-generation mobile telecommunications) networks to keep users connected wirelessly.
 
Elitegroup plans to allow users to choose from several versions of the Simply Smart ECS G10IL laptop family. The top-end model comes with a 10.2-inch screen and takes advantage of tri-band mobile phone networks to keep users connected to the Internet wirelessly with HSDPA and HSUPA (High Speed Downlink/Uplink Packet Access). The technology ensures users can tap into mobile broadband from just about anywhere mobile phone coverage is offered.

The G10IL also connects to Wi-Fi networks, carries a 56 kbps analog modem on board for wireline Internet connections, supports Bluetooth wireless and comes with a four-in-one card reader. More at Yahoo.

Asustek says two-thirds of Eee PCs will have Windows XP

TAIPEI (Reuters) – Asustek Computer (2357.TW), the world’s top maker of computer motherboards, said nearly two-thirds of its Eee PCs shipped this year will be Windows-based as consumers embrace the company’s low-cost laptop models.
 
The Taiwan company’s branded business last year launched a 7-inch child-friendly Linux-based personal computer priced as low as $200, and new models with Microsoft’s (MSFT.O) Windows XP will be priced around $390 to $400.

“About 60 percent of them (Eee PCs) will have Windows XP operating system,” Asustek Chairman Jonney Shih said at a news conference.

The Eee PC has won Asustek much recognition worldwide and Shih said his company was keeping its previous target of shipping 5 million units this year versus 300,000 units shipped in 2007.

Sales have been the strongest in Europe, followed by Asia Pacific and China, said Lillian Lin, Asustek’s head of marketing. More at Yahoo.

Asus Announces Eee PC 900 with 9-Inch Screen

Asus took advantage of the CeBIT tradeshow in Germany today to announce a version of its low-cost micro laptop with a wider screen.

Like the current models, the Eee PC 900 series will have a clamshell design and run a version of the Linux operating system. In addition, Asus says it will be ready to have Microsoft Windows installed on them if the user wants to.
 
The most obvious change in the upcoming version will be the 8.9-inch display, up from 7 inches.

Update: New information coming from CeBIT indicates that the upcoming model will also have a higher-resolution screen: 1024 by 600 pixels.

In addition, versions of the Eee PC 900 will have up to 1 GB of RAM and storage capacity of up to 12 GB, much more than in the current versions.

Update: To make room for the new features, the newest model will be a bit larger: from about 2 lbs to about 2.2 lbs, and the device will be slightly thicker.

These new Eee PCs will cost 400 Euro each, and will be available in the summer of this year in select countries on the first wave of launch. More at Brighthand. Thanks to Luca.

Adding a 1.2GHz Pentium M processor to the Eee PC

Luca spotted an interesting article called Adding a 1.2GHz Pentium M processor to the Eee PC which will presumably speed thing up a bit…

While there are several variations of the Eee PC, with different amounts of storage and RAM, each Eee PC ships with a relatively slow Intel Celeron processor. One Eee PC owner who goes by the name of Gurywha decided that the he wanted a bit more juice in his tiny laptop. So he popped out the 900MHz Celeron chip and soldiered in a 1.2M Pentium M processor.

Keep in mind, this is not an easy modification to make. I know you’re all proud of the fact that you were able to upgrade your RAM, but it doesn’t mean you’re qualified to attempt this hack. But if you know your way around a soldering iron and a miniscule circuit board, it’s apparently possible to replace an Eee processor.

Elonex to launch £99 Linux laptop

Here’s some interesting news from tachradar- “British company Elonex is preparing to launch a revolutionary £99 educational laptop at the Education Show 2008 at the Birmingham NEC later this month.

Called ‘the One’, the new notebook is aimed primarily at schoolchildren and features a stripped down yet fully-functioning range of Open Source software that includes word processing, spreadsheet, email and an internet browser. Out of the classroom, the One can also be used to play MP3s and games with.

The One boasts Wi-Fi access as well, with 1GB of built-in memory and a USB port for attaching additional memory bands to. For an additional £20 the One can be purchased with 2GB of memory and Bluetooth.

The notebook employs a rubberised keyboard and a seven-inch screen that can be detached from the keyboard. Although there’s no touch-screen functionality, the screen can be used as a tablet with the aid of a track-pad located on the back of the screen…” Thanks to Luca.

Just how big is the EEE?

If you haven’t been able to see an EEE for real, and can’t be bothered to make a mockup based on the specifications, you might be interested in this website, which has a series of comparative photographs, which should help demonstrate the EEE’s dimensions. Of course, you do need to know how large the comparator objects are, but, even taken as a simple “one machine against another” approach, it’s clear that the EEE is pretty small 🙂

Asus Eee 9-inch Version Gets Touch Screen?

Asus Eee 9-inch Version Gets Touch Screen? has been posted at MobileWhack (thanks to Luca)- “It’s no secret that Asus is planning on upgraded Eee PCs with screens larger than the original, measuring 8-, 9-, and 10-inches. Rumors abound that Asus Eee 9-inch, will get a touch screen LCD panel. Asus will reportedly adopt the four-wire resistive touch screen technology. Before you panic that the price would be far off from the original affordable Eee, according to sources, adding the touch screen technology to the device only costs an additional US$15. Hopefully, the price increase wouldn’t be too high. Before you get too excited though, reports say that Asus will limit the distribution of the touch screen versions to a few hundred thousands and will even give preference…”