Todays & Tomorrows Technology

We’re still waiting for an official release for ASUS’ Eee Keyboard – the latest we hear is that it should drop sometime in August – but that hasn’t stopped French site Blogeee from getting their hands on one. Rather than cherish it for the rarity it is, they’ve decided to open the Keyboard up and find out what’s making it tick inside.

As you might expect, it’s basically a long, flat netbook, with a custom circuit-board to which ASUS have frustratingly soldered the 1GB of RAM. Cooling is via heat-pipes to the Atom N280 1.66GHz processor and accompanying chipset, leading back to a 40mm exhaust fan which, Blogeee report, makes little noise. Other components are more modular, such as the Bluetooth and WiFi adapters and the 16GB SSD.

The battery is a 1,880mAh pack that Blogeee estimate will be good for up to 1hr 40 minutes wireless runtime. The unit they’ve acquired also has a Silicon Image wireless HDMI transmitter which also takes care of up to 1080p graphics and HDCP certification, though we’ve previously heard that not all models will include it.

Blogeee end up a little confused about the point of the ASUS Eee Keyboard, suggesting that the storage is too little for a true HTPC while a regular netbook or nettop will provide just as good an internet machine. We’re still keen to try it out ourselves, but for now we’ll have to wait for the official release.

It looks like the torrent of Atom N270 netbooks won’t be followed by a similar rush of Atom N450-based budget ultraportables, as several manufacturers have apparently revealed plans to delay mass production until netbook heavyweights Acer and ASUS show their hand. That could push bulk availability back until the first half of 2010, despite engineering samples of the new Intel N450 chip already being available.


According to DigiTimes, lower than expected demand for netbooks – in part through segment saturation – in the first half of 2009 has left many vendors with legacy stock and reduced profit. That has encouraged them to take a more wait-and-see attitude, slashing R&D budgets and instead monitoring the big names to better gage the market.

Acer and ASUS are expected to reveal their N450-based ranges in Q4 2009, with white-box manufacturers planning to begin their own mass production in Q1 2010. The end result for the consumer may be reduced choice in netbook models, though given that the combination of building-to-budget, fitting in with Intel and Microsoft’s licensing limitations, and segment naivety has left most current netbooks pretty much identical to each other, that may not be such a bad thing.

How can you make your external USB Blu-ray drive better than everyone elses? Well, you could make it a Blu-ray burner, give it a range of connections and make it super-cheap, or you could go the ASUS way and put a great big light-up blue X on the side.
According to ASUS, the SBC-04B1S-U’s “elegant stand design and high glossy appearance represents its high feel of science and technology”, which is perhaps stretching the limits of what a basic USB Blu-ray reader can be described as. They also provide a dedicated app for adjusting the light-up X’s brightness, meaning you can have it set to different levels when reading or writing different media.

Baseline specs are 4.8x maximum Blu-ray disc reading, 8x DVD burning and 24x CD burning. It connects via USB 2.0 and is compatible with Windows but not OS X; no word on exactly how much that big flashing X will set you back, though.

After telling us – and then telling us again – that the Eee Keyboard would arrive this month, ASUS are now promising their nettop-in-a-keyboard will actually drop in August 2009. Rather than blaming manufacturing delays or last-minute firmware tweaks, ASUS claim the Eee Keyboard – which squeezes in an HD capable nettop and 5-inch touchscreen – was in fact held back while they attempted to define a niche for it to sit in.

That’s surprising, given that back at CES in January the company seemed to have a pretty good idea of what the point of the Eee Keyboard was. Fitted with Wireless HDMI, it can stream HD content either stored on its 32GB SSD or from the internet to a nearby display, with controls and other apps shown on the compact touchscreen.

Still no final word on pricing, but the last we heard ASUS were planning for a $400 starting price – though that doesn’t get you Wireless HDMI, only wired – and two different models. Each will have a 1.6GHz Intel Atom processor, 1GB of RAM and both WiFi b/g/n and Bluetooth 2.0. Earlier this month ASUS demonstrated the Eee Keyboard running Moblin, rather than Windows XP as it has been seen using in the past.

ASUS’ Eee PC T91 convertible touchscreen netbook should have been on sale in the UK for several weeks now, but the 8.9-inch tablet has been suspiciously absent from online and bricks-and-mortar retail stores. According to what a company official told AsusTablet, that delay is due to a “logistical mishap” in distribution; we can apparently expect the netbook to arrive in stores from Monday June 22nd.
The ASUS representative did not go on to explain the exact nature of the “mishap”, although they were at pains to point out that the T91 is still shipping. It’s also unclear whether the delay will impact shipments of the netbook outside of the UK; the T91 was supposed to begin shipping in the US this week.

Buyers of the tablet will get an Intel Atom Z520 processor, 1GB of RAM and a 16GB SSD. What makes the T91 interesting is its rotating display, which can be folded flat against the keyboard and thus leaving the netbook as a touchscreen slate. Standard and 3G versions are expected.

We already know that the ASUS Eee PC 1005HA trades a little of its 1008HA Seashell brethren’s waifish slenderness for a full sized VGA port and removable battery, and now we’ve got the first unboxing video. Liliputing acquired a 1005HA a little in advance of the imminent US launch; check out their video after the cut.

It’s early days for feedback on performance, but we’re expecting pretty mainstream things (for netbooks, anyway) from the Intel Atom N280 1.66GHz processor, 1GB of RAM and 160GB hard-drive. More interesting is ASUS’ claim of up to 10.5hrs runtime from the removable battery; we’ll be eagerly waiting for Liliputing’s benchmarks on that.

Otherwise it’s more of the same which, if you’re a fan of ASUS’ teardrop-shape chassis and super-glossy displays, isn’t particularly likely to disappoint. We’re not entirely sure on when the Eee PC 1005HA will arrive in the US; one would-be buyer has apparently been told it’ll be late-August or early-September by a company representative.

Disney announced today that they plan to team up with computer maker Asus to produce a new netbook called the Netpal. This new netbook is targeted at kids between the ages of 6 and 12 and will offer them up simple yet useful features.

Modeled after the Eee PC, this netbook will have Wi-Fi, an Intel Atom processor, Windows XP and an 8.9-inch display. The interface, however, will feature custom Disney themes like Cars, Toy Story, Mickey Mouse and others.

Parental controls are included as well, allowing you to control web browsing, e-mail and more. Other programs include a memo pad, stopwatch and calculator plus access to Radio Disney. There’s a 16GB SSD and a 160GB HDD version and several color options including “Magic Blue” which features Mickey Mouse logos on a blue background and “Princess Pink” which features a pink base with flowers. You can get the Netpal in July for $349.99.

ASUS have been showing off their Eee Keyboard since CES back in January, but until now it’s always been demonstrated running Windows XP. Now the Eee Keyboard – which has a 5-inch touchscreen and is intended to function as a media PC – has been given a shot of Moblin, Intel’s Linux-based OS.

The model you can see is only a prototype at present, but there’s no reason that ASUS couldn’t deliver a Moblin version alongside the Windows XP Eee Keyboard. Hardware in this case looks to be unchanged, so we’d still expect the same Intel Atom CPU, 1GB of RAM and either 16GB or 32GB of SSD storage. Wireless HDMI is believed to be an option.

What the video doesn’t show is any media functionality, so it remains to be seen what advantages there Moblin may bring over the Microsoft OS. ASUS have repeatedly assured us that the Eee Keyboard will launch this month, priced at around $400.

The ASUS Eee PC T91 has made its official debut on the company’s US website, and according to one dealer it’s apparently set to hit stores this week. The 8.9-inch convertible touchscreen netbook is already available in the UK, with Intel’s Z520 1.33GHz Atom processor, 1GB of RAM and a 16GB SSD.

There’s also ASUS’ Super Hybrid Engine, which can be used to boost battery life to up to 5hrs, and optional HSDPA cellular connectivity. Standard wireless includes WiFi draft-n and Bluetooth. Other options are a TV tuner and GPS receiver.

So far we’re unclear on how much the Eee PC T91 will cost in the US. UK pricing for the convertible netbook is around £449 ($684) but the company has not yet commented.

Not exactly a huge surprise, given that it was spotted back at Computex earlier this month in both standard and integrated 3G forms, but ASUS have finally got official with their Eee PC 1101HA netbook. The 11.6-inch ultraportable shares the same “Seashell” stylings as the smaller Eee PC 1008HA and 1005HA, but uses Intel’s Atom Z520 1.33GHz processor and a WXGA 1366 x 768 display.

There’s also 1GB of RAM, a 160GB hard-drive and both a full-size keyboard and trackpad. ASUS have also thrown in WiFi b/g/n, Bluetooth 2.1+EDR and a 1.3-megapixel webcam, and the extra chassis-space has allowed them to squeeze in a full VGA port rather than the mini-version on the 1008HA. The whole thing measures 286 x 196 x 35.5 mm and weighs 1.38kg with its 6-cell battery.

Other ports include three USB 2.0, audio in/out and a multiformat memory card reader; OS is Windows XP Home. The ASUS Eee PC 1101HA will apparently go on sale in Europe from the end of June 2009, priced from €399 ($555); no word on when we can expect the 3G-enabled ASUS Eee PC 1101HGo, however.

Are you fully prepared to live in one company's most likely inaccurate and yet still totally awesome vision of the future? If not, check out the video after the break. ASUS tossed together its ideas into a "Seamless Experience" showing at its Computex 2009 booth. Apparently the future involves a lot of interactive countertops -- a sort of pervasive Surface-lite, which presents interactive, relevant info for objects placed on it. The tech also facilitates interaction between devices placed near each other, and can even capture data from a plain ol' piece of paper and integrate it into the system. Sure, it's been shown before, but we're sure once enough companies come up with this idea independently they'll be able to form two warring factions and fend off consumer adoption with a format war for years to come.