Presenting at CES 2011, ASUS has announced four new Eee tablets. The first of these is the Eee Pad MeMO, a 7.1-inch tablet running Android 3.0. The device includes a stylus despite using an iPhone-like capacitive touchscreen, and can output video in 1080p by way of a micro HDMI port.
ASUS has officially launched its Eee Note EA800 e-reader/note-taker. The device runs a Linux OS and centers on an 8-inch 768X1024, 64 grayscale display. As an e-reader, it can store up to 10,000 books. In note-taking mode, its Wacom touch screen can sense up to 256 different levels of input pressure that allows for highly detailed and accurate input.
ASUS is considering closing the groups that produce its Eee Stick Wii-like controller as well as its desktop and TV LCDs, a rumor insists today. Industry contacts for DigiTimes allege that ASUS isn't satisfied with either the shipment numbers or the profits associated with any of the three divisions and that the Eee Stick group is particularly hard hit, having lost 80 percent of its staff to include just 20 workers. The LCD groups still have orders but are facing tough outside competition.
ASUS is in the early stages of developing a tablet device partly in response to Apple's rumored tablet, a supposed leak claimed Thursday. To be called the Eee Pad, it would actually be significantly smaller than the as yet unconfirmed Apple device and would have a screen between just 4 inches and 7 inches and fit into the MID category. However, it would have some full tablet computing functions and would be "inspired" by its Apple counterpart, DigiTimes claims.
ASUS' promised e-book reader debut should not only involve more than one model but could represent a number of rarities or even firsts for the technology. While the mentioned Eee-branded reader would be basic and trade on its price -- an estimate has it costing as little as $164 -- ASUS chief Jerry Shen told the Times a second upscale model would have two color touchscreens and fold like a real book to give users two pages of content at once. It may also have basics like speakers and a webcam to provide simple audio and video conversations online.
Dell's foray into the mini-notebook market has been dubbed the new "Dell E" series, which will include two different screen configurations: the 8.9-inch model is designed to take on the Asus Eee 900, and the 12.1-inch "E Slim" may be a rival to the MacBook Air and Lenovo X300 (and its successors), according to Engadget. Defining a new product category called the "Mobile Internet Device" for 30 minutes of web experience (vs. 3 min on an Smartphone: "iPhone" pictured), Dell says the new Atom-based mini-notebook line is designed to bridge the content/usability gap between cell phones and full notebooks. The light-weight "mini-Inspiron" notebooks, first revealed earlier this month, tout "no moving parts" with flash-based drives, DDR2 RAM configs, 802.11g WiFi access (with WiMax expected sometime after October of this year), user-replaceable batteries, 'instant-on' functions for quick/convenient access, full-size keyboards, and a built-in low-res 0.3MP Web camera; they will be available with "limited configurability" and limited colors starting in August with a second version due in the second quarter of 2009.
Ahead of the expected launch later Monday night, some photos of the Asus EeePC 1000 have surfaced, showing two models: the 1000, and the 1000H. BlogEee reveals that the ultra-portable will feature a keyboard 92-percent the size of a standard laptop keyboard, while appearing to have a similar build to that of the EeePC 901, including the built-in 1.3 megapixel web camera, touchpad, power buttons, and status light indicators.
ASUS' rumored 8.9-inch version of the Eee PC has been formally unveiled, say reports from this week's CeBIT expo in Germany. While there is no evidence of WiMAX support, the notebook should be enhanced in a number of other respects, such as a larger trackpad and support for resolutions up to 1024x600. Despite theoretically consuming more power, the new Eee's battery life is said to range between 2.5 to 3 hours.
The Eee PC is proving to be selling even better than predicted by analysts, the computer's maker claims. ASUS says that in less than three months it has sold just short of 350,000 Eees worldwide, beating 300,000-unit estimates made by unspecified third parties. Either number would be unusually high for a notebook, especially when only part of a company's collection; this may affect forecast totals for January, which were last pegged at just 400,000.
ASUS' fledgling Eee PC is doing extremely well, the company reports. It expects to sell over 400,000 systems by January, and at a tradeshow in Taipei last week, it sold out all 5,000 units it brought for the occasion. Targeted sales for 2008 could be in excess of 3.8 million. This very success could, however, become a problem for ASUS, notes the research firm Gartner. It has already attracted competition, such as from the Chinese company Hasee, which is building a stripped-down 13.3-inch laptop.
The ASUS Eee PC, currently available in 4GB black and white versions, is about to be joined by two new editions, according to various sources. Online retailer Dynamism claims that it will have the promised 8G Eee before the end of December, at a price of $499; this will include not only an expansion to 8GB of storage, but also a doubling of RAM to 1GB. There is as yet no sign of an Eee with a 10-inch screen, hinted at by the Austrian press.
ASUS today resolved a controversy over the Linux licensing for its its Eee PC, bringing the 7-inch notebook back into line with its open-source roots. The Taiwan company earlier this month was accused of violating the General Public License (GPL) that forms the heart of Linux by failing to publish code for the system's unique power management; this omission is a mistake, ASUS says. In exchange, the company has updated its download section to include the extra code as well as extra features of the Eee's custom Linux distribution.
