While consumers the world over are still busy trying to get their hands on ASUS’s Eee Pad Transformer, ASUS is prepping a new slate to be unveiled next week at Computex 2011. The Taiwan-based computer maker took to its Facebook page to tease what will seemingly be another unique device. “Break the rules: pad or phone?,” ponders a graphic at the top of the company’s Facebook page. ASUS also seemingly planted three teaser photos of the device on an enthusiast blog to help stir up speculation. The “pad or phone” question leads us to believe the device could be a smaller tablet, possibly in the 5 to 7-inch range, with cellular connectivity or perhaps deeply integrated VoIP functionality. Alternatively, we could possibly be looking at another convertible form factor of some kind, which may help ASUS continue to distinguish its tablet offerings from competing tablets as it did with the Transformer. ASUS will unveil the device at its press conference from Computex on May 30th. Hit the break for three teaser images posted by TechInStyle.tv.

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While Acer scrambles to reverse the current negative trend that saw its PC shipments fall last quarter as revenue dove 56%, Taiwan-based competitor Asustek just issued second-quarter guidance that predicts growth in shipments over the first quarter of 2011. While analysts go back and forth over what the emerging tablet market’s impact on netbooks and notebooks might be moving forward, Asustek expects to ship 3.1 million devices this quarter, a 10.7% increase over the first quarter. While the company does plan to focus on tablets in addition to its core laptop business, it only expects about 9.7% of its total shipments — or 300,000 units — to be Eee Pad tablets. Asustek also expects revenue for the second quarter of 2011 to grow 5% to NT$77.6 billion.

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Following a report pinning October as the likely month ASUS’ highly anticipated Eee Keyboard would finally reach market, it looks as though Asustek CEO Jerry Shen has finally confirmed what we’ve been waiting to hear. The almost-all-in-one Eee Keyboard we’ve had an unhealthy obsession with since January is finally set launch next month in Europe and North America. While pricing is still forthcoming, we’re still under the impression that a base price under $500 should become a reality. Spec highlights include:

• Self-contained PC / keyboard combo with integrated 5-inch touchscreen display
• OS: Windows XP Home Edition (though the one benefit of the delays may end up being Windows 7 at launch)
• 1.6GHz Intel Atom microprocessor
• 1GB of DDR2 DRAM
• 16GB or 32GB SSD
• Wi-Fi 802.11b/g/n
• Bluetooth 2.0
• Ultra Wideband HDMI
• USB 2.0 x2, VGA, HDMI, headphone and mic ports
• Weight: 2 lbs

We’ll say it one last time: we need it.

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Netbook fans may be pleasantly surprised today — or perhaps disappointed — as a purported roadmap for ASUS’ US Eee PC offerings is currently making the rounds. Allegedly depicting the Eee PC launch schedule for the remainder of the year, this roadmap doesn’t offer too much in the way of excitement but at least those in need of a new netbook can get an idea of what ASUS will have to offer in the coming months. If it’s real, that is. Hit the jump for the details.

Thanks, Al-B!

• 1005HA-M: Intel Atom N270 processor, 250GB hard drive, 1GB of RAM, 802.11n Wi-Fi, XP  Home or Win7 Starter — $349, October launch
• 1005HA-P: Intel Atom N280 processor, 250GB hard drive, 1GB of RAM, Bluetooth, 802.11n Wi-Fi, XP  Home or Win7 Starter — $399, October launch
• 1202N: 12-inch display, Intel Atom N270 processor, NVIDIA Ion, 250GB hard drive, 2GB of RAM, 802.11n Wi-Fi, Win7 — $499, October launch

Beyond that, netbooknews.de adds details on some more models not covered in the alleged US roadmap:

• New Eee PC 1008HA models: the 1008HA-P (Atom N280 processor, 320GB HDD, 2GB RAM, BT, 802.11n Wi-FI) will cost $480 and the 1008HA-M (Atom N280 processor, 250GB HDD, 1GB RAM, BT, 802.11 n Wi-Fi) will run $430.
• Netvertibles: Eee PC T91MT (multi-touch) with a 32GB SSD is priced at $ 549
• The 1101HA is already approved in October and the 1008HA in November. Both models will then be replaced by the above variants.

[Via netbooknews.de]

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ASUS, we still love you and your snazzy Eee Keyboard but we have to level with you — our patience is wearing thin. We first saw this badass little PC back in January and at that point in time, we wanted it post haste. Don’t get us wrong, we’re still excited to see the Eee Keys hit the market but with each passing day seemingly comes a new and later launch time frame. First it was June, then August, and now DigiTimes is reporting it will drop in October or later with a price point in the $400-$500 range. Price: fair. October or later: lame. The Chinese paper is also reporting that ASUS will launch its Eee Top All-in-one PC in September for around $670 and the Eee Box will land in the same month for $300. Great. We want the Keyboard and we want it now.

[Via Giz]

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Aww, crap. Just when we thought we were finally going to be able to get our hands on the ASUS Eee Keyboard, an ASUS marketing executive had to go and ruin the fun. Apparently the Eee Keyboard will not be launching by the end of this month as expected, but sometime in August instead. The reason for the delay? ASUS has yet to fully work out how it is going to market the mind-numbingly cool computer, which is more or less a positive way to say that its scared that one wrong decision will jeopardize its potential for success. Regardless, we want 10 and we want them now.

[Via Pocket-Lint]

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In the age of job losses, slowed progress and a floundering economy, tech is getting hit as hard as any industry. As stands to reason, we’ve seen slowed progress of late in terms of new technology coming to market. Sure there’s a nice looking piece of kit that surfaces every now and again but overall, the market lacks excitement. While ASUS’s upcoming Eee Keyboard might not be revolutionary per se, it is most definitely a breath of fresh air in what is otherwise a fairly stagnant market. We gave you the specs on this PC-in-a-keyboard back in January and for the most part, readers agreed: the Eee Keyboard is @&#%$!& cool. Now, according to Engadget’s Chinese counterpart, the sexy little PC will finally reach market by the end of June. We presume, unfortunately, that we’re looking at an initial launch confined to the Asian market but we really hope ASUS spreads this puppy out fast because we can’t get our grubby mitts on it soon enough. Look for official launch details to emerge from Computex during the first week of June.

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Asus CEO Jonney Shih envisions a Freejack-like future where everything is connected digitally, the walls of your home are giant displays and Anthony Hopkins tries to steal your body in an effort to live forever. Okay, maybe Shih didn’t cover that last part but his vision of a digital future isn’t far off from the predictions of many others in the tech world over the years. The difference of course, is that Shih wants Asus to be at the center of it all.

Today, the family crowds around a small PC screen when they are sharing digital media and getting on the Internet. In the living room, it should be more convenient to use the big screen… To make the whole digital home possible, in the eventual state every wall becomes a display. The mirror should become a screen.

Shih goes on to refer to a low-cost Eee Phone that Asus is currently working on. The budget smartphone will “become an interactive control” that gives the user a single interface for the entirety of the digital network. As cool as that sounds, we wouldn’t mind using the Eee Keyboard either. Shih didn’t speak to whether or not the Eee Phone will be powered by Android but it certainly is a safe bet. Beyond stating that the phone would be affordable, Shih gave no indication as to how the phone will be priced or when we might see the Eee Phone come to market. As for Shih’s future, it may come a bit late – Freejack was set in 2009 – but let’s all hope we can get there without Mick Jagger trying to hunt us down. Jagger, after all, will certainly still be alive when Shih’s vision is realized.

[Via Giz]

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Asus most definitely came to CES today packing heat and without a doubt, one of its most impressive announcements was the Eee Keyboard. We want it and we want it now. The Eee Keyboard stuffs a PC with respectable netbook-like specs into, you guessed it, a keyboard. Flat Mac-like keys and a 5-inch touchscreen display sit atop a very thin keyboard frame with a host of connections on the back – connections you potentially don’t even need, we might add. Asus’ new take on the all-in-one features Wi-Fi 802.11b/g/n along with wireless HDMI and Bluetooth 2.0 meaning that short of a power cord, users can connect wirelessly to any and all required peripherals including a high definition display or HDTV. We’ll take things in a different direction – imagine carrying this puppy around with a pocket projector and having access to a full PC with a sizable projected display anywhere and everywhere you go. Specs on this innovative little piece of kit are as follows:

• Self-contained PC / keyboard combo with integrated 5-inch touchscreen display
• OS: Windows XP Home Edition
• 1.6GHz Intel Atom microprocessor
• 1GB of DDR2 DRAM
• 16GB or 32GB SSD
• Wi-Fi 802.11b/g/n
• Bluetooth 2.0
• Ultra Wideband HDMI
• USB 2.0 x2, VGA, HDMI, headphone and mic ports
• Weight: 2 lbs

Pricing and projected availability are still a bit of a mystery, though Asus CEO Johnny Shih claims it will be available in the next three to six months, so we’ll be waiting with bated breath. Hit the jump for two more shots.

[Via Giz]

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When you think of Asus and Eee PC, you think “cheap Linux netbook”. With their latest offering, the S101, Asus tries to shatter this stereotype by designing an elegant netbook. The folks over at UMPC Fever got their hands on an S101 and have put together the most extensive collection of photos of this slim and sexy notebook to date. We already have covered the specs of the S101 and they fall right in line with all the other netbooks out there. So what does the Asus S101 have that sets it apart from its competitors and permits it to command its higher price tag? First, it is super thin and tapers to only 18 mm which is a slightly more than the height of a Hong Kong dollar. It is also ships with a few extras like a suede leather pouch with straps instead of the cheap cloth pouch found on the standard Eee PC models. It even includes a pouch for its very compact 12V power adapter. The Asus S101 has upgraded the the design of the casing with a brushed aluminum arm rest, a trackpad with a single button and faux diamonds embedded in the hinges (kind of gaudy?). It features a keyboard that is 92% the size of a standard keyboard (nice!) and the internal look is uncluttered and sleek. Only two buttons and three LED indicators are present near the inside hinge and there is a 0.3MP camera at the top. Most of the peripherals (SD slot, RJ45 port, VGA out, power, Kensington Lock) connect in the back, giving the sides and front of the netbook a smoother look and feel. The bottom of the netbook houses the battery, a door to access the RAM and the stereo speakers. So what do you think? Will the new S101 set the new standard for elegance in netbooks or is it a MacBook Air wannabe with unimpressive specs and a tawdry exterior? Hit the jump for more pictures than you can stand.

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S101 in packaging

S101 in suede leather pouch

S101 closed

S101 open with brushed aluminum arm rest

S101 left side

S101right side

S101 back

S101 bottom

S101 closeup of trackpad with single button

S101 diamond-embedded hinge

S101 is slightly thicker than a Hong Kong 50 cents and one dollar coin

And there you have it people – the touchscreen Eee PC from Asus is finally available for pre-order from Play.com in the UK. With a scheduled release date of November 20, this discount all-in-one has some real potential. We first heard about this touchy feely Asus back in July but people were pretty unclear as to what it was. Mystery solved. Specs please:

• Intel Atom processor (1.6GHz/533MHz FSB/512K Cache)
• 1 GB DDR2 667 RAM
• 160 GB SATA II 5400rpm hard drive
• Graphics Card: Shared Graphics (128MB)
• Windows XP Home (SP3)
• 15.6″ (16:10 Wide Panel) touchscreen
• Graphics: Shared Graphics (128MB)
• Webcam: 1.3 Mega Pixel
• Mirophone: Digital Array Microphone
• Audio Chips: 2 x 4W Hifi Speaker + SRS
• Communication: 10/100/1000 Mbps Ethernet
• WLAN: WiFi 802.11b/g/n
• IO Side Ports: Memory card slot (SD/SDHC/MS/MS Pro) / USB ports x 2
• IO Rear Ports: Audio Ports x 3 (Microphone, Line in & Line Out) / USB ports x 4 / Gigabit LAN port
• Ships with: StarOffice, Adobe Reader 8.0, Norton Internet Security (90 day trial version), Express Gate, Skype, Eee Memo, SoftStyles, Eee Cam and Eee Cinema

Play.com lists the all-in-one Eee PC at £399.99 which works out to $678 US at today’s exchange rate. Not bad at all.

[Via Engadget]

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With every computer manufacturer and their chip supplier’s barber now jumping on the netbook train, it’s clearly about time for Asus to step it up a bit. Many would credit the Eee line of ultra-portable laptops with popularizing the new breed but now that Asus is competing the likes of top manufacturers, the Eee is in danger of becoming like a Hollywood actress over 26 – still pretty good at what it does but no one in tinseltown wants to look at it anymore. Fear not Asus lovers, the S101 might be just the botox injection the Eee line needed. Don’t let the relatively hideous shade of brown pictured above fool you; the S101 means business. A variety of SSD drives to choose from, an ultra-slim body (tapers to 18 mm, just thicker than the MacBook Air) and pretty solid specs make the S101 very buzz worthy. Check it:

• 264 mm (w) x 180.5 mm (d) x 18 ~ 25 mm (h, tapered)
• 1 kg (2.2 lbs)
• Windows XP Home (base model) or GNU Linux OS
• 10.2-inch wide LED-backlit TFT display, 1024 x 600 pixel resolution. 252K colors
• Intel Atom processor
• 802.11n WiFi, Bluetooth 2.0
• 1 GB DDR2 RAM
• 3 USB 2.0 ports and a VGA port for an external monitor
• Integrated 4-in-1 multimedia card reader
• Multi-touch touchpad
• 2450 mAh battery, not removable
• Available in brown, champagne and graphite

But what about storage – you said it had SSD drives? Calm down, we’re getting there. The S101 will be available in three different trims and here’s what they look like:

• Windows XP, 16 GB SSD or 20GB SD – $699
• Linux, 32 GB SSD – $699
• Linux, 64 GB SSD – $799

So what do you think? Is the S101 the face lift Asus needs or is it just another Joan Rivers?

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Well what do we have here? A few upcoming Eee PCs were recently uncovered as images made the rounds earlier this week but here we have something completely new from Asus. So what is it exactly? To be completely honest, we’re not really sure. The unit is reportedly called the Eee Monitor and it had been discussed briefly at Computex earlier this year but the Taiwanese computer company made sure to sit on many key details. Well say hello to our little friend. Several shots of the Eee Monitor are now swimming around the internet and it looks like a gem. As was the case before, details are still a bit scarce but a quick look at the display, the logo in the bottom right corner on the face of the unit and the ports on the back of the unit lead to some pretty probable speculation. How about a self-contained PC with built in Denon audio hardware, a 19″ display and a rumored integrated TV tuner? We’ll take two, thanks. Word on the street is that there will be a 19″ and 21″ model and the price point will start at… Ready? $500.

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