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Posts tagged ASUS
ASUS retools Eee Keyboard, swaps in capacitive touchscreen
0926 days
by Arlene.L
in Peripherals
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 to launch 3G, WiMAX-equipped e-book readers by March, 2010?
0931 days
by Arlene.L
in Peripherals
We’ve already heard some talk that ASUS might possibly be launching an e-book reader before the end of the year that may or may not be the world’s cheapest, and it looks like some unnamed execs at the company have now dropped a few more details on the matter. While it’s all still far from official, CENS reports that ASUS’ e-book reader could hit both American and European carriers by March, 2010, and that it’ll include both 3G and WiMAX versions (plus WiFi, naturally), but presumably not a version with both 3G and WiMAX. As previously rumored, the e-book reader is also said to have a larger than usual 9-inch screen, and those same unnamed execs reportedly say its price will be “competitive” with the Kindle and Sony’s e-readers.
ASUS’ Android-based ‘secret weapon’ smartbook launching in Q1
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We got our first glimpse at a computing future filled with low-cost, ARM-based ASUS smartbooks running Android on a 1GHz Snapdragon processor all the way back on June 1st. Since then, however, the pencil-spinning boys in Taiwan have been poo-pooing plans to launch such a device due to what ASUS called an uncertain market opportunity — or was it pressure from Wintel, we never can tell? Then yesterday, ASUS’ Jerry Shen pulled an about-face at an investor meeting in Taipei with talk of launching a $180 smartbook in Q1 of 2010. Bristling with confidence, Shen goes so far as to call it a “secret weapon” in a category offering potential for huge, Eee PC-like growth. Well, with the first big-name smartbooks just starting to ship, even a dozen or so sales could be considered statistically significant.
ASUS changes course, unveils ‘first’ USB 3.0 / SATA 6Gbps motherboards
0932 days
by Arlene.L
in Peripherals
Can it be? Has the same company that dashed dreams by axing its USB 3.0-laden P6X58 motherboard back in July really just revived our hope in humanity? Out of nowhere, ASUS has just unveiled the first range of motherboards to support USB 3.0 and the newest SATA specifications, the latter of which brings along 6Gbps data throughput. The one-two punch belongs to the Xtreme Design P7P55D-E series of mainboards, which support the latest Core i5 and Core i7 processors. Sadly, just two USB 3.0 ports are onboard, while a total of ten dedicated USB 2.0 sockets are scattered about. Feel free to pore over the detailed specs in the release past the break, and get ready to find the P7P55D-E Premium mobo ($299) and U3S6 expansion card ($29) at retailers next month.