Asus EeePC 901-X

Asus is releasing a new version of its popular Eee PC line in Japan. The 901-X uses a N270 Intel Processor at 1.6 GHz, powerful enough to move Vista decently and save battery at the same time.

ASUS rolled out its Atom-based notebook ‘EeePC 901-X’ in Japan market, which is powered by Intel N270(1.6GHz) CPU and Windows XP OS. Adopting a 8.9-inch display with 1,024*600 resolution, the EeePC 901-X supports up to 8.3 hours of battery life, 12GB SSD, 1GB of memory, 1.3M camera, wireless LAN and Bluetooth connectivity.

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Eee Sales 300,000 Short in First Half of 08

A not too surprising announcement today from Asus, as they fell 300,000 short of their goal to sell 2 million Asus Eees during the first half of 08. Of course, 1,700,000 units of anything is nothing to sneeze at, but after their 07 success Asus was clearly expecting the good times to go one forever. However, they are still confident they will make their goal of 5 million sold during all of 08, clearly banking on back to school and holiday sales as well as the Eee 901/1000 releases.

Admittedly some of the shortfall is not Asus’ fault. Intensified competition, Atom shortage, economic downturn…none of these are factors which bode well for consumer tech sales of any kind, let alone a “luxury” item such as the Eee.

However, most of Asus’ wounds right now are self inflicted. They are announcing too many products with no clear strategy which always confuses buyers. Too many models would be bad enough, but since they are always leaking yet another new version coming soon, buyers are likely to wait and see what else is coming. No one likes buying a product then regretting it the next week when a better model is announced. Asus has lost a lot of the consumer confidence they had after the 701’s success. Add to all of that the fact they have moved from having the lowest prices in their space to the highest (or nearly the highest) and it really seems that Asus has lost their way in this space.

The next half of the year is going to get harder for Asus and other UMPC vendors not easier, as more and more units flood the market place. In the face of that competition, it doesn’t help that Asus is acting like a fly-by-night outfit, trying to milk all they can out of a brand before it runs dry and they hide the money. Rather then coming in under expectations, I think Asus would be wise to just lower those expectations and suspend their ambitious roadmap for the time being. They should focus on what they have ready for shelves NOW, not what may be coming out sometime in the amorphous future.

In related news, Acer has looked at Asus’ troubles and declared themselves unconcerned and confident that the Aspire One will be a big seller for them despite mediocre to poor reviews. They are planning on the XP version moving 15,000 units a day. Yeah right. I think under the circumstances, Acer should pass Asus a little of what they are smoking, they could use the munchies.

(Source – Digitimes)

Eeeeeeeeeeeeeee!

It appears that no one at Asus has even so much as heard of an NDA or a confidential roadmap, as they are springing new product leaks faster than the USS Minnow with Gilligan at the helm. Let’s look at a quick rundown of new Eees being sold, confirmed or rumored just over the last few days, little buddies.

* The Eee 904 has been confirmed by Asus with the following specs:

• List price: @ $533
• Release date: Mid July
• CPU: 900MHz Celeron M chip currently
• Operating System: Windows XP
• Chassis: 10 inch
• Display: 8.9 inch 1024 x 600 pixel
• Storage: 80GB HDD
• RAM: 1GB
• Weight: 1.4kg / 3.1lb

* 3G Eee’s are on the horizon in two different flavors; WiMax for the US and HSDPA/HSUPA for Europe. Both would be designed to be bundled with service contracts from SPs. The Euro version may be out as early as September.

* Amazon is now taking preorders for the Eee 901/1000/1000h. Pricing is as follows:

• Eee PC 1000 with an 40GB SSD, 10.2 inch display and Linux - $699.
• Eee PC 1000H with an 80GB hard drive, 10.2 inch display and Windows XP - $649.
• Eee PC 901 with an 8.9 inch display and Windows XP (12G SSD) or Linux (20G SSD) - $599.

*  According to jkkmobile a version of the Eee 900 with a 16GB flash SSD (running XP or GNU Linux) has been snuck out with no fanfare whatsoever. It is already available in some places online for $399.

Eee PC 900 with Touch Screen

No, Asus is not selling a new version of this device, it’s JKK who installed a touch screen in one of them and he is sharing this experience in this video.

Yet More Eees

The rumoured Eee 904 I reported on yesterday has now been confirmed by Asus and will be called the Eee 904 HD due to the fact it will be sporting a standard HD rather then an SSD. Beyond the fact it will be an 8.9 inch screen in the larger 10 inch chassis and have a hard drive, Asus isn’t saying much about the device specs. They did state that it will NOT be replacing any other model and will be priced around $500. So much for my hope of a return to the $399 price point.

Shall we recap? Between rumors and actual announcements in the next couple months we are supposed to be seeing the Eee 901, Eee 904 HD, Eee 905 (unconfirmed), Eee 1000, Eee 1000h and Eee Box.

That’s an awful lot of Eees. However we aren’t done yet, add one more Eee to the flock, the Eee Monitor.

This all in one unit is being reported by Electronista to be a clear iMac clone with the same basic form and style and lots of very Non-Eee flourishes, such as Denon speakers, an integrated TV tuner, 6 USB ports, dual ethernet ports and a 19 or 20 inch screen. A very pretty machine, but what the devil is Asus thinking?

At least the device will use the same Atom chip as other new Eees and is designed around Linux rather then Windows XP which will help keep the price down around the $500 mark according to Electronista.

Do any of Asus’ recent moves make sense to you?

Me neither.

More and more I have a feeling Asus is driving themselves out of the UMPC Mini-notebook space by their own nonsensical choices and lack of brand focus.

Look for more pictures of the Eee Monitor HERE.

Both the Eee 904 HD and the Eee Monitor should be out in a few weeks according to PC Retail.

Aspire One and Eee 901 Head to Head

Over at Crave/CNET UK a very interesting review and photo set went up yesterday from Rory Reid. He was reviewing the Aspire One, Acer’s entry in the “MY UMPC is Cooler than YOUR UMPC” sweepstakes. Through the course of the stand alone review (which was overall very positive, in case you were on the edge of your seat about it) Reid stacks the device directly up against the Asus Eee 901. As these two devices share pretty much the same market space and specs (pricing wise, the Eee is a good deal more expensive, perhaps dealbreakingly so) this seemed to me a good thing, since a lot of consumers will be doing the exact same thing over the next couple months as the “back to school/holiday” season arrives.

Not surprisingly, it was largely a draw. Reid gave the Aspire One some raves about the keyboard (a bit larger then the Eee, as is the entire device) while the Eee gets the nod on battery life and trackpad usability. Wireless is also a bit of a tako, as the Aspire One lacks the Eee 901s built-in bluetooth but has a slot behind the battery to accept a 3G SIM card.

The review in a nutshell is as follows:

In some respects, the Acer Aspire One is better than an Eee PC 901. It has an excellent keyboard, solid performance and is highly portable. The Eee PC 901 still has the edge in terms of battery life and mouse input, so it’s a close call between the two machines.

Both devices got a solid 8.8 rating.

If you are debating between the two UMPCs, this review may make your job even harder as it doesn’t declare a clear winner….but it is still an excellent run down of the strengths and weaknesses of the two much-anticipated devices.

Read the entire review HERE, and click HERE for a further gallery of comparison shots from Crave.

Asus Joins in the Windows Mobile Custom UI Game…

Slow back end or not, one thing that Windows Mobile offers that the other operating systems do not is big time customization options. Sure, you can do some things with the others, but nowhere near as much flexability. Up until recently, mobile phone manufacturers left it to the user to spice it up. Most of the Windows Mobile devices, phones and pdas, were the basic Windows Mobile look. HTC along with Mobile Operators have worked to change that some. You might remember the totally unique implentation that they did on the T-Mobile Shadow. Well, now Asus has jumped into the game.

At Computex 2008, Asus unvieled Glide. (press release after the break)

ASUS Today – Do More with Less
With ASUS mobiles pre-loaded with ASUS Today, users will never need to fret about loading speeds or the chance of the mobile hanging on them due to too many functions running at the same time. The most commonly-used functions are displayed on the desktop – promising simplicity and quick productivity. With ASUS Today, users will have effortless access with just one glide – having applications such as Time, Mail Box, Calendar, News, Weather and Music Player displayed in the same window for fun and ease.

Anytime Launcher – Responding Anytime
With a newly organized menu, Anytime Launcher provides users with instant access to programs like Favourite Contacts, Recent Documents, and Messages–all with a glide of their fingers. With Anytime Launcher, users will be able to get their jobs done quickly–allowing them to do what they want, when they want it without any trouble or frustration.

EziPhoto – Bring Pictures to Life
With EziPhoto, users will be able to immerse themselves in their favorite memories; and watch as their photo albums come alive. They can easily flip through pictures with a simple glide, and design viewing experiences to suit their own unique personality. They can even set slide-shows with music from their music albums to recreate moods of respective moments–enhancing the viewing experience.

EziMusic – The DJ that Performs In Your Palm
Music is the spice of life, and EziMusic provides users with the best means to enjoy the thrill of listening to their favorite hits with ease. With an automated jukebox, users can select their desired songs with just a glide through albums; while the library of playlists can be sorted according to albums, artists, genres or personalized just like a professional DJ. Additionally, the Ringtone Editor lets users to cut their favorite portion of any song to be set as the incoming-call ringtone – providing even more individual personality.

[Read more]

Eee Stick

There is not too much to say about this news.

ASUS presented its game device ‘Eee Stick’ dedicated to Eee PCs during Computex 2008.

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Asus P560 GPS PDA Phone

P560 will use Windows Mobile 6.1 as well as the new touch screen interface. Main features of Asus P560:

• A-GPS compatible SiRF Star III receiver
• 2.8″ TFT LCD touch screen with 320×240 pixels resolution (QVGA)
• Processor TI Omap 2430 at 450 MHz
• Quadband GSM, GPRS, EDGE, 3G dualband and HSDPA with 3.6 Mbps
• 256 MB ROM
• 128 MB RAM
• Wi-Fi 802.11b/g
• Bluetooth 2.0 + EDR
• 3.2 MP camera on the back
• 0.3 MP camera in front
• MicroSD HC Port
• 1150 mAh battery
• Windows Mobile 6.1 Professional
• iGO 6 navigation software with maps from Tele Atlas

Source : Navigadget

Steve’s first impressions about the ASUS R2E

Steve AKA Chippy from UMPCPortal is writing about the Asus R2E. He just got it so these are just his first impressions. 

…overall the R2E seems well build and has ample storage space even if the speed has not immediately impressed me but how would it improve my productivity, how would it perform as an Internet browser and an entertainment device? This is what I set out to find out in the following days.

My opinion, the Asus R2E like the previous R2H is not one of the prettier or better build UMPC in the market but one thing is for sure, it’s the one with most features that you can buy with a very small price compared to the rest of UMPC in the market.

Asus Eee PC 900 ULPC with a Celeron M

 According to news published today at Products Reviews .NET, Asus is releasing a version of its Eee PC 900 using a Celeron M processor. What happened here? Did Asus find that the new Atom or the previous A110 was not sufficient enough to bring a decent performance to this machine which will ship using Windows XP?

The original Asus Eee PC was a great little UMPC, however many of us knew that this was just a teaser until the launch of the Asus Eee PC 900. We thought that this slighter larger model would be a huge improvement on the previous model however, I was a little shocked to learn that they would still be using the 900MHz Celeron M processor.

If you check the title of my comment you are going to notice that I said ULPC and not UMPC. ULPC is a new name that is starting to be used by Microsoft: Ultra Lite PC. In another words, what was used to be known by Subnotebook. Please, do not confuse this with ULCPC, which means Ultra Low Cost PC.

The price of this ULPC will be around 500 to 650 dollars and there is not words of when or if it will be sold in USA.

ASUS announces Two New Windows Mobile Phones

the::unwired shares some news out of CeBit about a couple new phones from Asus running Windows Mobile.

ASUS P320-Experience the ‘Mini’ with the ‘Most’ (right)  - A compact PDA phone housed in a range of trendy shades and smooth curves, the ASUS P320 is definitely an eye-catcher. As the smallest Windows Mobile GPS PDA phone, this super compact PDA phone brings handheld design to a new level of ’sleek’. Not just a pretty face, it also comes with the ’smarts’ - an intuitive interface design that makes it even more attractive. The P320 is a great reason why users should never judge a book by its cover - even if it were this sexy!

ASUS-Lamborghini ZX1 (left) - Experience Powerful Style and Substance - ASUS makes heads turn for the fashion and function-conscious with this Automobili Lamborghini co-branded handheld. Taking on all the classic designer traits of its namesake sports car, it showcases a masculine cut that provides the ZX1 with an exquisite yet bold exterior that is encapsulated in a ‘drop-dead’ gorgeous finish of carbon fiber and high grade stainless steel. Touch screen activated, this beauty has a unique graphic user-interface that can be modified to suit the user - providing an experience only the Automobili Lamborghini can offer.

It’s really nice seeing so many Windows Mobile Powered phones hitting the market each week. It’s almost too hard to keep up with!

Source : the::unwired

UMPCPortal reports about the Asus R70a from CeBit

Today Intel officially announced the new line of mobile processors Atom and Today we have received already the first reports coming from CeBit thanks to Steve “Chippy” from UMPCPortal. The new Atom is nothing more than another Intel Fiasco as bad as the A110 and A100 currently used in some UMPC. At least those were supporting Vista Aero thanks to the 945 chipset.

No-one stopped me from having a good play around with the R70a though. Smaller and much better looking than the R2H/E, its running Vista in typical UMPC fashion (slow) on a 1.6Ghz CPU that I assume is Atom. If the predictions are right, a 1.6Ghz Atom will be about as fast as a Celeron 900 which isn’t nearly enough. There’s no aero capability either.

Chippy is doing a wonderful job reporting from CeBit. Stay turned because tomorrow he will be talking about Gigabyte’s latest UMPC.

10 reasons not to buy the Asus Eee PC 2G Surf

That’s the title of a very well written article published at Pocketables.net.

A quick look at the official specs chart appears to confirm that the 2G Surf is identical to its brethren in every way except that the 4G Surf has a 4GB flash drive; the 4G has a 4GB flash drive, webcam, and longer battery life; and the 8G has all of that plus a bigger SSD (8GB) and more RAM (1GB). Great! Buying the 2G Surf will save those who don’t need the extra storage $50 and those who also don’t need the webcam and extra runtime $100 with no additional sacrifice.

That’s what the official product page would lead consumers to believe, anyway. The truth is that the Eee PC 2G Surf is so compromised that at its current price, it’s not worth buying at all.

I agree fully with the author of this article. But even more, to me the Asus Eee is only comparable with one of those toys from the One Laptop for Child campaign. If you are looking a cheap laptop capable of doing all that your teenager child wants to do, do not waste your money and “time” - yes because you will have to spend sometime talking with the store to get it returned back. If you still want this machine and you are willing to spend time upgrading it - not the Surf but the 4G ones - then check JKKMobile, JKK has all kind of information about all kind of hardware hacks possible on this subnotebook.

Asus Nova Mini PC - Wonder or Blunder

The new mini PC stands at 9″ x 7.2″ x 2″, making it just a hair bigger than a Mac Mini.  It sports a 1.8 GHz Core 2 Duo, 1 GB ram and a 160 GB hard drive.  Nova was designed for casual use and as a media streamer, not gaming. 

Wired.com had a chance to review it.  Did this tiny, portable computer priced at $899 pass muster?  Read their review to find out if it was a Wonder or a Blunder.

Thanks Wired