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Eee Available Now Comes In Black |
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Written by Adam Gosling
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Wednesday, 02 January 2008 |
The Asus Eee ultra-portable made a huge
impact in the media last year when it reached Australian stores and
promptly sold out in the lead up to Christmas. Now the lifestyle
gadget is available in black as well as white and rumours are the
company plans to announce a new, larger device equipped with WiMAX.
According to Taiwan-based news sources,
the next generation Eee will feature an 8.9 inch display rather than
the current 7 incher. It may also come pre-equipped with WiMAX
connectivity. This rumour is based on the fact that Intel, Sprint and
Asus are having a WiMAX promotional event at next week's CES show in
Las Vegas.
An announcement on the Asus website
says the event, "WiMAX Today. WiMAX Tomorrow" will be a chance to
learn about the "state of WiMAX technology, preview next-generation
mobile solutions (including the next generation EeePC) and immerse
yourself in tomorrow's wireless protocol", leading many to
speculate that the new high-speed wireless broadband technology will
be a new feature on the next gen Eee.
Originally designed for the education
market the diminutive device uses solid state hard drive technology
to deliver a lightweight, long battery life device running a choice
of Linux out of the box or Microsoft Windows.
Ted Chen,
Managing Director of ASUS Australia, said: "Applications on PCs
today are mostly online, whether it is checking emails and
communicating via other methods such as instant messaging or Voice
over IP, utilising online share spaces, or simply reading news. Being
online has now become a big part of daily computing operations for
work and fun, for young and old.
The company describes the device as a
lifestyle gadget rather than a PC and says the primary target is for
children and the education market. But the Eee has drawn a lot of
interest from those with lightweight computing requirements who are
also on the move.
The 3.5 hour battery life and A$499
price tag makes it an attractive option compared to traditional
high-priced ultra-portable laptops.
When the company launched the product
last year it selected Myer as its retail partner and the department
store made the device available nationally, but stocks soon ran low.
The company has not revealed how many devices it sold in Australia,
but according to
this
report it sold a whopping 350,000 units worldwide in the first three months.
The company has could have an
iPod-style success on its hands and has already announced a range of
accessories to go with the diminutive device. The company is also said to be making 2GB and 8GB versions of the device available in the US.
Based on standard PC components though
the Eee will be relatively easy for others to
copy
and we could
expect a rash of announcements if the device continues to sell well.
  
Specification
Model
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Eee PC 4G
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Display
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7"
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Intel CPU & Chipset
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Yes
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Operating System
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Linux Win XP Compatible
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Ethernet
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Yes
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WLAN
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Yes
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Memory
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512MB
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SSD Storage (Solid State Drive)
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4G
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Camera
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Yes
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Audio
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Hi-Definition Audio
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Stereo Speaker
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Microphone
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Battery
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4 Cell: 5200 mAh
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3.5 hours
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Dimensions
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22.5 x 16.5 x 2.1~3.5cm
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Weight
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< 1kg
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