Xandros signs deal with Microsoft

Not sure if this will have any impact on the Asus Eee or its pricing, but Xandros recently signed a collaboration and patent agreement with Microsoft last June 4. The question, I guess, is, as Linux-Watch in its report, asks, "What to make of it?"

Bluetooth

From the Eeeuser forum, a member by the name of retrogunner made the following observations re bluetooth in the Asus eee PC.

Bluetooth is not listed in the specs, however close inspection of the photo at HotHardware shows the following key designations:

Fn+1 : Eject SD
Fn+Esc : Toggle Backlight
Fn+~ : Toggle VGA port
Fn+F1 : Brightness Up
Fn+F2 : Brightness Down
Fn+F3 : Sleep System
Fn+F4 : Sleep "HD"
Fn+F5 : Volume Up
Fn+F6 : Volume Down
Fn+F7 : Mute
Fn+F8 : Toggle Wireless Lan
Fn+F9 : Toggle Antenna - 3G perhaps?
Fn+F10 : Toggle Bluetooth

Asus Eee PC 701's Components

A quick rundown of the Asus Eee PC’s components, as reported by the various sites and blogs (This will be updated as information becomes available) -

Screen – 7” 800 x 480 by AU Optronics. However the LCD appears to be surrounded by a brown or black bezel. That means there is enough space to put in a larger screen – an 8.9” maybe?

CPU – Asus hasn’t fully disclosed what processor will be used except to say it is an Intel mobile chip. But being a UMPC/Intel Classmate PC device, the smart bet is that it will be based on Intel’s McCaslin UMPC platform, which has either the A100 or A100 processor (codenamed Steeley). But in their hands-on review, Hothardware reported the use of a 900 MHz Intel Dothan-based Pentium M. Yet, per wikipedia, the slowest Dothan is running at 1000 MHz. So, either Intel has a new, unreleased Dothan or Asus is underclocking the chip to minimize heat build-up.

Graphics – Intel UMA

Chipset - Intel 910

Size - 22.5 x 16.5 x 2.1~3.5 cm

Weight – 890 grams.

Battery Life - 3 hrs (4 cells: 5200mAh, 2 in series, 2 in parallel). Other UMPCs get 4 hours with a 4 cell battery. UMPCs like the Samsung Q1p (with 7" touchscreen and the 1GHz Pentium M, 1GB memory, and 60GB hard disk) get ~2.5hrs from the 2 cell battery and 5-5.5 hours from the 4 cell, so this should get even more than that, with its smaller SSD and slower processor.

OS – Xandros, a Debian based Linux distro, with an "Easy" and "Standard" mode which can be switched between when inexperienced users feel confident enough to move from the simple "Easy" layout to the "Standard" desktop environment.) Also Windows XP compatible.

Applications - Open Office applications suite, and Firefox browser. But why is the Asus official video showing Safari???

Boot-Up Time – 15 seconds

RAM - 512MB DDR2-400

Data storage - 4GB, 8GB, or 16GB Flash drive option.

Connectivity - Ethernet LAN, 802.11b/g, and a 56K modem,

USB – four 2.0 ports. Will the BIOS allow for USB Boot-up?

SD slot – will it do SDHC? Aren’t 8G SDHC due out later this year? Sandisk just announced its SDHC.

Audio - Hi-Definition Audio CODEC; Built-in stereo speaker; Built-in microphone

Video - VGA out (for attaching to TVs and projectors)

Camera – 300K pixel

Mftr's Part Number - EEE-PC-701

Mftr Product ID - 42580621

Kohjinsha 600 and Asus Eee PC 701 have same keyboard?

Are the keyboards of the new Kohjinsha 600 and the Asus Eee PC 701 identical?

Kohjinsha 600 (Photo from Lazion)

Asus Eee PC 701 (Photo from Engadget)

I almost bought a K600 just last month while I was in Hong Kong. Fortunately or not, i ran out of time and had to catch my flight.

Interestingly both units have a 7" screen. However the K600 has a higher resolution at 1024 x 600. The Eee's is only 800 x 480.

Asus Eee Actually Announced Back in April

Dug up an article at Taipei Times, with a dateline of Tuesday, Apr 17, 2007, which quote in part -

Asustek Computer Inc is tapping into the market for budget notebook PCs with a slew of products scheduled for launch in the second half of the year. According to the Commercial Times report, five budget laptop models would be priced from US$199 to US$549. They will employ Intel's Solid State Disk with flash memory from 1 GB to 40 GB. The 7-inch panels for the notebook computers will be sourced from AU Optronics Corp.

Asustek will be competing against Quanta Computer Inc, the world's biggest notebook computer contract maker, in the budget PC arena. Quanta is the sole manufacturer of the One Laptop per Child (OLPC), a project initiated by the Massachusetts Institute of Technology to distribute computers to children in developing countries.

Using the Linux operating system and low-cost materials, these notebook computers, priced at US$150 a unit, will come onstream later this year. Quanta has said it aims to deliver more than 10 million OLPCs within the first 12 months.

However, Merrill Lynch cautioned last month that while the OLPC business model might be viable in its initial stage, users would face problems when they need maintenance help, software debugging, updates or help in handling viruses.

Testing the Size

Over the weekend, I created a life-size cardboard cut-out of the eee PC 701 to determine its carryability. Basically I wanted to determine whether users will carry it around without a second thought much like they carry their mobile phones.

Well, its form factor is much larger than smartphones with QWERTY keyboards like the Nokia 9500. At 21.5mm x 16.5mm, it actually fits in the range of UMPCs but interestingly, Asus in its press release, does not refer it to as a UMPC. Personally, keyboard and screen quality notwithstanding, I would have preferred it to be smaller. Still, at its size, it should easily go into the standard messenger bag that a lot of metrosexuals seem to prefer these days or into the larger ladies' bags. Therefore, if a person is in the habit of toting these types of bags on a daily basis, at 2 lbs, the Eee will fit right in.

Now the question then would be why would they want to carry the Eee around. Well, one is to check email, another would be for IM (which is expensive on the mobile for most telcos), and another would be to surf. While these tasks may be performed on a Internet-capable PDA, typing is considerably easier with a QWERTY keyboard and surfing naturally more convenient on a bigger screen.

For email and IM, an instant-on feature will then be preferable. Per previews, the Eee will have a 15 second boot time. I am not sure if users will be willing to wait that long. Mobile phone users tend to be a lot more impatient. Well, we have to wait and see how users regard the Eee.

At least for now, it has the potential to become THE mobile device since it has more functionalities than smartphones that cost 2x, 3x, or even 4x more.

Can't wait to get my hands on one.

Hello World

I am simply so intrigued by the recently announced Asus Eee PC 701 and its potential. If Asus succeeds and actually delivers it with the announced specifications at the price level (USD200), it will have more than a winner on its hands. In fact, if the design allows for modifications, upgrades, and hacks, then the line will most likely define its own market - a potentially huge market.

So, in anticipation, I have started this blog.