ASUS

ASUS DR-950 E-Reader Shots Hit the Web

January 22

With the big but small announcement of the ASUS e-readers, we’ve still been waiting for pictures, but they’ve showed now.

The ASUS DR-950 measures at just 0.35 inches thin, but still fits in a 9-inch, 1024 x 768 pixel display. And it’s not E-Ink — it’s a new technology that ASUS had to call SiPix Microcup electronic paper which consumes less energy than E-Ink (or is purported to, anyway). Besides that you have your 2-to-4GB of storage, SD card slot, Wi-Fi and HDSPA, a USB port and a 3.5mm headphone jack. Pricing and a release date are still in limbo. Something interesting by the way, is that ASUS UK Headquarters posted the pictures on Flickr, with a couple of the shots showing the e-reader being compared to an iPhone. Now how’s that for originality? [Flickr via Engadget]

Uncovered: ASUS E-Readers, The DR-950 and DR-570

January 18

All of a sudden ASUS has 2 e-readers which look like they can pack some serious punches. Starting off with the DR-950, it includes a 9-inch 1024 x 768 pixel touchscreen with 16 levels of gray, text-to-speech in 26 languages, a web browser that can switch between landscape and portrait modes, built-in RSS reader, and an expandable built-in dictionary with real-time translation. The 222 x 161 x 9-mm / 370-gram e-reader also packs in Wi-FI and HSPA (WiMAx is optional), 3.5 mm headphone jack, 4GB of internal memory and SD card expansion. Supported formats include: PDF, TXT, Audible, MP3, and unprotected ePub.

As for the 6-inch OLED DR-570, it has that amazing 122 hours of battery life, Wi-Fi, 0.03 second page turns (making it 23 times faster than the Kindle’s), 124 x 170 x 8.8-mm / 200-g size, 4GB onboard storage with SDHC card expansion, 512MB of SDRAM, and 1,530mAh battery. Text-to-speech and built-in web browser, RSS reader, support for ePub, PDF, txt, MP3, MP4, and AVI content formats, audio/video/Flash player, as well as a possibility for online video streaming from Amazon. As for the 6-inch screen, there is some doubt that it could actually be a smaller 5.7 inches, but that’s not confirmed yet.

Not too shabby ASUS, not too shabby. Now, where’s the content partners for these things?

ASUS DR-570 E-reader Boasts OLED Screen, 122 Hours of Life

January 17

An impressive entry from ASUS into the e-reader market, the DR-570 boasts a 6-inch OLED screen and a claimed 122 hours of juice. No extra details except it’s coming out at the “end of the year”. From the looks of it though, it won’t be cheap, contrary to ASUS’s usual pricing schemes. [Via Times Online, Engadget]

Gadget Predictions for 2010

January 2

With the start of a new decade, and the ending of an important one, technology-wise, as well as globally in every aspect (the wars, economy, global warming), it’s time to predict which gadgets might come out this year. That means I have to go into analyst mode, and predict the future, so let’s begin. Here’s what I predict will come out in the year 2010:

The Apple iPhone 4G will come out, along with the Apple iSlate. The annual Macbook refresh will come by and possibly bring USB 3.0 and faster Intel chips.
Google will rock the world with its Nexus One, and will make Android 3.0 better than the iPhone OS. Google Search will get redesigned.
PC makers like Dell, HP, Toshiba, and Sony will make newer, faster netbooks, while upgrading the chips in their laptops, as well as graphics cards.
Microsoft could possibly release a new Zune, and Windows 7 Service Pack 1.
AT&T’s contract with Apple over the iPhone will expire, and hopefully Apple will move on to Verizon.
Palm will have some thinking to do with their hardware, but webOS could become popular.
E-Readers might see their glorious rise, or their tremendous, dramatic fall.
Motorola could come to the US with the Motorola Calgary, and the XT701 Sholes Tablet.
LaptopMemo will become a full-fledged gadget blog with an audience, and will sort through the junk and bring you the most awesome scoops.

And those are my predictions for 2010. Have a Happy new Year!

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ASUS: The Eeebots are coming

December 17

Maybe these are are the bots you were looking for? ASUS, who is working with the Taiwanese government on promoting Android, will be creating Android-based robots that will have voice, video and navigation abilities, and whose main purpose will serve as an educational tool for children to interact with. So it is very interesting, and time will tell more about the Eeebot. But don’t get too excited just yet, because production won’t start in another 2 years.

[Via Yahoo! News]

New Rumor: Asus building an Eee tablet?

December 10

More tablet news for you my friend! DigiTimes is claiming that Asus, the pioneer of (cheap) netbooks, is getting ready to produce a (cheap) tablet. In fact DigiTimes says that it’s a “4- to 7-inch panel…which will offer a combination of tablet PC and MID functions.” That would be pretty neat, wouldn’t ? Now we just have to remember to take every tablet rumor with a pepper shaker… [DigiTimes]

Asus Eee keyboard specs spilled out by the FCC

October 12

eee-keyboard-fccpicture-13

As usual, the FCC spoils all the great surprises in the gadget world.And this time they’re doing their job very well.

The much-awaited Asus Eee keyboard has been dissected and finally given details. The specs under the hood are: an Intel Atom N270, 945GSE / ICH7-M chipset with Broadcom AV-VD905 video decoder, 1GB of DDR2 RAM, 16GB or 32GB flash storage, a 4-hour battery, Bluetooth, 802.11b/g/n WiFi, gigabit Ethernet, HDMI and VGA output, built-in stereo speaker and microphone, 3x USB, headphone and mic jacks, and an external WiFi / UWB antenna.

Other features include 720p video/data to a display via the on-board Ultra-Wideband system. Video has a range of 5-meters though it could go up to 10-meters. The UWB receiver comes equipped with 2 USB ports, 1 mini-USB, a audio out and HDMI-out.

And the 5-inch screen has a stylus. So now ASUS, how much do I pay for it, and what’s the release date?

[SlashGear via eepc.it]