Filed under: Laptops

Continue reading ASUS N Series: at long last, a laptop with a built in ‘Air Ionizer’

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Filed under: Cellphones

We’re not sure if its recent spate of handset announcements had anything to do with it or not, but it looks like Google has now asked ASUS to join the Open Handset Alliance, an invitation that we’re assuming ASUS expected to accept (or else we probably wouldn’t be hearing about it). Apparently, Google is interested in working with ASUS due to its “brand recognition worldwide,” although neither party seems to be making any sort of official comments just yet. Knowing ASUS, however, we’re sure it’ll find some way to work its Eee brand into the picture before all is said and done. Eee Phone, anyone?

[Via VentureBeat, thanks Michael Y]

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Filed under: Laptops

Hey, remember when the Eee PC was announced, and everyone got all hot and bothered, and we couldn’t wait for it to ship, and we couldn’t wait to get it into our hands? Then remember how ASUS created so many annoying variations that it became almost impossible to pay attention? Well, pay attention — the Eee PC 900HD has hit the FCC. Excited? Yeah, we thought so. Hit the read link to see what the label and undercarriage of your new supposedly-hard-drive-equipped netbook look like, and feel free to browse some SAR reports while you’re there. Of course, this reveals nothing about the actual hardware save for the fact that this bottom casing is different from previous models, so… that’s one thing.

[Via jkkmobile]

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Filed under: Desktops, Laptops

It’s been mostly hugs and cupcakes for Intel’s Atom processors lately — they’re apparently selling like hotcakes, and they’re the stars of the Intel Developer Conference this week. But although Intel was confidently predicting that supply would meet demand by next month, it sounds like Atoms might still be hard to come by — PC World quotes an unnamed ASUS exec as saying there’s a “serious shortage” of the chips, leading the PC manufacturer to turn to Celeron chips to meet demand. Intel reps are sticking to the party line and saying that the supply issue will be resolved by the end of the third quarter, but we’ll see how it goes — something tells us ASUS isn’t helping itself out too much by cranking out an endless string of Atom-based Eee PCs, either.

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Filed under: Laptops, Storage

Apparently Jerry Shen and the homegirls / boys at ASUS want to get a slice of that sweet cloud pie. According to a report, the computer-maker has launched a service called Eee Storage, which provides 20GB of online storage for Eee PC users, as well as access to downloads of around 3,000 pieces of free software and games. The company hopes to expand the service — which uses a drag and drop interface for file management — into a full blown “store” where users can download music and “various other content.” In the picture above you can see Jerry demonstrating the service to a group of bemused high school reporters.

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Filed under: Desktops, Gaming

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Filed under: Cellphones

Word on the street (and by “street” we mean mysterious corners of the internet) is that Garmin’s upcoming Nuvifone will actually be manufactured by the ubiquitous and varied ASUS. According to “industry sources” — that rare breed never seen yet often heard — the two companies have been working on the device for the past two years, with the computer-maker lending a hand in the RF technology department amongst other things. The sources further claim that the Nuvifone will be the first in a series handsets, with plans to roll out new models through 2010… the year we make contact. More on this breathtaking bit of news as we get it, faithful readers.

[Via Unwired View]

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Filed under: Cellphones, Handhelds

Buried underneath the hoopla surrounding the announcement of ASUS’ Lamborghini-branded ZX1 at CeBIT, the more mellow P560 was also announced, featuring pretty much every spec the average WinMo buyer could want these days in a package that speaks far, far less about the car you’re driving (or wish you were driving, anyway). HSDPA, WiFi, 3.2 megapixel autofocus cam, Bluetooth 2.0 + EDR, GPS, microSDHC slot, 256MB of ROM, 128MB of RAM, and Microsoft’s freshest build of Windows Mobile Professional — 6.1, that is — all have managed to find their way into the P560’s unassuming shell. Not bad, though the €500 (about $772) price tag could scare a few folks away when it launches next month.

[Via Navigadget]

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Filed under: Laptops

After a fire at LG Chem, li-on batteries have been hard to come by for companies like Asus and Quanta. But fear not, laptop lovers, because it looks like the battery plant is getting things back in order. According to Sung Fu-hsang at Simplo — a battery manufacturer that relies on LG Chem — the li-on supply will return to normal by Q3 2008. So how bad is the current shortage? Asus CEO Jerry Shen noted that his company could have sold a lot more than 5 million Eee PCs were it not for the problem.

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Filed under: Peripherals

If you’re making wagers with your SO that ASUSTeK’s Low-Cost Liquid Cooling system has graced your memory bank before, kudos to you. Although this innovative (and simplistic) cooling solution has been kicking around in laboratories and a few OEM pieces for awhile, it’s remained largely in the shadows until recently. Now that liquid cooling has risen (somewhat) to the mainstream, the LCLC — which was featured in HP’s Blackbird 002 gaming rig — is finally moving to retail chains. That being the case, the kind folks over at Hot Hardware decided to put the heat on the firm’s liquid cooling system and see if it lived up to the hoopla. All in all, reviewers felt that the LCLC went a long way in overcoming the typical limitations present in water cooling setups, and thankfully, the price / performance were both very impressive indeed. We can’t cover six pages worth of in-depth analysis in this space, but all the gory details are just one click away.

[Via Slashdot]

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Filed under: Misc. Gadgets

Asustek’s plan to promote and build the Asus brand has always involved splitting the company into three distinct units, and it looks like the company has finally gone ahead and taken that step — say hello to the new Asus, which only makes Asus-branded computers, Pegatron, which will handle OEM, mobo, and component manufacturing, and Unihan, which will concentrate on casing, modules and other non-PC manufacturing. Pegatron and Unihan are expected to continue the former Asus’ manufacturing tasks with little to no dropoff or transition, but there’s a nasty little surprise in store for employees of all three new companies: their former pensions have all been cancelled, and the clock started anew as of January 1. No wonder they named these companies after rejected Decepticons.

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Filed under: Desktops, Laptops

In what’s becoming a common strategy by patent plaintiffs to try and speed up the settlement process, IBM has asked the United States International Trade Commission to ban imports of Asus computers due to claimed patent violations. The two companies had a patent license that expired in December of 2004, and IBM says Asus has continued to use the disputed tech since that time, in both Asus-branded machines and machines it’s OEM’d for others, like Apple and Dell. IBM isn’t getting specific about which patents are being infringed, except to say that it’s three patents that cover “important aspects of computer systems, including power supplies, computer cooling and computer clustering capabilities.” As always with ITC hearings, there’s a 45-day window for the Commission to make a determination, so you may want to snap up that Eee PC sooner rather than later.

Disclaimer: Although this post was written by an attorney, it is not meant to be legal advice or analysis and should not be taken as such.

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Office Depot Featured Gadget: Xbox 360 Platinum System Packs the power to bring games to life!

Filed under: Laptops

Although it’s just beginning to trickle out to consumers, it already looks like the Eee PC is going to be a hit — and just like all potentially game-changing devices, the Eee has a backstory featuring fits of inspiration, handshake business deals, pressure-packed development, and, of course, some late interference from Microsoft. Forbes got the whole tale from Asustek CEO Jonney Shih and other executives, and it’s good one: inspired by the interest in the OLPC, Jonney decided to develop an inexpensive laptop for adults, and Intel enthusiastically jumped onboard when it realized the market for all its Classmate PC tech could be much bigger than educational sales. A late offensive from Microsoft — which realized that Asus was about to sell between three and six million Eees in the first year without Windows — resulted in the option to boot XP, but Jonney still pushed to perfect the Linux build on the device, saying, “We want to create a revolution. We can’t afford to put out a bad product.” In the end, it seems like that Jobs-like push for perfection paid off, since we’ve yet to read a bad review of the Eee — now if only Asus would ship a few more.

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Office Depot Featured Gadget: Xbox 360 Platinum System Packs the power to bring games to life!

Filed under: Cellphones

Taiwan’s OEM reporting pulse — DigiTimes — claims that handset makers Asustek, BenQ, Compal and Arima Communications are all “aggressively developing iPhone-like products” for 2008. According to their sources, the devices will run on Microsoft’s Windows Mobile platform and target business markets with features such as 3G and GPS. DigiTimes‘ sources also claim that Nokia will release its Symbian-based “iPhone-like handset” in the first half of 2008. True or not, that’s a lot of Apple hate-bait to swallow this early in the morning.

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Office Depot Featured Gadget: Xbox 360 Platinum System Packs the power to bring games to life!