Posted on 06/01/2010 12:55:01 PM PDT by SmokingJoe
TAIPEI—Asustek Computer Inc., the Taiwan company that pioneered the netbook, joined the battle to take on Apple Inc.'s iPad, unveiling a tablet computer that will run on Microsoft Corp. software.
Speaking ahead of Tuesday's official start of the Computex trade show here, Asustek executives said their new device, called the Eee Pad, will start selling in the first quarter of next year. The touch-screen tablet personal computer will use Microsoft's Windows 7 operating system and Intel Corp.'s Core processor.
In a potentially risky move that underscores the importance of software in the burgeoning tablet market, Asustek will also launch an application store, like Apple's App store. Long a hardware maker, Asustek has far less experience developing consumer software.
"We want to provide a content service as well, because it is very important," Asustek Chairman Jonney Shih said at a news conference. "We aim to enhance [consumers'] Internet mobile experience."
Mr. Shih gave few details about the application store, but said Asustek will develop it jointly with Intel and that the store will also run on Windows.
Asustek's announcement, which was expected, marks a limited victory for Microsoft in the intensifying battle over whose software will control tablet PCs, a segment that has been gaining increasing attention since Apple unveiled the iPad in January. That device, which came on the market in April, has already sold at least two million units.
Android, the operating system developed by Microsoft rival Google Inc. for smartphones, has so far had the upper hand. Acer Inc., the No. 2 PC maker after Hewlett-Packard Co., last week announced plans to start selling a tablet by October that will use Android. And No. 3 PC maker Dell Inc. said it is developing a five-inch tablet computer that will run on Android.
(Excerpt) Read more at online.wsj.com ...
I would like to know if it has any card slots (especially to make use of ReadyBoost) and if it has an HDMI port.
According to the article, it will use Win7.
I had an Asus PC for about three months. It was in for repairs twice. The darn on/off button had a design flaw and would get hung up inside the PC tower.
I got a credit from Best Buy, dumped it and went back to Dell.
If I feel the urge someday to buy a tablet, I’ll get an ipad.
Yeah, it might even be better, but will it be as tragically hip?
Very, very, very original design.
“Separately, Micro-Star International Co., a little-known Taiwanese company that mainly makes PC motherboards, unveiled at Computex a new tablet model for Windows 7 that will sell for $499 starting in the fourth quarter. The device, called the Wind Pad, has Wi-Fi and 3G wireless capability, and uses Intel Corp.’s Atom processor. Micro-Star International, known as MSI, is also planning a tablet based on Android that will sell for the same price, a spokeswoman said.
Asustek executives have said they were also working on an Android tablet, but they made no mention of that on Monday.
Jessie Lee, an Asustek spokeswoman, said there will be Eee Pad models with 10-inch and 12-inch screen sizes, which will sell for between $399 and $449.”
Who knows. I have never really cared about what was hip.
how could anything be? the iPad is so hip it even smokes cigarettes and reads Sartre.
I have a Asus netbook, which when I ordered it was hands down the best alue and features available.
Expect them to do it well, correcting and improving very rapidly.
If Asus was building the Chevy Volt it would have been out by now.
Are you kidding?
No one’s products can be as hip as Apple’s. :)
how could anything be? the iPad is so hip it even smokes cigarettes and reads Sartre.”
Oooooooo...Sartre...I love her.
But does it smoke Gitanes or Gauloises?
“Who knows. I have never really cared about what was hip.”
Apple...far beyond the merely hip. It’s....painfully artisan...
It looks like it has a USB port which Ipad doesn’t.
My main home machine is an Asus SK8V that refuses to die.
Disclaimer: Opinions posted on Free Republic are those of the individual posters and do not necessarily represent the opinion of Free Republic or its management. All materials posted herein are protected by copyright law and the exemption for fair use of copyrighted works.