ASUS have announced an upcoming WiMAX-enabled Eee PC netbook, the ASUS Eee PC 1000HG, which will include both IEEE 802.16e and WAVE2 alongside WiFi a/b/g/n. The company has made no commitment to release dates, but it’s part of their Anywhere Connectivity announcements this week at Mobile World Congress. ASUS have also been showing off several Eee PC models with integrated 3.5G wireless, using an Huawei EM770 WWAN module and Windows 7.
The latest installment of Eee 1000 series has been a hot netbook to get since it was announced. The 1000HE is still showing as back-order or pre-order in many online retailers such as Amazon, J&R, and etc. However a posting from a user in EeeUser forum claimed that Asus has sent 1000HEs to etailers. Some users have even received the unit from eBay sellers.
Looking around the web, I’ve found ZipZoomFly has the 1000HE Black in stock. However, ZipZoomFly does not offer the instant $25 rebate on its end. If you can’t wait, the extra $25 might worth the extra green.
The much-rumored ASUS Eee Phone is another device on the Garmin-ASUS roadmap, according to a company spokesperson, but it will not be making an appearance at MWC next week. Instead, the budget smartphone will get an announcement later this year, but the duo are keeping tight-lipped about what OS the handset will run. Various options are on the table – including Windows Mobile, Android and other Linux distros – but the expectation is still that Google’s open-source platform will be the likely candidate.
Garmin and ASUS announced their partnership to co-develop, brand and market handsets last week, with the news focusing primarily on the nuvifone series. These devices, which would build heavily on Garmin’s GPS expertise, would prioritize location-based services in order to distinguish themselves from the rest of the cellphone crowd.
ASUS CEO Jerry Shen has clarified the recent rumors about notebook and Eee PC price increases. Asked during the ASUS financial conference call today whether the company would be raising notebook and netbook prices by 20-percent come March 1st, Shen told listening press and analysts that the reported increases were in fact based on the average price of the Eee PC rising in the shift from 9- to 10-inch screen sizes.
Full Shen quote after the cut
After reports spread that ASUS are planning to increase notebook and netbook prices, the company has denied that any such rise is scheduled. According to Holger Schmidt, Marketing Director and spokesperson for ASUS Germany, neither the company’s Eee PC netbook nor notebook computer prices will increase.
ASUS are reportedly planning to increase prices on their notebooks and Eee PC netbook ranges, effective from March 1st, which will see costs rising by up to 20-percent. Full details of the move, which is apparently in response to both the current financial climate and the rising price of both computing components and manufacturing costs, have not been revealed, but in a worst-case scenario could see the cost of the latest Eee PC 1000HE rise from $399 to $479.
ASUS are eyeing up US retailer Wal-Mart as the next potential point of sale for their notebooks, according to the latest rumors coming out of Taiwan, as the company explores ways in which it can break the 1m US sales barrier. That means buyers will soon be able to find ASUS notebooks and netbooks, most likely at the budget end of the spectrum, on the shelves, as ASUS attempts to push past Acer’s netbook lead.
In 2008, ASUS sold 650,000 notebooks – including Eee PC netbook models – in the US. That’s compared to Acer’s 16-percent market share, with shipments in Q4 2008 alone amounting to between 1.4 and 1.5 million notebooks and netbooks.
Toshiba helped us kick off the week with the announcement of their new TG01 Windows Mobile smartphone: on paper it sounds perfect, with a high-res touchscreen, super-skinny body and all the wireless connectivity you could feasibly ask for, as well as being the first device to deliver NVIDIA’s 1GHz Snapdragon chipset. Check out our hands-on photos and video demos, as well as Toshiba’s own GUI demo, and then try and explain to me why I still can’t get as excited about the TG01 as I think I ought to be.
Sadly not a sign of ASUS’ upcoming Eee PC UMPC plans, but a very impressive DIY effort, this UMPC is based on an ASUS Eee PC 701 to which a touchscreen and new casing has been applied. That gets you a super-portable Atom based device that, at 922g, is almost half the weight of the donor Eee PC, but a whole lot more usable when on the move.
ASUS only announced the Eee PC 1000HE on Monday, but LaptopMag have already had a chance to play with what’s set to be the first Intel Atom N280 model on the market. Aesthetically the biggest difference between the 1000HE and its 1000H predecessor is the new VAIO/MacBook style “chiclet” keyboard, but it’s the grunt of this netbook that we’re really interested in: Intel have previously promised much improved HD video playback from the new GD40 chipset. Update: There’s no GD40 in this 1000HE, and there won’t be in any production model.
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