UPDATE: The keynote’s now over, but we’ve rounded up the details of Asus’ latest products. Check the links below to see them in detail.
Asus launches touch screen Eee range with T91
Asus unleashes S121, world’s first 512GB SSD in a laptop
Asus Eee Keyboard with touchscreen
Asus M50 packs two computers in one laptop
Asus shows Origami laptop concept
Asus is kicking off its CES appearance with a press conference before all the other tech companies. Is it trying to get the jump on Sony’s netbook unveiling by cranking out its own uber-ultra-portable? It’s the company that brought us the Eee, after all.
Read on for live updates from the Asus press conference, and keep refreshing the page for new updates every few seconds!
00:08: That’s it. The Q&A’s over. We’re heading for a closer look at the new kit now.
00:05: “When will Asus be known as a touch-computing owner?”… it’s not the best question, but quite important. Everyone wants a slice of touchscreen tech right now, and Asus is making a good job of it. The answer? It’s another dodge we’re afraid: “We’ll make it natural and more human, with voice, like Google is doing with its mobile app. We will work to bring those technologies together.”
00:01: “When will we see the Eee Phone and will it be running Android?” Android has “got it’s moment” but there are still several alternatives left to compete. We’re not sure what that means… It sounds like a dodge to us.
23:57: “What do you think of a full netbook that’s based on Arm and Linux?” it turns out Asus has been experimenting along those lines. “That’s possible, and consistent with driving the costs further down.”
23:53: Asked about the iPhone and the advantage its touchscreen technology gives it. “Apple is our model. We have a lot of intense study of Apple” but a follow up question on how restricted Asus is by Apple’s multitouch patents is more interesting. “Lots of companies use different gestures”… so that’s what Asus plans to patent? Hand movements? This could get interesting…
23:51: What happened to “Rock solid. Heart touching.” slogan? Asus is “a technical company, we’ve never been good at marketing” but they were trying to get across the toughness of their products, apparently. The new one is “Persistent perfection.” We’re not completely sold on that either.
23:50: Asus won’t be drawn on whether it’ll bundle Windows 7 instead of Windows XP, but from what we’ve seen so far we’d put money on it happening. It was screamingly fast earlier on.
23:48: The video’s over. We’ll have pictures in a few minutes. There aren’t any details, so we’re going to go ahead and label it pure vaporware for now. Now we’re on to Q&As.
23:43: Ah, now this is cool – Asus has a concept for a folding laptop. They’re calling it the origami concept. It’s clearly years from production, but it still looks absolutely awesome.
23:42: Now we’re being shown the Eee Top. We’ve already seen this, and there’s nothing new. Take a look at our hands-on.
23:39: Eee keyboard – it’s not just a keyboard, there’s a computer inside. Where you’d see a button pad there’s a five inch touchscreen. It has Wi-Fi, a speaker, microphone and internet built in. Asus thinks it’ll turn your TV into a media centre, and almost become the ultimate remote control you carry around the house to take charge of gadgets in every room.
23:39: We’ve been shown a video of Asus’ new convertible laptop. The Eee T91. The screen swivels round to form a tablet. But there’s something more innovative coming…
23:38: Ah, now it makes sense. The demonstrator just fired up a movie through the “trackpad computer”. It played on the main screen, but because it’s bypassing the main PC it can keep playing back for twice as long.
23:26: OK, we’re getting a demo. This is an M50 notebook with the Dual-Mode tech inside. There’s no touchpad, it’s a display and, in fact, a completely separate computer inside. There are widgets on screen, and it’ll hop online. Asus reckons it’ll get 12 hours of use from it since its tiny, but shares the battery of the main computer.
23:24: Nope. It’s still struggling. Asus is moving on to “Dual-Mode” computers. “There are 2 computers in one.”… this is going to take some explaining.
23:23: Now we’re looking at Asus’ new touch sensitive interface on screen. It’s an N20 laptop, the screen is really responsive, but that’s not all. Now we’re seeing Asus’ AI Touch Media interface. It’s a bit like Apple’s Front Row software. Swiping between music and photos. Oh, there’s a crash. We’ll have to re-start.
23:19: Microsoft’s Dave Fester is on stage. He’s general manager of Marketing. He’s showing us an Asus Eee running Windows 7. It’s quick, even with Windows 7 ultimate edition on board. He’s just shown it going into standby and then powering back up in around 5 seconds. “You haven’t seen Windows run that fast ever before. That’s the power of Asus and Microsoft together.”
23:18: The S121 will run for 8 hours on a single charge, and the solid state drive is a new version. Asus says it’s two times quicker than previous SSDs, and three times quicker than a hard disk.
23:18: Sorry for the delay – Asus has had a problem with its Wi-Fi. It’s back up and running now.
23:12: Here we go: first up, the new S121 ultra thin and light notebook. Inside is the world’s first 512GB solid state drive. Pics in a few seconds.
23:10: We’re going to see Mobile Computing, Touch Based Computing and a new Shared Computing concept…. after a bit more talking.
23:08: Asus is the 5th largest notebook manufacturer in the world. We reckon the Eee had a huge part to play in that… Will we see a new one today? Whatever’s under that grey sheet on stage is certainly laptop shaped.
23:06: Asus turnover is $22 billion. 40% of PCs in the world use an Asus motherboard.
23:05: “You need to drive innovation from the customer point of view. The five senses.”
23:04: Asus chairman is on stage now. “I promise we won’t disappoint you… we have a lot of important things to show you today”. Let’s hope so!
22:59: We’re hearing how green Asus is. The conference will kick off properly any minute.
22:58: We’re being shown a promo video for an Eee laptop. It looks like the S101… yep. It’s the S101. Not news, but still pretty…
22:56: It’s only a small room, but Asus has gone to town. Two massive screens, a load of LED lighting, and a mysterious product under a grey sheet…
22:55: We’ve taken our seats. The press conference is about to begin. Hold on tight!
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