ASUS demos first Windows 7 Eee PCs

Posted by Al Warmington on Wed 18 Feb 2009

Sorry, Vista - looks like you missed the netbook party

ASUS has been demonstrating its new breed of Eee PCs out in Barcelona’s Mobile World Congress event. We’ve felt that the netbook world had been growing a little stale of late, with legions of companies leaping on the bandwagon to produce hundreds of almost identical models.

We might have known that ASUS, originator of the whole netbook craze, would be the one to step up the pace. Its upcoming models will pack the hotly-anticipated Windows 7 operating system, along with 3.5G mobile broadband connectivity. Huawei is providing the EM770 embedded module, which is one of the world’s first 3.5G devices designed specifically with Windows 7 in mind.

Two new Eee PC models are on display, showcasing the technology. The Eee PC 1003HA is a 10” ultra-portable with a LED-backlit display and 160GB of hard disk storage. It’s only going to be sold through telecoms carriers though, sadly.

However, the Eee PC T91 is something we’ve seen before and are getting excited about. This 8.9” netbook features a rotating touchscreen display and built-in GPS. When we first got our paws on it at CES 2009, it was running boring old XP, but Windows 7’s enhanced touchscreen compatibility should make this one of the first cut-sized lappies to double up as a proper touchscreen device. ASUS expects it pack a suite of touch-optimised programs including digital scrapbooks, handwritten desktop memos and photo browsers.

The netbook maker is also demoing the Eee PC 1000HG – a WiMAX enabled netbook. However, with little happening on the WiMAX front in the UK and other major regions suffering significant setbacks, we aren’t optimistic about its chances of coming over here in the near future.

Price and release dates of ASUS’ Windows 7 models have yet to be confirmed, but it’ll be closely tied to when Microsoft decides to let slip its new operating system. Fingers crossed for Christmas time.

Link: ASUS

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