Asus Joins Tablet PC Race

WrongSizeGlass writes "Reuters is reporting that netbook pioneer Asustek Computer Inc. has become the latest technology company to jump on the tablet PC bandwagon. The device will be called the Eee Pad, will run on Intel or ARM chips, and use Microsoft's Windows operating system. 'The Eee Pad can display Adobe Flash for the full web experience, has a USB port and a camera,' Asus Chairman Jonney Shih said. Asus did not release pricing details or a potential release date, and did not provide further details on the format or a launch date for the new app store."

The browser is Opera

[hkmwbz]

I was about to say "surprisingly", but then realized that it isn't really that surprising after all: The Eee Pad seems to use Opera [youtube.com] as its browser.

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[account_deleted]

Comment removed based on user account deletion

Adobe flash for the full web experience!

[nurb432]

By the time this comes out, with how things are going Flash may be just a distant memory.

Re:Day Late...

[Anonymous Coward]

If I *wanted* an *Pad, I'd have gotten one already. Oh, wait, I did, in early 2008.

I bought a tablet from Motion Computing in early 2008, and I've been very happy with it. It lets me use a stylus to take notes. I use peer-to-peer interactive whiteboard software, so that I can work on maths with my colleagues; this software is in Python so it runs happily on Windows, Mac, and Linux (including the Nokia N900 and the ARM tablet from Always Innovating).

When Apple or anyone else makes a *Pad that works with a stylus and runs Python and is fairly light and fairly fast and has a good battery, then I will happily switch. I'd bet though that it will be someone else, not Apple.

Re:Day Late...

[Anonymous Coward]

Do you have a quick list? I'm honestly curious.

Re:Android

[asdf7890]

So, Intel or ARM is still not decided, but that it will run Windows is? Guess that must be WinCE? But why not put Android on it?

Because Asus sold access to their soul to MS, probably in exchange for preferential pricing or safety from a patent or few, would be my guess. Hence "its better with Windows" being plastered on the promo sites for certain eee models last year.

Agreed

[Weezul]

WebOS beats the pants off Windows Mobile. I'll hold out for Intel shipping a MeeGo tablet however. N900s are fucking awesome.

Captain Picard uses one, and so will you.

[jasmusic]

Tablet-like computing is the future, and although Microsoft's absolute fucking around stalled it for years and forfeited the market to Apple, the outcome is still inevitable. What I'm waiting for is a Tablet PC that finally eliminates the lag when you draw on the screen with a stylus. I want to get rid of the security, storage, and landfill problems inherent with drawing my designs in paper notebooks.

I've figured it out.

[symbolset]

You know, I've been watching this story unwind for over a year now. Every time somebody comes out with a new Windows tablet the press comes out with accolades and then in all the comments hundreds of people rant about how they want a tablet - any tablet - as long as it doesn't have Windows. "We have MONEY! Take our MONEY!" Some want the iPad, some want the Tegra2 Android tablet. But manufacturers keep announcing Windows tablet designs that are already in the market that nobody is buying.

It's obvious when you think about it. These PC vendors don't have Internet. You guys are going to have to call them on the phone or send them a fax or maybe pay them a visit in person if you want to talk some sense into them.

Re:Android

[Patch86]

I'd be more interested to see a MeeGo slate come around. It already works great on the N900, which is obviously a rival of the iPhone, and has a scaled up version for full laptops/netbooks.

If iPhone OS can make the successful jump from phone to larger tablet, MeeGo seems like a natural enough rival to follow its lead.

Re:They just don't get it

[linj]

Windows OS-based tablets do not all sell poorly. At a typical lecture at my university (U.S.; I hear Tablet PC usage higher in some other countries, and at some colleges, it's even mandatory), 20-30% of students will have a Tablet PC.

The UI created by Microsoft is somewhat dependent on an active screen, alla Wacom. People have asked me oh-haha-your-tablet-is-now-obsolete, what with the advent of the iPad, and I just shrug them off because the iPad is quite useless for notes, as without pressure sensitivity (or for that matter, a well-established note-taking system), the thing is pretty bad with handwriting. Unlike the iPad, Tablet PCs also often are convertible; mine is, so it comes with a hardware keyboard, which makes Matlab and Mathematica much more enjoyable.

Also, there's an entire piece of software within the Office suite (OneNote) that's made for the Windows Tablet PC user. It's been around since Office 2003, but the latest version is just amazing. It's got LaTeX-like math input, math input by pen (not too good, but acceptable for basic math), video, audio, picture recording with voice recognition/OCR for the latter two, among other features which are helpful for notetaking.