ASUS has just added a new product page for the Asus Eee Pad Slider, hinting that it may be shipping soon, PC World reports from several sources.
The Slider sports a standard tablet touchscreen display with a thin slide out chiclet keyboard giving users the choice to have a keyboard when they need it and put it away when they don’t. It will feature Android 3.1 upgradeable to Android 3.2 and reports tell us that it there will be one 16GB and one 32GB version of it mimicking the product categorization on storage capacity Apple introduced with its first Apple tablet, the iPad.
The SL101 Slider is expected in September 2011, but we never know with regular delays in tablet shipments.
Here are the full specs from ASUS:
NVIDIA® Tegra™ 2 1.0GHz dual-core CPU for excellent multitasking & HD video playback
Android™ 3.1 Honeycomb OS(3.2 upgradable) with Adobe® Flash® support*
Full QWERTY keyboard and built-in USB port. Preloaded Polaris® Office® for mobile productivity
As previously reported, ASUS is spreading its bets on two types of tablets. One will run Google‘s Android OS and the other will be the Eee Pad running Windows 7. ASUS chooses to first deliver the Windows 7 device and see the response it gets. The Android tablet is not expected anytime soon. The latter tablet is most certainly meant as a competitor to the iPad as it’s so lightweight (as in software and hardware).
The response to the Windows 7 tablet will most probably be negative, as it has been with most of the Windows 7 tablets to date. The operating system’s interface is not as smooth and easy for finger usage as the iPhone OS (on the iPad) or the open-source Android (on many smartphones). Why then is ASUS doing this? Well maybe to maintain its close relationships with Microsoft in regard to their production of Windows 7 phones. But we’re not too sure.
We have collected all of the information available to show you some imagery and a possible spec list.
Display: 10.1-inch resistive multi-touch touchscreen Graphics:NVidia Tegra graphics accelerator (with 1080p HD video playing) Resolution: 1024 x 786 Battery: Li-polymer, 8 hours runtime Processor: ARM CPU Storage: 64 Gb on integrated flash Audio: Digital Array Mic Camera: Integrated 0.3 megapixel webcam GPS: Integrated A-GPS unit WiFi: Wi-Fi (802.11a/b/g/n) 3G: Integrated 3G connectivity with UMTS/HSDPA (850, 1900, 2100 MHz) Interface: 2x USB ports Price: Around $499 Release date: July (Q3) 2010
Display: 7-inch capacitive multi-touch touchscreen Graphics:NVidia Tegra graphics accelerator (with 1080p HD video playing) Resolution: 1024 x 786 Battery: Li-polymer, 8 hours runtime Processor: ARM CPU Storage: 64 Gb on integrated flash Audio: Digital Array Mic Camera: Integrated 0.3 megapixel webcam GPS: Integrated A-GPS unit WiFi: Wi-Fi (802.11a/b/g/n) 3G: Integrated 3G connectivity with UMTS/HSDPA (850, 1900, 2100 MHz) Interface: 2x USB ports Price: Around $499 Release date: Q1 2011
The Asus Eee PC T101MT has been out for a month or so now and the response to it has been mixed.
The T101MT’s sturdy build quality, slick looks and small size are appreciated but its touch screen response is lacking in many respect. The touch screen requires a hard press to respond. The combination of slow performance and bad touch screen response make things worse, as sometimes the user simply does not know if the device actually received the finger touch or not.
ASUS is like everyone else unsure about what direction the market is moving in and betting on two horses. The difference is really between running a lightweight but limited web-focused operating system like the iPhone OS or Android vs. running heavyweight operating systems that run advanced software applications like Windows 7 and Mac OSX do.
The question is what the people that buy these things want. Just browsing and running basic applications from the app stores, or actually doing advanced work.
Due to the nature of Windows 7, it’s to expect that ASUS will come with a higher-spec device than the Eee Pad.
Industry insiders report that ASUS will be launching a new device named the Eee Pad in the 3rd quarter of 2010. The device which will look similar to ASUS’ latest T91 offering, albeit without a keyboard and will sport a 4 to 7-inch capacitive touch screen display with multi-touch as well as haptic feedback.
The device will be directly competing against the Apple Tablet which has just been delayed until the 2nd quarter of 2010.
Update: ASUS Eee PC T91MT was confirmed a few weeks ago and is now up for purchase on Amazon.
An industry insider has just leaked the roadmap for the upcoming line-up of ASUS Eee PC products for the next year. Apart from several new Eee PCs, it contains news on the future of the ASUS Eee PC T91.
Apparently ASUS has not decided to scrap the T91 altogether but instead follow it up with a multi-touch version, called the T91MT (not the T91A as reported before). It sports a 32Gb SSD (solid state drive) and its price will be at $549 or around EUR 399.
Additionally, the roadmap also contains the Asus Eee PC T101P. This is the first time we hear it being called P instead of H. Does the P stand for the Intel PineTrail spec? We’ll hear later. The T101P will be released in 2010. Under the hood, it will sport a standard Atom N450 processor, Pine Trail and running Windows 7. That sounds like a winner to us!
On Wednesday, an anonymous source confirmed to Asus Tablet the final specifications of the Asus Eee PC T101H netbook tablet. It is the sister tablet to the ASUS Eee PC T91 (whose models have been confirmed on Tuesday) and the biggest difference between the two is the size.
The T101H will appeal to more advanced users as it sports a 10.1″ screen as opposed to the T91′s 9″ screen. It is not clear if the T101H will have the same amount of variations as the T91 but we can only hope, or should we? The specifications right now show the T101H to have the same specs as the most upscale models of the T91, the ASUS Eee pC T91, the ASUS Eee pC T91go and the ASUS Eee pC T91A (the unknown but possible T91Ago)
It holds a full GPS chip, 3G abilities and a multi-touch interface. To make you even more exited, here’s a hands-on video with the T101H:
According to ASUS UK, the T101H is expected in the end of August 2009, or early September 2009.
An interesting take on the development that netbooks are becoming featured with tablet like features. The small convertible tablet netbooks have limitations that make it hardly impossible for it to be used as a note taking, inking or other handwriting type of device. They work great when using the touch functionality with hands and fingertips but it becomes cumbersome when using it to write notes.
The reason for this according to jkOnTheRun is that most professional tablets use active digitzers. You might know these from your typical standalone Wacom tablet designers and artists use. The digitzers connect to the pen by radio and detect only the touches made with the pen but not touches by fingers or other objects. This immediately is also their advantage. Leaning on the screen with your hand palm or wrists will not create a touch.
However, the Asus Eee PC T91 uses passive digitzers. Just like the upcoming Asus Eee PC T101H and other upcoming netbook tablet offerings by MSI and Gigabyte. The reason? Cost ofcourse. And because the target demographics for netbook buyers is not design professionals but consumers with a low-budget. They don’t care. The touch idea seems to be a great selling point but it is good to see the critical side of it in terms of actual touch functionality when you go passed the ‘gimmick’ phase. The GUI video played by AsusTablet.com before did show some note taking though, it did not look all too bad. But the video is made by ASUS in a set up environment, thus possibly not being a very realistic perspective.
Still, even without note taking and inking the T91 is useful. Imagine students quickly sliding through Powerpoint slides while having the T91 next to their notebook. Or your parents using it because the touch interface feels so much more natural to them than a keyboard. Or media consuming young people who dislike the idea of working with a keyboard when playing their music and watching videos on YouTube. Apart from being the first, the T91 still has enough selling points even if it does not take notes best.
We also need to consider the relative age of this new market of netbook tablets. ASUS again pretty much single-handedly created a new market segment (just as they did with the netbooks). This is the first model in that market. There will be kinks in the cable and they will be resolved in future models. The costs of touch screens are rapidly decreasing and the quality of them is increasing. In any way, it is good that it happens eventhough there is criticism to be made on the first few models. It will change the way users interface with their computers forever.
An anonymous tipster just sent us these photos of a supposedly first batch of ASUS Eee PC T91 models shipped to the electronics store Currys in the United Kingdom.
On Friday, AsusTablet.net was told by an anonymous ASUS insider that the model had been delayed in shipment by logistical problems, being not too specific, but that it would hit retail stores this Monday, this might be true as we see from these photos just sent in.
The photos show the outside of a shipping box with a transit sheet that notes ASUS Computers International GmbH in Germany, where ASUS has its distribution hub for Western Europe. The shipment is destined for Currys Digital in Hertfordshire, UK, where Currys distribution headquarters is located. It all seems to make sense. The date stamp shows today, Sunday 21 June 2009. Does this mean the T91 will be sold tomorrow at Currys? The shipment also seems to have passed through Amsterdam during airmail reading from the AMS on the DHL sticker. Will this mean the T91 will also be sold in stores in the Netherlands this week? We hope so.
What is interesting from the photos is that Currys requested 260 units but received only 193. Is ASUS experiencing a shortage in units or problems in production of the T91, which does require new types of production processes (even for ASUS) as it is its first touchscreen netbook.
An anonymous ASUS insider told AsusTablet.com that the Eee PC T91 is still shipping but is delayed in distribution to the retail channels due to a “logistical mishap” in distribution. The problem is reportedly solved now and the device can be expected in stores from next Monday, the 22nd of June.
Reports last week in news channels all around the world mentioned that the T91 would start shipping thisweek but it still not here. The reasons are now becoming clear.
It is one of the many delays the T91 has experienced. This is interesting as other ASUS Eee PC devices have never been delayed as much as this model. This makes us question if there are structural concerns with the Eee PC T91. Is ASUS experiencing problems with the model and delaying it purposely to resolve these before retail availability? We might never know…
0
All contents copyright © Prime Ventures. All rights reserved. This website is only to report about the latest news on upcoming tablet devices by ASUS and is not in any way affiliated with or endorsed by ASUSTeK Computer Incorporated (ASUS).
The ASUS, ASUSTeK, Eee PC, Eee, Eee Pad brands, names and/or logos and any other brands, names and/or logos are only used for informative purposes and are property of ASUSTeK Computer Incorporated (ASUS) and/or their respective owners.
Android Tablet, EeePad, News, Rumorville | Heather | Saturday, August 27th, 2011
0 COMMENTS