New pictures of the forthcoming full tablet PC by ASUS have risen up. The new picture seems to be an artist rendering of how the Eee Pad may look like. The tablet will be directly competing against the forthcoming Apple Tablet, which is scheduled for the end of January. However, the Eee Pad will be a late-comer in this respect, as it is expected for the end of 2010.

The EeePad will look similar to ASUS’ latest T91 and T101 offering, albeit without a keyboard. It will sport a 4 to 7-inch capacitive touch screen display with multi-touch as well as haptic feedback.

(Pictures are not official but artist renderings instead)

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.

More details to follow up in a few hours.

(Picture above is an artist rendering.)

It probably did not pass you without notice when today an entirely new consumer computing segment was born out of nowhere. ASUS did its trick it before with creating the netbook sgement, and now they are doing it again by launching the world’s first touchscreen tablet netbook.

The ASUS Eee PC T91, as it is called, was launched today in stores worldwide and reviews were all over the place.

ASUS Tablet gives you a wrap up of the day. Opinions were divided around the internet today. As per usual, Engadget was one of the first to hit it with a complete in-depth review.  Followed by Gizmodo, Liliputing and CNET.

Design

Starting with the design of the device, most reviews agreed on one thing: this is a good looking and well thought-out product. Engadget called it attractive and very slim, Liliputing felt it had a definite sex-appeal, CNET agreed, but Gizmodo complaint about the size of the dimly-lid screen. In addition, with its barely 1 kilogram , the device feels light.

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Hardware

The performance of the device is a concern however. Engadget noticed the device sometimes responding slowly and hanging in the touch interface. Gizmodo agreed that it had sub-par hardware under the hood, even for a netbook, which are usually low-specced any way. Liliputting called its processor “sluggish” and said it ocassionaly slowed down the software interface; watching HD video on it was not recommended, as the display of the video quickly became choppy. CNET agreed that the T91′s processor was not powerful enough.

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Software

All reviews agreed on the fact that Windows XP Home is by far not able enough to be used with this device. It is simply not prepared for touch, Liliputing agreed. However, Engadget and CNET appreciated the Touch Gate software layer, ASUS installed on the device to make XP usable with touch. Gizmodo felt it to be confusing and annoying at times and called it a “glorified app launcher”.

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Battery

Time registered was around 3 hours with high performance and 4 hours with maximum battery and low performance, according to all four reviews.

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Swivel functionality and touch screen

And now, on to its greatest selling point, the swivel screen. The T91′s screen can be turned around 180 degrees and put flat on the keyboard to form a tablet with only a touchscreen. All reviews agreed that the swivel screen feels solid and the movement happens natural and moves smoothly.

There was some discrepancy about the brightness of the screen, Engadget reported it to be brightly-lit, while Gizmodo said the opposite; it was “typically ASUS-like” dimly-lid. Did they receive different models?

All reviews mentioned the touchscreen itself worked well and was precice enough to take notes with. However, Engadget mentioned that when putting your palm on the device while writing, it registered touch there. Meaning it is not possible to write completely naturally, as you would on a notebloc.

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Price

The Engadget reviewer felt it hard to justify the cost of $499.99 for the device. Gizmodo did not mention the price. Liliputing mentioned that it was about the same for competing small touch screen tablets. While CNET appreciated ASUS’s efforts to keep the price in the netbook range (below the famous $500 netbook mark).

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Videos

With 10 negative and 13 positive reviews, it seems as though the receival of the ASUS Eee PC T91 went quite well for a first-time device in a new consumer computing segment. Remember that, except for the ASUS Eee Top, this is the first actual touchscreen personal computer device ASUS has launched. It is obvious that there will be kinks in the cable that need to be worked out. Especially the software. With the release of the touch-enabled Windows 7 yesterday however, we are sure these software problems will be ironed out.

We are looking forward to seeing its bigger brother, the ASUS Eee PC T101H hit the streets soon. It is obvious that ASUS is testing the streets with this device. Being the company that it is, it will take all the pointers reviewers and customers give them, and implement these in the T101H.

What about you?

The question that remains…are you going to get it? How did these reviews make you feel about the T91? Leave your answers in the comments as usual.

Via Engadget, Gizmodo, Liliputing and CNET.

An anonymous source told AsusTablet.com that Asus will release three versions of the Asus Eee PC T91. We already knew about the T91GO which enables 3G, GPS and a digital TV features. In addition to the standard T91 (with a single-touch screen) and T91GO (or T91go), there will be the T91A. This model will be the only one to hold a multi-touch screen. It is not clear if this last version will or will not include the options of the T91go too or if there will be a fourth model (T91Ago), which includes both a multi-touch screen and 3G, GPS and a TV tuner.

An interesting point to note is that the T91A will weight about 0.06 kg more than the standard T91. This is because of the chips installed.

Here’s a line up of the specifications for the different models:

ASUS Eee PC T91A (Multi-touch)

“The Eee PC™ T91A measures just 225cm by 164cm, and weighs a mere 0.96kg—making it one of the smallest and thinnest gadgets with an 8.9″ display in the world today. The Eee PC™ T91A is the one of the first mini laptops to use a full multi-touch interface, supporting Microsoft Windows 7.”

• Screen: 8.9″ LED Backlight / Resistive Multi-Touch Panel
• Enabled for Microsoft Windows 7
• Resolution: 1024 x 600 (WSVGA)
• Battery: Li-polymer, 5.4 hours runtime
• Processor: Intel Atom Z520 – 1.33GHz
• OS: Windows 7
• Memory: 1Gb (DDR2); 2Gb Maximum
• Storage: SSD 16Gb + 16Gb SD Card (included)
• Online Storage: 20Gb (free for 18 mos.)
• Audio: HD / Stereo Speakers / Digital Array Mic
• Wireless: 802.11 b/g/n
• Bluetooth: Yes
• Camera: 0.3 Megapixel Built-in
• Color: Black / Silver
• Weight: 0.96 kg

ASUS Eee PC T91go (GPS, Digital TV and 3G enabled)

“The Eee PC™ T91Go measures just 225cm by 164cm, and weighs a mere 1.02kg—making it one of the smallest and thinnest gadgets with an 8.9″ display in the world today. The Eee PC™ T91go is a device for on the road. With its built-in Global Positioning System (GPS) and 3G connectivity, it supports advanced navigation capabilities on the go and enables you to connect to the web through a cellular connection. The DVB TV tuner makes watching television on your device a possibility for extensive entertainment options.”

• Screen: 8.9″ LED Backlight / Resistive Touch Panel
• Resolution: 1024 x 600 (WSVGA)
• Battery: Li-polymer, 5.4 hours runtime
• Processor: Intel Atom Z520 – 1.33GHz
• OS: Windows XP Home
• Memory: 1Gb (DDR2); 2Gb Maximum
• Storage: SSD 16Gb + 16Gb SD Card (included)
• Online Storage: 20Gb (free for 18 mos.)
• Audio: HD / Stereo Speakers / Digital Array Mic
• Wireless: 802.11 b/g/n
• Bluetooth: Yes
• Camera: 0.3 Megapixel Built-in
• Color: Black / Silver
• Weight: 1.02 kg
• GPS: Yes
• 3G Module: Yes
• Digital TV Tuner: Yes

ASUS Eee PC T91 (Standard)

“The Eee PC™ T91 measures just 225cm by 164cm, and weighs a mere 0.96kg—making it one of the smallest and thinnest gadgets with an 8.9″ display in the world today.The Eee PC™ T91’s tablet PC functionality makes it easy to cradle in one arm, enabling users to read documents, scribble ideas into digital notebooks and surf the Internet while traveling on foot. ”

• Screen: 8.9″ LED Backlight / Resistive Touch Panel
• Resolution: 1024 x 600 (WSVGA)
• Battery: Li-polymer, 5.4 hours runtime
• Processor: Intel Atom Z520 – 1.33GHz
• OS: Windows XP Home
• Memory: 1Gb (DDR2); 2Gb Maximum
• Storage: SSD 16Gb + 16Gb SD Card (included)
• Online Storage: 20Gb (free for 18 mos.)
• Audio: HD / Stereo Speakers / Digital Array Mic
• Wireless: 802.11 b/g/n
• Bluetooth: Yes
• Camera: 0.3 Megapixel Built-in
• Color: Black / Silver
• Weight: 0.96 kg

Some new pictures from Asus