The Asus netbook evolution
By CHONG JINN XIUNG
TOUCH THIS: Wang demonstrating Asus' Eee PC T91 touchscreen enabled netbook.
PETALING JAYA: Computer hardware manufacturer Asus has been widely credited with the creation of the sub genre of notebooks popularly known as netbooks.
Small, portable and easy to use, netbooks have seen success in emerging markets such as Malaysia due to their low cost and full web browsing capabilities.
“What makes the netbook so special is that we wanted to create a product that was both convenient and could provide quick Internet access to users,” Asus Malaysia product director for notebooks Neo Wang told In.Tech recently.
“At Asus, we don’t treat the netbook segment as a low-end device but rather consider it to be one of our most significant products,” Wang added.
“In fact we are one of the few companies that still maintain our own design and R&D department to further improve our products.”
Adding touch
One of the upcoming improvements consumers can expect to see in netbooks in the coming years is the addition of touch functionalities.
“In a way, much of our design philosophy is based on designing products that meet the needs of the end consumer,” Wang said.
He cited the Asus Eee PC T91, which is a full touchscreen Tablet netbook, as an example of one of the ways Asus is differentiating itself from conventional netbooks.
Despite it being their first attempt at making a touch-based netbook, the popularity of the product has been most encouraging so far, he claimed.
Wang said the addition of touch capabilities makes for an attractive user interface that would enable users to use their Eee PCs like notepads for taking down notes.
He also said that users can expect to see the next generation of netbooks to feature improved battery life with some models capable of lasting up to 10 hours.
“Battery performance is definitely one of the key areas we are looking to improve, making it convenient for customers as they won’t need to bring an adapter around wherever they go.”
Wang also said the company is planning to bundle external optical drives with its newer range of netbooks.
“We recognise there’s still a need for optical drives in today’s computing environment hence we will bundle external optical drives so customers can easily use it while on the go.”
Seven up
With the upcoming launch of Windows 7, Asus is gearing its product lineup to take advantage of the performance enhancements as well as the additional functionalities that Windows 7 offers.
“Naturally, the higher system requirements mean that Asus will increase all new models of our netbooks with 32GB solid state drives (SSD),” Wang said.
Citing the Asus Eee PC T91 again, he said Windows 7 would allow the T91 to utilise multi-touch functionalities thus making it easier for users to navigate and interact with various forms of media.
Adding to this, a Microsoft spokesman said that the company is working on a special version of Windows 7 catering to netbooks.
However Microsoft declined to reveal more details on the new netbook-centric operating system which is still under development.
Link: http://star-techcentral.com/tech/story.asp?file=/2009/9/24/technology/20090924173003&sec=technology
Other reviews on the above: http://www.engadget.com/2009/07/15/asus-eee-pc-t91-review/
ASUS homepage : http://asus.com/product.aspx?P_ID=qdwslBLhhfuw43HS&content=overview
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