Discussions

We've come a long way with WePC the last few months, and we've been focused pretty tightly on the ideas in our dreams ~ to round off the last few months of posts, nothing is more appropriate than looking at what Asus has been announcing at conferences like CeBit! It's incredible, and perhaps not at all unexpected that many of the ideas (Double Screens! Touch Interfaces! Voice Controlled! and more!) that we've been discussing here are on their way to coming to life soon! Here are some links and examples of the few models flying around the web this week!

Fold/Unfold - Gizmodo describes this one as "thin like a MacBook Air but, when unfolded, the system tilts its keyboard up for ergonomics and better computer airflow."

Engadget has a great pic of the tilt (and day glow lighting that would match the Virgin America interiors)... apparently this one will retail between $1000-$1500

Flipbook - It's gone from concept... (Gizmodo even mocked it for resembling "two iPhones mating")

... to prototype at CeBit! You've got to check out the awesome gallery of pics at Engadget has! Here's a preview:

Apparently you're not allowed to touch... but they have TONS of pics!

Of all of the concepts, going into production, this one certainly feels the most like many of the netbooks we've been discussing ~ although personally, i dont know if a touch screen for keyboard/photo editing/illustration is ideal for all of my uses ~ i wonder if there will ever be a hybrid between the Flipbook and the Fold/Unfold

Voice Controlled Eee - Engadget tells us more here! "Next up for the firm is voice control, with a whole team dedicated to voice recognition, and plans to ship Eee PC and Eee Top products by Q3 or Q4 of this year. According to ASUS CEO Jerry Shen they're working with third parties in this effort, so we're guessing they're not going to reinvent the voice recognition wheel"

For more on the concepts ~ its been interesting reading this interview on TechRadar with Asus CEO Jerry Shen:

TR: In effect, you are asking consumers to change the whole idea of how they use PCs, particularly in relation to the idea of sitting on the sofa in the living room while using your TV as you would use your PC monitor. Could you tell us a little more about the new concept PCs Asus had on show at CeBit this year – the Fold/Unfold laptop and the dual touchscreen eBook laptop concept, for example.

JS: The dual touchscreen PC is still at concept stage, but for the Fold/Unfold laptop concept, we plan to try to implement that in the second half of 2009, so we will see mass production of that later this year. We were thinking of the category of the MacBook Air and we think that the Asus Fold/Unfold can create another category. Image-wise and everything, it is a PC in many ways like the MacBook Air – we seek to have a similar impact on the market. In 2007 when Apple launched the MacBook Air, it created a lot of media attention. So this year Asus plans to launch the Fold/Unfold, not following with tradition, to create a similar momentum.

TR: So it is like a more affordable and economical PC version of the MacBook Air?

JS: Yes. Have you seen the pre-production prototype of the Fold/Unfold? [Assistant fetches in the mock-up prototype]. As you see it is pretty… different!

TR: It is certainly different. It's a real departure, design wise. So this is definitely going to be available to consumers in time for Christmas 2009?

JS: It will be available around September or October time later this year.

TR: What about the selling price?

JS: The end-user price will be somewhere between $1000 and $1500.

TR: So you think this will have a similar impact on the market to that of the original Eee PC back in 2007?

JS: Yes, because it is something different, exciting and original. Just as with the 'Seashell' Eee PC 1008 also, we are offering a new polymer battery offering up to five hours battery life.

TR: What about that dual screen concept PC that you have been showing at CeBit?

JS: For the dual screen concept there are two parts – it can work as a dual-screen monitor or it can work with one screen acting as a [touchscreen] keyboard. The trigger idea was that there are often times when you need a bigger screen or more screens. Like in an investment bank, for example, they have so many screens!

This concept is still in development. We are still trying to see if we can make people understand this concept easily. So right now it is my priority to keep working on this concept. OLED is still very expensive. And when you touch a normal keyboard, you feel it. But if we use a touchscreen keyboard, there is no response. You can maybe use the voice for input, but this is still something we need to work on before it is commercialised. So this will not launch this year. This one [indicates Fold/Unfold prototype] will launch this year.

I guess it can be safe to say that we'll be seeing a lot more of our ideas seens here on WePC coming into prototype/production from Asus in the near future?