Gizmodo: eee top

ASUS Puts Voice Recognition in 20-Inch Touchscreen EeeTop ET2002, Now Car Ready

Joanna Stern — Wed, 26 Aug 2009 17:20:00 EDT

ASUS likes to throw crap against the wall to see what sticks and in this case they put voice recognition into its newest EeeTop. The software is accurate, but I'm not seeing the need for it in a 20-inch PC.

I do have to say the voice recognition seems to be on the ball from the video; it is actually impressive when Sascha, the German chap in the vid, butchers the pronunciation of "Kanye West" (around 3:46 in video) and the computer lady still understands it and plays a song.

But why do you need this voice functionality baked into an all-in-one with such a big screen where you are bound to have your hands somewhat free to control the touchscreen? Though I guess, it could be useful for when in a kitchen before cooking up a MacGyver Chef creation. [Netbook News]

Asus Eees Getting Voice Recognition This Year

Mark Wilson — Tue, 24 Mar 2009 09:10:00 EDT

Who knows if it will work, but Asus wants to put "an end to the keyboard." So a variety of Eee products will roll out with voice recognition capabilities later this year.

According to Asus CEO Jerry Shen:

...internally we have one team dedicated to studying voice recognition. Touch and gesture input is universal, whereas language is not universal...The first Eee PC or Eee Top products implementing voice-recognition and features will be ready by Q3/Q4 2009 – with our dedicated development team working with third parties in both Japan and the US and reporting directly to me. So this is something we will see very soon...

Hmm, it's a fine idea for home (if it works). But I'd rather not be talking to my netbook at Starbucks. [TechRadar]

Asus Eee Top All-in-One Now Available for Preorder

Adam Frucci — Tue, 03 Mar 2009 11:00:00 EST

Looking for an all-in-one but don't want to pay Apple-level prices? Well, the new Asus EEE Top is now available for preorder in the US.

The 15.6-inch models are set to ship from Amazon on March 9th for $600. It comes in either black or white, loaded up with a custom touchscreen interface, a 1.6GHz Atom processort, 1GB of RAM, 160GB HDD, built-in webcam, 802.11n Wi-Fi and Windows XP.

And if 15.6 inches is a bit too small for you, rumor has it your patience could be rewarded with a 22-inch version coming out later.
[Amazon via Electronista]

Asus All-In-One Eee Top Touches Down In Taiwan

Elaine Chow — Fri, 21 Nov 2008 02:00:00 EST

Asus' long awaited all-in-one touchscreen PC, the Eee Top, is now out in the wild... at least in Taiwan. The 15.6-inch display “nettop” runs Windows XP and holds an Intel Atom N270 processor with 1GB of memory and a 160GB hard disk drive within its chassis. It also comes with a 1.3MP webcam, two integrated 4W speakers and a nifty little dimmable LED keyboard light.

The Eee Top will definitely not please gamers, Photoshop pros or their ilk, but the simplified custom interface (made for touching!) and clean design make it a decent option for more casual, social PC users. As for pricing, the desktop is going for about $565 in Taiwan, but I'm willing to bet it'll be closer to the $400 to $500 price point when it comes to the U.S. [Engadget Chinese]

Touchscreen Eee PC Due Early 2009, Will Run Windows 7 Later Says Asus CEO

Kit Eaton — Tue, 21 Oct 2008 04:25:00 EDT

After the DIY options, and initial hints, official word is out that there'll be a touchscreen Eee PC next year. And that's from none other than the CEO, Jerry Shen, himself. The guys over at Laptopmag got the low-down from Shen, who confirmed the machine will exist by "early 2009," and will actually be running Windows 7 by mid 2009. That's pretty interesting stuff, and though he wouldn't specify a form factor for the touchy Eee, Shen also spilled the beans on a few other aspects of the Eee success story.

Four million Eee sales to date have pretty much secured the Eee's status at the top end of the netbook market, and Shen plans to see figures top five million by the end of this year. The original 7-inch display 700-series version looks like the main seller in these figures.

Shen also promised the EeeTop all-in-one machine will arrive this month, and it'll run XP in Easy Mode. The EeeStick for gaming is also on its way, and may come bundled with some games alongside the EeeBox, EeeTop and Eee PC. Where it's sold elsewhere it'll cost $50 to $100.

The Eee PC will also get a 10-inch screen model at some point in the future, but Shen said that that's where his company is drawing the line between netbooks and notebooks: the N10 was a specific attempt to create a full notebook with a 10-inch display, but future models will start at 11-inches, leaving the 10-inch and smaller range to netbook machines.

And though Shen wouldn't say whether the touchscreen Eee would follow a conventional or tablet form-factor, he did admit "We are considering both. We are considering a tablet one and also a different alternative and form but we cannot talk about the details. We plan to talk about it in Q1 of next year."

Watch this space. And head over to the Laptopmag link for the full details on the interview. [Laptopmag]