Next ASUS Eee PC to use touchscreen after all?
updated 12:35 pm EDT, Tue March 25, 2008
ASUS Eee PC to Get Touch
ASUS' Eee PC sequel will have a touchscreen implemented after all, according to new claims by screen producers in the company's home area of Taiwan. Regardless of assertions by ASUS head Jerry Shen that the new Eee PC would go without a touch-sensitive display, the PC builder is said to have ordered low-cost, resistive touchscreens that will be used with the micro-notebook when it launches in April. The technology is considered less elegant than capacitive touchscreens (such as that for the iPhone) but will add just $10 US to the cost of building one of the ASUS systems.
No features were discussed for the alleged improvement, which has yet to be confirmed and may not necessarily apply to every model. For the current Eee PC, ASUS has offered multiple models with differing flash storage levels, webcams, and colors but has yet to make any changes to the screen besides news of the larger 900 version.
If true, the development will help ASUS fend off an increasing number of competitors in the field of very small notebooks, which should soon include a touchscreen Everex CloudBook as well as offerings from Acer, ECS, and GigaByte.
