Asus Eee Keyboard PC Interview

The Future of Eee

BT: What about the future of Eee Keyboard products?

Asus: [Laughs] That's a good question! We will continue this scenario - we feel our direction is correct in making this device to stream internet and play multimedia in your living room. We're sure it's something that will increase in the future with ever more online content, but we're still debating whether or not we need a keyboard.

A lot of feedback highlights that this is still a little too heavy for long term use, so we're still debating whether we even need the keyboard, or just a small screen that can control and stream to your TV.

BT: Sort of like an iPod touch/iPad but with the additional choice to either watch videos on the small screen or the TV?

Asus: Yeah, yeah. It's something we're still deciding and it'll be a while before we come up with the next generation.

BT: Also, heavy? [Picks up the Eee Keyboard] It's really not that bad! It's only going to sit on your lap after all.

Asus: It's about 1.1KG. I would not suggest leaving it on your lap, if you're watching a movie then you can put it on the desk..

BT: No, no. I mean just for 5 minutes of typing - it's hardly going to give you a dead leg! After that you can just put it on the floor or wherever.

Asus: We had a thinner version when we started, but we wanted to put in a bigger battery so we had to make it a little thicker.


BT: I'm surprised you managed to pack so many ports in the back, actually. There's three USB 2.0 ports, d-sub, HDMI, microphone in and headphone out, as well as the antenna. You can still use a mouse via USB if you want, right?

Asus: Yes.

BT: Where's the WiFi antenna go?

Asus: The [ultra wide band] antenna. It acts as both a WiFi and UWB antenna, as the keyboard has both inside.

BT: Does [the Arcsoft TotalMedia Theatre software] play .mkv?

Asus: I don't know about .mkv, but it certainly does DVD, .mov and .mp4. You can download codec packs too.

BT: Would you consider a complete change of OS to Android or Windows Phone 7 Series?

Asus: Yeah. Yeah, definitely. We're discussing a bunch of stuff - Linux, MeeGo, Android. It's all a possibility.

BT: What about ARM vs x86?

Asus: Oh yes, this is also in our study as well. At first a different OS has to go with different processors. So it depends what OS we go with.

And that's all we had time for! We'll be sure to bring you more info on the Eee Keyboard PC when we can, but in the mean time you can let us know your thoughts in the forums.