The success of the T-Mobile G1 is why new cellphone makers decided to release new Android handset. That’s the case with ASUS, who’s been invited by Google to join the Open Handset Alliance, and in return they’re going to come up with an Android mobile phone by the first half of 2009 (more like summer).

ASUS is also expected to ditch the Ericsson Mobile Platform (or EMP) in its phones and go for the Qualcomm and Marvell platform. Wonder if it has anything to do with the fact that Ericsson is not yet a member in OHA while the other two, are!

Good game Google, on making the cell phone market even more crowded that before and on making people play by your rules. – via DigiTimes

If you have an ASUS Eee PC and you think it takes a lot of time to boot up, then you probably wonder how to speed up the loading time. So how you do it for the common user? Here’s what two Intel engineers did last Thursday at the recent Linux Plumbers Conference (what they used) on an SSD based Eee PC.

1. A modified version of Fedora. They’ve cut down different boot elements that aren’t necessary or have functions that are already replicated elsewhere.
   - examples : “setroubleshootd” (Security Enhanced Linux (SELinux) configuration troubleshooting) or “initrd” (that takes at least half a second).
2. A special patch that allows several things to be run simultaneously : link (site down at the moment)

These guys submitted their work to Moblin.org, which means sooner or later we may see faster booting times on other devices, as well.

via SlashGear

The Eee PC from ASUS have always been a great addition to the market and really managed to set a trend. A lot of other companies tried to compete with them, with good or not very good results. But know what? ASUS is not stepping on the second place. They’re going to build a “high-end” Eee PC S-Series that should feature dual-core Atom processors, 120GBs of hard disk, 32GB SSDs, a 10-inch LED backlit display (16:9 aspect) and a battery that should keep it on electricity for some 4-5 hours.

If everything goes well the new high-end Eee PCs should be available from September from prices ranging from $700 to $900

Does it need any more comments? Probably not, and knowing ASUS to build high quality I’m pretty sure their new S-series are going to really kick ass and the company will easily break the annual targeted shipments of five million units. What do you think about the new Eee PC S-Series?

via DigiTimes

Anyone in the US really annoyed by that? It’s not the first time when ASUS makes one of their products available in other parts of the world. Like UK for example. No, don’t get us wrong it’s not really bad, we really envy those Brits right now because they’re going to get their hands on ASUS’ 17-inch G70 gaming laptop before all of us in the States.

In case you missed it, this monstrosity features a 17-inch WUXGA / WXGA+ panel, an optional Core 2 Extreme processor, twin GeForce 8700M GT graphics cards (that’s hot hot hot), 1GB of RAM, an optional Blu-ray writer, gigabit Ethernet, Bluetooth / WiFi and oodles of LED accents.

Rumors say that this puppy is going out for £1,999 (~$3,950). I’d sure like to test one because I’m not sure if my girlfriend would agree with me actually buying one. Not that I could since it’s only available in the UK at the moment.

Rumors regarding the new Windows XP powered Eee PC 4G are now over. The “new” mini-laptop which has the exact hardware items inside, is going to be available from April 9th for $399 on BestBuy. LaptopMag got their hands on it a few weeks before the official sale and they liked it. It boots Windows XP Home, pretty fast in 40 seconds.

Check out the videos.

The popular mini-notebook from Asus will get some competition. Taiwan’s Elitegroup Computer Systems (ECS) has presented its plans to built a low-cost computer with 3G support. That means the Asus Eee PC will have a tempting rival.

Besides the 3G support that enables Internet access via HSDPA and HSUPA (High Speed Downlink/Uplink Packet Access) technologies, the ECS models will feature Wi-Fi support, 56Kbps modem and Bluetooth wireless. Moreover the ECS computers will run on Intel’s Atom microprocessor paired with an Intel 945 GSE chipset. The hardware configuration includes either a regular HDD or a SSD (solid state drive) and up to 2GB of DRAM. ECS users will have the option to choose between the 8.2″ screen or the 10.2″, respectively.

The notebooks will run Microsoft Windows XP or a Linux OS. No price or availability details were revealed, but ECS has got at least a fan in my person.

via InfoWorld

I have been pleased to hear that Asus is currently developing an eco-friendly notebook. The manufacturer tries to make 50% of its parts recyclable. That’s an amazing aim considering all that junk materials used in the production process.

The laptop called Asus Ecobook has a bamboo chassis. That we can tell for sure, but neither of the specs were disclosed by the producer. It may use an Intel Core Duo 2 processor. Although we have a photo, the product could look different after many other revisions.

via SCI FI Tech

Not sure if you can consider this a laptop, but I am telling you that’s exactly what it is. It went on sale on NewEgg yesterday and there are already unboxing and reviewing videos. To go a little bit off-topic, I am not a fan for the OLPC project mainly because they wanted to create a $100 laptop and ended up with $200 and probably above that, in the near future, but I think for $399 (or even lower because they may offer a discount for hundreds of thousands of laptops) the reviews are extremely good. Here is a video of unboxing and some more comments after the jump.

[youtube]http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=hQ-NRAnRrhE[/youtube]

Now that we’ve seen it unboxed I guess you would be interested to know what it has inside? TweakTown did the dissection and it’s not gross at all. Here’s the gallery.

via MobileMag