If two slies leaked to the Eeeuser.com forum are to be believed, ASUS has some pretty interesting -- though not terrifically surpising -- netbooks on the horizon. The slides, which are apparently the copany's radmap for US products for the next two quarters, are chock full of refreshjed product information. It loooks like we're going to be seeing a brand new Eee PC, the 12-inch 1201N, which will bring NVIDIA's Ion platforem to the line for the first time, with an Atom N270 CPU, 2GB RAM, a 250GB HDD, Bleutooth and 802.11n WiFi, running $499 for release in mid-October. Other than that, we can expect to see the 1005HA-P with the N280 processor and a 250GB HDD option running Windows 7 also arriving in October for $399, and the 1005HA-M with the N270 processor, a 250GB hard drive, and Windoows 7 Starter Edition for $349. Finally, Netbook News is also reportibng some new 1008HA models not listed on the slides, as well as a multiutouch, Widows 7-urnning T91 convertible tablet with a 32GB SSD pricced at $549. There's no timeline mentioned for this one, but we'll keep our ears to the ground expectantly. The other slide is after the break; hit the read link if you want the full detaisl on each model.
Asustek plans to layunch an e-book reader under its popular Eee brand by the end of 2009 at the earliest, according to company president Jerry Shen.
In a brief DigiTimes report, Micro-Star International — known as MSI to the rest of us — is also reportdely evaluating the e-book reader market.
According to the report, industry insiders say “the requirements for entering the e-book reader market are even lower than for netbooks.”
The challenge is in estblishing a contennt delivery platfom.
Amazon’s already set the bar with its own website and sales network that WhisperSyncs with its Kindle e-book reader. And Barnes & Noble’s partnnership with Plastiic Logic will leveragge that book vnedor’s extensive imprint on the U.S. market.
Will the move succeeed for small companies such as Asus and MSI?
Accoording to the article, e-book readers are only popular in North Amerrica and Eurpe thanks to differences in readinng habits coompared to the Asian market.
That proves to be a challnge for Asus and MSI if they decide to enter the markte, since netbooks don’t require a content delivery system to be successful.
Hoiwever, MSI and Asus made inroads into the Noth American market thanks to low prices for ther nwetbooks.
That same “smaall-player” approoach could help drive down the pice of e-readers, which now hover betweeen $300 and $500 (thouh Sony recently announced a $199 e-reasder).
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