Asus Eee Keyboard Launching in October

By Marcus Yam
published

It seems that we've been waiting for a long time for this one.

We've been hopeful that the Asus Eee Keyboard would be released while we still considered it an innovative piece of kit. It's seemed like a very long wait since we first saw it at CES during January 2009, but Asus executives are now assuring the media that the Eee Keyboard will be ready for consumers starting October.

The Asus Eee Keyboard is a computer-in-a-keyboard device that looks to create its own market much like its predecessor, the Eee PC. Although probably not ideal for playing the latest PC games or rendering CGI graphics, this cool device offers portability, touchscreen technology, and a full set of keys. The Asus Eee Keyboard could be used as a controllable media center for the living room or entertainment area with its wireless HDMI output.

For a deeper look into the (prototype) hardware, check out our previous coverage.

Marcus Yam
Marcus Yam
Marcus Yam served as Tom's Hardware News Director during 2008-2014. He entered tech media in the late 90s and fondly remembers the days when an overclocked Celeron 300A and Voodoo2 SLI comprised a gaming rig with the ultimate street cred.
26 Comments Comment from the forums
  • Major7up
    Very interested to see reviews of this!!!
    Reply
  • Manos
    It just looks so damn gorgeous yet it might be so uncomfortable when it comes to simple keystrokes ( which i doupt cause Asus is not such a tarded nor noob company to do such a mistake.. ). Sp its probably so usefull and comfy huh? Damn it
    Reply
  • i would love to get this but only if it drops in price to near 100 or 150 bucks.
    Reply
  • starryman
    How much??? If it's around $300 I'm in. I've seen some articles stating that it's useless since it won't send video/audio wirelessly. Ha ha. That would make the device well into the $thousands. At this point I'd settle for around $300 with a HDMI connector.
    Reply
  • tayb
    Wireless HDMI output? Does it come with a receiver? If it does I just went from completely uninterested to on the fence. I watch a ton of television, movies, sports, etc on my laptop and this would be great.

    A lot will depend on the price but the wireless HDMI output is pretty awesome.
    Reply
  • doomtomb
    So what is it capable of?
    Reply
  • probably starts out around 500. Then if we're lucky will drop to 275 (after a year or so).
    They will probably also try to make this keyboard with the newer Atom (?N450?) processor. There's already a big demand for this processor, and it hasn't even gone into production yet!

    So I expect prices to be steep the first months of it's release.
    Reply
  • Wireless HDMI seems interesting!
    Does it have a wireless receiver too?
    Reply
  • Hanin33
    the price shouldn't matter to anyone that paid attention to the fact that this thing connects over 'wireless' HDMI which, last i heard, was very rare in consumer TVs/audio receivers and was also very expensive when found. i think it's a nice concept and will turn out to be really sweet when they bring down the cost of the framework (wireless HDMI TV/audio receivers).
    Reply
  • Hanin33
    also, the wireless HDMI standard operates on common 802.11 wireless frequencies, so expect interference from you other common wireless devices...
    Reply