Voice-controlled Asus Eee PCs due in H2 2009

Asus certainly looks to be pushing the boundaries of notebook/netbook technology. Having already announced that it expects its Fold/Unfold concept to have a commercial release this year, it has also mentioned that it wants to see ‘the end of the keyboard’ according to an interview with Asus CEO Jerry Shen.

Asus expects to launch its first Eee products (both netbook and nettop segments) which implement voice-recognition in the second half of this year. “Actually, internally we have one team dedicated to studying voice recognition. Touch and gesture input is universal, whereas language is not universal,” said Jerry Shen. It sounds like something that the company does seem to be pushing hard with dedicated teams in place working with third parties in both Japan and the US.

Now what I am confused about is that Asus Eee PCs have had some element of voice control features since the original 701. Back then, a number of apps could be launched by talking into a microphone. Now that was based on the Linux distro, so maybe Asus will be expanding this voice functionality into a Windows based system. Either way I’m not entirely sure what Asus has in store for us.

Asus Fold/Unfold notebook will cost $1,000 – $1,500

Asus plans to bring its Fold/Unfold concept to reality by commercially launching the product in September or October 2009 according to a TechRadar interview with Asus’ CEO Jerry Shen. He also said that the new type of notebook will retail for somewhere between $1000 to $1500. We previously reported that a launch was being pencilled in for the third quarter this year, but this is the first time we have had details on pricing.

This new form factor has a keyboard that slides backwards as the screen is opened, maximising room for the keys, trackpad and palm rest. As we have discussed previously, this new concept is a very interesting development for netbooks as given the size limitations of netbooks and efforts by manufacturers to maximise keyboard space, we would be very surprised to not see this concept appear in an Asus netbook at some point in the future.

Asus’ Fold/Unfold concept coming to netbooks soon?

Asus’ CEO Jerry Shen has confirmed to TechRadar that the Fold/Unfold concept will become a commercial reality in Q3 2009. This exciting new form factor has been has been designed to provide a more ergonomic keyboard by groups of designers from France, Italy and Korea. The video after the jump shows the concept in action, the keyboard sliding backwards as the screen is opened. This maximises the room for the keys, trackpad and palm rest. The fact that the keyboard separates itself from the main body of the system also lets ASUS cool the internal components more effectively. Whilst Asus has only confirmed this for an upcoming laptop, given the size limitations of netbooks and efforts by manufacturers to maximise keyboard space, we would be very surprised to not see this concept appear in an Asus netbook at some point.

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