I think the battle of the tablet has begun. Just a day ago, we saw ExoPC in its full glory. Now, just before Computex officially commence in Taiwan, Asus joined in the fun with a few tablet models. One of the promising one is the 12-inch Asus Eee Pad, EP121.
It run on Windows 7 OS, sports an Intel’s Core 2 Duo CULV processors and has a 10-hour battery life, an integrated webcam and at least one USB port. It also has a docking station with keyboard which makes it look like a laptop. Here is a video grab from Engadget.
Unfortunately, the initial hands on by Engadget team is marred by unit not working. Nevertheless, the built seems solid. I copied the Press Release from Engadget.
Stay Connected and Multitask with the Eee Pad
Engineering excellence meets stunning design in the ASUS Eee Pad, an ultra-slim and light yet high-performance slate device designed to provide users with a real time cloud computing experience. The Eee Pad will be available in two configurations.The 12″ Eee Pad EP121 is a full-featured slate computer that serves as a multimedia player, e-reader, and compact computing device. Powered by a CULV Intel® Core™ 2 Duo processor and the Windows® 7 Home Premium operating system, it effortlessly handles multitasking tasks whether enabling users to check their email and calendars, have video conferences, or process Microsoft Word and Excel documents simultaneously. The ASUS Eee Pad EP121 offers two convenient modes of character input-an embedded virtual keyboard or an innovative hybrid keyboard/docking station design. All of this power is available in a personal computing device that delivers up to 10 hours of usage.
For users seeking additional mobility, ASUS is proud to present the 10” Eee Pad EP101TC that runs Windows Embedded Compact 7, which provides an engaging user experience and delivers instant connectivity to the Windows world. It also provides a familiar full-featured user experience across various connected devices and cloud computing services.
Notice that they also mention EP101TC? It is a 10-inch Eee Pad that runs on Windows Embedded Compact 7. The hands on experience by Engadget’s team shows that it need more “tuning” before it can be released to market. I don’t think it has accelerometer or GPS.