Some clever individuals have worked out that you can install the gOS (the Ubuntu based OS that ships with the Everex Cloudbook) onto the Asus Eee PC (instead of the Xandros based OS Asus favour). More information here.

[Via Engadget]

In an article discussing Asus’ plans to expand the Eee brand name to other devices (device PCs, all in one PCs, and monitors), they also mention that Asus have stated there is not sufficient demand for a touchscreen Eee PC.

If you still think it’s a worthwhile mod, we covered one touchscreen option here (the Linitx.com 7″ touchscreen), in the second half of the article, although their stocks are limited for the next couple of weeks due to high demand from Asus modders.

For those of you not brave enough to mod your Asus Eee PC with a touchscreen, the current rumours are that Asus will be including touchscreen options in new models later in the year. We’ve already mentioned the plans to expand the display size range, and it appears the 8.9″ model will feature a touchscreen (it may be optional).

If you are thinking about adding your own touchscreen, LinITX sell a 7″ Touchscreen kit that have featured in the EeeUser Forums. Better than that, as it’s just over £30, it (along with any other order at LinITX over £30) qualifies for free shipping (UK only).

The picture above is possibly just a mockup of the device, but Asus plan to announce the M930 at CeBIT later this year in March. The device will run Windows Mobile 6 (Standard, ie no Touchscreen), has a QVGA exterior screen, a 400 x 240 interior display (not a match for the E90’s screen), with a 2 megapixel camera, WiFi, Bluetooth, microSD card slot, 256MB of ROM and 64MB RAM. These specs (smaller screen, no GPS etc.) mean this is likely to be cheaper than the E90 and may take some customers away from Nokia. However, with Nokia and HTC trying to include GPS receivers in all their high spec equipment, this device may not get as many customers as it could.

Picture and Story courtesy of Engadget.

After the leaks of Asus’ plans for expanding their Eee PC range, information on Everex’s expanding range is now available. Everex will produce a 9″ screen version around June, with a larger keyboard and more memory. It may also feature changeable covers.  Everex are also planning a developer version of the current CloudBook called the DevBook, which will feature a touchscreen and swappable side panel accessories. If true, this may indicate a future CloudBook with similar features…

Although the version of Linux that ships with the Eee PC limits the screen to 800×480, some enterprising individuals on the eeeuser.com forums have written up instructions on improving this. If you have Windows XP installed instead of Linux, then they have made available a new set of video drivers which offer 800×600, 1024×768, and 1280×1024 resolution options. It appears that these drivers expand the screen space, and then scale the screen down to fit the actual screen, so it appears to be running at these higher resolutions. Although simply installing Windows XP offers these resolutions, they result in you needing to scroll the screen around, so it is an improvement.

Pictures of an 8″ Eee PC (on the right) compared to the existing 7″ screen (on the left) have been found. The above shows that the screen will fit into the existing unit. Right now, the pictures show the same 800×600 resolution, although it’s not 100% sure whether the 8″ or 8.9″ screen versions will get higher resolutions or not.

Pictures courtesy of EeePCNews.de [Via JKKMobile]

Asus have announced at CES a range of extensions to the Eee PC range. For the US, the big announcement is an Eee PC with built in WiMax (in conjunction with Sprint and Intel). Also, they will be expanding the range of screens available, with multiple screen sizes from the current 7″ to 8″ and 8.9″. Asus have also stated Windows XP will become an officially supported OS on the devices too.

On another note, Asus also launched a UMPC device, the R50A, which will include built in GPS, a 5.6″ 1024 x 600 screen, integrated dual webcam and digital TV tuner. Asus claim this is “WiMax ready” too.

No news on UK availability on any of these devices, although Asus have pledged to make the Eee PCs available worldwide when they start shipping.

Asus have released a range of accessories for their Eee PC range - including compact mice, noise cancelling headphones, power adaptors for a range of countries, and extra batteries. More details here.

Although the main sales of the Eee PC are the 4Gb, and whilst the 8Gb version has also been discussed, Japan is now getting a 16Gb version, which is rumoured to also have the option of Windows XP pre-installed to the device. No word on whether this version will be available in the UK, but we suspect it will be at some point during 2008.

Andrew Flegg has written a good review of the Asus Eee PC, which he has compared to the Nokia N810 and the Psion netBook. He finishes the article with a list of reasons as to why you would choose the Asus Eee PC over the Nokia N810, and vice versa.

Thoughtfix, who runs the popular Tabletblog, also runs a UMPC blog. Yesterday he released a long review comparing the Nokia N810 with the small Asus Eee PC. Read the article to see which may be best for you.

Asus have confirmed that they will be shipping an 8Gb, 10-inch screen version of the Eee PC during 2008, which is a higher spec than the currently shipping Eee PC recently mentioned here.

Update: Asus are now claiming that although there are plans for an 8Gb version, they do not currently plan to release a version with a 10-inch screen.  The general consensus in the gadget world is that they will, however, release it at some point, just not yet.

PC Pro have posted up a couple of interesting reviews from their Oct 07 magazine.

First up is the small Asus Eee PC, which they have given “PC Pro Recommended” status. A nice small form factor laptop running Linux that’s also cheap. A nice high spec of:

• 225mm wide, 170mm deep, and weighs 1.12kg including the PSU.
• 900MHz Intel Celeron M ULV (ultra-low voltage) processor and 512MB of RAM.
• 4GB flash disk instead of a conventional hard disk, although 2.5GB is used for the OS.
• 800 x 480, 7inch (diagonal) screen.
• Wired and 802.11b/g wireless support.
• 640×480-resolution (0.3megapixel) webcam set into the bezel.
• 3 x USB2 ports
• SD card reader

Head on over to PC Pro for their review.

Alternatively, there’s a video review here.