Asus Announces New 8.9" Eee PC

Today Asus finally released a 9" version of the much loved Eee PC at CeBit in Germany. Rumors have been flying back and forth on this speculated model in the past, but it appears Asus finally took action and brought this larger screened UMPC to the market. Not much has changed with this model from its smaller 7" brother, with a larger 12GB SSD option being the only additional option.

From the images below you can see that the oddly placed speakers bars present on the smaller 7" model are gone, leaving a clean look you would find from a normal notebook.

Technical specifications:

• Processor: Intel Celeron M ULV 900MHz (may be changed to newer processor)
• Storage: 12GB of Flash-based storage (SSD)
• Memory: 1GB of RAM
• OS: Linux (Asus customized)
• Screen: 8.9-inch screen with 800 x 480 resolution
• Ports: 3 USB, 1 monitor, headphone jack, microphone input, SD card reader (SDHC compatible), Kensington lock slot, Ethernet 10/100
• Webcam: 0.3 MP resolution
• Battery: 4-cell 5200 mAh (rated at 3.5 hours)
• Wireless: 802.11b/g Atheros
• Input: Keyboard and Touchpad

While Asus hasn't released a US price for this notebook, they have listed a 399 Euro price for the European market. The only thing I feel is really missing from this newer model is a higher resolution to go with this larger screen, since this new model still has the same real estate found on the smaller, cheaper 7" Eee PC. One website, Daily Tech, is reporting that the resolution of the 8.9" display willbe 1024 x 600 but at this time we have been unable to confirm the availability of a higher resolution.