Asus shows off goodies to CeBIT hordes

Asus has been showing off its Eee Keyboard PC

Asus has used the CeBIT show in Hanover to make a raft of announcements, including a standalone computer keyboard and a concept dual-screen notebook.

The firm was most keen to show off its Eee Keyboard PC, first seen at CES in January, which it said packed the functionality of a complete desktop PC into the confined space of a typical keyboard, albeit one that weighs 1kg.

According to Asus, the Keyboard PC offers Wi-Fi connectivity, and can be plugged into any television or PC monitor. The device is controlled by a 5in touch panel and on-screen cursor, and was awarded first place in the CeBIT PreView Awards.

The concept dual-screen notebook, meanwhile, was built following external comments and recommendations gathered through the firm's WePC.com site. It has no physical keyboard, although it does offer a virtual one, and uses touch-screens for control. In a statement Asus called it a "a revolutionary dual-panel concept notebook".

Asus also showed off the Eee PCT T91 tablet, which comes with an 8.9in touch screen. To enhance mobility and ease of use, the tablet includes embedded toolbars that allow for more control over display size, for example, and touch-screen features such as the ability to 'flick' through photographs, or 'stick' memos on the desktop.

The Eee PCT T91 has built-in GPS and a TV tuner, weighs 0.96kg and offers about five hours of battery life. It was awarded second place in the CeBIT PreView Awards.

The Eee PCT 1008HA, meanwhile, is a sleek netbook that is 1in thick, weighs just over 1kg and crams in a 10in screen. The 1008HA features tools designed to make sharing documents and data much easier, as well as a set of user-friendly quick launch features for software and applications.

Also proudly on display was the Eee NAS PC, a home storage/computer device that boasts 2TB of space and lets users store and share photos, movies and music.

Earlier in the week, the computer maker was showing off a model with a design that apes a sports car. The Asus-Lamborghini VX5 notebook will ship with a huge 1TB drive, an Intel Core 2 Quad CPU and 4GB of RAM, and a turbo feature that can speed up CPU performance. Specs and pricing have yet to be finalised.