Monday, March 23, 2009

£800 Asus Fold/Unfold Laptop To Launch In H2 2009

Asus will be launching a new upmarket laptop based on the fold/unfold laptop model, inspired by the origami philosophy, demoed at the recent CeBIT 2009 event in Germany in the second half of 2009.

Asus's new CEO Jerry Shen told Techradar that the device would cost roughly between $1000 and $1500 and would include the innovative paper-like folding mechanism that lifts the keyboard to an angle.

This should typing more comfortable although we're dubious about having the touchpad and the keyboard on two different planes. It also reminds us of a similar of IBM's THinkpad Butterfly Keyboard which was released as part of the Thinkpad 701 series in 1995.

There are three fold/unfold designs in all that Asus presented which could find their way into the new, posher EEE series and based on what we've seen improved ergonomics is going to be Asus's forte.

Some though have questioned whether the fold/unfold mechanism will be sturdy enough to last for a few years. No specifications have been released yet although, it is very likely that Asus will match Apple's Macbook Air but with a nice 50 percent discount.

Article Source: security.itproportal.com