Asus and Intel have teamed up to develop a cheap notebook PC – the "Eee PC," an inexpensive laptop designed to help spread computing to poorer regions. Two models were demonstrated: a $199 and $299 model, both representing Intel's "World Ahead" market initiative. A shipping date was not announced for the new device. The Eee PC will apparently connect to the Internet, as it will allow users to make VOIP calls. Chairman and chief executive of Asus, Jonney Shih, said the computer weighs about 900 grams – a working model of the Eee PC booted in about fifteen seconds to what was clearly not a Microsoft OS.
"This is the world's lowest cost and easiest PC," Shih said, holding the small white conventional notebook aloft. The name, he said, represented a three-fold repetition of the word "easy": "easy to learn, easy to play, easy to work," he said, noting that the name also conjured up the Nintendo Wii game console, which novices can pick up and play in a matter of minutes. "We really hope, you know, that in the whole world far more people are looking for a low-cost and very easy PC," Shih said.
News source: PCMAG
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