ASUS announces Eee PC 1015PEM, packs dual-core Atom N550

[Singapore, 13 September 2010] ASUS today announces the launch of the Eee PC™ 1015PEM with the latest Intel® Atom™ N550 dual core processor. This processor gives the 1015PEM a level of performance that surpasses other Atom-based netbooks available today.

Unprecedented Performance from a 10.1-inch Netbook

The incorporation of the Intel® Atom™ N550 dual core processor into the Eee PC™ 1015PEM enables the netbook to deliver an enhanced cloud computing performance with DDR3 memory support and longer battery life.

The processor gives the 1015PEM the processing power it needs to handle games, as well as other advanced software like Adobe® Flash®. In terms of performance, the 1015PEM has clocked at speeds at least 23 percent* faster than single core processor netbooks.

Despite the added performance, the ASUS-exclusive Super Hybrid Engine technology ensures all-day computing, delivering a battery life of up to 10 hours.

And in terms of storage space, the 1015PEM comes with a 250GB hard drive along with 500GB of online storage space thrown in, making it the ideal cloud computing tool.

Multiple Connectivity Options- Everything but the Kitchen Sink

The Eee PC™ 1015PEM comes with all the bells and whistles normally found on much larger machines.

Bluetooth 3.0 speeds up mobile device sync times, making them up to eight times faster than the previous Bluetooth standard.

There is also Wi-Fi 802.11n and a built-in webcam with its own camera cover for additional privacy.

A Color for Everyone

The 10.1-inch Eee PC™ 1015PEM comes in a variety of shades and colors and is available in Silky Red, Midnight Blue, and Glossy Pink. For those with a more distinguished taste, there is also glossy and matte black or white finishes to choose from.

Availability and Pricing

The Eee PC™ 1015PEM is available already available in Singapore at a recommended retail price of S$599.

Europe is expected to get it this month as well, or latest by next, and will go for 349 EUR.

Unfortunately, there is no news on availability in the United States yet.

Specifications table

Reference: ASUS SG PR

ASUS 240 MIMO Wireless Total Solution

ASUS Technology Pte Ltd (ASUS), a leading provider of high-performancewireless solutions, today unveiled the 240 MIMO series total solutions, whichincludes the WL-566gM router and the WL-106gM cardbus adapter. The ASUS 240 MIMOtotal solution drastically improves WLAN’s data transfer rate and coveragerange, while maintaining signal integrity and Wi-Fi interoperability.

With high-speed 240Mbps data transfer rate, the multi-transmitting 240 MIMOtotal solution excels with an actual throughput of up to 100Mbps, and coverseight times the range than that of standard 802.11g WLAN devices. True wirelessmultimedia experience in homes, small businesses, retail stores etc, without anydead spots is now possible by taking advantage of multipath propagation in theMultiple Input Multiple Output technology - MIMO.

True Wireless Reality
Employing the MIMO technology, which leveraged multi-path signaling, the overallthroughput, range/coverage, and reliability are significantly improved. TheWL-566gM and WL-106gM incorporated this innovation and makes true wirelessenvironment a reality at enterprises, home offices, retail stores and homes withcoverage range that extends eight times than that of the existing 802.11g WLANsolutions, and thus eliminating dead spots, cables, and the cost of additionalrouter configurations.

8X Speed than Existing IEEE 802.11g Units
By transmitting multiple signals containing different information streams overthe same frequency channel, MIMO provides a means of doubling or triplingspectral efficiency. With a data rate of 240Mbps and actual throughput of up to100Mbps, the 240 MIMO series operates at Super Speed that is two times the speedof standard MIMO devices, and eight times the speed of 802.11g. This makesextending applications possible in areas of HD video streaming, multiple onlinegaming, MP3 and movie downloads; and large file sharing could be accomplished ina few seconds.

EZSetup at Press of a Button
Both the WL-566gM and WL-106gM utilizes the ASUS EZSetup Wizard that allows foreffortless setup in just 2 easy steps. Wireless devices and security featuresare detected and automatically implemented at just a press of the button.

Wi-Fi Multmedia (WMM)
WMM enhances wireless transfers of multimedia contents, providing wirelessnetwork users an improved experience for sharing audio and video files. TheWi-Fi Alliance defined WMM as a profile of the upcoming IEEE 802.11e Quality ofService extension for 802.11 networks. QoS and multimedia support are criticalto wireless home networks, which require video on demand, audio on demand, voiceover IP and high-speed Internet access. WMM defines four access categories –voice, video, best effort, and background – that are used to prioritize trafficto provide enhanced multimedia support.

Data Security with Wi-Fi Protected Access2
The WL-566gM router employs WPA2, which is based on the IEEE 802.11i standard,ensuring all data and access to the network is restricted to authorized usersonly. Coupled with WEP firewall protocol, the router provides advancedencryption mechanism and security without the sacrifice of physical distance.

Apple hires Adobe executive for iAd position

Reports suggest that Apple has hired Todd Teresi, an Adobe executive, for its iAd advertising platform, an ironic move considering the companies past rivalry.

Teresi previously held the role of vice-president of Adobes media solutions group and is now working as vice-president of iAd, despite the lack of a formal announcement of the employment shift.The position opened up after the founder of Quattro Wireless, the firm Apple acquired and turned into iAd, stepped down, suggesting all was not well in Apples mobile advertising division.The move is particularly interesting given strained relations between the two companies after Steve Jobs dismissed Flash as outdated and insecure.Apple launched iAd in 2010 in an attempt to monopolise on the potential ad revenue that could be made from the booming smartphone and tablet sectors, an area that Google has been quite successful in. Some believe iAd has failed to achieve what Apple set out to do, however, with criticisms over its high cost and limited exposure.“Charging premium prices and reaching only Apple devices is a much harder sell,” said EMarket analyst Noah Elkin, according to Bloomberg. “That has been a huge stumbling block.”This might explain why Apple brought Teresi on board, as he has extensive experience in the media and advertising sector, working for both Adobes digital publishing business and Yahoos publishing sales. Whether or not he can turn iAd into the number one mobile advertising business remains to be seen.Source: Bloomberg

ASRock Fatal1ty Z68 Professional spotted

Our correspondent on the ground managed to snag this picture. Looks like it will the same feature set as its P67 sibling - 16+2 power phase digital PWM design,Dual LAN, 500hz Fatal1ty mouse port for gamers, 100% Japan-made high-quality Conductive Polymer Capacitors and 3x PCIe x16 lanes for your insatiable Crossfire/SLi Rigs.

ASUS China Announces NVIDIA GeForce GTX 580 Recommended Retail Price

Less than four hours ago, we discoveredan online Chinese technology forum organising a mass purchase for the yet-to-be-released NVIDIA GeForce GTX 580. Right now, we're staring at ASUS's website - which lists the recommended retail price (RRP) in RMB.


The fastest 2010 GeForce will sell for 4799 RMB, which translates to approximately 719 USD.
We expect street prices to be lower, especially with AMD threatening to take a grand share of the discrete graphics pie with its upcoming Radeon HD 6900 series of graphics accelerators.
It is hard to believe it that consumers will be informed of retail prices this fast, but you can click on thelinkand see for yourself.

Apple criticised over poor Maps app

Apple has been strongly criticised over inaccuracies and poor quality in its new Maps app, which it is employing in its latest iPhone software instead of rival Google Maps.

Given a bitter dispute with Google and its allies over Android smartphones and tablets, which have caused tough competition for the iPhone and iPad, it is understandable that Apple would want to no longer rely on Googles software, but in its haste to cut ties with the search giant it appears to have made a number of major blunders.Users of iOS 6, pre-installed on the iPhone 5 and which can be downloaded to older iPhone devices, have complained about a number of elements of Apples Maps app, which it developed using data supplied by TomTom.Some examples provided by the BBC illustrate how poor the new app is, with some towns completely missing, others in the wrong location, satellite images obscured by cloud, mislabelled, missing and wrongly located places, including schools and football clubs, with some so misplaced that they show up in rivers.So far Apple has failed to comment on the mess-up, but TomTom said it only provided data to Apple and was therefore not responsible for how the app, developed by Apple itself, worked. Perhaps abandoning Google Maps was not such a wise thing to do after all.Source and Image Credit: BBC

Asus promises Android 4.0 for Transformer Prime from next week

For those lucky few that has managed to get their hands on an Asus Eee Pad Transformer Prime the company has announced that it will start rolling out Android 4.0 also known as Ice Cream Sandwich beginning on the 12thof January. On top of that, the company is working on a solution that will allow users to unlock the bootloader, with one small caveat.

The details were posted on Asus Facebook page and contain some confusion as it mentions an over the air update with a version number of 8.8.3.33 which will apparently improve the auto focusing of the camera, the fluidity of the touch experience and the APK capabilities in the Android market. Then it goes on to talk about the Android 4.0 upgrade which is also an over the air update, but its not clear if this contains the aforementioned fixes or not, or if thats a separate update for those not wishing to move on to Android 4.0 as yet.

The post also contains a disclaimer about the GPS and the fact that its not as good as people expected it to be. Asus is making some excuse about the metal chassis of the tablet blocking the signal as well as the usual excuses as to why you wouldnt get a good GPS signal. Either which way it appears that the company has removed the GPS from the spec and its now a feature that is included but may not work to everyones satisfaction. Odd to say the least.

As for the bootloader and the complaints about Asus locking it down, Asus is making some fairly lame excuse about Google DRM, yet Googles own phones arent locked down as tightly as the Transformer Prime. Asus is also claiming that bricking is one of the reasons why Asus decided to lock down the Transformer Prime, but anyone that has tried to flash a recent Android device knows that its relatively hard to brick it. Even so, Asus will apparently be offering a tool that unlocks the bootloader, but this means that you can no longer watch Google video rentals and other similar DRMed content on your tablet. Not a big loss in our opinion, but it might be for some.

Source: Asus Facebook page