Asus Eee Tablet reinvents e-books

Asus adds note-taking capabilities to the e-book, with its new Eee Tablet
Asus adds note-taking capabilities to the e-book, with its new Eee Tablet

Asus has launched another tablet device at Computex 2010, following the announcement of the new Asus Eee Pad, Where the EeePad is going after the iPad with a pointy stick and some harsh language Asus' newly announced EeeTablet is tracking down the Kindle with ballistic missiles and full air-support.

Asus new Eee Tablet has a 2450 dpi touch resolution screen that means you'll be able to write and store notes within the device, making use of document tagging and a wide variety of text templates to follow. There's also a 2megapixel, extended depth of field (EDOF) camera, which also allows you to write notes directly on to a picture.

An interesting feature, and one we'll cover in more depth once we get a hands-on play with the new gadget, is the idea that it's just like writing on paper because of the sensitivity of the touch-screen. Not only that but Asus has also somehow created the same sort of resistance you get from actually putting pen to paper with that same 2450dpi screen.

The Eee Tablet also features a built-in 2 megapixel camera that captures detailed images, designed for students who might want to snap lecture slides and then be able to write notes on them.

You can sync the device with your PC via USB or Micro SD. Asus claims that the new Eee Tablet will offer up to 10-hours of battery life, and double up as a a media player and e-reader.

Finally, Asus is keen to stress that the pages on the Eee Tablet take only 0.1 seconds to refresh, solving one of the major bugbears many users had with older e-book devices.

No word on a UK launch or pricing yet, but Asus said the Eee Tablet will cost $199 when it's released in the US later this summer.

Adam Hartley