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EXCLUSIVE: ASUS Speaks on the EEE PC
Samir Makwana, Jul 25, 2008 1715 hrs ISTIn this exclusive tete a tete with ASUS' Benson Lin & Stanley Wu, we get the dope on the EEE PC in India. Plus a short chat with Intel's Gopal Swaminathan about the Atom processor.
TechTree: States like Kerala, Tamil Nadu and Karnataka promote the Linux operating system in its education and government sectors. Will ASUS roll out Linux alternatives for the new 904HD and 1000H models in India?
Benson Lin: Currently, we're closely tied up with Microsoft and the EEE PC with Windows XP would be available to the Indian market. However, the Linux alternative would be a possibility based on specific grounds.
TechTree: Will the SSD storage solution for EEE PC be available in India?
Benson Lin: Comparatively SSD-based EEE PCs are lighter than those with hard drives. We believe that Indian users would like to have bigger storage so we came up with 80GB Hard Drive option. We didn't think the SSD solution would work here. Thus we changed the strategy for India and launched the Hard Drive solution. In future, we will offer SSD-based solution and the solution will cost almost the same vis-a-vis hard drive solution.
Stanley Wu: We're working to include higher capacity SSD with EEE PC. The SSD technology raging globally, India can expect to higher capacity SSD solutions (20GB or 40GB) in the coming two or three months.
TechTree: Will future EEE PC versions have upgraded keyboard and screen size since that's been the trend?
Benson Lin: The limitation of human race is that we can't change the hand but we can always alter the keyboard size. The new EEE PC models incorporates bigger keyboard that is as much as 95 per cent of the regular laptop keyboards. These models are meant for normal users with regular hand/ palm/ finger sizes.
TechTree: Why does the new 1000H model carry Intel Atom processor in comparison to previous models carrying 900 MHz Intel Mobile processor?
Stanley Wu: Atom processor has a very special set of features which might add up to the unique selling point of the EEE PC. So for India, we'd be availing Atom processor-based EEE PCs for all.
TechTree: Any plans to include the Touchscreen feature in EEE PC after incorporating multi-touchpad?
Benson Lin: We're working on those features and would like to bring all Eee PC models to India in upcoming months.
TechTree: What will be Asus's strategy to market EEE PC brand against competitors like Dell E/MSI Wind/Acer Aspire One?
Benson Lin: As compared to rival models, the new EEE PC models have 6-cell batteries offering 5-7 hours of battery life. Also, the EEE PC is light-weight and has 80GB hard drive storage.
TechTree: When will the Eee box available in India? What will its price be?
Benson Lin: Yes, it'll be launched in upcoming months in India. We've already launched the Eee Box in Hong Kong.
However Wu contradicted this and said that ASUS will not be importing Eee Box in India, not in near future at least.
Stanley Wu:To be honest, in ASUS we've over hundreds of products and about 20 product batches run in manufacturing process. So India will get to see ASUS products when competitors plan to launch similar products.
TechTree: How many EEE PC variants does ASUS aim to sell by the end of this financial year?
Benson Lin: So far we've sold 10000 units of first-gen EEE PC models. In upcoming months we'd like to sell upto 30000 units per month of second-gen EEE PC, in a couple of months from now.
TechTree: Why is EEE PC priced for India at Rs. 29,990 which is close to entry-level notebooks?
Stanley Wu: The EEE PC, being a netbook, has almost everything that an entry-level notebook has. Usually people are looking for a costly notebook. There are also many who look for a portable gadget for surfing the web. So we presented a netbook with similar features? Moreover, it's very difficult to show customers the difference between a netbook and a notebook. The unique feature about netbooks would be their light-weight and the 80GB hard disk.
TechTree: What new features is ASUS working on for the upcoming EEE PC versions?
Stanley Wu: Certain features like Touchscreen or multi-touchpad might not be suitable for the Indian market. Like including WiMAX in EEE PC for India won't serve the purpose since the basic infrastructure for WiMAX is not available. Also we've 3.5G installed in the EEE PC but can it be used in India? No. For GPS we'll launch an R2E-like gadget called G50, essentially an MID with Touchscreen at the end of September.
Also we had the opportunity to chat about Intel Atom processors with Gopal Swaminathan, General Manager for OEM Business, Intel India. Here's the snapshot of the talk.
TechTree: Will the new Atom versions have new features?
Gopal Swaminathan: Yes, as a part of our roadmap we're working on including set of new features in our upcoming chips.
TechTree: Is Intel working on more Atom-compatible chipsets and devices that will give good performance?
Gopal Swaminathan: In order to work with OEMs cohesively, Intel plans to work on it at least twelve months in advance. The evolution process takes time and thus we end up making commitments even before the roadmap goes for execution.
TechTree: What new features will exists in the upcoming 32nm Atom chips due in 2009?
Gopal Swaminathan: Whatever Paul Otellini has announced about 32nm is Intel's long-term vision. One must understand that what is known as a 32nm processor doesn't exist today. The vendor who makes the 32nm processor building machine is still working on it. We're just sharing our roadmap refreshments to all as we get updated.
TechTree: Besides netbooks and nettops, what are the other computing systems and devices that Intel looks forward to?
Gopal Swaminathan: Today actually we go around carrying only mobile gadgets which can perform required tasks easily, there's huge market for such mobile devices. For instance in rural areas, a bank representative can carry a mobile device for multiple tasks - recording collection of cash/cheque, updating the account, etc. For such purposes Intel's Atom is optimized to give better, faster and cost-friendly performance.
Unfortunately, Prasanna Meduri, Director for Windows Client Business Group, Microsoft India wasn't available for comment.
Benson Lin: Currently, we're closely tied up with Microsoft and the EEE PC with Windows XP would be available to the Indian market. However, the Linux alternative would be a possibility based on specific grounds.
TechTree: Will the SSD storage solution for EEE PC be available in India?
Benson Lin: Comparatively SSD-based EEE PCs are lighter than those with hard drives. We believe that Indian users would like to have bigger storage so we came up with 80GB Hard Drive option. We didn't think the SSD solution would work here. Thus we changed the strategy for India and launched the Hard Drive solution. In future, we will offer SSD-based solution and the solution will cost almost the same vis-a-vis hard drive solution.
Stanley Wu: We're working to include higher capacity SSD with EEE PC. The SSD technology raging globally, India can expect to higher capacity SSD solutions (20GB or 40GB) in the coming two or three months.
TechTree: Will future EEE PC versions have upgraded keyboard and screen size since that's been the trend?
Benson Lin: The limitation of human race is that we can't change the hand but we can always alter the keyboard size. The new EEE PC models incorporates bigger keyboard that is as much as 95 per cent of the regular laptop keyboards. These models are meant for normal users with regular hand/ palm/ finger sizes.
TechTree: Why does the new 1000H model carry Intel Atom processor in comparison to previous models carrying 900 MHz Intel Mobile processor?
Stanley Wu: Atom processor has a very special set of features which might add up to the unique selling point of the EEE PC. So for India, we'd be availing Atom processor-based EEE PCs for all.
TechTree: Any plans to include the Touchscreen feature in EEE PC after incorporating multi-touchpad?
Benson Lin: We're working on those features and would like to bring all Eee PC models to India in upcoming months.
TechTree: What will be Asus's strategy to market EEE PC brand against competitors like Dell E/MSI Wind/Acer Aspire One?
Benson Lin: As compared to rival models, the new EEE PC models have 6-cell batteries offering 5-7 hours of battery life. Also, the EEE PC is light-weight and has 80GB hard drive storage.
TechTree: When will the Eee box available in India? What will its price be?
Benson Lin: Yes, it'll be launched in upcoming months in India. We've already launched the Eee Box in Hong Kong.
However Wu contradicted this and said that ASUS will not be importing Eee Box in India, not in near future at least.
Stanley Wu:To be honest, in ASUS we've over hundreds of products and about 20 product batches run in manufacturing process. So India will get to see ASUS products when competitors plan to launch similar products.
TechTree: How many EEE PC variants does ASUS aim to sell by the end of this financial year?
Benson Lin: So far we've sold 10000 units of first-gen EEE PC models. In upcoming months we'd like to sell upto 30000 units per month of second-gen EEE PC, in a couple of months from now.
TechTree: Why is EEE PC priced for India at Rs. 29,990 which is close to entry-level notebooks?
Stanley Wu: The EEE PC, being a netbook, has almost everything that an entry-level notebook has. Usually people are looking for a costly notebook. There are also many who look for a portable gadget for surfing the web. So we presented a netbook with similar features? Moreover, it's very difficult to show customers the difference between a netbook and a notebook. The unique feature about netbooks would be their light-weight and the 80GB hard disk.
TechTree: What new features is ASUS working on for the upcoming EEE PC versions?
Stanley Wu: Certain features like Touchscreen or multi-touchpad might not be suitable for the Indian market. Like including WiMAX in EEE PC for India won't serve the purpose since the basic infrastructure for WiMAX is not available. Also we've 3.5G installed in the EEE PC but can it be used in India? No. For GPS we'll launch an R2E-like gadget called G50, essentially an MID with Touchscreen at the end of September.
Also we had the opportunity to chat about Intel Atom processors with Gopal Swaminathan, General Manager for OEM Business, Intel India. Here's the snapshot of the talk.
TechTree: Will the new Atom versions have new features?
Gopal Swaminathan: Yes, as a part of our roadmap we're working on including set of new features in our upcoming chips.
TechTree: Is Intel working on more Atom-compatible chipsets and devices that will give good performance?
Gopal Swaminathan: In order to work with OEMs cohesively, Intel plans to work on it at least twelve months in advance. The evolution process takes time and thus we end up making commitments even before the roadmap goes for execution.
TechTree: What new features will exists in the upcoming 32nm Atom chips due in 2009?
Gopal Swaminathan: Whatever Paul Otellini has announced about 32nm is Intel's long-term vision. One must understand that what is known as a 32nm processor doesn't exist today. The vendor who makes the 32nm processor building machine is still working on it. We're just sharing our roadmap refreshments to all as we get updated.
TechTree: Besides netbooks and nettops, what are the other computing systems and devices that Intel looks forward to?
Gopal Swaminathan: Today actually we go around carrying only mobile gadgets which can perform required tasks easily, there's huge market for such mobile devices. For instance in rural areas, a bank representative can carry a mobile device for multiple tasks - recording collection of cash/cheque, updating the account, etc. For such purposes Intel's Atom is optimized to give better, faster and cost-friendly performance.
Unfortunately, Prasanna Meduri, Director for Windows Client Business Group, Microsoft India wasn't available for comment.
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