The press conference started and Asus wasted no time. The WiMAX enabled Eee PC that I talked about earlier is real! (According to Engadget, who is/was live blogging the event.) Here are the big announcements

• There will be an Eee PC with WiMAX (Sorry, just had to say that again.)
• WiMAX will be rolled out this year and roll out will continue in future years.
• Base price for WiMAX enabled notebooks is going to be $999, but thats not what the Eee with WiMAX will cost (does that mean that the Eee will cost more than other WiMAX notebooks???)
• New Eee PC models will be introduced with 8 and 9 (well, 8.9 technically) inch screens

Thats all we know so far, but thats still a lot of news for one press conference.

Of course, WiMAX is a perfect companion for the Eee PC because of the Eee’s portability, but the pricing is yet to be announced, which could seriously hurt the appeal of a WiMAX Eee PC. On the other hand, with the new models with bigger screen sizes, many people may be willing to pay more for an Eee PC, since they can use it for more standard laptop tasks. In fact, the bigger screens might even be the more important part of this announcement.

Right now, the news looks great for Linux, but there was one worry-some slide that Engadget posted. One of the bullet points suggests that Asus may start to offer Windows on the Eee. Still, the disadvantages of Windows on the Eee PC that I have discussed before (cost, limited resources) should deter consumers from choosing Windows over Linux. In the end, as long as offering Windows has no effect on the Linux side of the Eee, I really can’t complain.

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