Asus' Elusive Eee Keyboard Slips to April

Yet another delay strikes this innovative product.

We first caught sight of the Asus Eee Keyboard at CES, we were excited by the innovative new form factor. We knew it was a concept that was still months away, but we didn't expect it to be the victim of repeated delays that put it on the verge of vaporware.

Fortunately for Asus, journalists have gone hands on with prototypes and prerelease versions. The real question is when these will finally hit consumers. According to Engadget, the Eee Keyboard has been delayed once again, now holding an April release window.

Word of the new April release date came from Asus chairman Jonney Shih during a post-press event Q&A session. While the chairman has previously promised dates that have come and gone, hopefully this one will be the one to finally stick.

AMD Launches 6 Core CPU-ready 890GX Mobo

This board is prepped for the hexacore AMD Phenom II X6.

AMD and its motherboard partners today released the AMD 890GX Chipset, integrated with the ATI Radeon HD 4290, and are designed to be compatible with the upcoming AMD Phenom II X6 six-core processor.

The AMD 890GX Chipset supports the SATA 3.0 6Gb/s hard drive interface and many AMD 890GX-based motherboards feature SuperSpeed USB 3.0 support.

We've got our hands on the Gigabyte GA-890GPA-UD3H, the Asus M4A89GTD Pro/USB3, and the MSI 890GXM-G65. After putting them through a barrage of tests, our reviews department found that AMD’s SB850 southbridge is probably the best reason to select an 890GX motherboard over the products it replaces thanks to the new integrated SATA 6Gb/s controller.

If you're building a new AMD-based system – particularly one you plan on containing six cores, then you should head on over to read our full review.

Windows 7 Tablet Gets CPU Upgrade, More

Archos is sporting a meatier Archos 9 tablet at ceBIT 2010.

Jkkmobile, currently attending CeBIT 2010, is reporting that Archos is showcasing an upgraded version of its PC tablet, the Archos 9. The hardware revision could be a sign that Archos plans to duke it out with Apple and its upcoming tablet, the iPad.

Packed with Windows 7 Starter Edition, an 8.9-inch LED backlit, resistive touchscreen, 1GB or RAM and 60GB of HDD storage, the current version poses as a handy tool around the house for a meaty $550 USD. Consumers can play 1080p videos on its 16:9 screen, have video chats with its built-in webcam, and even access websites utilizing Adobe's Flash platform. It's definitely a sexy little machine.

However the version on display at CeBIT 2010 offers a faster CPU. The current model sports the Intel Atom Z510 clocking at 1.1 GHz, whereas the upgrade model's CPU is clocked at 1.2 GHz. There was also mention of a faster GPU (the current model uses the Intel Poulsbo US15W), a faster bus, and hyper-threading. The site also said that the hard drive size still remains the same at 1.8-inches... no surprise there.

The rest of the specs apparently are unchanged: a 1024 x 600 native resolution, USB 2.0 ports, Realtek ALC269 audio and more. Future upgrades may bring a capacitive multitouch display and an optional 3G module.

The revamped Archos 9 should pose as an excellent rival to Apple's iPad when it eventually hits the market. Hopefully the price will be reasonable.

Microsoft Shows Über-cool Mobile Touch-Surface

Microsoft today demonstrated the company's Mobile Surface technology at its annual TechFest.

Redmond's Surface Tabletop PC has garnered a lot of attention. While everyone agrees that it's awesome, no one can really figure out a practical and economical use for the device. However, a mobile version of the same software is another story.

TechFlash has a pretty nifty video of the technology in action. The set-up shows a camera, a projector and a cell phone. A projection of the cell phone display is made on a tabletop, and the user interacts with this projection image. The coolest part of it all is that you don't need to touch the image on the table to control things. The demo below shows volume being controlled with mid-air gestures.

Check out the video below.

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=cOw4PtLAVKk

Intel Introduces Faster Atom N470 at 1.83 GHz

This Atom's running a little faster... but it could still use some outside help.

The Atom, even in its new Pineview guise, isn't a screaming demon; but Intel today launched a slightly faster iteration of its ubiquitous low-power processor. Now joining the original 1.66 GHz Atom N450 is the N470, which dials its single-core to run at 1.83 GHz with the usual 512KB of L2 cache and DDR2-667 support.

While the slight speed bump isn't going to be changing the character of Atom-based netbooks anytime soon, the option of a "high-end" CPU for netbooks might encourage OEMs to package more capable multimedia-oriented parts with the Atom N470, such as the Broadcom Crystal HD video processor or the Nvidia Ion 2 chipset.

Intel says that major OEMs are expected to introduce systems based on this processor over the coming months.