The recent fire at an LG battery factory is creating quite a shortage for ASUS’s laptops, including the Eee PC. According to an article on Yahoo, 40% of Asustek shipments could be affected by the shortage created. This Digitimes article also says that ASUS hopes to resolve the problems by the second quarter of this year.

We’ll have to wait and see if the battery shortages play a large role with inventory of current Eee PC 70x’s– or if it causes a delay in the Eee PC 900 series.

If you were disappointed about ASUS stopping plans for a touchscreen on the next generation Eee PC, you can smile now. According to touch screen manufacturers in this Digitimes article, ASUS will indeed be including touch panels in the next generation Eee PC.

A new article also on Digitimes, posted today, further explains that the 8.9″ Eee PC:

“will include touchscreen panels and possible GPS support, with shipments expected to begin in May or June, according to Kevin Lin, vice president of Asustek’s sales department. Pricing is projected to reach NT$15,000 (US$500)”

So, it looks like it might be the Eee PC 900 afterall that gets more than just a touchscreen!

Asus has quietly released the SDK for the EEE. There does not seem to be a fanfare or press release accompanying the SDK, but, it is available from Asus’ standard download servers- you can either access it through the Asus Support website, by selecting “Downloads”, or else you can access the European download directly here. [edit by Ant: Appears as though there's some sort of anti-leeching thing going on here- you have to actually go to the downloads section to get to the link to work]

It is not currently clear what the SDK comprises, but, from the file name, it would appear to be a beta release, and is just over 1GB in size.

EeeUser.com is probably the number one resource on the web for EEE users, with a large number of active contributors, and a good success rate in resolving users’ problems. However, don’t just take my word for it - forum user Picotrain posted an email suggesting that even Asus views the site as the best way to support its customer base, providing links to both the EeeUser.com forum and wiki as the first port of call for those experiencing difficulties:

“Thank you for your support of our products!

Here are a few website that can help with any Eee pc issue. These site can also help you understanding Linux and how it works. If nether of these site can help you with your Eee pc problem feel free to call Asus

The first link give you alot of information and fixes and how to use the Eee PC

http://wiki.eeeuser.com/

The second give you information about new products for the Eee and a Forum where you can get information and ask question.

http://www.eeeuser.com/”

It looks as if EeeUser.com has moved from an unofficial online fanbase to a useful (and, to Asus, if not to ant, free) resource for the device’s manufacturer… Let’s just hope that some of the Asus support representatives, or, even better, developers, are reading and contributing the site also!

See here for discussion of the email, and its potential implications.

Laptop Magazine has an interview with Jerry Shen, where he talks about future plans for the Eee PC line. They include the already announced 8.9″ Eee PC 900 and Eee PC with Windows XP preinstalled. Other plans include the possibility of larger non-ssd hard drives, Intel Diamondville processors, and “more stylish looks.”

Shen also indicates that the Eee PC 900’s price may be $499 for US users. Not bad!

There’s a wealth more of information if you read the full interview here.

ASUS has announced that they will begin selling an Eee PC that comes preinstalled with Windows XP instead of the default Xandros based Linux distribution. A Windows XP based Eee PC currently sells in Japan, but not in the United States.

According to this Reuters article, the Windows based Eee PC will cost (or start at?) approximately $400. ASUS expects that the Windows based devices will make up about 60% of sales as well.

Sorry for the lack of updates recently- I was in Asia without a stable Internet connection. I’m back now, and will be catching up with all news, emails, forum, etc after a good night’s sleep.

Do you wish your Eee PC had a larger screen? Higher resolution? More RAM? More storage space?

ASUS has your solution with the next generation Eee PC 900 series. It will feature a 8.9″ screen, running at 1024 x 600 resolution. You’ll be able to store 12GB of data, and will have 1GB of ram to access in a package a bit larger than the Eee PC 701. The cost? $600. Look for it in select countries later this summer.

PC World has created a great overview of the various accessories currently available for the Eee PC along with upcoming ones as well.

The article covers batteries, chargers, travel adapters, mounts, and cases.

Next week at CeBit, there’s some speculation that either Windows or WiMAX could be announced in connection to the Eee PC.

PC Pro is reporting that Microsoft will be participating in ASUS’ press conference during the event. Windows XP may be appearing on the US based Eee PC 8G. Perhaps this explains the recent slight price hike on 8G Eee PC preorders on Amazon.

T-Mobile will also be in attendance at the press conference. We can only hope this means that integrated WiMAX (along with a wide service coverage!) will be coming to the Eee PC shortly.