Reading further into the Digitimes story on Asus adding touchpanel screens into the Eee, PocketLint suggests that the panels will be the four-wire type adding just US$15 to the BOM.

“The 9-inch touch panel-equipped Eee PCs will adopt “four-wire resistive touch screen technology” adding just $15 to the manufacturing cost of the new tablet-esque gadget.”

While less precise than the five-wire garden-variety panel, the touchscreen interface is a much anticipated addition that would further add to the image of the Eee as a competitor to the recently introduced MacBook Air in the ultra-portable laptop category.

For those unwilling to hack a touchscreen into to their current Eee PC, ASUS is apparently planning on offering a factory touchscreen solution on one of the next generation Eee PC models. According to DigiTimes:

The second-generation of Eee PCs will support panel sizes of 8-, 9- and 10-inch, the sources said, of which, the 9-inch panel versions will feature a touch panel. [digitimes via jkkmobile]

The article goes on to say how it will only add approximately $15 to the cost of manufacturing. It will be interesting to see how much ASUS ultimately charges for it.

Until then, you’ll be left to try it on your own.