"It also adds two-finger scrolling."

Erm... the multitouch macs don't have this? It's been working on my (old) MBP since time immemorial, can't believe they'd remove something so useful...

But multi-touch input has been around for a while, presented by Jeff Han at Adobe TED:

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=UcKqyn-gUbY

Although with the state of the USPTO I suppose Apple could have patented the Zoom & Scroll gestures for specific use with a touch pad on a sub 14" laptop.

Hopefully it would be classed as prior art and Asus could tell Apple f@ck off.

Contrary to what you might think, Apple DID NOT invent multi touch technology. I can't remember the last thing crapple actually invented, they merely take other peoples products (and in some cases outright steal them) and integrate it into their own and then go on a marketing spree telling everyone how great they are. Multi touch was researched heavily by a company called fingerworks. Also there were at least 2 proof of concept phones designed BEFORE the iphoney

http://www.engadgetmobile.com/2006/10/08/nokias-aeon-full-surface-screen-cellphone-concept/

http://gizmodo.com/gadgets/cellphones/benqsiemens-black-box-concept-phone-204284.php

You can't patent something that has clear eveidence of prior art.

Gesture controls weren't *gasp* invented by Apple, so I doubt there'll be any such lawsuits in the offing. Indeed, any patent'd have to pass the "non-obvious" test, so given that Asus, Synaptics, ART, Dell, Interlink (they actually have a patent for a gesture-based touchpad control for a home entertainment system from 6 years ago) have all worked on this idea (and others besides), it fails explicitly on prior art grounds, and implicitly on the "non-obvious" test.

A two-finger gesture to Apple then! I'm not with this Holy Grail of thinness, which in the case of the Air looks like a recipe for cracked screens and buckled housings. I bought a new mobile phone recently, and went for a simple, rugged Nokia 3100, which is as small and thin as I want to go. The thin phones are harder to hold, more fragile and have less battery life, so what's the point?

Paris, because she'd buy an Air...

wow! - asus have dealt apple a body-blow with this:

'our vapourware will feature something your actual hardware already has'

apple must be reeling from the news!

in that pic the pad looks to be almost 1/3rd of the width of the pc itself, im sure this will be fine for the many, of course those with fat finger syndrome may need special equipment. now where are those fingfinners.. (made from Hubert Farnsworths finglongers and a pencil sharpener..)

Anyway whats with 'will be' then 'is probably' is that just hopefull thinking? someone just wasted there money on a jobbo job?

Touchpad seems to be a little bit bigger than my model 701. Looks like it now fills the case depression in the 'wrist-rest' area in front of the keyboard - so it's about 10mm wider and possibly (it's hard to tell) 2-3mm deeper. The case depression itself doesn't appear to be any bigger...

However I'm not entirely sure the touchpad is quite big enough for gesture input - not for my fat fingers anyway. Wait and see...

Shame they're moving to a 'dope on a rope' style power supply. Standout feature for me on the 701 was the convertible powersupply (US/UK) without the need to carry a seperate 'figure of 8' lead.

Screen size looks nice though, and they really should have included Bluetooth from the off. Can't wait to have a play with the new one...

All very nice, but have they improved the battery life? All this extra stuff will surely sap more juice, which is already more than the battery can handle. Two or three hours of surfing is all you really get, if that goes any lower it will make the thing useless.

Yeah...errr..."vapourware"...that means it'd have to actually not exist, as opposed to being hardware supplied to the FCC for certification, wouldn't it? Considering that it's already there, working enough to be certified, and indeed features no more than functionality which has been incorporated into machines since well before the Air was even dreamed of, that'd be some pretty solid "vapour". Also, considering that this'll be a (small) fraction of the price of the Air, I'd say Asus FTW on this one...

PH for her prior art in gesture-based touch controls...

I've been using two-finger zooming for more than 40 years !! Held vertically upwards and wriggled, it means zoom out (or "fxxx off"); held vertically downwards and pointed, it means zoom in (or "come here!") !!

Where's the picture of the Eee PC user, then?

you are correct about Fingerworks doing a lot of the initial research and development into multi-touch technology

and who owns Fingerworks now?

'who owns Fingerworks now?'

Like I said earlier

'I can't remember the last thing crapple actually invented, they merely take other peoples products (and in some cases outright steal them) and integrate it into their own and then go on a marketing spree telling everyone how great they are'

Point made. Isn't it funny how if MS buy a company to get hold of a technology they are automatically the 'evil corporation'. When Apple do it, everything's hunky-dory as they go about claiming they are so 'innovative'

Yep, I've been giving Apple two fingers for many years now.

That Asus made Apple Mac's anyway....

The really good thing about the Eee is the tiny adapter - so it and the machine don't weigh anything in your bag.

Now with a larger screen, where is the battery life going? It is already tentative, and what with bluetooth as well, you are going to need an adapter all the time, and if that is going to get heavier as well, then I think the Eee is losing some at least of its charm for me.

I am going to keep my money in my wallet for the moment - it is (im)perfectly usable at the moment as a travelling companion where you don't need a full-sized laptop, it doesn't need a larger screen if that threatens battery life and its tiny adapter.

rjstep3