Asus announces WiMAX Eee PC

Just when you thought that Asus' tiny Eee PC couldn't get any better, they go and announce that they're bringing WiMAX to the little bugger. You heard that right: at a joint press conference with Intel and Sprint today, Asus announced their commitment to 4G WiMAX networks, vowing to sell WiMAX-enabled laptops in the U.S. this year. According to Asus chairman Jonny Shih, the company will debut WiMAX-enabled, entry-level notebooks starting at $999. And what of the WiMAX Eee? No word on pricing or availability, though Shih reassured the crowd that it would arrive at "an attractive MSRP". Additionally, the company will release 7, 8 and 8.9 inch models of the Eee this year, as well as Eees with pre-installed Windows XP. All in all, a good haul for Eee fans.

In other XOHM WiMAX news, San Francisco-based OQO showed off a new version of their Ultra Personal Computer (UPC) which was also up and running on Sprint's demo XOHM network. No word yet on pricing or availability for this one either, though I would guess that sometime during Q2 is likely. Between the Eee PC, the OQO and the slew of Menlow-based UMPCs that are slated to arrive next quarter, Sprint's XOHM certainly looks poised to kick off with a bang. Given the sort of initial WiMAX devices that we're seeing, however, the adoption rate of WiMAX could have less to do with the network and more to do with the consumer's willingness to adapt to a new type of device.

For more on WiMAX devices:
- see this Engadget article on the Asus announcement
- and this one on the OQO UPC