Although CEO of Asus Jerry Shen said “Currently, I still don’t see a clear market for smartbooks.” in August,* he comfirmed last week that they will may realease a Asus smartbook during the first quarter of 2010.

This is a dramatic about face from what was stated previously, I wonder is Asus perhaps underestimated the demand for small, lightweight, Android based products when they made their previous statements. Mr. Shen also said that Asus R&D has been working quite hard, and we should expect to see quite a few new products from them in the next 6 months. Asustek’s first smartbook is expected to retail for about $180.

Via Shanzai

We do not know much about this  Elonex smartbook, it was presented recently at IFA. The machine is controlled by an ARM 11 processor and runs Windows CE. Windows redesigned for the occasion in which an interface is clean and has little to do with Windows CE that we know.

Compact and lightweight, this is what we can say about the Elonex machine as we lack information about it. It has been made but not specifically highlighted by Elonex at IFA. At first sight the machine a few teething problems: The touchpad buttons is surrounded by yet ergonomic keyboard looks very small but are logically opposite to the size of the craft. It must be with the dimensions of an EeePC 701.

From a connectivity point of view is rather thin, two USB ports, one of which will be used to connect a USB to RJ45 cable provided. The wired network is no precedence for this type of gear built for the wireless but keep this option is an asset.

Available in 4 colors: white, black, green and pink gloss above.