ASUS had plenty to say about its range of tablets at Computex back in May, but the company has since gone strangely quiet. Now Ynet - Israel's most popular web-portal - has managed to get its hands on some details of a previously unannounced device.
The EP90 appears to be an 8.9in device with a 1,024x600px resolution screen that tips the scales at only 650g. Both screen size and weight should land this device in the current no-man's land between 7in tablets like the PlayBook and Galaxy Tab and the 10in iPad.
Inside, the device will be powered by a dual-core Tegra 2 SoC and will reportedly come in 16GB and 32GB variants. The only other specs given are a 0.3MP webcam, Bluetooth, GPS, 3G mobile-broadband an SD card reader and USB and HDMI ports.
If this is sounding a little familiar, it may be because it seems awfully similar to the 10in Eee Pad that we saw running Windows Embedded Compact 7 at Computex. Ynet doesn't specifically mention Microsoft's OS, but references to the Office suite and a recognisable home-screen in the mock-ups all point to Windows CE.
It's not clear at this point if the original Eee Pad is still on the cards, if this new device will replace the 10in tablet or if the two will co-exist in different market segments.
The devices only Achilles' heel appears to be its battery life, which is reported to be only four and a half hours, though the source suggests that the manufacturer is likely to improve this prior to release.
Unfortunately that's where the details end. Hopefully ASUS will reveal plenty more information as we approach the start of next year, when the company is expected to launch a full range of portable devices.
