Asus Adds 3G HSDPA to Eee 901

Road warriors with data plans will finally be able to tap the Asus Eee 901 for wireless Internet with the inclusion of 3G functionality.

The killer portable feature that many pundits felt the original Asus Eee was lacking – 3G Internet access – will finally be appearing in a new version of the machine this fall. Asus announced the inclusion of what it’s calling a “3.75G” radio in the Eee 901 on Wednesday.

According to Asus, notebooks equipped with the feature should be able to achieve download speeds of 7.2 Mbps and upload speeds of 2 Mbps, depending on which cell carrier’s network they’re on. To complement the speed boost and further push the Eee 901 as a true road warrior’s machine, Asus has also upped battery life in the newest version to a maximum of 7.5 hours.

Although Asus has announced that the Asus Eee 901 with 3G will debut in October, a price for the new machine has not yet been set.