Asus Confirms 8.9-Inch Eee PC

Fans of Asus’ ultra-compact Eee notebook will be glad to hear that the 8.9-inch model that has been rumored since the beginning of the year has finally been officially announced by Asus. According to Daily Tech, Asus took the wraps off the new machine at CeBIT on Monday.

The new model will keep the same rough form factor as the traditional 7-inch Eee, but trim the white space around the LCD display to make room for a larger 8.9-inch variant. The new screen also boosts resolution from WVGA (800 x 480) to WSVGA (1024 x 600).

Other additions include 1GB of RAM and solid-state storage of either 8GB or 12GB. While 8GB Eee models have already arrived, availability has been spotty thanks to a NAND memory squeeze, and no 12GB models have yet surfaced.

Rumor has it the machine will sell for around €400 ($608 USD), although Asus has not yet confirmed any prices. It’s expected to launch midway through 2008.