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ASUS unveiled three new EEE PC models at Comdex in early June. For the purpose of this post, I will be taking a look at the new 901 model. Is this the gadget of the year? In my book, yes it certainly looks like it could be.

I have owned an EEE PC 701 since just after they were launched, and at first, I thought it would be an incredibly useful tool to me, it was the first truly portable device that did everything I needed in a single, small and robust package. It was light, shock proof and very portable.

In reality things didn’t work out as I expected, there were three problems with the machine, that although they could be overcome, were enough when combined to stop me using the device as I had intended with ease. Firstly, the screen is just a little too small, the 7” 800×480 display is fine for checking email and a little occasional browsing, but working on it for any more than a few minutes was just awkward. Secondly, the battery life is a joke; ASUS implied that users would get around 3.5 hours from a single battery charge, in reality I am lucky to get 2.5 hours. Lastly, the storage space is just too restrictive, the 4GB SSD drive fills up quickly, which stops me installing an entire application suite.

So when ASUS revealed the 901, I was fairly pleased to read the specs, it seemed to me that they had addressed every issue I have with my old 901 model. The new 8.9” screen has a native resolution of 1024 x 600, definitely large enough for me to use for an hour or two at a time. Battery life has been greatly extended by incorporating the new Intel Atom CPU into the design. This tiny processor draws a very small amount of power and extends the battery live to around 8 hours on the 901. The storage problem has been banished by increasing the size of the SSD to 20GB, this means I can install every application that I currently run on my desktop PC and still leave enough space to carry a cut down version of my MP3 collection. Asus have also included an internal Bluetooth adapter, which is something else that was missing from the older models.

I will definitely be picking one of these sub-notebooks up as soon as they go on sale. My old 701 model has shown me how useful it can be to have a fully functioning PC tucked away in my bag, but it has also shown me how frustrating it can be to have to use something that has some basic design flaws.

The new ASUS EEE PC 901 is definitely top of my lists of best gadgets released in 2008. I hope that it will become a useful and productive tool in my social and working life.

If you are of a certain age, around mid life crisis age actually, then you are probably going to remember certain things like the Commodore 64, Haircut 100, Swatch Watches and maybe, just maybe, the Sinclair C5.

History has a long line of gregarious characters that have competed for the title of “Craziest Inventor Ever”, and during the late 1970s and early 1980s the UK had a major contender in the form of Sir Clive Sinclair. Quite why the Queen decided to issue him a knighthood has never been truly understood, but it could be the only clue to the fact The Queen of England does actually have a sense of humour.

Sir Clive was actually pretty smart for a while, most home computer enthusiasts of the day would glance lovingly at their ZX81 and quietly inform their visiting Aunty that it was like a calculator but bigger and it could actually play chess. Of course, you also knew you could not demonstrate it to her, as there was only a fifty percent chance the tape drive would actually load that whole 1k of data, and you didn’t want her to think you were any crazier than she already did. Thousands of young computer professionals (geeks to you and I) almost worship Sir Clive back in those days. He followed up with the ZX Spectrum, which became the bedroom accessory to be had by anyone who still had acne spots. It wasn’t until he started messing with the Sinclair QL that people began to realise he really was a very clever person, so it was time to stop liking him.

After being almost solely responsible for the home computer boom, Sir Clive decided it was time to tackle something more challenging. He settled upon designing a means of reducing global pollution and solving traffic congestion in all major cities around the world. After a brief period of time in the development labs he wheeled out the Sinclair C5 (he had to wheel it out, the prototype was made of cardboard). This innovative little vehicle was a cross between a go-kart and a supermarket shopping trolley, with a healthy chunk of golf cart thrown in for good measure.

In reality it was a very good design, the little vehicle could travel at 15km per hour, for an extended period of time. It came with full weather gear and would have made a great commuter vehicle. Unfortunately, the general public took one look at it and laughed, they continued laughing until the C5 was withdrawn from the market, after only 17,000 units had been sold.

The Sinclair C5 is seen as one of the worst launches of new technology ever witnessed in the UK, and is deemed a commercial disaster by financial analysts. The real disaster in this story is the fact that had the public accepted this new form of transportation, they would be living a healthier life that was less harmful to the ecology.

As a child I was always fascinated by all things robotic, much of this fascination was generated by the TV shows of the time, such as Star Trek and re-runs of Lost in Space. I was a sensible kid, I fully realised this fantastic mechanical devices that were walking and talking, displaying true sentience, were far beyond our technology at the time. I did think that we might see something very similar emerge in the future, definitely within my lifetime. So thirty years on from my young TV watching days, where are the robots?

You would think that after 30 years of incredible technological advances that here would be some recognisable for of commercial robotics? Certainly something that was a close match to my boyhood daydreams, but no, we are stuck with ridiculously expensive children’s toys as the pinnacle of robotic science.

Let’s take a look at one of these advanced robotic life forms shall we? Queue drum roll….. It’s Pleo the Robotic Camerasaurs! Can this really be the most advanced form of publically available robot known to mankind? Let’s take a look!

Pleo retails for around $299, making him a rather expensive electronic toy. He contains (hold a second, why am I calling it a he?) a range of sensory devices that enable him to hear, see, sense touch and detect objects. Anybody who remembers Furbies (those cute if somewhat annoying electronic pets) will be familiar with the whole concept of Pleo, he is just a rather more advanced version of the same thing. The manufacturers state that no two of the toys will develop the same habits, and his entire development is based upon the time the owner spends with him. Due to the fact he can only operate (be awake?) for an hour on a full battery charge and then needs four hours to recharge the owner isn’t really going to be spending much time with him.

The core of Pleo’s brain is Life OS; an impressively named piece of software that it would seem is designed to make something wag its tale when you feed it something it cannot eat anyway. I’m in the wrong business! This software has recently been updated to Life OS 1.1, brain surgery for your robotic pet!

Pleo can react to his surroundings and will display character traits such as sadness, happiness and excitement in a variety of ways, he will also let his owner know when he is tired or hungry. Many of his responses are geared towards affectionate actions such as petting and play.

As you can probably guess, I am not exactly impressed with this particular gadget. Quite frankly it is nothing new, ok the technology is more up to date than previous attempts at the same thing, but there is certainly nothing innovative about Pleo, and unless you are the kind of person who can afford to blow $299 on a toy that is likely to be forgotten within a week I can’t see the value of him.