Easy does it with Asustek's 'Eee PC'

Asustek and Intel introduced a new type of notebook at the Computex trade show in Taiwan. The Eee PC 701 (the 'E's stand for easy) portable has a 7-inch display, weighs less than 2 pounds and is built primarily for Internet use. It will run on "full desktop mode" with Windows XP or Linux, or an "easy" mode without the full OSes. It's similar to Palm's new Foleo device and is reported to cost around $200.

The Eee PC is designed to be truly portable, with 512MB DDR2-400 and built-in flash memory to give it a better crash-test rating than traditional notebook PCs.

The Eee PC has a built-in 300K pixel video camera and microphone which allows face-to-face communications with other users.

Asustek touts the Eee PC for all age groups. The price of the the Eee PC is reported to be $200, slightly more than Nicholas Negroponte's One Laptop Per Child machine. Asustek is gearing the Eee PC for the general public, but sales to governments could be an option.