ASUS Eee Tablet Due October For "Under $599"

ASUS has fallen a month behind in its launch schedule for the Eee Tablet monochrome ebook reader, while the pricing seems to have shot up; according to Digitimes, ASUS has confirmed that the Eee Tablet will drop in October 2010, priced at "under $599".  Announced back at Computex, the Eee Tablet was initially tipped to arrive in September, priced between $199 and $299.

The price discrepancy could be accounted for by comparison carrier subsidized and unsubsidized figures.  ASUS is apparently in talks with carriers regarding bundled sales, which could potentially bring the price down to the originally suggested levels.

Unlike rival ereaders, such as the Amazon Kindle, the ASUS Eee Tablet uses an LCD TFT display rather than an epaper screen from E Ink.  This non-backlit monochrome panel allows for 0.1s screen refresh rates, far faster than E Ink can manage, and ASUS expect it to be a hit with students who can use the included stylus to annotate documents (including those they've snapped with the integrated 2-megapixel camera).  Battery life is tipped at around 10hrs.