LogMeIn has always been a personal favorite of mine for starting a big download or accessing certain files while away from my home machine. But let's face it--playing Crysis would be a little more fun.
The folks at StreamMyGame have the same idea and have a wonderful solution that lets you stream your games over the Web. Tuesday morning the company announced support for a breadth of UMPCs like the ASUS EeePC and HP Mini-Note, the kind of computers designed with minimal computing in mind.
The app works by having you install a small server on your machine that ties into the start-up files for your favorite games and apps. A specialized player app on the remote machine will let you access any of these at high frame rates up to various resolutions depending on what plan you're on. The premium plans let you play games at even higher resolutions--which are effectively only limited by your broadband connection.
The StreamMyGame team has put together a demo video of an ASUS EeePC playing Crysis and Quake 4. Keep in mind that the 701 model being used only has a maximum resolution of 800×480, which isn't nearly big enough to make detail-heavy real-time strategy titles or first-person shooters easy on the eyes. See the entire list of compatible laptops here.
I co-hosted the Buzz Out Loud podcast with Molly Wood today. Topic (suprise): Gphone. What else? Also covered: Why the Asus eee PC rocks and why the Foleo was killed too early.
Asus' Eee PC is now available in the U.S.
(Credit: Erica Ogg/CNET Networks)The mini-laptop from Taiwanese computermaker Asus made its official U.S. debut Thursday.
In an outdoor courtyard of the Stanford Shopping Center in Palo Alto, Calif., the computer's intended audience--schoolkids--were in ample attendance. Like most animated Disney films today, the Eee PC is on the surface intended for children, but has plenty to keep the attention of adults too.
The Eee PC is similar in idea to the XO from the One Laptop Per Child initiative and Intel's Classmate PC. But unlike the former two, the primary audience for the Eee is not children in developing nations. Instead, it's intended as a device for the general public.
Classifying the product and its category may be slightly confusing for customers. It looks like a laptop, and mostly acts like one, but Eee PC product manager Donald Leung goes out of his way to say that the tiny device is not that.
"We want to emphasize that it's not a laptop," Leung said. "We'd rather call it a 'super mobile Internet device.'"
Besides its low-power Intel mobile processor, it has 512MB of memory, a 4GB flash drive, built-in Wi-Fi, and standard USB and monitor ports, so it looks and acts like a portable PC. It weighs a scant 2 pounds, and has a 7-inch LCD screen with a built-in camera. The kid-friendly computer runs Linux, and by the end of the year will be available with Windows XP. Color choices include black, white, and three pastels: pink, green, and blue.
For now, the first model, the Eee PC 4G, is available on the Asus Web site, a variety of regional computer dealers, national chain Microcenter. Next month it will be sold on BestBuy.com and Costco.com for $399. More national chains will carry the product in coming months, according to Asus North America President Jackie Hsu.
Also on the agenda are lower-priced versions of the Eee. A $349 version--sans built-in Web camera--and a $299 version with a smaller 2GB flash drive are on the way.
Though it is still in the beginning stages of the process, Asus also intends to follow the initiative of OLPC and Intel. In the next year, Asus plans to ship 1 million Eee PCs to schoolchildren in third-world countries, said Hsu.
Until then, Asus believes the laptop will sell well among parents as a gift for their kids, as well as among stay-at-home moms (for "recipes and online auction-monitoring") and first-time computer users. But its portability could make it attractive for bloggers and mobile workers, too.
(Credit:
Asus)
It's official: Asus has announced that the Eee PC (which we've been tracking since August) will be making its way to North America within the next few weeks. The 2-pound, 7-inch, Linux-based laptop will be available in three configurations priced from $299 to $399.
Though the company has yet to offer details on North American specs, it seems reasonable to believe that we'll be seeing the three top models listed on Asus' global site. The highest-end Eee PC 8G includes an 8GB solid-state drive, 1GB of RAM, a built-in Webcam, and a promised 3.5-hour battery life. The Eee PC 4G incorporates a 4GB drive, 512MB of RAM, a Webcam, and the 3.5-hour battery; while the low-end Eee PC 4G Surf lacks the Webcam and promises only 2.8 hours of battery life. (The entry-level 2G Surf, with a 2GB drive and 256MB of RAM, likely won't be available in the U.S.)
Despite including "PC" in the product name, Asus has gone to great lengths to avoid calling the Eee PC a computer: today's press release describes the device as "a 7-inch gadget designed for first-time mobile Internet gadget users." The emphasis is on a simplified interface that lets users access e-mail, send text messages, and share files. Add in your favorite Webware, and it's possible you might not even need a full-fledged laptop.
Given the fate of that other Linux-based mobile Internet device, the Palm Foleo, we'll be keeping a close eye on this one.
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