It still looks like somebody won't let the guys at Engadget actually turn on the new 8.9-inch Eee PC on display at CeBIT, but that didn't stop them from snapping some photos of the two tiny computers side by side.

While we'd been hearing that the version with the 8-9 inch screen would be packed into the same tiny case as the original Eee PC, it does look like there are a few small differences. First of all, the newer model has a larger trackpad, which is good. While you can get used to the tiny trackpad and rocker on the Eee PC 700 series, it is tiny. Like really tiny. Like you might find yourself deciding never to use an Eee PC without a mouse tiny.

Second, it appears that the whole case was made a tiny bit larger to accommodate the larger screen. I'm guessing this won't add much weight to the Eee PC, since we're talking millimeters here, not inches. But part of the appeal of a tiny laptop is that it's tiny. So hopefully the newer models don't feel too bulky.

As expected, Asus had a few things to say about the future of the Eee PC platform during the company's presentation at CES today. And as expected, WiMax is the word. Wait, is that actually a word? Anyway, Asus is playing up WiMax integration with the Eee PC and other mobile devices.

But if you ask me, the most exciting news is that Asus will launch two new models of the Eee PC during the second quarter of 2008. One will have an 8.9 inch screen, which goes along with what we'd been expecting. And there will also be a model with an 8 inch screen, which comes as a complete surprise. Each model will be WiMax ready and some or all will sport higher resolution screens with 1024 x 600 pixel displays. You know, just enough to make the early adopters really really jealous.

I kind of hope the new models cost $500+ because otherwise I'm going to be sorely tempted to pick one up.

[via jkOnTheRun, whose Kevin Toefel played a key role in today's press conference]