Here's another video of E-Lead's Noahbook from the CES floor. Although the demo unit is turned off during the first two minutes for some reason, if you skip ahead you can see the mini-laptop up and running. I learned four interesting things from this video:

1. The Noahpad quite clearly runs Ubuntu
2. The rep claims that it takes about 20 minutes to get used to typing with the screen flipped around. I don't really believe him, but who am I to say?
3. When you flip the screen the orientation automatically adjusts
4. In the last few seconds of the video you can see that the touchpad moves when the booth rep clacks on it semi-forcefully. It looks like the build quality on the Noahpad is a bit lacking.
   

I honestly don't know why E-Lead felt the need to reinvent the keyboard and mouse with this device. I think if they had put out an Eee PC clone that runs Ubuntu and has a screen that folds all the way over for watching movies they would have had a winner on their hands. But that keyboard looks more likely to slow you down than to make you more productive.

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• The Noahpad at CES

I had kind of expected E-Lead to be showing off a mockup of the Noahpad at CES this week, but as Engadget found out, the company has a working prototype to show off. There's not a lot of additional information to report on the specs, aside from the fact that this puppy sports a 1GHz Via processor.

But if you want to see some close up shots of the virtual keyboard as well as the unit folding over backward to hang out on a coat hanger, check out the Engadget gallery.

The success of the Asus Eee PC appears to be prompting a lot of other companies to offer low cost, low profile computers. A few weeks ago Everex announced that it would be launching the Cloudbook in January. And now it looks like Taiwanese PC maker E-Lead is getting into the game with the Noahpad.

Like the Eee PC and Cloudbook, the Noahpad will be a small computer running Linux. Unlike the Eee PC and Cloudbook, the Noahpad will actually come with an operating system you may have heard of and used: Ubuntu 7.10. The machine is also capable of running Windows XP, but you'll have to install it yourself.

The Noahbook will sport a 1GHz Via Eden processor, 512MB or RAM, a 7 inch display and 512MB of RAM, 802.11b/g wireless, and speakers, and a microphone. As you can see from the image, it also has a split-keyboard. I've never particularly been fond of full-sized split keyboards, and I kind of wonder how easy it will be to type on a tiny one.

No word on how much the Noahpad will cost or when it will be available, but we'll probably get a whole lot of details sometime next week when E-Lead shows the Noahpad off at CES.

[via Engadget]

Asus plans to show off its next generation Eee PC at CES during a presentation on January 7th. That's pretty much all we know at the moment. No real word on whether the new machine will sport a larger screen, higher res display, more memory, or anything else. But since the events is cosponsored by Asus and Sprint to show off WiMAX wireless technology, we can also assume that the new devices will either include a WiMAX adapter or will be designed to work with optional WiMAX components.

Some sites are also reporting that the next generation Eee PC will sport a 8.9 inch display instead of the current 7 inch model. But Asus has not officially confirmed this. And it's not clear whether a device with a larger screen will need a larger case and keyboard, or whether Asus will just move the speakers and webcam and make a screen that takes up the whole size of the computer lid.

[via Engadget]