Asus plots Eee robots

 

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By Stuart Turton

Posted on 18 Dec 2009 at 10:56

Asus is extending the Eee brand in a rather unexpected fashion, with an educational robot for children based on Google's Android.

The robot, dubbed the Eee Bot, will feature "voice and visual technologies, positioning and navigation," according to the company. Work on the robot is being funded by the Taiwanese Government, which is hoping to make it cheap enough to appeal to families.

Alongside the hardware, Asus is also building a software store that will allow children to purchase different games to play with the robot, and customise it with various personalities.

Reports also suggest that it will be customisable with additional hardware, though it's unclear at the moment what those add-ons will be.

The Eee Bot isn't expected to stomp into view for another two years, and even then it will only be on a trial basis.

It will be interesting to see how Google's Android OS copes with powering Asus's Eee Bot. The operating system was originally designed to power mobile phones, however, it's since been adapted to run laptops and other devices.