Asus' Eee PC Keyboard could appear as early as May the firm's bosses confirmed at CeBit today.

Company chairman Jonney Shih said the firm was shooting for a Q2 launch for the the device, which incorporates a fully fledged PC and touchpad into a standard five-inch deep keyboard. This could mean May, he said, before opting for June as a surer bet.

CEO Jerry Shen said the firm was working on two SKUs for the keyboard PC: a wireless version and a wired version – this simply refers to the way they connect to a monitor or TV. He said that given the economic situation it was dangerous to be specific on pricing this far out. But, he said, right now the firm expected the wired version should come in at around $400 (£285/€317), while the wireless version could be anywhere between $400 and $600 (£428/€476).

Shih rejected a suggestion that the Eee brand was becoming diluted as the firm slapped its the three letters on everything from netbooks to desktops, via the keyboard PC and even phones.

Shih also said the firm was considering bringing OLED screen technology to its Eee notebooks, and said that it expected that 10ih screens would become the norm on the cultish devices, though smaller screens would continue to have a role in emerging and niche markets. Women, in particular, were more likely to opt for a smaller screened, more mobile device, he claimed. ®

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