Asustek Presents Eee Pad, a Tablet PC, During Trade Show in Taiwan

Years after giving the world the netbook, Asustek has emerged the latest computer company to unveil a tablet PC, in an effort to compete with Apple's (News - Alert) highly successful iPad computer.

Asustek said this week before the start of the Computex trade show in Taiwan, that the tablet PC, known as the Eee Pad, will start selling in the first quarter of 2011, and it will feature a touch screen and use Intel (News - Alert) Corporation's core processor, according to The Wall Street Journal.

The Eee Pad, operating on Windows 7, marks one more manufacturer using a Microsoft (News - Alert) software product, as Microsoft continues to compete with Apple for market share.

Asustek has said it was also working on an Android tablet, an operating system developed by Google (News - Alert), but details on that product are yet to be released.

Several other companies are also releasing their own tablet computers during 2010.

An Asustek spokeswoman said there will be Eee Pad models with 10-inch and 12-inch screens, which will sell for between $399 and $449, according to The Wall Street Journal. The 12-inch model can be used as a multimedia player, e-reader and compact PC, and will come with a docking station that can be connected to a keyboard, the newspaper said. The thinner, 10-inch model will be designed for Internet browsing for users on the go, the newspaper added.

Asustek is also planning to sell an e-reader, called the Eee Tablet, which will be available in September and will sell for $199 to $299, The Journal reported, quoting a company official. The features include: a two-megapixel camera, an electronic notepad, a media player and a battery life of about 10 hours, according to the newspaper.

An Asustek spokeswoman was not available Tuesday to provide further details on the products.

According to a preliminary forecast from iSuppli Corp., worldwide iPad sales are expected to amount to 7.1 million in 2010. Sales will double to 14.4 million in 2011 and nearly triple to 20.1 million in 2012.