Asus wishes to extend the Eee line of things, as it has done it on numerous occasions with notebooks and PCs. Now, however, the maker hopes to do it with an e-book reader.

If the company’s president Jerry Shen is believed, then we could have the Asus e-book reader anytime by the end of the year. The project isn’t a bad ploy from Asus; market for e-books is steaming, anyone can tap in with the best possible product.

Asus is planning to do the same for the e-book reader market that it did for the netbook market, and is currently said to be working on a lower cost version of such a device for a UK launch.

Asus claims its ebook reader will be cleverer and more versatile than the current crop available from companies such as Sony and Amazon. Can’t wait to see that! Allegedly, the device will give the user the option of seeing the text on one screen while browsing a web page on the other. One of the screens could also act as a virtual keypad for this ereader to be used like a laptop and will boast a full colour screen. It may also have speakers, a webcam and a mic for use with Skype, allowing cheap phone calls over the internet.

Are we on the way to see yet another multi-purpose device? Looks like there will ultimately be a convergence between e-readers and other portable devices - right up to netbooks and laptops. The source does not specifically say if the eInk technology will be employed by the Eee Reader, but we wonder it may become the preferred one for all laptops in future.

Asus is planning to launch two e-book readers in the UK, one a budget, most likely Eee-branded model around the £100 mark, and one a higher end effort based on the dual-screen prototype e-book reader Asus has previously demonstrated.

Responding to The Times report an Asus spokesperson told Pocket-lint that it is likely they will show a working concept of the high end dual-screen model in the UK by the end of the year, but says the "Eee Reader", as the budget version is as yet unconfirmed.

Watch this space!

The Times has more info direct from Asus insiders. Read more...

Via TimesOnLine