Asus working on an Android netbook?

Future Eee PCs may run the Google Android open source OS.

Future Eee PC?

Asus ventured into the territory of Google Android smartphones lately. That must have been a success, because it is rumored to be working on its Android-run future Eee PCs.

Samson Hu, head of the Taiwan-based company’s Eee PC business, said in an interview to Bloomberg that Asustek hasn’t decided whether to proceed with a final product because the project is still under development. He also told that Asustek has allocated engineers to develop the Android-based netbook by as early as the year end.

This step will definitely extend Google’s rivalry with Microsoft who controls over 90% of the market for softwares that run on Windows. It should also bring down the cost of a default Windows OS with the machine for those who can do without Windows.

The Eee PC is the netbook line of Asus that many claims has invented the netbook about a year ago. Now with more than 20 existing models, where the company offers both Windows and Linux, the Eee PC line grabbed 28% of the netbook market – second only to Acer.

“With the strength of Google behind it, Android could really challenge Microsoft and steal some market share,” said Calvin Huang, a computer-industry analyst at Daiwa Securities Group Inc. in Taipei to Bloomberg. “The benefit is the free license and you can use a lower-power, cheaper processor.”

Google introduced Android in 2007 as an Operating system for phones. Android is based on Linux, an “open-source” operating system that’s free and developed by hundreds of engineers worldwide. Microsoft offers an operating system for handsets called Windows Mobile, for which they don’t reveal the coding. As customer-centric marketing concepts prevail these days, and companies trying to woo customers with the maximum commands at the customers’ end – open-ended softwares have been gaining a lot of appreciation.