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By 4 March 2011 | Categories: news

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As the CeBIT 2011 consumer electronics show moves into its stride in Hannover, Germany, ASUS has come out as one of the major manufacturers with the most brands to showcase.

The company is presenting a number of exciting upcoming products at the show, including four different tablets, the new K-series notebook range, a wide range of gaming products and also the Kinect imitation for PC called the ASUS WAVI Xtion (pronounced “way-vee action”).

On the tablet side, ASUS showcased its 12” Eee Slate EP121, the 7” Eee Pad MeMO, the Eee Pad Slider with sliding keyboard and the Eee Pad Transformer, which comes with an optional full sized docking keyboard which also doubles as a battery pack.

WAVI Xtion

We've heard of the WAVI Xtion before, but the motion-sensing peripheral was first revealed up close at CeBIT 2011. The device looks extremely similar to Microsoft's Kinect motion-sensing peripheral for the Xbox 360 (and soon for the PC). It comprises of the WAVI wireless media streaming device and the Xtion motion sensor.

The device is able to wirelessly stream high definition content from a PC located in one room, to a TV in another, while infrared gesture-based multimedia playback, games and applications make up its motion-sensing PC interface.

Users gain motionless control of applications via ASUS' exclusive Xtion Portal user interface (UI), and the device can be connected to PCs as well as TVs.

ASUS has revealed that a couple of software products will be available for the peripheral at launch, including MayaFit Cardio Lite, a fitness training game and BeatBooster, a multiplayer racing game featuring motion-controlled jets.

And there's good news if you feel like enjoying motion-based games on your TV, but don't own an Xbox 360, since ASUS has stated that the Xtion engine supports the remapping of keyboard controls into motion gestures for a number of popular third party games, a very interesting announcement indeed. We'll be keeping a close eye to see who exactly these third party studios are, and in the meantime we'll be keeping our fingers crossed for a gesture-based Starcraft 2 (one can dream).

K-Series notebooks

ASUS is continuing its tradition of creating some eye-candy in the form of its new line of stylish K-Series notebooks. The new K-Series notebooks combine the processing power of second generation Intel Core processors (SandyBridge) with NVIDIA GeForce graphics to deliver aesthetically pleasing and powerful devices.

The new models will be available in 14”, 15.6”, 17.3” and 18.4” screen sizes, and will also be come in a variety of different colours, including classic brown, silver, passion red, party gold, urban green, chill blue, seduction pink and simplicity white.

The notebooks features unique textured aluminum covers and is outfitted with ASUS IceCool technology to keep palm rests frosty. The new K-Series notebooks will also be available with new AMD Brazos processors and AMD Radeon graphics for better gaming and multimedia. Additional details surrounding the AMD offerings were unfortunately not available as of yet.

ASUS also reiterated its continued support for the gaming community and creating gaming products, stating that an entire line of gaming products including notebooks, motherboards, graphics cards, 3D monitors and a noise canceling headset will be made available to the gaming public soon.  

No local release dates or prices are known yet.

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