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Asus has quietly launched their latest offering, the Eee Download service, and judging from the initial support and initial response, they should have kept it a little quieter and made sure it was a little further developed before they unveiled it.

See, at first glance its a great idea, the Eee Download service offers the ability to “install software and multimedia in just one click,“ which comes courtesy of the Click ‘N Run (CNR) format. If you remember back, CNR comes from

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Xandros is currently in the process of purchasing Linspire. The agreement, which was signed on June 19 would require Linspire to change their name to Digital Cornerstone Inc, however as of now a purchase price has not been made public. Linspire was originally founded by Michael Robertson and was initially called Lindows, until a certain company forced them to change their name to Linspire.

While Linspire is certainly not as commonly know of a Linux distribution as Ubuntu or Xandros, this sale could potentially mean some interesting things when it comes to making Linux easy to use for non-technical people. Xandros has done good things recently with the Eee PC, but they could take one important item from Linspire and make it even easier for everyone. That feature is called CNR, or Click n Run and it allows for a one-click installation of thousands and thousands of software titles. Think of how much easier the Eee PC could be with a one-click application installer.

Of course, details of the transaction have not yet been made public, and Xandros has not announced any plans they have for the future of Linspire, the current Linspire customers or the possible integration of some Linspire features into Xandros.

Read [Michael Robertson] Read [Slashdot]

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We are seeing a growing trend towards low-cost computing these days, some being the larger tower style PC’s such as the Everex gPC and the Linspire-based Mirus Innovations that we mentioned yesterday and some are taking the mini approach. Enter the Ripple-Mini, a nice looking small form factor PC from Ripple.

The Ripple-Mini is currently only going to be available in Korea but is retailing for just €90, which is around $132 US. It will feature an Intel Celeron M215 processor at 1.33GHz, D201 GLY Intel motherboard, 1GB RAM, SiS 662 North Bridge and SiS 964L South Bridge.

The case measures in at a small .78-inches x 11.8-inches x 8.66-inches. Click through for a nice shot of the guts…

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Sears is the latest to start offering a low-cost desktop Linux solution. A similar offering to the Everex machine that Wal-Mart has been offering as of late. The PC at Sears is coming from Linspire Inc and will be priced at just $199, which is after a $100 mail-in rebate.

The Linspire based PC’s will be running Freespire 2.0 and include hardware from Mirus Innovations. The PC will feature an Intel Celeron 1.6Ghz CPU with 1GB of RAM, 80GB hard drive, built-in card reader, modem and CD-RW drive. It will ship with a keyboard, mouse and speakers, the monitor will have to be purchased separately. The computer will also include the CNR Basic Service which offers users one-click access to free and commercial Linux software.

We now have Everex at Wal-Mart, Linspire at Sears, let see if any others can join the new low-cost computing push. 

Read [Linspire] Via [I4U News]

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• Make Android more like iPhone visual voicemail
• ARM teams with Canonical to break free of cell phones