ASUSTeK Computer has announced on Monday, through its CEO, Jerry Shen, that September is when the iMac's direct rival hits the market. Dubbed the Eee Monitor, Asus' all-in-one computer will be a PC built into a monitor, just like Apple's iMac. The key difference, however, is the price...

...and a good $700 at that. But do you honestly think Asus' computer is any competition for the iMac, as far as specs go? Not to mention the fact that it runs everything but Mac OS, so it's not necessarily attracting folks unless it's going for Apple's operating system. It is, however, designed to rival Apple's iMac, the company's CEO said Monday, according to Macworld.

How come Apple hasn't patented the way it throws hardware inside a nice looking shell to call it its own, anyway? It did so with every other invention it came up with.

The new computer is part of the Taiwanese electronics maker's Eee line of products. One of the cheapest of the lot is the Eee PC mini-laptop. Asus' line of products supports Linux and Windows XP. The company can also provide different configurations and sizes.

Macworld is also reporting that the company will launch two new Eee PCs at Computex Taipei 2008 today, namely the Eee PC 901 (its main attraction is the ability to boast nearly eight hours of battery life), and the Eee PC 1000 (sports a 10-inch screen and regular-sized keyboard).

Since the Eee line is designed to be low-cost, Asus' Eee Monitor will beat the circuits out of Apple's iMac, as far as pricing goes. Although Shen declined to provide further specifics on pricing and configuration, a January 2008 Digitimes report revealed the following: "the E-Monitor will be an all-in-one device similar to Apple's iMac and Dell's XPS One. E-Monitor will cut into the 19-21-inch market and will come with a built-in TV tuner. Pricing is set at US$499, compared to the iMac's price of US$1,199-2,299 and the XPS One's price of US$1,499-2,399." E-Monitor will also be based on Intel's Shelton'08 platform, according to the same report.

To make matters even worse, should the iMac's status not be threatened in any way by the Eee Monitor, ASUSTeK is also launching an E-TV in September which, although aimed at the 42-inch LCD TV market, can also steal the hearts of some Apple TV fans. The device costs only $200 and integrates the Linux-based PC functionality of other Eee PC products.