As expected, Taiwanese manufacturer ASUS went ahead with the release of the Eee Box, despite rumors of a possible delay caused by typhoon Fung Wong. The company officially launched the desktop version of its Eee PC family yesterday in Taiwan, which means that users over there will soon be able to purchase one from their local retailer.

ASUS first announced the Eee Box during this year's Computex show held in Taipei, Taiwan. The small-sized computer system is supposed to be an Atom-powered desktop version of the company's highly successful Eee PC. It packs a 1.6GHz Atom CPU, 2 GB of memory, integrated Intel GMA 950 graphics, 802.11n and a maximum of 160GB of storage space. The system is capable of running either a Windows XP or a Linux operating system. While many have set the Eee Box as a Mac Mini competitor, the former's low price tag and overall specifications place it in a different market category.

The freshly arrived Eee Box can be purchased in Taiwan for NT$7988, which is approximately US$260.85. The company hopes that the worldwide shipments of this particular nettop will reach 100,000 to 200,000 units in 2008, while expectations are that they will break one million units in 2009, according to ASUS' CEO, Jerry Shen.

On the netbook market, ASUS is competing mainly with Acer's Aspire One and MSI's Wind. However, the nettop market is yet in its initial stages, ASUS currently being the only major manufacturer to release such a product. Things could change in the near future, though, as MSI is expected to also come out soon with its own desktop Atom-powered nettop, which, naturally, will provide users with an alternative to ASUS' Eee Box.

It is yet unclear whether ASUS plans to bring more Eee Box models to light, as it has done with its Eee PC lineup, but if this one turns out to be just as successful as the Eee PC, then we clearly know what the future has in store for us in terms of nettops.