We only first heard of ASUS' plans to release a new type of Eee device to market very recently which is kind of a MID + tablet PC unit with a screen size of between 4 and 7 inches diagonally.

ASUS calls it the Eee Pad and while details are still scarce, we learn today that it's said to have full multitouch capabilities and will likely be powered by NVIDIA's new Tegra 2 platform which is slated for launch during CES next month.

More specific information like the operating system ASUS will use is yet to be confirmed, but it's likely to be a platform that recognizes multi-touch natively like the Android 2.x OS. Windows 7 can't be used as it doesn't support ARM processors such as the Tegra.

Word has it the tablet won't begin shipping until late March or possibly later.