Asus’ success with its Eee line of netbooks might have come as a surprise, but the company is now determined to expand the Eee brand into every possible niche and form factor. Case in point: the insanely cool Eee Keyboard, which will surely bring a smile on the faces of those who remember the glory days of the home computer.

Pictures courtesy of El Reg.

At the Consumer Electronics Show in Las Vegas, Asus showed off its latest addition to the EEE family, the EEE Keyboard. The computer packs the usual Intel Atom internals, and puts them in a thin metal case with a built-in keyboard with Apple-style individually inset keys, much like many home computers from the days Back To The Future was cool. It has a small built-in touchscreen display, which can display the Windows desktop or a set of media controls.

If you think this isn’t already cool enough (which I cannot imagine), then you should know that it comes with Ultra-Wideband Wireless HDMI buit-in. Plug in a small box at the back of your TV, and connect to it wirelessly, and send the display signal over the airwaves. It comes with the usual wireless options and ports as well, of course.

Right now, it’s clearly a prototype, as the battery life doesn’t extend much beyond an hour; the goal is to have at least three hours of battery life once the device starts shipping. It doesn’t come with an optical drive, but Asus plans on shipping a set of themed peripherals to go with the Eee Keyboard.

Asus plans to start shipping the Eee Keyboard in September 2009.