Less than a year after creating a sub-notebook revolution with the Eee PC, ASUS has announced the local availability of its Eee Box, a small footprint computer sans a monitor running the older Windows XP Home, not Linux or Windows Vista.

Touted as the "world's smallest PC" by its maker, the Eee Box is designed for basic computing tasks like e-mail, Web surfing and VoIP calls.

About the size of a book, or one litre in volume according to ASUS, the Eee Box sports an Intel Atom N270 1.6GHz processor, 1GB of DDR2 RAM, a 80GB HDD, a multi-card reader, 801.11n Wi-Fi, Gigabit Ethernet, and two USB ports.

ASUS claims the Eee Box will start in about five seconds and it can be mounted to standard LCD displays.

"Compared to a full-sized desktop, the Eee Box is an energy-efficient performer reducing power consumption by up to 90 percent," according to ASUS.

The Eee Box is now available through computer resellers and will be available through general retail outlets next month for $AU429.

The only colour available is black and ASUS did not say why the Eee Box is not available with Linux pre-installed like other Eee PC models.