Make sure to check out our full review of the Asus Transformer Pad Infinity.
Earlier this week, Asus released a video teasing us about its plans for Computex 2012. There wasn’t much to it; some clouds, a Bruce Lee quote and a glimpse of a tablet and keyboard dock near the end. That, along with the use of the word “transformations” led us to assume the company had another Transformer tablet waiting in the wings.
More news was promised for May 31 and sure enough, two more videos went live yesterday. Although they’re only very short, they hint that Asus has something more than just another tablet on the way.
The first video is the most revealing of the two. Entitled “All-in-one is no longer in one,” it shows water droplets all coming together, before dividing into two blobs, each with an operating system logo inside — Windows 8 on the left and Android on the right.
In the second video, a spinning board has the words “Tai” and “Chi” written on either side. Again, it’s all over in 17-seconds and although it doesn’t have the same impact as the first video, it does hint at something very special.
The most obvious conclusion to draw is that Asus will be announcing a dual-boot Android and Windows 8 tablet, presumably with a keyboard dock in tow, and it’ll be named the Tai Chi.
But the structure of the second video hints at something else. A finger touches both sides of the card, each of which is a different color, and then it spins around. What if it’s not a dual-boot system, but a device with two screens?
Both Samsung and LG have demonstrated prototypes of dual-sided LCD screens in the past, but nothing on this scale, and the former has also experimented with a touchscreen gesture control panel on the back of a tablet too. Alternatively, Asus could use a similar folding design to the Sony Tablet P or the Acer Iconia Dual Screen Tablet.
Design intricacies aside, will the combination of Android and Windows 8 be a winning one? Android has the following, a healthy collection of applications and a strong developer community writing more; while Windows 8 will be just starting out. The possibility of Windows 8 being used for work and Android for play is an intriguing one too.
As with all tablets that aren’t made by Apple though, the success will depend on price, and innovative new products are rarely cheap. Its novelty factor could win it plenty of admirers though, if it turns out to be what we expect.
This, along with the Padfone and previous Transformer tablets, could see Asus become one of the most exciting mobile manufacturers out there at the moment — as it’s pushing the boundaries of hardware design, instead of concentrating on tweaking software.
Asus will hold a press conference on June 4, when all will become clear.
