Wow I need this, Asus Transformer Book Trio

[SAWYER]

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=m4E-OJ_TTdo


this looks amazing imo

 

[lopri]

Very interesting. So there are keyboard, dock, and screen/tablet.

Screen/tablet is a standalone Android.
When docked, it becomes Windows.
When the screen and keyboard are attached, you can dual-boot between Windows/Android.

Am I getting it right?

 

[lopri]

Does it have two SoCs? X86 inside the keyboard and ARM inside the screen?

 

[wasabiman123]

Very interesting. So there are keyboard, dock, and screen/tablet.

Screen/tablet is a standalone Android.
When docked, it becomes Windows.
When the screen and keyboard are attached, you can dual-boot between Windows/Android.

Am I getting it right?

Yeah that's it. I would be interested if not for that design Asus uses for their ultrabooks, it doesn't seem practical to me, then again I find myself on the Thinkpad fan spectrum...

 

[openwheel]

Very nice. I may have to get this.

 

[RockinZ28]

Do want. Hopefully it is priced well.

 

[lopri]

It says it runs i7 CPU for Windows part. I don't know how big of a battery can be housed in that keyboard body? Or do they require a power cable (but not showing in the video)?

 

[RockinZ28]

http://reviews.cnet.com/tablets/asus-transformer-book-trio/4505-3126_7-35827211.html

Does sound pretty cool. 13 hours android, 5 hours Windows when separated. Batteries in both, and you can switch from android to windows with the push of a button in about 1 sec. 11.6 in 1080p display.

 

[luv2liv]

thats amazing!!! cant believe they stuck an i7 in there too.
my head would explode if a phone pops out of the tablet like their padfone too

 

[Ravynmagi]

Does it have two SoCs? X86 inside the keyboard and ARM inside the screen?

It has an Atom CloverTrail in the tablet. So both are x86 processors.

It's nice, but I wish the tablet portion was also running Windows 8 (it could). I'm not a fan of the half Windows half Android devices.

I'm also expecting it to be ridiculously overpriced.

 

[lopri]

It has an Atom CloverTrail in the tablet. So both are x86 processors.

That makes sense. I suppose that should definitely help streamlining internal circuitry.

 

[Crono]

It has an Atom CloverTrail in the tablet. So both are x86 processors.

It's nice, but I wish the tablet portion was also running Windows 8 (it could). I'm not a fan of the half Windows half Android devices.

I'm also expecting it to be ridiculously overpriced.

This is why I'd rather just wait for the tablets coming out next month. A Surface or new Bay Trail-based tablet with a removable keyboard will cost anywhere from $300 to $1,000 with Haswell on the upper end, and I'd be able to run Android apps via Bluestacks if I really wanted to. Meanwhile the Trio will probably be over $1,000 if I had to take a guess at pricing.

 

[gorcorps]

My gut tells me that I want a windows os available in tablet mode too, but I could probably get used to it.

 

[Belegost]

This is almost there...

1) Make it all windows, so that I have the same desktop/file structure/settings in tablet/laptop/desktop mode.

2) Make the desktop dock expandable with PCIe video card and SATA storage. (Even better would be CPU/RAM, but then you really have bought a whole desktop)

3) Incorporate with a game console so that game installs and save data can be stored on the tablet and played on any compatible console.

4) A pile of NAND with a fast bus

This would bring convergence, I would have one tablet that is a core module for my computing needs, and it would expand to the circumstances, I would not worry about syncing my tablet/laptop/desktop it would always be there, I just slot it into different form factors that match my current needs.

I want to play games - I dock to any compatible console, my game installs and saves are on the tablet, the console provides the CPU/GPU power to run them.

I need to run <productivity tool> - I put it on a workstation dock, and my <productivity tool> information is stored on the tablet to be used.

I need to type on the airplane - I dock the keyboard and go to town.

I want to watch a movie - I get to choose, I can watch from the tablet, I could watch from the PC dock, or I could watch from the TV through the game console.

But best of all, I could do this with any dock, I can take my tablet to my friend's house and play the new game I got just by docking with his console. I can travel for business and update my sim models on the other side of the world by plugging my console into a generic workstation.

Currently MS is the company in the best position to make this happen, they have the desktop OS, it is already convergent with the tablet OS, they have the Xbox waiting for this. Now they just need to stop screwing around and make it happen.

 

[lopri]

@Belegost: I have no clue of what you are imagining. Docking to any compatible console? Game installs/saves on a phone? Desktop PCIe video card and SATA storage? Swap SIMs as you go?

I don't know man. I admit that it does sound like a heck of "convergence". ^_^

 

[Belegost]

@Belegost: I have no clue of what you are imagining. Docking to any compatible console? Game installs/saves on a phone? Desktop PCIe video card and SATA storage? Swap SIMs as you go?

I don't know man. I admit that it does sound like a heck of "convergence". ^_^

Sorry, typed phone where I meant tablet - but long term a smartphone with that level of integration would be better, but storage and cpu capacity aren't quite there. Though a combination of cloud storage and asymmetric multi-processing could do it.

The use of the word sims was not SIM cards, but simulations. As an engineer being able to run a simulation environment while mobile is a big deal.

But really, there is nothing technically unreasonable about it. PCIe and SATA both have good support for transfer over external connections. Modern OSes are capable of managing drivers on the fly to support changing HW capabilities(though admittedly improvements can be made here). Haswell or Bay Trail CPUs (depending processing needs) are enough horsepower to run the majority tasks but low enough power to actually be mobile. Flash storage has come to a power/capacity/price level to support 128GB+ on tablet size devices. For most people that's sufficient storage for day-to-day use, and cloud and docking station storage augment that.

Imagine a Surface Pro - but with a docking station that can add GPU and mass storage. That alone could do quite well as a replacement for tablet/laptop/desktop. The game console is used to unify all the major screens, access to the same OS with the same apps, and the same data would be available in the most convenient form factor at the time.

Maybe I should make this a cover letter and apply for the MS CEO position. =P

 

[olds]

Does it have a wacom screen?

 

[OneOfTheseDays]

So why on earth would you ever want to run Android and Windows on the same tablet. I get the cool factor of it, but I can't see the practicality of it.

The fact is Android is a pretty awful tablet OS and its apps are equally poor. Just give me full x86 Windows and drop the rest of this crap. Once MSFT fully integrates RT/WP/Metro, these tablets will start to make more sense.

 

[olds]

So why on earth would you ever want to run Android and Windows on the same tablet. I get the cool factor of it, but I can't see the practicality of it.

The fact is Android is a pretty awful tablet OS and its apps are equally poor. Just give me full x86 Windows and drop the rest of this crap. Once MSFT fully integrates RT/WP/Metro, these tablets will start to make more sense.

I want to run PowerPoint with embedded videos and play Angry Birds when I am not. As far as I know, you can't play Android games on Windows.

 

[Skott]

I want to run PowerPoint with embedded videos and play Angry Birds when I am not. As far as I know, you can't play Android games on Windows.

I thought there was a angry bird version for windows? Pretty sure they make it. Its not an app though.

 

[olds]

I thought there was a angry bird version for windows? Pretty sure they make it. Its not an app though.

Birds was just an example.

 

[Belegost]

I want to run PowerPoint with embedded videos and play Angry Birds when I am not. As far as I know, you can't play Android games on Windows.

Run Android on a virtual machine? VirtualBox definitely supports it.