Asus double down with transformer book Trio

Asus-trioImage credit: Asus

Asus kicked off the hybrid craze with the first transformer Tablet and laptop dock running Android. It has constantly repeated product line, up through the impressive transformers Prime model. It is now taking it to a whole new level with transformer book Trio just Unveiled at Computex Taipei with both Android and Windows 8 inside.


See also: Asus transformer book Trio running Windows 7 and Android simultaneously


Transformer book Trio is an Android tablet that previous transformer models but there the similarity ends. When the Tablet is connected to laptop though, who looks a lot like previous models, the trio becomes a full-fledged laptop Windows 8 due to full hardware complement inside the doll.


Asus has essentially built an Android tablet with all standard hardware in Slate, and also put a decent PC system in the laptop though. The two operating systems can be switched as required via a simple solution, as reported by Engadget's Dana Wollman. Running Windows as you want and switch to Android when it makes more sense.


Windows 7 compatible hardware in the dock is not typical of hybrids as the trio rocks a new Haswell Core i7 that connects to a 1 TB hard drive. The massive storage is augmented by 16 GB storage space in the tablet. An Intel Atom run the Android side instead of the usual ARM solutions. Both the Tablet and laptop dock has batteries that together probably give decent battery life.


Transformer book trio will undoubtedly be expensive due to the latest Intel processor and the dual nature of the hardware. It is essentially two complete systems in one and it is probably not one of them will be free.

Lenovo U1Image credit: Lenovo

Some say that this dual system is a new category, but Lenovo did back in 2010 with its U1 hybrid. I vividly remember stepping into a large room at the Mirage Hotel during CES this year and that my eyes are drawn to the U1 in spite of all the systems on display.


U1 first appeared when Android was just a gleam in the eye of Andy Rubin's growing so Lenovo put its Skylight UI, a special Linux variant, if you want to run the tablet. However, U1 Laptop had a full Intel-based Windows PC inside, much like transformer Prime trio.


What impressed me so much with the U1 was how the system automatically switched from Windows to the roof window when the tablet was removed from the bridge. It was not only the rapid transition which was impressive, it was the fact that the two OSes inside the laptop was constantly communicates. This made it possible to pick up exactly where you were when an OS handed off control to another.


My mind was blown when I was watching a YouTube video on the laptop in Windows Tablet away from the dock, and had a seamless OS switch that had the same video playing at exactly the same place! The same crossing was possible in the browser which was fantastic.


Lenovo U1 does not take to the market as expected next year, and be replaced by skylight UI on Android, which was becoming more mainstream. I don't think the model ever made it to the United States, either.


The Asus transformer book Trio looks to be a fantastic Windows 7 laptop that becomes an Android tablet on demand. This is really versatile, even if Windows 8 is designed to handle both laptops and tablets so it is not clear what the benefits will have Android on demand. Maybe all the Android apps in Play Store becomes plus to justify what will certainly be an expensive solution. We have to wait and see how well the trio works until the 3rd quarter release date.