Computer maker Asus has released a YouTube teaser video for its Transformer family of products, though the video offers few hints as to what sort of Transformer offerings it is preparing us for, save for a vague reference to the shape of the cloud, which the video describes as ever-changing beyond time and boundaries.” This has led to some speculation that the company is preparing to launch a cloud-based storage or file syncing service during the Computex 2012 conference in Taipei.
The video may also be related to new hardware in the companys Transformer line of Android-based tablets, or perhaps a Transformer tablet running Microsofts Windows 8 operating system. At the end of the video, which half-mimics the music and visuals of a Hollywood blockbusters teaser trailer (complete with a gravelly voiced narrator), Asus suggests further announcements will be made on May 31, in advance of the conference, which runs from June 5-9. Three additional videos are in the works, judging by a landing page for the video on Techinstyle.tv.
While the company is playing coy at the moment, Asus has yet to reveal release dates for its Eee Pad Transformer Infinity, first shown back in February at the Mobile World Congress (MWC) convention in Barcelona, or the PadFone, an Android device that snaps inside a PadFone Station tablet, also first shown at MWC. The next three videos may give viewers a bigger clue as to what Asus is up to.
The PadFone features a 1.5GHz dual-core Snapdragon S processor, an 8-megapixel rear camera, a front-facing camera and a quarter-high-definition (qHD) 960-by-540 Super AMOLED (active-matrix organic LED) display with a capacitive multitouch panel and Gorilla Glass. The PadFone was expected to begin shipping in April, but pricing and other details have not yet been revealed. The Infinity is a cross-platform combination of tablet and notebook, which features a full QWERTY keyboard dock and a high-definition touch-screen tablet component.
As it focuses more attention and resources on tablet devices, Asus is reportedly planning to streamline its family of notebooks and netbooks in 2012, consolidating the number of computer models it offers (Asus has around 50 notebook designs), such as the Eee PC line, which will be cut down to five models from 10 models.
Meanwhile, a report last week from Taiwanese tech news publication DigiTimes sent the rumor mill into high gear with news that Google and Asus are working on a 7-inch tablet for release in July, with an initial shipment of 600,000 units starting in June, according to unnamed sources in the supply chain. The tablet would certainly run on the latest version of Googles open-source Android operating system, Ice Cream Sandwich 4.0, or the upcoming operating system, “Jelly Bean.”