

Asus launches touchscreen desktop that turns into an 18 inch tablet - rubikscube
http://liliputing.com/2013/03/asus-launches-transformer-aio-touchscreen-desktop-that-turns-into-an-18-inch-tablet.html

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StavrosK
And after a year, no more updates. I'm really frustrated that my TF201 isn't
going to be updated to 4.2, the multiple users feature is a Godsend.

I don't understand why more manufacturers don't run stock Android, does it not
help them upgrade more easily?

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lnanek2
The manufacturers are all fighting to differentiate themselves from other
manufacturers, to get sales, and justify more than razor thin margins. Often
retail stores and their staff want the same - something exclusive. If you
don't get into stores, you don't sell large quantities anyway, so the stores'
wants are as important as the end users'.

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StavrosK
Sure, but a tablet that gets updates more than a year later is a damn sight
more exclusive than anything else out there, save the Nexus line :/

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smoyer
Hmmm ... the idea of using it strictly as a remote desktop sounds intriguing,
but do I really need the PC base-station then?

I use my iPad with a blue-tooth keyboard to work on remote computers quite a
bit, so this basically gives me the equivalent with more pixels. The down-side
is that it won't fit into a laptop bag.

Edit: I work in a similar way to what's described in this article -
[http://www.linuxjournal.com/content/swap-your-laptop-ipad-
li...](http://www.linuxjournal.com/content/swap-your-laptop-ipad-linode)

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stephengillie
That's an interesting form factor for a docking station.

It's also the first monitor to run Android...or the first tablet to allow an
external device to display on its screen.

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lmm
It's interesting that they felt the need to use Android when in tablet form,
even though that's what Windows 8 was built for.

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stephengillie
Maybe it's for hardware reasons -- can Win8 run on a Tegra? Would Asus have
wanted to put an i7 in this tablet? (that might have actually worked pretty
well, as it has the back surface area for a big battery and lots of heat
dissipation...)

In a way, it's also like dual booting Android and Win8...

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ChuckMcM
Wow, that is a creative use of computing power. I am surprised it doesn't have
a TV tuner so you can also use it as a TV.

Reading the Penny Arcade discussion about the Surface Pro made me wonder
whether there is a niche market for a designer PC/tablet with something like
Wacom pen support. Sit in front of is with CS6 and lay out something, pick up
the display and lay it on the table like it would look like as a magazine
cover, take a picture of a magazine cover with a rear facing camera and touch
it up and back on the stand, moving back and forth. Probably wouldn't work for
me but perhaps.

I was thinking about my notebooks and how a tablet could replace those.
Something like the Galaxy note with a really killer implementation of
something like Trello might do it. My note taking has never completely
switched to a laptop because of the drawing requirement. Even with OmniGraffle
which is pretty epically cool I can draw faster and more creatively it seems
with a pen and graph paper.

