After claiming in a recent report
that the new Asus dual-booting Android/Windows tablet/laptop combo that was announced at CES 2014 may not actually hit stores, Digitimes is back with a second story that says the same thing. According to its research, the publication says Google is putting pressure on Asus not to go forward with such dual-booting devices. Similarly, “other PC vendors now also have intentions to stop plans for producing products featuring dual operating system features,” as “Google is trying hard to avoid its OS being combined with Windows.”
Digitimes Research believes that such dual booting systems will benefit Windows more than Google, by helping the former further increase its market share in the smartphone business.
Intel is certainly interested in such dual booting platforms, as it now has a chip ready to support such devices. At CES, the company presented its dual OS platforms that can support Windows/Android and Windows/Windows combinations. The Asus Transformer Book Duet TD300, which Asus unveiled at the same show after a teaser campaign that suggested the company was working on a dual Windows/Android device, could be one such device.
Initially, Asus said the Transformer Book Duet TD300 would launch at the end of March, with prices starting at $599 in the USA. It’s not clear whether Asus will go forward with its plans or not.
Last June, Samsung unveiled one such device (the Ativ Q) but a few months later it quietly removed all mentions of the device from its websites, and discontinued the product without an explanation before it reached stores. Meanwhile, the Asus Transformer Book Duet TD300 press release announcing the device is still up on the company’s website, however it’s not available for pre-order, and does not have a product page of its own. The device is not available for pre-order from any online retailers either.
