Asus's Taichi

A week ahead of Computex. Asus teased that it was coming out with something big, and the company didn't disappoint. The Taichi is a thin-and-light, laptop-tablet hybrid highlighted by two high-definition screens on both sides of the display panel. The laptop looks like a thin-and-light laptop, but when it is closed, the second outer screen is activated, giving it the look of a tablet. Both screens can be activated in laptop mode, allowing the same desktop image to be viewed on both screens when users are sitting on opposite sides of a desk. Users don't have to sit next to each other, and it's a good way to share content, said Jonney Shih, Asus' chairman, during a press conference at Computex. Prices were not available, but the Taichi is expected to come later this year with Intel's latest Core processors code-named Ivy Bridge and Windows 8 OS, The laptop will be offered with screen sizes of 13.3 inches and 11.6 inches.

Asus Tablet 600

Asus's second surprise was the Tablet 600, a Windows RT tablet running on an ARM processor. Windows has grown up on x86 processors, and this was among the first tablets announced combining Windows with ARM. Tablet 600 should give Microsoft a foothold in the tablet market and an opportunity to complete with Google's Android and Apple's iOS mobile OSes. The Asus tablet has a 10.1-inch screen and Nvidia's Tegra 3 processor. A keyboard dock can make it a fully functional laptop and provide extended battery life. But questions remain regarding how fast and effective a Windows RT tablet will be, and whether it will appeal to buyers. The Tablet 600 was kept under glass at Asus' booth in the Nangang exhibition hall in Taipei, preventing showgoers from playing with it.

Tablets with Intel's Clover Trail