Asus at Computex 2012

Squirreled away in a corner of Asus' booth at Computex Taipei was the company's first Thunderbolt-equipped display. Details are limited: the 27-inch, 1920 x 1080 pixel resolution monitor was mounted to a wall so we couldn't really take a look at the ports for ourselves, but we were told that it also packs DisplayPort, HDMI and DVI inputs, and will be headed to the US at an unspecified time, for an unspecified price. That isn't very much to go on, but if you're looking to hop onto the Thunderbolt-bandwagon and can't quite afford to drop $1,000 into Apple's coffers, this may be one to watch.

Here's something a bit more concrete for all of the PadFone fans out there: Asus also showed off a 24-inch monitor that doubles as station display for the category-defying mobile phone. The 1920 x 1200 display makes a decent host for Android Ice Cream Sandwich, though using a mouse and keyboard to get around isn't quite as intuitive as tapping on a touchscreen. That said, the display looked fairly attractive, offering relatively wide viewing angles. Also of note was the matte display: we could see Android in its full glory despite the bright glaring lights in the Asus booth, which was promising. The monitor offers four USB 3.0 ports, HDMI, VGA, and DVI ports, and (once again )there's no word on price, but we were told that it would be making it's way to the US eventually.

Computex might not be a trade show quite on par with January's gargantuan CES, but for the Taiwanese companies exhibiting their latest wares, it's arguably the most important week on the calendar. Asus didn't disappoint this year, bringing out a wide range of innovative new designs, highlighted by the eyebrow-raising Taichi, a dual-screened Windows 8 laptop that can also serve as a tablet. In the words of the always entertaining Jonney Shih, "the ultimate transformation is no transformation" at all. You'll find more such gems of wisdom from the Asus Chairman below, along with the first sightings of the company's Transformer AiO and Tablet 600.

The Broadcom VP also drew attention to more 802.11ac-capable products coming from Asus, including a P8Z7-V series motherboard, and the RT-AC66U wireless router we heard about on Monday. Before leaving the stage, Hurlston mentioned that we’ll be seeing smartphones, tablets, and even cameras with the new networking standard in 2013.

We're still waiting for the Zenbook Prime UX21A to see a full release, but Asus has already prepared another variant for show here at Computex Taipei — a Windows 8 model equipped with a touchscreen. The company told us it's being "considered for production" right now, so we're not sure if it'll ever find a place in Asus's extensive Windows 8 lineup, but we came away impressed from our brief session with the ultrabook.

Touch response was excellent, and the hinge doesn't wobble under pressure from taps like the Samsung prototypes we saw yesterday. We're still yet to be fully convinced by the touchscreen clamshell form factor, whatever Intel might say, but there's no denying it feels a lot more natural on such a compact machine. Beyond the addition of touch it's the same Zenbook Prime UX21A, with an amazing 11.6-inch 1080p IPS display, Ivy Bridge processor, and thin aluminum construction. We've seen a lot of ultrabooks over the past few days, and this might well turn out to be the best... if it ever makes it to market, that is.

It would seem there's no stopping Asus' shapeshifting aspirations: at its press conference in Computex, the company announced the Transformer all-in-one, a desktop PC equipped with an Intel Ivy Bridge processor, a discrete graphics card, and an 18.4-inch 10-finger multitouch display in anticipation of Microsoft's Windows 8. Mustn't forget that "transformer" bit — lift the screen out of its base, and it doubles as a gargantuan tablet.

Asus has also packed in a Wacom digitizer with stylus support, alongside an extremely thin form factor: just 8.7mm thick (thinner than Apple's latest iPad). The Tablet 810 will also ship with a 2-in-1 mobile dock with a hidden hinge design.

Asus has revealed a number of new Windows 8 hardware offerings today, but it also has a convertible notebook planned for later this year. The Transformer Book is powered by Intel's 3rd generation Core i7, i5, and i3 processors alongside 4GB of RAM, USB 3.0, and Nvidia graphics. Asus is shipping the Transformer Book with a full HD IPS display in 11.6, 13, and 14-inch options.

A detachable full-size keyboard is available on the Transformer Book, allowing it to switch into a Windows 8 tablet for mobility.

Asus has just announced the Taichi laptop / tablet hybrid at Computex 2012 in Taipei. Essentially a laptop with a display on both sides of its lid, the Taichi features either dual 13.3-inch or 11.6-inch IPS HD displays, an Ivy Bridge Core i7 processor, 4GB of RAM, SSD storage, two USB 3.0 ports, Micro HDMI, mini DisplayPort, a 5-megapixel rear camera, and "HD" front-facing camera.