Whenever you hear a tablet/notebook hybrid, you would think of a notebook with a removable display which makes it a tablet. Or a notebook with a rotating, touch-screen display. However, Asus has a different plan in mind, a bold one if I might say, when they came up with the ASUS Taichi.
The ASUS Taichi is an ultrabook that’s also a tablet which is currently being showcased at the Computex 2012, in Taipei. The unique thing here is that it has a double-sided LED-backlit IPS/FHD display. Yep, double-sided. A regular display like what a notebook typically has, and an outer touchscreen display on the lid itself. Crazy I know.
This noteboook, err tablet, err device, looks like your ASUS Zenbook but with a glossy lid when everything’s turned off. Pop open the lid and you’ll have that familiar Zenbook feel. An IPS display, backlit keyboard and the regular multi-gesture trackpad. However with the lid closed, the Taichi becomes a multi-touch tablet computer with stylus support. Or you can use both display at the same time, like when you want to get some work done but your buddy wants to watch a video on the other side of the screen.
The tablet portion uses the same hardware and OS as the notebook portion. It will make use of Intel’s 3rd generation Ivy Bridge processor, SSD storage, 802.11n WiFi, Asus’ SonicMaster audio technology, and Windows 8. It will come in either an 11.6 or 13.3-inch version which will arrive some time in the future.