We know that ASUS has big plans when it comes to tablets, but between Eee Pads and Eee Tablets, we've never managed to get a complete idea of what will be coming out when. Now, though, Digitimes is reporting that company president Jerry Shen has laid the company's tablet strategy out in the open.
Perhaps unsurprisingly, ASUS will be hitting the market with a whole range of devices to suit the needs of pretty much anyone. At the top of the stack will be a 12in model running Windows on Intel hardware that we first saw at Computex.
While these sorts of tablets have so far failed to impress, ASUS has apparently been working very closely with Microsoft to develop and enhance certain elements, including the touch and user interfaces. Mass production is planned for December, meaning that it should make its way to retail by January 2011.
The company is also planning on releasing a pair of 9in tablets, which should arrive in March. One of these will again be based on Intel hardware and run Windows - we're guessing Embedded Compact 7 - while the other will be a strictly Android affair running NVIDIA's Tegra 2 SoC. While Shen didn't indicate how much these devices would cost, he did indicate that there would be an approximate $100 (£78) price difference between the two.
Rounding out the family will be a pair of 7in tablets, and though the story doesn't say so specifically, we'd expect them both to be running Android on an ARM CPU. What we do know, however, is that one will be fitted out with 3.5G wireless broadband and include phone functionality, while the other will be Wi-Fi only.
Once again, there was no word of the 10in Eee Pad EP101TC, which seems to have disappeared since we saw it at Computex in May. Nonetheless, we're bound to get plenty more details as we get closer to the new year.
