The creation of Android/Windows 8 hybrid machines is nothing new. I personally wrote an editorial a month ago, entitled "A Tale of Split Personalities: Windows 8-Android Hybrids", that concentrated on the negative effects these machines could have on the Windows 8 ecosystem.
This year at CES 2014, the trend continues as Asus announced its Transformer Book Duet TD300. The unit itself can be dual-booted between Microsoft's Windows 8 and Google's Android Jelly Bean operating systems.
The new Asus hybrid does have some quite impressive specs with a crisp 1080p 13 inch multitouch display and Intel's latest Core i7 processor under the hood. The TD300 itself features a 128 GB Solid State Drive and 4 GB of RAM.
Of course, this is a double hybrid - not only can it run both Windows and Android, but it can also switch between a tablet and a notebook. The detachable keyboard adds on a multitude of ports including an Ethernet jack, USB port, and HDMI out port. In addition, the base can hold a 1 TB hard disk drive for the user to work with.
A super hybrid machine such as this comes at a price, as one would imagine, but it is not the monetary price that makes this unit unappealing - it is the weight. The unit itself weighs in at over 4 pounds and is also thicker than most Ultrabooks at half an inch thick.
Asus is hoping to sell this device on the assumption that consumers want to jump between two different operating systems and they are trying to make that even easier with their "one touch button" that the company states will allow users to instantly switch between Windows and Android.
The TD300 will be landing at a price of $599 (not too shabby) and should make the ultimate machine for the Google/Microsoft schizophrenic in your life.
What do you think of Windows 8/Android hybrid machines? We'll see if we can get some hands-on time with the new ASUS while at the 2014 CES this week.
Source: ASUS
