Asus announces Tablet 600: transforming Windows RT device with Tegra 3 and 2GB RAM
Ahead of its Computex press conference, Asus is showing off the Tablet 600, a Windows RT device that takes the detachable keyboard form factor made popular by its Transformer Android series.
Context & Ripple Effects
Asus had already signaled a strategy spanning both a quad-core Tegra 3 tablet and an Intel slate in 2011, while its Transformer products established the detachable-keyboard design as a core part of its tablet identity. The Tablet 600 carries that hardware approach into Windows RT rather than treating it as an Android-only product line.
The move matters because Asus is combining an ARM-based Tegra 3 configuration with a form factor it has already used to position tablets as more laptop-like devices.
First-order effects
- Asus gains a Windows RT product that reuses the detachable-keyboard proposition of its Transformer Android range, extending its tablet lineup across operating systems.
- Nvidia's Tegra 3 becomes the computing platform for Asus's Windows RT entry, tying the chip to a device designed for both tablet and keyboard use.
Second-order effects
- Asus must differentiate the Tablet 600 from its own Android Transformer devices through software and services rather than the detachable design alone.
- Windows RT hardware makers face a clearer expectation that ARM tablets can be sold with productivity-oriented keyboard accessories, not solely as touch-first slates.
Third-order effects
- If other vendors adopt the same approach, detachable keyboards become a cross-platform hardware category, with operating systems competing inside increasingly similar tablet-laptop hybrids.
The trend: Tablet makers are carrying proven detachable-hardware designs across Android, Windows RT, and different processor architectures to broaden their addressable device categories.