At first glance, ASUS Taichi™ appears to be a slim and stylish Ultrabook™ with ASUS Zenbook™ looks, but look closer and it’s clear that what would be the lid on any normal notebook is actually nothing of the sort — it’s a second screen. “Most of the information we need is digital and available through the cloud. We often equip ourselves with two or more mobile devices to access this information,” said the lead designer of the ASUS Taichi™ project, “Our concern lies in the flexibility of a computing device that addresses various situations; one that does not require us to change user behavior.”
ASUS Design’s Start with People philosophy begins with understanding what users are thinking, feeling and doing. In essence, ASUS wanted a device that adapted to the user, and not the other way around. The design team tinkered with several designs before settling on the ASUS Taichi™’s double-sided display form factor. It was simple to use – open it up like a normal notebook, or close it to use as a tablet.
While squeezing two back-to-back screens into an ultraportable is impressive, even more remarkable is the way it changes how we work. Like a standard notebook hooked up to a secondary display, the ASUS Taichi™’s outer screen can operate in Mirror or Dual Screen mode. This makes it ideal for demonstrations, where the audience needs to see what the user is doing, and for presentations, where the speaker’s notes can be kept out of sight.
The 10-point multi-touch outer screen can be used independently of the inner screen, which means two people can sit face-to-face and use Windows 8 at the same time. With the lid closed, the ASUS Taichi™ acts as a Windows 8 tablet, albeit one that can be converted into a full ultraportable PC at a moment’s notice through the Taichi hotkey.
With a sleek profile that tapers from 17.4mm to a mere 3mm, ASUS Taichi™ doesn’t stray far from its Ultrabook™ roots, the top of the line model sports an Intel® Core™ i7 and two 13.3-inch Full HD 1920 × 1080 displays. Keeping in line with ASUS ’ Happiness 2.0 efforts, features like SonicMaster-enhanced audio and a backlit keyboard add that little bit extra to the user experience.
ASUS Design believes the ASUS Taichi™ represents the future. “The Taichi maintains a sleek profile despite having two displays. This incredible fusion of notebook and tablet is an intuitive form factor and will be the basis for the next generation of notebook computers.”
Hector
A former tech journalist with a local daily, Hector is an anomaly in the world of tech writers—he’s a skeptic, preferring to ask “Do we really need another (insert gadget here)?” instead of “I gotta have that new toy.” As a result, he often finds himself owning these gadgets only a year after their release. He wishes things were a whole lot simpler, like they were back in the 60s, even though he wasn’t even born then. Perhaps that explains why he’s dressed like the Fonz. Ayyyy!!