Asus looking to do a Windows Phone, Windows Padfone

Asus looking to do a Windows Phone, Windows Padfone

January 17, 2013 | By Surur

The Wall Street Journal reports that Asustek Computer Inc.  is in talks with Microsoft to license Windows Phone 8, and may use it in their Padfone hybrid phone/ tablet.

“With our Padfone concept, the phone plus tablet, I think it makes sense for Windows 8,” said Benson Lin, corporate vice president of mobile communication products. “There is no target timeline…but we are interested in making Windows phones.”

Like Nokia, part of his goal is to penetrate the US market. He said the company was in talks with US carriers to launch its phones by next year.

The current Padfone  is a 4.7-inch Android phone that docks into a 10.1-inch tablet and sells for NT$19,901 (US$686) in Taiwan. Asus currently sells its phones in 20 countries in Europe and the Asia Pacific.

With Windows 8 and Windows Phone 8 both running the same kernel on ARM the concept is of course imminently doable, but a better candidate may be the upcoming version of Windows 8 designed for small 7 inch tablets code-named Windows Blue.

A Taipei-based Microsoft spokeswoman declined to comment.