Asus Preparing Mystery ‘Personal Cloud Computing’ Product For Fall Release

February 15, 2011 Off By David
Grazed from Forbes.  Author: Elizabeth Woyke.

The booming popularity of tablets has been a mixed blessing for Asus. The Taiwan-based electronics vendor makes takes a hit each time consumers opt for tablets over the laptops and netbooks it makes. At the same time, Asus is investing in tablets, unveiling four models at the Consumer Electronics Show in January. Most of Asus’ tablets won’t launch until later this year, however, when a glut of other tablets from companies ranging from Motorola to Research In Motion to HP will also be on sale.

The conundrum is pushing Asus to craft the next innovation in mobile computing — a mystery product that the company’s head of mobile devices says will debut this fall.

Benson Lin, Asus’ corporate vice president and the general manager of its mobile devices unit, says the device will be a “market-changing” product on par with the company’s Eee PC computer, which kicked off the netbook craze in 2007. The device will go on sale in the third-quarter of the year but will be in working model form earlier, in the second-quarter, says Lin.

The timing means Asus is likely to show off the device at Computex, a Taiwan-based trade show for the computer industry. Asus first showed the Eee PC at Computex in 2007.

Lin was deliberately vague in his descriptions of the device, declining to specify whether it will be a smartphone or a tablet or some type of never-before-seen hybrid of the two. Though Asus is not widely known for cellphones in the U.S., it has produced phones for several years for the European and Asian markets.

Lin did say that the device would be a “personal cloud computing” product. The notion of personal cloud computing is one that Asus Chairman Jonney Shih has been touting for several months. In April 2010, Shih told Forbes that he wanted to develop mobile computing products that took advantage of cloud computing for a more personalized user experience.

Lin also hinted that the device would tie together different types of Asus products in what he calls “seamless integration.” “We have been thinking how to have synergy with your notebook and your tablet through the cloud,” says Lin. And he mentioned that operators would be involved in its release, an indication that the device will have cellular connectivity, not just Wi-Fi.

Introducing a unique mobile product could establish Asus as a player in a highly competitive industry that has, to date, largely resisted Asus’ attempts to increase its influence. “We are a ‘Tier 2′ brand at this moment,” concedes Lin. “If we don’t have a unique product, we have no chance.”

Asus is also trying to augment its mobile business, especially in the U.S., through navigation services and new management. The navigation services are a holdover from Asus’ Garmin alliance; when the companies split, Garmin agreed to provide location-based data to Asus on an exclusive basis for several years. Asus plans to incorporate some of these location features into its future Android phones. Though the Asus-Garmin handsets were not a financial success, Lin believes consumers like having navigation and other location-based services on their phones. “We want people to keep associating Asus with smartphone navigation,” says Lin.

After years of entrusting its U.S. carrier relationships to Garmin, Asus has also begun calling on U.S. operators. Lin says he has met with AT&T and MetroPCS in recent weeks to discuss possible partnerships. Asus also appointed a single contact on its sales and marketing team to handle operator queries about its phones and tablets. Previously, Asus did not have such a position in the U.S.