Asus could well be the next company to come up with an 8 inch tablet running Windows 8.1 with an Intel chip at its core. This if true will make Asus the newest entrant to the league of companies comprising of the likes of Acer, Lenovo, Toshiba and Dell that have all launched Windows based tablet in such a form factor. Asus though isn’t completely new to the Intel Bay Trail and Windows 8.1 combination, it being the first to include both in the Transformer Book T100TA that comes with a 10 inch display as well as a keyboard dock.
There is however unconfirmed information that comes from Tech2.hu about Asus introducing an 8 inch tablet or a tablet smaller than 10 inch. The reason for this assumption stems from the fact that the model is named Asus M80TA though there is also talk of the device likely to be named Asus VivoTab Note 8. Also, the tablet could be priced $299, which is similar to most other 8 inch Windows 8.1 tablet costs.
The M80TA is speculated to be running Windows 8.1 as per a listing at a retailer’s site. The specifications also mentioned there speak of an Intel Atom Z3740 Bay Trail processor powering the device, coupled to a 2 GB RAM along with 32 GB of storage capacity. It would also come pre-loaded with 2013 Home & Student MS Office. It also mentions about the device including support for a stylus, something that the Transformer Book T100TA lacks. There is however no clear indication if there would be a keyboard dock as the one which is there on the Transformer Book T100TA.
Official confirmation on all these speculations would come to an end on 6th January when Asus is going to address a press conference. The event is to be held at Las Vegas. There would sure be mention about the Padfone X device also during the press conference, as that too is a hotly talked about device expected form Asus.
