Asus’ dual-boot Transformer Book Duet is dead. At CES this year, one of the big stories was dual-OS devices. Spurred on by encouragement from chipmaker Intel, Asus announced the Transformer Book Duet, a hybrid laptop and tablet that switches between Microsoft Windows and Google’s Android on the fly. The device was an intriguing highlight at a trade show that was generally devoid of interesting laptops and tablets, and was scheduled for release in the US this month.
Plans for a new breed of mobile devices running operating systems from both Microsoft Corp. MSFT +0.16% and Google Inc. GOOG -0.69% have apparently hit a wall, falling victim to opposition from the software suppliers. Facing pressure from Google and Microsoft, Taiwanese personal-computer maker Asustek Computer Inc. 2357.TW +1.21% has indefinitely postponed plans to sell a high-profile device designed to simultaneously run both Android and Windows software, people familiar with the matter said. The Taiwanese company unveiled the Transformer Book Duet TD300, which converts from a tablet to clamshell-style laptop, in January at the Consumer Electronics Show.
