Asus to launch Google and Windows tablet PCs

As the iPad launches across the US to take on netbooks, the king of netbooks is himself planning to step into the tablet PC market. Johnny Shish, chairman of Asus and widely recognized for bringing netbooks to the masses, told Forbes that the company is looking to release "at least two" tablet PCs in the coming months.

"Netbooks are the best combination of personal computing and cloud computing," Shih said. "But between netbooks and smartphones and e-readers, we think there will be a space for something like a tablet or slate PC,"

He noted that the company is working with the 'open camps' of Google and Microsoft. He added that one of the tablets will run on a Google operating system— without clarifying whether it's Android or Chrome OS— while the other will run on Windows.

If we had to guess, it's likely that the Google tablet is bound to be based on Android since Chrome OS is still a long way away from launch. The Windows tablet will almost definitely be Windows 7, since Microsoft has been touting its touch-interface capabilities. Emphasising the importance of content, Shish told Forbes: "The Google tablet will have a lot of media."

Both the tablets are likely to be launched at Computex in June— a favourite launch platform for Asus, which was also used to unveil their netbook line.

Previous reports have indicated that the Asus tablet would come with more features than the Apple one and also at a lower price. Shih has already said that he wants to break the $400 price barrier in tablet computing.