ASUS: Hey Guys, Forget You Ever Saw That Android Netbook, OK?

One of the early surprises of Computex was this delightful little Android netbook from ASUS, based on the ultra-efficient Snapdragon platform. Acer has since responded with a full-throated commitment to Android netbooks, but now ASUS is backing off.

Addressing questions about the device, Asustek’s chairman said:

Frankly speaking, the first question, I would like to apologise that, if you look at Asus booth we’ve decided not to display this product… I think you may have seen the devices on Qualcomm’s booth but actually, I think this is a company decision so far we would not like to show this device. That’s what I can tell you so far. I would like to apologise for that.

This sounds like typical backpeddling, as if their hardware partner just let the cat out of the bag a bit early. Not so, apparently:

For the time being this project is not a priority because our engineering resources are limited.

Since we’ve seen the device already, I assume this means that the software challenge at hand isn’t something that the company is ready to tackle. And really, that’s fair—overhauling a smartphone interface so that it behaves naturally with a non-touch, keyboard-and-trackpad-based netbook is a huge undertaking. [PC World]