Asus and Google introduce $249 convertible Chromebook Flip

After their game-changing team-up on the first generation of the Nexus tablet, tech stalwarts Asus and Google have collaborated once more on a hardware project, this time resulting in the release of the Asus Chromebook Flip.

A press release on Asus' News page announces the Flip as "the first 10-inch convertible Chromebook," meaning that the device runs Google's Chrome OS instead of its more popularly used Android operating system. The Flip earns its name by way of a 360-degree hinge that allows the screen of the Chromebook to fold back on itself, effectively turning the Chromebook into a tablet in a single motion.

An all-metal chassis encases the 10.1-inch, 1366 X 768 IPS touchscreen used on the Asus Flip, in contrast to the traditional plastic-and-metal combination employed in traditional notebook manufacturing processes. The PC World reports that this will give the product a deluxe look and feel as well as adding strength to withstand the twisting stress from the 360-degree center hinge. The Flip's IPS hardware offers full multi-touch support, which the upcoming version 42 of the Chrome OS is said to be taking full advantage of upon release .

In an interesting departure from its traditional hardware suppliers, the Asus Flip Chromebook trades in Intel chipsets for a Rockchip 3288 quad-core processor combined with a Mali-T764 graphics chip and 4GB of RAM. 16 or 32GB storage options are available, with about thirty dollars' price difference in between. The Asus Flip has a given battery life of 10 hours, more than enough for casual users. Lastly, the Asus Flip offers dual-band 802.11ac Wi-Fi and Bluetooth 4.0 for wireless connectivity options, as well as USB 3.0 and HDMI.

However, easily the most interesting offering about the Asus Flip isn't the hardware profile, but the price. In line with Asus' main marketing tactic of high-quality devices at affordable prices, the Asus Flip is going to retail at prices starting at $249.

The Asus Flip is now available from online stores.