If this is your first introduction to the VivoTab RT, here's a quick recap: it basically offers everything people loved about ASUS' Android-based Transformer tablets, except it runs Windows RT instead.

ENGADGET: ASUS VivoTab RT tablet arrives October 26th, starting at $599 for the 32GB model; keyboard dock included (update: eyes-on!)

Talking with Asus executives about their new baby, the picture emerges of a project where unusual resources were dedicated to rapid development and engineering, and unusually narrow margins and tolerances are built into the final product, in order to meet the requirements for size, weight and battery life.

FORBES: Seven Inches, Four Months, A Number One Sales Target: How Asus Built The Nexus 7

We've yet to test one of the 13-inch models, and we still don't know how much these will cost, but it would seem, tentatively, that ASUS' second round of Ultrabooks are about to hand Apple some persuasive competition.

ENGADGET: MacBook Air review (13-inch, mid 2012)

While Apple remained comfortably in front with its 39.6 percent, just about every rival made a dent: Samsung, ASUS, Amazon and Microsoft all gained at least a small amount, even if no one manufacturer posed a major threat.

ENGADGET

Asus also appointed a single contact on its sales and marketing team to handle operator queries about its phones and tablets.

FORBES: Asus Preparing Mystery 'Personal Cloud Computing' Product For Fall Release

Shih says the two companies had differing ideas about how to thrive in the wireless industry, with Garmin preferring to focus on offering unique features and Asus emphasizing speed to market.

FORBES: Asus Windows Phone 7 Handsets Coming--Eventually