Asus seems to be creating a new Padfone (tablet-smartphone combo) for the Windows operating system as Microsoft’s newest partner. Asus corporate vice president of mobile communication products Benson Lin told the Wall Street Journal that there’s no firm timeline on the product, but that the company is interested in making Windows Phones and believes that the Padfone is the perfect fit.

Asus had previously created a PadFone that used Android at its core, so extending that concept to Microsoft’s ecosystem isn’t that much of a stretch. It’s even possible that the device will have some sort of hybrid between Windows Phone 8 (when in phone form) and Windows RT (when in tablet form).

In addition to Windows Phones, Asus is trying to establish a stronger presence in the U.S. mobile market and is in talks with network providers to bring some of its existing hardware stateside. They might achieve just that with their innovative hybrid products.

via Tech Crunch