Asus opened its press event at Mobile World Congress earlier this week with the introduction of the ASUS Open Cloud Computing platform, which aggregates cloud storage from different providers into a unified virtual service. Compatible with a variety of operating systems, ASUS Open Cloud Computing (AOCC) has been designed to simplify sharing photos and other media with multiple devices, and offers a wide range of online help and troubleshooting tools to solve technical problems. AOCC includes four services: AOCloud, AOLink, AOStream and AOHelp.

AOCloud aggregates cloud storage services from both ASUS and other providers into a single virtual service with a single login. It also supports personal cloud storage via ASUS AiCloud and compatible ASUS routers, so files stored on home network-attached storage (NAS) can be accessed just as easily as those stored in the cloud.

AOLink works with AOCloud to stream audio, video and images between devices and services. AOStream is a personal journal for photos and web clippings with fast local synchronization across connected devices, and unlimited uploads to dedicated cloud storage.

AOHelp is a suite of troubleshooting tools designed to take the headache out of solving common computer problems. The service features automatic optimization and diagnostic software, and secure remote assistance for 'hands-on' fixes from ASUS technical support representatives.

Two mobile devices to complement the ASUS Open Cloud Computing platform were also announced. Fonepad is a competitively priced handheld with 3G voice and mobile data for all the features of a smartphone, with the convenience of a 7-inch tablet. PadFone Infinity is a powerful LTE smartphone with a sleek metallic design that becomes a full-size tablet when docked to its companion PadFone Infinity Station. PadFone Infinity features mobile performance, thanks to its Qualcomm Snapdragon 600 processor with quad-core CPUs.