Asus Conference Notebook Stolen Before Show

Thieves somehow stole an upcoming Asus notebook slated to be used in a launch press conference.

You know your product must be a hot item if it's stolen before ever hitting store shelves. Asus discovered the hard way just days before a press conference for the launch of the NX90 Bang & Olufsen ICEpower high-end laptop. Apparently the device was seated in an Asus display case inside a 5-star hotel in Romania when it was stolen right on camera.

The details surrounding the theft are minimal, however surveillance video caught one woman and two men quickly heading through the hotel with the laptop at hand. The man seen in the forefront of the trio (with the second man and woman trailing behind) is actually carrying the device under something that resembles a hotel towel.

First appearing at CES 2010, the Asus NX90 Bang & Olufsen ICEpower notebook features a stylish, elegant look and feel--designed by B&O Chief Designer David Lewis--sporting a polished aluminum exterior and palm rest. Other specs include B&O audio quality speakers (with ICE power technology) mounted outside the frame, dual touchpads, a 18.4-inch Full HD LED backlit display, a slot loading Blu-ray/DVD combo drive, Nvidia GeForce GT 334M graphics, the Intel Core i7-720QM processor, dual hard drive support, and more.

With that said, the thieves certainly had good taste. The device was last seen Wednesday on the hotel's security cameras, and so far there's no word if the local officials have located the thieves and retrieved the laptop. Asus was said to have declined making comments on the theft.