Remember the Asus Padfone? It was the bizarre combination of a smartphone, tablet and laptop that was revealed back in May 2011, then redesigned for Mobile World Congress in February 2012, delayed due to problems sourcing processors in May, teased again later that same month before finally, um, well, disappearing.

The fact is, the Padfone may have been released, but Asus didn’t make a song and dance about it, and the public seemed to have forgotten all about it. That hasn’t stopped Asus thinking it was ripe for a sequel though, and an event invitation says it’s about to be announced.

The invite shows the left-hand side of what we can assume to be the phone part of the Padfone, along with the Android OS, plus a pair of virtual home and back buttons too. Due to the name, we can expect the device to plug into a tablet, which in turn will be docked into a keyboard to become a laptop.

Asus will be holding the event on 16 October, in both Milan, Italy and Taipei, Taiwan. We’ve not seen any leaked details about the Padfone 2, so unless they appear in between now and then, Asus’ new product will be a complete surprise.

The question is, will the Padfone 2 be ready to go on sale before the end of the year, or will be it another concept that’s not quite ready for the public?