Android Tablet Update

ASUS is having some fun with us in gearing up for Computex and has now released three teaser videos which when taken together lead us to believe that they are going to be unveiling a new Transformer which can dual-boot or at least run Windows 8 and Android.

The first video, “The Incredible Transformations,”  was released a couple days ago and told us to not get set into one form and that the cloud is ever changing. It then flashes the outline of what looks like a Transformer device with the dock below it.

So that wasn’t terribly informative, but this morning ASUS has added two more teaser videos and while they are still quite nebulous the first of these new videos does offer a bit more information as at the very end you see a drop of water splitting in two with the Windows 8 logo on one and the Android logo on the other.

For the sake of completeness I’ll include the final video, but it doesn’t really tell us anything more other than maintaining the theme of two things coming together as it shows a board with “Tai” on one side and “Chi” on the other. It then spins until the words appear to be next to each other.

Now how exactly this would be implemented is of course left completely unanswered by the videos. It could be a true dual-boot with users opting to use Windows 8 or Android as they start the device or they could use something like BlueStacks to run Android on Windows. It also leaves open the question of whether we are talking about Windows 8 proper or the horrifically named Windows RT.

ASUS hits the stage on June 4th at Computex so we’ll have all the answers soon enough.

I know we have a fair number of ASUS Transformer fans so would you like a little Windows 8 with your Android next time around?

It has been a while since ASUS unveiled the its tablet/phone hybrid PadFone. But at Mobile World Congress, the manufacturer has finally put an end to the waiting, officially announcing almighty ASUS PadFone will be released come April.

Expectations have changed over time, and this device is not as powerful as we used to see it, anymore. But it offers some great functionality, combining the convenience of three form-factors in a single device. As a standalone device, the phone is a regular 4.3-inch smartphone. Its specs include a Qualcomm Snapdragon S4 dual-core processor, a 4.3-inch Super AMOLED qHD display and Android 4.0 for your Ice Cream Sandwich fix.

What makes this device special, though, is that it functions as multiple devices. Android 4.0 has probably made this simpler to accomplish, as the platform united the tablet and smartphone ecosystems. The ASUS PadFone is able to be docked into a 10.1-inch tablet dock (which adds 5 times the battery life) and  transforms it into a full tablet.

This is all old news, but ASUS has added an extra form-factor we only recently heard of. There is a third piece to the equation, which is a keyboard dock that locks into the tablet similar to the Transformer series. So we have a phone, a tablet and a netbook, all united by a single device.

If that isn’t enough, there is also a stylus headset available. This device can be used as a stylus and easily transformed into a bluetooth headset for answering and making calls.

This should be the ultimate Transformer, right? Everything just becomes something else. Let’s wait for April to hear more details about pricing and availability, and hope that nothing delays its release this time. Take a look at some good images from our friends at The Verge, and let us know what you think. Are any of you interested in this mega-hybrid device?

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ASUS continues to go all out on the tablet market. Their 10.1″ Transformer Prime TF200T tablet was released back in December as the first quad-core Tegra 3 tablet on the market, and since then they’ve announced the 10.1″ Transformer Prime 700T (complete with HD resolution and other enhancements), and the 7″ MeMO 370T, which will bring 7″ and quad-core processing for $249.

While ASUS has continued to sell the original Transformer tablet it released in 2011, it’s reign as ASUS’ entry-level 10″ tablet may soon be reaching its end. ASUS has announced at Mobile World Congress the Transformer Pad 300, a 10″ tablet geared toward the lower-end of the 10″ market.

The Transformer Pad 300 is a scaled down version of the Transformer Prime tablets, with a 10″ IPS display instead of the IPS+ (600 nits) display found on the Prime, and offering 16GB of storage instead of the 32 or 64 GB varieties of Transformer Prime. The innards are largely the same, with a Tegra 3 processor, 8MP rear/2MP front camera, 1GB RAM, 1280 x 800 resolution atop Android 4.0 Ice Cream Sandwich. The build will be a bit thicker than the Transformer Prime line of tablets, and offers the same 10 hours of battery as it’s older brethren.

Assuming the Transformer Pad 300 will land at the same price point currently found in the OG Transformer tablet (say $350 – $400 range), the Pad 300 could become the 10″ tablet for the budget-conscious. We’ll be trying to get our hands on the Transformer Pad 300 in the coming days to give you a feel for how it compares to the current Transformer Prime tablet, and to see if we can get any word on pricing and availability out of ASUS.

Would you consider a Transformer Pad 300 if it sold for $350 – $400?