ASUS re-brands 'Transformer Pads', announces new models

by Alistair Lowe on 27 February 2012, 11:32

Tags: ASUSTeK (TPE:2357)

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Though ASUS appears reluctant to admit its defeat, it seems as though the firm has cracked under the pressure of Optimus Prime and his parent company, Hasbo, who had begun legal proceedings due to the similarly of the 'Transformer Prime' tablet name.

The new line-up will now be branded as the 'Infinity Series' and to kick things off, ASUS has launched two new tablet models.

The first new model in the line-up is the TF700T, which we had reported on earlier in the year, back at CES 2012. This tablet will, much like HTC's new One X smartphone, offer two configurations, with two separate processors; a WiFi only Tegra 3 model and a 3G/4G Qualcomm MSM 8960 Snapdragon S4 variant.

Despite being dual-core, as we reported earlier on, with a design not dissimilar to the ARM Cortex-A15, the Snapdragon S4 line-up packs a serious punch and will have no trouble keeping up with the likes of NVIDIA's quad-core Tegra 3.

The tablet now features a Gorilla Glass 2.0, FullHD Super IPS+ display, well actually 1,920 x 1,200, however, minus the Android home bar and that leaves us with an effective 1,920 x 1,080 resolution. The device will be offered in storage configurations of 16, 32 and 64GB, will ship with Android 4.0, 8GB of free, lifetime ASUS WebStorage and will sport a standalone 10 hour battery life.

Despite previous ASUS claims that the firm was looking to continue sale of the original Eee Pad Transformer TF101 tablet as a low-end offering, the company is now looking to relaunch its Transformer Prime, as the Transformer Pad 300, which will be offered in red, blue and white finishes.

Despite the loss of the luxurious sounding Amethyst Grey and Champaign Gold finishes, this tablet certainly is the very same Transformer Prime that has been emptying the pockets of high-end punters as the market leading Android tablet offering. The Transformer Pad 300 will only offer 16GB of internal storage but may be expanded through MicroSD. A 3G/4G variant will also be heading to market, as with the TF700T.

Prices and release dates for both models are yet to be announced, though previous ASUS comments suggested a June availability for the UK. We wonder just how much cheaper the Transformer Pad 300 will be over the current Transformer Prime.



HEXUS Forums :: 5 Comments

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who had begun legal proceedings due to the similarly of the ‘Tansformer Prime’ tablet name
Spelling mistake in the fourth-last word!
The new line-up will now be branded as the ‘Infinity Series’ and to kick things off, ASUS has launched two new tablet models.
Are they speaking to Pixar as to whether they can use “To Infinity And Beyond” in their advertising? ;)
Despite being dual-core, as we reported earlier on, with a design not dissimilar to the ARM Cortex-A15, the Snapdragon S4 line-up packs a serious punch and will have no trouble keeping up with the likes of NVIDIA's quad-core Tegra 3
Isn't this the same deal as the HTC One X - with the S4 being reserved for the US-only 4G version? In which case, doesn't this kind of throw a bad light on Tegra3?
Despite previous ASUS claims that the firm was looking to continue sale of the original Eee Pad Transformer TF101 tablet as a low-end offering, the company is now looking to relaunch its Transformer Prime, as the Transformer Pad 300 … The Transformer Pad 300 will only offer 16GB of internal storage but may be expanded through MicroSD.
Hmm, I wonder what price the TP300 will be - if Asus feel brave then they'll launch it at a really low price (£300?) to gain market share. “Only 16GB” of storage is fine imho, if they're also offering uSD - after all it's the same as I've got with my TF101 and I've had no real issues.
Yes I agree crossy - The Tegra 3/S4 US only has got me wondering too? Is it just because of 4G that its used? If its a lot faster it would be most disappointing…
cheesemp
Yes I agree crossy - The Tegra 3/S4 US only has got me wondering too? Is it just because of 4G that its used? If its a lot faster it would be most disappointing…

Whilst this could be production or cost related, the S4 model in question has a built-in 4G modem and is the first of its kind, this is going to be a big cost cutter/power saver and so I can see its appeal for 4G, but on the other hand it probably costs a lot for devices that don't need 4G yet.
The transformer pad sounds like something ladies have to wear once a month.
I just wish they would hurry up and get some stock of any of the new units into the UK, i'm fed up waiting now. Patience never was my strong point !