ASUS Padfone blurs line between smartphone and tablet

by Tarinder Sandhu on 30 May 2011, 15:59

Tags: ASUSTeK (TPE:2357)

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Holy smokes, Batman, what's this? ASUS showed off its much-rumoured Padfone at a press conference in Taipei, Taiwan, today.

Padfone converges two technologies in a fairly novel way. On the right is a fully-functioning Android-based smartphone. The run-of-the-mill, 4.3in device uses a Tegra 2 processor and has all the bells and whistles one would expect from a mid-2011 handset. On the left is a Tegra 2- and Android-powered tablet.

But they come together by slotting the smartphone into a dedicated section on the back of the tablet, hence the Padfone name. The benefit, ASUS says, is that one really does get the best of both worlds, somewhat akin to the Motorola Atrix and its LapDock.

The tablet can grab use of the phone's SIM card such that it turns into a large phone, while, when docked, the phone can pull juice from the tablet's battery and use its greater IO capabilities, though it seems as if the tablet component merely serves as a glorified dock rather than a standalone device.

From the video we saw, the syncing is pretty seamless from one device into another. ASUS would only go so far as to claim that it's looking at a Christmas 2011 launch.

We'll be grabbing a hands-on later in the week and giving you a full run-down on this decidedly interesting hybrid technology.



HEXUS Forums :: 5 Comments

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am i the only ne who thinks this is brilliant?

I mean i dnt really want two mobile devices two mobile bills etc etc, i can only really use one at a time. Slotting the smaller one into a bigger more comfortable screen in the evening is, to me, ideal!
Biscuit
I mean i dnt really want two mobile devices two mobile bills etc etc, i can only really use one at a time. Slotting the smaller one into a bigger more comfortable screen in the evening is, to me, ideal!

Why two mobile bills? You can tether any wifi tablet to most phones these days, just pay one phone bill.

I think many people have been burned by devices like this in the past. Next year you want a new phone but then you'll have a tablet with a lot of dead weight inside (unused mobile screen,keypad,case) just so it can work.

I also can just feel that next year (maybe even 6 months at this rate) the phone from Asus will be slightly larger or with slightly different connectors so you won't be able to use it with this tablet. So what happens if you drop the phone then? Bye bye tablet too?

Then there's the fragility of that thing, the door looks a prime candidate for breakage or the array of connectors.

Get a regular tablet and tether it. Much easier and you can pick the best of both worlds.
Gkpm
Why two mobile bills? You can tether any wifi tablet to most phones these days, just pay one phone bill.
Indeed, this is something i do with my laptop on the train however most tablets don't offer the option of a USB port to charge your phone while your doing it and your power runs down pretty fast while running teather.

Gkpm
I think many people have been burned by devices like this in the past. Next year you want a new phone but then you'll have a tablet with a lot of dead weight inside (unused mobile screen,keypad,case) just so it can work.

I also can just feel that next year (maybe even 6 months at this rate) the phone from Asus will be slightly larger or with slightly different connectors so you won't be able to use it with this tablet. So what happens if you drop the phone then? Bye bye tablet too?

Then there's the fragility of that thing, the door looks a prime candidate for breakage or the array of connectors.

Get a regular tablet and tether it. Much easier and you can pick the best of both worlds.

Connectivity should be pretty much standardized as it is on most phones now. Most use the micro USB for data and i would have thought if a separate connector is required for video, the micro HDMI would be quite good.
Biscuit
…i can only really use one at a time…
hmmm. perhaps. But then I'm sure i've been using my phone and my netbook at the same time. What happens if you are chatting on Facebook, for example, and a call comes in? I wonder how well that would be handled. I guess at the very least you would need a pair of headphone connected permanently or a BT head set paired to it all the time.
Funkstar
hmmm. perhaps. But then I'm sure i've been using my phone and my netbook at the same time. What happens if you are chatting on Facebook, for example, and a call comes in? I wonder how well that would be handled. I guess at the very least you would need a pair of headphone connected permanently or a BT head set paired to it all the time.

very good point there i hadnt thought of that at all, you would almost be forced in to a trigger happy situation if you didnt have a headset and where out and about…:mrgreen: