Thanks to an early leak, we were given a glimpse of the ASUS Padfone before it became official. Today, at Computex 2011, ASUS announced the innovative Android smartphone-tablet hybrid.
Innovation is at the heart of ASUS design and the new Padfone reveals exciting new possibilities for mobile computing and communication. This convergent device combines a smartphone and a tablet computer into one symbiotic gadget that allows consumers to choose the screen size that best fits their activities while seamlessly sharing data and 3G internet access.
The Padfone concept is very similar to the Atrix 4G and its laptop dock, where you use the phone as the central brain for the larger screened device. Only, instead of a netbook style shell, you’re attaching the smartphone to the back of a 10.1″ tablet shell. You use HDMI and USB connectors to project the smartphone OS onto the touchscreen tablet, which could come in handy under varying situations.
Clearly, it’s still early in development, as they were only able to show off a mockup in an effort to hype the concept, but they’re still maintaining that they’ll have it ready for a December (Christmas) 2011 release. ASUS also mentioned that it won’t be capable of running Honeycomb, but the latest Android OS, which implies Ice Cream Sandwich. As you probably know by now, ICS will bridge the gap between smartphones and tablets. No word on pricing, but if ASUS can keep the cost of the tablet shell down, they may have a winner here. Check out videos covering the Padfone below.
Source: ASUS via Engadget, NetbookNews