We knew it was coming, and yep, Asus has announced the intriguing, form-changing phone-cum-tablet. Say hello to the Padfone, the smartphone that docks inside, and powers, a tablet. Let’s take things in turn.
First off, the phone itself has a 4.3-inch Super AMOLED qHD display, Snapdragon’s new dual-core S4 chip, an Adreno 225 GPU, Ice Cream Sandwich and an 8-megapixel rear camera with an LED flash and f/2.2, autofocusing lens. It doesn’t work with LTE, sadly, but elsewhere it has 16-64GB of storage and HDMI out.
[imgclear]
This thing slips neatly into an optional screen unit that effectively allows you to use it as if it were a 10.1-inch tablet. With that obviously comes a jump in battery life, and the option of using a full-size keyboard. Oh, or a stylus. Which doubles as a headset. Yes, really.
It’s scheduled to ship in April, though no word on Australia yet. What’s your take on it? [Asus Global]
Press Release
The ASUS PadFone is an incredible 4.3″ smartphone featuring a Super AMOLEDqHD display, the latest Qualcomm Snapdragon S4 dual core processor and an ultra-sharp 8-megapixel digital camera with Fuji image processor all wrapped in an exquisite design that is optimized for Google’s Android 4.0 operating system. When placed inside the optional PadFone Station, it transforms into a 10.1″ tablet with 5 times the battery capacity. The PadFone offers unmatched versatility via ASUS’ proprietary Dynamic Display technology which allows seamless transition between the PadFone and PadFone Station display screens. In addition, the PadFone Station offers an optional keyboard dock that essentially turns the PadFone into an ultraportable computing device. The PadFone also comes with the option of a PadFone Stylus Headset which is a Bluetooth stylus pen that transforms into a headset for picking up calls easily.