After nearly a year's worth of anticipation, and several early showings, ASUS at last showed off the final version of its PadFone. The device combines the power of a phone, tablet and netbook in one product. At its heart the PadFone is a 4.3-inch smartphone powered by Qualcomm’s latest Snapdragon S4 1.5-Ghz dual-core processor. The Android Ice Cream Sandwich device is available with 16GB/32GB/64GB of memory and 1GB of RAM.
Upfront the phone features a Super AMOLEDqHD display with a 960 x 540 resolution. Seated above the display is the PadFone’s front-facing camera, a standard VGA model, and opposite that, on the rear of the device, is its 8-megapixel rear-facing camera. ASUS says the PadFone will initially launch as an HSPA+ model, however, an LTE version is due out in Q3 2012.
Pop the Padfone into the PadFone Station and the phone turns into a 10.1-inch tablet. ASUS touts its DynamicDisplay technology as the force behind the way the phone display can be seamlessly transferred to the tablet’s 1280 x 1000 display. The PadFone Station isn’t just a larger display either. It also includes a 1.3-megapixel front-facing camera, as well as microUSB and microHDMI ports.
The PadFone Station is also available with an optional keyboard dock that turns the entire unit into a 10.1-inch netbook. By itself the PadFone weighs 4.6 ounces and measures just 5 x 2.6 x 0.4 inches. The PadFone Station ups that further, weighing 1.6 pounds and measuring 10.7 x 7 x 0.5 inches.
Rounding out the package is an ASUS’s new PadFone Stylus Headset, a Bluetooth stylus that also doubles as a receiver for the PadFone. So if you are using the unit as a tablet or netbook, and get a phone call you can use the stylus to answer you call, rather than taking the entire setup apart.
Stay tuned for our full hands on of the PadFone.
