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ASUS has just taken the lid off of their upcoming supertablet — the Nvidia quad-core packing Transformer Prime. Don’t expect anything less that premium for the second generation Transformer with ASUS pulling out all the stops for their newest tab. ASUS has managed to upgrade just about every spec imaginable from the original Eee Pad Transformer. Everything from a sleeker, thinner frame to the high-end build quality, specs, hardware, you name it — the Transformer Prime is a noticeable upgrade.
The Transformer Prime features a 10.1-inch, 1280×800 Super IPS Corning Gorilla Glass display, quad-core Nvidia Tegra 3 processor, 1GB of RAM, 32GB or 64B of internal storage, 1.2MP front facing/8MP rear camera with LED flash and capable of full 1080p HD video recording. If you’re looking for ports the Transformer Prime has no shortage of them with expandability for a micro SD card, micro HDMI, 3.5MM audio jack and even USB 2.0 with the optional keyboard dock. The Prime itself (just the screen) is only 8.9mm, just shy of the Samsung Galaxy Tab 10.1’s 8.6mm.
An Android device is only as good as the software it’s running and ASUS assured us that although the Transformer Prime will indeed be launching with Android 3.2 Honeycomb, an Android 4.0 Ice Cream Sandwich FOTA update will make its way to the tablet in early December. ASUS will also be adding a few productivity applications pre-installed like SuperNote and Polaris Office.
The Transformer Prime will be available in both “Amethyst Gray” or “Champagne Gold” with the 32GB version running for $500 and the 64GB priced at $600. The dock can be purchased separately for $150. While a specific date wasn’t exactly announced, you can look forward to the ASUS Transformer Prime dropping in time for the holidays. What do you guys think? Was the Prime deserving of it’s legendary title? Which color/size will you guys be picking up for the holiday season? Oh yeah, full press release can be found below.
ASUS Announces the Eee Pad Transformer Prime
Featuring the NVIDIA® Tegra® 3 Quad-Core Processor the Transformer Prime is designed to greatly enhance the mobile computing experience
Fremont, CA (November 8, 2011) — ASUS officially announces the world’s first tablet with the NVIDIA® Tegra® 3 quad-core processor – the ASUS Eee Pad Transformer Prime. The Eee Pad Transformer Prime is ultra-thin at 8.3mm (0.33”) and lightweight at 586g (1.29lbs) while featuring a stylish metallic swirl design with class leading enhancements including ASUS SonicMaster audio technology, an HD 8MP rear auto-focus camera with LED flash and battery life rated for up to 18 hours* when combined with the optional mobile dock. Pricing will range from $499** (32GB) to $599** (64GB), with the optional mobile dock accessory priced at $149**.
Incredibly Slim yet Incredibly Powerful
Featuring an ultra-slim form factor, the Transformer Prime is only 8.3mm (0.33”) thin and weighs in at a mere 586g (1.29lbs without dock). This makes watching movies, surfing the web, playing games, taking photos, finishing up homework or video chatting with friends or family so easy and natural that you’ll wonder if the Transformer Prime was designed specifically with you in mind. Its innovative metallic swirl design is made of aluminum for a secure yet extremely comfortable grip that comes in two gorgeous colors: Amethyst Gray and Champagne Gold.
The Transformer Prime is the world’s first tablet to feature NVIDIA’s next-generation quad-core Tegra® 3 processor. With the quad-core CPU, 12-core GeForce® GPU and vSMP technology, the Transformer Prime delivers an optimum user experience featuring smooth multitasking capabilities, lightning fast app loading, a rich and fluid web experience, full 1080P HD video for realistic media playback or recording and of course, incredible gaming performance that allows you to experience games in an entirely new way.
Fantastic Battery Life
While the Transformer Prime is extremely slim and light, ASUS did not forget about battery life. Thanks to the advanced power management features of the Tegra® 3 processor and ASUS optimizations the Transformer Prime has a battery life of up to 12 hours*, but when combined with the mobile dock, it lasts up to an incredible 18 hours*, the longest battery life of any current tablet. That’s enough battery life for a trans-ocean flight, all-night game session, viewing several movies on a long road trip or even video recording, editing, and then playing back your child’s school play all in 1080P HD clarity.
Unrivaled Visuals
The Eee Pad Transformer Prime boasts a wide 178° viewing angle IPS display, protected by Corning® Gorilla® Glass, which features new ASUS technology to enhance the brightness of the screen for a better outdoor reading experience while still offering a remarkably vivid and brilliant viewing experience of photos, books, videos, movies and web pages indoors. Thanks to Multi-Touch technology, you can use your fingers to do everything from swiping through photos, surfing the web, playing the latest games, typing emails, instant messaging, reading books or magazines, and starting your favorite movie.
A 1.2MP front camera allows for instant photos or high-quality video conferencing with friends, family or coworkers while an 8MP rear camera with auto-focus and LED flash takes brilliant photos or video thanks to a large F2.4 aperture, back illuminated CMOS sensor, touch-to-focus depth of field and low-light noise reduction to provide the clearest and sharpest photos or even 1080P HD videos.
Advanced Audio
The Transformer Prime offers impressive audio capabilities in a tablet, powered by ASUS exclusive SonicMaster technology, renowned for crisp and acoustically accurate audio. It produces crystal clear sound with a wide sound stage, increased audio fidelity, and distinct vocal enhancements for an immersive audio experience with your favorite music track, video, or movie.
Unlimited Productivity
The Transformer Prime is offered with either 32GB or 64B flash storage options for quick, efficient and reliable access to your applications. Both models feature a micro SD card slot, 3.5mm combo audio jack and micro HDMI port so sharing both what’s inside and on-screen is quick and easy. However, the function that gives the Transformer Prime its namesake is the mobile dock, which gives new meaning to the term versatility. This innovative and convenient design seamlessly provides the user with a keyboard and touchpad, along with limitless expandability options via the USB port and SD card slot.
ASUS will include several innovative applications like SuperNote that is fantastic for its ability to take, draw or record notes and Polaris® Office which is great for staying productive with the ability to read, edit or create Word, Excel and PowerPoint (MS Office 97-2007) compatible files. Thousands of top rated applications and games are also available at Android Market that fully takes advantage of the Transformer Prime’s amazing features and power.
I’m drooling. Ok, I gotta touch one of these things for real.
time to sell my… everything… i want that thing on launch….
to think, if a tegra 2 device like XOOM is still a good buy, a quadcore device will last freaking years.
years plural…as in about 2 years until they come put with Tegra 4. ;)
I think what Aaron means is that, although in a few years there will be something better, this beast will be plenty good enough for quite a while.
IIRC, Tegra 3 has several parts, the first being Kal’el. Their are more quad cores coming down the line in a few years that have faster clock speeds
The real important question here is will the Transformer 1 keyboard work with the Prime.
from what I read at Engadeget, they’re not compatable.
I’ve read that Asus makes all peripherals compatible with all Transformers because it’s the same universal dock
Glad to hear that.
And I hope Asus can make sure that we can buy the keyboard dock with the tablet when it hits Hong Kong.
This is like porn
Word of a wise man :) I’m too excited too. I was planning to buy one for my wife, but now – hell no, she’ll get something else for Christmas.
Although, where’s the fine print? It’s quite too good to be true? Display sucks?
HahaAsus will include their new UI called,”touchSense”
No, Its SenseWizBlur 3.1
So Kal-El was demoed and HTC just had to leak the Edge a day before.. lol. Ain’t no stopping the Nexus train, baby
“The Prime itself (just the screen) is only 8.9mm, just shy of the Samsung Galaxy Tab 10.1′s 8.6mm.”
Actually the press release says 8.3mm, so it’s thinner than the Galaxy Tab 10.1.
Now, back to my usual “Release this now, I need it!” post…
Where can I pre-order?
The article states the tablet is 8.9mm deep while the Asus announcement states 8.3 – you may want to update your article to accurately reflect the true specs.
Want the gray one sooo bad, but I can’t justify buying one. At least not beyond the fact that I just want it. Really really badly.
…the fam would have a cow if I got myself one.
Great price motorola take notes! Hahah $900 for the xoom @ launch muahaha.
I don’t need this, but im getting it.
Im just too excited.
Does anyone know if you can use Microsoft Word on this thing? I’m in school, and I’d like to be able to do work processing (type papers, etc.).
Google Docs or Open Office probably work.
I know there’s Android apps that let you save in .doc files.
It says Polaris Office will be onboard just like it is in my first Transformer. I use it for work with no issues. If you’ll be using it often, the keyboard is also a totally justified purchase.
I want this tablet. I just hope the Android Market starts to get a lot of kids educational apps for tablets. This will primarily for my 5 yo daughter. I will use it when I do not want to dig out the laptop. Its great for vacationing.
this is great. it was a week or so ago I was going back and forth with someone on here because they were so adamant that it was being released today while I was saying it wa only going to be announced today.
it feels so good to be right.
Asus is taking advantage of their success with the Transformer I to make a kill on this TII, and they succceed.
Will it have 3G data capabilities for working on the go?
Why would I buy this when I can get a quadcore ‘real’ laptop for less $$? I still don’t get this tablet business.
If you think about work-only than yes, a laptop is the thing to get. If you need a good all-rounder – the tablet is a choice. You can do some word processing and spreadsheets, and communicate around your business activity, but the most tablet value is in entertainment, online communications and ultimate portability. This particular thing can do extremely well in some serious Android gaming – you won’t find PC games that a sub $500 laptop could run decently (unless those games are from Y2K or older).
You wouldn’t. Tablets are stupid. Do not buy this!
(At least, not until after I’ve secured mine.)
I think what tablets revealed is that most people just don’t need computers. They need something really dumbed down that can do about 3 things well and those are the only 3 things that group of consumers use like read a book (which is the one thing that I find excels on a tablet vs a laptop), browser (not better than a laptop but since tablets are usually always on standby it has an edge) and maybe some very particular gesture based application that makes more sense on a tablet than laptop but I find those far and few in between. I bought my dad a new computer but realistically he could get by with a tablet 99% of the time. Although he hates small screens.
I personally find myself running out the door with my ultra compact laptop a lot more often than my tablet. And I think a lot of people have realized this as well.
Either that or many people don’t need a high powered computer all the time at least. I have a powerful and capable desktop workstation at home that easily handles design work, gaming, media center, and everything I can throw at it. When I am out and about I used to take a notebook but now I usually just bring my tablet because the vast majority of the things I need on the road are web, email, reading, casual games, video/music, and basic productivity. A tablet can do all of those things and it is easy to slip into a backpack or messenger bag without weighing 3-6 lbs. I can do the heavy lifting on my desktop where it is much more cost effective to build a powerful system. On the road portability is becoming more and more important as so many tasks move to the web and lightweight software. Honestly, the only reason I ever fire up my laptop anymore is if I’m on the couch and some site doesn’t quite work in the browser on the tablet. It ends up being my backup-backup or my system for screwing around with Windows betas and other test software.
You won’t get too much laptop for under $500. Anyway, I would have thought it was obvious. While you might run more programs on a $500 x86 laptop, the battery life will only last you 2-4 hours and it will weigh many times as much. Considering that most people get cheap “real” laptops for email, web, and maybe watching movies/listening to music rather than heavy gaming or design work, it is reasonable to assume that many people would prefer a device that costs the same, is much more portable, has several times the battery life, and does a great job at the casual communication and entertainment applications people tend to run on low end laptops.
It’s just a matter of what you need. If portability and battery are more important than running Windows/Linux programs, a $500 tablet of this high spec is a great option. If you need the other stuff then you can get the laptop.
I totally disagree.
I have 2 laptops. One of them is a Dell Mini 10v netbook with OSX that I spent $200. It’s small, lightweight, and ultra portable. I use this for writing, office stuff, and to dump video/photos to on the set. My second laptop is an i5 quadcore that I edit HD footage, and it cost… less than $500!! Sunday paper ads rule.
And for all the ‘I just need it for email and Angry Birds’ people… that’s why we have big ass smartphones, right??
No way either of your laptops will last 10 hours though. If what you say is true whats the point of something like say the Macbook air or Asus Zenbook line?
The point of the Macbook Air is for people to spend $1k on a netbook. It’s a status thing, and it’s stupid, too.
And I’ve never seen a tablet get that kind of battery life in the real world. I’ve seen a ‘fully charged’ XOOM die in the middle of streaming a movie on Netflix during a flight. Not quite 10 hours.
So how do I get rid of my XOOM…EBAY? It’s a wifi and if I could dump it for $350, I’d drop the other 2hundy for this bad boy.
I may throw the Xoom up on ebay tonight.
My ONLY complaint about the Transformer I is that I have never gotten the HDMI out to work. I’ve wasted money on multiple cables, tried it on several TV’s but that HDMI Mini never worked. Glad to see this one has a micro port instead. I got the micro HDMI on the Acer Iconia to work just fine on the same TVs.
The port type is just how the wires are connected. If you never got it to work either there’s a design flaw in the port where a good connection isn’t being made, or there was a problem with your device.
Micro HDMI sends the same signal as Mini HDMI.
This will be my first tablet .. will dump my Dell Mini for sheckles and make this my on the road computer.
Very cool. But when will Android come up with an app that allows me to import my .pst files? I have multiple .pst files and I don’t want to lose that historical data. So, as much as I would LOVE to buy one of these, until they come up with an app that lets me connect to my mail and maintain my .pst data, it’s not going to happen.
What the heck is a .pst file, and why should anyone care?
A .pst file is where Outlook keeps all your mail, calendar and contacts. Just like a .doc is a Word file or .xls is an Excel file. I care because that’s where all my information sits today and I don’t want to lose it. I’m not willing to throw away years of information just to switch to another OS. That’s just crazy.
IMAP all your emails to gmail and use gmail! I did it and I am never, ever looking back.
Why not import it into your gmail account with outlook sync? The question isn’t whether you can or can’t, it is where you are trying to get that information. A pst can be converted several ways into several different programs FROM outlook or exchange.
I feel like selling my Transformer to get this. I’ve had nothing but great experiences with Asus and they are quick to update
These specs look killer, and Asus has really proven itself with its support for the original transformer. Basically, this is the tablet of my dreams.
I’m definitely buying one for myself as soon as possible (and asking for the keyboard dock for Christmas). I’m leaning towards the 64GB version, but I might opt to save a few bucks instead (especially since I’ve got a 16GB microSD card lying around from my old phone). Regarding colour, I’ll have to see the two options in real life before making that choice.
No cell radio, no deal.
Root + Wireless Tether. Y pay for two data plans…
Don’t want to root. Also sometimes my cell doesn’t have the power.
That is your own fault then. If you refuse to have Admin status on your own device and reinstall a program already included in Android then there is nobody to blame but yourself. It boggles my mind that people are so eager to shell out for a smart phone, pay out the ass every month for data, then accept when their carrier tells them that they can’t have an admin account on their own device. Screw that. I pay for unlimited data and I paid for the phone. If I occasionally need to forward some of those data packets to my tablet then that’s what I am going to do.
And they can legally punish you for it. I’d rather not have the bother.
This is the only Android tab thus far that’s made me want to sell my iPad 2. And no, I’m not an Apple guy really (I proudly tote around my OG Incredible), but for my purposes, iPad was the way to go for a tablet.
Really looking forward to seeing how this one does. Even more than the hardware, I’m excited to see what ICS does to improve user experience. Honeycomb was just not where I wanted it to be. Fingers crossed.
Anyone know if ICS will be hardware accelerated on the Tegra 3/Transformer Prime too?? (as it is confirmed to be on the TI 4460/Galaxy Nexus) e.g. will Android 4.0 _always_ have hardware acceleration now?
Anyone?
we can install windows 8 in this in the future……………………………