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The ASUS Padfone has been highly anticipated since it was first announced well over a year ago. After a bit of retooling it re-debuted earlier this year at Mobile World Congress, much to the intrigue of all in attendance. With a smartphone that docks into a tablet that in turn mates with a keyboard dock, ASUS has all the bases pretty much covered. The Padfone is launching soon and our friends over at NetbookNews got their hands on a production unit and gave it the full hands on treatment. Get a load of that Apple-esque packaging, which grifts the iPhone’s retail appearance down to the font. So who’s excited for the Padfone?
[via NetbookNews]
Matryoshkaphone.
Also – I wanted to see the pen phone in action. *sigh*
The phone is sexy…. I am not sold on the extras. Rather just buy the Transformer separate.
Socks on docks?
All I can say is WOW. The phone itself is a winner, but the fact that it looks like performance wasn’t sacrificed in tablet mode is just amazing. coommoonn US version!!
It’s strange that the dock, screen+keyboard, is so thick. My Atrix lapdock is extremely thin yet feels very solid.
Correct me if I am wrong, but your atrix lapdock has an external dock for the phone, doesnt it? The padfone docks internally, so the tablet has to be thick enough for the screen, case material, and hollow spot inside to fit the phone. That could help explain at least a little bit of the added thickness.
The later docks have it externally (awful), google atrix lapdock to see how it is done.
Yep the tablet has to be thick to house the phone, but the keyboard looks unnecessary thick.. the Atrix lapdock keyboard is 8mm thick whereas the padfone keyboard seems to be the same as original transformer keyboard, 13mm, which makes quite a difference in real world. And overall, judging by the video the whole package looks unattractive due to its thickness.
I am all over this….I am waiting for it. Nice to have one android OS for all my toys. Tablet, phone, etc. Looking forward to this but I hope it comes to verizon.
It won’t. But a man can dream, right?
Quad core, NFC, Verizon. Waiting for the PadFone 2.
Bear in mind the S4 has two pretty amazing cores (more computing power per GHz than before) and benchmarks almost as well as the Tegra 3. Depending on what you use it could be better to have two very fast cores than four mediocre ones. Four very fast cores on the other hand… Google “Anandtech S4”.
My whole thing is that 2 cores (at least on Tegra2 and OMAP) can’t decode 720p x.264 video @ 30+ fps in the software without massive frame drop. So if I have to decode 720p video in the software, I think if I just had 2 more cores to do it with, I’d be fine.
Also NFC and Verizon. Don’t forget that.
Arent exynos chips better than snapdragon and tegra chips??
Yo dawg, I heard you like docks…
Thought the bluetooth stylist was standard with the tablet dock
Meh, I will just wait for the Asus Padfone Prime PF900 with working GPS & Wifi…;-P
Not so sold on having the phone in the tablet in order for the tablet to run… plus: going to look really silly holding that tablet next to your head to make a call :p
That’s why you can A) pop the phone out to take the call, B) use the stylus as an earpiece or C) use a bluetooth headset.
The next Nexus device should be this.
Asus hit the nail on the head with this concept/device. They were close with the tablet/netbook “net-vertible”, but including the phone seals the deal. They’ve even taken it to the next level with the bluetooth pen that doubles as a handset. I’ll be all over this when it’s available in Canada.
I wish it had an HD screen, outside of that it’s complete badassery.
this phone is insane but will never come to us ?
where can i get gsm ?
ME! I’m so excited about this device. I don’t know if I would ever buy a atandalone tablet, but with this, I’ll gladly use it.
It’s all perfect except for the qHD display. I can’t bring myself to use a qHD dispaly after owning a galaxy nexus. Maybe PadPhone 2 then.
holy tweaker hands…. put down the red bulls
She failed to dock it to the keyboard correctly. It looked really crooked. I’m wondering if u can charge everything at once or if u have to individually charge parts
The Transformer and TF Prime both will charge the tablet and the keyboard dock at the same time. I’d be surprised if the Padphone doesn’t do all three.
so NO CHANCE at a phone case. There is no way it would fit in the dock. Why doesn’t the phone come with a better battery? WTF Asus? 3300 PLEASE.
There is no way this will come to the US. Verzion will not allow this on their network. (I HOPE I’M WRONG.. I REALLY REALLY REALLY hope I’m wrong)
GSM means that if you’re willing to pay full price it doesn’t matter. You just have to use it on AT&T or T-Mobile instead of Verizon. And T-Mobile will give you a discount if you buy unlocked.
Unfortunately however, the current model while quad band gsm it does not support 3G let lone 4G for either T-Mo nor AT&T. :(
It is currently North American Edge only which is a nogo for me.
Come on ASUS… Some news about a North American release or atleast US 3G bands coming eventually? I held off on the Note because of this..
Also, the fitting does look like crap when docked to the keyboard and closed. It doesn’t align very well. Especially when compared to the others.
[edited] Just rewatched the video from my PC. She didnt even dock the tab into the keyboard right, thats why it looked like crap. x_X
wait is it already available where do i buy ?
Taiwan.
Love the idea, but it is kinda ugly. I would love to see them streamline the look more so they are all as sexy as the phone is by itself.
DOCKCEPTION!
The concept of always having the “brain” of the system with you in your phone is dead-on, in my opinion. This concept has seen several attempts in the past, but none with a sexy smartphone at its core. Get this thing to the U.S., and soon ! BTW, that reviewer did an awesome job.
Notice how she got excited about the pen’s vibration at 9:03.
The fact that she’s a woman makes it funny.
“Let’s pick UK because I’m Canadian.” Really?
Wow, Asus is innovating like crazy! I have to admit though, It looks really ugly on the top, but I love that they new that people would hate to have a phone call when in laptop or tablet mode…and found a way to talk with the pen, that’s just amazing! I’d still rather get a 300 or the newer 700 that will be coming out soon, but I’m pretty sure Asus is probably already working on a slimmer version with a thinner phone so the tablet won’t look that bulky. Just hat’s down to Asus for being the few company’s that actually innovate and not just bring out half-baked products like “2011” HTC. lol
She made it 16:13 before saying something offensive, not bad for a Canadian…
I just wish u can dock it with any android device since they all can use the same software version, ofc the size will be a problem…
Just wish you can dock any android phone in that…. Same software but the phone size will be a problem