By 
Hey, if Samsung wasn’t going to use the awesome title, at least someone did. Asus chairman Jonney Shih showed off the company’s upcoming Transformer Prime (previously Transformer 2) during an interview at AsiaD today. 
The Transformer Prime is a tablet/netbook hybrid, rockin’ an all new aluminum form factor and slim 8.3mm thin profile (undocked). Confirming previous rumors, the 10-inch Asus Transformer will, in fact, be powered by Nvidia’s Tegra 3 quad-core processor. No other details were given but a formal announcement from Asus will come on November 9th.
That wasn’t the only bomb Mr. Shih dropped during the interview. First, Asus plans on updating current Asus Transformers to the newly announced Android 4.0 Ice Cream Sandwich before the end of the year. Second, Asus also plans to ship the Padfone during 1st quarter of next year and running on none other than, you guessed it — Ice Cream Sandwich. As a refresher, the Padfone is essentially a tablet “shell” that allows a user to dock a phone into it then using the smartphone as the “brain” of the device. Ever since it was announced, it seemed like an ideal device to be running Ice Cream Sandwich as the updated Android OS now supports both smartphone and tablet functionality.
Business is looking good for Asus. Now, we’ll have to see if mainstream consumers will catch on to what they’re cooking. How about you guys? Which of these devices are you most excited about?
[AllThingsD image: Engadget]
Galaxy Nexus and a Prime? Don’t mind if I do!
Yeah, I have a transformer right now, will be giving that to my wife and scooping up the Prime, and the Galaxy Nexus is too sick to pass up so I will have to pay full price for that as well
Me too.
Dude, I hear ya! I’m in PAIN!!! I’m going to end up buying this for me, giving my wife the Transformer 1, and buying the Galaxy Nexus for me. I’m gonna be broke!!!
SHIT! Girlfriend just bought the transformer 1… i cant gift it to her! CRAP!
Samsung should take note. They’ve released keyboard accessories for their tablet, but not as “integrated” as the Transformer. They really need to be heading this direction, too. It’s the future of both tablets and netbooks. This is how it should be.
The Asus Transformer Prime… can’t wait to replace my Xoom.
I can’t wait, I will preorder this thing as I feel there may be shortages.
You may be right.
I’m definitely going to have to get this Transformer Prime. WOW. If the price is comparable to the previous version, I’ll have no qualms at ALL. It looks soooo good. So thin. I hope they market this heavily in the States. People dont know about this like that over here.
Might be $500 with 32 GB. I would’ve preferred they kept it 16 GB and instead add the keyboard by default in that price. But oh well, still a great device.
16GB with the keyboard default option would have been a really good deal, you’re right. Never thought of that – but giving us 32 GB for the same price as the original is fine with me, too.
Transformer prime baby
Finally a Android tablet that has style and a computer maker that I trust and use all the time. This is the tablet I will purchase that will be able to do content creation on. Mac air who!
If the Transformer Prime has all the required hardware features I want, it could be my first tablet. If it also said “with Google” on it, it would definitely be my first tablet.
Definitely going to be keeping a close eye on that Prime! Sounds amazing!
Ill be waiting on the padphone
Now THIS is worthy of a prime :-)
As a current, use it daily for work and recreation, first gen Transformer owner – I am ALL OVER THIS. Gimmee Gimmee Gimmee (LTE) Gimmee Gimmee (LTE) Gimmee… :)
Prime or Padfone?
Prime or Padfone?
Prime or Padfone?
Keyboard for me, so def Prime.
A pity we need to make a choice. Why not have the phone AND the keyboard dock into the tablet so you can go all the way from phone to netbook?
If the Padphone was a Tegra3 device, I would be buying it right of the bat. No questions ask. Please Asus make so. No more Tegra2 devices. Even though I have a Transformer myself.
Motorola should use the padfone idea for their laptop docks, too. There’s absolutely no need for “Webtop” when you have Android 4.0. Why run 2 OS’s in the same time wasting resources and affecting performance when you can just run one?
sounds nice but i refuse to buy anything from asus after buying two bad motherboards back to back. i know this is a different part of the company but things like that leave a lasting impression
I’ve installed probably about 20 Asus motherboards, and only one (possibly) has gone bad after 4 years of use (inconclusive, but it was time to replace that computer anyways, so didn’t confirm). I find that they are the most stable motherboards one can buy from my experience.
thats what ive herd whitch is one of the reasons i bought it. it dident work exchanged it for another one that dident work. then exchanged it for a gigabyte and the machine fired right up
was it one of the budget Micro boards, maybe? I read that Asus (and other manufacturers) invest more into the quality (and not just features) of their more-expensive products…
was a mid range board frys had it on clearnce for i think it was $90 this was a couple years ago
Darling you can now have the Xoom.Here I come XFMR Prime.
transformer getting ice cream at the end of the year.. oh yea
So I guess Honeycomb is dead. :(
Oh well, ICS!
The Transformer Prime us my next tablet.
Considering how AWESOME Asus is at updating my Transformer Original with near-stock ROMs, I’d be very happy to buy an Asus phone unlocked, off contract.
Totally stoked to hear ICS coming to my Mr. T. by year’s end.
specs and a pricepoint… if i could afford it i would snatch a T2
I want the padfone bad .. but I wish the padfone dock was flushed with the tablet.. I also wished Samsung would have introduce a padfone style dock with the nexus prime .. that would have been the perfect way to introduce Ice Cream Sandwich
keep the half ass phones give me tf2 naow!
I was gonna pick up the Galaxy Tab 10.1 but after seeing this, and seeing how quickly ASUS have updated the existing Transformer, I’m seriously thinking about grabbing this Transformer Prime.
Glad some company still uses their brains when it comes to naming their products.
Prime > Galaxy
Transformer Prime? Why nt just call it the Transformer Optimus Prime. Hasbro will be thrilled.
Asus UX31 is what floats my boat…
Damn, those toys are so cool. I can’t wait. I hope they don’t cost too much.
If you get the Padphone, every time they release a compatible phone your tablet will automatically receive an upgrade also (since it IS your phone). It sounds like a good value over time–no more buying two separate devices each time a new one comes out.
This is assuming they don’t change the dock connection’s location or format just so they can make you buy a new dock as well.
Transformers: Prime is the name of the currently airing CGI Transformers cartoon. Something tells me Hasbro / Tomy-Takara isn’t going to let Asus keep this name for the device.
I want a Tegra 3 Padfone / Transformer combo with 720p on phone and 1080p on tablet. The perfect combination. Charging the phone from the keyboard would be handy
In my experience, Asus has a good product; however, if you DO have a problem, good luck with customer service. (on my 3rd RMA) -Transformer