Asus revamp adds tablet-phone dock Asus has debuted of pile products at Computex this week. Highlights include a 3D tablet and the Padfone – a device which unites smartphones and tablets through a unique docking system. Asus Padfone The Padfone is basically a 4.3in smartphone which docks inside a 10.1in tablet, charging the battery as well as sharing data and …
I think that the Padfone concept (if correctly executed) should be a huge win. There is a much greater overlap in use between smartphones and tablets with a real blurring of the boundaries and this concept will give you the opportunity to simply choose the best form factor depending on where you are.
The Atrix seems to promise somehtig siilar but the second form fator there seems to just be a gimped netbook that offers little more than a Firefox browser. I can buy a smartphone and a netbook, (that runs more than just Firefox), for a lot less then the Atrix combo - so I don't see the point.
The Padfone seems to be a much more unified proposition.
I like the idea of effectively using one procesing engnie, one 3G connection, having one place to store key files. One ring to rule them all?
Been waiting for that for ages! Needs a keyboard option though maybe?
If only the OEMs could get together and create a standard docking port for phones, maybe we could then buy accessory shoes allowing us to dock any phone with the motherpad. I'm thinking like a laptop hdd cradle only a universal one that could be left attached to the motherpad ready to accept your phone of choice.
Probably living in cloud cuckoo land though /:
I'm with Anonymous John. I've been waiting for a company to build something exactly like this and assumed they weren't simply because its possible a lost revenue opportunity (ie you could sell 2 products, phone tab, rather than 1.5, phone + bigger screen).
If this delivers anything close to a useable product I am in with bells on.
By far the best part of the Padfone was the amazing launch by Asus chairman:
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=sqjoRMHyYQc
After watching this showmanship it's pointless to watch Steve Jobs.
The product is a pile of meh: seriously next year I'll want to change my phone, but still need the old one around for my tablet? Or want a new tablet but can't sell the old one unless the buyer has this exact Asus phone?
Good business strategy for Asus I guess, but not for me.
ASUS really have trouble with naming their products. Padfone? Seriously. That said, the design I feel has missed something. The Motorola Attrix is a much more appealing dock system. What ASUS should have done is built the dock into their transformer, preferably with the phone as useful second screen or touch pad.
MeeGo on their slim netbooks is good but given the debacle with Xandros, I hope that ASUS spends a bit more effort in support. I've already tried on an eeepc 901 and it is already quite impressive. It is fast for a start, faster than the original Xandros, and all that without any ASUS input.
The All-in-one, that base stand looks ridiculous. It looks like a high-heeled birkenstock.
I like the idea of the PadPhone, but why such a huge phone? Surely if you've got a back-up screen that's 10", you can afford to have a much smaller phone, maybe something the size of the HTC Wildfire. If you want big screen, you dock to tablet.
Coat icon. It seems I need the big pockets.
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