Hasta La Gadget!

This week the folks at Samsung have suggested – without saying so to the public – that they’re not about to let ASUS leave them in the dust with a phone that docks into a tablet. While Samsung’s device isn’t exactly the same as the ASUS Padfone, the trademark we’re seeing here doesn’t put it all that far off from the mark. This filing number D685,774 suggests Samsungs machine wouldn’t bring on a traditional form for the tablet dock or smartphone itself, on the other hand.

The rather interesting differentiator between ASUS’ solution and the Samsung patent filing is the shape of the two components. While the ASUS machine – each of several generations of the Padfone, that is, work with a smartphone that could very well pass off for a stand-alone smartphone without the tablet, Samsung’s device looks a bit more like the letter T.

With the top of the smartphone having a swoop outward to the left and to the right, this smartphone fits in with its tablet dock like a glove. The tablet then has a pocket and indents where the smartphone will slide, the final product looking a lot more like a traditional tablet – however thick – than any previous amalgamation, Samsung or ASUS-made.

This would be a logical next step for Samsung, a company that’s no stranger to docking – and to docking one machine inside another in a way that makes the two seem like they belong together. With the Samsung Galaxy Note series, the S-Pen docks in the tablet flush, flat and ready to be hidden in a normal everyday day’s use. The same would be true of this Samsung tablet/phone hybrid.

Samsung also brings the ATIV Q to combine the worlds of Android, Windows 8, tablet, and notebook – and it has a docking S-Pen too. The Samsung ATIV Tab 3 brings the Galaxy tablet form to Windows 8, docking this tablet in with a keyboard as well as an S-Pen to boot. What’s next?

VIA: Patent Bolt; ZDNet

Samsung files for phone/tablet docking device trademark in USA is written by Chris Burns & originally posted on SlashGear.
© 2005 – 2013, SlashGear. All right reserved.

ASUS’s freshly announced docking PadFone 2 phone/tablet hybrid will arrive in Europe and Asia before the end of December, complete with a newly-designed dock that can hold the smartphone even if shaken violently. The clever bay – even though it lacks the protective door of the first-gen PadFone – is the result of 2.5 years of development time, and can withstand being bumped, smacked around, and generally mistreated. Check out the video demo of that after the cut.

The switch between phone use and tablet use takes just over a second now, the layout of the screen automatically changing to suit the larger, 10-inch panel of the tablet, or the smaller 4.7-inch panel of the phone itself. Together, they’re just 649g, and the tablet section has a battery capable of recharging the phone three times over.

Inside, there’s a 1.5GHz quadcore Snapdragon S4 processor paired with 2GB of RAM, up to 64GB of flash storage, and DC-HSPA+/LTE for getting online. The phone has a 13-megapixel camera capable of 1080p HD video recording, and there’s Corning Fit Glass on top of the 4.7-inch 1280 x 720 Super IPS+ phone display.

Europe (Bulgaria, Denmark, Finland, Germany, Hungary, Italy, Poland, Portugal, Romania, Spain, Sweden) and Asia (Hong Kong, India, Japan, Malaysia, Singapore, Taiwan, Thailand, U.A.E) will get the PadFone 2 before the year is out, with availability in other countries following on after that. Pricing is €799 for the 32GB model – for phone and tablet – with another €100 getting you twice as much storage.

ASUS PadFone 2 super-shake dock test demoed ahead of December release is written by Chris Davies & originally posted on SlashGear.
© 2005 – 2012, SlashGear. All right reserved.

Those looking forward to the ASUS Padfone 2 have likely been very frustrated by the fact that we haven’t heard too many details about the device. There have been leaks here and there, but for the most part, there hasn’t really been anything too significant. The folks at Bloomberg were luckily enough to briefly go hands-on with the device in an interview with ASUS chief Jerry Shen, and were kind enough to put video of the encounter up on YouTube for the entire world to see.

Of course, the Padfone 2 isn’t the only device previewed in Bloomberg’s video. Also on the display are the ASUS UX51 and U38 touchscreen laptops, along with the ASUS TAICHI, complete with its amazingly cool double-sided screen. As cool as the TAICHI is, however, the Padfone 2 still manages to steal the show.

Aesthetically, there isn’t that much of a difference between the Padfone 2 and its predecessor other than the Padfone 2′s 4.7-inch screen. That screen is capable of displaying 720p resolution, so we’re talking HD with the Padfone 2. It also comes equipped with a whopping 13MP rear-facing camera, which Bloomberg assures us can take some “phenomenal” pictures. It’s hard to tell the quality of the images from watching the video, but it’s pretty easy to imagine how good pictures look when snapped with a 13MP camera.

Bloomberg says that the Padfone 2 can get up to a full day of use from a single charge, and when it’s dead, you can slide it into the back of the companion tablet and charge it from the tablet’s battery. Using the two combined, you should be able to get two to three days of use from a single charge. Sadly, the details stop there, but ASUS will be officially unveiling the Padfone 2 on October 16 – just a few days away. We’ll be getting a lot more details then, and after watching this video, we’re wondering how we’re going to make it another four days.

[via Android Community]

ASUS Padfone 2 makes an appearance in new video is written by Eric Abent & originally posted on SlashGear.
© 2005 – 2012, SlashGear. All right reserved.

The upcoming ASUS Padfone 2 has been making its way to headlines this past week, and today we have a leak reportedly sharing its full spec sheet. After seeing some leaked benchmarks, yesterday ASUS sent out invitations for their official unveil, but today we might know all the details a bit early.

While we can’t fully confirm what we are looking at, according to Mobile01 Forum this is the box for the Padfone 2, calling the post “Padfone 2 specs revealed.” The details on the box shown in the image above seem to mirror many of the rumors as of late, including the recently leaked benchmark. The Padfone part 2 is looking quite nice.

If the leak is to be believed, the Padfone 2 will be sporting a 4.7-inch 1280x720p HD display although the box confusingly says both Super AMOLED and IPS+, but it can’t be both. Then the brand new quad-core Snapdragon S4 Pro will be under the hood, along with 2GB of RAM, and an impressive 13 megapixel camera. Sounds like the LG Optimus G if you ask us. The specs however, are all about the phone and not the accompanying tablet.

Other specs include a HSPA+ model, 4G LTE (in select regions) and a decently sized 2,140 mAh battery for the smartphone. It’s also being listed as just 9mm thin, so it should be a bit lighter and thinner than the original Padfone. Either way we’ll learn all the details on October 16th in Milan and Taipei as ASUS unveils the new Padfone 2.

[via PocketDroid]

ASUS Padfone 2 leak reveals 4.7-inch display, quad-core S4 Pro, and more is written by Cory Gunther & originally posted on SlashGear.
© 2005 – 2012, SlashGear. All right reserved.

ASUS has sent out invitations for the official launch of the Padfone 2, the follow-up to its hybrid smartphone / laptop / tablet Padfone device. According to an invite nabbed by Notebook Italia, the unveiling will take place simultaneously in Milan and Taipei on October 16th. The picture shows a corner of what is likely the upcoming handset, but we’ll have to wait till next month to get a closer look at the full package.

Filed under: Cellphones, Mobile

ASUS Padfone 2 launch event slated for October 16th in both Milan and Tapei originally appeared on Engadget on Thu, 20 Sep 2012 11:55:00 EDT. Please see our terms for use of feeds.

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