Details on Asus’ newest tablet remain a bit thin, but the PadFone is certainly one of the more interesting devices — or pair of devices — to be shown off at Computex 2011 so far. If the name itself and image weren’t enough clarification, the PadFone is a tandem consisting of a 4.3″ Asus Android […]
We’ve already heard rumors that chip designer ARM has been trying to get its wares into the Macbook Air. While we can’t add anything to that particular story, we do have further evidence that ARM is going beyond smartphones and tablets in order to target bigger form factors. The company’s president, Tudor Brown, has just appeared at Computex to declare that ARM wants to conquer the “mobile PC market”, where the company currently only has a 10 percent share. He’s aiming for 15 percent by the end of this year, and an Intel-provoking 50 percent by 2015. “Mobile PC” is a pretty ambiguous category, but we think it’s safe to assume the focus is on low- and mid-power netbooks and ultraportables. Such devices could potentially run off ARM’s forthcoming multi-core chips — like perhaps the quad-core beast inside NVIDIA’s mind-blowing Kal-El processor, or the more distant Cortex-A15. It’s hard to imagine these tablet-centric chips ever competing with Intel’s top performers, but four years is a mighty long time in this business.
ARM hopes to strengthen grip on mobile PCs, take 50 percent of the market by 2015 originally appeared on Engadget on Mon, 30 May 2011 08:57:00 EDT. Please see our terms for use of feeds.
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We just got to spend some quality time with ASUS’ newly unveiled Padfone and you can see the smartphone that doubles up as a tablet on video after the break. It’s still a mere mockup for now, but ASUS has big plans for it — plans that coalesce around the Christmas period and the very latest version of Android at that time. ASUS’ Benson Lin was careful not to openly admit the company intends to ship with Ice Cream Sandwich, but he did point out that you can’t launch a smartphone with Honeycomb as the OS. We were encouraged to draw our own conclusions.
The smartphone is actually the only smart aspect of this hardware pair — the slate part acts as a display, a set of speakers, an extended battery, and an I/O extender, but it doesn’t work by itself. ASUS also tells us there’ll be other functionality enabled by the tablet panel, but that’s being kept under wraps for now. Compatibility between the display dock and subsequent phone generations is being contemplated but couldn’t be confirmed, and as to the UI, ASUS says it’ll be almost the same as its second-gen Android tablets. You heard that right, second generation ASUS Android tablets — to succeed the Transformer and Slider — will be coming around the same time as the Padfone.
Gallery: ASUS Padfone first hands-on
ASUS targets Christmas for Padfone launch, hints at Ice Cream Sandwich (video hands-on) originally appeared on Engadget on Mon, 30 May 2011 06:59:00 EDT. Please see our terms for use of feeds.
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Remember how we speculated that the final Eee Pad MeMO may come with a 3D display, courtesy of its teaser? Turns out we were right after all, as ASUS’ Jonney Shih has just confirmed a glassesless 3D, 1280 x 800 IPS display for this 7-inch Honeycomb slate, which is now dubbed Eee Pad MeMO 3D. We’re also told that the accompanying MeMIC Bluetooth headset will be thrown into the box, though we’re still waiting on dates and prices. Until then check out the gallery below and hear our first second third impressions in the video after the break.
Continue reading ASUS Eee Pad MeMO to come with glassesless 3D IPS display (update: video!)
ASUS Eee Pad MeMO to come with glassesless 3D IPS display (update: video!) originally appeared on Engadget on Mon, 30 May 2011 05:21:00 EDT. Please see our terms for use of feeds.
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If pads and phones are the fastest growing categories in consumer tech, surely a Padfone would be the ultimate combo? That’s what ASUS thinks, and it’s just introduced an Android smartphone device that comes with a tablet it can dock into. Display switching is done dynamically, so that reading emails or browsing the web on the phone portion expands itself seamlessly once it’s connected into the pad. Also expanded will be battery life, with an extra cell included in the slate. The mockup ASUS is showing the world today includes a 4.3-inch smarpthone and a 10.1-inch tablet dock, but the company says it hasn’t yet settled on the final dimensions of the eventual retail product. Other details, such as the particular version of Android, are still light on the ground, but we’ll try to squeeze more info out while we’re at Computex.
Update: And now we have more pics of Jonney Shih showing off the Padfone, along with the press release and ASUS’ promo video after the break. Enjoy!
Update 2: Our buds at Netbooknews caught Jonney Shih’s unveiling of the Padfone live on video. Watch with wide-eyed wonderment after the break. How you like them magics, Apple?
Gallery: ASUS Padfone eyes-on
Gallery: ASUS Padfone press shots
Gallery: ASUS announces the Padfone
Continue reading ASUS announces the Padfone (update: eyes-on!)
ASUS announces the Padfone (update: eyes-on!) originally appeared on Engadget on Mon, 30 May 2011 04:29:00 EDT. Please see our terms for use of feeds.
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The thickest part of this new laptop is 17mm, its entire body is built from an aluminum alloy (weighs 1.1kg / 2.4lb), and the CPUs can be specced as high as Core i7. Anything else you need to know before drooling all over yourself? How about a two-second resume from sleep, thanks to ASUS’ proprietary software, a SATA III SSD, USB 3.0 connectivity, and the ability to hibernate for up to one week? The trackpad is made out of glass, while the keyboard keys are all metal. ASUS projects the launch of its shiny new UX21 in September, and you can see more of it in the gallery below or video after the break.
Gallery: ASUS UX21 hands-on
Continue reading ASUS outs UX21 ultrathin laptop with up to Core i7 CPUs (video hands-on!)
ASUS outs UX21 ultrathin laptop with up to Core i7 CPUs (video hands-on!) originally appeared on Engadget on Mon, 30 May 2011 03:59:00 EDT. Please see our terms for use of feeds.
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ASUS is starting off its bevy of Computex announcements with the new Eee PC X101, a netbook that gives the 11-inch MacBook Air a run for its ultrathin money — with a 950g weight and 17.6mm thickness — while running either Windows 7 or… wait for it, Meego! The latter model will come out at the groundbreaking price of just $200. Check out its scarlet construction in the gallery below or jump past the break for our video hands-on.
Gallery: ASUS Eee PC X101 hands-on
Continue reading ASUS Eee PC X101 runs MeeGo, costs only $200 (video hands-on!)
ASUS Eee PC X101 runs MeeGo, costs only $200 (video hands-on!) originally appeared on Engadget on Mon, 30 May 2011 03:46:00 EDT. Please see our terms for use of feeds.
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We’re here at Computex’s pre-show event to get some hands-on time with a few new products. As expected many tablets are present, and one such device is Gigabyte’s S1080 Windows 7 tablet, which we almost mistook as Viewsonic’s Viewpad 7. Here you have a 14.94mm-thick chassis housing a 10.1-inch capacitive touchscreen LCD, along with an Intel Atom N570, 2GB of DDR3 RAM, and a 320GB hard drive (2.5 inches, 5400rpm, SATA). Other tidbits include a USB 2.0 port, USB 3.0 port, SD card reader, RJ-45 jack, 1.3 megapixel webcam, 4,000mAh battery, Bluetooth 3.0, 802.11 b/g/n WiFi, and 3.5G modem. All of this boil down to an 895g (32oz) package.
If the S1080 doesn’t interested you, then maybe its accompanying multimedia dock will. Like similar offerings from competitors, Gigabyte’s version adds stereo speakers, VGA output, three USB 2.0 ports, and audio line-in to the tablet. But the real zinger here is the front-loading optical drive, which is a rare sight on docking stations these days. Oh, and if the built-in 4,000mAh battery isn’t enough for you, there’s also an optional 2.700mAh battery bar that hooks onto the bottom of the tablet. Expect the S1080 to hit US markets in June for around $700, with the yet-to-be-priced dock to follow later on in the summer (or you could just fly to Taiwan in July to pick one up).
Gigabyte announces S1080 Windows 7 tablet with USB 3.0 and optical drive dock originally appeared on Engadget on Mon, 30 May 2011 03:18:00 EDT. Please see our terms for use of feeds.
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The ViewPad 10 era is over, here comes the epoch of the ViewPad 10Pro. Beyond the introduction of Intel’s Oak Trail Z670 1.5GHz processor, the new Windows 7 Pro / Android 2.2 dual-boot tablet throws in a 3G radio, 32GB of onboard storage (expandable via MicroSD or USB), and a 3500mAh battery that’s rated to last for 4.5 hours of 1080p video playback. It’s one of Intel’s promised 10+ Android tablets coming at this year’s Computex, though it has the appreciable advantage of being able to switch over to Windows 7 pretty much instantaneously. Check it out in the gallery below and you can expect a more in-depth look from us later on during the currently ongoing Computex 2011 trade show.
Update: Calling this a dual-boot tablet may have been a little ambitious, as it’s running the Bluestacks virtualization software, which turns Android into a Windows app, rather than allowing true dual-booting capabilities.
Gallery: ViewPad 10Pro hands-on
ViewSonic ViewPad 10Pro boots an Intel Oak Trail CPU into Windows 7 Pro, virtualizes Android originally appeared on Engadget on Mon, 30 May 2011 02:54:00 EDT. Please see our terms for use of feeds.
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Guess who’s sneakily beating the pack to the title of having the globe’s first 7-inch Honeycomb tablet… why, it’s none other than ViewSonic! The ViewPad 7x (1024 x 600 resolution) managed to leak out earlier this month, but now it’s fully official with Google’s Android 3.0.1 OS, HSPA+ connectivity, and a pair of cameras, one on the front and one on the back. A Tegra 2 dual-core processor plus an HDMI-out have also been included inside a featherweight 380g package. Ironically, ViewSonic’s neglected to provide a release date for this “world first” tablet, but we’ll be hitting up its booth here at Computex for some more hands-on time and making sure to collect that and every other salient detail about the ViewPad 7x.
Gallery: ViewPad 7x hands-on
ViewPad 7x aims to become world’s first 7-inch Honeycomb tablet, adds HSPA+ for good measure originally appeared on Engadget on Mon, 30 May 2011 02:20:00 EDT. Please see our terms for use of feeds.
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