The ASUS Eee Pad MeMO 3D with included MeMIC Bluetooth handset
Alongside the Padfone, ASUS announced yet another tablet at Computex 2011 to join its previously announced Eee Pad Transformer, Eee Pad Slider and Eee Slate. The company first unveiled its Eee Pad MeMO 7-inch tablet at CES in January and the company has now unveiled a glasses-free 3D model dubbed the Eee Pad MeMO 3D. While the device sports a 1280 x 800 IPS LCD panel for wider viewing angles, this presumably won't apply to viewing 3D as - like the Nintendo 3DS - the MeMO 3D uses a parallax-barrier 3D overlay to create the 3D effect.
Aside from the addition of 3D, the MeMO 3D is pretty much identical to its non-3D counterpart. It runs Android 3.0 (Honeycomb) and is powered by a Qualcomm 1.2 GHz dual core processor with 1GB of RAM and 32GB of onboard storage. Connectivity-wise the device includes micro-USB for charging, 3.5mm audio out, a MicroSD card slot, SIM card slot and a mini-HDMI port for outputting Full HD 1080p video. Up front there is 1.2MP camera while a 5MP camera with LED flash can be found on the rear.
The MeMO 3D also comes with a capacitive stylus that slides from a silo below the display as well as a MeMIC Bluetooth handset featuring a transparent LCD display that can be used as a media remote or for taking phone calls using the tablet.
The inclusion of a capacitive stylus that slides from a silo below the display signals ASUS's aim of the device being used as a digital notepad in portrait form. However, again due to the parallax barrier technology employed, 3D viewing is limited to landscape mode.
ASUS hasn't announced pricing or a specific release date for the Eee Pad MeMO 3D, only signaling a Q4 2011 release. However, back in January it said the non-3D Eee Pad MeMO would be priced around US$499-$699 at its June 2011 release. When the 3D model is released, it will be interesting to see exactly how much extra the addition of 3D brings to such a device.
Asus Padfone - 4.3-inch smartphone docks inside 10.1-inch tablet
Asus Padfone - 4.3-inch smartphone docks inside 10.1-inch tablet
Asus always opens its home computer show Computex with a bang and this year it was the Padfone - a 4.3-inch smartphone that docks inside a 10.1-inch tablet dock with dynamic display switching, two batteries, a shared SIM card, a single hard drive, Qualcomm processor, Android's next generation operating system (Ice Cream Sandwich) and a Q4, 2011 launch date with a price in the US$800-1,000 area.
While specifics are thin on the ground at the moment, the ASUS smartphone will run on the latest version of Android available at launch and have all the functionality we've come to expect from such a device - browsing the internet, checking emails, watching online videos and playing addictive games like Angry Birds. If you find yourself wanting to watch movies or enjoy games on a bigger screen, the smartphone can be docked within the body of the tablet. There's no need to switch off one to use the other, whatever you were up to at docking time will be continued on the bigger screen and if you receive a call while using the tablet, you could either whip out the phone or connect using a Bluetooth headset.
ASUS says that there will be some sort of shared storage pool in the smartphone part of the device so that users won't have to concern themselves with synchronizing data between the two. This also suggests that the smartphone will likely provide the processing for the tablet too. The tablet, though, will not be a mere dumb terminal - it will also provide extra connectivity ports and some juice for the smartphone's battery.
It's another design masterpiece from ASUS, which consistently demonstrates the ability to think outside the square and the Padfone will enable users to switch between pad and phone for a best-fit user experience - too often I find myself using a smartphone and wanting more screen real estate or a tablet but finding it restrictive in the environment - the Padfone will definitely cure that problem.
It will also be interesting to see if this two-in-one approach encourages Android developers not to charge for separate phone/tablet ("HD") versions as is very common (and very annoying) on iOS devices.
No comments:
Post a Comment