The ASUS PadFone symbiote: how can a phone complement a tablet

It looks like ASUS wants to impress gadgets fans lately. This week, a few pictures were leaked of a device many dreamed about. The ASUS PadFone is a hybrid of an Android mobile phone and a tablet. It looks like the tablet’s back cover can pop up when you release the latch. There is a docking bay where you can put the smartphone allowing it to be completely covered by the tablet. Now, it’s really interesting to see with which version of Android the handset will be released. Considering that Android 4.0 Ice Cream Sandwich will be also released later this year, it’s very likely for the gadget to arrive with the new flavor of Android. Gingerbread is the other viable option in case Ice Cream Sandwich release is delayed.

At Computex 2011 event which took place in Taiwan on Monday, the gadget was formally introduced. ASUS PadFone has a mobile phone with a 4.3-inch display and a 10.1-inch screen Android 3 tablet. ASUS also said that they solved the problem of data transfer which required multiple SIM cards, one for the 3G tablet and another one for the user’s cellular. When it is docked, the phone can recharge its battery by piggybacking on the tablet’s larger one. It also can use the handset 3G network to make an Internet connection. The manufacturers claim that the double interface improves the user’s experience of both gadgets by giving us the strengths of both forms.

ASUS PadFone

Although at this time, there is no world regarding the hardware specifications, lately, ASUS choose NVIDIA Tegra 2 for ASUS Eee Pad Transformer. It is possible that Asus PadFone will boost a Tegra 2 chip , too. However, the company has a good relation with Qualcomm so it’s not impossible that the PadFone will arrive with the latest Snapdragons CPU generation.

Not many other details were revealed about how this creation will work. One thing we can determine from the renders is that the company has kept its word to maintain a licensing arrangement with Garmin, their former hardware partner. We also expect the tablet to be available in two colors: black and copper. ASUS is going to let the camera lens to “show through” a little hole in the cover that protects the handset. This will let the hybrid to take advantage of the unique combination between the tablet and the smartphone and will also save some costs. Looking at the leaked images we can see a pair of speaker meshes as well, which suggests that the tablet will have dual speakers.

ASUS idea is somehow similar to the Motorola Atrix 4G and its laptop dock attachment, but for a tablet. Let’s hope, ASUS will keep the brilliant ideas coming and will look to drive the business forward.

Source: Pocketnow Via: AndroidAuthority