ai.rs blog

During the Mobile World Congres 2012 in Barcelona, Asus have presented the new uber gadget called Asus PadFone.

We know Asus for ultra portable notebooks, great Android tablets (Asus Transformer with NVIDIA quad core CPU) but it looks that they have decided to go to smartphone market judging with this new Asus PadFone solution. What do you get in set? Beside the smartphone with respectable specification, nice screen size (4.3” qHD resolution 960×540) you get a tablet shell, so you can enjoy 10" screen and additional USB port, when you are at your home or work, just insert the phone inside the tablet. While inside tablet it charges phone battery. There is additional keyboard with additional battery for your tablet and smartphone. Smartphone hearth is run with dual core Snapdragon S4 CPU with  Adreno 225 GPU and of course Android Ice Cream Sandwich OS. But what if your phone rings while it is in the tablet? Guess what, there is additional capacitive pen inside the package, and it has small speaker and microphone so it doubles as a handsfree! Welcome to the Asus future!

ai.rs blog Exclusive

HTC has just presented 5 new phones, two of them with Facebook experience, and a tablet.

Wildfire S now has HVGA Super LCD screen and alu-case, Desire S packs Desire HD features in Desire sized body. Incredible S does not look too impressive.

HTC Flyer is the first tablet from HTC. Among interesting stuff, capacitive stylus and improved user experience. We'll have to test it out and check out all the software enhancements.

We almost missed this one, but couple of days ago, Canadian company Research In Motion (RIM) has announced its new tablet, called PlayBook. Promised to be game-changing product in growing tablet marketplace, PlayBook sports 1GHz dual-code processor, 7" capacitive screen with 1024×600 resolution, two cameras (front and rear facing) with 1080p recording support, HDMI output, rich web experience with Adobe Flash, Adobe AIR and HTML-5 support, and easy integration with your BlackBerry smartphone. Have we also mentioned true multitasking?

Full specifications for device:
• 7” LCD, 1024 x 600, WSVGA, capacitive touch screen with full multi-touch and gesture support
• BlackBerry Tablet OS with support for symmetric multiprocessing
• 1 GHz dual-core processor
• 1 GB RAM
• Dual HD cameras (3 MP front facing, 5 MP rear facing), supports 1080p HD video recording
• Video playback: 1080p HD Video, H.264, MPEG, DivX, WMV
• Audio playback: MP3, AAC, WMA
• HDMI video output
• Wi-Fi – 802.11 a/b/g/n
• Bluetooth 2.1 + EDR
• Connectors: microHDMI, microUSB, charging contacts
• Open, flexible application platform with support for WebKit/HTML-5, Adobe Flash Player 10.1, Adobe Mobile AIR, Adobe Reader, POSIX, OpenGL, Java
• Ultra thin and portable:
o Measures 5.1”x7.6”x0.4” (130mm x 193mm x 10mm)
o Weighs less than a pound (approximately 0.9 lb or 400g)
• Additional features and specifications of the BlackBerry PlayBook will be shared on or before the date this product is launched in retail outlets.
• RIM intends to also offer 3G and 4G models in the future.

Source: RIM's Press Release

Apple has just announced a new product that bridges the gap between iPhone and MacBook. We expected a lot from Apple's tablet, but instead got a pretty simple device. Check out the specs of the new device on the market – iPad. Key points are:

• 9.7" display with 1024×768 resolution
• Dimensions: 243×190x13 mm, 680-730 grams
• WiFi + 3G
• 16/32/64 GB Flash memory
• Not a real computer – multitasking filed under "?"
• Runs all iPhone apps either in native or double resolution

To sum it up – we are not impressed.

[View with PicLens]