Asus PadFone 2 Will Be a Smartphone and a Tablet Discussion

[Ed Hardy]

Asus has taken the wraps off the second-generation PadFone, an Android smartphone that can be combined with a 10.1-inch accessory to make a tablet.

Read the full content of this Article: Asus PadFone 2 Will Be a Smartphone and a Tablet

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[Varjak]

Very slick. I hope to hear more details about things like card slots, output ports (video, etc.). A BH test might be nice too.

[LandSurveyor]

This coupled with a bluetooth keyboard could be quite the combo.

I wonder if carriers will price plans for this differently than for a regular smartphone.

[Drillbit]

I am going to keep a good eye on this one. Just as a tablet alone, that quad Krait core makes it more powerful than any ARM based tablet today.

Sent from my Transformer Prime TF201 using Tapatalk 2

[Varjak]

LS, without a good plan, it would be DOA, like the Atrix/laptop models. I suspect in this case, you are just buying the phone and it's treated as a phone. The 'tablet' is treated like a docking station. (I hope.)

[LandSurveyor]

In my case, I would probably buy the thing outright and just pop my SIM in. I don't think Tmo will mind as my phone is set up as a wifi.

[Drillbit]

While a major brand name in the PC world, Asus is an unknown quality for carriers. Hence you won't expect a lot, if any, carriers to carry Asus phones. Fellow PC maker Acer has a bit more penetration, but nothing to sniff about. The main markets for Asus phones will be along with its PC channels and into the prepaid no contract market. For a phone of that caliber, it is going to be expensive too. But it will find markets in regions where people are used to buying top end phones prepaid and no contract, particularly the EMEA (Europe, Middle East, Asia). And especially in regions where Asus also has a strong market, namely Taiwan, Hong Kong, Macao, and Singapore. In fact, i believe these are all where the first wave of phones will hit.

[Varjak]

Carriers have taken on more obscure brands than Asus. Verizon Wireless (notoriously conservative) probably will not; but I suspect others will.