The ASUS PadFone has always been an intriguing device, marrying the capabilities of a smartphone with the versatility and size of a tablet device with which it can dock. ASUS, for the longest time, has also felt that it is onto something big, but has played its cards extremely close to its chest by only releasing the product in its native Taiwan, Hong Kong, Singapore, Russia, the United Arab Emirates and some parts of Europe. After dabbling in these markets and gathering some confidence in its niche product, ASUS’ CEO, Jerry Shen, is finally convinced that the PadFone is ready to make the jump across the Pacific to America.
ASUS is planning to divide its PadFone fleet into a “mainstream” line-up for Asia and a high-end range which will be shipped to Europe and the States. The recently announced PadFone Mini will lead ASUS’ efforts in this “mainstream” line whereas Shen has said that they are working on something new for its high-end product and are looking at a Q2 2014 release.
I personally was very slow to warm to the PadFone devices, however the concept of a PadFone does address a very real issue that techies everywhere will associate with; this issue is having both a smartphone and a tablet and favouring one over the other. The PadFone obviously does away with this favouritism by combining the two in a very effective manner and we can’t wait to see what ASUS comes up with by mid next year.
Are you interested in getting a ASUS PadFone? Let us know what you think about the concept.
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Source: engadget
