ASUS Padfone counters Atrix 4G with an Android Phone/Tablet hybrid

May 30, 2011 | by Andrew Kameka

ASUS has an undeniable hit on its hands with the Android Honeycomb-powered Transformer tablet that can become a laptop. The company hopes to see similar success with a new phone that can become a tablet.

The ASUS PadFone is an upcoming Android phone that can become a tablet with a special accessory. Similar to how the Motorola Atrix 4G exists as an independent phone until connected to a laptop dock, the PadFone becomes an Android tablet when placed inside a special latch on a custom shell. Once inside, the PadFone switches into a special environment geared towards Android on a large screen. The case includes dual speakers to play audio, a front-facing camera, and an open window to use the phone’s rear camera.

The Padfone runs a standard Android phone operating system and then up-converts to Honeycomb when in tablet mode. ASUS has yet to share specifics because this is just a concept that it hopes to make a reality later this year. The design is also likely to be changed and improved between today and when the device launches by Christmas 2011. It seems very plausible that the PadFone may have Ice Cream Sandwich since that is the Android OS version that merges phones and Honeycomb.

Kudos to ASUS for trying something new. Mobile device conversion has proven to be an interesting trend in Android. The phone becomes a tablet, the tablet becomes a laptop, and it wouldn’t surprise me to discover that someone plans to make the tablet or laptop a television with Google TV or some other special media platform. We look forward to getting up a closer look at the PadFone to see how well it represents the growing trend.

android tablet, Android tablets, asus, ASUS Padfone, Computext, Padfone

4 Comments

@burnayev says:

May 31, 2011 at 8:44 am

Looks like an interesting concept but I'm not sure it's timely. Some day when people carry their tablets around it might be a hit. Today tablets are mainly couch devices that seldom leave the house. On the other hand people tend to have their phones with them all the time and purse or pocket seems to be a natural place to hold the phone. Borys Burnayev actioncomplete.com GTD for Android and Web My recent post ActionComplete for Android 130- French Translation- Bug Fixes
Rahul Aggarwal says:

June 2, 2011 at 12:50 am

This device has enhanced connectivity which means that you will on need one SIM card to use both devices.
Crazy rumor: Will the Nexus Prime support docking into a tablet mode? | Nexus Mate says:

October 6, 2011 at 3:45 am

[...] top of it. Could it be that Google and Samsung have developed a phone/tablet hybrid similar to what ASUS showed at Computex a few months [...]
Evan says:

January 23, 2012 at 11:43 pm

Is it 4g or 3g
better your family life says:

April 26, 2013 at 12:11 pm

Hands down, Apple’s app store wins by a mile. It’s a huge selection of all sorts of apps vs a rather sad selection of a handful for Zune. Microsoft has plans, especially in the realm of games, but I’m not sure I’d want to bet on the future if this aspect is important to you. The iPod is a much better choice in that case.

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