ASUS Padfone MWC 2012: Meet the Phone, Tablet, Laptop in One

As tech enthusiasts are abuzz with anticipation over the release of the iPad 3 and Samsung's Galaxy S3, ASUS is once again steps ahead releasing the Padfone--a device that brings the phone, tablet and laptop into one.

At the Mobile World Congress trade show in Barcelona, Asus debuted the 4.3 inch Android 4.0 Ice-Cream Sandwich smartphone, which comes with a dock that transforms the phone into a tablet.

The phone itself is ultra-thin at 8.9mm thick, according to Tech Crunch. I personally wasn't a fan of the Padfone's feel - I thought it felt sort of chintzy and inexpensive, though the latter probably won't turn out to be true. Your mileage may vary on that front though, as I'm generally a fan of devices with a bit more heft to them, said Tech Crunch's Chris Velazo as he tested out the phone at MWC.

The Padfone comes with a 1.5 GHz dual-core Snapdragon S4 processor that according to Velazo, delivers smooth navigation of menus and Websites. The phone also comes with a 9-megapizel camera with Fuju image processor, and it has an high resolution AMOLED display.

The tablet part of device has a 10.1-inch screen and extra battery life that keeps both the phone and tablet powered for up to 16 hours, according to ABC News. The phone can be docked into the back compartment of the tablet, and all the phones features can be navigated on the larger tablet screen, using Android's 4.0 operating system.

It is a first of its kind innovation that allows you to switch seamlessly between pad and phone for a user experience that best-fits your activities, at any time. Internet access from the 3G network connection is shared between the phone and pad, as data storage is streamlined through a single storage pool. ASUS wrote on their Website.

For those who want a keyboard, there is an additional dock for that, which can be purchased with any ASUS tablet. This transforms the tablet into a laptop of sorts. Once docked into the keyboard, the Padphone will work much like the ASUS Transformer Prime Eee Pad, which was released in December last year.

The Eee Pad Transformer Prime TF201 is the first tablet to herald the NVIDIA Tegra 3 quad-core processor. It is ultra-thin at 8.3mm and weighs only 586g and comes with state-of-the-art SonicMaster Audio technology, an HD 8MP rear auto-focus camera with LED flash.

The Padphone will be ready to ship in April, but there has been no official statement of when it will launch in the U.S. as the phone will need a carrier and ASUS do not have any partnerships with U.S carriers yet.

TF700t Coming Soon

Meanwhile, ASUS unveiled its next generation TF700t Transformer Prime at last month's CES event in Las Vegas. The tablet blew away ASUS enthusiasts with its 1920×1200 resolution that beats most laptops. The new TF700T resolution doubles that of its predecessor, which came with 1,280x800-pixels.

The new highly anticipated model also comes with an upgraded 2-megapixel camera that can be used for HD video chat. ASUS customers are hoping that the new generation of Transformer Prime will address glitches in the TF201 model that came with GPS performance issues and apparent Wi-Fi issues that ASUS has denied.

The TF700T is expected to ship in the second quarter of 2012, priced at $600 for 32GB and $700 for 64GB, CNET reported from CES in Las Vegas. This could infuriate ASUS customers who only just purchased the Eee pad Transformer Prime with all its glitches.