Category: Asus

Samsung Nexus 10, LG Nexus 4 and Asus Nexus 7 3G all to come on 29th Google Event

According to rumors Google “has been distributing a video recorded at one of its weekly all-hands “TGIF” meetings on its internal network” to present the new products coming in just over a week: the Samsung Nexus 4, LG Nexus 4, and the new Asus Nexus 7 (32GB Wi-Fi version and 32GB 3G + Wi-Fi model), all running Android 4.2 Jelly Bean. Looks like the Key Lime Pie versions will come out in the early 2013 event.

Nexus 4

Several sources including TheNextWeb have stated that LG will make the SmartPhone which will feature a quad-core 1.5 GHz Qualcomm APQ8064 Snapdragon processor, 4.7-inch 1280 x 768 display, 2GB RAM, 16GB storage, an 8-megapixel rear-facing camera (and 1.3-megapixel front-facing snapper) and a 2100mAh battery.

Nexus 7

The new variant of the tablet is supposedly going to come with not only a 32 GB capacity but also a 3G modem built in, expect a nano sim card slot. Asus will continue to make the Nexus 7 and the new variant will supposedly feature a newer chipset which is more battery efficient.

Nexus 10

Here is the big news after the positive success of the Google Nexus 7, Google will launch a new Nexus 10 tablet. The device will feature a 10-inch display with 2560 x 1600 resolution, 16:10 aspect ratio and 300 pixel per inch (PPI) density. It is also believed that Samsung will be the manufacturer of the said tablet and the Nexus 10 will also run the new Android 4.2 Jelly Bean.

Google’s October 29th event also will hold host to launch of several other products making it a total of 5 Nexus launches on the Day. The Google Nexus launch date of Oct 29th also co-incides will Microsoft’s Windows 8 and Phone 8 launch that will take place on the very same day.

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October 22, 2012
Asus Padfone 2 Launched (Press Release)

Just a couple of days after the PadFone 2 images were leaked via Twitter, Asus today officially unveiled the PadFone 2. Asus’s Padfone concept encapsulates a smartphone and a 10-inch tablet in one convenient sandwich, with the smartphone module being home to most of the processing internals.

The Asus Padfone 2 is powered by a Qualcomm Snapdragon S4 Pro quad-core chip clocked at 1.5GHz and has a 4.7-inch 720p display which uses Sharp’s IGZO technology, wrapped under a scratch-resistant Corning Fit Glass. The maximum brightness on the device is an astounding 550nits!

It sports a new 13-megapixel with a burst mode capable of capturing up to 100 shots at a blisteringly quick six shots per second, while simultaneously recording 1080p HD video at 30fps, or 720p HD video at 60fps.Apart from this, it has a 1.2-megapixel front-facing camera, 2GB of RAM, Corning Fit Glass, NFC and 50GB of Asus Web storage.

[quote]ASUS Chairman Jonney Shih unveiled PadFone 2 in front of the world’s media at a press conference in Milan, Italy. “Our relentless drive to innovate through Design Thinking has empowered us to create PadFone 2. It’s beautiful, it’s fast, it’s seamless and, best of all, it’s intuitive,” said Mr. Shih[/quote]

The Asus PadFone 2 has a 2140mAh battery provides up to 16 hours 3G talk-time and 13 hours Wi-Fi web browsing, while PadFone 2 Station’s 5000mAh battery gives up to 36 hours 3G talk-time. PadFone 2 Station’s internal battery also has enough capacity to recharge the docked PadFone 2 three times over.

As far as the pricing is concerned, users can opt to buy the PadFone 2 either as a standalone or together with the PadFone Station. The price ranges between $620 (Rs. 32,739) and $750 (Rs. 39,607) for the smartphone alone and the entire combo costs an additional $210 (Rs. 11,089).

Check out the Press Release below :

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Live Life Intuitively with ASUS PadFone™ 2

Quad-core smartphone with incredible battery life and a thinner, lighter PadFone 2 Station deliver the ultimate mobile flexibility.

Milan, Italy (October 16, 2012) – ASUS, a global leader in the new digital era, today announces the PadFone™ 2. Building upon the successful PadFone combination of an Android smartphone and dockable tablet for incredible mobile flexibility, PadFone 2 consists of a higher-specification quad-core smartphone and a completely redesigned tablet.

ASUS Chairman Jonney Shih unveiled PadFone 2 in front of the world’s media at a press conference in Milan, Italy. “Our relentless drive to innovate through Design Thinking has empowered us to create PadFone 2. It’s beautiful, it’s fast, it’s seamless and, best of all, it’s intuitive,” said Mr. Shih.

PadFone 2 is a fully featured 4.7″ Android™ smartphone with industry-leading specifications that docks with the unique PadFone 2 Station to become a lightweight, but fully featured, 10.1″ tablet. Apps are seamlessly optimized on-the-fly to support both tablet and phone modes, with an instant transition between smartphone and tablet screen sizes.

Enlarge and Charge

ASUS’ world-renowned Design Thinking philosophy has significantly reduced PadFone 2 Station’s thickness and weight. At just 649g, the combined weight of both PadFone 2 and PadFone 2 Station is now lighter than most tablets on the market, and the dock mechanism has been redesigned to require just one swift step to use. PadFone 2 has also been subtly refined to increase its screen size to 4.7″, while reducing its thickness and weight to just 9mm at its thickest point and 135g, respectively.
Battery life is astounding, too. The higher-capacity PadFone 2 2140mAh battery provides up to 16 hours 3G talk-time and 13 hours Wi-Fi web browsing, while PadFone 2 Station’s 5000mAh battery gives up to 36 hours 3G talk-time. PadFone 2 Station’s internal battery also has enough capacity to recharge the docked PadFone 2 three times over.

Super Phone, Super Performance

A 1.5GHz Qualcomm Snapdragon S4 quad-core processor with 2GB of RAM ensures incredible PadFone 2 performance in both smartphone and tablet modes. The new 4.7″ 1280 x 720 HD Super IPS+ display uses scratch-resistant Corning® Fit Glass and delivers sharp, detailed images with accurate colors, ultra-wide viewing angles and 550 nits brightness for stunning outdoor visibility.
A new 13-megapixel high-performance camera captures incredibly detailed images with no shutter lag. Burst mode can capture up to 100 shots at a blisteringly quick six shots per second, while simultaneously recording 1080p HD video at 30fps, or 720p HD video at 60fps. Low-light performance is also enhanced by the wide f/2.4 aperture and a dedicated image signal processor. Both PadFone 2 and PadFone 2 Station feature superlative sound quality too, thanks to ASUS SonicMaster technology and audio tuning by Waves, recipient of a Technical GRAMMY Award®.

Easy to Share, Easy to Save

With capacities up to 64GB and 50GB of ASUS WebStorage provided free for two years, PadFone 2 offers endless possibilities for storing data. Data syncing between devices is also a thing of the past, since PadFone 2 storage is used by PadFone 2 Station when the two are connected. Shared mobile data connectivity between smartphone and tablet also means just one data plan is needed for both devices, while support for up to 42Mbit/s DC-HSPA+ and 100Mbit/s LTE delivers super-fast web browsing and downloads.

User-friendly enhancements

PadFone 2 also features a new version of the SuperNote app that instantly converts handwritten notes made in multiple languages into editable text. Its Instant Translation tool also translates any word, phrase or sentence in an email, web page or app at a touch, without the need for a third-party translation tool.

Availability

PadFone 2 will be launched before the end of December in Europe (Bulgaria, Denmark, Finland, Germany, Hungary, Italy, Poland, Portugal, Romania, Spain, Sweden) and Asia (Hong Kong, India, Japan, Malaysia, Singapore, Taiwan, Thailand, U.A.E). Availability in other countries will be announced at a later date.

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October 16, 2012
Asus PadFone 2 Details Revealed, Sports a 4.7-inch display

The details of the Asus Padfone 2 smartphone, which is set to be showcased in an event in Italy next week, have been revealed online. Running on a quad-core Qualcomm Snapdragon processor, the Padfone2 sports a 4.7-inch IPS 720p HD display.

Asus has provided the next iteration of the smartphone-tablet combo with a 4.7-inch Super IPS+ HD display, supporting a 1280×720 pixel resolution. The Padfone 2 will sport a massive 10.1-inch display while powered by a 1.5 GHz quad-core Qualcomm Snapdragon S4 Pro APQ8064 processor supported by 2GB RAM. The device is powered by a 2140 mAh battery.

It also comes equipped with a whopping 13MP rear-facing camera, which Bloomberg assures us can take some “phenomenal” pictures. It’s hard to tell the quality of the images from watching the video, but it’s pretty easy to imagine how good pictures look when snapped with a 13MP camera.

The folks at Bloomberg were luckily enough to briefly go hands-on with the device in an interview with ASUS chief Jerry Shen, and were kind enough to put video of the encounter up on YouTube for the entire world to see.

October 13, 2012
Whoops! 32GB Nexus 7 Tablet Accidentally Shipped!

The ASUS Google Nexus 7 is a very popular, keenly priced Android tablet. If you want to buy one you currently have only two choices; a version with 8GB of storage and a version with 16GB of storage. Since there is no SD card expansion available in these machines many users opt for the 16GB version, for obvious reasons. A Japanese customer who had made the prudent decision to go for more storage was in for a rather pleasant surprise!

The Japanese customer got twice the value he paid for when he received an as-yet unannounced 32GB Nexus 7 tablet!

It’s unclear how this may have happened, but if it’s true then Google won’t be able to deny the 32GB Nexus 7’s existence for much longer.

The 32GB Nexus 7 reportedly arrived in the packaging of a 16GB model, but the device itself shows more than 26GB of free space in its settings. It seems the person in charge of jamming these Nexus 7 tablets into their boxes may have pulled one from the wrong pile.

Then again, this could simply be a hoax.

October 10, 2012
Asus PadFone 2 Specs leak again, hinting massive overhaul, Launch on 16th Oct

The Asus Padfone came and went faster than we could say hello, but its successor may stay on. The revision includes a 1.5GHz quad-core Qualcomm processor, 2GB of RAM, a 4.7-inch display with a 1280 x 720 resolution, 13-megapixel rear camera, and a 2,140mAh battery.The Padfone will operate GSM 1900/850 MHz, WCDMA 2100 MHz and comes with NFC. But, these specs are no different from the box specs that leaked out in the past. Image below.

The company will announce the Hybrid on 16th October in Milan.

October 5, 2012
Windows 8 Tablets will reach the US in December

While India awaits, The US will get two Windows 8 tablets from ASUS and Samsung, namely the VivoTab RT and ATIV Smart PC, this holiday season.

The VivoTab RT from ASUS is equipped with a quad-core Tegra 3 processor,Windows RT, 4G LTE connectivity, 32GB of internal storage and features a 10.1-inch Super IPS display with ASUS TruVivid technology for a better viewing experience.

Samsung’s 11.6-inch HD ATIV Smart PC includes a dual-core Intel Clover Trail processor clocked at 1.5GHz, Windows 8, 64GB of internal storage and can be connected to a detachable keyboard dock. As an added bonus, the VivoTab RT comes preloaded with Office Home and Student 2013 RT Preview Edition, while the ATIV Smart PC includes a trial of Office 2013.

The two tablets will be launched on the At&t network in the US during the holiday season. India is expected to play host to all Windows 8 Tablets early next year.

October 5, 2012
ASUS Transformer Prime TF201 Jelly Bean OTA Update Rolling Out Now
The latest version of Android, 4.1 codenamed Jelly Bean, is slowly making its way towards tablets, and as before, ASUS is one of the companies rushing to update its products. The Transformer Pad 300 received the update at the end of August, so now it’s time to update the premium Transformer Prime TF201 and the Infinity TF700T. The former can be updated right now, over the air, while for the latter you’ll have to wait some more, as ASUS said it had to perform a last hour update to the keyboard app, to play nicely with the new Facebook app. Don’t despair, as the update was delayed just a few days, which means it will arrive over-the-air sometime at the beginning of next week.

Asus is doing well in the U.S. mobile market and recent tie-up with Google even resulted to better sales. Being one of the tablets that come packed with quad-core processor, Transformer Prime TF201 has actually garnered massive following from both average users and tech enthusiasts.

The Jelly Bean update for Transformer Prime is believed to bring hundreds of improvements on top of JB stock features. TP has been a subject of criticisms shortly after its release because there were software-related flaws. The Ice Cream Sandwich fixed most of them including poor GPS performance and Wi-Fi problems.

It has already been reported a few months ago that Adobe will not support Android 4.1, so that means flash support will be gone for good. But Asus said owners can still be able to download and install Flash Player to play typical videos found on the web. Moreover, the company didn’t provide information explaining why Wi-Fi Direct feature will be removed from Jelly Bean but whatever the reason is, owners cannot be able to connect their devices to other Wi-Fi Direct-supported devices after the update.

View the Change Log Below :

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Asus Transformer Prime Jelly Bean Change Log
- Upgrade OS from Android 4.0 (Ice Cream Sandwich) to Android 4.1 (Jelly Bean)
- Default enabled System Bar Lock
- Add Multiple Photo Selection feature
- Support Connect Dock (Accessory)
- Remove Adobe Flash Support
- Remove Wi-Fi Direct Function Support
- Remove Press Reader
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October 1, 2012
Nexus 7 infringes our patents : Nokia

Google’s Nexus 7 is fast, slick, and cheap, but Nokia claims it also infringes some of its patents in the process.

Nokia has announced that the tablet infringes a number of its patents connected with the IEEE 802.11 Wi-Fi standard. In fact, most mobile device manufacturers license the patents from Nokia; currently, neither Google nor Asus is on the list of licensees.

A Nokia spokesperson told The Inquirer that “companies who are not yet licensed under our standard essential patents should simply approach us and sign up for a license.” Hence, Google and Asus can almost certainly approach them to get their paperwork in order—if they think they need to.

Asus replied by saying “at the moment, Asus will not be providing any response/comment related.”

July 5, 2012
Everything you need to Know about the Nexus 7 Tablet from Google

Google has launched their first official Tablet dubbed the “Nexus 7”. Priced aptly or in-fact cheaply at US $ 199 the Tablet will ship with Jelly Bean Android 4.1 out of the Box . The Nexus 7 is made by ASUS and has a 7” 1280×800 HD display (216 ppi), which is a Back-lit IPS display, and has Corning Gorilla Glass front.

The Nexus 7 is powered by a Quad-core Tegra 3 processor and has a 4325 mAh battery, it has a 1.2MP front-facing camera and weighs only 340 grams.

You get two storage options 8 or 16 GB internal storage and Nexus 7 comes standard with 1 GB of RAM. At just 10.4 mm thick the Tablet is pretty slim and has the standard features like, WiFi 802.11 b/g/n and Bluetooth. Apart from that the Nexus 7 also has Microphone, NFC (Android Beam), an Accelerometer, GPS, Magnetometer and a Gyroscope.

Dimensions of the Nexus 7 are 198.5 x 120 x 10.45mm and there is a micro USB for charging + Data Sync.

With the Music Manager, you can easily import your entire iTunes music library* into Google Play. Once your music is imported it automatically becomes available on Nexus 7. Take your music anywhere with Nexus 7. When you upload your existing music library to Google Play (up to 20,000 songs for free ) you can stream all your tracks and playlists from the cloud.

Google Now will also come to the Nexus 7, it tells you today’s weather before you start your day, how much traffic to expect before you leave for work, when the next train will arrive as you’re standing on the platform, or your favorite team’s score while they’re playing. The Knowledge database build around your likes and wants and build your phone to become more and more personal over time.

Your Standard Google Apps come preloaded on the Nexus 7, and the Chrome Browser finally exits Beta to come into final release. Everything is designed to work seamlessly on the Nexus 7. Excited Yet? We Are!

[Nexus 7]

June 28, 2012
Apple ready to Kill iWork.com on July 31, 2012

Apple on Friday announced that its iWork.com service will be discontinued on July 31, 2012. “After July 31, 2012, you can no longer publish new documents to iWork.com from any iWork application on your Mac or iOS device,” the company wrote on its website.

“Documents already shared on iWork.com will not be available to you or to those you shared documents with.”

Apple is pushing users to now sync up their docs with their new iCloud Service which will be better integrated in their next major release, Mountain Lion

March 12, 2012
Android 5.0 confirmed to be Jelly Bean, Asus will get it first !

Asus hopes its close partnership with Google will lead it to be the first company to offer devices running Android Jelly Bean – version 5.0. Asus prides itself on its Android upgrade efficiency, as it was the first to provide tablets running Honeycomb and the first to push the Ice Cream Sandwich update to its tablets. Based on Google’s update schedule, it’s within reason to expect Android 5.0 to hit within the next year

Asus is very close to Google, so once they have Android 5.0 I think there will be a high possibility that we will be the first wave to offer the Jelly Bean update.

-Asus VP, Benson Lin

Ready to work out your next device? no point for the next six months anyway.

March 4, 2012

Asus Transformer Prime comes to India at 50 k

Asus has launched their Transformer Prime Tablet in India, for a whopping 49,900. What are you thinking Asus?, the tablet features a 10.1-inch 1280×800 pixel IPS display and a NVIDIA Tegra 3 quad-core processor . Among other things are the 1GB RAM, 32/64GB ROM, 8.0 MP rear and a 1.2 MP front camera.

Asus claims a 12 hour + 6 hour battery life on the Prime + Dock, which is more or less accurate in the tests we have seen.

Display	10.1″ LED Backlit screen with Super IPS+ (1280 x 800) 10 finger multi-touch, Corning^® Gorilla^® Glass
Operation system	Android™ 3.2 Honeycomb⁽¹⁾ (Android™ 4.0 Ice Cream Sandwich upgradable)
Platform	NVIDIA^® Tegra^® 3 Quad-core CPU
Memory	1 GB
Storage	32GB / 64GB ⁽²⁾ EMMC + 8GB life time ASUS WebStorage ⁽³⁾
Wireless	802.11 b / g / n, Bluetooth 2.1 + EDR
Camera	1.2MP (front), 8MP Auto focus (rear) with flash / F2.4 large aperture
Interface	PAD: 2-in-1 Audio Jack (Headphone / Mic-in); 1× micro HDMI port 1 × Micro SD Card Reader; Internal Microphone & Stereo Speaker Mobile Dock: 1 × USB2.0 port ; 1 × SD Card Reader
Sensor	G-Sensor, Light Sensor, Gyroscope, E-compass
Flash support	Yes
Multi-tasking	Yes
Special APP	ASUS launcher, @Vibe Music, ASUS WebStorage, MyLibrary, MyNet, MyCloud, File manager, ASUS sync, SuperNote, App Locker, App Backup, TegraZone, Polaris Office
Battery	12 hours; 25Wh Li-polymer Battery ⁽⁴⁾ 18 hours pad with dock ; 25Wh(pad) + 22Wh(docking) Li-polymer Battery ⁽⁴⁾
Size/ Weight	263 × 180.8 × 8.3mm ; 586g (pad only) / 263 × 180.8 × 8~10.4mm ; 537g. (dock only)

Honestly, with the new range of tablets coming out this year, and the iPad 3 just around the corner, we say avoid this one.

March 2, 2012

ASUS PadFone comes to life officially, 4.3-inch Super AMOLED, ICS April Release (PR)

Ah the infamous Asus PadFone, shown off last year to tease us with its dual functionality, the company has finally introduced the device at the MWC 2012. The phone part of this hybrid has a 4.3-inch Super AMOLED qHD display, Snapdragon’s new dual-core S4 chip, an Adreno 225 GPU, Ice Cream Sandwich and an 8-megapixel rear camera with an LED flash and f/2.2, with autofocus.

The phone has 16-64 Gb capacity options plus MicroSD (32 GB) , Bluetooth 4.0, HDMI, GPS, A-GPS, a gyroscope, 1,520mAh battery and a compass. The phone has a thin profile with only 9.2mm thickness.

But the best feature of the PadFone is its ability to slide into a tablet housing ( a 10 inch tablet housing), and not only operate as a full fledged tablet but also charge in there. The Tablet part of the PadFone will have its own standalone battery pack and a much higher resolution, did we mention a S-Pen esque stylus will also be included.

You can also optionally opt in for a Keyboard dock. The PadFone will start shipping in April 2012 (finally!) , no information on pricing.

MORE MWC NEWS CLICK HERE

February 27, 2012
Asus Rebrands Transformer line, Say Hello to ‘Infinity Series’

Asus has announced a major rebranding of its Transformer lineup of dock-able tablets, now to be called the Asus Infinity Pad. The first in this release lineup is the TF700T with a dual-core Qualcomm MSM 8960 Snapdragon S4 CPU and an optional LTE radio. For wifi only versions there is a Tegra 3 option, the 3G / 4G versions will have a S4 chip.

A lower end 16GB option will also be available, the specs are the same, including a quad-core Tegra 3 SoC, dual 8MP / 2MP cameras, 1GB of RAM, HDMI and a 10.1-inch, 1920 x 1200, Super IPS+ Gorilla Glass 2 display.

Infinity Pad will run Android 4.0 out of the box, 8GB of free lifetime ASUS WebStorage and 10 Hours of battery life along with a 6 hour boost from the Asus dock.

MORE MWC NEWS CLICK HERE

February 27, 2012

Category: Asus

Nexus 4

Nexus 7

Nexus 10