Taiwan-based Asustek Computer Inc - better known as ASUS - has revealed the latest incarnation of its PadFone device. The original PadFone was announced in May last year, combining an Android smartphone with a dockable tablet that transferred the phone’s functions onto a larger screen.
PadFone 2 is a 1.5GHz quad-core Android smartphone with 4G LTE connectivity and a 13-megapixel camera. It has a 4.7-inch 1280 x 720 pixel screen plus a 10.1-inch tablet dock with a combined weight of just 649g. The tablet has its own battery, boosting the phone’s 16 hour talktime figure to a maximum 36 hours of conversation. Alternatively it can recharge the docked phone three times.
Jonney Shih, Chairman of ASUS, said “Our relentless drive to innovate through our ‘Design Thinking’ philosophy has empowered us to create PadFone 2. It’s beautiful, it’s fast and, best of all, it’s intuitive.”
The Asus PadFone 2 will be available in some European and Asian countries by the end of December, although UK availability hasn’t yet been revealed.