The first Honeycomb tablet PC from ASUS, the thoroughly interesting Eee Pad Transformer, has finally gone on sale in Taiwan. Offering a 16 GB and 32 GB version of the Transformer, ASUS is starting the price $14,900NT or $500USD for the tablet while the keyboard dock will cost an extra $3000NT or $100USD. So in all, $600 for the complete set comprising of the tablet plus the keyboard does sound quite affordable when compared to many Honeycomb offerings we have recently seen. What makes it all the more endearing is the fact that electronic goods are generally cheaper in the United States. Hence when the Transformer reaches US shores, there might be a major price shake up in the making. Unfortunately, ASUS is yet to come up with any firm plans as to when the tablet will eventually reach US or other parts of the world. An April launch in the US is rumored, though it remains largely unconfirmed.
Also, even though the tablet is based on Android 3.0 Honeycomb, ASUS has come up with its own customization. The company is calling it ASUS Warehouse and includes MyNet, MyLibrary, and MyCloud. Clearly, the idea behind these apps is to provide users with quick access to media, social networks, and so on.
The rest of the Transformer specs remain largely the same. A 10.1 inches capacitive IPS Gorilla Glass display having a resolution of 1280 x 800 pixels makes up the front of the tablet. Inside is a NVIDIA Tegra 2 dual core processor coupled to a 1 GB DDR2 RAM. The Transformers will have 16 and 32 GB of flash memory along with an SD Card slot to further fuel your storage requirements. The Transformers will also have a 1.2 and 5 mega pixel camera integrated along the front and rear of the tablet with 802.11b/g/n WiFi and Bluetooth 2.1 coming as standard connectivity options.
The rest of the tablet’s specs include an audio port, USB 2.0, and HDMI connector along with built-in G-sensor, light sensor, gyroscope, e-compass, and GPS. The Transformer is compatible with Adobe Flash Player 10.2. It measures just 0.51 inches thick with a weight of only 1.49 pounds. ASUS also announced the Transformer will be able to run 9.6 hours on its own battery source but it will go up to a even more respectable 16 hours with the keyboard dock attached as the keypad comes with its own battery pack.
All in all, an interesting package though it remains to be seen how it performs in a real world scenario.
via liliputing
With a keen interest in tech, I make it a point to keep myself updated on the latest developments in technology and gadgets. That includes smartphones or tablet devices but stretches to even AI and self-driven automobiles, the latter being my latest fad. Besides writing, I like watching videos, reading, listening to music, or experimenting with different recipes. The motion picture is another aspect that interests me a lot, and I'll likely make a film sometime in the future.
