The Transformer Prime is a fantastic example of a product rushed to market. It was as if Asus was trolling consumers and yelling “First!” The tablet launched with a host of problems, many of which Asus fixed over the weeks following its release through a constant stream of updates. But some issues, like the poor GPS capability, were seemingly addressed through placebo updates. Asus was even caught removing the spec and feature from the Transformer Prime’s product page. Then, just weeks after the Prime hit the market, Asus announced a new family of Transformer tablets as if the Prime never existed.
But the biggest insult just happened today. Asus finally announced a solution to the poor performing GPS: A massive dongle that happens to use the same port as the Prime’s keyboard dock, preventing owners from using both at the same time. At least it’s free. → Read More
A federal judge has ruled that Asus’ Transformer Prime tablet does not infringe on Hasbro’s Transformers trademark, in spite of the suit actually making sense. Just “Transformer”, or just “Prime”, might have flown right by Hasbro’s lawyers without a second look — those are words, after all — but putting the two together seemed like tempting fate. As expected, Hasbro took Asus to task in December.
But the judge has initially sided with Asus, saying that people were unlikely to confuse the tablet with Hasbro properties, noting they had also waited too long to file the suit.
As a little kicker on the story, court filings have revealed that the device has produced pre-order numbers that are, shall we say, less than legendary. → Read More
As Microsoft’s Windows Phone platform continues to pick up steam and hardware partners, one company has managed to stay out of the Windows Phone game despite their long relationship with Microsoft. Taiwan-based Asus has created developer units for the platform in 2010, and leaks indicate that they haven’t managed to get Microsoft’s mobile platform off their minds.
So with all that said, what on earth is taking the Taiwanese company so long to officially throw their hats into the Windows Phone arena? According to a brief interview with Pocket-Lint, Asus GM of Mobile Devices Benson Lin says it’s only a matter of time. The thing is, it’s been a matter of time for over a year now.
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The Padfone is a peculiar beast, to be sure. Given the right accessories (and enough money, I suppose), Asus’s newest smartphones can easily transform into a tablet and a faux-notebook in the blink of an eye, but how well does the thing work? Asus was kind enough to let us play with one for a short while in their booth here at Mobile World Congress, and we’ve put together a quick video for your viewing pleasure.
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Once upon a time the Asus Eee brand held some weight. The Eee name debuted with Asus’ netbook line, which nearly instantly set the bar for low-cost, but still quality, computing devices. That’s why the Eee brand was used for Asus’ first tablets. But now, in 2012, with netbooks quickly fading into irrelevance, Asus wisely decided it was time to retire the name. From here on out Asus tablets will be known as Transformer Pads.
Along with the rebranding Asus also used the Mobile World Congress stage to announces two new tablets. The TF Pad Infinity is the first model in the new high-end Infinity line while the TF Pad 300 aims for the budget market. Both are styled similarly to the original Transformer Prime but seem to pack slightly different components that shouldn’t cause as many headaches with non-functioning components. Sorry, early adapters. You were beta testers. Both of these models are better equipped than the two-month old Transformer Prime. → Read More
There you have it folks. The Asus Padfone is about as real as a phone can be, now that Asus has formally unveiled the little beast here at Mobile World Congress.
What we’re looking at is a 4.3-inch Super AMOLED qHD display running Android 4.0 Ice Cream Sandwich with a Snapdragon dual-core S4 chip from Qualcomm. You’ll find an 8-megapixel camera on the back equipped with autofocus and flash, along with a VGA front-facing shooter for video chat. → Read More
The Asus Transformer Prime was the great, grey hope for many Android lovers – until they realized that the bootloader was locked it was impossible to upgrade or install a new bit of firmware onto the device. Asus has finally relented, allowing folks to download an unlocked bootloader and install it over the “official” Asus bootloader.
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Right on cue, Asus started rolling out Ice Cream Sandwich to Transformer Prime tablets last week. The update not only brought Android 4.0 to the tablet, but also a fix for the lackluster GPS performance. But apparently the GPS is borked for some. Users are still experiencing poor performance and worse yet, some are even stating that the GPS no longer works in ICS when it did prior to the update. → Read More
The Asus Transformer Prime was the latest tablet to wear the title of iPad killer. It was supposed to rise up, powered by the all-mighty quad-core Nvidia Terga 3, and finally stand tall against the iPad. It was supposed to use its keyboard dock as a mighty quarterstaff and deliver a memorable blow against Apple’s champion. But that didn’t happen. The Transformer Prime is dying at the hands of Asus. → Read More
Asus clearly didn’t get the memo that netbooks are dead. Tablets killed them. Or rather so goes the popular narrative. In real life consumers will continue to look for low-cost alternatives to traditional notebooks and Asus will clearly be there, ready with new models to fill this increasingly niche demand. → Read More
Call me naive, but I just assumed that when Asus showed off a device called the Transformer Prime, they had some sort of deal to license or at least provide some kind of royalty to the Transformers franchise. Apparently not, as Hasbro has just filed a lawsuit alleging that Asus is infringing on the Transformers trademark.
Now, if the device were just called the Transformer, I think I would come down on Asus’ side here. After all, transform is a common word and although it may recall to mind certain memories from the 80s (and, to a lesser extent, the last few years), it is just a word and it also describes the transforming capacity of the device. But then they had to go and call it the Prime. What’s next, Soundwave speakers? A Bumblebee netbook? → Read More
Netbooks are still big business for Asustek. So much so that the hotness from 2009 outsold Asus tablets in 2011. Per numbers released at the company’s global sales meeting (and relayed by Digitimes), Asustek expects to ship 4.8 netbooks by the end of 2011 but only 1.8 million tablets. But that’s expected to change in 2012. The roles will be reversed and Asus sees big things for next year. → Read More
The ratio of awful tablets to good ones in this year’s Black Friday ads doesn’t exactly inspire much confidence, but there are some good deals to be found even at this early stage. Case in point: Best Buy’s leaked Black Friday circular has the first generation 16GB Asus Transformer for $250, a respectable $150 drop from its current price.
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Now that Ice Cream Sandwich is real, manufacturers can start talking about the roll out. The good news is that ICS looks Tegra 2 friendly so it should run on most of the first generation Honeycomb tablets. Asus and Acer have both confirmed that their respective tabs will get the update but haven’t detailed the launch schedule. That’s the bad news, which really isn’t all that bad in and of itself. → Read More
Gasp! A new Asus Transformer tablet is in the works. This of course calls for a YouTube teaser trailer that doesn’t show a damn thing. The Next Transformation hints at the future of Asus’ convertible tablet. Giving Asus’ recent marketing strategies, prepare yourself for a healthy dose of viral campaigns until this thing is officially announced. But chances are the likely upcoming videos and teaser pics won’t hint at the only thing I care about: Does this tablet run Ice Cream Sandwich? → Read More
Sure this Padfone thing (yes it’s real) happened in May, but I just saw it and can’t stop laughing and can’t focus on the other thing I was writing so I am posting it here to get it out of my system, Arrington-style. → Read More
The promise of the ultra-cheap ultrabook hasn’t quite been fulfilled yet, but that doesn’t mean we can’t have a few sexy machines before the new ones hit. Acer’s Aspire S3 dropped yesterday, and we’ll have a review up soon, but the new Asus Zenbooks, rumored and pictured earlier but only actually announced today, are the ones I’ve been waiting for.
You’ve got two basic models: the 11.6-inch UX21 and the 13-inch UX31. But there’s more, much more. → Read More
Asus does not plan on participating on the recent tablet price cutting wars. CEO Jerry Shen will not race RIM or HTC to the bottom and currently has no plans to cut the original Transformer’s price. This comes by way of a Digitimes report that also states the company is on schedule to launch the second generation Transformer tablet for $499 and meet their initial shipment forecast. → Read More
Asus is hoping to capture some of the Kinect’s good will starting this October by kicking off a marketing campaign for its motion controller clone. The WAVI Xtion was created in partnership with PrimeSense, the same group partly responsible for the Microsoft Kinect — hence the familiar design and capabilities. Asus demoed the device last January at CES 2011, but Digitimes is now reporting that Asus is set to start marketing the kit this October as Asus, which comes after its self-imposed Q2 release target. → Read More
The day of the Ultrabook is nearly upon us and per Asustek chairman, Jonney Shih, the PC maker has five to six models on the bill for an October release. Prices are said to start out $899 but also reach $1,999. That’s notable higher than Intel’s target price of $999 and under. Still, if Intel has its way, ultrabooks will be the next big thing in PC notebooks. The ultra-thin, ultra-sexy notebooks are designed around Intel’s next-gen Ivy Bridge CPU platform that offers high but efficient performance at affordable price points and Asus is set to flood the market with a bunch of models. → Read More
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