ASUS Malaysia has officially launched the second generation of the Padfone smartphone/tablet combo aka Padfone 2, in a media event yesterday. The event was held at 7atenine, Ascott Kuala Lumpur at 3 p.m. Mr Li Huai Pin, the Country Product Manager of ASUS was present at the event.
From the launch event, we’ve learnt that ASUS Malaysia has decided to bring in only the 32GB model (both black and white flavours) to local market. 16GB and 64GB models didn’t make it here. As for the pricing, the 32GB Padfone 2 is bundled with its dockable tablet station aka Padfone Station, at a price tag of RM 2,799.
For the time being, you can’t purchase the Padfone 2 without the Padfone Station. However, ASUS Malaysia will make announcement accordingly if they have any further plan on selling out PadFone 2 only (without tablet station).
On the availability, the black variant of the Padfone 2 (together with its tablet station) is now available from December 13 onwards at authorised ASUS resellers throughout the country. You can check the list of resellers here. As for the white flavour, it is will go on sale from January 2013 onwards.
Live Life Intuitively with ASUS PadFone 2
Quad-core smartphone with incredible battery life combined with ultra-thin, lighter PadFone 2 Station delivering ultimate mobile flexibility
Kuala Lumpur (December 13, 2012) — ASUS, a global leader in the new digital era, today announced the new PadFone™ 2 will be available from today onwards. Built upon the successful hybrid combination of an Android smartphone and dockable tablet for incredible mobile flexibility, the PadFone 2 consists of a higher specification quad-core, LTE-equipped smartphone with a completely redesigned tablet.
The PadFone 2 is a fully featured 4.7-inch 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 649 g, 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 135 g, respectively.
Battery life is astounding, too. The higher-capacity PadFone 2 2140 mAh Lithium battery provides up to 16 hours 3G talk-time and 13 hours Wi-Fi web browsing, while PadFone 2 Station’s 5000 mAh Lithium 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
Powered by Qualcomm’s latest 1.5GHz Snapdragon S4 quad-core processor and 2GB of RAM, this ensure incredible PadFone 2 performance in both smartphone and tablet modes. The larger and improved 4.7-inch 720p 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. Also, NFC allows users to share web pages, contacts and user recommendations from Play Store with others. 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 new bundle of ASUS apps, notably a new version of the SuperNote app version 3.0 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 and Pricing
Availability = 13th December 2012 onwards
Pricing = RM 2,799 (PadFone 2 + PadFone 2 Station)
