Asus Reveals Monitor Dock to Turn Padfone into AIO PC

Asus' Padfone smartphone is unique in that it docks into a slate-like docking station to turn that phone into a full-fledged tablet, similar to the Motorola Atrix and its laptop notebook. However, it seems Asus has decided that turning a smartphone into a tablet might not be everybody's cup of tea and is broadening the Padfone's horizons a little. At Computex this week the company unveiled a brand new monitor dock for the phone.

 

The docking station features a 24-inch 1920 x 1200 display with a dock built into the base for the Padfone that aims to turn your touchscreen smartphone into an all-in-one PC controller via the more traditional mouse and keyboard set up. Engadget reports that the dock adds support for HDMI, VGA, DVI and four USB 3.0. You can also just use it as a standalone monitor without the phone.

Unveiled officially at MWC earlier this year, Asus has been talking about the Padfone for a long time. Expected to launch sometime in the fall, the Padfone boasts Qualcomm's Snapdragon S4 and Adreno 225 graphics, a 4.3-inch Super AMOLED display, 1GB of RAM, up to 63GB of flash memory and up to 32GB via MicroSD, an 8-megapixel camera (0.3 VGA up front for video calls), and Android 4.0 Ice Cream Sandwich). 

No word on a release date for the U.S. (though it is apparently launching in the U.S. market) or a price. Still, we imagine this monstrous dock won't come cheap.

*Image via Engadget

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  • el33t
    Meh.... this will never replace my dedicated desktop or laptop
    Reply
  • frank_drebin
    The idea is pretty good, just this "Padfone" name sucks
    Reply
  • mindless728
    tbh, there needs to be an open standard for this so that it can interchange between different companies that use this tech
    Reply
  • alidan
    god do i love the resolution.... 1920x1200
    step in the right direction ftw
    Reply
  • el33t
    mindless728tbh, there needs to be an open standard for this so that it can interchange between different companies that use this tech
    LoL...there is nothing innovative about this... Just a video output cable running from the padfone to a 24" fullhd monitor and few tweaking here and there allowing other basic stuff like keyboard/mouse/usb/dvi etc etc.... This will never survive for long..
    Reply
  • megamanx00
    Jesus this thing docks into a tablet, that docks into a keyboard dock, or it can just dock into a monitor. Sure it's cool but buying all the docks for this thing is crazy. I can see it being useful to businesses though since you can simply take your workstation with you (the phone) for use on the go. Might be a good option for the professional that travels a lot and doesn't need more computing power.
    Reply
  • megamanx00
    ASUS just has way too many docks now ^_^
    Reply
  • cmg5217
    el33tMeh.... this will never replace my dedicated desktop or laptop
    I agree with you for my personal needs. However, I can also see how this could fulfill the needs of the average user quite well.
    Reply
  • This is taking longer than I expected. This is the future. At some point, you figure you'll have your phone and docking stations for it at work and at home. It makes perfect sense. With a better version of this, running a better version of Android or Windows 8, all you need is your phone. Then you can use it as a tablet with the tablet dock, or you can use it as a desktop/laptop, with a different dock.
    Reply
  • shin0bi272
    so if its a doc for your pad is it a paddock?
    Reply