Asus Expected to Announce PadFone Mini Next Week
Is Asus jumping on the 'mini' smartphone trend?
Asus announced the PadFone Infinity back in September, and it looks like the company will add another phone to its PadFone line before the year is out. Engadget cites the Global Certification Forum in reporting that the Asus PadFone Mini will debut next week in Taiwan. Engadget China has also been invited to an event in Taipei next week.
The device is rumored to be based upon a quad-core Snapdragon 400 CPU with a 4.3-inch, 960 x 540 pixel display, as well as Android 4.3. Asus' PadFone line is unique in that the phones slot into a tablet dock and PadFone Mini will apparently have a mini dock, as well. While the PadFone Infinity featured a 10-inch dock, the PadFone Mini's dock is said to be just seven inches. No word on pricing, official specifications, or a specific release date. We'll keep you posted, but we wouldn't be surprised if this phone were Asia only.
Back in August, Asus Chairman Jonney Shih admitted that the company is a "latecomer" to the smartphone market but is making progress in bringing a device to the United States. He said Asus has been taking its time building relationships with the various carriers and retailers it will depend on when a smartphone finally is ready to ship.
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Jane McEntegart is a writer, editor, and marketing communications professional with 17 years of experience in the technology industry. She has written about a wide range of technology topics, including smartphones, tablets, and game consoles. Her articles have been published in Tom's Guide, Tom's Hardware, MobileSyrup, and Edge Up.
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teh_chem I'm surprised ASUS is still moving forward with these; they weren't horribly popular.Reply
I also think that it's a poor oversight not going with the highest-level processor available. -
house70 What these companies should do to gain a sizable footprint should be:Reply
-put out a phone with latest specs (screen size and quality, CPU/GPU, radio bands - LTE should be present, as well, gigantic battery size);
-complement it with stock OS (say, Android, for instance) and focus on prompt updates whenever a new version becomes available, without wasting resources on custom launchers and other gimmicks that are available anyways via apps on GPlay.
Oppo almost had it (with Find 5), but their prompt updates promise got diluted quickly with wasted resources on 2 different OS variants, to the point that even installing a new OS version is a confusing affair. And guess what, even their new release still does not support LTE bands because of CPU choice. Lame.