Eee Pad!

My brother Ed sent me a link to ASUS webpage describing the new ASUS Eii Pad Transformer TF101 and, you know, it really looks interesting. I had seen on one of the podcasts that I watch, (I watch way too many to provide credit), but the ASUS powerhouse has come out with a very interesting PAD product in this product. If you follow this column you know that I have an iPad, and on May 5th I will be moving up to the iPad2… but I am anxiously waiting for all of the Android Tablets to come out. All of their data specs showing what is coming out, makes me drool with the external accessory connections that I know that I will scuff one up as soon as I can get my hands on one.

Anyway, this is another product that is coming out in the June timeframe that will be one of the Android products I will be looking to add to my gadget portfolio. It supplies the best of both worlds, giving you a the experience of a tablet and then easily extending that experience by allowing you to place the screen on a keyboard dock to provide the tactile feel of a real keyboard for easing the creative experience with the physical response that a real keyboard gives you. The other benefit is that the keyboard will add more battery life to the tablet so you can work longer between recharges.

Based on NVIDIA’s Tegra™ 2 technology you will get the best response that you can expect with this current technology in this platform. Here are the specs from ASUS’s site:

• NVIDIA® Tegra™ 2 1.0GHz dual-core CPU for excellent multitasking & 1080p video playback
• Android 3.0 Honeycomb O.S. with Adobe® Flash® 10.2 support (Adobe® Flash® 10.2 can be download from Android Market or can update from ASUS’ later release)
• Full QWERTY keyboard, touchpad input with Polaris® Office® for mobile productivity
• 16 hours long battery life for all day computing with docking station (9.5 and 16 hour battery life estimated under certain conditions.)
• Brilliant IPS panel with ultra-wide 178⁰ viewing angle made from scratch resistant and super tough glass
• One year of Unlimited ASUS WebStorage, two USB ports, SD and Micro SD card readers for easy sharing & storage expendability
• 3D stereo with max bass response with SRS premium sound

It is ultra thin, 12.98mm thick and weighs only 680grams I tis light and comfortable to hold. The back surface has been textured to offer a better tactile sensation so hopefully it won’t be as easy to slip from your hands. The screen has a viewable angle of 178°, this allows the screen to be easily shared with the person sitting beside you.

It has two cameras, the front facing is only 1.2MP, disappointing, but there is a rear facing 5MP that can record HD quality video. So while the camera can give us 5MP quality to achieve 1080p, it will be interesting to see how good the lens is. As most photographers know, it is all about the glass.

It has built-in SRS sound technology that is supposed to provide a dynamic 3D stereo audio experience that is enhanced by the placement of the speakers that are placed in the transformer (the keyboard). Interesting way to get a little more base out of you tablet, but of course you will need it plugged in to get this benefit.

Connecting the tablet to its Keyboard Docking Station gives you several expanded features. I have already mentioned the speakers, you will also add the battery life contained in the keyboard to give you many more hours of use, you also have a touchpad, 3.5 MM audio jack, two USB ports as well as a built in SD card reader for easy file sharing and storage expandability.

Preloaded on the Transformer is Polaris® Office® 3.0, a professional mobile office Solution which enables users to edit various types of office documents including documents (.doc), spreadsheets (.xls) and presentation (.ppt) files, making the Transformer very attractive for professional use. In addition, the ultra-convenient ASUS WebStorage with one year of unlimited storage space provides worry-free cloud computing.

This will be one more product utilizing the Android 3.0 Honeycomb operating system. It will be interesting to see how well this new operating system we'll take advantage of all the capabilities of these new tablets.  June will be an exciting month.