ASUS announces the Padfone Mini convertible phone + tablet

4.3-inch mid-range phone turns into a 7-inch mid-range tablet

As widely anticipated, ASUS has today announced the latest addition to its Padfone line of convertible Android devices, the Padfone Mini. Like other Padfone products, the Padfone Mini comes in two parts a 4.3-inch phone and a 7-inch tablet dock meaning you can slot the former into the latter. This lets you use a single data plan for both tablet and phone mode, and charge the phone while it's docked in the tablet.

Unlike previous Padfones, the Padfone Mini is aimed squarely at the mid-range market. It's got a quad-core 1.4GHz Snapdragon 400 CPU with 1GB of RAM and a qHD (960x540) display on the phone, which expands to 1280x800 on the tablet. There's microSD expandability in addition to the 16GB of built-in storage, as well as a 1500mAh battery in the phone and a2200mAh bank in the tablet. For your imaging needs there's an 8-megapixel camera with burst mode and ASUS' PixelMaster tech for boosting brightness in dark scenes.

And on the software side, the Padfone Mini runs Android 4.3 Jelly Bean and ASUS' own software customizations.

So the specs aren't earth-shattering, but given the price point ofNT$11,990 ($405) that's not entirely surprising. The Padfone Mini is due to go on sale inChina, Russia, Taiwan, Hong Kong, Singapore and Indonesia, according to Engdget, with no word on any Western release plans.

Source: Engadget

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