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ASUS' $599 home robot is smarter than it looks
It goes without saying that ASUS' first home robot, Zenbo, stole the show at this year's Computex. As soon as it rolled onto the stage during the keynote, everyone rushed to the front to get a good look at this cute little fella -- and that was before Chairman Jonney Shih shocked the audience with its surprisingly attractive low price of $599. Apart from its basic capabilities, little else was said about the machine, so we traveled all the way to ASUS' headquarters to meet Shih for a detailed demo. During the process, we managed to pry a little more info out of the exec, including what's inside this mysterious bot, the thinking behind its design and a target launch date around the holiday season.
Asia's biggest tech show is ASUS' show
While covering Computex 2014 this year, we saw ASUS Chairman Jonney Shih take to the stage no less than three times. Granted, two were to showcase his company's seemingly limitless product launches, but he also snuck on stage at Intel's keynote -- arguably the only other company that makes an impact at the Taipei trade show. ASUS is a Taiwanese company and when Shih appears, several lines of journalists pop up (as do their flashes), and the light show pretty much continues until he leaves -- the home crowd likes him. It also helps that the chairman comes across as super enthused whenever he talks up the products -- we can recall a particularly cheerful "ubiquitous cloud computing" exclamation at last year's showcase. There's also the fact that ASUS exceeds even Samsung when it comes to producing previously unseen form factors. From phone tablets to tablet phones to hybrids and, this year, a "five-in-one" PC with a built-in smartphone. After a relentless flurry of announcements, journalists, analysts and bloggers are then unleashed into smallish demo areas, where, if you're lucky, there are two of the new, flashy devices to share around a room of hundreds. Apple events might carry a higher degree of pressure, but the chaos of an ASUS press launch at Computex remains... unique. Here's how ASUS made this Taipei tech event its own.
ASUS chairman: Windows RT results 'not very promising'
As ASUS goes full steam ahead in the smartphone space, prepping itself for an entry into the US market, the company has apparently done a rethink on its support for Windows RT. Chairman Jonney Shih told All Things D that, as far as the company's work with the Windows 8 offshoot goes, "the result is not very promising." Don't take that to mean that ASUS is set on completely abandoning the OS, but the future of ASUS Windows RT devices doesn't look particularly bright at the moment.
ASUS eyeing 2014 for US smartphone launch
It wouldn't be the first time ASUS saw a US smartphone launch -- though last time the company had the GPS experts at Garmin to help it find its way. This time, according to Jonney Shih, the maker of both the Padfone and Fonepad (coincidence?) is looking to take a more direct route. The ASUS chairman told All Things D that his company has been making progress building bridges with retailers and carriers alike in an attempt to succeed in the already crowded US market. And while it may not be impossible, a 2013 launch is looking unlikely. "I think next year is more reasonable," he told the site.
How Would you Change ASUS' Transformer Pad TF300?
ASUS' Transformer Pad was tucked in beneath the Transformer Prime in the company's range of hybrid Android tablets. The only problem however, was that the company forgot to really differentiate the two -- with only a few hours less battery life the real distinction. But how has it been for you to live with? Did you get used to its slightly fiddly keyboard, have you been as smitten with it as our reviewer? Step into Jonney Shih's shoes and tell us what you'd suggest he does differently when next year's model comes out.
Watch ASUS' PadFone 2 Milan press conference from the safety of your home (video)
Spend yesterday away from the internet? ASUS' launch of the new PadFone 2 might have passed you by. Fortunately, we live in the internet age, where any action can be reviewed and examined to Zapruder-esque proportions. If you'd like to relive the press conference as if you were there with Jonney Shih in Milan, grab yourself an espresso and catch the footage we've tucked after the break.
ASUS Eee Pad Transformer Prime arrives at the FCC, we feign surprise
You've seen it in the wild and even in the hands of ASUS honcho Jonney Shih at AsiaD. Now the tablet set to continue the Eee Pad Transformer's legacy has reared its 10-inch face at the FCC. Considering the Prime's leaked November 9th launch date, it's no shock to see the tablet now surfacing at the Commission with confidentiality agreements in tow. Most of the slate's internal goods are hidden behind that wall of secrecy, but we can confirm the de rigeur presence of WiFi and Bluetooth capabilities. Shih's already dished out some of this quad-core tab's specs, so we know to expect a mini-HDMI port, 14.5-hour battery, SD card slot and a destined Ice Cream Sandwich OS. The only remaining question is whether this second coming will pack any wireless operator-friendly frequencies. We'll keep you posted on any new developments, but in the meantime, feel free to traverse the spectrum tests at the source.
ASUS Eee Pad Transformer Prime shots leak out, apes the Tao of Zenbook design
Who's ready for a little gadget pr0n? ASUS head honcho Jonney Shih gave AsiaD attendees a first peek at the Transformer's successor just last week. Apart from that distant, dais-based reveal, we now have in the wild shots of the tab to focus our tech lust on. The leaked images, which have since been pulled from the Chinese site that hosted them, show off several angles of the quad-core Prime, its Zenbook-like aluminum finish and accompanying dock. Unfortunately, the lone lockscreen shot on offer's not giving us any taste of the potential Ice Cream Sandwich OS lurking beneath. Hungry for the full tablet spread? Then hit up the source below to get your gawking a-go-go.
ASUS' Jonney Shih: Android 4.0 hitting tablets by year's end, ultrathin netbook is coming
We just witnessed quite the interview between ASUS chairman Jonney Shih and Walt Mossberg at AsiaD, and outside of revealing the Transformer Prime (and affirming that the impending Padfone would ship with Android 4.0), he also dropped a few other nuggets worth mention to the audience here in Hong Kong. For starters, he finally caved to Walt's pestering about who his main competition was, specifically related to the new Zenbook. "The Mac[Book] Air," he stated, chuckling slyly afterwards, but quickly continuing on to plug his own machine based on its own merits. Not surprisingly, he also expressed his confidence that Android tablets still had a lot of life left in the market, and he stated that ASUS is still on track to move its target -- around two million -- Android tablets this year. Moving onto the topic of netbooks, Shih noted that rather than being buried, netbooks are simply "evolving." More importantly, however, was his subtle confirmation that a new ASUS netbook is en route: "You'll see on our new netbook, it'll be very thin." In fact, he even suggested that the design may follow that of the Zenbook, but just... smaller. When asked about his thoughts on people replacing laptops less frequently, and perhaps shifting disposable income to smartphones and tablets, Jonney maintained that all of those markets were key to ASUS' success, and that none were taking a backseat. "We believe that this a very critical time, transitioning from the personal computing era to the ubiquitous cloud computing era." Sounds a bit like another mantra we heard, truth be told, but ASUS has been riding the cloud bandwagon long before most other consumer companies even knew what it was. The original spate of Eee PCs had next to no internal storage; rather, they relied on accessing the web in order to deliver the bulk of their functionality. Jonney also noted that ASUS is attempting to tackle an interesting problem with its products, which is that few people can truly separate work and entertainment -- in other words, you need products that adequately handle both worlds. We're guessing a Padfone + Transformer Prime + Zenbook is his preferred trifecta to do just that.
ASUS' Jonney Shih: PadFone will ship in Q1 2012 with Ice Cream Sandwich
You heard it here first, folks -- ASUS chairman Jonney Shih just affirmed that the long-awaited PadFone will be shipping in Q1 of 2012, and yes, Android 4.0 (Ice Cream Sandwich) will be onboard. That was in response to a question from Joanna Stern regarding the future of the multifaceted device, which we first heard may run ICS way back in May. Still no solid word on price or a global release schedule, but now that Android 4.0 is finally coming out, we're assuming things are finally in high gear.
ASUS' Jonney Shih unveils Transformer Prime Android tablet: 10-inch, 8.3mm, quad-core NVIDIA Tegra 3
Whoa, Nelly! ASUS head honcho Jonney Shih just revealed the "next-generation Transformer tablet" here at AsiaD! It's the same one that we saw teased just yesterday, and Jonney affirmed that it'll ship with a quad-core NVIDIA chip, 10-inch display, mini-HDMI port, a 14.5-hour battery, an SD card slot and a top lid that looks precisely like its Zenbook line. Oh, and it's 8.3mm thick, though Jonney didn't specify as to whether that was docked or undocked (we're guessing the former!). Naturally, it'll ship with Android, and we're assuming it'll be Honeycomb to start. That said, Shih did affirm to Walt Mossberg that he expects Ice Cream Sandwich to hit tablets by the end of the year -- "perhaps earlier." Finally, we were informed that it'll be called the Transformer Prime, and while a final ship date wasn't given, we're told to expect more news on that front during the November 9th "official reveal." %Gallery-137055%
ASUS' next gen Eee Pad Transformer to be first Kal-El device?
Earlier this year, NVIDIA teased us all with the promise of its forthcoming Kal-El SoC, indicating an August debut. Well, we're currently in the thick of that hot and hazy month with no clear sign of an incoming quad-core tablet, but certainly more release gossip. According to Fudzilla, multiple sources have confirmed ASUS' next Eee Pad Transformer will indeed be first in line to pack four cores, lending credence to Chairman Jonney Shih's claims the tab would be "impressive." Concrete launch details for the slate have yet to be announced, but if Shih's pre-CES timeline pans out, you'll only have four long months to wait for a Glow Ball hands-on.
ASUS' next gen Eee Pad Transformer to pack NVIDIA's quad-core Kal-El, launch this October?
Fan of ASUS' affordable, yet competitively specced Eee Pad Transformer, but still haven't committed your credit to its 10.1-inches? Well, if this bout of rumor-mongering proves true, you might want to put the wallet down until early fall. Harbinger of supply chain gossip Digitimes is reporting that the electronics maker has just enlisted Wintek to provide touch panels for its next gen tablet, slated to launch this October. The parts supplier is said to be working in tandem with HannStar Display to ramp up production should this iteration be met with its predecessor's unforeseen popularity. Adding more ambiguity to the speculative fire, ASUS' Chairman Jonney Shih recently confirmed to Forbes that an updated Transformer is on its way, saying only that it'd be very "impressive," and would be available before CES. Jonney didn't comment on the upcoming slate's supposed use of NVIDIA's quad-core Kal-El, but with the chip's promised August launch date, we wouldn't rule it out. While talks of a Transformer 2 are still just gossamer promise, you can always snag that Eee Pad Slider while you sit and wait.
ASUS announces the PadFone (update: eyes-on!)
If pads and phones are the fastest growing categories in consumer tech, surely a PadFone would be the ultimate combo? That's what ASUS thinks, and it's just introduced an Android smartphone device that comes with a tablet it can dock into. Display switching is done dynamically, so that reading emails or browsing the web on the phone portion expands itself seamlessly once it's connected into the pad. Also expanded will be battery life, with an extra cell included in the slate. The mockup ASUS is showing the world today includes a 4.3-inch smarpthone and a 10.1-inch tablet dock, but the company says it hasn't yet settled on the final dimensions of the eventual retail product. Other details, such as the particular version of Android, are still light on the ground, but we'll try to squeeze more info out while we're at Computex.Update: And now we have more pics of Jonney Shih showing off the PadFone, along with the press release and ASUS' promo video after the break. Enjoy!Update 2: Our buds at Netbooknews caught Jonney Shih's unveiling of the PadFone live on video. Watch with wide-eyed wonderment after the break. How you like them magics, Apple?%Gallery-124749%%Gallery-124743%%Gallery-124744%
ASUS chairman Jonney Shih promises 'secret weapon' to rival iPad 2, disses 3DTVs
Jonney Shih has never been one to back down from his stance on anything, and in a recent sit-down with IDG News Service, the ASUS chairman delivered quite a few nuggets worth poring over. For starters, he played up (and subsequently downplayed) a "secret weapon" that would likely rival the iPad 2, but wouldn't go so far as to confirm that said weapon would actually be a slate. His response to prying? "I think it's best not to say now. You will have to wait until the launch." He also noted that personal cloud computing was poised to boom, and didn't leave much hope for the likes of webOS and QNX -- he claims that there is only room for three OS camps to win, and those three slots are already occupied with Windows, Android and iOS. Finally, he took the opportunity to fling water on the 3DTV buzz, noting that he "doesn't think that will prevail." He did leave open the possibility for glasses-free options in handhelds to succeed, but beyond that, it's safe to say he's not much of a 3D advocate. Hit the source link for the full skinny, but don't go digging for any extra details on his iPad 2 killer -- something tells us you'll be sorely disappointed.
ASUS 12-inch Windows 7 'Eee Slate' EP121 and more teased for 2011 (updated)
It's been awhile since we've heard anything official from ASUS about its 12-inch EP121 tablet announced back at Computex in May. That changes today as ASUS Chairman, Jonney Shih, promises an "Eee for everyone" at CES 2011 -- and that's not an exaggeration what with 7-, 9-, 10-, and 12-inch Armdroid and Wintel tablets expected. While the video doesn't show the physical EP121 first revealed as a prototype in Taipei, it does call it an "Eee Slate" (not an "Eee Pad" like before) while demonstrating pen-based input on the multitouch display riding Microsoft's Windows 7 operating system and a Core i5 processor. Naturally, ASUS is also promising better performance and more flexibility than existing tablets. Don't worry, we'll be getting hands-on with this beast in a few weeks before it hits retail sometime (somewhere) in January. Until then, you can watch the teaser after the break. Update: DigiTimes claims that the EP121 will target enterprise customers when launched. Additionally, two 10-inch Eee Pads (one with Windows 7 on Oak Trail and one with Android on Tegra 2) will hit retail as early as March for $499 to $599. Meanwhile, 7-inch Android models will also launch as early as March featuring either Tegra 2 or Qualcomm chipsets with at least one model featuring a "3.5G" radio for "phone functionality." [Thanks, Sal]
ASUS's Jonney Shih confirms two tablets, one for Googlites, one for Microsofties
We've been hearing talk of an Eee Pad since the end of 2009, even getting a sort of unofficial, official confirmation of its existence from ASUS exec Eric Chen. Now company chairman Jonney Shih has confirmed not only one tablet, but two. "Netbooks are the best combination of personal computing and cloud computing, but between netbooks and smartphones and e-readers, we think there will be a space for something like a tablet or slate PC." This is where ASUS will insert a pair of models set to be unveiled sometime this year. One is said to run a Google OS of some sort, either Android or Chrome, the other running Windows. We're expecting some level of hardware differentiation between the two as well, but at this point we don't know anything else -- except that the Google flavored version "will have a lot of media." We like media.
ASUS EeeKeyboard PC delayed again, now shipping in April
After so many delays, we've nearly given up hope on the EeeKeyboard PC ever actually hitting retail. Having missed the February launch, ASUS chairman Jonney Shih just told us during a post press event Q&A that the mythical, magical EeeKeyboard will now arrive in April. He also offered his apologies as ASUS tries to get the quality of the product and user experience just right. Hey Jonney, no need to apologize, those would be our priorities too before trying to sell a $500 to $600 battery-powered Atom-based PC with integrated 5-inch touchscreen, HDMI-out, and UWB all built into a keyboard.
ASUS planning a 'killer product' for June, Eee Pad noise grows louder
ASUS CEO Jonney Shih has been speaking on the subject of the now finalized Pegatron spin-off and delivered a couple of teasing tidbits of info about the company's future direction. Naturally, most interest will be piqued by the "killer product" he has said is coming in June, but Jonney also mentions his company's intent to be "another Apple" -- only with a focus on open source -- and he specifically points out ARM and Google as a preferred hardware / software combination, while obviously not ruling out Wintel offerings where the market demands it. Taken as a whole, his words mesh perfectly with what we've heard of the Eee Pad so far, namely that it'll be powered by NVIDIA's Tegra 2 (which utilizes ARM CPUs), probably run Android, and arrive in early June. We still don't know whether that sub-$500 price will hold, but it's good to put a bit of CEO-level meat on those rumor bones anyway.
ASUS courting Toshiba in bid to become top-3 PC maker?
ASUS has already gone public with its plans to jump past Dell to become the number three PC vendor by 2011. Naturally, with fierce competition from all sides, the Taiwanese PC maker isn't going to achieve this by simply slapping the Eee logo onto everything it can build; acquisitions are the key to that kind of rapid growth. So it's no surprise to hear Jonney Shih, ASUS chairman, listing Toshiba's PC business amongst its possible targets for acquisition according to the Commercial Times. After all, Toshiba's estimated 5% global marketshare is enough to bring ASUS within wrastlin' distance of Round Rock, Tejas. In a shocking admission by Shih, talks have already begun but the results are not yet finalized.
