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ASUS teases Jelly Bean update coming to Transformer Pad Prime and Infinity within 72 hours
Oh, ASUS. While it was so forthcoming with an update to Jelly Bean for the Transformer Pad TF300, it has been shy about upgrading the tablet's higher-end cousins. The company must be coming out of its shell: it just posted a teaser for Jelly Bean updates coming to the Transformer Pad Prime TF201 (formerly the Eee Pad Transformer Prime) and the flagship Transformer Pad Infinity TF700. ASUS was initially hesitant to say more than that it would come "soon," but Technical Marketing Manager Gary Key has stepped in to confirm that North America will get the update within a surprisingly quick 72 hours. The only glaring omission is a matching refresh for the original Eee Pad Transformer to give veteran owners a little TLC.
ASUS PadFone, Transformer and Transformer Prime hang out under the sun
While cooking up our ASUS PadFone review, we decided to bring its Android tablet cousins together for a family portrait, because why not? Sadly, at the time of shooting these photos the Transformer Pad TF300 wasn't yet available in Hong Kong, so the original Transformer TF101 and the Transformer Prime TF201 will do for now. While you enjoy our gallery below, take a close look at how strikingly similar the keyboard docks for the TF101 and the PadFone are. Enjoy! Update: Regarding readability under the sun (which is a fair question), the PadFone Station was almost just as good as that on the Transformer Prime -- both have an optional outdoor mode that boosts the screen brightness for this purpose, which is why they perform much better than the original Transformer.%Gallery-155847%
ASUS rolls out firmware update to UK Transformer Primes (update: US, too)
Less than 48 hours after teasing us with promises of upcoming "awesome new features," ASUS is now delivering the refresh to Transformer Primes in the UK. Via its Euro Facebook page, the Taiwanese outfit has announced that all TF201 owners in the United Kingdom can expect to see the OTA update anytime now. With the fresh ICS version, you'll be able to tinker with notifications in the lockscreen, connect to Ethernet via USB (adapter not included) as well as get support for wireless ad hoc mode. Unfortunately, TF101 owners will have to exercise some patience, as ASUS says the update for the elder Transformer is still in the works. Update: According to folks in the comments (and our own Transformer Prime's notification pop-ups) the update is now rolling out stateside. [Thanks, Noah]
ASUS gives Transformer Prime a bootloader unlock tool, Ubuntu promptly ported
Ah, it was indeed only a matter of time. Much like the way HTC caved into fan pressure, ASUS has finally released a bootloader unlock tool for its Transformer Prime TF201. Understandably, the tablet will no longer be covered under warranty once you set it free, but the other catch is that it needs to be running Ice Cream Sandwich in the first place as well. Not that it concerned modder littlesteve who promptly ported a partially-working Ubuntu over to his unlocked slate, pictured above. Steve says there's much work to be done yet, especially with enabling touchscreen support, so keep an eye on his tweets if you're itching to get a taste of his Linux pie. Now, about that mysterious TF300T...
ASUS Eee Pad MeMO ME171, ME370T and high-end Transformer Prime TF700T revealed
Flustered with the original Transformer Prime you just purchased? We'd advise you to have a seat. ASUS just took the wraps off an all new Transformer Prime (the TF700T) here at CES, which is presumably designed to rival Acer's newly-announced Iconia Tab A700. Notably, this guy won't be an outright replacement for the existing TF201 model; it's simply an upmarket alternative for those tired of the same specs over and over again. Speaking of, let's dive under the hood of this one, shall we? It's a 10.1-incher with NVIDIA's Tegra 3 within (1.3GHz quad-core Cortex A9), a Super IPS+ / Gorilla Glass 10.1-inch display with a downright silly 1,920 x 1,200 resolution (watch out, Lenovo!) and 32GB or 64GB of internal storage space. There's also an 8 megapixel rear camera / 2 megapixel front-facing cam, support for 1080p playback, 802.11b/g/n WiFi, Bluetooth 2.1+EDR, a micro-HDMI port, microSD card reader, a 25WHr Lithium-Polymer battery and a chassis that weighs just over a pound. It'll ship with Android 4.0.1 onboard (yeah, that's Ice Cream Sandwich), and will be compatible with the exact same keyboard dock as the existing Prime. Needless to say, ASUS is aiming for the stars with a build sheet like this, and the $599 to $699 retail price points enable you to know it. It'll land next quarter here in North America, and no, there's no GPS functionality listed on the spec sheet after the break; though we've been informed that this new Prime will come with a new back panel design (pictured after the break) that should enhance WiFi, BT and GPS performance. Moving onto more diminutive offerings, the Eee Pad MeMO (ME171) that we saw months ago is getting a formal reveal here in Las Vegas, boasting a 7-inch WXGA (1,280 x 800) IPS capacitive touchpanel, a 1.2GHz dual-core Qualcomm 8260 processor, a gigabyte of memory, 16GB / 32GB of storage, 802.11b/g/n WiFi, Bluetooth 2.1+EDR, a 1.2 megapixel front / 5 megapixel rear camera (with 1080p recording), an A-GPS sensor, gyroscope, proximity sensor and a micro-USB port. There's a 4,400mAh Li-polymer battery reportedly good for some 8.5 hours of video playback, and it'll be Android 4.0.1 running the show. The unit checks in with dimensions of 7.8- x 4.6- x 0.50-inches (and a weight of 14.2 ounces), and while mum's the word on price (sadly), it'll supposedly ship in Q2 to North American adobes.
Transformer Prime gets mysteriously and imperiously benchmarked
We're getting restless waiting for the Transformer Prime, which is why we'll cling to the meagerest gossip about its performance. Speaking of which, a couple of Asus Eee Pad TF201 devices have cropped up on the AnTuTu benchmarking app, parading scores that apparently crown them lords of the Android mountain. The graph shows a standard 1.4GHz tablet, but the highest result actually purports to come from a Transformer Prime clocked at 1.6GHz, which achieved 12872. By comparison, the top Transformer TF101 score is just 7596. Benchmarks are hard to verify and even harder to translate into real-world talent, but at least our Kal-El hunger has been sated for a while. Nope, there it is again. [Thanks, Timlot]
