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Refresh Roundup: week of May 27th, 2013
Your smartphone and / or tablet is just begging for an update. From time to time, these mobile devices are blessed with maintenance refreshes, bug fixes, custom ROMs and anything in between, and so many of them are floating around that it's easy for a sizable chunk to get lost in the mix. To make sure they don't escape without notice, we've gathered every possible update, hack, and other miscellaneous tomfoolery we could find during the last week and crammed them into one convenient roundup. If you find something available for your device, please give us a shout at tips at engadget dawt com and let us know. Enjoy!
ASUS Transformer AiO goes on sale in the US, unites desktop and tablet for $1,299
ASUS' distinctive Transformer AiO has been a long time in coming, having first reached our paws last June. For Americans, it's at last more than just a fantastical idea: Amazon, J&R, Rakuten and other US-friendly online retailers now list the oddest of odd PCs as on sale, and usually in stock. For a typical $1,299, more adventurous buyers get a Windows 8 base desktop with a 3.1GHz Core i5, 8GB of RAM, a 1TB hard drive, a DVD drive and a GeForce GT 730M. The real fun, of course, rests in its display. Remove that 18.4-inch LCD from its dock and it suddenly becomes a gigantic Tegra 3-based Android tablet running Jelly Bean. We're not sure if we'll ever completely wrap our heads around the concept, but those who understand ASUS' expanded definition of an all-in-one can shop at the source links.
ASUS Transformer AiO launching Q2 for $1,299 and up, marries Windows 8 desktop with monster Android tablet
We were beginning to think the ASUS Transformer AiO was just a figment of a summer daydream after hearing nothing of it since our chance look many months ago. As it turns out, we were right about the furtive FCC filing last December, and with all that paperwork in order, we've now been granted a formal introduction. The Transformer AiO (all-in-one) is very true to its name, as like the Autobots, it has two completely different configurations. In desktop mode, you're looking at a Windows 8 machine running on a Core i3 / i5 / i7, with a 2GB NVIDIA GeForce GT730M GPU, between 4 and 8GB of RAM, and up to a 2TB SATA HDD. It also has a DVD-RW optical drive (can you believe it?), a card reader, a bunch of ports and even a TV Tuner should you want one. Being a Windows 8 rig, it's not surprising that the 18.4-inch, 1,920 x 1,080 IPS display has ten-point multitouch, but it gets even more interesting when you free that screen from its desktop restraints. Popping it from the dock means you're now looking at a monster tablet with its own internal specs: a quad-core Tegra 3, 2 gigs of RAM and 32GB of flash storage. If you're in the mood to continue peering at Redmond's squares, it'll work as a remote terminal for the "PC Station." But, if you've got a sweet tooth, you can switch the slate to Android mode and knock around in 4.1 Jelly Bean. The Transformer AiO (P1801) is expected to be available in North America early second quarter at $1,299 for the basic model, which doesn't sound all that extortionate given the versatility of the desktop-come-tablet. Head to the source link for the full spec sheet, or check out the video below if you'd like a visual tour.%Gallery-180971%
Mysterious ASUS P1801-T visits the FCC, might be the finished Transformer AiO (updated)
The FCC sometimes gets a peek at hardware and reveals nothing but a model number to hint at what's passed through its labyrinth. The latest filing leaving us scratching our heads is for the ASUS P1801-T, a "tablet" which could be the final version of the Transformer AiO prototype we saw back at Computex. How did we arrive at the AiO? Well, the model number is a possible clue -- ASUS' Eee Slate B121 has a 12.1-inch panel, so P1801-T may point to this device having 18 inches of screen. As ASUS' dual-OS prototype all-in-one is the only (sort of) tablet we've seen with roughly that many inches, we assume the company is getting paperwork done before a proper launch at CES 2013. A "P1801" running Android 4.1.1 has also popped up at GLBenchmark, with Tegra3 graphics, a 1,920 x 1080 graphics and a Cortex-A9 CPU inside. If ASUS is keeping two OS's as per the AiO prototype, that processor caters for only one Microsoft product -- Windows RT. We'll just be kept wondering until we hear something official, but at least for us, an 18-inch Android / RT super-tablet and part-time desktop sounds like it could be a hard sell. Update: We noticed that the original PR from Computex 2012 stated that the tablet portion could also "become a wireless display for the AiO PC," which could mean that the base unit is full-fledged Windows 8 machine with x86 hardware, making it a much more tempting idea.
ASUS Computex keynote now on YouTube: relive the excitement, the yelling
You think it's easy up there on stage? Then just try shouting "ubiquitous cloud computing era" at the top of your lungs without sounding silly. It's virtually impossible, as ASUS chairman Jonney Shih discovered 45 seconds into the video after the break. Fortunately, he quickly moved onto his company's rather stellar array of Computex reveals, including the dual-booting Transformer AiO (which doubles up as the "world's biggest tablet"), a couple of Windows 8 hybrids and the Taichi swiveller -- not to mention some live performance art ten minutes before the end. If you're the "Home C.I.O." in your family, then it could be professionally negligent to miss this.
ASUS enlists BlueStacks to run Android apps on Windows PCs, skips all the OS juggling
Turns out that you won't have to buy a Transformer AiO and use two whole operating systems to run Android apps on that ASUS Windows PC -- the Taiwan PC builder has struck a deal to run Bluestacks' App Player for key software on the ASUS@Vibe side of its new Open Cloud Computing service. The code layer will give free rein to play games like Fruit Ninja or Defender as well as run more sober titles like Evernote and Pulse. Apps will be available across every type of PC ASUS makes, including Eee PC netbooks and other models without touchscreens, but they won't always be gratis. ASUS is providing free Android apps for just the first six months of service and will be charging an unspecified rate for unlimited access afterwards, so you may want to opt for that Transformer AiO or a PadFone to run mobile apps the old-fashioned way.
