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ASUS: Eee Pad Transformer delays due to demand, not component shortages
We're sure you heard the rumors when hanging out in your ASUS fanboy haunts, wearing your ASUS logo hats and medallions, talking your crazy ASUS lingo with your fellow ASUS scenesters. Or maybe you thought something was up when Amazon sold out immediately. Either way, there has been plenty of chatter in the gadgetsphere as of late about the Eee Pad Transformer. Why is it so hard to find? Are component shortages to blame? Quality control issues? We've heard plenty of speculation, and now ASUSTek spokesperson David Chang is weighing in on the matter. According to Netbook News, the company has seen overwhelming demand for the device, and is currently planning to put 100,000 units on the street in May, followed by an additional 200,000-plus in June. "If the demand continues to increase substantially," said Chan, "then we will have to continue to ramp up production in order to fulfill our customers' demand." You know, that's exactly what we would do if we were in that situation!
Supply chain issues limit ASUS' Eee Pad Transformer production to 10,000 a month?
So, it seems that ASUS' Eee Pad Transformer has been hard to find, at least in part due to reasons other than customer demand. According to Netbook News, the Taiwanese company is having trouble sourcing the supplies needed to build the tablet / keyboard combo in sufficient numbers. For now, that means only 10,000 Transformers a month -- a fraction of the 300,000 ASUS was reportedly hoping to make. Word on the web suggests components in greater quantities are coming soon, and production will ramp up significantly in June. Until then, would-be owners will have to go the beg, borrow, or steal route to get one. Investing in a horseshoe or four-leaf clover might not be a bad idea, either.
ASUS Eee Pad Transformer goes on sale in US, immediately sells out at Amazon
The US had to wait for its Eee Pad Transformer launch a little longer than the rest of the world, but it's finally gotten its wish today and consumers' reaction seems to have been nothing short of voracious. Amazon's order page for the $400 Android 3.0 tablet appears to have gone from "in stock" to "out of stock" within mere minutes, while Target -- the supplier fulfilling orders on behalf of Amazon -- also lists the Transformer as presently unavailable. ASUS' own Where To Buy page leads us to a bunch of dead ends as well, with Best Buy being the only retailer we can currently find with stock in the US. We can't say for sure whether we're looking at overwhelming demand or just limited supply, but it's hard to argue with ASUS' excellent value proposition here: a 10-inch IPS display, a dual-core SOC and a feature-rich tablet OS all for less than four Benjamins. You'll just need to be quick on the trigger if you want one. [Thanks, Noah]
ASUS Eee Pad Transformer (UK edition) review
The world's love affair with tablets may have been bubbling along under the surface for a while, but it really got started in earnest during CES 2010. Back in those wild days, you could see 15-inch jumbo screens, TV tuners, and even hybrid pseudo-laptops stalking the tablet area of your favorite trade show. ASUS was there too, of course, though it still believed in the upstart smartbook category -- a modernized take on the netbook that relied on an ARM CPU and a mobile OS to extract more battery life out of a lighter, thinner device -- and was busy showing off a seductively slim prototype of just such a machine. Alas, nothing came of that Neo concept, most likely because it was relying on Android 1.6 and a Tegra 2 system-on-chip that was then still months away from hitting the market. %Gallery-121404% Today, however, is a different day. The 1GHz dual-core Tegra 2 is finally being produced in volume, Google has evolved Android to version 3.0, specifically targeting higher-resolution displays, and ASUS has abandoned the idea that a keyboard is crucial to mobile computing. No, wait, that last bit's still there. The Eee Pad Transformer is a 10.1-inch Honeycomb tablet very much in keeping with the current trend, but it also has an optional keyboard dock that turns it into a, you guessed it, instant smartbook. So, does that mean you'll get two devices in one or has ASUS been overly ambitious and compromised too much? We got to grips with the £380 16GB WiFi-only model and its keyboard buddy (£430 when bought as a pair) in an effort to find out. Answers await just past the break. %Gallery-121419%
ASUS apologizes for Eee Pad Transformer delay it won't detail, US launch pegged for end of April
Well, as far as delays go, this is looking like one that ASUS is willing to accept. As the company explains on its Facebook page, demand for the Eee Pad Transformer has apparently been so high that the first few batches have sold out "much quicker' than it had planned. That's left the global launch for the Honeycomb tablet a bit up in the air, with the company only directing folks to its Facebook pages for individual countries for more information, although they unfortunately aren't providing much in the way of details at the moment. That delay apparently won't affect the US launch, though -- at least not to any significant degree. According to the upstart website JoannaStern.com, the Transformer will be hitting the US by the end of this month with a price tag of $399, while the keyboard dock will run you $149. Could we possibly be seeing the beginnings of a tablet price war? Here's hoping. [Thanks, James A]
Transformer rooted before ASUS can get it out the door
When ASUS dumped the source code for its 10.1-inch, Honeycomb-powered Transformer tablet online we knew it was only a matter of time before someone cracked it open and bent it to their will. Before it hit store shelves here in the US MoDaCo founder Paul O'Brien managed to get his hands on one of the upcoming Android devices and, with a little help from Twitter user BumbleDroid, gained root access to the tablet. So, you'll still have to hang out for a bit before getting yours, but at least when it lands you won't have to wait to get your hack on. [Thanks, Alessandro]
ASUS claims Transformer is better than a generic tablet, is probably right
ASUS, you naughty tablet maker, you. Not content with giving your Eee Pad Transformer its own sitcom, you're now coming at the US with an aggressive price and some rather eye-catching promo material to boot. Reminding the world that most tablets come without a keyboard and highlighting your tailor-made solution is all well and good, but did you have to make your "generic" slate look so iPad-ish? [Thanks, Rob]
ASUS Eee Pad Transformer shows up at Best Buy for $400 (update: dock price)
Never mind the cringe-inducing advertising, ASUS has given us a much better reason to care about its Tegra 2-toting Eee Pad Transformer: a $400 price. The 10.1-inch Honeycomb tablet (with 1280 x 800 resolution on an IPS display) has quickly moved from its Taiwanese release, through yesterday's UK pricing announcement, to today showing up at Best Buy in the US, so we suspect its global shipping can't be far off at all. With a sticker that's a clear $99 less than the cheapest iPad and a good deal more affordable than its Android competition like the Xoom and G-Slate, the Transformer could yet take the tablet world by storm. Do take note that the keyboard dock that inspires this slate's name is an optional extra, but given the starting price, the whole package might still end up less than what others will ask. Update: Whack attack! Best Buy has pulled the Transformer page and it no longer shows up in search results on the site. Was the price too good to be true? Thanks, Jaime! Update 2: It's looking likely that the price info was accurate, as 16GB and 32GB versions have shown up elsewhere on the web for $400 and $500, respectively, though both are currently out of stock. Thanks, Sam and James! Update 3: Ah, and now we have the price for the dock alone: $149. Thanks, Peter C.!
ASUS Eee Pad Transformer and Eee Slate EP121 get official UK pricing
We've heard a fair amount of rumors and speculation about the impending release of ASUS' latest and, perhaps, craziest new slates, and now its giving us the real details -- for the UK at least. The wildly unique Eee Pad Transformer, the first of its kind rocking Honeycomb, is up for pre-order now, with an official release date of April 6th and a price of £379 for the 16GB version and £429 for the 32GB version, each on its lonesome -- you can get the 16GB iteration with the docking keyboard for £429 . Its less flashy companion, the Eee Slate EP121, sporting Windows 7 and an Intel Core i5 processor, hits Britain April 10th for £999, and is ready for pre-order exclusively through Amazon UK through May 1st. Unfortunately, we're still not sure when they'll cross the pond or how much they'll cost when they get here, but we're still fairly certain the Transformer's coming sometime next month.
ASUS rips off Big Bang Theory for Transformer promo, makes it just as unfunny as the real thing
ASUS' Eee Pad Transformer can alternate between being a tablet and a pseudo-laptop thanks to a keyboard / extended battery dock. It also has a Tegra 2 heart and a Honeycomb mind, but the company's opted to focus on its physical uniqueness in a video it's just released marking the new Pad's Taiwanese debut today. Only problem is, Jonney Shih went and listened to his son's idea (no joke!) to theme it around US comedy show Big Bang Theory, replete with Megatron jokes, bad haircuts, and gadget lust aplenty. We'll let you judge how well that worked out after the break.
ASUS to debut Eee Pad Transformer in Taiwan this Friday, Honeycomb confirmed (updated: coming to US in early April)
While we've yet to see other Honeycomb tablets materialize in the shops after the Xoom, news has it that ASUS is about to debut its Eee Pad Transformer back in its home country this Friday. There's still no final pricing to be seen for this Tegra 2 device, but some of our watchful readers have already spotted the stricken-through $799 label -- in US dollars, oddly enough -- on ASUS' Transformer countdown page on Facebook, and hopefully this price tag will cover the docking kit as well. Anyhow, anxious Android fans will be able to order this peculiar 10.1-inch slate -- in 16GB or 32GB flavor -- later this week, so that Taiwanese pen pal of yours will finally come in handy. [Thanks to everyone who sent this in] Update: We just heard from our ASUS rep here in the US and it looks like the Transformer will be hitting the US market in early April. No word on pricing yet, but we will keep you updated.
Motorola Xoom, LG Optimus Pad, Acer Iconia A100, and ASUS Eee Pad get Euro retailer pricing
The Carphone Warehouse, known under the brand name of Phone House across Europe, has revealed its future pricing for a quartet of Android Honeycomb tablets in the latest version of its device catalog. The 7-inch Acer Iconia A100 scoops the prize for being most affordable with a €349 sticker, while the 10-inch Xoom's €699 price is confirmed and the 8.9-inch Optimus Pad gets its lowest pricing yet, at a still unaffordable €849. The Eee Pad on display here isn't explicitly named, but we suspect it to be the 10.1-inch Transformer, packing a dual-core Tegra 2 and running version 3.0 of Android -- just like all the others in this group. Oddly enough, these are all detailed in the March version of the document, but unless we're sorely mistaken, none of these tablets has yet reached the stage of general availability in Europe. Well, at least it lets us know how much each one will cost when they do eventually hit retail. [Thanks to everyone who sent this in]
ASUS Eee Pad Transformer shows up wearing Honeycomb to CeBIT (video)
Here's a trend we can get behind: ASUS and others are remixing existing, yet-to-be-released Android tablets with Honeycomb where it makes sense to do so. The Eee Pad MeMO, for instance, is now being promised with a Qualcomm port of the platform in time for its June launch -- and along those same lines, the company is showing its Eee Pad Transformer here at CeBIT with a Honeycomb upgrade. Unlike the MeMO, the Transformer is just a straight Tegra 2 setup like the already-launched Xoom, which is likely why they were able to get it loaded on here and functioning relatively well in time for the show. The build ASUS has here doesn't appear to be final -- the Android Market is missing, for example -- but what was there seemed to be running smoothly; considering the internals, we'd expect no less. Follow the break for video (pardon the lack of audio -- there was some talking going on that we found distracting). %Gallery-117784%
ASUS Eee Pad Transformer and Slider: another look
Remember those eccentric ASUS Android tablets at CES? Yeah, it's all a bit of a blur for us as well, but turns out both the Eee Pad Transformer and Slider prototypes just made it to the BETT (British Educational Training and Technology) Show in London this morning, so we decided to wander along to get our hands dirty again. Sadly, the Transformer had a bit of a rough ride from Vegas and remained dormant, but we were still able to admire its sturdy keyboard dock with great key press travel. And in case you've forgotten, said dock is also an external battery that doubles the juice up to 16 hours. UK shoppers will see this slate popping up in the stores around May or June for £379 ($597), and its docking kit for £100 ($158). We were more fortunate with the functioning Slider prototype, even though it had the same sliding issue we saw at CES. But fear not, as we were told that the engineers are already reworking the mechanism, and here's hoping that they'll do something about the flexing keyboard as well. As for software, we didn't have time to test everything, but we were surprised by the general snappiness of the current Froyo test build. And speaking of which, we're not too sure what the plan is with ASUS' Android roadmap -- even though we were told at CES that Honeycomb will be on these tablets at launch, the folks we met today said that they'll be shipped with Gingerbread instead; and even then, there's no time frame for the 3.0 upgrade just yet. Anyhow, this is less of a concern for the Slider given its July or August launch, but it'll cost you a hefty £429 ($676). Additionally, both tablets will see their 3G variants in the UK a quarter after their respective launches, but regardless, it's never too soon to start a petition for your carrier to spread the ASUS tablet fever. %Gallery-114020% %Gallery-114019%
