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Asus Transformer Prime gets a small update

Dusan Belic — Thu, 09 Feb 2012 10:10:15 +0000

Asus knows it can’t joke with Transformer Prime users as they are ready to share both the good and the bad things about the company’s flagship tablet. Hence, they keep fixing any bugs reported as fast as they can.

To that end, Asus released a new update for its tablet/netbook that comes with an all new kernel inside (version 2.6.39). In addition, the new software also promises to fix WiFi and Bluetooth functionality, while also increasing the overall performance. According to user reports, the Transformer Prime is faster after the update, showing increased benchmark scores.

In addition, if your Prime was suffering from random reboot issues, you’ll be happy to know that issue has been addressed with this software as well.

So what are you waiting for? Fully charge your beloved gadget, connect it to a fast Wi-Fi hotspot, check for updates, follow the on-screen procedure and voila… all (or at least most) of your Prime problems are fixed.

[Via: PocketNow, xda-developers]

Leak: ASUS TF300T found in Taiwan, is this the Transformer Prime successor?

Stefan Constantinescu — Mon, 06 Feb 2012 09:56:27 +0000

A little over a year ago, at CES 2011, ASUS announced an Android tablet called the Transformer. What made it special was that you could dock it into a keyboard and essentially use it as a laptop. The first Transformer hit the Asian market in March, and one month later it showed up in both Europe and America. It had the model number TF101. Several months later, in November, ASUS announced the successor: the Transformer Prime. Same idea as the older model, but now with a much better industrial design and quad core NVIDIA Tegra 3 chip. It started shipping during the last few weeks of December, but ASUS has had trouble ramping up due to customer complaints about poor WiFi performance. That device had the model number TF201. Now there’s a new ASUS tablet floating around in Taiwan with the model number TF300. What exactly is it? We’ve already heard about the TF700, which is nothing more than the Transformer Prime, but with an ultra high resolution screen, so is the TF300 a midrange device?

We don’t have any more information to offer you guys, sadly, but we wouldn’t be surprised if ASUS officially announced this thing later this month at Mobile World Congress. It’ll likely run Android 4.0 Ice Cream Sandwich out of the box, and it might also have embedded cellular connectivity. That’s one thing that the Transformer Prime doesn’t offer. If ASUS is smart enough to put a Qualcomm Snapdragon S4 processor in this thing. That’ll give it not only quad core like performance out of a dual core solution, but also a 4G LTE modem so it can be sold in the North American market.

What do you think: Have Android tablets matured to the point where we should be calling them “good enough”, or are you still telling friends and family to buy an iPad?

Who else wants a 7-inch Asus Transformer Prime?

Dusan Belic — Fri, 27 Jan 2012 09:29:27 +0000

Everyone loves Asus’ Transformer Prime these days and there’s nothing strange about it. After all, it’s the world’s first (and still the only) tablet powered by a quad-core processor that also comes with that ever-handy keyboard dock. And while I love it too, I think I would love a 7-inch version even more. The reason is obvious – smaller tablets are easier to carry around and that should be the idea here — to leave your bigger laptop at home and carry around a tablet.

I know what you think – such a device would have a smaller and hardly usable keyboard. I dig the argument, but I don’t mind small keyboards. Sure enough, I’ll need some time to get used to it, but I think that’s manageable.

I remember trying out the HTC Shift (anyone remembers that gadget?). It was a 7-inch Windows XP (I think) tablet with a sliding QWERTY keyboard. At first I thought there’s no chance I’ll be able to type on this, but what do you know – I got used to it pretty quickly. In that sense, I believe I would adjust to a smaller keyboard a 7-inch Transformer Prime would sport in a snap. Of course that’s just me…

So I want to know – would you grab a smaller Transformer Prime? Or a 10.1-inch model is perfect for you?

Asus Transformer Prime bootloader unlock tool to be released in February

Dusan Belic — Thu, 26 Jan 2012 11:50:22 +0000

Asus will release the bootloader unlock tool for its Transformer Prime tablet/netbook device in February. The Taiwanese company turned to Twitter to announce the news and give developers some head start as they begin working on their own custom ROMs. Yep, the minute the bootloader unlock tool is out, we expect to see few custom ROMs available for download.

Unfortunately we don’t know the exact date when you’ll be able to easily unlock your bootloader, but we guess it will happen at some point before the Mobile World Congress in Barcelona, so that Asus can focus on other things (like unveiling new devices) during the big event. We’ll see…

[Via: Unwired View]

Canada: ASUS Transformer Prime available at Future Shop stores, sold out online

Dusan Belic — Thu, 19 Jan 2012 11:53:52 +0000

If you’re one of many folks from Canada craving to get the new ASUS Transformer Prime, you’ll be glad to know it’s now available at Future Shop stores. Online, it was already sold out, though you can check out this page to monitor when it’s once again ready for ordering. Or you could walk to your local Future Shop store and grab one from there.

In any case, you’ll have to pour out CA$499.99 just for the tablet and eventually buy the keyboard dock separately from another retailer (I couldn’t find it at Future Shop’s website).

And in case you’ve been living under a rock, you should know the Transformer Prime is the first tablet with a quad-core processor (NVIDIA Tegra 3) and awesome, MacBook Air-like body. You can check out our review from here.

[Via: MobileSyrup]

Asus: There is no 3G Transformer Prime

Will Park — Wed, 18 Jan 2012 10:48:57 +0000

Want to the 3G-enabled Asus Transformer Prime? Well, you can forget about it – Asus said it won’t release a 3G version of the existing Transformer Prime tablet. According to FocusTaiwan, “no such product exists on its [Asus'] current roadmap.”

Now you could hope that the upcoming version of the tablet turned notebook, Transformer Prime TF700T, will get 3G radio alongside that more powerful 1920×1200 pixels display, but that’s just a speculation at this point.

Personally I don’t mind Wi-Fi only tablets — as a matter of fact I prefer them — but I know some folks who *must* be connected at all times. Don’t get me wrong (I’m one of those geeks), but I rely on my portable hotspot device to have a working hotspot around me at all times…

So what do you say? Do you need a 3G-enabled tablet or not?

[Via: Unwired View]

ASUS Transformer Prime TF700, the one with the high resolution screen, isn’t shipping until the summer

Stefan Constantinescu — Wed, 18 Jan 2012 09:33:29 +0000

Late last year ASUS announced the Transformer Prime, the first Android tablet to use NVIDIA’s new quad core Tegra 3 chip. They said it would ship before Christmas, and it did … but in numbers so small that you can’t really say that it sold in any significant volume. What’s holding things up? Some folks are blaming NVIDIA, but we honestly think that ASUS just wants to wait until they can ship their customers the Transformer Prime with Android Ice Cream Sandwich onboard instead of Honeycomb. The few people who were lucky enough to get the Prime before everyone else soon discovered that their WiFi performance was flaky and that they couldn’t get a GPS signal no matter how hard they tried. To make matters worse ASUS announced a new Transformer Prime, the TF700, less than two weeks after said customers received their now outdated 2011 Transformer Prime.

Technology moves fast, we get that, but obsoleting a product less than a month after you start shipping it? Seriously? This new Prime looks a lot like the old Prime, except that is has a higher resolution 1920 x 1200 pixel screen and a redesigned back panel that fixes the WiFi and GPS issues people were having with the original model. We know it’s going to cost around $600 because that sharp screen comes at a premium, but what about the most important piece of information: When is this damn thing actually going to ship? According to the official ASUS UK blog:

“In relation to the recently-announced TF700 model, this product is unlikely to be available in the UK before June at the earliest and no pricing details have been announced.”

Now the UK isn’t the rest of the world, obviously, but it’s usually a country that gets first dibs on pretty much any new piece of consumer electronics gear that comes out, so that should tell you something. By June the iPad 3 will most certainly be out, so will people even care about the Transformer Prime anymore?

Not all Asus Transformer Prime pre-orders are fulfilled due to high demand

Dusan Belic — Mon, 16 Jan 2012 11:36:29 +0000

If you want the sexy Asus Transformer Prime, you’re not alone. As a matter of fact, not all folks who pre-ordered the Android-powered tablet turned netbook will get their units on time in the UK.

According to a local branch of the Taiwanese company, high demand for the Transformer Prime has caused shortages. Here’s their official statement:

ASUS have been working all day with our retailers to try and fulfill back orders. Unfortunately due to high demand this has not been possible. However we are shipping more stock over the coming weeks. Please contact your retailer for dates. We apologize for any inconvenience caused.

Not exactly a good start for the Transformer Prime sales in the UK but I’m sure all users will forgive the computer maker the second they receive their unit and start playing with it. After all, it is the best 10.1-inch Android tablet out there…

[Via: EuroDroid]

Original Asus Eee Pad Transformer getting Ice Cream Sandwich by early February

Dusan Belic — Sat, 14 Jan 2012 14:06:09 +0000

If you’re one of the owners of the original Eee Pad Transformer, you may be looking at those Transformer Prime users with a dose of envy. Not only they have a sexier tablet/netbook, but they also were the first to get the Ice Cream Sandwich update.

But… you’ll get your Android 4.0 fix too, with the Taiwanese company committing to release the new software by early February. In other words, Asus expects words of praise for its efforts at the Mobile World Congress in Barcelona.

There’s one caveat though. It seems that not all users will be included in the initial release, with those living in Singapore, Taiwan and the U.S. being amongst the first ones to get the new software. However, we’re pretty confident that once everything’s ready, the rest of the world won’t have to wait for too long to get the same treatment. So even if you end up in the “wrong group” at start, you’ll most likely get what you deserve by the end of February… or beginning of March. I’m just speculating at this point. We’ll make sure to follow this story closely and let you know as soon as we hear something new…

[Via: Unwired View]

Asus Transformer Prime Ice Cream Sandwich update is here!

Dusan Belic — Wed, 11 Jan 2012 19:19:44 +0000

As far as we know Asus is the first major company to release an Ice Cream Sandwich update for one of its products. That product is the Asus Transformer Price, which when used with a keyboard dock practically morphs into a netbook.

Unfortunately we don’t have the change log, but we did hear that once updated – Asus’ baby keeps the quick settings menu in the lower right as well as the CPU governor settings. Moreover, the Tegra 3 is said to handle Android 4.0 (4.0.3 to be more precise) much better than the Galaxy Nexus, the fact that shouldn’t surprise anyone considering it has a more powerful CPU.

On the downside though, the JavaScript performance has apparently taken a step back compared to Honeycomb, with SunSpider showing < 2253ms scores — compared to 1700ms on Honeycomb.

All said, we still advise all Transformer Prime users to update and get the latest version of Android along with all goodies it brings…

[Via: anandtech.com]

ASUS redesigns the Transformer Prime, calls it the TF700T; main feature is a 1920 x 1200 pixel screen

Stefan Constantinescu — Mon, 09 Jan 2012 15:05:58 +0000

Several minutes ago the folks at The Verge posted an article about a refreshed version of the ASUS Transformer Prime, but then they suddenly decided to pull the post for reasons we don’t yet understand. Thanks to the internet though, it’s resurfaced in full and the gist of it is this: ASUS is going to release a new Transformer Prime in Q2 2011 that’s still called the Transformer Prime, but it bears the suffix TF700T. What makes this new version special is that the 1280 x 800 pixel resolution display in today’s Transformer Prime will be replaced by a 1920 x 1200 panel. Also of note is that the back of this new device will sport a completely new design to fix those pesky GPS and WiFi issues that owners of today’s Transformer Prime are experiencing. The price tag will go up a bit, it’s expected to land between $599 and $699, but other than that we don’t really know anything. We don’t even have pictures!

If you’re one of the unlucky people who went ahead and ponied up $500 for an ASUS Transformer Prime, how do you feel? You’ll have the latest and greatest Android tablet for 3 to 6 months, which runs Android 3.2 Honeycomb until ASUS releases a software update in who knows how many weeks, and then the “real” Transformer Prime will land with better specs, better WiFi and GPS performance, and Android 4.0.1 Ice Cream Sandwich. Stings, doesn’t it?

Our advice is to just stay away from today’s Transformer Prime, return your unit if you already bought one, and just wait. When you really think about, a tablet is a luxury item anyway, so not having one for half a year isn’t going to kill you. And hey, you never know, maybe you’ll fall in love with what Apple brings to the table with the iPad 3? Rumor has it that it’ll push 2048 x 1536 pixels, which is mind bending when you think about it.

Update: It’s official on both The Verge and SlashGear, the latter saying that $599 is the new price tag for the 32 GB model and $699 is for the 64 GB version.