ASUS

ASUS first announced the PadFone back in May of last year, where it was made official. After several months, we now hear that the company will likely be launching the device in April of this year.

The PadFone is unique, as it is a mixture of a tablet and a phone that are combined together to work as a single device.

The launch information comes from the ASUS Google+ account, which simply says that the device is launching in April of this year.

What we do not know at the moment is how much it will cost, and the exact date of launch, although we expect to hear more towards the end of March.

The ASUS PadFone may have taken some time to come around, after being announced over a year ago, for the first time. The trio surely managed to still get a good impression, though, as it is one of the most unique devices previewed at the Mobile World Congress.Read more

A lot of new notebooks are coming out of CES 2012, and ASUS seems to be leading the pack with their new Ultrabook line. But it's also got a high-end ultraportable ready to go for business users as well. This device is known as the B23E and will be available with Intel Core i3, Core i5, or Core i7 processors under the hood, complete with a 12.5-inch 1366 x 768 pixel LED backlit anti-glare display. Its ultra-simple profile and black hood look the part for your everyday computing action in the office or in the home.

The ASUS B23E business Ultrabook also features 8GB of RAM and a maximum 750GB hard drive in a magnesium-aluminum alloy case. Other expected Pro-series niceties are also in tow, including a spill-proof keyboard and an anti-shock mounted hard disk. Additionally, it will connect along 802.11n WiFi, Bluetooth, and gigabit Ethernet. Of course there's also a single USB 3.0 port, one USB 2.0 port, and a USB/eSATA combo port. Inside you'll find such business oriented gems as LoJack, BIOS password protection, and a fingerprint reader. The whole package comes with a magnesium alloy case and the contents are protected with an anti-shock hard drive. It also has a three-cell 4,400mAh battery, which should provide plenty of juice.Read more

ASUS's Eee Pad Transformer tablet successor is launching December 12th. The Transformer Prime became available for pre-order last week, and industry reviews of the new gadget have been pretty stellar. This could be one of the most eagerly anticipated Android tablet launches to date.

The convertible Android tablet features a 1.3GHz quad-core Tegra 3 processor, Android 3.2 Honeycomb with an upgrade to Android 4.0 Ice Cream Sandwich due in the near future, a 10.1-inch display, 1GB of RAM, an 8-megapixel rear camera, a 1.2-megapixel front-facing camera, a microHDMI-out port and SD card support. A 32GB model is available for $499.99 and 64GB of storage will cost $599.99, and while December 12th marks the start of the tablet's availability online, it won't reach retailers' shelves until the 19th.Read more

The new ASUS Transformer Prime Android tablet, the second generation of the ASUS Transformer Prime family, looks to be the makings of an iPad killer. Sure, you've heard this claim before, but this might be as serious of a competitor as we've seen. The Transformer will have a 10-inch touchscreen display, mini-HDMI port and a 14.5 hour battery span. The tablet will also have an SD Card slot, 2 USB ports and a keyboard Dock.

New and Improved

The new ASUS Transformer Prime Android tablet will run Android 4.0 Ice Cream Sandwich. Whether that's available at launch or an after-launch update remains to be seen. It's also going to be the first tablet to sport the next generation NVIDIA Tegra 3 quad-core processor. For you laymen out there, the Tegra 3 blows away any other tablet processor around, especially the iPad 2's A5 processor.Read more

Best Buy announced some after-Christmas deals on computers for those of you who didn't get one under the tree this year. The end-of-season computer offers launch today (December 25) on BestBuy.com and continue in-store on December 26.

The two-day offers include:

• Lenovo 10.1" netbook featuring an Intel Atom N270 processor, 1GB memory and a 160GB hard drive – all for $197 (regularly priced at $299.99).
• Dell Studio 17" notebook for $699.99 (regularly priced at $779.99) featuring an Intel Core 2 Duo T6600 processor, 4GB memory and a 500GB hard drive.
• Asus G60 16" gaming notebook for $899.99 (regularly priced at $999.99) featuring an Intel Core 2-Duo P7450 processor, 4GB memory, 320GB hard drive and an Nvidia GeForce GTX 260M graphics card with 1GB of dedicated graphics memory.
• A $279.98 Acer nettop computer and 20" monitor with 1GB memory, 160GB hard drive and a Nvidia Ion LE processor (regularly priced at $339.98).

Also, from Dec. 27 through Jan. 2 Best Buy will offer HP TouchSmart all-in-one computers for $799 (regularly priced at $899) and $899 (regularly priced at $999). The $799 model includes 4GB of memory and a 500GB hard drive, or for $100 more, upgrade to a 640GB hard drive and a built-in TV tuner.

The ASUS TV monitor T1 series combines the best in desktop monitor and LCD TV technology to deliver HD TV broadcasting and Full HD Blu-ray Disc playback for the ultimate entertainment and work experience. Equipped with inbuilt TV tuners, these large screen monitors—available in 22-, 24- and 27-inch sizes—allow users to watch digital (DVB-T) and analog (PAL/SECAM) channels and enjoy all common TV functions in Europe.

The T1 Series also boasts surround sound with a pair of 7-Watt speakers, a rich complement of I/O ports catering to various connectivity needs and ASUS' exclusive Splendid Video Intelligence Technology for spectacular color reproduction.

Other Specs:

• Full HD 1080p (1920x1080)
• Inputs: HDMIx2, SCARTx2, D-Sub, Composite, Component, S-Video, audio-in jack, S/PDIF out, audio out, earphone out and CI slot
• Contrast ratio: 20,000:1

No word yet on a ship date or MSRP. Check out the full spec sheet and press release here.

The Eee PC 1008HA Seashell has only been out for a few weeks, and ASUS is already releasing specs for the new Eee PC 1005HA Seashell. The 10.1-inch netbook will feature Windows XP Home and a choice of either an Atom N270 or N280 processor. Another interesting feature is that the battery life is said to last for 10.5 hours (I'm not too sure how accurate ASUS is being with this statement). The Eee PC 1005HA will be equipped with a 160GB HDD and you will receive 10GB of complimentary online storage.

ASUS has not commented on the price or availability, yet. With a similar netbook already out, I think we can expect this one to not launch for a few months.

For the entire spec sheet, click here.

ASUS' new 3.2 pound Eee PC 1004DN is the first netbook to feature a Super-Multi optical disc drive as well as the first netbook with a fingerprint sensor. The fingerprint sensor can recognize multiple fingerprints that belong to the same person, as well as let you encrypt a single folder with the same security system.

The Eee PC 1004DN features a 10-inch WSVGA display, a Super-Multi optical disc drive, 120 GB PATA storage, 1 GB of DDR2 SO-DIMM memory, 1.3 megapixel web cam, Express Card expansion slot, a 1.66 GHz Intel Atom N280/GN40 processor, integrated 802.11b/g/n WLAN, Bluetooth Connection, Genuine Microsoft Windows XP Home operating system and ASUS' Security Protect Manager (ASPM) feature.

Pricing and availability have not yet been announced.