ASUS has made some interesting tablets over the past few years. There was the Transformer, which everyone loved for it’s keyboard dock. Then the Padfone, which everyone loved because it was a phone and a tablet. Where the phone slid into the back of the tablet and was basically a modem for the tablet giving it mobile data connectivity. Earlier this year, ASUS announced the FonePad, which is a 7-inch tablet that has a cell radio inside to make calls on.
There’s now rumors that ASUS is working on a HD 7 version of the Fonepad and that it’s going to be running an Intel chip. There’s a new SIG that confirms that it is the K00E model and it’ll be running the Intel Atom Z2560 Clover Trail+ processor. The original Fonepad featured an older Intel Atom Z2420 Lexington Chipset. The SIG also confirmed 3G connectivity, dual-speakers, which are on the front, along with a 7-inch 1280×800 resolution display. There’s also a 5MP camera on the back with 1GB of RAM and options from 8GB to 32GB of internal storage. It’ll be running Android 4.2 – Jelly Bean out of the box as well.
Right now the Fonepad, which has been available since April, is selling for €230 in Europe. So I’d expect the same price, maybe a bit higher since it’ll be “HD”. We aren’t sure when ASUS will be announcing this one, but it could be rather soon since the holiday season is almost upon us, and I’m sure they want to get the Fonepad out so it can be on everyone’s Christmas list.
Could you imagine having a 7-inch tablet as your phone? I’d love to have my Nexus 7 as my phone, since it has an amazing screen, great battery life, and is crazily light. If the Fonepad were available in the US (it’s really very unlikely that it would be), would you buy it as a replacement for your phone or tablet? Let us know in the comments below.