Right now Computex is going on, so we typically see a lot of new products from the likes of Acer and ASUS. And they haven’t disappointed so far. ASUS just announced a new Transformer Pad at Computex. Now it’s not a huge upgrade over the TF701T, but there are a few differences, like the front-facing speakers. It’s about time another tablet manufacturer brought them back. For a while Samsung was using front-facing speakers on their tablet, but after the Nexus 10, they started putting them on the side of the tablet. It also features a new, lighter, keyboard dock. The original weight was 546g, now it’s just 505g. Not a huge difference, but definitely noticeable.
As far specs go, the Transformer Pad is running Intel’s 64-bit Atom Z3745 which is a quad-core SoC clocked at 1.86GHz. It also features a 10.1-inch 1920×1200 resolution display, 2GB of RAM, 16GB of storage, along with 5MP and 1.2MP cameras on board. Now it appears that this is a successor to their cheaper, TF300 Transformer Pad. Given that the specs are a bit of a downgrade from the TF701T they announced last year. Not to mention the model number kinda gives it away, TF303CL. So I expect this to be a pretty cheap tablet from ASUS, probably around $350. It does also run Android 4.4 KitKat. ASUS has also made an LTE model for Europe and Asia, for those interested.
Additionally, ASUS announced an entry-level Transformer Tablet. This is the TF103C. The processor is the same Intel Atom Z3745, but we do have a 1280×800 resolution display here, 1GB of RAM 8GB or 16GB of internal storage with a microSD card slot, 2MP and 0.3MP cameras, and a 19Wh battery inside. There will be a 3G model available as well.
So far we’ve got no prices on either model, but they should be available in the next few weeks with the 3G and LTE models coming in July.
