Why I think ASUS Padfone misses the point

By Nic Price on 1 June 2011 — 1 min read

I’ve just watched the shiny video promo for the new ASUS Padfone.

It’s a tablet (think iPad, Galaxy) with a marsupial-style pouch for a mobile handset.

No longer will you suffer eye-strain trying to read those tiny words on the handset screen. Just pop it in to the tablet, and read them in large print on the tablet.

ASUS promises seamless data transfer between the devices.

We are reassured that they’ve been using Design Thinking to make the product (or is that products? I’m not sure)

Now… am I missing something here?

As the owner of a mobile (smartphone) handset as well as a tablet, the last thing I want is to have to surrender my handset so I can use my tablet.

I’ve already chosen to carry a phone and a tablet around with me.

I like having both, and choose to have both because they serve me in different ways.

Surely data transfer can be just as seamless by pairing my devices using Bluetooth (or its successors). Sure, every now and then, it would be useful to be able to tap a webpage on my phone screen and it offer me the chance to view it on my tablet.

But keep them separate physically, and I’ll choose how and when I use each one.

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  • I just got the HTC flyer, I surrendered my handset by shifting the sim card from mobile to tablet. But that may also be because the handset is with HTC for repair. Anyway, the big advantage of it is that noone can phone me now :-). I got the flyer because of the stylus, but it isn’t a full replacement for my HP touchsmart (which is great with a stylus, but heavy and has a short battery life).

    Do tablets just mean we have to carry more stuff now? That would be bad.

  • Although, watching the video, I’m surprised they managed to release it at all given they designed it with a felt tip.

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