REVIEW >> ASUS has announced Padfone - a hybrid of smartphone and tablet

ASUS have announced one of the most interesting and perhaps most controversial of their devices on Taipei exhibition. The new hybrid of Tablet PC and Smartphone, received its name Padfone.

The company does not disclose a complete list of product specifications, but the principle of this gadget is pretty clear. Padfone - a composite device consisting of a full-fledged smartphone, and a kind of docking station made in form Tablet PC. The smartphone is equipped with touch 4.3 inch touchscreen, is the core of the system, while a docking station tablet only enhances its functionality.

If the user needs a large screen diagonal of 10.1 inches, it sets the smartphone into a special compartment in the rear part of the docking station, after which Padfone works like any other tablet. The smartphone is running Google Android Ice Cream Sandwich. The screen displays the interface of a docking station on the phone (of course, scaled), it is also fueling smartphone with energy from its own battery and also carries a web-camera, stereo speakers and a few expansion ports. The smartphone is equipped with a Micro HDMI ports and Micro USB as well as the main 5 MP camera, which you can also use in tablet mode.

We have already seen smartphones where docking station plays important role (for example Motorola Atrix) but ASUS decision is more original. However, there are still concerns about the interest in new gadget. Developers are optimistic: they promise that Padfone will be transformed from a concept into a fully ready-to-manufacture product for the season of winter holidays when U.S. market is very active and will cost about the same as Eee Pad Transformer.