AT&T today announced that it will start taking pre-orders for the Asus PadFone X smartphone-tablet combo beginning on June 6.
The device, plus the PadFone Station, will set you back $199 with a two-year contract, or $22.92 per month with AT&T Next 18, and $29.80 per month with AT&T Next 12. AT&T did not say exactly when it would be delivered or appear in stores.
The smartphone portion of the Padfone X sports a 5-inch full HD screen. When docked with the Padfone Station, however, screen real estate expands to 9 inches, and users experience the more typical tablet experience.
The Padfone X runs Android 4.4 KitKat, and when docked, apps running on the smartphone are seamlessly resized to fit the PadFone Station's larger display.
The device is powered by a 2.3GHz quad-core Qualcomm Snapdragon 800, and includes 16GB of on-board storage, expandable up to 64GB via Micro SD.
Each runs on a separate battery2,300mAh in the phone, and 4,990mAh inside of the docking station. The Station will charge the smartphone portion of the device when plugged in.
Available accessories include the Folio Bundle protective covers (in blue and white) that covers the PadFone X even when docked. The PadFone X Mobile Dock, meanwhile, is a Bluetooth keyboard and touchpad that transforms PadFone X into a notebook.
Now through July 24, AT&T is offering the two-pack tablet cover and Wireless Charging Folio and the Duracell Wireless Charging Mat for $80, a $50 discount.
The PadFone first appeared as a concept device at the 2011 Computex trade show in Taiwan. The second-generation PadFone was later announced in 2012, and PCMag got some hands-on time with it at Mobile World Congress 2013. We then saw the PadFone X at CES 2014 (video below).
Until now, however, it had yet to make an appearance in the U.S.
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