Asus could already be working on a follow-up to the Eee Pad Transformer Prime. Taiwan site NCCC has spotted an unreleased tablet labeled as the TF300T, coming with a certification from QuieTek that provides wireless testing. It doesn’t come with an official name yet, but judging by the model number, it could be a follow-up to the company’s latest flagship tablet, the Transformer Prime TF101.
We knew Asus were planning to put out a tablet (or two) this year, but four tablets? Yep. Apparently, the plan is to flood the market this year with different tablet models to cater to whatever you’re looking for. They just rolled out four slates at CES, ranging from a compact, Android 3.0-based 7-incher to the relatively huge 12.1-inch Eee Slate EP121 that runs on Windows 7.
Asus CEO Jerry Shen confirmed in an interview that they’re readying an Android-based version of the Eee Pad for a March 2011 release. It’s a long ways from getting to market, but the price is just about right at “less than $399.” That’s a cool $100 less than the iPad—never mind that we could be hearing about a new iPad by that time, but unless Apple comes out with a sub-$400 slate, it’s all good for Asus.
After unveiling the Eee Pads at Computex, Asus brought out another touch-based slate device called the Eee Tablet. It’s a different kind of animal compared to the Eee Pads though: this is more of a complimentary mobile accessory that’ll let you read text, scribble notes, and draw rather precise sketches on its 8-inch (1024 x 768) grayscale display. To sum it up, the Eee Pads are basically slim Tablet PCs, while the Eee Tablet is more like a digital sketch pad.
Asus has finally taken off the wraps on what looks like the iPad’s most serious competitor (to date) during Computex in Taiwan. Technically, the Eee Pad is more similar to a light, modern, touch-only tablet PC with the Intel-and-Windows platform than Apple’s more basic consumer-friendly device, but the design definitely makes it ripe to go head-to-head with the iPad. It shouldn’t be a secret that this thing is gunning for the iPad’s market.
