Asus started teasing what we guessed was a new Transformer tablet at the end of last week, and sure enough, it has unveiled the Transformer Pad TF701T at a press event at the IFA tech show in Berlin. Like previous Transformer models, it’s an Android tablet with the option of adding a keyboard dock, effectively turning it into an Android laptop.
However, Asus is being cheeky here, as the tablet is almost identical to the Transformer Pad Infinity it revealed but never put on sale during the Computex trade show in June. This time though, it has shared the complete specification, but oddly, still no release date. If you don’t remember the Infinity at Computex, don’t worry, we’ve got all the details here.
There are two standout specs on the TF701T, the screen resolution and the processor. The 10.1-inch screen has a massive 2560 x 1600 pixel resolution, so despite it being a large display, it still manages an impressive pixel density of 300ppi. The screen and its Android 4.2 Jelly Bean operating system are powered by Nvidia’s T40X Tegra 4 processor. The quad-core chip is notable for having a 72-core GeForce graphics chip, and should perform superbly when watching HD films and playing games. In fact, connect the tablet to a 4K TV using an HDMI cable, and it’ll happily stream Ultra HD movies.
A 5-megapixel camera can be found on the rear of the 8.9mm thick, 585 gram tablet, plus there is a 1.2-megapixel video call camera with 720p video recording above the screen. There’s a choice of either 32GB or 64GB of internal storage memory, plus a microSD card slot, and a battery said to provide 13 hours of battery life. Plug the tablet into the dock and you’ll get another 4 hours of battery, plus a full size SD card slot, a regular keyboard, trackpad, and a USB 3.0 port.
For a tablet that has been seen twice now, it’s frustrating to not have a final release date, although Asus says it’ll be out before October. According to PhoneArena.com, the tablet alone will cost $400, and $500 if you want the keyboard dock as well. This hasn’t been confirmed by Asus yet, so treat it as rumor for now.
