Ice Cream Sandwich Release Date: ASUS Padfone Delayed, Will Run ICS
Taiwanese manufacturer, ASUS has delayed the December release of its smartphone-tablet hybrid, the ASUS Padfone, until February 2012.
Industry insiders suggest the ASUS required more time to implement the soon-to-be-released operating system Android 4.0 Ice Cream Sandwich onto the device.
The Padfone was introduced in May at the Computex media event, but little is known about it apart from its external features.
The Padfone is composed of a 4.3-inch smartphone and 10.1-inch tablet dock that are conventional separately, according to tech website, Geek.com. However, the tablet serves as a large screen projector for the phone.
"All the processing and data storage is handled by the phone - the tablet’s micro USB connector provides additional power to the phone and the mini HDMI passes display data to the tablet’s screen," wrote Geek.
Insiders predict the Padfone's internal specs will include a processor of at least 1.2 GHz, at least 1 GB of RAM and at least 8 GB of internal storage, as well as the Ice Cream Sandwich OS.
ASUS also plans to release two Eee Pad Transformer tablet models.
The ASUS Eee Pad Transformer Prime tablet-PC hybrid, scheduled to release on Nov. 9, will be powered by Android 3.0 Honeycomb initially but will also receive the Ice Cream Sandwich update in December, according to tech website, DigiTimes.
It will be the first tablet powered by a quad-core processor.
Another Eee Pad Transformer tablet, rumored to be a 7-inch device, should release in February with Ice Cream Sandwich preloaded.
