After launching the PadFone, Asus is now gearing to launch FonePad. As per Digitimes, FonePad will be a 7-inch tablet that the company is expected to showcase at the forthcoming Mobile World Congress (MWC) 2013.
The website
claims that this tablet will come with Intel Atom Z2420 processor, which is tipped to clock at 1.2GHz clock speed. It is likely to run on Android 4.1 (Jelly Bean). It is expected that device will support a display resolution of 1280X800 IPS touch screen.
PhoneArena via
tablet.bg has reported that this tablet will have an aluminium body and come with 4,270mAh battery, which is claimed to last through 9.5 hours of continuous use.
Digitimes also claims that this tablet will have 1GB of RAM, 16GB of internal storage, 3-megapixel rear camera, and support for 3G, Wi-Fi, Bluetooth and GPS. Furthermore, the tablet is expected to be priced around NT$8,000-9,000 ($271-305). This tablet is rumoured to start shipping from the second quarter of 2013.
It is noteworthy, that Asus is also the manufacturer of the Google Nexus 7 tablet. The 16GB version of this tablet is currently available for $199 (In India this tablet costs Rs. 19,999). The Nexus 7 is powered by Nvidia Tegra 3 processor, which clocks at 1.3 GHz. This tablet also has 7-inch IPS display with a resolution of 1280x800 pixels. It has 1GB of RAM and 4,325 mAh battery. At the time of launch, Nexus 7 came with Android 4.1 but it has now got an update to Android 4.2 (Jelly Bean).
Currently there are plenty of 7-inch tablets that are available in the market. However, for Asus FonePad the biggest challenge would indeed come from Nexus 7 tablet. If the rumoured specifications and pricing is indeed correct, then it is unlikely that Asus's Intel powered tablet will be able to take on the Nexus 7.
Image courtesy Phone Arena