ASUS - 14/19 - Android Police - Android News, Apps, Games, Phones, Tablets

Jan

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You Spoke, ASUS Listened - An Unlock Tool For The Transformer Prime's Bootloader Is In The Works (And ICS Is Coming On 1/12)

Posted by Cameron Summerson in Eee Pad Transformer Prime, News

Well, that didn't take long, did it? Just one short day after news hit the web that the Transformer Prime's bootloader is encrypted and locked, ASUS has issued a statement on its Facebook page regarding the matter, and it's definitely a step in the direction that the modding community was hoping for. Here's the meat and potatoes of it:

Regarding the bootloader, the reason we chose to lock it is due to content providers' requirement for DRM client devices to be as secure as possible. ASUS supports Google DRM in order to provide users with a high quality video rental experience.

Jan

ASUS Transformer Prime's Bootloader Is Locked And Encrypted, User Rage Ensues

Posted by Cameron Summerson in Eee Pad Transformer Prime, News

Forget about GPS issues, it looks like ASUS has a bigger problem on its hand with the Transformer Prime: a locked/encrypted bootloader. Like with other devices, as soon as the development community found out about this, there were some rather irritated people. The typical backlash against the company has now started on popular social networking sites, along with a petition that has managed to get over 200 signatures in just a few hours.

This is definitely not the type of publicity that ASUS wants surrounding the world's first quad-core tablet, and users are hoping that the Taiwanese manufacturer will eventually reverse its decision and open the device.

Dec

[Update: Working As Intended] ASUS Transformer Prime GPS Performs Very Poorly Without Wi-Fi, Massive XDA Thread Ensues

Posted by David Ruddock in ASUS, Eee Pad Transformer Prime, News, Tablets

Last Updated: January 3rd, 2012

Update 2: ASUS has issued an official statement on the matter and determined that the Prime's GPS is functioning as intended, which for many folks means essentially non-functional.

Please note that this product is not a professional GPS device ... To avoid inconveniencing users who demand a powerful GPS device, we made the decision to remove it from our specification sheet and marketing communications. We apologize for any inconvenience this has caused.

ASUS

That means if you're actually unable to live with your Prime without true GPS, there's not a lot to do but sell it - because ASUS isn't going to (and apparently can't) do anything about it.

Dec

[Update: Possible Problem] ASUS Transformer Prime In Stock, Shipping Monday From Best Buy (32GB, Amethyst Gray Version)

Posted by David Ruddock in ASUS, Eee Pad Transformer Prime, News

It appears this may have been a special offer limited to select customers who preordered a different color that was delayed, and that the web page was set up to never run out of stock. The shipping date may be completely wrong, as well. We're waiting on a response from Best Buy to confirm, but given that it's a holiday, we're not expecting it until Monday. We advise you not to order.

If you head over to the Best Buy website right now, for $499.99, you can get your very own ASUS Transformer Prime 32GB Amethyst Gray edition on its way to your doorstep from Best Buy's warehouse on Monday, December 27th.

Dec

[Updated: Here Are The Winners!] Mega-Holiday Lightning Giveaway #5: Win An ASUS Eee Pad Slider 16GB Or An Acer Iconia A100 8GB + A Jambox + $25 AMEX Gift Card

Posted by David Ruddock in Contests / Giveaways, Eee Pad Slider, Iconia A100

Last Updated: January 12th, 2012

In our first giveaway of the day (there will be another one a bit later, stay tuned), we're handing out the last of our holiday goodies provided by our pals at NVIDIA. Two lucky winners will be selected, one will get the unique ASUS Eee Pad Slider tablet, and another will receive the new Acer Iconia A100. Both winners will also get a Jambox portable speaker and a $25 AMEX gift card. This is a "lightning giveaway," so you'll have until midnight tomorrow (December 24th) to enter.

This contest is now over. Here are our winners, selected at random:

Lucas Borntreger
Jeff Cole

Congratulations, guys - all of you will be contacted for your information in the near future!

Dec

[Updated: Here Is The Winner!] Mega-Holiday Giveaway #7: Win An ASUS Transformer Prime 32GB And A Pair Of Klipsch S4A Headphones

Posted by David Ruddock in Contests / Giveaways, Eee Pad Transformer Prime

Last Updated: December 30th, 2011

Well, we started today off right by offering our US readers a Galaxy Nexus, but we figured it's only fair to bring our international readers into the mix for another awesome giveaway. Today, we're giving away one ASUS Transformer Prime 32GB Wi-Fi tablet to one lucky person, courtesy of Beansoft, the developers of the extremely popular third-party keyboard app Thumb Keyboard, along with a pair of Klipsch S4A headphones provided by Klipsch (read our review here).

This contest is now over. Here is our winner, selected at random:

Soukthachone Vilaysack

Congratulations, you will be contacted for your information in the near future!

Dec

[Update: It's Back!] Champagne Transformer Prime 64GB Available For Pre-Order From Amazon For $599, All Other Versions Still MIA

Posted by Cameron Summerson in Eee Pad Transformer Prime, News

Update 12/18/11: It's back again - all other variants are still showing the "sign up for availability alerts" message.

Looks like Amazon may be gearing up to start (re)taking pre-orders for the Transformer Prime, with the 64GB version in champagne being the first one to make its way back to the site. As you may already know, Amazon started taking pre-orders several weeks ago, but abruptly stopped (no reason has really been made clear as to why) and ultimately ended up cancelling many users' orders.

Much like the original Transformer, the amount of demand for the Prime has been overwhelming, and ASUS has been struggling to keep up with production.

Dec

[Weekend Poll] Now That The First Quad-Core Tablet Has Landed, Would You Still Buy A Dual-Core Tablet?

Posted by Aaron Gingrich in Polls, Tablets

This is the latest in our Weekend Poll series. For last week's, see What Is Your Ideal Tablet Screen Size?

In light of the slew of Asus Transformer Prime (the first tablet to pack NVIDIA's quad-core Tegra 3 CPU) reviews and the pending release of said device, we are curious to know: would you still buy a dual-core tablet? Perhaps you would, but only for a secondary/budget tablet? Or only if it were smaller? Sound off in the poll below, and head down to the comments to share your thoughts.

Dec

[Review] Asus Transformer Prime: Smarter, Better, Faster, Stronger

Posted by Aaron Gingrich in ASUS, Eee Pad Transformer Prime, Features, News, Reviews, Tablet Reviews, Tablets

Last Updated: December 8th, 2011

The Asus Transformer Prime: the first Android device to ship with a quad-core chip, courtesy of NVIDIA's brand new Tegra 3 (Kal-El) CPU. But there's more of a hook here than power alone - Asus has gone back to the drawing board for the Prime (model number TF201) and revamped the device from nearly head to toe compared to its predecessor, the TF101. It's substantially thinner, lighter, and more attractive than the rather portly 101, while packing a much more powerful CPU, better display, and reportedly better battery life. But can they really improve upon all those aspects without cutting any corners?

Nov

ASUS Transformer Prime Initial Impressions: Four Isn't A Prime Number, But It Sure Feels Special

Posted by Aaron Gingrich in ASUS, Eee Pad Transformer Prime, News, Reviews

Around midday yesterday, I received my review kit for the Transformer Prime, complete with dock, wireless gamepad, and HDMI cable - meaning I'm well equipped to take a deep dive into the hottest new tablet to hit stores. But to be completely honest, an in-depth review on a product this brand-spanking-new requires more hands-on time than can be had in two days. The full review will be up on Friday, but in the interim, enjoy the initial impressions and gadget porn below.

First up, let's run over the specs, largely from our official announcement post:

10.1-inch SuperIPS + display with Gorilla Glass
1.3GHz quad-core NVIDIA Tegra 3 Processor with 12-core GPU
1GB RAM
32GB or 64GB internal storage with microSD card slot
microHDMI port
8MP F2.4 rear shooter with continuous flash for video recording, 1.2MP front camera (1080p camcorder!)
8.33mm thin
586g (1.29 lbs.)
12 hour battery life playing 720p video, 18 hours with keyboard dock
Metallic spun finish
Two available colors: Amethyst Gray and Champagne Gold (show below, respectively)
Android 3.2.1 - will be updated to Android 4.0 (Ice Cream Sandwich) as soon as possible after release
$499 for 32GB model, $599 for 64GB, and $149 for the dock
North American availability is expected to begin the week of 12/19 - this is straight from Asus's mouth in the Prime details that were sent to us (and again confirmed a few hours ago), contrary to the other "official" date of December 8 that we heard earlier today.