Zhesty.NET - Gadgets and Technology

Just as we were settling down to another calm and banterful Engadget Mobile Podcast, our special guest had to go and throw us some hard news. Yup, and rather than making you sit through the entire two-hour recording (pleasant as that would be), we're just going to come right out with it: Nicole Scott from netbooknews.com has it on good authority that the Asus Padfone will be coming out at MWC 2012 in February. What's more, it won't be powered by a Qualcomm Krait S4 as suggested by that strange GLBenchmark we saw earlier -- it will in fact sport a Tegra 3, just like its highly capable big bro the Transformer Prime. See? That's the kind of juicy reward our podcast listeners get for tuning in each week.

Were you one of the eager beavers who pre-ordered ASUS' new superslate, the Transformer Prime, from Amazon? It turns out, demand for the tablet was so great that it's outstripped the retailer's supply, so Bezos' business is apparently canceling orders placed on or after November 22nd and issuing refunds. Sad news for those who had their hearts set on getting the Prime this holiday season, but maybe it's a blessing in disguise -- the delay gives you the opportunity to size up the competition before taking the quad-core plunge.

Is there any tablet that's hotter than the Transformer Prime right now? (Please, don't say the Kindle Fire.) For weeks we geeks, early adopters and people who love their tech toys have been awaiting this, and none too patiently. Make no mistake: this will be one of the slickest products we test this year and it isn't just because the original Transformer had such an inventive design. The Prime is the first device packing NVIDIA's hot-off-the-presses Tegra 3 SoC, making it the world's first quad-core tablet. This comes with promises of longer-than-ever runtime and blazing performance (five times faster than Tegra 2, to be exact), all wrapped in a package measuring just 8.3mm (0.33 inches) thick -- even skinnier than the iPad 2 or Galaxy Tab 10.1. Throw in specs like a Super IPS+ Gorilla Glass display, eight megapixel rear camera and a confirmed ICS update in the pipe and even we seen-it-all Engadget editors were drooling.

All of which means we dropped just everything when a 32GB Prime showed up on our doorstep earlier this week, and soon enough, you'll have your chance to nab one too. ASUS announced today that the WiFi-only models will be available through online sellers the week of December 19th, and in retail the week after. (No word yet on 3G versions for the US just yet.) It'll start at $499 for the 32GB model -- not bad considering five hundred bucks is the going rate for a high-end tablet with 16GB of storage. From there you can get a 64GB number for $599, while that signature keyboard dock will set you back a further $149. Worth it? Read on to find out.

We were expecting ASUS' Eee Pad Transformer Prime to hit the market sometime next month, but a new pre-order page on Newegg may have just revealed a slightly more specific date. Of course, the Tegra 3-packing tablet has already gone up for pre-order on a host of retail sites, but Newegg's listing is the first to peg December 8th for its release. Its $500 price tag also dovetails nicely with what we've previously heard, though ASUS has yet to weigh in with its official word.

It's only been a few weeks since ASUS went official with it's Tegra 3-packing Eee Pad Transformer Prime tablet. We knew the keyboard-dockable hybrid would available sometime this December, but now the Android 3.2 Honeycomb-running slate (later upgradeable to Ice Cream Sandwich) has just popped up for pre-order at various North American retailers. If you'll recall, inside of its Zenbook-esque shell you'll find a 1.3GHz quad-core processor, 1GB of DDR2 RAM, an 8 megapixel rear camera and a 1.2 megapixel front facer -- not to mention other goodies like a micro HDMI port and a SD card reader. Folks in the US can place their funds down for the 1.3-pound 10.1-incher with Amazon, B&H Photo, Tiger Direct and Best Buy, while those up in Canada can currently look to Future Shop for the privilege. Arriving in your choice amethyst gray or champagne gold with 32 or 64GB of storage, you'll find it priced at $500 and $600, respectively. So, if you want to ensure you're the first kid on the block with a quad-core slate, find your credit card, get Eee-xcited and hit the source link below.