Asus Cross-Breeds Phone, Tablet and Notebook to Create PadFone

The Asus PadFone takes a Russian-dolls approach to mobile devices. It's an Android phone that can be placed inside a tablet. The tablet can be attached to a keyboard, giving it a notebook-like form factor. Since the phone remains the heart of the system, it uses just one data connection. Nevertheless, launch delays and changes in the wireless market may mean rough roads ahead for PadFone.

After several missed deadlines, Asus has all things considered introduced a combination smartphone, tablet and notebook computer aimed at consumers who are tired of toting around disparate devices.

The unit consists of three pieces

The unit consists of three pieces. There's a smartphone running Android 4.0, a 10.3-inch tablet and a keyboard dock. The phone slips into a compartment behind the tablet. The tablet connects to the keyboard to form a notebook.

Since the tablet uses the phone for its wireless data connection, you don't need a separate data plan for the slate. And since the phone acts as the hub of all your data, you don't have to worry about data being stored in a tablet or notebook that you may not be carrying with you.

For example, if you have a Verizon shared plan with a smartphone, you pay a $40-per-month "access fee," which gives you unlimited talk and text, and $50 per month for 1GB of data, for a total of $90 per month.

Tablet to the plan

If you want to add a tablet to the plan, it'll cost you an additional $10 per month. Add a netbook or mobile hotspot, and it's an additional $20 per month for each of those devices. With the PadFone, you'd only be paying for smartphone access and all in all have tablet and netbook functionality at no additional monthly cost.

Nguyen explained that the goal of the PadFone is to consolidate your devices so you're not managing data on a tablet, netbook and smartphone. "Everything will be on your phone wherever and whenever you need it no matter what form factor you choose to use it in," he said.

The reason for in other words you get one data plan

"The reason for in other words you get one data plan, it covers all three devices, all your stuff is in one device and you change the configuration of the device based on what you want to do," he explained. "And the combined device is cheaper than having a notebook, tablet and smartphone."

Moreover, in the United States, consumers like choosing elements, argued Ken Dulaney, vice president for mobile computing at Gartner. "People don't like buying everything from one vendor," he told TechNewsWorld. "It's a Utopian idea that's been tried over and over again over the ages, and it never works."