Asus lets Eee Pad slide

After the successful launch of its Eee Pad Transformer, a tablet that comes with a keyboard dock, Asus came out with another tablet called the Eee Pad Slider, featuring a sturdily hinged slide-out keyboard.

Positioned as a productivity and entertainment device, the Eee Pad Slider has a built-in full size USB port, Micro SD card reader, and mini-HDMI port, in addition to a micro SD card slot that can accommodate up to 32 GB of storage.

Featuring hardware that may be found in a PC notebook, the new Acer tablet allows users to type documents comfortably and connect peripherals, such as external hard drive or an external monitor like an LCD TV.

According to Eason de Guzman, technical PR at Asus Philippines, 33 percent of consumers surveyed still want the tablet to feature a keyboard. He said this was the reason why the Eee Pad Transformer became a hit when it was introduced in March.

Digitimes reported in July that Asus sold about 400,000 units a month, while some stores even experienced shortage in supply.

Similar to the Eee Pad Transformer, the Eee Pad Slider banks on the Android Honeycomb 3.2 and the power of NVIDIA Tegra 2 dual core mobile CPU, enabling users of the tablet to multitask with the multimedia content running on high definition.

The tablet’s screen is made of scratch-resistant Corning Gorilla Glass. It has an IPS display, providing users with 178-degree views. The touchscreen also supports multitouch for a natural and intuitive experience.

Because tablets have evolved into video communication devices, enabled by software such as Skype, Tango, and Fring, the Eee Pad Slider has been equipped with two cameras—a 1.2 MP front camera and a 5 MP rear camera.

A pre-installed Polaris Office 3.0 gives users a professional Mobile Office Solution, allowing them to view and edit documents spreadsheets and presentation files.

To differentiate the Eee Pad Slide from other Android tablets, ASUS has included several unique applications such as MyNet (for streaming digital media to other devices), MyCloud (access and remotely control a PC or Mac system from the tablet), and MyLibrary (a single page for downloaded books and magazines).

The 10.1-inch Eee Pad Slider measures 17.3 mm thick in its tablet state (closed up, with a normal slate profile). It weighs almost a kilo (960 grams), while the battery may last up to 8.5 hours.

Suggested retail price is P26,999.