Asus Padfone

Ha! Now that I've invested in a two-year contract with O2 for my HTC One X, I see that more details are forthcoming about the Asus Padfone.
For those not in the know, the Asus Padfone was announced in about March 2011, and is a large-screen mobile phone that slots into a tablet. Because of the way the Android development has progressed, they needed to wait for Ice Cream Sandwich (the current version of the Androind operating system) to be ready. Then they had to make their tweaks and changes. And then there was the disk drive shortage due to flooding in Thailand.

Plus, I've been on XDA Developers' Forum, and the devs there are finding it hard going to create workable ICS custom ROMs. So I think Asus probably had a few problems creating a usable software package - but that is just my inference and is not based on any known fact apart from time to market.

Well, I think the Asus Padfone is a damned sexy very exciting bit of kit. Imagine it; you have a phone for mobile use, which then slots into the back of a tablet, so you can play Angry Birds HD or catch up on that latest book you bought on Kindle while you're couch-surfing. Then you need to email a couple of people, so you slot the tablet into its keyboard dock and you can use it as a netbook. That's all the tech you need, right there, in a 10.1 inch foldaway package.

The one area where this package falls down is that the tablet is not a stand-alone device. The tablet is powered by the phone's operating system - so once you take out the phone, the tablet is useless, except as a display screen for another bit of kit, maybe?

But of course, cutting-edge tech like that doesn't come cheap. For the phone and the tablet which is available for pre-order in Taiwan, will cost about $850, and with the keyboard dock, that's $980. I converted that to GBP and added VAT at 20% and arrived at a figure of £740, so I can see this costing £750.

Thinking about it, I'm not sure it's worth it. If a smartphone costs between £400 - £500, that would mean paying £250 for a display and a keyboard. Hmm, I still want one though!

Fun with Samsung Galaxy Tab

So I installed Titanium Backup on my Tab. Apparently it's called Tibu or TiBu for short. I went into my Apps Drawer afterwards and noted that the stock apps were now displaying in Cyrillic - which was a pain.

I googled this to see if it was a common issue, but answer came there none. So, I went with the tried and tested method - I switched it off and switched it back on. This is also known as recycling. It sounds really basic, I know, and I was one of those who used to disparage the "so-called Helpdesk" for going through their script - Have you tried switching it off and on again? But I now realise that processes can be abended (abnormally ended or broken) or go missing, if systems aren't recycled every once in a while.

So I switched it back on and hotfooted it to my Apps Drawer, and guess what? My stock apps were in English. QED.

TTFN.

Samsung Galaxy Tab IV

Well, a tricky couple of days with the Tab. The system was slow and I thought I'd discovered what 'bricking' a phone was like. But I managed to trace the problem to the SD card - I hope I can reformat it, because I don't want to waste sixteen pounds on a new one! Also, it means I can't load the Tab up with all the music and movies I want to load... But a friend at work has an SD card reader, so I'm hoping to use that and reformat the card so it is usable again. Will let you know.
TTFN.

Samsung Galaxy Tab III

Couldn't play media today. Had to reset the device. Not to worry. More people at work noticing and coming for a gender. Which is quite pleasing
TTFN.

Samsung Galaxy Tab

First paid-for app downloaded? Pocket Informant of course!

Posted via email from Rob Thorley's Posterous Site