The Asus Transformer Pad Infinity tablet will offer incredible 1920 x 1200 resolution in a portable form factor, bringing new meaning to the term “sharp.”
Rumors of high-resolution tablets have been swirling for months now, and a high-res iPad is almost certainly on the way, but Asus seized the honor of being first to make it official on Monday with the Transformer Pad Infinity. The upcoming Android 4.0 tablet will offer an impressive resolution of 1,920 x 1,200 – higher than many laptops and even most HDTVs.
By making the vertical resolution 1,200 pixels rather than the usual 1080, Asus will actually shift the aspect ratio from 16:9 to 16:10, a less “skinny” form factor that squeezes a bit more into the sides of the screens when held in portrait mode. It also emits a squint-worthy 600 nits at peak brightness. In typically hyperbolic marketing fashion, the panel will wear the title “HD Super IPS+.” Interestingly, the company’s pre-conference briefings omitted the physical size of the screen. While that might suggest it’s something other than the same 10.1 inches as the company’s other Transformer offerings, pictures suggest it remains the same.
Whatever the size, it takes plenty of hardware to drive that many pixels, and the Transformer will come packing. It runs Nvidia’s 1.6GHz quad-core Tegra 3 processor… but only in its Wi-Fi configuration. The 3G and 4G versions will both step down (a bit) to Qualcomm’s Snapdragon S4 platform. Both versions include 16GB, 32GB or 64GB of built-in storage, 1GB of RAM, and 8GB of Asus’ free lifetime WebStorage. The company also has high expectations for the 8-megapixel camera with 5-element lens.
True to the Transformer name, the Infinity will have any accompanying dock that adds both a keyboard and extra battery life. With the internal 25-Watt-hour battery plus the 22-Watt-hour battery in the dock, Asus claims the Infinity will deliver 16 hours of battery life, or 10 without.
Although it will clearly take a back seat to the Infinity, Asus also announced the Transformer Pad 300, which gets the same hot Tegra 3 chip and camera, but without the high-res display – just a 1,280 x 800 IPS model. What it lacks in pixels, it will make up for in, well, color: Asus plans to break away from the standard slate and black to offer the 300 in red, white and blue.Asus hasn’t yet announced pricing or availability for any of its MWC 2012 announcements, including the long-awaited PadFone.
