Asus Padfone mini to be unveiled at event next week?

Back in August, we showed you an Asus road map based on some leaked slides. One of the devices on the map was a mini version of the Asus Padfone which is now expected to be unveiled next week. This version of the smartphone/tablet hybrid will be smaller and less powerful than the full sized variant. The smartphone being used for the Padfone mini just recently received its GCF certification, which we're sure was framed and hung up in the hallway by those proud parents at Asus.

The Asus Padfone mini is expected to offer a 4.3 inch screen with resolution of 540 x 960. That is a bit of a drop off from the 4.7 inch screen with resolution of 720 x 1280 used on the Asus Padfone 2. Speculation calls for the Qualcomm Snapdragon 400 to be driving the phone. Asus, meanwhile, has sent out an invitation for an event to be held on Decmber 11th, and considering that the Asus Padfone mini is all over it, there seems to be no mystery about what the event will be about.

While the specs haven't been made official yet, there are still a couple of things that we want to address. The Asus Padfone mini is expected to forgo 4G and stick with 3G connectivity only. And at 7 inches, the tablet that comes with the Asus Padfone mini is the smallest of any Padfone slate. The tablet used with the Padfone 2, for example, was 10.1 inches.

No version of the Asus Padfone has ever made it to a U.S. carrier. If the decently spec'd full-sized models couldn't crack the U.S.carrier market, don't expect a watered down mini version of the Padfone to do so either.


source: GCF via Engadget