Asus Padfone spotted with MSM8960 Snapdragon S4 chip

The Asus Padfone is truly a unique concept - a phone that docks into a tablet chassis so that the tablet can leverage its processing brains. Now, a bright idea like this needs bright execution as we’ve seen that similarly good ideas like the Motorola Lapdock first introduced with the Motorola Atrix not live up to expectations. A crucial part to that is of course the hardware and this latest scoop coming from Notebook Italia reveals that Asus nails it when it comes to silicon with the Padfone. A GLBenchmark score shows that the upcoming handset relies on the new Snapdragon S4, which is expected to be the first chip to make the generational leap to a 28nm die.

This instantly translates into better productivity and lower power consumption. The Qualcomm MSM8960 chip listed in the benchmark includes the customized Krait processing core improving the generic ARM arthitecture, but it’s also notable for the inclusion of an LTE modem on the same die.

If the screenshot below is indeed true, the Asus Padfone definitely has some potential. Could it be the first phone to ship with the new Snapdragon S4? We’re only theorizing here, but Asus is expected to be the first one to bring quad-core processors with the Asus Transformer Prime running the Nvidia Tegra 3, so we wouldn’t be all that surprised if the Padfone premieres the S4. Now, question remains, though, whether the Asus Padfone idea makes sense for you. Don’t hesitate to let us know in the comments below.

source: Notebook Italia via SlashGear