We just cornered Asus technical marketing manager Gary Key after the company’s tablet focused CES press conference, and he dropped some juicy info about the new Asus Eee Pad models. Read on for all the details.
We asked Key whether the new models, including the Eee Pad Memo, Eee Pad Slate, Eee Pad Transformer and Eee Pad Slider, would be coming to the UK, and his answer was more than positive. ” Yeah, you’ll see the four primary models worldwide…the launch will probably be staggered but to be honest we tend to launch in the UK first.”
Key also cleared up a few spec queries we had about the new Eee Pad line: the 7-inch Asus Eee Pad Memo model will ship with a 3G SIM card slot so you can get online anywhere. The larger Android models (The Transformer and Slider) however will not.
We also pushed Key on what Honeycomb, the tablet optimised version of Android, which the company is confidently calling Android 3.0, is like. Google is keeping its cards close to its chest, but Key confirmed that Asus has builds it’s testing in the labs right now.
He wouldn’t reveal what’s new (Other than, “it’s nice”), but did confirm that the skinned version that will ship at launch on the Android Eee Pads will be upgradeable, and will include the core Google apps like Google Maps and Gmail.
So there you go: we’d say the stars are aligning for an April Android 3.0 launch, and in the UK, we’ll be getting an early taste of it on the new Eee Pad models.
What do you make of the new Eee Pad tablets? Enough to tempt you away from the iPad or Samsung Galaxy Tab? Shout up with your thoughts in the comments below!
