Nexus 7 and Fonepad

ASUS  Nexus 7

Speaking of pizzazz, ASUS’ charismatic chairman Jonney Shih took to the stage on Sunday afternoon to unveil new cloud computing services and two new Android devices -- the Padfone Infinity and Fonepad. (If you’ve not yet watched the presentation, you should at last check out the barking mad introductory segment.)

The Fonepad is a budget tablet with smartphone ambitions -- a 7-inch Nexus-7- like device powered by an Intel CPU, running Android 4.1 Jelly Bean. As we’ve already said, as a budget tablet it kinda makes sense, but the phone side of the equation seems horribly misguided. As we discussed on our podcast, consumers don’t want a 7-inch phone, especially not when it’s sporting a tablet-sized bezel.

We came away more impressed with the Padfone Infinity, largely due to its speed and build quality. However the case for a dockable smartphone/tablet hybrid is as difficult to make today as it was a year ago when ASUS brought us the original Padfone. And with a 999 Euro price tag, you could easily buy a high-end smartphone and a retina iPad for the amount ASUS is asking for the Padfone Infinity. At this point, we’re hoping ASUS comes to its senses and makes a smartphone that’s just a smartphone, with no gimmicks attached.