Zenvolution! Asus creates their Computex 2016 splash page

May 6, 2016 Categories: Computex, News by 0 Comments

How many more sleeps until Asus does their massive Computex 2016 unveil? Twenty three long days and nights to go. Don’t worry, we hope to comfort you with juicy details and products leaks prior to the show in 23-days.

Zenvolution is the theme of this years show for Asus. Rather than being “Zen” Pad centric, we are assuming that Asus is mainly referring to the Zenfone 3 and some new ZenBook laptops. We can however be hopeful that the next ZenPad tablets are part of the main stage presentation. In 2015 the rebranding of the Asus tablets to ZenPad was a big deal and a good chunk of the show and presentation was about the innovations of the ZenPads.

It’s definitely interesting to see the Intel logo alongside the Asus logo on the Asus events page. As you may have seen, Intel has put a stop to the Atom processor which has meant Asus will be using MediaTek and Snapdragon in their smaller, mobilecentric devices like tablets and smartphones. That said, an Asus Computex show wouldn’t be complete without an Intel rep hitting the stage.

We will be watching many different areas of the web to bring you breaking news on the next ZenPad tablets!

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Get a Z Stylus for $29.99 in the US and it’s in stock right now!

May 4, 2016 Categories: Accessories, Shopping and Deals, Z Stylus by 0 Comments

Updated May 28th: IN STOCK.

Well we do look daily to find you deals or in-stock ZenPad accessories. The Z Stylus is a great addition to a Z580CA or ZenPad 10 but it has been in short supply. We are very glad to tell you that right now you can get a Z Stylus from Amazon for the suggested retail price of $29.99. Trust us when we say that finding a properly priced Z Stylus, especially in the US, is hard to come by. If you want in on this, now is your time. Only 6 in stock at the time of writing this! Here is the link:

Shop Here – Asus Z Stylus – $29.99 from Amazon.com – Will Ship To Canada Also!

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Intel cancels Atom processors and what it means for ZenPad tablets

May 3, 2016 Categories: News by 0 Comments

intel_logoThe Intel Atom processor has been around for quite some time. It was the go to processor for netbooks and since then, Intel and partners have used it in mobile devices such as tablets and smartphones. With some recent Intel changes and cost cutting, the Intel Atom will be no more. Some of the current ZenPad tablets, most of them actually, use Intel Atom processors.

It would appear that Asus turned to these Atom processors thanks in part to the Intel subsidy that was offered. The Intel subsidy plan was ended in 2015 and as a result, Asus has been shifting to other processors for their mobile products like the Snapdragon and MediaTek offerings.

There have been articles written in the recent past about Asus and their plans for the next generation Zenfone which is going to use a Snapdragon processor rather than the Intel Atom from the previous generation of the phone. Change was certainly already in the air. We’ve seen two recent FCC submissions for ZenPad tablets that were using MediaTek processors which was a bit surprising but it makes sense now.

We’ve also read an official statement from Intel that their upcoming Apollo Lake processors will in fact be offered to tablet manufacturers. This could be an interesting wrinkle. Android tablets require a low price point and if there isn’t a subsidy being offered, it will be interesting to see if Asus looks at Apollo Lake in late 2016 or 2017. We will be watching for developments.

Great prices has been a staple of Asus products. With Intel no longer providing an option, Asus loses the subsidy, which means to keep a low price point, it’s quite possible that a majority of next generation ZenPad tablets will have MediaTek processors. Snapdragon are more premium priced and may be utilized in 4G LTE enabled Asus ZenPad tablets. The majority are likely going to go with the lower priced MediaTek in our opinion.

With either MediaTek or Snapdragon processors being used in the future Asus tablets, we don’t see any real negatives for consumers. The only question mark right now is to see the prices that Asus is able to achieve without the Intel subsidy in place. We’re watching and we will post details on the next generation ZenPad tablets as we discover information!

 

Like cats? Asus looks to cats in their latest ZenPad promo video

May 1, 2016 Categories: Video by 0 Comments

An interesting and humorous video has shown up from Asus. You could call this one rather unique. Like cats?

It’s good to see that there is still ZenPad marketing happening. In a lot of ways the customizable features of the ZenPad 7.0 and ZenPad 8.0 haven’t gotten their due appreciation or spotlight. I’m sure part of the reason is attributable to the lack of supply on some of the cases like the Audio Cover for example. Some countries are still struggling to have in-stock supply which makes it even harder to create buzz.

 

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Fact or Fiction: Is a Mobile Dock for the ZenPad 10 coming?

April 25, 2016 Categories: Accessories, Mobile Dock by 0 Comments

This may be become a regular feature on the site where we look at rumors and discuss whether the details are likely to be real or false.

In this first installment, we want to look at the possibility of a Mobile Dock for the ZenPad 10 series. To be clear, we know about the Audio Dock, but we are talking about a second option. A mobile dock.

The currect Audio Dock is built for audio and from what we’re read, it does an amazing job. A Mobile Dock however could provide a trackpad and or more versatility in terms of ports and functionality. I think a Mobile Dock with battery would also be very welcomed and it is something that Asus did in the past with the Transformer Pad line-up.

We also know that Asus CEO, Jerry Shen discussed the need for redesigned mobile keyboards for their upcoming products. Asus have always been leaders when it comes to comfortable keyboards on small mobile devices. As good as the ZenPad 10 Audio Dock is, a different option that is more like the traditional Transformer keyboards would be a nice addition to the series.

 

New ZenPad 8.0 (Z380M) shows up on Asus.com

April 24, 2016 Categories: Z380M, ZenPad 8, ZenPad 8.0 by 0 Comments

Well, we’ve spotted a new ZenPad. New in a way, but not entirely new. Let us explain.

The ZenPad 8.0 (Z380M) is not a lot different than the original Z380C/Z380CX model. In fact you can say these are the same tablets with the exception of processors and Android version.

The Z380M comes with Android 6.0 which is named “Marshmallow”. The original Z380C comes with Android 5.0 named “Lollipop”. We don’t know for certain the timetable of Asus updating the Android versions on their initial ZenPad models in case you are wondering about that.

The processor is the significant difference (although not that significant) on the new ZenPad 8.0 (Z380M). Rather than an Intel like in the ZenPad 8.0 (Z380C/Z380CX), the Z380M comes with a MediaTek MT8163 quad-core, 64-bit processor.

So we need to stress the point here that the Z380M is pretty much an exact duplicate of the existing Z380C/Z380CX model. For some the Android update will be meaningful, but for others it doesn’t represent a must have update.

Another difference is that the Z380M can take up to 128GB micro sd card, whereas the Z380C/Z380CX has a maximum of 64GB micro sd.

From what we see, there may be different colors available for the ZenPad 8.0 (Z380M). These include: Dark Gray, Pearl White, and Rose Gold.

Commentary: We’ve seen this model pass through the FCC already so it may show up in retail in the near future. With the MediaTek processor, it’s entirly possible that this ZenPad will have an even cheaper price point. However, Intel may have offered up some discounts to the Z380C/Z380CX which could balance out the differences between the MediaTek and Intel processor version of this model. We should know very soon. With the existence of the Z300M, we are expecting a similar development with the ZenPad 10 in the next week or so.

[source: Asus.com]

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