ASUS unveils a slew of Android tablets

You may not be aware of it, but technology fair Computex kicks off tomorrow, in Taiwan. And, as we have come to expect from companies attending such events, many products are already announced come opening day. Local player ASUS is among the early birds, as today it takes the wraps off a slew of Android slates, among other products like monitors and routers.

Perhaps the biggest news is that ASUS has made the jump to 64-bit processors across the new models, using the Intel Atom Z3745 in the MeMO Pad and Transformer Pad lineups, and the Atom Z3560 in the Fonepad series. Android 4.4 KitKat is the operating system of choice which runs on these slates.

ASUS does not mention specifically whether the employed version of Android has also made the move to 64-bit, only saying that "All models feature the intuitive ASUS ZenUI, a 64-bit Intel Atom quad-core CPU and Android 4.4 KitKat operating system". The version Google distributes is 32-bit, which leads me to believe ASUS may have stuck to it.

The new MeMO Pad lineup comes in two trims, with either a 7-inch (ME176C) or an 8-inch (ME181C and ME581CL) display. No matter which one you choose, the display is of IPS technology. The resolution is 1280 by 800 in the lesser ME176C and ME181C models while the ME581CL touts 1920 by 1200. Both the ME176C and ME181C get a 5 MP back-facing camera and a 2 MP front-facing shooter.

Available colors include black, blue, red, yellow and white for the 7-inch model, while the ME181C gets the black, gold, purple or white treatment. The ME581CL comes, in blue, pink or white, with Wi-Fi 802.11ac, 4G LTE cellular connectivity, NFC, a thickness of 7.45 mm and weight of 299 grams.

The Fonepad series features slim bezels, at least according to ASUS, a resolution of 1280 by 800 no matter the trim -- it is offered in both 7-inch and 8-inch versions -- as well as a 5 MP camera on the back and a 2 MP camera on the front. There is dual-SIM support and 3G cellular connectivity on board. Available colors include black, gold, red and white.

The premium Transformer Pad (shown in the main photo) also employs IPS displays -- the TF103C has a 1280 by 800 resolution while the TF303CL features more pixels at 1920 by 1200. The beefier model gets 4G LTE cellular connectivity, HDMI output and Miracast support. GPS with Glonass support as well as Wi-Fi 802.11 a/b/g/n are shared in the series. Both come in at 257.4 x 178.4 x 9.9 mm. There is also a new keyboard dock with ergonomic chiclet keys, dedicated function keys and, when attached, a total thickness of 19.8 mm. The lesser model will be offered in black and white while the other will be available in blue or gold.