By Wondering when we’d see the first piece of hardware running Ice Cream Sandwich and which piece of hardware would be running it? NVIDIA has blessed us all with a quick video giving us a quick glimpse of the latest version of Android on one of the most highly anticipated Android tablets of the holiday season – the ASUS Transformer Prime.
NVIDIA showcases a few different things, including the new folder features in Ice Cream Sandwich, 1080p HD video playback on the Prime as well as a demo of Riptide GP that’s been optimized for the quad-core Tegra 3 processor inside.
What NVIDIA is impressed about is how fast they were able to get Android 4.0 up and running on the Transformer Prime. They state that they got the code on November 14th – just like everyone else – and had it going by November 16th.
And more than it’s running, it’s actually running really well and smooth despite how early it is. This is great news for anyone looking to pick the tablet up as it will assure that you’ll get Android 4.0 soon after launch, if not right when it does launch. Check out the video above. [via NVIDIA]
Mine. anyone want a 32gb apple iPad 2?
Hopefully it will run as smooth as the Nexus looks. It will be an awesome pairing.
Ha… I had the exact same thought. This is the first Android tablet that makes me want to get rid of my beloved iPad 2.
No fanboy here – thus far my motto has been Android for phones, Apple for tablets – until the OS matures.
Well lookie here. A growing OS on a sexy, sexy piece of hardware. Yes please!
3.2 is mature. 3.0 was slow and bleh, 3.1 was mixed, but then a minor update made it smooth and now 3.2 is great. It’s better than iOS 5 on my iPad.
Sure I will give you $1 for it, or I would gladly take it for free. Lol.
I wouldn’t be surprised if this went on sale in the U.S. before Verizon or any other carrier here releases the Galaxy Nexus.
I was planning on getting the GNex (or Prime? as Best Buy was calling it) at the subsidized price when it was released…but if these shenanigans keep up I might just shell out the extra cash and get the Transformer Prime instead.
…I’m getting tired of waiting.
If you don’t have a tablet (or do) and are looking to buy one…why would you consider ANYTHING other than the Asus Transformer Prime?
Seriously. Talk about a no-brainer.
The name alone guarantees a purchase lol
Getting this now would be just fine but there will be others. I expect Samsung to surprise us next year.
I wish they would surprise Galaxy Nexus owners with working volume controls.
Not buying anything without without 3G/4G-connectivity. I’m away from home and office far too much for that.
Why not use a MiFi dongle. The saving you’d get by going for the WiFi only tablet is more than enough to buy the dongle. Personally, I’m planning to tether it to my phone. I even found a really neat application that will allow me to remotely enable/disable my phone’s tethering from the tablet (https://market.android.com/details?id=net.clearcontrast.remote&feature=search_result). I don’t even need to get my phone out so it’s perfect.
FYI, you can bluetooth tether an android tablet to an android phone without a tethering plan. Even if you couldn’t, I’d never be able to justify having two data plans.
Nope, all wrong. The Transformer Prime looks terrible! People, you don’t want to buy one!
(At least not until after I’ve secured mine.)
lol
Hey.. it’s the a-soose transformer prime lol
Last time I checked, it was Eh-SUS.
Having worked directly with ASUS, I can tell you that you’re saying it wrong. It is in fact a-soose.
That’s funny since I got that information directly from a video interview w/ an ASUS rep when the person interviewing asked how to pronounce it, the person wrote it down and that’s what they wrote.
http://www.engadget.com/2010/12/17/how-to-pronounce-asus-video/
Well, it appears we were both right. I was only off on how they held the syllable.
Its funny how you thought you were soooo slick yet you were wrong.
” “Ah-seuss” is now “A-seuss” (or “Eh-SUS” according to Taiwanese phonetics, as pictured).”
Slick? Not really. I thought I was right which I technically was. I’m human and subject to error just like everyone else.
Keep digging, there’s gotta be gold down there somewhere.
Hush up troll, no one summoned you here. This is for humans only, run along.
Bit early for name calling, isn’t it? I’m sorry if you don’t feel that the quality of my post was as intellectually stimulating as yours was. Perhaps if I had typed “lol” a few times it would have risen to the lofty level of discourse evidenced by your continuing campaign to prove that your attempt to critcize the presenter’s pronunciation of “Asus” was not, in fact, misguided. I will admit however that my quip was primarily designed to draw attention to your increasing lack of grace over what was, after all, a fairly small error, because, and I’d like to speak frankly now: I felt like you were being silly.
Since this conversation is now veering precipitously, I’d like to bring us back on track by simply saying: “Me wants me some o’ that sexy optimus transformer prime, whoop whoop!”
That is all.
I’m so glad I waited on an Android tablet cuz that thing is pure sex.
See! I am not the only one who thinks this!
Would you use it to browse porn? :)
Not until it has Incognito mode :-P
Until now I had been fairly undecided about which tablet to go for. I felt all the Tegra2 based ones just weren’t meeting my needs. However, the Prime seems to tick all my boxes and with superb update support from Asus, I’m completely sold on it. I hope all other Android manufacturers take a good long look at Asus and realise that update support is a huge factor in deciding which device to go for. Yes, a sexy looking device may bring in new consumers but once those consumers have been burnt with poor update support, you’ve pretty much lost them for a long time (if not for good). Anyway, may be it’s a blessing in disguise, with Asus’ fantastic update support, I think my tablet choice is going to be easy. It’d be much more difficult if other manufacturers were as good.
It super fast and super smooth!!!
I am SERIOUSLY going to touch myself later while rewatching this.
That is one SICK looking tablet!
Asus and Nvidia are both run by brash visionaries who see the fast pace of technological advancement as a blue ocean opportunity to leave their more timid, slower evolving competition in a state of perpetual antiquity.
sadly the 2 things lacking is onboard (screen side) usb port and 3g, forcing users to bring the keyboard dock everywhere if usb is in need
Take a look for the Asus accessories. There are at least two: one that brings you USB 2.0 full-sized port, and another one – 4-in-1 card reader.
http://www.asus.com/Eee/Eee_Pad/Eee_Pad_Transformer_Prime_TF201
bottom of the page ;)