ASUS Eee Pad MeMO ME171, ME370T and high-end Transformer Prime TF700T revealed

Flustered with the original Transformer Prime you just purchased? We'd advise you to have a seat. ASUS just took the wraps off an all new Transformer Prime (the TF700T) here at CES, which is presumably designed to rival Acer's newly-announced Iconia Tab A700. Notably, this guy won't be an outright replacement for the existing TF201 model; it's simply an upmarket alternative for those tired of the same specs over and over again. Speaking of, let's dive under the hood of this one, shall we? It's a 10.1-incher with NVIDIA's Tegra 3 within (1.3GHz quad-core Cortex A9), a Super IPS+ / Gorilla Glass 10.1-inch display with a downright silly 1,920 x 1,200 resolution (watch out, Lenovo!) and 32GB or 64GB of internal storage space. There's also an 8 megapixel rear camera / 2 megapixel front-facing cam, support for 1080p playback, 802.11b/g/n WiFi, Bluetooth 2.1+EDR, a micro-HDMI port, microSD card reader, a 25WHr Lithium-Polymer battery and a chassis that weighs just over a pound. It'll ship with Android 4.0.1 onboard (yeah, that's Ice Cream Sandwich), and will be compatible with the exact same keyboard dock as the existing Prime. Needless to say, ASUS is aiming for the stars with a build sheet like this, and the $599 to $699 retail price points enable you to know it. It'll land next quarter here in North America, and no, there's no GPS functionality listed on the spec sheet after the break; though we've been informed that this new Prime will come with a new back panel design (pictured after the break) that should enhance WiFi, BT and GPS performance.

Moving onto more diminutive offerings, the Eee Pad MeMO (ME171) that we saw months ago is getting a formal reveal here in Las Vegas, boasting a 7-inch WXGA (1,280 x 800) IPS capacitive touchpanel, a 1.2GHz dual-core Qualcomm 8260 processor, a gigabyte of memory, 16GB / 32GB of storage, 802.11b/g/n WiFi, Bluetooth 2.1+EDR, a 1.2 megapixel front / 5 megapixel rear camera (with 1080p recording), an A-GPS sensor, gyroscope, proximity sensor and a micro-USB port. There's a 4,400mAh Li-polymer battery reportedly good for some 8.5 hours of video playback, and it'll be Android 4.0.1 running the show. The unit checks in with dimensions of 7.8- x 4.6- x 0.50-inches (and a weight of 14.2 ounces), and while mum's the word on price (sadly), it'll supposedly ship in Q2 to North American adobes.

Announced alongside the original MeMO is the new ME370T (early prototype and dummy shown above), which just so happened to have shown up last week by accident. This Android 4.0, WiFi-only device boasts the title of the world's first 7-inch quad-core tablet, and yes, it's powered by a Tegra 3 chip. Compared to its stylus-friendly sibling the ME370T also gets a camera bump up to eight megapixels, but other than that, the specs are still very vague at the moment.

Spec-for-spec, it's obvious that the next generation of tablets won't just be Kindle Fire competitors; in fact, it seems as if ASUS isn't afraid of pricing its efforts higher than the mighty iPad. Hard to say if the masses will pony up for a higher-res display and a more robust experience -- particularly if the iPad 3 delivers a similar high-res affair when it launches at some point in the near future. Whatever the case, we're anxious to see what kind of apps hit the Market in due time to take advantage of the bonus real estate, and we're hoping that Ice Cream Sandwich handles the resolution fork with poise across the user base.

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ASUS Eee Pad MeMO ME370T

7" Tablet with an emphasis on Entertainment, Media and Light Productivity. Thin and Light chassis design with Capacitive Stylus capabilities.
MSRP – TBD Availability – Q2 2012 in North America
Display - 7.0" WXGA, 1280 x 800 resolution, IPS panel with capacitive touch
Processor- Qualcomm 8260 1.2GHz dual-core
Memory- 1GB
Storage- eMMC 16GB/32GB ; ASUS Webstorage options
Connectivity- WLAN 802.11b/g/n , Bluetooth 2.1 +EDR
Camera- 1.2MP Video Camera (front )/5MP Auto-Focus Camera (rear) (1080P recording)
aGPS- Qualcomm GPS One
Sensors- G-sensor; e-compass; Light sensor; Gyroscope, Proximity sensor
Interface- 1 x Micro USB port (client) ; 1 x Audio Jack (Head Phone / Stereo Mic-in)
1 x Card Reader(Micro-SD); 1 x micro HDMI (1.3a); 1 x SIM Card slot; Stereo Speakers
Battery- Li-polymer 4400mAh (Battery Life: 8.5hrs video playback routine)
OS- Android 4.01
Dimensions / Weight- 7.8 x 4.6 x 0.50"; 14.2oz
Applications – MyPainter, MyNet, MyCloud, Asus Sync and other productivity and entertainment applications.

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ASUS Eee Pad Transformer Prime TF700T

10.1" Tablet with an emphasis on Entertainment, Media, Gaming and Productivity. Thin and Light chassis design with a 1080P capable display screen.
MSRP – $599~$699 Availability – Q2 2012 in North America
Processor- NVIDIA Tegra 3 Mobile Processor (1.3 GHz Quad core Cortex A9, 12 core GeForce GPU)
Display - Brilliant 10.1" HD (1920x1200), 178 degrees ultra-wide viewing angle Super IPS+ panel display with Gorilla™ Glass
Camera - Rear facing 8MP Auto-Focus camera with dedicated LED Flash, 2.0MP Front Facing camera for Video Chat
Storage - 32GB or 64GB internal memory plus 8GB of ASUS Web Storage2
Media Capabilities - 1080p MPEG-4/H.264 High Profile, High Bit Rate video decode and playback
Media Capture - 1080p MPEG-4/H.264 video capture
Connectivity - Wi-Fi – 802.11 b/g/n, Bluetooth 2.1 + EDR technology
Ports - 2-in-1 3.5mm jack, micro-HDMI output, microSD card reader
Audio - Built-in stereo speakers, microphone
Dimensions - 263 x 180.8 x 8.3mm, 586g
Battery - 25WHr Lithium-Polymer Battery

ASUS Transformer Prime Keyboard Dock with Trackpad – (same dock for TF201)
Ports - 1 x USB 2.0 ports, Full-size MMC/SD/SDHC card reader
Battery - 22 WHr battery for extended battery life
Dimensions - 263 x 180.8 x 8 to 10.4 mm, 537g
OS – Android 4.01