Padfone, Fonepad... what’s the difference? 

Well with Asus, the distinction is a subtle but an important one, especially with the two new products the company has showed off. 

The Fonepad is essentially a tablet with phone functionality built in while the Padfone is a smartphone that can be converted into a tablet. 

Therefore, the upcoming Fonepad Note 6 is primarily a tablet with phone functionality built in.  

The Fonepad, last seen at Computex 2013, runs on Android and internally, is powered by a 2.0GHz Intel Atom Z2580 dual-core processor and sports a full HD (1,920 x 1080-pixels) IPS display. 

The Padfone Infinity, on the other hand, is a third-generation Padfone with a unique 5in smartphone that slots into a 10.1in docking station with a screen, which essentially turns it into a tablet. 

The Padfone now runs on a Qualcomm Snapdragon 600 quad-core 1.7GHz processor, sports Android 4.1.2 Jelly Bean, 13-megapixel camera, 2-megapixel front camera, 2GB RAM, 32GB ROM and works on LTE networks. 

The smartphone part of the Padfone features a 5in Super IPS (1,920 x 1,080-pixels) screen while the Infinity Station has a 10.1in screen with the same resolution. 

Also annnounced was the Memo Pad HD 7 ME173X, which is a 7in budget tablet with a 1.2GHz quad-core processor, Android 4.2 Jelly Bean, 1GB RAM, 16GB ROM, microSD clot, 1.2-megapixel HD front camera, 5-megapixel rear camera and up to 10 hours of battery life. 

The Fonepad is due to hit the stores next month but no price has been announced yet. The Padfone will go for RM2,699 and should be available in stores by the time you read this. The Memo Pad is also available now for a very reasonable RM649.