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Intel-based phablet on the way from Asus

The 7-inch Asus Fonepad, which would be the first Intel-based phablet, is expected to debut at the Mobile World Conference later this month.

Brooke Crothers Former CNET contributor
Brooke Crothers writes about mobile computer systems, including laptops, tablets, smartphones: how they define the computing experience and the hardware that makes them tick. He has served as an editor at large at CNET News and a contributing reporter to The New York Times' Bits and Technology sections. His interest in things small began when living in Tokyo in a very small apartment for a very long time.
Brooke Crothers
Asus MeMO Pad: the Fonepad may be a higher end version of the MeMO Pad.
Asus MeMO Pad: the Fonepad may be a higher end version of the MeMO Pad. Asus

Asus, the maker of Google's Nexus 7, will debut a 7-inch Fonepad at Mobile World Congress later this month, according to sources familiar with the product.

Reports say the Fonepad may be priced in the same ballpark as -- or slightly higher than -- the Nexus 7 but below the MeMO Pad, which Asus launched Friday in Asia.

Leaked photos show it with an aluminum body and an Intel badge on the back.

An independent source familiar with the product has confirmed the Fonepad with CNET.

Widely-reported specifications include Android 4.1 (Jelly Bean), an Intel Atom processor with Imagination PowerVR SGX540 graphics, a 1,280x800 IPS touch screen, 1GB of RAM, storage ranging up to 32GB, and a front-facing 1.2-megapixel camera.