Why there is no 3G ?

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Why ASUS didn't include 3G into this tablet, nowdays thats like a must thing to do... with that would be perfect tablet!

Samsung, HTC, and Motorola have existing relations with all the Wireless phone services. That may have something to do with Asus being left out. But besides the Xoom and the Apple, are there any other Wireless Tablets available for contract with wireless phone company?

Originally Posted by nook-color

Samsung, HTC, and Motorola have existing relations with all the Wireless phone services. That may have something to do with Asus being left out. But besides the Xoom and the Apple, are there any other Wireless Tablets available for contract with wireless phone company?

Couldn't they just do an unlocked 3G version without having any connection to wireless companies?

For personal use i don't think i will need 3g much. If/When i do, i have my rooted phone to tether to. So i don't see 3G as that needed a feature. And after following a lot of tech blogs and such it seems a lot of the people commenting are wanting wifi tablets only a lot too. So That could be part of it. Also until they have a shared data plan, cause who wants to pay for 2 data plans, i don't see my self paying for 3g even if it had the radio to do it.

However, for business use i would like one with 3g in it. Since i wouldn't trust people to know how to tether much less have a phone that can tether. So in this case simpler is much better. So for business use i will need to look at a different product which makes me sad. and if the treasurer for our non-profit has her way it will be a ipad ... which makes me very very sad. So a 3G model would have been awesome as well.

---------- Post added at 09:20 PM ---------- Previous post was at 09:14 PM ----------

Originally Posted by Smyc151

Couldn't they just do an unlocked 3G version without having any connection to wireless companies?

Correct me if i am wrong, but 3G isn't like cellular networks right? It has to be someone certain radio signal to work correctly meaning you have to work with that company ( be it at&t t-mobile version or sprint or who ever).

Like why the at&t iphone will work on t-moblie but it doesn't have t-moblies radios so you can't get 3G.

And say they just put AT&T radios in with out asking for whatever ( i don't know if you can do that or if it even matters, but just say they did) if at&T didn't want to support the device they could just block the device and not sell plans to it.

So i don't think it is just as easy as "unlocked 3G"

The dock has a USB port, so just connect a mobile data dongle to it?

Originally Posted by dragonithe

The dock has a USB port, so just connect a mobile data dongle to it?

Can android interpret the data dongle natively?(like Linux (at least it did on Linux Mint last time i tired)) or will a custom app need to be made for it to work if it works at all? (like windows). it is a interesting idea though. If it doesn't work out of the box (i doubt it but never know) someone should really make an app that will make it work. Since i already have a data dongle thing somewhere. lol

Sprint might be getting it if you look at their CES invite the folds look just like that origami screen cover!
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Originally Posted by Charles_A

Correct me if i am wrong, but 3G isn't like cellular networks right? It has to be someone certain radio signal to work correctly meaning you have to work with that company ( be it at&t t-mobile version or sprint or who ever).

Like why the at&t iphone will work on t-moblie but it doesn't have t-moblies radios so you can't get 3G.

And say they just put AT&T radios in with out asking for whatever ( i don't know if you can do that or if it even matters, but just say they did) if at&T didn't want to support the device they could just block the device and not sell plans to it.

So i don't think it is just as easy as "unlocked 3G"

I'm not the best source about this information, so please excuse me if I'm wrong. But I thought that most 3G were on similar frequencies, and therefore it would be easy to make a 3G antenna which could communicate on all of them. The reason why I ask, is that I had a T-Mobile Android phone and brought it to the UK a few months ago, and can use it on any network here (since it's unlocked), and only have to change the network operators (or something like that, I can't exactly recall) info so it connects to the right towers. And it works perfectly fine. If I can do that with a crappy old Android phone, why couldn't it be done with Transformer?

But on the whole, I agree with you. It's so much cheaper to buy a tethering plan for most phones than it would be to give it its own 3G service, that for most people just doing a wireless hotspot with their phone would make more sense. But it's still a legitimate question for some people

Originally Posted by Charles_A

Can android interpret the data dongle natively?(like Linux (at least it did on Linux Mint last time i tired)) or will a custom app need to be made for it to work if it works at all? (like windows). it is a interesting idea though. If it doesn't work out of the box (i doubt it but never know) someone should really make an app that will make it work. Since i already have a data dongle thing somewhere. lol

I know that Archos uses a dongle that slides into the tablet that is powered by USB, so it's not impossible. But I don't know if it's naively implanted.
And if not, maybe some dev's can port the software from the archos devices to the prime to get a USB dongle to work.

I will personally use a wifi modem, that way it doesn't even use the battery of the tab, and I could share the connexion with whoever I want.