Transformer Prime Available 12/19 Says ASUS

In addition to our first hands-on post and introduction to our review series on the ASUS Transformer Prime, we've got official word from the manufacturer on availability of the device in stores. While recent unconfirmed reports had the tablet coming out early in December, we've now got confirmation coming straight from ASUS that shipments should line up with the start of the week of 12/19/2011, this setting the release about one week later than the incorrect accounts. Furthermore, the first firmware over the air update is set to be released on the second of December, this putting it in plenty of time to be popping up on new Prime owners screens right out of the box.

This tablet is the first on the planet to feature a quad-core processor, one made by NVIDIA and detailed in our series of posts on the chip itself – start here, all you lovers of processing power and all its intricacies: NVIDIA Tegra 3 quad-core mobile processor revealed and detailed. Now the Transformer Prime is a tablet that in our first hands-on experience has clearly proven itself as a superior slate that rivals the rest of the Android slate series easily. As far as what ASUS has to say on when the device will be released:

"We expect availability to start the week of 12/19 based on the pre-orders and inbound shipment schedules." – ASUS

Then for those of you that pick the tablet up, you'll have an update right away:

"We expect to release FOTA image update 8.8.3.27 on 12/2 that updates the EC firmware to improve battery life with the dock in power saving mode along with a few minor performance tweaks." – ASUS

Now check out our first of a set of hands-on videos with the Transformer Prime and think about what you want to know about the tablet, no matter how important or absolutely trivial. We'll do our best to find a way to give you what you need to know on the tablet in our hands-on review series and/or our final grand finale review, one way or another!