BARCELONA, MOBILE WORLD CONGRESS 2012 — On the surface of things, Asus’s Eee Pad Transformer Prime is just a wonderfully swell idea. Why have both an ultrabook and tablet when you can have one that is both? What if you could take your iPad, snap it onto a keyboard + trackpad, and have a MacBook Air?

It’s a nice dream, and, in actuality, the Transformer Prime is a beautiful piece of hardware. But the challenges aren’t hardware: they lie in software. And in software, neither Android nor iOS is yet up to the challenge of driving both a mobile and laptop OS. But after Windows 8 sets the bar higher, they both could be.

It’s been a long time coming but we finally have an official word on the ASUS PadFone and when to expect it on shelves. While no exact date was given (or price), ASUS announced that the PadFone would be coming in April. This 3-in-1 mobile solution is one of a kind in a mobile world that’s all too familiar. Its unique design allows users to dock their phone into the tablet for a seamless transition from the small screen to the big and vice versa. The PadFone has gone through some changes on its long journey and now features:

ASUS has remained vigilant in their quest for getting out the latest updates to its customers. Today they began rolling out the first wave of Android 4.0 to the original ASUS Eee Pad Transformer. The first market to receive the Ice Cream Sandwich treatment is Taiwan followed by the U.S. market tomorrow. This is great news for all you Transformer owners and it’s one more reason why I rate ASUS as one of the top OEM’s for Android devices.

We already know ASUS is planning to unveil their unique Padfone at Mobile World Congress and we’re quite excited about this device. They’ve released a little teaser video using a matryoshka doll as a metaphor for the Padfone’s unique design which allows you to dock the phone inside its accompanying tablet for larger viewing. The video refers to the functionality of a phone + a tablet + a keyboard dock for endless possibilities and is a refreshing break from the same old designs we’re used to seeing.

Today is a good day for ASUS Transformer Prime owners looking to mod their device. As promised, ASUS has released an unlock tool for the Transformer Prime and it is now available for download at ASUS’s site. This will now open the door for custom ROM’s and I’m betting there are some devs hard at work right now getting them ready. Of course unlocking your bootloader also comes at a cost, which ASUS is so apt to convey: