Asus Padfone has shown itself many times since it was announced back at the Mobile World Congress in February this year. The unlocked variant of the smartphone-tablet combo is up for sale in the U.S. and it may arrive at AT&T as soon as next week.

The unlocked version of Asus Padfone is up for sale on selected retailers including Negri Electronic, who is offering the 16GB variant of the device for $859.50. The Padfone also comes in 32GB and 64GB editions, which are priced at $959.50 and $1059.50 respectively. However, these two editions are listed as "out of stock" and are up for preorders only.

Asus Padfone is technically a smartphone which can transform into a tablet when hooked up with the Padfone Station. The Padfone packs 4.3-inch Super AMOLED display with a resolution of 540 x 960 pixels. It runs on dual-core Snapdragon S4 processor with 1GB of RAM. The device sports 8-megapixel rear camera with LED flash support. There is also a secondary VGA camera in the device. The Padfone runs Android 4.0 Ice Cream Sandwich. The regular connectivity features like Bluetooth and Wi-Fi are all there. The device is loaded with 1,520 mAh battery.

The Padfone Station also comes in the bundle. The big slate has a door at the back with three ports that let you hook Padfone with the station. Placing the Padfone in the slate's back, the 10.1-inch tablets comes to life. All the processing power and connectivity in the tablet is powered via Padfone. The Station has a display resolution of 1,280 x 800 pixels. Moreover, it has a gigantic 6,600 mAh battery of its own.

Asus Padfone could not be called a true high-end smartphone as the specs are pretty outdated for flagship devices. To make it a big hit, HD display and quad-core processor were needed. The reason being the hefty $860 price tag seems to be Padfone's form factor only.

When it comes to carrier availability, the Asus representative has confirmed that the Asus Padfone is coming to AT&T soon. However, an official statement from the carrier is still pending.