ASUS finally confirmed the release date and pricing for its new FonePad phone/tablet combo, and it brings good news.

The odd hybrid is a tablet with the functions of a phone, allowing users to make calls, send and receive text messages and perform other tasks, much like the Samsung Galaxy Note 8.0. It does, however, come at a significantly lower price point than Samsung's offering.

ASUS made quite a fuss with the announcement of its new FonePad hybrid, but cast a shadow of mystery over the launch date and pricing since then. Now the Taiwanese manufacturer finally shed some light on the matter and confirmed that the FonePad will become available in the UK on April 26 with a £179.99 (roughly $276) price tag.

According to TechRadar, the device will also go up for pre-order in the UK at various retailers such as the Carphone Warehouse, Amazon and Sainsbury's starting on April 12, with stock set to arrive on April 26.

The ASUS FonePad (not to be confused with the Padfone or the MeMO Pad) is similar in size and shape to the popular Google Nexus 7 slate, but packs a different processor, voice capabilities, 3G functionality and a micro SD card slot. The £179.99 price tag is the same as the price for the 16GB, Wi-Fi only version of the Google Nexus 7, also made by ASUS, but Google's offering doesn't have 3G capabilities or expandable memory. The Nexus 7 does, however, boast a beefier processor.

The ASUS FonePad sports a 7-inch display with a resolution of 1280 x 800, packs an Intel Atom Z2420 processor clocked at 1.2GHz, 1GB of RAM, 16GB of internal storage, Micro SD and Micro SIM slots. It currently has Android 4.1.2 Jelly Bean on board with an update to version 4.2 promised soon.

In terms of battery performance, the FonePad's 4,270 battery should last for 10 hours of HD video playback or 32-and-a-half hours of 3G calls, which sounds more than decent. The device also has 10-point touch support, as well as 3G and HSPA+ for the non-Wi-Fi model. ASUS also plans to launch an 8GB FonePad model, but offered no release date yet for that version.

All in all, the FonePad comes in at an attractive price point, undercutting the $399 Galaxy Note 8.0 Samsung announced recently and offering a nice alternative to the Nexus 7.