ASUS have officially announced the PadFone 2 in their event in Taiwan, just like they said they would. For those that haven’t heard of the PadFone, it is basically an Android smartphone that can also be used to power a larger display, hence turning into a full-fledged tablet when needed.

The PadFone 2 features heavily upgraded specs over the original PadFone, including the powerful quad-core Snapdragon S4 Pro processor, 2GB RAM, 4.7″ 720p Super IPS+ LCD display using Sharp’s IGZO technology for high brightness, 13 megapixel camera with an f/2.4 BSI sensor, 1.2 megapixel front camera, 16/32/64GB storage and 50GB of ASUS WebStorage for two years, NFC, 2,140 mAh battery, and Android 4.0 Ice Cream Sandwich, with an upgrade to Android 4.1 promised by ASUS to be coming soon. The 13 megapixel camera can record 1080p video at 30fps, 720p video at 60fps, and up to a whopping 100 continuous full resolution photos. LTE connectivity will also be included for LTE-enabled markets.

And then there is the PadFone Station, the tablet part of the PadFone 2. The PadFone Station sports a 10.1-inch 1280 x 800 pixels IPS display and a 5,000 mAh battery, and weighs 514g, which when combined with the PadFone’s 135g, gives you a total weight of 649g, which is quite alright considering the power under the hood. The original PadFone had a keyboard for the PadFone Station, but ASUS has decided not to make one for the PadFone 2. Bummer.

Of course, many of you are probably wondering when you can get your hands on the PadFone 2. Well, if you are in Taiwan, you can expect at least the black PadFone 2 to be available as early as next week. The PadFone 2 can be bought either with or without the PadFone station, with just the PadFone 2 alone costing somewhere between NT$17,990 to NT$21,901 (about $620 to $750) for the 16, 32, and 64GB variants, while the complete phone and tablet combo will cost you an additional NT$6,000 (~$210). You can always purchase the PadFone Station separately at a later date, but for $100 more than what it would cost along with the phone.

Engadget reports that Hong Kong will also be one of the first countries to get the PadFone 2, but no release date is known yet. We’ll be sure to bring you all the price and release dates for different countries pending further info, so stay tuned!

Check out some pictures of the ASUS PadFone 2 below.