ASUS won't release Transformer Prime GPS dongles in Italy or Greece (updated)

We're afraid we've got some bad news. Transformer Prime users outside of America and Taiwan in Italy and Greece won't receive a GPS dongle to address their tablet's lackluster mapping performance. The company confirmed on its Italian Facebook page that while it was advertised in the US and Taiwan as having "Full GPS," once issues were found, the European advertising was changed to read "GPS Locator" -- in short: it's not its problem, go away. We've included a machine-translated version below so you can hear it from the horse's mouth Facebook wall and we apologize in advance for any errors.

"Guys confirm that the initiative is reserved for those territories where Prime was marketed with the GPS between the specifications of the product. So mainly the U.S. and Taiwan. In Italy Prime was marketed with a GPS locator, and not with a "Full" as car navigation. Function that we believe the rest is useless in combination with a tablet. Customers who bought Prime has done with the understanding that GPS is not present, then from our side there were no broken promises or misleading claims. We do not understand then what the reason of your critical Riccardo. Among other things, the satisfaction level of users who bought Prime is very high. In sharp contrast with what you say. It means that the product performs its function very well"

Update: Looks like there's some confusion between the company's Italian arm and the rest of Europe. Readers have forwarded links to various European-country pages to apply for a dongle before July 31st this year.

Update 2: ASUS got in touch to clarify the position, saying that only customers in Italy and Greece won't be able to get GPS dongles, but all other customers are invited to check if they're eligible on the official website (More Coverage), adding that

"ASUS Global would like to further clarify that we're always committed to delivering the best experience for our customers through regular software updates and, where necessary, accessories like the GPS Extension Kit."

[Thanks, Carmine]

ASUS won't release Transformer Prime GPS dongles in Italy or Greece (updated) originally appeared on Engadget on Wed, 18 Apr 2012 05:29:00 EDT. Please see our terms for use of feeds.

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