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Garmin-Asus Smartphones
Mark Peters : February 25th 2010 - 23:50 CET
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 New Garmin-Asus Smartphones at Mobile World Congress 2010 : The times that you used your cell phone only to make calls, seem like a long time ago. In this way we saw many applications during the Mobile World Congress 2010 in Barcelona that have nothing to do with mobile communication, but that do all make use of the cell phone platform and its different operating systems. The value of a cell phone and also measure of dependence that we have of a smartphone becomes greater every day. In this way we see several new Garmin-Asus products, including the new Garmin-Asus A50. At first glance it seems to be a strong combination of mobile communication and GPS navigation.
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New Garmin-Asus Smartphones
We will share with you the first impression that we got of the Garmin-Asus A50 during our visit to the MWC 2010. The Garmin-Asus A50 is a so-called Android phone equipped with version 1.6. A pretty low version, we also saw smartphones on the show floor equipped with Google Android 2.1 OS. But it is clear that what is unique about the A50 phone is Garmin’s navigation App. It is a smart way to bring navigation to the masses via the mobile industry.
Garmin-Asus A50 Smartphone
The Garmin-Asus nuvifone A50 looks pretty austere. It has very few unnecessary bells and whistles in terms of hardware, but also the menu of this Garmin-Asus Android phone is pretty austere. It is, however very clearly laid-out. What we noticed, especially in comparison with the other phones that we frequently came across during the MWC 2010, is that the Garmin-Asus A50 doesn’t react too fast in terms of display. The reaction time seems to be delayed; perhaps it was a sample that was worn out by the show demonstrations?
Garmin-Asus Smartphone features
• Platform : Android 1.6 with Breeze UI
• CPU : Qualcomm 7227 ARM 11, 600MHz
• Memory : 4GB Flash + 256 MB SDRAM + 256 MB ROM
• Connectivity : WLAN 802.11b+g, USB v2.0 (HS), Bluetooth 2.1
• GPS : Qualcomm GPSOne, Assisted GPS, Aided GPS and standalone
• Display : 3.5", HVGA 320 x 480, TFT capacitive touch
• Digital camera : 3 Mega-Pixel, Auto Focus
• Others : Proximity sensor, ambient light sensor, e-compass, accelerometer
• Battery : 1150mAh Lithium Ion
• Standby Time : 250 hours
• Talk Time : up to 3 hours
• Expansion Slot : micro-SD (support SDHC)
• Browser : WebKit browser
• Messaging : SMS / IM / MMS
• E-mail : MAP, POP3, Exchange
• Exchange Support : Calendar, contacts, e-mail
• Video Playback : MPEG4 / H.264 / H.263 / WMV
• Video Recording : MPEG4 & H.263 with audio via AMR-NB
• Streaming : Audio / Video
• Audio/Ringtone : MP3 / WMA / AMR-NB / AAC / AAC+ / AAC+V2 / eAAC+, SP-MIDI
Garmin-Asus Smartphone with spoken navigation
You don’t really notice that you have a typical Android phone in your hands with the Garmin-Asus A50. The U.I. (User Interface) has been adjusted too much. The short demonstration that we were given and the experience with the built-in navigation we had both gave us a positive feeling. The maps are detailed, there is spoken navigation and therefore it is a good alternative to all the other kinds of navigation equipment out there.
Garmin-Asus Smartphone review
Our first experience with the Garmin-Asus A50 was a positive one. We do not expect that the marketing will place this model in the high-end segment, as the finishing and outfitting of this Garmin-Asus navigation phone is just not up to standard. The Garmin-Asus A50 could be very successful in the middle segment, which frees up the low and the top ends of the market. All in all, it is a handy solution for the caller that also wants to navigate at a quality level.
GarminAsus Smartphone with 3 Megapixel camera
The Garmin-Asus nuvifone A50 Android smartphone includes a 3 megapixel digital camera with auto-focus that automatically geo-tags pictures with an exact latitude and longitude reference of where the photo was taken. Customers may then save the image so they can navigate back to the location, or email the geo-tagged image to friends.
Garmin-Asus nüvifone A50 Availability
The Garmin-Asus nüvifone A50 GPS Smartphone is expected to be available in Europe in the first half of 2010. Specific availability and pricing of the new Garmin-Asus Smartphones will be given in the future.
 Garmin-Asus mobile |
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