February 7, 2011 at 22:00Latest GarminASUS A50
The history of cooperation between ASUS and Garmin, which did not need to be introduced, started relatively recently - in 2009, although the first negotiations were still in 2008. Despite the crisis, the companies began to work quite tightly, resulting in a lineup consisting at the moment of 4 devices. In their names, I noticed a small pattern - devices with Windows Mobile start with " M " (M10, M20), and devices with Android OS start with " A " (A10, A50).
Today we will talk about the fresh Garmin ASUS A50 - it is much more attractive than that, but one of the main advantages I consider is its price - from 10 thousand rubles.
Network : EDGE / GPRS / GSM (850/900/1800/1900 MHz), UMTS (1700/2100 MHz), HSDPA (7.2 Mbps, 384 Kbps)
Display : 3.5-inch TFT display (480x320, HVGA) with capacitive touchscreen interface, 262 thousand colors
Operating system : Android 2.1 (Eclair)
Processor : Qualcomm 7227, 600 MHz
Video accelerator : ATI Imageon Z430
Memory : 256 MB (RAM) + 256 MB (ROM), 4 GB Flash- memory
Card slot : microSD (with support for SDHC-cards up to 32 GB)
Interfaces : Bluetooth 2.0 + EDR, USB 2.0, 802.11b / g
GPS : Qualcomm GPSOne - Gen7 (with AGPS support)
Camera : 3-megapixel with autofocus
Battery capacity: 1150 mAh
Standby time : up to 18 days
Talk time : up to 9 hours
Dimensions : 58x110x13.8 mm
Weight : 130 g (with battery)
This is the second device from Garmin ASUS, which I have ever used ... and the equipment was once again pleasantly pleased. The first model was pampered with a second battery and three interchangeable panels in a box, which is not the case in this case ... but it is inappropriate to complain here - even with much more expensive devices they often put much less. So:
- Communicator Garmin ASUS A50
- User Guide
- Wired stereo headset
- Car mount (on glass)
- Car charger (from the cigarette lighter)
- Adapter for charging the phone
- Euro plug for charging
- USB-miniUSB wire
- Battery
This is what was in my box. But when you buy, you will also get a 2 GB memory card, a special disk for attaching the device to a car “torpedo” and one useful piece of paper with a key from ... Navigator Navigator! You heard right, Navitel will also come with the device from Garmin!
Everything is explained quite simply. At the moment, Garmin is very popular and is one of the best navigation solutions ... but, unfortunately, not in all regions and, in particular, not in Russia. It’s much more popular with us just Navitel, which according to a recent study has more than 70% of the market. Accordingly, it is much more profitable to sell devices that will satisfy a wider circle of users - such a communicator-navigator is suitable not only for Russia, but also for any other country!
Three quarters of the front surface area is occupied by a screen, which is hidden under the glass. At the very top is a tiny speaker, and at the bottom is a 4-way key with a button inside. I learned about the four buttons (on the sides of the central one) later when I turned on the device for the first time - they glow in white, but they are almost invisible without backlighting.
On the sides are unsigned keys that are clearly highlighted in relief. In principle, those who used to deal with communicators can easily guess their functions - volume control and camera. Also on the sides there are functional elements for installing the phone in a car mount - on the right is a small depression, and on the left are three contacts, due to which the device will be charged when driving.
Bottom is the miniUSB connector and microphone, and above is the power button, which also in (s) turns on the display during operation.
In general, I’m more used to it when the power button of the display is on the side of the communicator ... but here I’m pretty used to it, all the more, such a location can be found (the first time you connect it in the car) a logical explanation is that when the device is fixed on the windshield, the button doesn’t will have to look among the fasteners. Installing the phone in the car mount automatically activates the constant backlight and speakerphone, and disconnecting from the cradle automatically remembers the coordinates (parking) and returns all settings back.
The reverse side is one large plastic cover, the outer side of which is covered with a pleasant to the touch rubberized material. From the top in the middle is the camera’s peephole (without flash), a slot opposite the speaker and a metal insert on which the letters Garmin ASUS are applied. This inscription is also metal and in the dark in the presence of any light source gives a pleasant glow, thanks to which it becomes similar to the inscription from the LCD screen.
The cover is removed by shifting down, under it is a lithium-ion battery (1150 mAh, 3.7 V, 4.255 Wh) with 4 contacts. To remove the battery, a special cut-out is provided in the case, however, it is not clear why it - the SIM card slot and memory card slot (microSD format) are lower and are available at any time even with the battery installed.
In appearance, you can recognize a whole assortment of elements of other devices, but on the whole it turned out to be a fairly independent design and, importantly, very attractive. Looking at the Garmin ASUS A50, I most recall the Acer Liquid , but here everything is assembled much better, honestly - the details are fitted perfectly, the lid sits very tight. Without the slightest hint of backlash, creaks and other jambs of the assembly - as it should be.
At the moment, there is quite a bit of information on this device on the network - on the same w3bsit3-dns.com in a specially created topic it is still unusually desolate - there are no alternative assemblies and firmware up to Android 2.2, and they just learned how to receive the root the other day ) I hope that all this is yet to come, but I have no choice but to write about what was at the time of the test.
The first thing that catches your eye when loading the operating system (which takes about 30 seconds) is a redesigned interface. I had occasion to see various improvements - somewhere the icons simply changed and unnecessary widgets were added ... somewhere a much more voluminous work was done. Here - both that and another, but it is quite obvious that efforts were made. All icons are licked - this is noticed even on the desktop, and later in the main menu. We also worked on the usual menus - in the aggregate everything looks very harmonious.
Initially, there are 4 virtual desktops, the leftmost of which, as I said, is reserved for navigation. There is nothing superfluous on the rest - the player, search and basic icons. This is not HTC Sense with 7 tables, which sometimes you don’t even know what to score. In general, I really liked the interface, even despite the bright red wallpaper by default - everything is somehow calm and unobtrusive.
A few words about navigation. On the main desktop there is the Navitel icon - if you click it, then in a few seconds a full Navitel Navigator for Android will appear, in appearance it is no different from versions for other OS (unlike the same Prograd). Accordingly, it also works the same way - there is nothing to add.
Интересность продолжается на «навигационном рабочем столе», где находятся три пункта – «Контакты» (для перехода в адресную книгу), «Обзор мест» (позволяет найти вокруг любые POI) и «Просмотр карты» (просмотр карты, где можно выбрать любое место и начать движение к нему. Так же над ними находится универсальная адресная строка – в неё можно вбить любой адрес или объект и вскоре на карте отобразятся результаты поиска. Если ввести в поисковой строке нужный адрес, то сразу откроется карта и можно будет начать движение про созданному маршруту; можно указать, едете ли вы на машине или идете пешком. Есть функция отображения пробок, работающая через Яндекс – тут нужно приготовить рублики, которые будут уходить за передачу данных в фоновом режиме.
In the places overview, as before, there are many categories with subcategories - ATMs, transport, leisure, shops, cafes, intersections of necessary streets, coordinates - there is everything! And this surprised me - even in my small town near Moscow, the program knew where the post office was, where what gas station and car service, where what sports club ... and not just display it on the map - you could even see the contact numbers of organizations! The same thing happened in Moscow, but there were always more objects there - it turned out that in addition to McDonald’s there are also hundreds of places on Pushkinskaya where you can eat :) You can choose the kitchen that you want ... and the search results are sorted by distance to the desired object - further only "sel pahehal". The appearance of the card is quite flexible, it has multitouch, and the whole animation (zoom, rotations,
By the way, in the system settings you can choose a different desktop theme, which appears on various photos and videos on the network. I will not describe in detail, but simply note that for an auto this option will be more suitable.
This goodies do not end there. The Panoramio application is located in the main menu, after which you will see thumbnails of many photos (taken by someone once) that are relevant to your current location. Just watch what seems interesting to you ... and if you wish, you can click on the photo and go / go to this place along the laid route. This is great because you can visually select the desired object, which on the map itself may not be indicated in any way! Well, for example, in the summer, half of Moscow comes to our city for careers - do not enter the “quarry” in the navigator) But here you see a photograph and more, in fact, nothing needs to be done. But it’s also worthwhile to understand that this is not the most specialized function - rather, it’s fun.
By the way, the camera of this communicator can superimpose geographic data on images, so you don’t have to remember when, and most importantly, where the photos were taken.
There is detailed information not only on ground transport - the menu has a program for viewing information on air travel. We go in, select the airport (from those around) and then you can search by flight number, arrival or departure. You can also look at the airline - select the desired flight and the screen will immediately display what, when, where, and to which terminal it will land, or what, where and where to fly.
The advantage, at least, is that all this is deeply integrated into the shell of the Android OS, that is, it is always available at any time - no need to wait for programs to start. I don’t have to wait too long for the satellites - I don’t know, maybe this is somehow connected with the constantly open “geo” tab, or the sky was always cloudless ... but there have never been problems with catching satellites.
In addition to pre-created phrases, the navigator can synthesize speech for the pronunciation of the streets along which traffic is carried out - thanks to this, the size of all the data for navigation is not so large. Another interesting feature of the GarminASUS A50 is the ability to create your own sound theme for the navigator. We start the program - it gives a list of 76 phrases that need to be pronounced into the microphone. We spend all this for some time, but on the way out we get our own, unique and obviously working sound theme. Can you imagine how surprised my wife would be if during the trip she heard the voice of her son from the navigator? :) There is a flight for imagination.
The external speaker did not seem very loud to me, but you will not miss a call with it; the same goes for shaking. But with the volume of the spoken speaker, in general, complete order. I could not get used to switching profiles in any way - holding the power button meant only turning off the device, so I just changed the volume depending on the situation.
The capacitive screen is quite colorful (although it is TFT and it has “only” 262 thousand colors) and juicy, the brightness is enough even in the sun - just in case there is a switchable brightness adjustment sensor. The screen size is 3.5 inches, and the resolution is 320x480; viewing angles are slightly less than 180 degrees, which makes it possible to see the image on the screen almost always. Initially, in my copy of the device there was no Russian language on the keyboard - I added it (instead of the standard keyboard), putting Swype; on beta.swype.com there was no problem finding the HVGA version of the program. The Russian keyboard appeared in firmware 5.0.75, to which I advise you to upgrade immediately after purchasing the device.
The three-megapixel camera makes pretty good pictures, I have not tried to write video to her.
Connection to a computer is standard - for synchronization, as a removable media or modem.
On a single charge with my inactive mode of use (with periodic brief charging from the cigarette lighter in the car), the device easily worked for a week. But in a more active mode, the battery will drain faster - in two or three days. In the settings there is an interesting page displaying the use of various device modes - there you can see in percentage terms what the phone is used for.
There are a lot of system settings - I do not want to inflate the post to inedible sizes, so I suggest that everyone interested get acquainted with the insides on their own - I tried to take more screenshots of the interface.
By the way, a special thank you to the camera’s hardware button, which you can bind to create screenshots without any root - without this function, I would be guaranteed to be tormented with photo processing.
The built-in memory for installing applications is 256 MB, which should be enough even for the most redundant software arsenal. Another 4GB of flash memory is reserved for data storage - pictures there, videos and so on. Well, to whom this will not be enough, you can put a microSD memory card with a maximum capacity of not more than 32 GB. It is noteworthy that the removed battery cover blocks access to data on removable media, protecting information from potential damage.
Good equipment, car mount Good performance, large memory capacity, bright screen
Stylish appearance, practical housing material; miniUSB instead of microUSB
Two navigation programs, deep integration of navigation software into the device
Quickly catches satellites
Price
No hole for attaching a cord and 3.5mm headphone jack
So far there is only Android 2.1
Camera without flash
Until recently, the recommended retail price for the new product was 12,990 rubles and it is exclusive traded only "Messenger" (and as much as a thousand more). But today you can find this device from 10,500 rubles.
Looking at this phone, I am pleased for the symbiosis of Garmin and ASUS - it is clear that they are not chasing technological superiority in the phone market, preferring to devote time to working on the quality of the software component of the device. But at the same time, I’m a little sad - because at the end of January the existence of this wonderful alliance ended; Around March, the A50 will be released exclusively under the ASUS brand. But it is also reassuring that the companies did not quarrel and did not say goodbye completely - most likely there will be "matches", but, apparently, only under the ASUS brand. Be that as it may, these two companies managed to “inherit”, and quite successfully - the GarminASUS A50 I mentioned was definitely a success, I still need to look for such a price / quality ratio.
Finally, I want to tell a few words about Navitel. At the official announcement of the Garmin ASUS A50 in late January, there were representatives of all companies related to this device. Danil Zharikov (Commercial Director of Navitel) spoke about the company's work and plans for the near future.
At the moment, for Navitel navigation software, the most common platform is, oddly enough, Windows Mobile - it is for this that everything is done in the first place. And more recently, a new version of the Navigator was released for this platform, under the number 5.0. The main trump card of this version is “extremely fast routing”, that is, high-speed routing. At this moment, I was not too lazy to get a phone and record a short video:
As you can see, a route of 9500+ kilometers was laid in just 3 seconds, and this was done on the maximum detail of the map - through the secret streets of provincial cities, taking into account all the specifics, etc. Accordingly, routes on a Moscow scale are generally constructed in a split second. As I understand it, all the routes are simply cached, I can’t find any other explanation yet ... nevertheless, this is a very nice innovation. But it is much more pleasant that this version will be available for PNA devices and devices on other platforms, such as Android and iOS, within a month!
Otherwise, the main focus now is all kinds of online services, since the function "get from point A to point B" is no longer so competitive. Traffic jams, weather, the menu of the nearest restaurants, gas prices at some gas stations, social networks and communications - without details, but work on it is in full swing now.
Everything that has already been done and that is only planned to be implemented will also be available for the A50, so the navigation potential will only increase over time.
Today we will talk about the fresh Garmin ASUS A50 - it is much more attractive than that, but one of the main advantages I consider is its price - from 10 thousand rubles.
Specifications
Network : EDGE / GPRS / GSM (850/900/1800/1900 MHz), UMTS (1700/2100 MHz), HSDPA (7.2 Mbps, 384 Kbps)
Display : 3.5-inch TFT display (480x320, HVGA) with capacitive touchscreen interface, 262 thousand colors
Operating system : Android 2.1 (Eclair)
Processor : Qualcomm 7227, 600 MHz
Video accelerator : ATI Imageon Z430
Memory : 256 MB (RAM) + 256 MB (ROM), 4 GB Flash- memory
Card slot : microSD (with support for SDHC-cards up to 32 GB)
Interfaces : Bluetooth 2.0 + EDR, USB 2.0, 802.11b / g
GPS : Qualcomm GPSOne - Gen7 (with AGPS support)
Camera : 3-megapixel with autofocus
Battery capacity: 1150 mAh
Standby time : up to 18 days
Talk time : up to 9 hours
Dimensions : 58x110x13.8 mm
Weight : 130 g (with battery)
Equipment
This is the second device from Garmin ASUS, which I have ever used ... and the equipment was once again pleasantly pleased. The first model was pampered with a second battery and three interchangeable panels in a box, which is not the case in this case ... but it is inappropriate to complain here - even with much more expensive devices they often put much less. So:
- Communicator Garmin ASUS A50
- User Guide
- Wired stereo headset
- Car mount (on glass)
- Car charger (from the cigarette lighter)
- Adapter for charging the phone
- Euro plug for charging
- USB-miniUSB wire
- Battery
This is what was in my box. But when you buy, you will also get a 2 GB memory card, a special disk for attaching the device to a car “torpedo” and one useful piece of paper with a key from ... Navigator Navigator! You heard right, Navitel will also come with the device from Garmin!
Everything is explained quite simply. At the moment, Garmin is very popular and is one of the best navigation solutions ... but, unfortunately, not in all regions and, in particular, not in Russia. It’s much more popular with us just Navitel, which according to a recent study has more than 70% of the market. Accordingly, it is much more profitable to sell devices that will satisfy a wider circle of users - such a communicator-navigator is suitable not only for Russia, but also for any other country!
Appearance
Three quarters of the front surface area is occupied by a screen, which is hidden under the glass. At the very top is a tiny speaker, and at the bottom is a 4-way key with a button inside. I learned about the four buttons (on the sides of the central one) later when I turned on the device for the first time - they glow in white, but they are almost invisible without backlighting.
On the sides are unsigned keys that are clearly highlighted in relief. In principle, those who used to deal with communicators can easily guess their functions - volume control and camera. Also on the sides there are functional elements for installing the phone in a car mount - on the right is a small depression, and on the left are three contacts, due to which the device will be charged when driving.
Bottom is the miniUSB connector and microphone, and above is the power button, which also in (s) turns on the display during operation.
In general, I’m more used to it when the power button of the display is on the side of the communicator ... but here I’m pretty used to it, all the more, such a location can be found (the first time you connect it in the car) a logical explanation is that when the device is fixed on the windshield, the button doesn’t will have to look among the fasteners. Installing the phone in the car mount automatically activates the constant backlight and speakerphone, and disconnecting from the cradle automatically remembers the coordinates (parking) and returns all settings back.
The reverse side is one large plastic cover, the outer side of which is covered with a pleasant to the touch rubberized material. From the top in the middle is the camera’s peephole (without flash), a slot opposite the speaker and a metal insert on which the letters Garmin ASUS are applied. This inscription is also metal and in the dark in the presence of any light source gives a pleasant glow, thanks to which it becomes similar to the inscription from the LCD screen.
The cover is removed by shifting down, under it is a lithium-ion battery (1150 mAh, 3.7 V, 4.255 Wh) with 4 contacts. To remove the battery, a special cut-out is provided in the case, however, it is not clear why it - the SIM card slot and memory card slot (microSD format) are lower and are available at any time even with the battery installed.
In appearance, you can recognize a whole assortment of elements of other devices, but on the whole it turned out to be a fairly independent design and, importantly, very attractive. Looking at the Garmin ASUS A50, I most recall the Acer Liquid , but here everything is assembled much better, honestly - the details are fitted perfectly, the lid sits very tight. Without the slightest hint of backlash, creaks and other jambs of the assembly - as it should be.
Inclusion and work
At the moment, there is quite a bit of information on this device on the network - on the same w3bsit3-dns.com in a specially created topic it is still unusually desolate - there are no alternative assemblies and firmware up to Android 2.2, and they just learned how to receive the root the other day ) I hope that all this is yet to come, but I have no choice but to write about what was at the time of the test.
The first thing that catches your eye when loading the operating system (which takes about 30 seconds) is a redesigned interface. I had occasion to see various improvements - somewhere the icons simply changed and unnecessary widgets were added ... somewhere a much more voluminous work was done. Here - both that and another, but it is quite obvious that efforts were made. All icons are licked - this is noticed even on the desktop, and later in the main menu. We also worked on the usual menus - in the aggregate everything looks very harmonious.
Initially, there are 4 virtual desktops, the leftmost of which, as I said, is reserved for navigation. There is nothing superfluous on the rest - the player, search and basic icons. This is not HTC Sense with 7 tables, which sometimes you don’t even know what to score. In general, I really liked the interface, even despite the bright red wallpaper by default - everything is somehow calm and unobtrusive.
A few words about navigation. On the main desktop there is the Navitel icon - if you click it, then in a few seconds a full Navitel Navigator for Android will appear, in appearance it is no different from versions for other OS (unlike the same Prograd). Accordingly, it also works the same way - there is nothing to add.
Интересность продолжается на «навигационном рабочем столе», где находятся три пункта – «Контакты» (для перехода в адресную книгу), «Обзор мест» (позволяет найти вокруг любые POI) и «Просмотр карты» (просмотр карты, где можно выбрать любое место и начать движение к нему. Так же над ними находится универсальная адресная строка – в неё можно вбить любой адрес или объект и вскоре на карте отобразятся результаты поиска. Если ввести в поисковой строке нужный адрес, то сразу откроется карта и можно будет начать движение про созданному маршруту; можно указать, едете ли вы на машине или идете пешком. Есть функция отображения пробок, работающая через Яндекс – тут нужно приготовить рублики, которые будут уходить за передачу данных в фоновом режиме.
In the places overview, as before, there are many categories with subcategories - ATMs, transport, leisure, shops, cafes, intersections of necessary streets, coordinates - there is everything! And this surprised me - even in my small town near Moscow, the program knew where the post office was, where what gas station and car service, where what sports club ... and not just display it on the map - you could even see the contact numbers of organizations! The same thing happened in Moscow, but there were always more objects there - it turned out that in addition to McDonald’s there are also hundreds of places on Pushkinskaya where you can eat :) You can choose the kitchen that you want ... and the search results are sorted by distance to the desired object - further only "sel pahehal". The appearance of the card is quite flexible, it has multitouch, and the whole animation (zoom, rotations,
By the way, in the system settings you can choose a different desktop theme, which appears on various photos and videos on the network. I will not describe in detail, but simply note that for an auto this option will be more suitable.
This goodies do not end there. The Panoramio application is located in the main menu, after which you will see thumbnails of many photos (taken by someone once) that are relevant to your current location. Just watch what seems interesting to you ... and if you wish, you can click on the photo and go / go to this place along the laid route. This is great because you can visually select the desired object, which on the map itself may not be indicated in any way! Well, for example, in the summer, half of Moscow comes to our city for careers - do not enter the “quarry” in the navigator) But here you see a photograph and more, in fact, nothing needs to be done. But it’s also worthwhile to understand that this is not the most specialized function - rather, it’s fun.
By the way, the camera of this communicator can superimpose geographic data on images, so you don’t have to remember when, and most importantly, where the photos were taken.
There is detailed information not only on ground transport - the menu has a program for viewing information on air travel. We go in, select the airport (from those around) and then you can search by flight number, arrival or departure. You can also look at the airline - select the desired flight and the screen will immediately display what, when, where, and to which terminal it will land, or what, where and where to fly.
The advantage, at least, is that all this is deeply integrated into the shell of the Android OS, that is, it is always available at any time - no need to wait for programs to start. I don’t have to wait too long for the satellites - I don’t know, maybe this is somehow connected with the constantly open “geo” tab, or the sky was always cloudless ... but there have never been problems with catching satellites.
In addition to pre-created phrases, the navigator can synthesize speech for the pronunciation of the streets along which traffic is carried out - thanks to this, the size of all the data for navigation is not so large. Another interesting feature of the GarminASUS A50 is the ability to create your own sound theme for the navigator. We start the program - it gives a list of 76 phrases that need to be pronounced into the microphone. We spend all this for some time, but on the way out we get our own, unique and obviously working sound theme. Can you imagine how surprised my wife would be if during the trip she heard the voice of her son from the navigator? :) There is a flight for imagination.
The external speaker did not seem very loud to me, but you will not miss a call with it; the same goes for shaking. But with the volume of the spoken speaker, in general, complete order. I could not get used to switching profiles in any way - holding the power button meant only turning off the device, so I just changed the volume depending on the situation.
The capacitive screen is quite colorful (although it is TFT and it has “only” 262 thousand colors) and juicy, the brightness is enough even in the sun - just in case there is a switchable brightness adjustment sensor. The screen size is 3.5 inches, and the resolution is 320x480; viewing angles are slightly less than 180 degrees, which makes it possible to see the image on the screen almost always. Initially, in my copy of the device there was no Russian language on the keyboard - I added it (instead of the standard keyboard), putting Swype; on beta.swype.com there was no problem finding the HVGA version of the program. The Russian keyboard appeared in firmware 5.0.75, to which I advise you to upgrade immediately after purchasing the device.
The three-megapixel camera makes pretty good pictures, I have not tried to write video to her.
Connection to a computer is standard - for synchronization, as a removable media or modem.
On a single charge with my inactive mode of use (with periodic brief charging from the cigarette lighter in the car), the device easily worked for a week. But in a more active mode, the battery will drain faster - in two or three days. In the settings there is an interesting page displaying the use of various device modes - there you can see in percentage terms what the phone is used for.
There are a lot of system settings - I do not want to inflate the post to inedible sizes, so I suggest that everyone interested get acquainted with the insides on their own - I tried to take more screenshots of the interface.
By the way, a special thank you to the camera’s hardware button, which you can bind to create screenshots without any root - without this function, I would be guaranteed to be tormented with photo processing.
The built-in memory for installing applications is 256 MB, which should be enough even for the most redundant software arsenal. Another 4GB of flash memory is reserved for data storage - pictures there, videos and so on. Well, to whom this will not be enough, you can put a microSD memory card with a maximum capacity of not more than 32 GB. It is noteworthy that the removed battery cover blocks access to data on removable media, protecting information from potential damage.
Pros and cons
Good equipment, car mount Good performance, large memory capacity, bright screen Stylish appearance, practical housing material; miniUSB instead of microUSB Two navigation programs, deep integration of navigation software into the device Quickly catches satellites Price No hole for attaching a cord and 3.5mm headphone jack So far there is only Android 2.1 Camera without flash Until recently, the recommended retail price for the new product was 12,990 rubles and it is exclusive traded only "Messenger" (and as much as a thousand more). But today you can find this device from 10,500 rubles.
The end
Looking at this phone, I am pleased for the symbiosis of Garmin and ASUS - it is clear that they are not chasing technological superiority in the phone market, preferring to devote time to working on the quality of the software component of the device. But at the same time, I’m a little sad - because at the end of January the existence of this wonderful alliance ended; Around March, the A50 will be released exclusively under the ASUS brand. But it is also reassuring that the companies did not quarrel and did not say goodbye completely - most likely there will be "matches", but, apparently, only under the ASUS brand. Be that as it may, these two companies managed to “inherit”, and quite successfully - the GarminASUS A50 I mentioned was definitely a success, I still need to look for such a price / quality ratio.
Finally, I want to tell a few words about Navitel. At the official announcement of the Garmin ASUS A50 in late January, there were representatives of all companies related to this device. Danil Zharikov (Commercial Director of Navitel) spoke about the company's work and plans for the near future.
At the moment, for Navitel navigation software, the most common platform is, oddly enough, Windows Mobile - it is for this that everything is done in the first place. And more recently, a new version of the Navigator was released for this platform, under the number 5.0. The main trump card of this version is “extremely fast routing”, that is, high-speed routing. At this moment, I was not too lazy to get a phone and record a short video:
As you can see, a route of 9500+ kilometers was laid in just 3 seconds, and this was done on the maximum detail of the map - through the secret streets of provincial cities, taking into account all the specifics, etc. Accordingly, routes on a Moscow scale are generally constructed in a split second. As I understand it, all the routes are simply cached, I can’t find any other explanation yet ... nevertheless, this is a very nice innovation. But it is much more pleasant that this version will be available for PNA devices and devices on other platforms, such as Android and iOS, within a month!
Otherwise, the main focus now is all kinds of online services, since the function "get from point A to point B" is no longer so competitive. Traffic jams, weather, the menu of the nearest restaurants, gas prices at some gas stations, social networks and communications - without details, but work on it is in full swing now.
Everything that has already been done and that is only planned to be implemented will also be available for the A50, so the navigation potential will only increase over time.