Garmin-Asus, a co-branded alliance between Garmin and ASUSTeK Computer, has unveiled Garmin-Asus A10, a new touchscreen smartphone running on the Android platform that is optimised for pedestrian navigation.
According to Garmin-Asus, the A10 is suitable for city navigation with its 3.2-inch HVGA touch screen, electronic compass and long-lasting 1500mAh battery. Detailed maps are preloaded on the A10 so that users do not have to pay and wait for third party maps to download from a server, nor will they lose their turn-by-turn, voice-prompted navigation if they are out of cell phone coverage.
The company said that the new smartphone integrates Google Mobile Services with one-click access to Google Maps, Gmail, YouTube, calendar, contacts and Android Market, where users can find more than 30,000 applications to expand and personalise their phone to fit their lifestyle.
In addition, the new A10 features a WebKit browser with multi-touch, five mega-pixel camera including auto-focus capability that automatically geotags images with an exact location reference. It is also compatible with Microsoft Exchange Server and will wirelessly synchronise contacts, calendar and enterprise email.
Apart from pedestrian navigation, the A10 is ready for use in an automobile out-of-the-box, and it comes with a powered audio mount that magnifies the volume of the device voice commands. The A10 also supports optional cityXplorer maps, which makes it possible to plan and use routes that include public transit options, the company said.
The Garmin-Asus A10 is expected to be available in mid-2010 in Europe and Asia-Pacific.
