Android moves in a new direction with the first GPS-centric smartphone, the Garmin-Asus G10, which Optus is set to launch on June 7th.
Computex 2010 | We’ve almost grown tired of seeing endless prototypes of GPS smartphones over the past few years, and we expect that engineers and designers took more than a few wrong turns along the way.
But now the GPS smartphone seems to finally arrived at its destination – and Android is sitting in the driver’s seat.
Asus previewed the Garmin-Asus A10 GPS smartphone overnight at its pre-Computex press conference in Taiwan, and Optus has snared the device for launch next Monday.
While sporting the usual Android smartphone features the A10’s 3.2 inch display is optimised around use as a navigation device.
In addition to a large green Call button are icons to view street maps and plot a route from A to B with Garmin’s turn-by-turn, voice-prompted driving and walking navigation system included in the mix.
Added features include Fuel Search, which Optus says will offer the location of the nearest petrol stations with pricing details.
“Because the A10’s navigation functionalities are deeply integrated into the device, users can, for example, navigate to an address, which is stored in an email, text message, on a Web site or in the contact list” explains Matt DeMoss, National Sales and Marketing Manager Australia for Garmin-Asus.
“On request the A10 will even navigate users to a location where they have previously taken a geo-tagged photograph with the integrated camera or one that has been downloaded from Panoramio.”
The dual-band Garmin-Asus A10 supports both the 2100MHz and 900MHz 3G bands of Optus’ network.
Optus will offer the A10 from $0 Upfront on the $29/month plan (over 24 months) which includes 200MB of data, although that allowance includes unlimited access to Facebook, Twitter and YouTube.
David Flynn is visiting Computex 2010 in Taipei as a guest of Intel.