The fact is that manufacturers are in no hurry to increase the performance of their new products. Almost all communicators are based on several well-known platforms and are mostly equipped with not the most powerful processors. However, the reasons for this are obvious - with a reduction in size, it is very difficult to maintain, let alone increase battery capacity, and therefore, installing a more powerful processor reduces battery life.
Until recently, the expansion of the functional capabilities of communicators was very active. Communicators acquired FM receivers and GPS navigators. Over time, pda asus from the "all-in-one" series became familiar, and the price of many of them ceased to be "exorbitant".
But the constant reduction in size and the exhausted possibilities of upgrading the hardware have brought communicator manufacturers to a dead end. New products released under different brands have become as similar as possible to each other and have no significant differences.
The obvious path for further development is the improvement of software. The pioneer of its radical modernization was HTC with the well-known series of Touch communicators, distinguished by an interface oriented towards finger control. However, not all manufacturers wished to follow the example of communicator HTC.
For example, ASUSTeK Computer adheres to a conservative approach, which is in no hurry to join new trends and goes its own way. There are not too many devices in the company's model range, although the manufacturer cannot be called a newcomer in this segment. Perhaps ASUS's strategists carefully check every step before taking it, or maybe they simply do not want to breed "clones" among their own models, as other manufacturers do.
The ASUS P320 communicator can serve as an example of the above approach, because it turned out to be extremely compact, quite well equipped functionally, but at the same time does not differ in high performance or newfangled technologies.
Without any doubt, the ASUS P320 is an entry-level navigation communicator, despite the fact that the manufacturer positions it as an image gadget - this is evidenced by the official website. The new product is intended for communication, surfing the Internet and determining one's location - its main capabilities end here, as they are limited by not the most powerful internals (weak processor, small memory, average display in all respects, low quality of the built-in camera).
An interesting design and a decent package slightly level the situation, but even here not everything is smooth: connecting a headset to the USB port deprives the possibility of using third-party headphones, and the cheap plastic stylus spoils the impression of the original design of the device itself.
The new product is not yet widely distributed even in capital city cellular stores, but it can already be purchased for about 14 thousand rubles. The price for such a device is quite adequate, so most likely the device will find its buyer. For example, why buy a fancy nokia phone for the same money when you can buy a not the most powerful, but still a communicator (read - computer), and even with GPS navigation on board.
Elena BUTENKO,
company Spravka.ua