| Dimensions: | 110 x 58 x 15.4 mm |
| Weight: | 115g |
| Display: | 240 x 320 pixels, 2.6 inches, TFT touchscreen, 65K colors |
Price Range:
If you have taken a look at the Asus A626 and wished it came with cellphone functionality, Asus has already granted that wish by unleashing the P526 smartphone. Running on the latest Windows Mobile 6.0 operating system, users are given the chance to stay abreast with current happenings thanks to the versatility and power the platform offers. Additional features include quad-band EDGE for speedy audio/video streaming, a camera (megapixel count is unknown but I’m looking at 1.3 being the bare minimum), GPS navigation capabilities for frequent travelers, as well as Outlook synchronization. There is no word on pricing details at the moment, so keep an eye out.
Along the right hand edge, alongside a memory expansion slot for microSD cards and the trigger button for the two megapixel digital camera, is a dedicated lock switch. It has long been a pet hate of mine with Windows Mobile that in order to lock and unlock the keys and touchscreen on most devices, you have to prod a couple of tiny on-screen buttons. It’s not my idea of sensible user interface design. With the P526, however, that’s a thing of the past. Just flick the switch and it’s locked; flick it again and it’s unlocked. I wish more phones would do something similar.
The 2 megapixel camera used in the P526 is neither the best nor the worst. It can shoot pictures in the JPEG format under several resolutions, starting with 1600×1200 and going down to 1280×960, 640×480, 320×240, 160×120 and 80×60. The camera includes several settings which can be modified to improve the picture quality such as: a night mode for low-light environments, a sports mode used to capture moving subjects, a maximum of 2.5x digital zoom available only in lower resolution modes, a 5/10 seconds timer, a burst mode which can capture 4/9 frames in succession and a few effects including Black&White, Negative, Sepia and Solarize. Note that all these options can be changed through a menu which appears on the lower side of the display and which can be conveniently accessed using the fingers. There are also some more or less “hidden” options that are not so easily reachable available under the “advanced” tab, which upon activation switches the camera software display to a Windows Mobile-style view that allows the changing of the White Balance to Tungsten, Halogenic, Fluorescent, Incandescence, Sunny and Cloudy; the adjustment of the Brightness, Sharpness and Contrast and the setting of the metering mode to Normal, Center or Background.
Key Features:
Camera: 2 MP, 1600×1200 pixels, autofocus, video, flash
Messaging: SMS, MMS, Email, Instant Messaging
Colors: Silver
- GPS receiver with SiRF Star III chipset
- Business Card Recognition
- Voice Recognition and Hand-free mode
- MP3 Player
- Java MIDP 2.0
- Sheduler
- Voice memo
- World time
- Currency converter
- Stopwatch
Specifications:
Network: GSM 850 / GSM 900 / GSM 1800 / GSM 1900
GPRS: Class 10 (4+1/3+2 slots), 32 - 48 kbps
3G: Yes
Bluetooth: Yes, v2.0
USB: Yes, miniUSB
Battery: Standard battery, Li-Ion 1300 mAh
Stand-by: 150 Hours
Talk time: 4 hours
