Corporate Vice President of ASUS Eric Chen described the company’s approaches to the mobile market and personal preferences in the functions of smartphones.
At the moment, the lineup of smartphones consists of three lines: ZenFone 5, ZenFone Max and ZenFone Go. In the latter, we offer entry-level models at an attractive price. The ZenFone Max line is positioned as a device for active rest and travel enthusiasts – there is a wide-angle camera for landscape photos and a battery of high capacity (over 4000 mAh). And ZenFone 5 includes three models: Lite, 5 and 5z. It is ZenFone 5 – our super-flagship, in which we embodied all the technologies available to us today: the best sensor in the camera, an excellent display with a 19: 9 aspect ratio and of course a lot of artificial intelligence technologies. The flagship’s filling corresponds to top-level solutions: this is the newest Qualcomm Snapdragon 845 processor, and 8 gigabytes of RAM, and up to 256 gigabytes of built-in.
ASUS has a strong line of laptops and PCs. Are there any ideas for integrating smartphones into it? For example, release a model for gaming on the go.
Indeed, the game line of ASUS products under the Republic of Gamers brand is one of the most successful gaming devices on the market. I can not directly answer your question, but I will say that the product portfolio under the Republic of Gamers brand will be replenished. Follow our news.
Also, ASUS used to have interesting hybrids of a smartphone and a tablet. Are there any thoughts to repeat?
The functions of smartphones and tablets in many ways duplicate each other. Such hybrids were possible in the past when using the tablet we compensated for the screen size of the smartphone. At the moment, technologies allow the use of frameless displays of large diagonals, and the need for tablets in this case disappears. Answering directly to your question, no, we are not planning.
How important is the smartphone today, in an era of almost identical appearance, to be unique? Or is it calmer and more reliable to keep pace with the mainstream?
It is necessary to recognize that from generation to generation all devices of the same product line are similar to each other, and a smartphone is no exception. Nevertheless, ASUS ZenFone smartphones have a unique design of Zen – stylish concentric circles that you can see on the back side of the ZenFone 5 smartphone. The same style is found in other our products: laptops, monoblocks, external optical drives, mini-PCs.
Today, many manufacturers are trying to put themselves into the service of artificial intelligence, whether it’s a voice assistant or a neural network for photo processing. What is the work with AI in ASUS? Is it just for smartphones or is it part of a broad trend on all devices in one form or another?
ZenFone 5 is the smartest smartphone we’ve ever released. Virtually all the technologies implemented in it, use artificial intelligence in one way or another. For example, the camera can detect 16 different scenes (portrait, text, dog, flowers, sky, grass, water, etc.), automatically selecting the best settings for each mode. The processor understands when to accelerate the application, giving more resources to this task and performing it faster. The battery is charged with the mind: during the working day, it will be filled as quickly as possible, realizing that you have every minute on the account. But at night, it will be charged slowly, to maximize the battery life. I can call such examples of artificial intelligence technologies for a very long time.
And why did not they make two front cameras in the “five”, as in ZenFone 5 Lite?
We try to give the maximum choice to our users: for lovers of selfies and big parties we have a model ZenFone 5 Lite. In the case of ZenFone 5, we primarily rely on the front camera and artificial intelligence functions.
What are the plans for the size of displays? And then there will be a sight at the “maximum” – 6 or more inches?
“ The size of the displays has grown significantly in comparison with the trends of the past, but the dimensions of smartphones have not changed at all.
For example, ZenFone 5 was slightly smaller than ZenFone 4, but the diagonal of the screen increased from 5.5 to 6.2 inches. And all this became possible thanks to the latest technologies in the manufacture of cases and displays with thin frames.
And what model of a smartphone do you use and what features – most often?
I use ZenFone 5. During business hours it’s calls, mail or surfing on the Internet. Often you have to travel, so my smartphone has a lot of photos from different countries. The intelligent camera makes them better, and, what I like most, she learns from me, knows which type of pictures I prefer, and automatically applies the desired effects.
Is it possible for members of the board of directors, to whom you belong, to influence the design and development of future models, to make comments?
Of course, no product in our company is born without the approval of top management. We are all involved in the product development process and can influence the way our users see the product.