Already available in some markets around the world, the Garmin-Asus nuvifone M20 with WM 6.5 will be launched by the end of 2009 in the following countries: Taiwan, Hong Kong, Singapore, Malaysia, Thailand, India, Turkey Russia, Ukraine, Poland, Czech Republic and so on.

Starting today (November 11), users who bought the M20 with Windows Mobile 6.1 can upgrade it to WM 6.5 on Garmin-Asus’ website.

Apart from Windows Mobile 6.5, the features of M20 include a VGA touchscreen display, HSDPA, GPS navigation, Wi-Fi and a 3.2MP camera.

Via Engadget

• AT&T getting the Garmin Asus Nuvifone M20 too?
• Asus P565 pulled off the shelves after the alliance with Garmin?
• Garmin Asus Nuvifone M20 comes with Opera Mobile 9.5 preinstalled
• Garmin-Asus unveils the nüvifone M20 Windows Mobile smartphone
• Garmin-Asus Nuvifone G60 and M20 available for pre-order in Poland

While its Taiwanese neighbor Acer has already announced its first Android phone (the Liquid A1), Asus hasn’t provided too many details about its own Android handset. However, Asus’ chairman Johnny Shih has recently reconfirmed that the company will introduce an Android phone this year.

It’s not clear yet if the Android phone Johnny Shih talks about will be launched under the Garmin-Asus brand, or if it’s an Asus-only product.

(this is the Asus P320)

Either way, Asus will probably come with an interesting phone that should help Google and Android conquer the mobile world.

Via DigiTimes

• Garmin-Asus Android phone promised for Q1 2010
• Asus to make an Eee phone with Android?
• Garmin Asus eyes China, plans to sell 1 million phones globally
• Affordable Eee Phone to come under the Garmin-Asus brand
• Asus Android handset planned for 2009

The joint venture will enter the Chinese market by the end of 2009, initially trying to sell its products unlocked, and only then to make agreements with China’s mobile carriers. If Chinese customers will find the Nuvifones appealing enough, Garmin-Asus has lots of chances to reach that 1 million mark – since there are more than 600 million mobile users in China.

As already reported, Garmin Asus is also getting ready to launch the Nuvifone G60 in the US, via AT&T, as soon as this quarter.

Jonney Shih, chairman of Asus, declared that the G60 will be marketed by Garmin in the US, since their brand is stronger than Asus’ in North America.

The Nuvifone M20 may also hit AT&T, but probably later than the G60.

Via DigiTimes

• Affordable Eee Phone to come under the Garmin-Asus brand
• Garmin-Asus Nuvifone G60’s release pushed back to Q3 2009
• Garmin-Asus Android phone promised for Q1 2010
• Garmin-Asus Nuvifone G60 and M20 available for pre-order in Poland
• #MWC09: Garmin Asus Nuvifone G60 hands-on review and video

Together with M20’s smartphone capabilities (delivered by Windows Mobile 6.1) and its Garmin-branded navigation features, Opera Mobile 9.5 should make the handset a good choice for customers who need complete mobile solutions.

The latest version of Opera Mobile comes with features like: panning and zooming, tabbed browsing, copy/paste, image and link sharing and so on.

“With our promise of easy navigation, we wanted to bundle a browser on the nüvifone M20 that would help users get online and stay in touch as simply as possible. Web browsing is a key feature on this device, and we believe that a superior mobile Web experience will make the lives of busy people everywhere easier,” declared Benson Lin, Vice President & General Manager, Personal Mobile Devices Business Unit, Asus Handheld Business Group.

In Taiwan, the Nuvifone M20 costs about $545 unlocked. However, in Europe the smartphone will probably be more expensive – in Poland it can be pre-ordered for $840.

Via Press release

• AT&T getting the Garmin Asus Nuvifone M20 too?
• Garmin Asus eyes China, plans to sell 1 million phones globally
• Opera 9.5 Mobile beta is out
• Affordable Eee Phone to come under the Garmin-Asus brand
• Garmin-Asus Nuvifone G60 and M20 available for pre-order in Poland

The info doesn’t come from AT&T, but from a Garmin Asus representative who, during M20’s release in Taiwan, said that the device “is destined for AT&T in the US.”

Unlike the Nuvifone G60, which will apparently be marketed as a Personal Navigation Device (PND) with phone and Web capabilities, the Nuvifone M20 is a true Windows Mobile 6.1 smartphone that comes with built-in GPS and advanced navigation features.

For example, the M20 includes Connected Services (a suite of Web-based applications that offer “location intelligence to navigation, phone and browser functions”), and a LBS app called Ciao!.

The M20 (available on pre-order in Poland) also features a 2.8 inch VGA touchscreen display, Wi-Fi, HSDPA, push email, 3MP camera and 4/8GB of internal memory.

In Taiwan, the price of Nuvifone M20 is of around $545 (unlocked), so AT&T might sell it for under $200 on contract. Unfortunately, there’s no word yet on when the US carrier plans to release the smartphone.

Via Pocket-lint

• Garmin-Asus Nuvifone G60 and M20 available for pre-order in Poland
• Garmin-Asus nuvifone M20 now has Windows Mobile 6.5
• Garmin-Asus unveils the nüvifone M20 Windows Mobile smartphone
• Affordable Eee Phone to come under the Garmin-Asus brand
• Garmin Asus Nuvifone M20 comes with Opera Mobile 9.5 preinstalled

Even more, Polish customers can also pre-order the Garmin Asus Nuvifone M20, a smartphone that comes with Widows Mobile 6.1 on board.

Both the G60 and the M20 are offered by this online retailer together with a Jabra BT2080 Bluetooth headset. The bad news is that the smartphones have really high prices. You’ll have to pay 2,299 PLN (about $774) for the G60, and 2,499 PLN (about $840) for the M20.

Garmin-Asus Nuvifone G60 might also be released in the US, through AT&T, probably before the end of 2009.

Via PDA.pl

• Garmin-Asus Android phone promised for Q1 2010
• Garmin Asus eyes China, plans to sell 1 million phones globally
• #MWC09: Garmin Asus Nuvifone G60 hands-on review and video
• Affordable Eee Phone to come under the Garmin-Asus brand
• Garmin-Asus Nuvifone G60’s release pushed back to Q3 2009

The handset will be first available in Taiwan, starting July 27. By the end of August, the G60 will be launched in Singapore and Malaysia too.

Also in August, Garmin-Asus plans to release the Windows Mobile Nuvifone M20. The smartphone should go on sale in the following countries: Taiwan, Singapore, Hong Kong, Malaysia and Thailand.

The price of Nuvifone G60 was not announced, so I guess we’ll have to wait for July 27 to find it out.

Both the G60 and the M20 will be launched in Europe later this year. The G60 will also reach the US, apparently before the end of 2009.

Via Press release

• Garmin-Asus nuvifone M20 now has Windows Mobile 6.5
• Garmin-Asus Android phone promised for Q1 2010
• AT&T getting the Garmin Asus Nuvifone M20 too?
• Affordable Eee Phone to come under the Garmin-Asus brand
• Garmin Asus eyes China, plans to sell 1 million phones globally

The news comes many months after Garmin (without Asus) has announced that it’s working on an Android device, which should have been launched this year.

Quite possibly, the Garmin-Asus Android phone will be a remake of the device that Garmin started working on.

After all, the joint venture is also remaking the Nuvifone G60 (which was delayed again and is now scheduled for a release in the third quarter of 2009).

(this is the Garmin-Asus Nuvifone G60, running on a Linux platform)

Details about the features or the price of Garmin-Asus’ Android phone are currently missing.

Via PC World

• Affordable Eee Phone to come under the Garmin-Asus brand
• Garmin Asus eyes China, plans to sell 1 million phones globally
• #MWC09: Garmin Asus Nuvifone G60 hands-on review and video
• Garmin-Asus Nuvifone G60’s release pushed back to Q3 2009
• Garmin-Asus Nuvifone G60 and M20 available for pre-order in Poland

However, now Garmin says that its very first smartphone will not hit the market until the third quarter of the year.

According to Twice, the Nuvifone G60 is still “in the testing phase of the certification process”.

That’s because, as Garmin’s president Cliff Pemble mentioned, it’s difficult to build from the ground up a smartphone based on a custom Linux OS. Well, we can’t say we disagree.

So in the end it looks like the G60 may be released at about the same time with the Windows Mobile 6.1 M20. Now let’s hope that there will be no more delays announced by Garmin-Asus.

• Garmin-Asus Nuvifone G60 and M20 available for pre-order in Poland
• #MWC09: Garmin Asus Nuvifone G60 hands-on review and video
• Garmin-Asus Android phone promised for Q1 2010
• Garmin Asus eyes China, plans to sell 1 million phones globally
• AT&T getting the Garmin Asus Nuvifone M20 too?

The Taiwanese manufacturer has just unveiled the Asus P835, a brand new Windows Mobile 6.1 smartphone that offers a large 3.5 inch touchscreen display with 800 x 480 pixels, plus a set of other nice features.  

In Asus’ own words, the P835 is made “for business-savvy professionals who appreciate a screen as big as their ambitions.”

The new device has a simple design and uses an improved Asus Glide interface, said to be “the most innovative, intuitive and interactive mobile user interface available today”.

The full list of specs and features includes:

• Quad band GSM/GPRS/EDGE connectivity (850 / 900 / 1800 / 1900 MHz)
• Tri band UMTS/HSPA connectivity (900 / 1900 / 2100 MHz) for downloads up to 7.2 Mbps and uploads up to 2 Mbps
• On-screen QWERTY keyboard
• A-GPS
• Wi-Fi
• Opera Mobile
• 5MP autofocus camera
• Bluetooth 2.0 with EDR
• USB 2.0
• Qualcomm 7201A 528MHz processor
• 288MB SDRAM, 256MB ROM
• 4GB of internal memory
• MicroSDHC card support
• Talk time: up to 6 hours on 3G networks, or 7 hours on 2G networks
• Standby time: up to 350 hours
• 115 x 59 x 13.8 mm
• 148 grams

Asus said nothing regarding the price and availability of P835, but we’ll probably see the smartphone in stores in the next couple of months.

Source: Press release via Engadget

• Asus ZX1 Lamborghini phone specs and pictures
• Asus P565 officially announced
• Mobinnova’s ICE officially launched, offers a glimpse at SE’s next WinMo smartphone
• Mio Explora K70 GPS phone announced
• Asus M930 Communicator on the way

However, it looks like Asus’ partnership with Garmin, announced at the beginning of February, has determined the Taiwanese company to give up on commercializing the P565.

GPSandCo reports that the smartphone should’ve debuted in France last month, but it will actually never be released, because of the above-mentioned reason.

We’re not sure how exactly the alliance with Garmin can influence the availability of Asus’ older handsets, but the latter company probably wants to concentrate more on handsets developed together with Garmin (like the nüvifone M20 and nüvifone G60).   
 
It’s said that the Asus P565 is actually on sale in some markets (like Germany), but it’s not clear yet whether Asus will stop selling it for good.

• Garmin-Asus handsets announced; nüvifone G60 to be showcased at MWC 2009
• Garmin-Asus unveils the nüvifone M20 Windows Mobile smartphone
• Garmin nüvifone G60 announced by AT&T, $299 on contract
• Garmin-Asus Nuvifone G60 and M20 available for pre-order in Poland
• Garmin-Asus Nuvifone G60’s release pushed back to Q3 2009

But they had to take a partner on, to finally get the darn thing working. So from now own this LBS centric mobile phone will be known as Garmin Asus Nuvifone G60.

Still, it was worth the wait. I had a chance to spend some hands-on time with Garmin Asus Nuvifone G60 and came out impressed.

Nuvifone G60 is a full touchscreen phone with a big 3.55″ 272 x 480 WQVGA antiglare resistive touchscreen.

Even though it’s a resistive and not capacitative touchscreen, it is very responsive and handles the touch commands well. There’s also something to be said about the overall UI design.

It looks good , playful and I especially like all those big buttons that are really hard to miss even with really big fingers.

Here’s a video overview with most of the features of the Garmin Asus G60 Nuvifone:

You will not be seeing a Garmin Asus Nuvifone G60 in shops until this summer. But when you do, and you are looking for a full touchscreen handset, this one is definetely worth checking out.

And I’ll leave you now with some live pictures of the G60:

• Garmin-Asus Android phone promised for Q1 2010
• Garmin-Asus Nuvifone G60 and M20 available for pre-order in Poland
• Affordable Eee Phone to come under the Garmin-Asus brand
• Garmin Asus eyes China, plans to sell 1 million phones globally
• Garmin Nuvifone hands on preview at Communicasia 2008

More exactly, the first Eee Phone will come under the Garmin-Asus brand, and not under the Asus one, meaning that it might feature some advanced navigation capabilities (after all, Garmin is an expert when it comes to navigation-related technology).

PC World has it that an Asus rep confirmed the release of an Eee Phone for “later this year”. Unfortunately, the handset will not be announced during MWC 2009, at the same time with nuvifone G60 and nuvifone M20, so we’ll have to wait a bit more until we get the chance to see what it is all about.

It’s said that the Eee Phone will be outed as an affordable mobile solution – thus staying true to the Eee brand. The device might run on Google’s Android, as rumored before, but until this fact is officially confirmed, we’d better not put our hopes in it.

• Garmin Asus eyes China, plans to sell 1 million phones globally
• Garmin-Asus Android phone promised for Q1 2010
• Garmin-Asus Nuvifone G60 and M20 available for pre-order in Poland
• #MWC09: Garmin Asus Nuvifone G60 hands-on review and video
• Garmin-Asus Nuvifone G60’s release pushed back to Q3 2009

The new device is called nüvifone M20 and it was announced today, during a pre-MWC 2009 event.

Presented as “an all-in-one phone, mobile web-browser and premium navigation system”, the handset surprisingly runs on Windows Mobile 6.1 Professional.

The M20 looks good overall, but its design might be seen as a bit too simple.

Anyway, here’s an almost complete list with the specs and features of the new smartphone:

• Quad-band GSM/EDGE connectivity
• Tri-band HSDPA connectivity
• 2.8 inch VGA touchscreen display
• Full QWERTY soft keyboard
• Wi-Fi
• Built-in GPS
• Garmin sat nav
• Connected Services – a suite of Web-based apps which provide “location intelligence to navigation, phone and browser functions”
• Ciao! – a ground-breaking LBS app
• Desktop-like internet browser
• Push email
• Bluetooth
• 3.0 MP autofocus camera
• 4GB / 8GB of internal memory

Garmin-Asus said that details regarding nüvifone M20’s availability and price will be unveiled before the end of 2009’s first half.
 
Until then, though, we’ll have the chance to see the M20 live, at MWC, so stick around if you want to see it too.

Source: Press release

• Garmin-Asus handsets announced; nüvifone G60 to be showcased at MWC 2009
• AT&T getting the Garmin Asus Nuvifone M20 too?
• Garmin nüvifone G60 announced by AT&T, $299 on contract
• #CTIA09: Hands-on With Garmin M20 Nuvifone
• Asus P565 pulled off the shelves after the alliance with Garmin?

The two companies have just announced that they are working not only to co-develop the first-ever Garmin mobile phone, but also several other new location-based mobile phones that will be outed during 2009.

The first handset to be released is Garmin-Asus nüvifone G60, of which we first heard about one year ago – although, at that time, its name was simply nüvifone.

The G60 combines Garmin’s expertise in the GPS field with Asus’ know-how in making smartphones. The result is a handset that comes with the following features:

• Quad-band GSM and tri-band HSDPA connectivity
• Large touchscreen display with virtual QWERTY keyboard
• Garmin navigation software with turn-by-turn directions
• On-board maps and lots of location-based apps
• Wi-Fi
• Webkit-based HTML browser
• Stereo Bluetooth

Garmin-Asus nüvifone G60 will be presented at MWC 2009. It should become commercially available in the first half of 2009, but pricing details are currently missing. The other nüvifone models that will be released after it are said to have similar features and capabilities.

Via Press release

• Garmin nüvifone G60 announced by AT&T, $299 on contract
• Asus P565 pulled off the shelves after the alliance with Garmin?
• Garmin-Asus unveils the nüvifone M20 Windows Mobile smartphone
• Garmin-Asus Nuvifone G60’s release pushed back to Q3 2009
• Garmin-Asus Nuvifone G60 and M20 available for pre-order in Poland

Apparently, the man thinks he can see the future, and what exactly is in store for us all according to his visions? A day when all families don’t crowd around a small screen to watch digital content or see something on the Internet, but sit back and revel in the large view of a big screen in the living room.

But what does an Eee-branded smartphone have to do with all this? Well, how else would you be able to control your new digital devices in the future if you’re laid back so comfortably that you couldn’t even be bothered to get a glass of water if you choked on a fish? By using a remote control device, of course. And Asus’ Shih believes that this remote control device could very well be a phone. An Eee-branded phone that’s designed to work perfectly with their wireless digital offerings.

Things like these aren’t really stuff of the future anymore, but it would still be interesting to see what else the first Asus Eee phone would be able to do, especially if it runs on Android. Also, it should be quite affordable. And that’s never a bad thing.

Via Bits

• Asus reconfirms: they’ll have an Android phone this year
• Asus V90 Camera Phone with up to 100m Bluetooth coverage
• Asus P735 PDA Phone officially announced
• Sony Ericsson’s Mobile Phone/Universal Remote Control
• Groundsurf: Drive there with your HTC Cruise. Literally

What might be surprising, though, is that the Taiwanese company also wants to come up with a handset under the Eee brand (you know, those small and affordable notebooks).

And to make it all even more interesting, this Eee Phone might be running on – yes – Android. 

TechRadar reports that Johnny Shih, Asus’ CEO, talked about the company’s intention to build easy to use pocket-sized devices that:

“play MP3s, offer GPS services, work like a PDA and offer Mobile TV altogether.”

Now, if one of these devices is meant to run on Google’s open source OS and if it’s affordable and good looking, it will almost surely be a success.  

Asus has also said it wants to bring Android to its Eee PCs, but I think an Android Eee Phone would be more interesting to see.

We might find out more about all this during CES 2009, so you’d better stick around.

• Asus reconfirms: they’ll have an Android phone this year
• Affordable Eee Phone to come under the Garmin-Asus brand
• Asus Android handset planned for 2009
• Acer joins the Open Handset Alliance, officially promises an Android phone for Q4 2009
• Asus chairman confirms Eee Phone, envisions it as a remote control for the digital home

In a statement that HTC CEO Peter Chou made on November 21, it is said that the company expects to sell up to a million units of the T-Mobile G1, while HTC Touch Diamond handset shipments are expected to hit the 3 million mark by the end of the year.

HTC’s Chou also fenced off rumors of a pending layoff, as well as those of decreased orders, proudly proclaiming that HTC was too tough for the global economic recession to weigh down. The company’s condition is so good, in fact, that they’re currently looking at acquiring a handset design company in the US.

But no matter how recession-proof a company is, the real test of its strength will come when it gets pitted against the toughest competition. For example, Asus, who says they will go against HTC in the 2009 smartphone race, should be a worthy opponent. We’ll see just how tough High Tech Computer really is, by then.

Via DigiTimes

• #MWC09: HTC Touch Diamond2 preview video
• HTC: 2008 Touch Diamond Shipment Projections Raised
• HTC Touch Diamond coming to India through Bharti Airtel
• HTC Touch Diamond2 announced for India
• HTC Touch Diamond, HTC Touch Pro (Raphael) and HTC Touch Dual Pro coming

And if a recent report citing industry sources in Taiwan holds true, we may as well expect a battle royale between Asus and HTC next year, in the realm of consumer and business smartphones, of course.

It is said the Asus is currently beefing up its R&D in order to offer up to 10 new models in 2009, “almost all supporting 3G and a touch user interface.” And all this is done to make rival smartphone maker HTC feel small.

Asus’ estimated total shipment volumes for handsets in 2008 didn’t even manage to hit half a million, but who knows? With the right mix of a good design, user experience, and smartphone platform (with either the Android OS or Windows Mobile, then), Asus could potentially dream of making sales like the iPhone’s. Or the T-Mobile G1’s, at least. We should know for sure in the coming months. Either way, it’s good for the consumer.

Via DigiTimes

• Asus Android handset planned for 2009
• HTC expects to ship 1 million G1’s and 3 million Touch Diamonds
• Asus reconfirms: they’ll have an Android phone this year
• Asus P565 pulled off the shelves after the alliance with Garmin?
• Asus M530W Communicator. In Orange

Of course, the Glide UI works with Windows Mobile 6.1 Professional on the P565, so the new handset offers a suit of useful applications and features.

The P565 is presented as a “business PDA phone” and, since it is powered by an 800 MHz Marvell Tavor processor, it’s said to be the fastest device in its class. 

Asus P565 also comes with a black synthetic leather battery cover, this giving its overall look a unique aspect.

The main specs and capabilities of the new Asus include:  

• Tri band GSM/GPRS/EDGE connectivity: 900 / 1800 /1900 MHz
• UMTS/HSDPA connectivity: 2100 MHz
• 2.8 inch TFT touchscreen display with 65K colors and 480 x 640 pixels
• Built-in GPS
• Wi-Fi
• Media player
• Bluetooth 2.0
• Document viewer and editor
• Anytime Launcher
• 3MP camera with autofocus
• MicroSD and SDHC support
• 256 MB Flash + 128 MB DDR SDRAM
• Weight: 120 grams
• Dimensions: 102 mm x 60.5 mm x 16 mm
• Talk time: up to 3 hours with 3G, or 4 hours with 2G
• Stand by time: up to 250-300 hours with 3G, or up to 200-250 hours with 2G

The release date of Asus P565 was not announced. Its price is also unknown, but given the features it has, the P565 can’t be an affordable device.

Via Asus    

• Asus P835 officially unveiled: WVGA display, 5MP camera and more
• Asus Glaxy7 with 5MP cam and Windows Mobile 6 leaked?
• Asus P320 Galaxi Mini GPS PDA phone launched
• Asus R300 and Asus R700 GPS Multimedia Navigators this November
• Sony Ericsson announces W205 Walkman and S312 Snapshot phones

Although O2 says that its new PDA looks stylish, the Zest has a rather modest design, with nothing that can pass as really attractive.

The Xda Zest is built by Asus and comes with Windows Mobile 6.1 on board, thus offering users the well-known advantages of Microsoft Mobile Outlook and Microsoft Mobile Office.

The official specs and features of O2 Xda Zest include:

• A 2.8 inch TFT touchscreen display (with 320 x 240 pixels, apparently)
• HSDPA connectivity
• Built in GPS and a 2-week CoPilot Sat Nav trial
• Wi-Fi
• MP3 player
• FM radio
• A 3 MP camera
• Expandable memory  

Starting November 17, the new O2 Xda Zest will be available for purchase in O2’s stores, as well as via the carrier’s online shop. On Pay&Go, the Xda Zest costs £249.99 (about $393), while with certain contract agreements the device will even be offered for free.  

Via O2

• LG Incite announced for Korea too
• Samsung Can’t Decide on Name for F480
• Samsung officially announces i900 Omnia
• Philips Xenium X830 comes with a 5MP camera
• 8 new Samsung phones leaked – S5050, C5212, S3310 and E2210 included

Unfortunately, there’s no word yet on what the Asus Android handset will bring in terms of features. Also, there are no details on what the device will look like.

However, if we take into consideration some of Asus’ latest handsets, like P552w or P320, I guess we should expect the Android Asus to look good. Hopefully, better than T-Mobile G1, which has a controversial design.

(this above is not the Android Asus, it’s just the P320 Windows Mobile smartphone)

The first Asus handset to run on Google’s Android platform might be initially launched only in Asus’ home country, Taiwan. After that, customized models of it will reach other countries too.

Via DigiTimes  

• Asus to go toe to toe with HTC in 2009 Android smartphone race
• Asus reconfirms: they’ll have an Android phone this year
• Asus P320 Galaxi Mini GPS PDA phone launched
• Asus P565 pulled off the shelves after the alliance with Garmin?
• Asus to make an Eee phone with Android?

In two recently leaked official photos, we see what appears to be an Asus touchscreen smartphone with Windows Mobile 6 and a 5 megapixel camera. Aside from that there is a very prominent trackball on its face, as well as a wide touchscreen display and several hardware buttons.

We’re told that this smartphone can currently be identified as the Glaxy7, and it is a quadband GSM phone with HSDPA data support. Here are more of the Asus Glaxy7’s unofficial specs:

• 3.5 “WVGA 800X480 / 65K Color TFT
• Microsoft Windows Mobile 6.1 Professional with Glide UI 1.5
• Bluetooth 2.0, Wifi, USB
• aGPS
• 200 hours standby and 4 hours talk time
• 4GB flash memory built-in with microSD card slot
• Built-in accelerometer

This is pretty interesting news for Windows Mobile users, and we’re hearing October could be when this smartphone is launched. But of course, we’ll have to let Asus decide whether it really is fit for a launch in a month, or if it’s even a real product in the first place.

Via WM Power User

• Asus P320 Galaxi Mini GPS PDA phone launched
• India gets Asus Lamborghini ZX1 smartphone
• Asus P565 officially announced
• Asus ZX1 Lamborghini phone specs and pictures
• Garmin-Asus nuvifone M20 now has Windows Mobile 6.5

Just announced is the Asus P552w, which features a 2.8-inch touchscreen on which users can sift through their data using Asus’ Glide user interface. It runs on Windows Mobile 6.1 Professional.

Aside from its unique and hopefully intuitive UI, the Asus P552w also comes with unique software that gives users an entirely new smartphone experience. For example, it ships with what Asus calls EziPhoto and EziMusic. In EziPhoto, users will be able to flip through their photo collection with their fingertips, just like how they would with real-world albums. We’re guessing the same goes for music albums with EziMusic.

The Asus P552w comes with support for 3.6Mbps HSDPA data and 2100 UMTS. There’s 256MB flash memory on-board and room for a lot of extra with its microSDHC card slot. Plus, it’s got a 624MHz processor, which should prove useful when using processor-intensive Windows Mobile apps.

There hasn’t been a confirmation of its retail price from Asus yet, but since it also features Bluetooth, Wi-Fi, 2 megapixel camera and 1100 mAh battery, it would easily be worth several hundred bucks.

• Garmin-Asus nuvifone M20 now has Windows Mobile 6.5
• Asus Glaxy7 with 5MP cam and Windows Mobile 6 leaked?
• Asus Pegasus (Asus P526), successor to Asus P525 PDA Phone?
• Asus to go toe to toe with HTC in 2009 Android smartphone race
• ASUS P560 launching next month with Windows Mobile 6.1

This comes as a surprise to some familiar with Garmin, as the company has long put a strong emphasis on manufacturing its own products and never outsourcing. However, Garmin does recognize that the move into the mobile handset world is different than GPS devices alone, due to the large amount of RF technology expertise and validation work required to make mobile handsets possible.

It looks like Asus’s main contribution to the project will be in the field of RF technology.

So far the Nuvifone has only been confirmed in black, though pictures have recently surfaced that show it in white. Sources are also saying the Nuvifone is now due out sometime in Q4, instead of Q3 as originally reported.

via Digitimes

• Affordable Eee Phone to come under the Garmin-Asus brand
• #MWC09: Garmin Asus Nuvifone G60 hands-on review and video
• Garmin-Asus Nuvifone G60 and M20 available for pre-order in Poland
• Garmin Asus eyes China, plans to sell 1 million phones globally
• Garmin-Asus Nuvifone G60’s release pushed back to Q3 2009

The Asus P560 is another PDA from Asus, set launch next month toting a lot of high-end features, and notably, Windows Mobile 6.1.

Here’s a quick list of the Asus P560 highlights:

• A-GPS compatible SiRF Star III receiver
• 2.8? TFT LCD touch screen with 320×240 pixels resolution (QVGA)
• Processor TI Omap 2430 at 450 MHz
• Quadband GSM, GPRS, EDGE, 3G dualband and HSDPA with 3.6 Mbps
• 256 MB ROM
• 128 MB RAM
• Wi-Fi 802.11b/g
• Bluetooth 2.0 + EDR
• 3.2 MP camera on the back
• 0.3 MP camera in front
• MicroSD HC Port
• 1150 mAh battery
• Windows Mobile 6.1 Professional
• iGO 6 navigation software with maps from Tele Atlas

Now if that doesn’t get your motors running, I don’t know what will. Oh, but I know what won’t – its €500 (about $772 USD) price tag. I can already hear you say, “Ouch!”

NaviGadget via Engadget

• ASUS P552w gets launched
• Asus P735 PDA phone – 3G successor to Asus P525
• Asus R300 Multimedia GPS Navigator headed for U.S
• Garmin-Asus nuvifone M20 now has Windows Mobile 6.5
• Asus Glaxy7 with 5MP cam and Windows Mobile 6 leaked?

Revisiting its spec sheets, you’ll find that the Asus-Lambo ZX1 actually has some pretty nice features. And these include 802.11b/g Wi-Fi, Bluetooth v2.0+EDR, USB connectivity, 3.5G and even a built-in GPS. It also has a 2.8-inch touchscreen, which is used to control its unique racer-style UI along with a 9-way navigational key.

The Asus-Lamborghini ZX1 is also a Quad-band GSM handset running on Windows Mobile 6.1 OS with ASUS Touch UI. It also has expandable memory via a MicroSD memory card slot so users should never run out of multimedia storage space (at least theoretically).

It’s really a great phone, and probably the only thing that’s keeping it from being a major hit is its price. The Asus Lamborghini ZX1 smartphone was first expected to have a price of at least 1000 Euro, and in India it will retail for Rs. 50,000. That’s slightly more than $1,200 USD. So good luck with that, Asus.

Via Tech2

• Asus ZX1 Lamborghini phone specs and pictures
• ASUS P552w gets launched
• Asus ZX1 Lamborghini PDA phone due at CeBIT
• Asus throws in the white towel on ZX1 Lamborghini phone
• Asus R300 Multimedia GPS Navigator headed for U.S

Turns out that earlier this year, due to a rare quirk in a global supply chain, Asus got the shipment of 2.6″ VGA displays for P750 delivered, instead of expected QVGAs, and at a better price.

But since the Asus P750 and all the software on it was already specc’ed for QVGA, they just disabled VGA resolution and made it run at QVGA quality.

So the hackers (Sorg and GreateVK) among Russian Asus fans decided to do what they do best. Hack into Asus P750 WM 6 firmware and let the phone show off all it’s powers.

And, after a few sleepless nights, they succeeded:

What you see in the picture is Asus P750 running at a full blown 640×480px VGA resolution.

So far the display is working only at 96 DPI, instead of the usual WM 6 192 DPI VGA display resolution, and there are some bugs in the hack, so no public download is available yet.

But, Sorg says that as soon as he and GreatVK get some sleep, they are getting back to work, and should have the downloadable patch for happy Asus P750 owners ready in a week.

Thank’s Eugene

Via PDAChoice.ru

• ASUS P560 launching next month with Windows Mobile 6.1
• Asus M930 Communicator on the way
• Asus M530W Communicator. In Orange
• Garmin-Asus Android phone promised for Q1 2010
• How to install Debian with OpenOffice, Firefox 3, and more on your Nokia N810 easy

It’s a low end touchscreen handset running Windows Mobile OS and targeted as a competitor of entry level HTC Touch and other similar devices.

Today Galaxi Mini becomes official as Asus P320 GPS touchscreen smartphone.

I had a chnace to play with it a bit and I liked it. Asus P320 Galaxi Mini is a compact, light 2.5G PDA phone with a big 2.8″ touchscreen, good connectivity options and Asus own touch interface enhancements, similar to the ones HTC Touch introduced to Windows Mobile devices.

And it’s among the first low end smartphones to come with built-in GPS sensor.

The specs of Asus P320 GPS handset include:

• Quad-band GSM )850/900/1800/1900), GPRS, EDGE connectivity
• TI OMAP 850 200 MHz CPU, 1280 ROM/64 RAM
• Windows Mobile Pro 6.1
• 2.8″ QVGA 320×240 px TFT LCD touchscreen
• 2 Megapixel camera
• Built-in SiRF III GPS
• Bluetooth 2.0, USB 2.0
• MicroSD memory card slot

Of course Asus P520 doesn’t have the glamour, 3D touch interface effects  and other bells and whistles of Asus Lamborghini ZX1 phone, but neither does it cost 1000 EURO.

Expected Asus P320 retail price is 300 EUR and it should become available in Europe in Q2, 2008

• Asus Galaxi Mini to slug it out with HTC Touch
• Asus ZX1 Lamborghini PDA phone due at CeBIT
• Asus ZX1 Lamborghini phone specs and pictures
• Asus P550 becomes Vodafone v1520 PDA phone
• India gets Asus Lamborghini ZX1 smartphone

We already told you that the upcoming Asus ZX1 Lamborghini handset will have some impressive specs like 520 MHz Qualcomm CPU, GPS. Wi-Fi, a big touchscreen and a new, iPhone like, touch interface. We were right on some of them and wrong on others.

Today Engadget crew managed to get into Cebit showroom a day earlier, and brought us all the details about the new handset:

The new Asus ZX1 Lamborghini specs include:

• Quad-band GSM(850/900/1800/1900), tri-band WCDMA (850/1900/2100), GPRS, EDGE, 3.6 Mbps HSDPA connectivity
• Windows Mobile 6.1 OS/ ASUS Touch UI
• TI 2431 450 MHz CPU on EMP U360 platform
• 256 MB Flash, 128 MB SDRAM
• 2.8″ TFT, 65K colors, 240×320 px Touchscreen
• 3 mpx camera with autofocus
• VGA camera for video calls
• Built in GPS,
• Wi-Fi b/g
• Bluetooth 2,.0 +EDR, USB 2.0
• MicroSD memory card slot
• 1150 mAh Li-ion battery with up to 5 hrs talk and 200 hrs standby time
• Dimensions – 115.6×59.4×13.2 mm
• Weight – 119 gr

And they also got a video of the new, iPhone like, Asus Touch interface:

Well, all I can say, Asus Lamborghini ZX1 smartphone is one impressive devices. As is it’s expected price tag of 1000 Euro.

• Asus ZX1 Lamborghini PDA phone due at CeBIT
• Asus P320 Galaxi Mini GPS PDA phone launched
• India gets Asus Lamborghini ZX1 smartphone
• Asus throws in the white towel on ZX1 Lamborghini phone
• ASUS P552w gets launched

Although it had it’s new phones -Asus M930w communicator and Asus Galaxi Mini on display in Barcelona, to see them, you actually had to search and ask for them.

Looks like Asus postponed the launch of new handsets until CeBit in Germany, and to decided make a big splash there, along the announcement of new computers in Mid March.

In addition to the new phones above, there’s one more very interesting handset in the works. It’s a Asus ZX1, Lamborghini branded PDA Phone.

No images of this handset are available yet (picture above is a mockup by UV), but the description and specs for it sound really interesting.

According to Mobinaute, who has a great record with early Asustek handset news, Asus ZX1 will be a touchscreen phone with the interface similar to that of HTC Touch or iPhone, with a completely flat display integrated into the housing and will use Lamborghini colors for branding.

Asus ZX1 is a very high end smartphone running Windows Mobile 6 Pro (probably WM 6.1 when it finally ships), 3G+ data support, 520 MHz Qualcomm CPU, GPS, Wi-Fi and Bluetooth.

Asus ZX1 price will be around 650 EUR, when it is finally released in Europe during the summer months.

• Asus ZX1 Lamborghini phone specs and pictures
• Asus V90 Camera Phone with up to 100m Bluetooth coverage
• India gets Asus Lamborghini ZX1 smartphone
• Asus P320 Galaxi Mini GPS PDA phone launched
• TAG Heuer MERIDIIST Lamborghini luxury phone announced

So, yesterday we’ve got official news about LG KF510 and Gigabyte G-Smart MS800, and unofficial ones about Samsung G810. Today the pictures and some info about Motorola Z12 ZiNE leaked.

And now it’s time to see what will Asus have in store for us next week.

Of course we already know everything there is to know about Asus M930W communicator. But there’s at least one more handset which should be ready to debut at MWC 2008.

It’s code named Asus Galaxy Mini and is a PDA phone with GPS support, targeted to compete directly with HTC Touch:

Asus Galaxi Mini will come equipped with Windows Mobile 6.1, TI 200 MHz CPU, GPRS/EDGE, WI-Fi and Bluetooth connectivity, 2 megapixel camera and a QVGA display.

European price for Asus Galaxi Mini is expected to be somewhere around 300-400 EUR.

Via: Mobi France

• Asus P320 Galaxi Mini GPS PDA phone launched
• Asus ZX1 Lamborghini PDA phone due at CeBIT
• New 3G Asus Pxx E-mail phone Surfaces
• Samsung Galaxy i7500 finally available from O2 UK
• Samsung i7500 Galaxy hits the UK next week via O2

It’s only the second day of the year and we already can tell you about the second old/new communicator – Asus M530W – in a new 2008 Asus handset line-up. (The first one being Asus M930W, we told you about before Christmas)

Asus M530W comes in a traditional PDA phone form factor with full QWERTY keyboard, and does away with the boring black/grey colors in favor of the fresh White/Orange tones:

Asus M530W Communicator specs include:

• 3G connectivity
• ARM11 390 MHz CPU
• Windows Mobile 6 OS
• 2.4″ 65K color QVGA display (no touchscreen)
• 2 megapixel camera with LED flash
• microSD (up to 2GB) memory card support
• min-USB/Bluetooth connectivity
• 120mAh battery
• Dimensions: 11×65x13.8mm
• Push e-mail support

Via Sogi

• Asus M930W Communicator Pics& Specs
• Asus M930 Communicator on the way
• Asus ZX1 Lamborghini PDA phone due at CeBIT
• Asus Galaxi Mini to slug it out with HTC Touch
• Asus P550 becomes Vodafone v1520 PDA phone

Now, thank’s to the French site GPS&Co, we can show you how ASUS M930 Communicator will look like:

Asus M930W indeed has a horizontal flip phone form factor, just like Nokia E90 or Toshiba G920, but can open at two angles – 90 and 180 degrees.

The known specs for Asus M930 include:

• Marvel PXA270M 520 MHz processor
• Windows Mobile 6 Professional OS
• Triband GSM (900/1800/1900), GPRS, EDGE, UMTS (2100 MHz) and 3.6 Mbps HSDPA connectivity
• 256 MB ROM and 128 Mb of RAM
• Wi-Fi b/g
• Bluetooth 2.0 +EDR, MiniUSB 1.1
• MicroSDHC memory card slot

There’s one problem with what looks to be the real press/PR pics for Asus M930W, though.

What’s up with the really smallish inside display and tons of empty space around it? Is it just a bad Photoshop job or is the display really that small, which would be a pretty stupid thing for Asus to do?

• Asus M930 Communicator on the way
• Asus M530W Communicator. In Orange
• Asus J502 Camera Phone with remote SMS control
• Asus P735 PDA phone – 3G successor to Asus P525
• Asus P550 becomes Vodafone v1520 PDA phone

Asus M930 Communicator will open just like a book and will have two screens, bigger internal and smaller external one and full QWERTY keyboard.

_{(The picture above is just for illustration and it is NOT Asus M930)}

Asus M930 PDA phone will run on Marvel PXA27x 520 MHz chip, will have 256MB of Flash ROM and 180MB of RAM, Windows Mobile 6.0 OS and will have GSM, GPRS, EDGE, UMTS and 3.6 Mbps HSDPA connectivity. It will also be equipped with 3.2 megapixel autofocus camera, FM Tuner, WI-Fi and Bluetooth.

Asus M930 is expected to launch in Europe in Q1, 2008.

• Asus M930W Communicator Pics& Specs
• Asus M530W Communicator. In Orange
• Asus Galaxi Mini to slug it out with HTC Touch
• Asus ZX1 Lamborghini phone specs and pictures
• New 3G Asus Pxx E-mail phone Surfaces

Well, today we may have an answer. Soon Asus P550 will see the light of day, but with a different name – Vodafone v1520 PDA phone.

Teaser for Vodafone v1520, which looks exactly the same as GPS equipped Asus P550, is already on Vodafone site.

And, if history with Vodafone Samsung F700v is any guide, there may be some exclusivity involved here and it may take a while before Asus P550 is available on other carriers.

Vodafone v1520/Asus P550 specs include:

• Marvel PXA270 520 MHz CPU
• 256MB Flash ROM, 64MB SDRAM
• Triband GSM (9001800/1900) and UMTS 2100 MHz connectivity
• 3.5″ QVGA (320×240 px) 65K color TFT display
• Built-in GPS, WI-Fi b/g, Bluetooth 2.0 and USB 1.1
• microSD memory card slot
• Up to 600 hrs stand-by time
• Weight: 188 gr
• Dimensions: 121×71x16.5 mm

Of course it’s a shame if Asus P550 will stay locked-in for a while. But it’s not that bad, like it was with Samsung 700v, since there’s plenty of the good and powerful Windows Mobile PDA/phones to choose where Vofaone v1520 comes from.

E-ten Glofiish X800, M800, HTC Touch Cruise and HP iPaq 910/914 and quite a few more iPaqs come to mind.

• Asus R300 and Asus R700 GPS Multimedia Navigators this November
• New 3G Asus Pxx E-mail phone Surfaces
• Asus P735 PDA phone – 3G successor to Asus P525
• Asus Pegasus (Asus P526), successor to Asus P525 PDA Phone?
• Asus J502 Camera Phone with remote SMS control

Well, now, thank’s to FCC we can confirm that they ( or at least Asus R300) do exist and are headed to the United states as well.

According to previously leaked reports Asus R300 will have 400 MHz Samsung SPU, 128/64MB of memory, 1300 mAh battery, 3.5″ touchscreen, FM radio, Bluetooth, microSD memory card slot and will use iGO 2008 navigation software.

• Asus R300 and Asus R700 GPS Multimedia Navigators this November
• Samsung S5600 and S5230 affordable touchscreen handsets announced
• Samsung i740 officially launched
• Asus V90 Camera Phone with up to 100m Bluetooth coverage
• Samsung M3310 and B3410 in official photos

Asus R300 is lower end stand alone GPS navigator that will be able to play various media files, including MP3, WMA, AAC audio and MPEG-4, H.263 video.

Asus R300 Multimedia Navigator will be 13.7 mm thick, weight 300 gr and have 3.5″ touchscreen with 400 MHz Samsung CPU, 128/64 MB of memory and 1300 mAh battery inside. It will also come with built-in FM radio, Bluetooth 2.0, MicroSD memory card slot, optional TMC and ability to receive SMS messages.

Asus R700 is high end stand alone navigator with big 4.3″ 480×272 px touchscreen, 126 X 80 X 13,5 mm dimensions, 260 gram weight and integrated RDS-TMC traffic receiver. It’s other specs are pretty similar to Asus R300: 400 MHz Samsung CPU, 128/65 Mb memory, audio.video player and Bluetooth 2.0.

Both Asus R700 and Asus R300 are expected to launch in Europe this November .

• Asus R300 Multimedia GPS Navigator headed for U.S
• Asus P550 becomes Vodafone v1520 PDA phone
• Asus P320 Galaxi Mini GPS PDA phone launched
• Asus ZX1 Lamborghini phone specs and pictures
• India gets Asus Lamborghini ZX1 smartphone

Well, actually it looks like there is. And a number of cellphone vendors are working on a interesting new kind of slider, where a phone will have a sliding screen instead of keyboard.

The first phone to use this design was BenqQ Siemens SL98:

But now, the recent patent filings from Asustek and LG show that they are thinking about the mobile sliders along the same lines too.

At first look such design innovation looks pretty stupid and useless. Hiding the screen inside the body of the phone? What’s good about that? But after reading the patents, the idea does not look that stupid anymore.

Just think about it. How often do you really need to actually look into a big screen on your smartphone? It is great for browsing the web, looking at pictures or watching videos. But if the phone is used for it’s primary purpose – making and receiving calls, what you really need to see is a small part of the screen.

That’s what this new kind of slider does. The screen is hidden inside the body of the phone, but part of it is visible through the small transparent window where you can see a few lines of text.

With this design you don’t need a second screen like on clamshell phones, thus saving on manufacturing costs. By hiding mobile phone screen inside, you can protect it from the mechanical damage. You also can have almost all of the phone surface dedicated for the keypad thus having better input controls.

And when you need a bigger screen just pull or push the button and you can have a full fledged smartphone.

Source:
Benq pictures from – USP-Forum.de
Asustek Patent
LG Patent

• New Nokia 6 or 8 Megapixel Imaging Slider in the works?
• Triple slider idea from Nokia
• The new kind of HTC Slider
• Concept Nokia Touchscreen offers liquid-powered tactile feedback
• Two-Way slider patent for Sony Ericsson P5i look-alike

Asus J502 had remote SMS control, Asus Z801 was an interesting luxury/Karaoke phone combination.

This time at Computex trade show Asus decided to showcase  thin and stylish Asus V90 camera phone:

Asus V90 is  shiny, 13.5 mm thick candybar that comes equipped with 3mpx camera, 2″ QWGA screen, FM Radio and microSD memory card slot. Nothing really special so far.

What’s special about Asus V90 is an interesting implementation of advanced Bluetooth technology, with up to 100 m (!) coverage and chatting functionality.

Via: Phone Daily

• Asus J501 Phone Released Worldwide
• Asus J502 Camera Phone with remote SMS control
• Asus R300 Multimedia GPS Navigator headed for U.S
• Asus R300 and Asus R700 GPS Multimedia Navigators this November
• Samsung J200 – geared down version of Samsung E590

Asus J502 is a triband GSM 900/1800/1900 GPRS class 12 phone with large 2.4″ QVGA display, 3 megapixel autofocus camera, built-in flash and TV-out capability.

In addition to powerful imaging features, Asus J502 carries an interesting and useful security enhancements. If the phone is lost or left at home, users can send a predefined SMS to the Asus J502 to perform such functions as “shutdown”, “call forward”, “phone lock”, “send V-card” and “format”.

And of course, Asus J502 keeps all the goodies from its predecessor – external memory card, 10cm close-up picture capability and Bluetooth Skype phone/webcam functionality.

The specs for Asus J502 include:

GSM900/DCS1800/PCS1900; GPRS Class 12 connectivity
2.4″, 262K, 240*320 QVGA TFT Display
3 mpx auto-focus Camera with Flash Light
MP3 player, Playlist editing / single track repeat / repeat all; supports MP3, AAC, AAC+ formats
Unlimited video recording
24MB of built-in memory
Micro-SD card slot
Up-to 3.5 hrs talk-time
Dimensions: 103.5 x 52.8 x 14.7 mm, 120g

Overall Asus J502 looks like a worthy successor to the already well designed Asus J501.

• Asus J501 Phone Released Worldwide
• Asus P550 becomes Vodafone v1520 PDA phone
• Asus M930 Communicator on the way
• Asus M530W Communicator. In Orange
• Asus P320 Galaxi Mini GPS PDA phone launched

But since it featured Asus logo quite prominently, we thought that this concept was ordered or endorsed by Asus.

Turns out this is not the case. Asus Aura is pure creation of Egy Studio. It was not approved and now is officially denied Asus.

• Asus Aura -iPhone like concept
• New 3G Asus Pxx E-mail phone Surfaces
• Asus P735 PDA phone – 3G successor to Asus P525
• Ply concept phone inspired from the design of multilayered plywood
• Lupa concept phone: iPod Classic meets Motorola Aura

Asus P526 GPS PDA phone will be released during another major electronics show – CEBIT – next month. At least that’s what today’s official Asus press release says.

Other official details that we could find in the announcement for Asus P526 are:

GSM/GPRS/EDGE connectivity
2 megapixel camera
2.6″ 65K color, 240×320 px touchscreen
Weight: 115g
15.4 mm thin
Windows Mobile 6.0 OS

• Asus P320 Galaxi Mini GPS PDA phone launched
• A little more about Asus P526 Pegasus
• Asus P735 PDA phone – 3G successor to Asus P525
• Asus ZX1 Lamborghini phone specs and pictures
• Asus P550 becomes Vodafone v1520 PDA phone

We know how it will look, we know that it will run on Windows Mobile, we know more or less what’s inside Asus P526 and we really really think that it will be announced next week during 3GSM in Barcelona.

What new could we tell you Asus P526? Just that GPS and Co has found out that this PDA phone will be a little slower then expected with 200 MHz TI OMAP 850 chip, that it will cost around 600 Euro and will be out next quarter.

Oh and they’ve got some live pictures of Asus Pegasus P526 too:

And now I will try to shut up and not talk about Asus P526 until the official announcement.

• Asus Pegasus (Asus P526), successor to Asus P525 PDA Phone?
• Asus P320 Galaxi Mini GPS PDA phone launched
• Asus M930 Communicator on the way
• Pegasus – new PDA Phone from Asus
• Asus P735 PDA phone – 3G successor to Asus P525

Instead of creating 1 big push of all the new phones in it’s line-up, like Sony Ericsson did yesterday, in a little more then a month Asus let out a trickle of news about 5 different new devices: officially announced phones like Asus J501 and Z801, PDA Phones like Asus P526 and P735 and even rumored Asus Aura concept phone.

And this assured for Asus a continuous stay on the front pages of tech news outlets and gadget blogs throughout a month. So why abandon the strategy that works. Here’s another new Asus phone for you:

No name has been given to this phone so far, but GPS and Co managed to get their hands on it and found out some specs. The phone will be in P (PDA) class of Asus phones and will numbered something Pxx. This Asus Pxx phone will have:

Triband GSM (900/1800/1900, GPRS) and UMTS (WCDMA) 2100 MHz connectivity with 384 kbps data UL/DL
Intel Xscale 416 MHz chip
2.8″ 65K color, 320×240 px resolution screen
256 ROM and 64 MB RAM
2 megapixel cameras
Bluetooth 2.0 + EDR, Wi-Fi , Mini USB
MicroSD memory slot
Weight: 130 g
Windows Mobile 6

Looks like interesting Windows Mobile phone with e-mail focus to rival Nokia E61 and Samsung BlackJack when it goes on sale in Q3 this year

• Asus P735 PDA Phone officially announced
• Asus M930 Communicator on the way
• Asus P526 to be launched during CEBIT 2007 next month
• Asus P320 Galaxi Mini GPS PDA phone launched
• Asus Galaxi Mini to slug it out with HTC Touch

Today we have an official announcement of a new and also very interesting handset - Asus J501 phone.

The list of cool features for Asus J501 include:

• 2.2″ QVGA high-resolution super-sized mirror surface display with a 260,000 color TFT-LCD and support up to 240×320 resolutions
• highly-sensitive two-step auto focus 2 mpx camera shutter which can give 10cm close-ups, video recording and horizontal photos and possibility to connect to a PC via USB as a web camera
• Special software and PC Skype connectivity via Bluetooth – Skype friends list, Skype-in and out, instant messaging; GSM and Skype system switch

Asus J501 is a tri band (GSM 900/1800/1900; GPRS) phone with 2,5-5 hrs of talk and 200 hrs of standby time. It can play all popular media files, has FM radio, can record phone conversations and comes with built-in 5 MB of user memory and MicroSD memory card slot.

Asus J501 weights 100g with a dimensions of 103 x 48 x 16.6mm

• Skype 3.0 for Windows Mobile now out of beta
• Skype 3.0 Beta for Windows Mobile released and available for download
• Truphone brings Skype and Twitter to iPhone and iPod Touch users
• Skype will come to BlackBerry too
• Skype for Android and Java now available

Only LG seems to have had something at least a little bit similar to iPhone with their LG Prada KE850 phone. Other vendors were left churning out the concept phones on YouTube.

And here’s another concept phone – Asus Aura, produced by Hungarian design company Egy Studio for Taiwanese vendor. It was clearly inspired by iPhone, although it has some interesting innovations addressing commonly mentioned shortcomings of Apple’s cellphone.

One of them is a movable navigation module with navigation buttons, another – a sliding QWERTY keyboard that should make text entry much easier.

Other features of Asus Aura include – 3,9″ touchscreen covering the whole surface of the phone, 2 megapixel camera, microSD memory card slot, GSM, UMTS, HSDPA, Wi-Fi and Bluetooth connectivity. All of this in a 6mm thick package.

Unfortunately Asus Aura is just a concept so far and will stay that way probably a few years.

With the dimensions of 97×49x6mm and total volume of 28 cc, Asus aura is several times smaller then what current HSDPA chipsets allow to be. But with Moore’s law and competition among communication chip makers in full swing, who knows? We might see it sooner.

Via Mobile Review

• Asus Aura Concept Phone is Not Approved by Asustek
• New 3G Asus Pxx E-mail phone Surfaces
• Asus M930 Communicator on the way
• Samsung Ultra Smart F700 Multimedia Smartphone
• Sony Ericsson K890i Cybershot Concept. Good Design and Photoshop skills

There’s some good news and bad news about it. First the bad news. No HSDPA and GPS in Asus P735 PDA phone. It works on UMTS (WCDMA) 2100 MHz with 384 kbps UL/DL, GSM 900 / 1800 / 1900 Mhz, GPRS Class 10 networks.

Now the good news. Asus P735 has a great number of cool multimedia features. While dual camera, video calls, full multimedia playback or business card reader might be more or less standard for a high end smartphone, remote Power Point control is not.

That’s right Asus P735 comes with a software application – Asus Remote Presenter- that allows you to control Power Point presentations from a PC via Bluetooth. And you can even view the footnotes of the presentation on Asus P735 screen.

Other cool software implementations in Asus P735 smartphone include:

• Meeting Planner allows scheduling and time conversion across up to 3 timezones for teleconferencing meetings
• My Secret function encrypts and protects sensitive documents when activated
• ASUS Status feature keeps the user up to date with the status of the device;
• Asus Profile function avoids embarrassing rings during meetings

Asus P735 comes with Wi-Fi and Bluetooth connectivity, has Mini-SD card expansion slot for additional memory, weights 143g with dimensions of 109 mm x 59 mm x 19 mm.

Looks like a worthy successor to Asus P525.

• Asus V90 Camera Phone with up to 100m Bluetooth coverage
• Asus chairman confirms Eee Phone, envisions it as a remote control for the digital home
• India gets Asus Lamborghini ZX1 smartphone
• Asus Z801 Luxury Karaoke Phone
• Asus Pegasus (Asus P526), successor to Asus P525 PDA Phone?

Well, not much later as it turns out since French site GPS and Co already has the pictures of the next generation 3G Asus P735 PDA phone:

We do not know many details about this PDA phone. Here’s what we can tell you so far – Asus P735 will have full 3G/UMTS support, runs on Windows Mobile, doesn’t have keyboard (like Asus P526), has 2 megapixel camera on the back and VGA camera on the front, GPS support and microSD card slot.

We’ll have to wait for more details to emerge later, probably during 3GSM Congress in Barcelona.

• Asus Pegasus (Asus P526), successor to Asus P525 PDA Phone?
• Asus M530W Communicator. In Orange
• Asus M930 Communicator on the way
• ASUS P552w gets launched
• Asus P320 Galaxi Mini GPS PDA phone launched

New pictures of Asus P526 Pegasus PDA Phone were published by French site GPS and Co along with some additional info:

As reported earlier Asus Pegasus P525 PDA Phone will run on Windows Mobile. It has 2 megapixel camera, GPS module built in and is 15 mm thick. Reportedly it is not yet a fully 3G/UMTS phone and will support only EDGE data networks. Full 3G functionality have been postponed for the next iteration of this PDA Phone.

Source: GPS and Co via Mobile Review

• Asus P735 PDA phone – 3G successor to Asus P525
• A little more about Asus P526 Pegasus
• Asus P526 to be launched during CEBIT 2007 next month
• Asus J501 Phone Released Worldwide
• Pegasus – new PDA Phone from Asus