Asus Rolls Out Windows Mobile Touchscreen Smartphone 

Bernard Cole
iApplianceWeb
(09/08/08, 8:15 AM GMT)

San Francisco, Ca. – Asustek Computer Inc. has just introduced a touchscreen smartphone that should make mobile professionals much happier in their work.

Called the Asus P552w, it uses a Marvell Tavor 624 MHz processor to run Window Mobile Professional 6.1, and it's capable of many productive mobile applications.

The handset sendd and received e-mail and  instant messaging, and it can view and edit Microsoft Word, Excel, and PowerPoint files.

While the smartphone lacks a physical keypad, all input can be done on the virtual keyboard input on the phone's 2.8-inch touch screen.

Asus has implemented a custom user interface it calls “Glide” to replace the cumbersome Windows Mobile interface normally used on a touchscreen device.

With the Glide interface, a user can perform navigational functions like zooming, selecting, and scrolling with finger entry on the touch screen. The interface can also be used with integrate applications for functions like reading news, viewing slideshows, and checking the weather.

The P552w also has integrated Wi-Fi, EDGE, and 3G capabilities with a downlink speed of 3.6 Mbps for browsing the Web and retrieving e-mail.

There's also a built-in GPS chip that features deep integration with Google Maps for directions and more. Memory can be expanded using the phone's microSD slot.

In addition to Bluetooth capabilities, the phone comes preinstalled with entertainment features that enable users to watch videos and listen to music. The handset also has a 2-megapixel camera that can record videos, and photos can be directly uploaded to Flickr over the air.

The handset measures in at 4 by 2.3 by .5 inches, and it weighs 3.7 ounces. To learn more, go to www.asus.com/

For more information about topics, issues and technologies mentioned in this story go to the flashing icon in the upper left corner on any page or go to  the iAppliance Web Views page and call up the associatively-linked Java/XML-based Web map of the iApplianceWeb site.

Enter the appropriate key word, product or company name to list instantly every news and product story, product review and product database entry relating to the topic since the beginning of the 2002.