Photos: Asus P526, P735, Z820i, M530w phones
Asus gave us a pre-CeBIT peek at some of its newest handsets, including a smart phone with GPS, a BlackBerry-style device and a clamshell with a funky metal keypad
It seems as though Asus has come to CeBIT with an absolute mountain of new kit. We were really lucky to get a brief sneak peek at some of its new gear -- including its new phones. Asus doesn't have a long history in mobile phone manufacturing, but it's slowly becoming a big mover in the phone world. Recently, Asus secured a deal with O2 to provide it with branded handsets such as the O2 Jet and O2 Xda Graphite.
The first phone we saw on the Asus stand was the P526 (pictured), which runs on Windows Mobile 6.0 Professional edition and features 3G connectivity. Other features include a built-in GPS receiver and a 2-megapixel camera.
We had a quick play with the P526 and it feels comfortable to hold, but we couldn't turn it on because they hadn't connected the power on that section of the stand yet. Welcome to preview day at CeBIT.
It will be available in the UK later this year, and is likely to be picked up and re-branded by a UK network.
Next up was the Asus P735 (pictured). This one runs on Windows Mobile 5.0 Pocket PC Phone Edition, but it will be available with Windows Mobile 6.0 Professional edition later this year.
It comes with 3G and Wi-Fi connectivity, a 2-megapixel camera on the back and a VGA one on the front for video calling. It looks similar to the O2 XDA Zinc, but doesn't have a slide-out keypad.
It will be available in the UK later this year.
This stylish clamshell is called the Z820i (pictured) and features a sapphire crystal-encased exterior screen, 3G connectivity, a 2-megapixel camera with auto-focus and LED photo light and an MP3 player. It also has a metallic keypad that houses some of the largest and easiest top-press keys we've ever seen. Asus told us it's unlikely this phone will make it to the UK, sadly.
Finally, we found this slim BlackBerry-like device called the M530w (pictured), which comes with a full Qwerty keypad, a 2-megapixel camera with auto-focus, 3G and Wi-Fi connectivity and a Word, Excel, PowerPoint and PDF viewer.
We're really quite impressed with this email-centric device, which measures a pocket-friendly 14mm deep. Hopefully the M530w will make it to the UK, but so far there's little information about who's going to get one, so all we can do is wait and see.