Asus mobile phone headed for the States

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Jan. 15, 2008

Asus has made one of its smartphones available in the U.S. market officially for the first time. The P527 runs Windows Mobile 6 Professional, and boasts GPS, plus software that automatically and regularly reports a user's location to a predefined list of contacts, the company says.

(Click here for a larger view of the Asus P527)

The P527 is in many ways similar to the P526 introduced only recently. In addition to sharing that device's SiRF starIII GPS circuitry, the newer P527 again offers a 2.6-inch touchscreen display with 320 x 240 resolution. Also carried over is the two-megapixel camera, and 200MHz TI OMAP850 CPU. There's 64MB of RAM, and the standard 128MB of flash can be expanded via a microSD slot.

However, the P527 has a couple of welcome hardware additions. First, unlike the P526, it offers 802.11b/g wireless local area networking. Second, it also includes a built-in FM receiver.

The new P527's silver-gray aluminum case features a numeric keypad, plus eight dedicated hotkeys. It also has a five-way front-mounted jog dial and a three-way side jog wheel.

The "most unique features on the P527," in Asus's words, are its Travelog and Location Courier software. Travelog enables users to record their travel routes via GPS, then export data in Google Earth format. Location Courier, meanwhile, can send a user's position, either on demand or at preset intervals, to as many as five contacts via SMS messages.

Other added software on the phone includes Newstation, a reader for RSS feeds, and a business card recognition feature.

Specifications listed for the P527 by Asus include:

Processor -- 200MHz TI OMAP850
Memory -- 64MB SDRAM, 128MB Flash
Display -- 2.6-inch 240 x 320 pixels, 16-bit color
Camera -- 2 megapixel
Wireless:
- Quad band, EDGE/GPRS/GSM 850/900/1800/1900 (spec for version released in Taiwan; US version could differ)
- 802.11b/g wireless LAN
- Bluetooth 2.0
- GPS receiver
- FM receiver
I/O ports:
- USB 1.1
- Audio -- stereo headset jack
- IrDA infrared
Expansion -- microSD card slot
Dimensions -- 4.9 x 2.3 x 0.6 inches (113 x 58 x 15.4 mm)
Weight (with battery) -- 4 ounces (125 g)

Asus announced U.S. sales of the P527 at last week's Consumer Electronics Show (CES), but did not release pricing and availability information. The device appears to be already available in many international markets.

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