Latest phones and cell review

ASUS is debuting the Republic of Gamers (ROG) Maximus III Extreme, a P55-based motherboard that enables users to tweak system settings wirelessly over Bluetooth via a mobile phone. An extension of ASUS’ proprietary ROG Connect overclocking platform, RC Bluetooth allows users to review the status of their systems’ hardware and tweak parameters wirelessly from a Bluetooth-enabled PDA phone.

RC Bluetooth is also capable of performing standard Bluetooth functions, such as stereo music playback, Skype messaging, Internet access via a Bluetooth phone, and mobile phone or PDA synchronization. All it requires is the press of a button located on the rear I/O panel to toggle between overclocking and standard modes.

Available since August, Garmin-Asus is now providing Windows Mobile 6.5 upgrade to its nüvifone M20 users for free. The GPS smartphone combines a dual-band 3.5G/tri-band GSM phone with Wi-Fi, HSDPA connectivity, desktop-like internet browser, push email, document viewing, multi-media capability, Bluetooth and Garmin sat nav. Existing users of nüvifone M20 phones running Windows Mobile 6.1 are also eligible for the free update to Windows Mobile 6.5. Details on how to perform the update can be found on www.garminasus.com

With Windows Mobile 6.5, the new nüvifone M20 boasts interface improvements, such as large touch-optimized icons and a streamlined Home screen, and comes preloaded with Facebook. In addition, users will be able to take advantage of Microsoft Corp.’s Windows Marketplace for Mobile to easily download and install additional applications to their M20.

The Garmin-Asus nüvifone M20 will soon to be launched with Windows Mobile 6.5 in Taiwan, Hong Kong, Thailand, Singapore, Malaysia, India, Russia, Ukraine, Poland, Czech, Turkey and other markets by the end of 2009.

M20 Specifications:

• Tri-band GSM / GPRS / Edge 900/1800/1900
• 900/2100 HSPA 7.2 Mbps
• 802.11 b/g WLAN, Bluetooth 2.0+EDR, HFP, HSP, A2DP, AVRCP, mini USB 2.0
• 3MP camera with auto-focus and geo-tagging
• 95.3 x 52.5 x 12.8 mm
• 2.8″, 65K, TFT with touch lens

Not during Mobile World Congress,but last week ASUS has launched the P835, a full touch screen windows phone featuring a 3.5-inch display screen with WVGA resolution. The Asus P835 was first leaked in September last year, has a codename “Galaxy 7″. Apart from the fast HSUPA 7.2Mbps download speeds, the P835 provides a trackball for effortless scrolling and an updated touch-optimized interface, Asus Glide UI.

The P835 has the additional ability to function as a Wi-Fi Access Point. It can share its high-speed HSPA cellular data or Internet connection over Wi-Fi with up to 10 devices, such as laptops or other PDA phones. With 4GB internal Storage, the built in microSD card slot will give you an option to increase the storage space. The Asus P835 will be running Windows Mobile 6.1.

Specifications

• HSPA (DL: 7.2Mbps, UL: 2Mbps), UMTS 900/1900/2100
• EDGE/GPRS/GSM 850/900/1800/1900, Class 12
• Microsoft Windows Mobile 6.1 Professional
• Dimensions: 115mm x 59mm x 13.8mm
• Weight :148g (with battery)
• Standby Time: 350hrs with 3G and 300hrs with 2G
• Talk Time: 6hrs with 3G and 7hrs with 2G
• Display: 3.5” TFT, 65K-color Touchscreen, WVGA (800 x 480 pixels)
• Processor: Qualcomm 7201A 528MHz
• Memory: 4GB Internal Storage + 288MB SDRAM + 256MB ROM
• Expansion Slot: MicroSD with SDHC support
• Connectivity: WLAN 802.11b+g , USB v2.0, Bluetooth 2.0+EDR
• Battery: 1100mAh Lithium
• GPS (AGPS supported)
• 5 Megapixel Camera, Auto Focus
• Bluetooth

Together with the new nuvifone M20 announcement, Garmin-Asus has also revealed its upcoming nuvifone G60’s specification. The quad-band GSM nüvifone G60 supports HSDPA wireless network, has built in WiFi, 3.55-inch touch screen and a 3 megapixel camera.

The home screen features three primary icons - “Call,” “Search,” and “View Map.” Secondary icons appear on the side of the home screen and can be organized by the user’s preference. Customers can easily scroll through the icons by swiping their finger across the large touchscreen display, and a built-in accelerometer allows every screen to be viewed in either portrait or landscape orientation. Similar to nuvifone M20, the G60 will comes with pre-loaded maps of North America or Eastern and Western Europe, and has millions of points of interest (POIs) including hotels, restaurants and street addresses. There is also pre-installed Ciao! application to share your location with your friends.

Garmin-Asus expects to announce the nüvifone G60’s pricing and availability in the first half of 2009.

Garmin-Asusvtoday announced the Garmin-Asus nüvifone M20, an all-in-one phone, mobile web-browser and premium navigation system with a Windows Mobile operating system. The Garmin-Asus nüvifone M20 will be on display at GSMA Mobile World Congress in Barcelona, Spain, February 16-19, 2009, at the Garmin-Asus exhibit (Hall 7, #7C37). The GPS smartphone combines a dual-band 3.5G/tri-band GSM phone with Wi-Fi, HSDPA connectivity, desktop-like internet browser, push email, document viewing, multi-media capability, Bluetooth and Garmin sat nav. The M20 does not have a keyboard but you will be able to use a on screen full QWERTY soft keyboard for text input.

The nüvifone M20 supports download speeds of up to 7.2 Mbps and offers a desktop-style web browsing experience. Users can zoom and pan web pages with their finger as they view the information in either portrait or landscape orientation. In addition, they can easily navigate to an address on a web page with only a few taps of the screen. When available, the M20 will comes with preloaded maps and points of interest (POIs) - hotels, restaurants, stores, fuel stations and more - for North America, Eastern and Western Europe, or other regions. You can also make use of the connected service for real-time traffic information, White Pages, weather, flight status, local events, and movie times.

The nüvifone product line also includes Ciao!, a LBS application that helps users stay up to date on their friends’ whereabouts and status by linking numerous location-centric social networks. Through Ciao!, nüvifone users will see their friends’ location on a map and then be able to navigate to that location with ease.

The nüvifone M20 has exceptional entertainment capabilities with the combination of a 2.8″ TFT touch display with VGA resolution, built-in microphone and speakers, built-in 4Gb/8Gb My Storage, and ActiveSync for Outlook, Microsoft Office, and multi-media synchronization. The three megapixel camera automatically geotags images with the exact latitude and longitudinal coordinates. Users can then save the image on their phone, email it to a friend, or navigate to where the image was taken.

Garmin-Asus expects to announce the nüvifone M20’s pricing and availability information in the first half of 2009. There will be four color options, blue, red, black or yellow.

[via gizmodo]