Asus unveils its last own-brand PDA-phone

Though it isn't one of the more prominent makers of PDA-phones, Asus has consistently provided a stream of products which are up to date with other market offerings. Keeping up with the trend of high-end touchscreen devices with larger screens, the Taiwanese manufacturer has announced the P835 handheld which comes with a 3.5-inch WVGA (800 x 480) display.

The P835 will come with Asus' Glide interface.

Aside from a generous display, the P835 also comes with a host of features including HSDPA and HSUPA, 4GB of internal storage, a microSD card slot and GPS for satellite navigation. Unlike the recently launched P565 which comes with an 800MHz Marvell processor, the P835 uses the 528MHz Qualcomm MSM7201A commonly found in HTC products. This chipset gives it integrated GPS capabilities, a change from the discrete SiRFStar III usually used in earlier Asus handhelds.

Software-wise, the P835 comes with an interesting application which allows you to set the device as a Wi-Fi access point, sharing its HSDPA connection with the network for up to 10 users. It also comes with the Glide interface for easier navigation of the Windows Mobile 6.1 operating system, a feature we have explored extensively in our review of the P552w and P565 devices.

Another significant milestone associated with this announcement is the fact that it will be Asus' last own-brand PDA-phone. Moving forward, the company will launch all of its touchscreen-based cellular handhelds as Garmin-Asus devices in its partnership with the personal navigation device manufacturer. In fact, two devices have already been announced under that new brand, the nuvifone G60 and nuvifone M20.

The Asus P835 will be available in Q2 in Asia Pacific. The specific countries where it will be launched and its price will be announced nearer to the availability date. Check out detailed specs of this upcoming PDA-phone below.

Model name	In a nutshell
Asus P835	Features: Tri-band HSDPA/HSUPA and quad-band GSM 115 x 59 x 13.8mm; 148g 528MHz Qualcomm MSM7201A processor 288MB RAM; 256MB ROM 4GB built-in storage and microSD card slot 5-megapixel camera with autofocus 3.5-inch 800 x 480-pixel display Expected: Q2 2009 in Asia