By John Chan
19/04/2007
URL: http://asia.cnet.com/reviews/mobilephones/0,39050603,62006490,00.htm

New from Asus are three handhelds in different shades of silver. These include two dedicated PDAs, the A626 and A696, and one PDA-phone, the P735. They all have slim side profiles and run on Windows Mobile 5.0.

Editors' note: According to Asus, the A626 and the A696 will come with two styli, a protective bag, USB travel sync cable, AC adapter and Skype CD, with the latter sporting an additional car kit. Customers who purchase the A696 are entitled to free upgrades for Agis maps within the year. However, it will cost S$25.80 for each subsequent year of use. Only the Singapore map will be bundled with the A696. The company also said that though the mid-May shipment for the P735 runs on Windows Mobile 5.0, customers will have the option to upgrade to Windows Mobile 6 without any additional costs when it becomes available. The A626 and the A696, however, will not have any free upgrades from Asus.

	Asus P735 (click for larger image)

The two dedicated PDAs share very similar specifications including a 3.5-inch QVGA display, an SD card slot and identical dimensions of 117 x 70.8 x 15.7mm. What sets the A696 apart from the A626 is the SiRF Star III GPS chipset for navigation. It even comes with a car kit which consists of a holder and car charger. Software and maps will be bundled as well, from Agis in Singapore, which also provides the Asia Maps application in the Nokia N95. This is not the first time Asus is making a dedicated PDA with GPS--an earlier example would be the MyPal A639 launched last year. But the A696 cuts a more stylish design because it does not have an external antenna like its predecessors.

The third handheld to be available soon is the P735, a 3G PDA-phone. This device will feature 3G and GSM connectivity as well as Wi-Fi for use at hotspots. It has two cameras, one for video calls at the front and a second 2-megapixel one behind with auto-focus. Furthermore, it comes with software that encrypts documents, an extra safeguard for those with sensitive data. Regrettably, the P735 does not come with an integrated GPS chip, which was present in its previous 2.5G PDA-phone, the P535.

Asus was not able to confirm if Windows Mobile 6 upgrades for these devices would be available in the second half of the year, but did not rule out such a possibility for the P735 and A696 handhelds.

They will be available in Singapore, Malaysia, Hong Kong and Taiwan in April, with prices at S$548 for the A626 and S$698 for the A696. The price of the P735 as well as the three devices' availability in other Asia-Pacific countries will be announced at a later date.

New handhelds from Asus

Model name	In a nutshell
Asus P735 Click for more details	Cool factor: 3G PDA-phone with security software for business users. Notable features: Triband with 3G 2-megapixel camera with auto-focus 2.8-inch 320 x 240-pixel LCD Microsoft Windows Mobile 5.0 Pocket PC Phone Edition Intel XScale 520MHz processor 256MB flash ROM 64MB SDRAM Built-in Wi-Fi and Bluetooth 2.0 109 x 59 x 19mm; 143g Availability: April 2007 Price: S$1,248
Asus A626 Click for more details	Cool factor: A slim PDA with front-mounted speakers for video and audio playback. Notable features: Intel XScale 312MHz processor Microsoft Windows Mobile 5.0 Pocket PC Edition 3.5-inch 320 x 240-pixel LCD 128MB flash ROM 64MB SDRAM Integrated microphone and speaker Built-in Wi-Fi and Bluetooth 2.0 117mm x 70.8mm x 15.7mm; 158g Availability: April 2007 Price: S$548
Asus A696 Click for more details	Cool factor: Slim PDA with GPS built in for navigation. Notable features: Intel XScale 416MHz processor Microsoft Windows Mobile 5.0 Pocket PC Edition 3.5-inch 320 x 240-pixel LCD 128MB flash ROM 64MB SDRAM SiRF Star III GPS chipset with Internal GPS antenna Integrated microphone and speaker Built-in Wi-Fi and Bluetooth 2.0 117mm x 70.8mm x 15.7mm; 165g Availability: April 2007 Price: S$698