Windows Phone Thoughts: Asus Announces New PDA/phone with GPS: P527

"P527 is an evolution of P526: it regains its successful shape, namely a touch screen combined with a digital keyboard. It will have in more Wi-Fi, radio operator FM and its Bluetooth connectivity evolves/moves in version 2.0 (P526 was in Bluetooth 1.2). Other design features not changing. On the level of the keyboard that of P527 has keys more spaced than that of P526 and seems less practical. Personally, I find that the design of P527 less beautiful than that of his predecessor. According to the photographs, like its predecessor, it will have a serrated roller as well as a Hold button making it possible to lock the touch screen." [Google translation]



The French-language GPSandCO offers details on this nice small upgrade to the Asus P526. WiFi enhancements, touchscreen, and 2 MP camera along with built-in GPS receiver (SiRF Star III) make this a very interesting candybar smartphone running Windows Mobile Professional 6. Look for this Quad Band (850/900/1800/1900) phone to also support GPRS and EDGE and expansion through a MicroSD slot. The anticipated cost will be around 500 € (approximately $700 USD). It will be interesting in a quickly crowding smartphone market to see which phones take the lead.