14 DAY TRIAL // Garmin-Asus, the joint-venture between Garmin and Asustek, has just unveiled officially the Garmin-Asus Nuvifone M10, a handset that was expected to make an appearance on the floor at the Mobile World Congress in Barcelona next month. The handset has been made available for pre-order in Taiwan, and is only one of the devices that the joint-venture plans on releasing on the Taiwanese market in February, it seems.
One of the main interesting features of the new mobile phone is the fact that it comes around with Microsoft's Windows Mobile 6.5.3 operating system, a flavor of the platform that hasn't been unveiled officially yet. The mobile client on this handset is Windows Mobile Maldives, which at one point was said to be the Windows Mobile 6.6 OS flavor Microsoft plans on launching at the MWC show in Barcelona, but it seems that it will actually turn into WM 6.5.3 in the end.
The specifications list of the new Garmin-Asus Nuvifone M10 shows that it sports a Qualcomm 7227 600MHz processor inside, a 3.5-inch touchscreen display that boasts a WVGA (800 x 480 pixel) resolution, a 5-megapixel photo snapper, HSDPA / WCDMA / 3G 900/2100 and 2G 900/1800/1900 connectivity options, and 4GB of internal memory.
At the same time, the handset will also come with a built-in GPS receiver, coupled with Garmin GPS software, with 512MB of RAM and 512MB of ROM, Wi-Fi and Bluetooth connectivity options, a microSD memory card slot with support for up to 32GB of additional storage space, 3.5mm headphone jack, and a 1500 mAh battery. The mobile phone measures 116 x 58 x 14.3 mm and weighs in at 138 grams.
According to slashphone, the Garmin-Asus Nuvifone M10 is expected to become available for purchase starting with February 6, featuring a price tag of around 450 USD, which should include an extra battery, or a car holder for navigation. As stated above, the handset should also arrive at MWC 2010 in Barcelona, Spain, and details on its availability in other markets are expected to be unveiled at that time. In the meantime, one can see the phone on Asus' website here.