14 DAY TRIAL // Asus has released two new GPS enabled handhelds, the A696 and the A686. The main difference between the two devices seems to be in the processor power and the memory size because the design is the same in both handsets.
They both have GPS SiRF Star III chipsets that allow their use as navigation mobile devices and feature and ultra-slim body of only 15.7 mm, very rare if not even never seen before in such complete solution handhelds.
The A696 and the A686 PDA phones have a stainless steel case and two front speakers, a 3.5 inch touchscreen anti-glare QVGA display working at a 240x320 pixels resolution, support for wireless Bluetooth EDR 2.0, Wi-Fi 802.11 b/g wireless Internet connection, integrated microphone, full duplex recording and playback, a Windows Mobile 5.0 operating system being run on an Intel Xscale 312 MHz processor in the case of the A686 and on a Intel Xscale 416 MHz one on the A696 handset.
They also offer 64 MB of RAM SDRAM, 128 MB of flash ROM (A686) and 256 MB on the A696, a 1200 mAh removable battery, measure 11.7 x 70.8 x 15.7 mm and weigh 165 grams.
As it seems, these two PDA phones will probably be the favorites of the businessmen that always want to stay connected to the Internet and the corporate networks, which like the security added by the Flash memory that keeps all the stored information even if all the battery power has drained away and also the huge versatility of the Pocket PC platform.
And, as a bonus to all the things already mentioned above, the future users will be able to use the integrated Remote Presenter application that can be used to link or control computer presentations with the help of the Enhanced Data Rate Bluetooth connectivity that speeds up the data exchange by up to two or three times compared to the conventional Bluetooth technology.