Tech Shout!

On Friday, technology manufacturer Asus launched two new PDA devices in India. The P526 PDA Phone and M530w Smart Phone made their entrée into the Indian market, essentially targeting businessmen and corporates. Unveiled at the Taj Palace in Mumbai, the event had the who’s who from the Asus group.

At the event, Asus threw light on its mobile communication product strategy for India. The formal initiative to step into the Indian market has been got off the ground with the introduction of two of its premium PDA phones for business professionals.

Benson Lin - General Manager, Asus Asia Pacific region; Andrew Tsui, Managing Director, ASUS India and Edward Wang, Business Head, Mobile Communication Business, ASUS India spoke about each new product along with the company’s business strategies in India.

“We see a huge potential going forward in the PDA Phone market in India. We have leveraged our global leadership in the PC peripherals market acknowledged for quality well engineered products experience to develop best quality PDA phones for the Indian Market”, said Benson Lin.

Adding, “By June 2008 we want to gain a significant market share and in the next two years become the No.1 PDA phone provider in India,” said Mr. Andrew Tsui, Managing Director, ASUS India. “India can expect to see a whole range of premium Asus PDA phones being launched in the next few months.”

Speaking about the M530w, Edward Wang, said, “In today’s day and age, connectivity anytime and anyplace is a vital requirement of all professionals. The M530w is a Smart Phone in the truest sense of the word, because of its varied features for business as well as entertainment on the go!”

The Asus M530w supports Push E-mail and also has the ability to concurrently receive mails from the user’s office Outlook mail server. In addition it can also update their organizers and communications records for easier data management.

Further on, the device offers support to several Mail Server systems including POP3, IMAP4, Microsoft Exchange, BlackBerry4.0. So no matter where the user is, in the country or elsewhere, different mail servers will not be a hindrance in remaining connected and updated with work mails

The other key features of the Asus M530w Smart Phone are:

The main specs of the Asus M530w Smart Phone are:

Coming to the other device launched, the Asus P526 PDA Phone makes use of Windows Mobile 6 Professional features, Global Positioning System (GPS) capabilities and a variety of messaging advancements enabling users to experience Windows Live with enhanced stability and speed. By integrating a number of well-known Windows Live mobile services, the P526 keeps users connected with their communities and lets them find the information they require quickly and without hassle.

Wang said, “The ASUS P526 PDA is a stylish gadget for people on the move and who prefer to remain connected at all times through online communities, instant messengers, blog updates, emails and files transfers. Productivity is also enhanced though built in applications like GPS.”

One of the most significant features of the Asus P526 is the way in which it makes it possible for users to use Windows Live to integrate contacts so that users can see who is online or offline at any given time. Also, users can then share and update their lives via photos, instant messaging or e-mails.

The P526 incorporates a convenient feature with the integrated Windows Mobile 6 Professional Smart Dial feature, which enables users to automatically pull up contacts when they start typing a first or last name with the keypad. The search bar located just below the current time launches web searches without requiring opening the browser, thereby simplifying the task of web searching.

The other features of the Asus P526 PDA Phone are:

Specs of the Asus P526 PDA Phone are:

While the Asus M530W is expected to retail in the Indian market at Rs. 20,900/- , Asus P526 will be priced at about Rs.16,990/-. The PDAs will be distributed by India Digital Lifestyle Distributors Pvt Ltd (IDLDPL) across the country.

In addition, Asus is also in negotiations with several mobile telecom service providers to bundle Asus PDA phones with their new subscribers. ASUS plans to initially target the top five metros—Bangalore, Chennai, Delhi, Kolkata, and Mumbai for the PDA phones, since a significant number of business users, who are the company’s main target audience are located in these metros.