Asus-Garmin was already set to take the spotlight next week and the Mobile World Congress in Barcelona next week and it looks as though the two have taken the stage early with an announcement detailing the Nuvifone M20.

While Garmin had been dropping hints about the G60, which it commissioned Asus to build last year, we’d heard nothing from either company with regard to any other upcoming handsets since they formally announced their plans to deliver an entire line of phones together. The M20 is next in line following the G60, and we’re actually a little excited.

We said last week we weren’t expecting anything significant from Asus-Garmin’s attempt at breaking into the smartphone market but we do find their approach refreshing from what we’ve seen in the last year or so. Too soon after the iPhone launched, companies began to crank out me-too products, each claiming theirs was the one to take down the iPhone. The M20 will not beat the iPhone; but because with its own niche market, it doesn’t need to.

Specs wise you’re looking at a dual-band 3.5G/tri-band GSM phone with Wi-Fi connectivity, push email, Bluetooth, full QWERTY soft keyboard sat nav, a 2.8 inch screen, HSDPA wireless connectivity and Wi-Fi (802.11 b/g), 4 GB – 8 GB of internal storage and a microSD slot. The M20 is Windows Mobile 6.1 but the company is reportedly introducing an Android based phone in the near future, so if you’re really anit-WinMo you won’t have to hang on long.

While pricing (or carrier) has yet to be announced, we’re willing to bet if they price this competitively enough they’ll get a bundle of sales from those looking to upgrade their phone and or GPS but don’t want to splash out on both during times when money is tight. Aesthetics-wise, it’s not bad looking and from the look of the website, comes in four different colours. I'm also chuffed that of those four, they've steered clear of pink. Must have been a really difficult move.

Check it out here.

Source : Tom's Hardware US