ASUS has announced a new PDA device, the A696. Though appearing like a smartphone, it is in fact mainly a GPS device, equipped with a SiRFstar III receiver and a 416MHz Intel processor. Routing and maps are supplied by Destinator. The base operating system is Windows Mobile 5.0, which allows users to not only play music and movies, but read e-mail and browse the web, connecting through 802.11b/g. Bluetooth 2.0 allows the device to pair with numerous accessories.

The target business audience will appreciate the bundled software, which includes Outlook, Excel, Word and PowerPoint. Files can be stored on 256MB of internal memory, or alternately on any number of SD cards. It should launch within the next two weeks at a price of approximately £200 ($400). [via Pocket-lint]