ASUS chasing after Nokia with M930W smartphone

ASUS is branching out into unfamiliar territory and will roll out a smartphone targeted at the very high end of its market, leaks from GPSandCo reveal. The M930W will borrow its cue from Nokia's E90 Communicator and LG's enV: despite resembling a standard candybar phone on the outside, the handset will open up to reveal a lengthwise QWERTY keyboard and a larger internal screen. It will even mimic a notebook PC and open at a 90 degree angle suitable for a desk as well as a full 180 degrees for handheld use, says the French site.

The phone would be powered by ASUS' typical choice of Windows Mobile 6 Professional and will use both 3G (including HSDPA) as well as Wi-Fi for its Internet access. A 3.2-megapixel camera and a microSDHC slot that can accept at least 32GB of storage should also push the M930W past both ASUS' earlier smartphones and competitors. No precise launch date is given, though the phone is due in the first quarter of 2008 and may be announced either at CES in January or at the Mobile World Congress in February.