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At 3GSM in February an unannounced ASUS smartphone, the P305 - based on the Windows Mobile 5.0 operating system, made the rounds. Today, the electronics vendor officially announced a new Pocket PC Phone, the P525, that's definitely not going to be confused with that handset model. Most notably, because the P525, unlike the P305, omits the UMTS (Universal Mobile Telecommunications System) 3G technology used in most of European markets and by Cingular in the United States.

And yet, ASUS says "Business Anywhere" is the design concept behind the P525.

So, while there's no high-speed cellular-broadband, at least there's Wi-Fi to enable most speedy wireless services when a hot spot or wireless LAN is within reach. It also supports Skype-in and Skype-out functions for VoIP calling. The company also emphasizes the P525's push e-mail capability through Microsoft's Direct Push technology to an Exchange Server.

Unlike a lot of other Pocket PC Phones available right now; for example, a number of models (think T-Mobile's MDA) from fellow Taiwanese vendor High Tech Computers, the P525 does not sport a QWERTY thumb-keyboard. Rather, the smartphone has a traditional numeric keypad on the front and a 2-megapixel camera with flash on the back.

The camera also acts as a business card recognition device. Take a picture of a business card, and the P525 will automatically convert information on the card into Outlook's contact list.

A 5-way joystick enables one-hand menu navigation for accessing and managing the various functions. While you can also enter information on the quad-band (850/900/1800/1900) GSM/GPRS smartphone's 2.8-inch QVGA (240 x 320 pixel) resolution, 65k touch screen.

The unit measures 4.6 x 2.3 x 0.7 inches (116.8 x 59 x 19 millimeters) and weighs 5.6 ounces (159.5 grams).

It runs on a 416MHz Intel XScale, 128MB Flash ROM, 64MB SDRAM, and 1300 mAh lithium-ion battery for about 3.5 hours talk and 150-200 hours standby time on a single charge. The P525 also has a minSD card slot for memory expansion, a 2.5mm audio jack for stereo headsets, Bluetooth (no word on if it supports wireless stereo headsets), and delivers text to speech software and speaker independent voice recognition.

ASUS did not reveal when and where the P525 will ship, or for how much. We'll let you know as we find out more.