HTC is not that good anymore? - Asus Mars II launches as O2 XDA Zinc

Yesterday we voiced our opinion that ASUSTeK may soon be one of the main players in the Smartphone market … but it seems they will be one of the leaders in all Windows Mobile-powered phones' market, as the FCC also revealed information on the Asus Mars II Pocket PC Phone, which will be available as the O2 XDA Zinc.

What can be said clearly is that it is inspired by … HTC. It shares many with the new TyTN (Cingular will get as the 8525), like the PocketPC form-factor with side sliding keyboard, but has some own pros and cons.
The main drawback is that it is tri-band GSM and single-band UMTS phone ONLY, and is not capable of global roaming, unlike the TyTN that is world-capable GSM/3G. But we are still in love with PocketPC phone with side-sliding huge full QWERTY keyboard, WiFi (802.11b/g) powered by robust Intel PXA270, 520MHz processor which should be faster than the 400MHz Samsung one of the rival TyTN.

Asus Mars II / O2 XDA Zinc main specifications:

• GSM 900/1800/1900 MHz + UMTS 2100 MHz
• Windows Mobile 5 for Pocket PC Phones
• Intel PXA270 520 MHz Processor,128MB ROM, 64MB RAM, MiniSD slot for memory
• 1300 mAh Li-Ion battery
• Side-sliding full QWERTY keyboard
• 2.8-inch QVGA 65k color display; 2-megapixel camera with Auto-Focus
• 802.11b/g WiFi, Bluetooth v2.0

O2 customers will be lucky to get this phone, and we can only hope for a Global roaming capables version.

Source: FCC