Asus P522w Smartphone (click for larger image)

Computer maker Asus on Monday announced a touchscreen smartphone that should make mobile professionals more productive.

The company's latest handset -- the Asus P552w -- uses a Marvell Tavor 624 MHz processor to run Window Mobile Professional 6.1, and it's capable of many productive mobile applications. The handset's can send and receive e-mail and instant messaging, and it can view and edit Microsoft Word, Excel, and PowerPoint files.

The smartphone lacks a physical keypad, as all of the input is done through the phone's 2.8-inch touch screen. Some have found Windows Mobile to be a cumbersome to use on a touchscreen device, so Asus has implemented a custom user interface it has dubbed Glide.

With Glide, a user can perform navigational functions like zooming, selecting, and scrolling with flicks of the finger. The interface can also be used with integrate applications for functions like reading news, viewing slideshows, and checking the weather.

The P552w sports integrated Wi-Fi, EDGE, and 3G capabilities with a maximum downlink speed of 3.6 Mbps for browsing the Web and retrieving e-mail. There's a built-in GPS chip that features deep integration with Google Maps for directions and more. Users will also be able expand the phone's memory via a microSD slot, and it has Bluetooth capabilities.

Asus' smartphone also comes preinstalled with entertainment features that enable users to watch videos and listen to music. The handset also has a 2-megapixel camera that can record videos, and photos can be directly uploaded to Flickr over the air.

The handset should rest comfortably in the hand, as it measures in at 4 by 2.3 by .5 inches, and it weighs 3.7 ounces. Asus did not mention when the device would be released, or what the price range would be.

To give the new Asus smartphone some perspective, InformationWeek has published a report that highlights how companies are using smartphones, PDAs, and pocket PCs to access business applications. The report can be downloaded here (registration required).