Last year Asus unveiled a candy-bar style GPS-enabled Pocket PC Phone that had a lot going for it, except for the omission of a 3G radio. This week the company announced what can only be viewed as an upgrade to the P535, the P735. This smartphone integrates high-speed cellular networking courtesy of UMTS. However, it lacks GPS. You can't have everything it seems.

The P735 is also a candy-bar phone, except it is tablet-style, as the smartphone drops the P535's hard numeric keypad for on-screen dialing. There are navigation controls underneath the display.

Specifications include a 520 MHz Marvell Xscale processor, 256 MB of flash memory, 64 MB of RAM, a miniSD expansion slot, Bluetooth 2.0, 802.11b/g Wi-Fi, a 1300 mAh Li-Ion battery, and a 2.8-inch QVGA (240 x 320 pixel) display. For some reason Asus uses a slower USB 1.1 connector rather than USB 2.0.

There are two cameras, a VGA type in front for video conferencing and a 2 megapixel shooter with auto focus on the back.

The GSM tri-band GSM (900/1800/ 900 MHz) handset supports the European and Asian-Friendly 2100 MHz UMTS band, making a U.S. release of the 19-millimeter thick P735 unlikely - at least in this configuration.

In addition to the standard Pocket PC software, Asus includes some additional business friendly applications with the P735.

These include one called Remote Presenter that allows users to control PowerPoint presentations stored on a notebook via a Bluetooth connection. They can also read notes on the P735's display as they are presenting.

As with the P525 the P735 bundles software that allows you to take a picture of a business card it automatically adds the information to the smartphone’s contact list.

The P735's My Secret function encrypts and protects sensitive documents when activated.

Although Asus announced the P735, it hasn't revealed where it'll ship or for how much yet. We’ll keep you posted.