ASUS Aries

Either we're dreaming a lovely dream, or phone manufacturers are finally starting to embrace the concept of tri-band UMTS; for the sake of speed-loving Americans everywhere, we're hoping it's the latter. The "Aries" from ASUS will come bearing all the sweet, sweet fruits of Windows Mobile 6 Standard (that's like Smartphone, for you WM5-toting gals and gents) combined with UMTS on the 850, 1900, and 2100MHz bands for global coverage. Other features include a true scroll wheel (none of that Excalibur-style touch strip action here), 2 megapixel camera, front facing secondary cam for video calls, 520MHz XScale processor, and -- in the event you couldn't deduce it from the pictures -- a QWERTY keypad. We're told the Aries clocks in just a hair wider and thicker than the Excalibur, and if we're going to get global 3G in exchange, well, we're just fine with that. If in-the-flesh shots of phones aren't your thing, peep a decidedly more conceptual view of the Aries after the break!