Garmin-Asus, a co-branded alliance between Garmin and ASUSTeK, today announced that the n?vifone M20?an phone is now available with Windows Mobile 6.5.

With Windows Mobile 6.5, the new n?vifone M20 boasts interface improvements, such as large touch-optimized icons and a streamlined Home screen, and comes preloaded with Facebook. In addition, users will be able to take advantage of Microsoft's Windows Marketplace for Mobile to download and install additional applications to their M20. The Windows Marketplace offers mobile applications for free or purchase, from important business tools to popular social networking applications such as MySpace to games. Last but not least, the new My Phone service offers a wealth of features such as data migration, data auto-syncing, backup and restoration, remote data wiping, as well as viewing, syncing and sharing of photos across PC, phone and web platforms.

Garmin-Asus has blended its signature navigation centric user interface with Windows Mobile 6.5. "Through its innovative integration of a phone, navigator, and browser, the n?vifone M20 is designed to enhance the lives of consumers today," said Benson Lin, Vice President and General Manager of the ASUS Handheld Business Group. "With Windows Mobile 6.5, users can enjoy the same great LBS (location-based service) features of the original n?vifone M20, but with a richer and more rewarding user experience."

The Garmin-Asus n?vifone M20 running Windows Mobile 6.5 will be available in Taiwan, Hong Kong, Thailand, Singapore, Malaysia, India, Russia, Ukraine, Poland, Czech, Turkey and other markets by the end of 2009.

Existing users of n?vifone M20 phones running Windows Mobile 6.1 are also eligible for the free update to Windows Mobile 6.5. Details on how to perform the update can be found on www.garminasus.com.