O2 will launch its Asus-made 3G PDA phone, the XDA Zinc, in January 2007, the carrier has revealed. Zinc is the device most recently known by its codename, 'Mars 2', and which appeared on the US Federal Communications Commission (FCC) website in October this year.

O2 compares Zinc to the XDA Mini S but "with added 3G power for high speed Internet and video calling". Zinc sports a slide-out QWERTY keyboard and, according to the FCC posting, a 2.8in, 240 x 320, 65,536-colour display. It's based on a 520MHz PXA270 processor, backed by 64MB of RAM and 128MB of Flash ROM.

There's two megapixel autofocus camera on the back, a Mini SD slot for memory expansion, and both Bluetooth 2.0 and 802.11b/g Wi-Fi for connectivity beyond 3G and GSM (it's tri-band) networks. Zinc measures 10.9 x 5.8 x 2.3cm and weighs 165g with the 1,300mAh battery in place. ®