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Handheld manufacturer Group Sense PDA (GSPDA) has released its third Palm OS smartphone, the Xplore M28, for the Asian market. The manufacturer's other Palm powered phones include the Xplore G18 and Xplore G88.

Based on Palm OS Garnet, the dual band (900/1800) GSM/GPRS Xplore M28 boasts a built-in VGA camera with digital zoom, MP3 and MPEG4 support, 64MB of RAM, and a 32MB SDRAM Flash Internal Memory Card. The device uses a 2.2-inch display that supports 65,636 colors. You can expand storage capacity by up to a 1GB with Secure Digital card.

Xplore M28, which measures a mere 4.2 X 2.0 X 0.9 inches (10.6 x 5.08 x 2.35 cm), differentiates itself from other candy-bar style handsets with its sliding numeric keypad. A five-way jog dial provides one-handed navigation.

Today's news follows palmOne's reported 'temporary' withdrawal from China, ceding that part of Asia --at least for now-- to local vendors like GSPDA, who have done better with their Palm-based handsets.

Despite palmOne's retreat from Asia, PalmSource, the developer and keeper of the Palm platform, is bullish on its prospects in that area of the world. PalmSource President & CEO David Nagel said, "We believe the new Xplore M28 smartphone will build momentum for Palm Powered smartphones and create new business opportunities for Palm OS software developers in the Asian wireless market."

The Xplore M28 smartphone is now available in China, Hong Kong and Malaysia and Thailand. It is being distributed by Alpha Tech Mobile.