Windows Mobile 5.0 phone spotted

GIVEN THAT THE Beast of Redmond has only just launched Windows Mobile 5.0, it will be something of a coup if a little Taiwanese supplier - E-Ten - manages to launch the first handset to use it by September this year [2005].

It's possible because the M600 was on show behind glass on the Windows Mobile stand here at Computex Taipei. The only big difference between it and the company's first Pocket PC phone launched back in February- the M500 - appears to be support for Wi-Fi.

Both handsets are quad-band GSM handsets (particularly good for the USA) and have 1.3 megapixel cameras. According to our notes, the M600 should sport 128 MB of ROM and 64 MB of SDRAM. The processor is a Samsung S3C2440 400 MHz.

As it is going to use Mobile 5.0 anyway, about the only value-add the INQ could spot was a set of quickstart menus which get you very quickly to the regular features - such as the SMS facility.

This particular device is Touchscreen only, so you have to tap the screen in order to dial a number. So it's more of a cellular PDA than a handset really.µ