In the world of - mostly upcoming - multi-gig music phones, there are the Microdrive and flash memory variety. Joining
Sony Ericsson's Symbian OS/UIQ interface W950i in the latter camp later this year will be Taiwanese original design manufacturer
High Tech Computer’s Windows Mobile 5.0 smartphone code-named Muse.
According to Taiwan’s Digitimes, the Muse should arrive earlier than expected, sometime during the third quarter in Europe, under the Qtek banner as the S300. In addition to 4 GB of NAND flash memory, the Muse/S300 will include a HSDPA (high speed downlink packet access) radio.
HSPDA is an advancement of the UMTS technology used by GSM carriers, mainly in Europe, to offer 3G services. It promises download speeds up from 350 kbps in UMTS to 1.8 Mbps. Cingular Wireless skipped pure UMTS and went straight to HSDPA when it began rolling out its high-speed network last December in the U.S.
As with the Nokia 91, Samsung SGH-i300x, and previously mentioned Sony Ericsson W950i, the name of the game for the Muse/S300 is music. So much so, you'll notice from the picture that there's no keypad or keyboard, only dedicated media keys. This also means the device must be a Pocket PC Phone, and not a Windows Smarpthone, as there's likely a touch screen to ease the dialing of phone numbers.
Additional features should include two cameras (one 2.1 megapixels with flash), a square 240 x 240 pixel resolution display, FM tuner, Wi-Fi, Bluetooth, 64 MB of RAM, 64 MB or ROM, and a 416 MHz CPU.
Star Trek
A month ago, HTC's ultra-slim Windows Mobile handset - code-named Star Trek - went on sale in its home country of Taiwan as the Dopod S300. It is supposed to be the thinnest clamshell Window smartphone yet, at only 0.6 inches thick when closed.
The quad-band GSM/EDGE Start Trek, designed to compete with the likes of the RAZR, also sports a 200 MHz TI OMAP 850 processor, Bluetooth 1.2, microSD slot, 1.3 megapixel camera, 64 MB of flash memory, a 2.2-inch 240 x 320 (QVGA) pixel resolution display, and an external color display.
Cingular Wireless has signed up to offer Star Trek in the U.S. And it should arrive under the Qtek, i-mate as well as carrier brand names in other markets. It is supposed to ship in Europe next.
