Microsoft Smartphone 2003 debuts in Taiwan

[Guest Paul [MVP]]

ZDNet UK writes:

A Taiwanese manufacturer has unveiled the first clamshell smartphone based on Microsoft's latest mobile operating system

Taiwanese manufacturer Mitac on Monday unveiled its first handset based on Microsoft Smartphone 2003 at the Computex trade show in Taiwan.

The Mio 8390 is Mitac's second Windows CE-based smartphone, a follow-up to the Mio 8380 unveiled in June. Both devices are colour-screen clamshell handsets with built-in cameras, similar to Motorola's planned Microsoft-based smartphones.

Microsoft has positioned itself to begin to make a dent in the smartphone market, largely through allying itself with contract manufacturers such as Mitac and High Tech Computer (HTC), which manufactures a Microsoft device sold by Orange. The most serious competition so far is the Symbian OS, which is used in smartphones from most of the major mobile phone manufacturers.

Mitac claims that the 8390 will be the first Smartphone 2003 handset available, but rival HTC made a similar claim of its Dopod 515, unveiled last month and destined for the Chinese market. The Dopod 515 is based on the same reference design as Orange's HTC-manufactured SPV.

Availability details of the Mitac device were not announced.

The Mio 8390 features a 200MHz Intel "Dalhart" processor, a 65,000-colour TFT LCD display, MMS support, Java MIDP 2.0 support, a VGA digital camera and a Secure Digital/Multi-Media Card reader for expansion.

Aside from standard phone functions, it includes the PDA-like features that are the hallmark of Microsoft's smartphone platform, including mobile versions of Internet Explorer and Outlook. Smartphone 2003, like the latest update of Pocket PC for handheld computers, is based on Windows CE .Net 4.2.

The 8380 has been shipping mainly to Asian markets so far, having shipped about 80,000 units so far, and is set for a European launch this autumn. It is unlikely the handset will be sold in the US. Mitac said the Netherlands, Belgium and France would be the first European markets for the 8380.

P

[Guest muff]

The Mio 8390 features a 200MHz Intel "Dalhart" processor, a 65,000-colour TFT LCD display, MMS support, Java MIDP 2.0 support, a VGA digital camera and a Secure Digital/Multi-Media Card reader for expansion.

kinda takes away the excitement of the E200 doesn't it - 200Mhz + Java 2.0 support

[Guest midnight]

muff, now now, you know better than to big-up java ;)

also, we aint seen the 8380 in the uk, so the chances of the 8390 seem slim to me

[Guest muff]

I'm not bigging up java ;)

its just that by having such features 2 things will start to happen to the Smartphone platform

1. everyone will either import phones or ripoff the roms / files of imports

2. the platform will start to become disparate, with different features + functions on different phones - something that will affect the platforms growth

The other thing is that features like Java, and the 200Mhz processor are just going to make people question why we are getting a brand new 132Mhz machine without Java over here, when we already have 2 (SPV + E100)

Everyone knows I'm a huge fan of the Smartphone platform, but things like this will affect it's marketshare, and ultimately it's future

Oh and, as you know Mid, I never touch Java - but some people like it :shock:

[Guest midnight]

hehe, you are correct, people see the 200mhz figure and get upset cos e200 is 132mhz, but, at what expense? whats the battery life? and is it REALLY that much quicker? I havent heard any reports that the 8380 is vastly superior to the e100, of course, one thing it would help is game developers ;) but in normal use, it really shouldnt make all that much difference, anyways, this is turning into a processor war again, so i'll shut up :D

[Guest Paul [MVP]]

Also, some tech savvy people (Florin!) do insist that the SPV is clocked at 84MHz, and the evidence during boot time seems to support that.

Hence, if the E200 is REALLY running at 132MHz, there could be a substantial improvement in performance.

Only time will tell...

P

[Guest Monolithix [MVP]]

Although apparently the 84Mhz that is being reported is the Radio CPU speed, not the OS CPU....

[Guest Paul [MVP]]

It appears to report everything running at 84MHz...

P

[Guest yoos]

I know it's a little off topic, but muff has a very valid point... I am not real close to what MS and the Carriers are doing with the development and testing, but based on all my reading it seems that it's up to the carriers to develop and test bug fixes... I'm sure it's been mentioned before, but I am extremely concerned at the amount of differences there will be between phones in the future when there are even more manufacturers and carriers. Seems like there will be alot of inconsistencies, alot of unnecessary duplication of development/testing for fixes, and alot of unhappy customers because other carriers/manufacturers have bug fixes while their carrier/manufacturer doesn't. Although... I guess that could help in competition and get the carriers to get fixes quicker, but overall the current direction just doesn't make sense to me... All these carriers out there tweaking/testing bug fixes instead of just having MS (or some central party) tweaking/testing fixes for all carriers. I can understand the carriers having some unique software for thier carrier specific services, but if this were kept separate at the development/testing level we probably wouldn't have as many issues and differences between carriers on what is working, what is not, and requiring the public to wait probably a month or more before MSN Messenger is fixed for already released phones. :roll: One month is a long time when it comes to the lifespan of cell phones these days... Fixes need to come quicker or people won't want to stay with MS smartphone and/or their carriers/phone manufacturers... After the Smartphone gets released in the US I strongly feel it is going to quickly get a bad rap if these similar slow fixes keep occuring... OK, sorry... I'm done ranting... We'll see what happens...