Following our brief earlier coverage of the phone set to challenge the Credit Crunch, we’re very excited to have the first artist’s impression of this new handset, codenamed the 100-F from a Latvian manufacturer, new to watch mobile phone market, called Lirpa. It seems bizarre, but the phone design has been inspired by the global credit crunch (which must have reached Latvia too), and works as either a coin-operated or credit/debit card mobile. The UK variant will have a £1 coin slot for calls and a 10p slot for texts (not a bad price for a PAYG text) as well as a card slot (for which you’ll need to enter your PIN). It sounds like wm smartphone it will be quite bulky, maybe comparable with some of wm6 smartphone around, and features will be limited - no camera or MP3 player as the components would take up too much valuable coin space.
Windows Mobile is still a while away from release, however Microsoft are making sure we don’t forget all about it by providing a few new details. First, existing Windows Mobile users with phones running 128MB of RAM and a hefty 400Mhz processor will theoretically be able to upgrade to the new version, however it’ll be down to your phone’s manufacturer to make it happen.
Secondly, more than 25 companies are expected to announce their involvement with 6.5 and the new Windows Marketplace application store at the CTIA Wireless show in Las Vegas, which runs over the first three days of April. These are said to include Facebook, MySpace, SlingMedia and EA Mobile. Microsoft have also announced there will be a 24-hour trial period for newly purchased applications, so users will simply be able to return the app if they don’t like it.
Although hardly a first for mobile watch phone, Microsoft have also recruited the Design Museum London and the Council of Fashion Designers of America to design unique themes for the new operating system, plus a Theme Generator will be available after the launch where one can change colours and make use of your own pictures as wallpaper.
All this and more is expected to be covered in detail this Thursday during CTIA, when Robbie Bach, President of Entertainment and Devices Division at Microsoft, takes to the stage. We’re getting more and more interested in 6.5’s development and are pleased it appears Microsoft are embracing the consumer side of smart mobile phones OS this time around.
