3GSM Barcelona 2006 live coverage

i-mate SmartFlip

HTC Star Trek platform made its debut at 3GSM Barcelona. i-mate was the first company to announce a thin Windows smartphone - i-mate SmartFlip. The full specifications of the device are not yet available, but here is what we know - quad-band, Windows Mobile 5.0, microSD card slots, 2 megapixel camera, EDGE, 176x220 pixels display. The phone should be available on the market in April and will cost less than JAM and SP5 i-mate models.

i-mate SmartFlip

HP hw6900

The rumors about the new HP communicator hw6900 turned out to be true. HP presented the quad-band phone at 3GSM World Congress. The HP hw6900 is a successor of the hw6500 series, it runs on Windows Mobile 5.0 for PocketPC and has square 3.0" display 240x240 pixels. The Wi-Fi and Bluetooth connectivity, 1.3 megapixel camera and miniSD card slot make this a fully featured smartphone. The HP iPAQ hw6900 series is expected to be available in the Asia Pacific and Europe, Middle East and Africa regions this spring and in North America in summer.

HP hw6900

Pantech

Pantech also presented their latest mobile phones at the 3GSM Congress.

The PG8000 is very unusual in design and has the eye-catching effect. There are some issues in its ergonomics and can be hardly held in one's left hand. The new device has text pronouncing feature, which can read SMS messages with its metallic voice. A megapixel camera also can be found on the back of the Pantech PG8000.

Pantech PG-8000

A low-end 3G phone has been presented also. The GU-1100 bar phone has two VGA cameras, microSD slot and music player options. But still it's just a low-end phone.

Pantech GU-1100

The PU-5000 UMTS phone has the Pantech FOTA feature (updating firmware via air). The new slider also features 1.3 megapixel camera, music player, microSD slot and Bluetooth.

Pantech PU-5000

The PG3600V slider has navigation wheel similar to those used in the iPODs. It has 262K colors display with 176 x 220 pixels resolution and a 1.3 megapixel camera. Pantech have put a microSD slot between the two sliding parts of the phone. This phone doesn't seem to have any other major functions.

Pantech PG-3600V