Gigabyte brings on g-Smart S1200, g-Smart MS820 sneaks back in

It's touchscreen galore over at the GSMA and Gigabyte are claiming a piece of the action with the g-Smart MS820 and S1200. They're both 3G enabled PocketPCs with Wi-Fi, Office Mobile and fancy UI plug-ins.

Other shared features are GPS, microSD memory expansion and push email support, Bluetooth and miniUSB 2.0.

Similar as these devices are, a few differences emerge upon closer inspection.

Gigabyte g-Smart S1200

The Gigabyte S1200 is a new release unlike the MS820. It adds HSUPA to the connectivity set and a larger 3.1" WVGA screen. At 11.4 mm, it's not the thinnest PocketPC, but definitely on the slim side.

And there's another surprise in store - in the specifications, Gigabyte lists the OS as Windows Mobile 6.1/6.5 Professional.

This time around, Gigabyte opted for a Flash UI plug-in instead of their Smart Touch. It seems that the Gigabyte S1200 offers almost anything you could want in a PocketPC. It may be a little late to the party however, a 528MHz CPU with 128 MB RAM already considered average. We didn't hold that against the MS820, but it's been around for a while. A 3 megapixel autofocus camera is the last thing on the Gigabyte S1200 spec sheet to note.

Gigabyte g-Smart S1200

Gigabyte S1200 at a glance: - HSDPA/HSUPA, Qualcomm 7200A 528MHz processor, 3.1" WVGA touchscreen, GPS Qualcomm, 3 MP autofocus cam, Wi-Fi, BT 2.0, miniUSB 2.0, 256 MB ROM/128 MB RAM, microSD, push email, Office Mobile, Flash UI, Windows Live Messenger, 1010 mAh battery, 11.4 mm thin.

Gigabyte g-Smart MS820

The g-Smart MS820 is not exactly novel. It featured at the 2008 Computex and even snatched the Taiwan Excellence Silver Award for its accelerometer feature. The G-Sensor is utilized as a navigation solution in several applications and games.

Gigabyte MS820 sports a 5 megapixel camera with autofocus and face detection - a rarity in the Windows Mobile world. Other than that, the phone supports HSDPA and is powered by a Marvell PXA270 520MHz CPU and uses 128 MB of RAM.

Windows Mobile is nicely tucked under the proprietary Smart Touch UI, version 3. It's a touch optimized UI - the Gigabyte answer to TouchFlo by HTC. With a 2.8 inch display of VGA resolution, it looks pretty sleek.

Gigabyte g-Smart MS820

Gigabyte MS820 at a glance: quad-band GSM, HSDPA 2100, Marvell PXA270 520MHz processor, 2.8" VGA touchscreen, GPS SIRF Star III, 5 MP autofocus cam with face detection, Wi-Fi, Bluetooth 2.0, miniUSB 2.0, 256 MB ROM/128 MB RAM, microSD, push email, Office Mobile, Smart Touch III UI, Windows Live Messenger, 1300 mAh Li-Ion battery.