Well, well, well. Looks like Velocity Mobile finally found someone to pick up their Windows Mobile devices.
Today, Pharos introduced the Traveler 117 and Traveler 127 GPS smartphones. Each device hasn’t changed a whole lot since we first saw them at CTIA last year, but they’re now equipped with Pharos’s Smart Navigator software, which is specifically designed for Windows Mobile.
Velocity Mobile brought a trio of shiny new handsets to CTIA today, and we got to spend just a bit of time with all three: the 103, 83, and 301.
In the flurry of crazy that is CTIA scheduling, I wasn’t able to spend enough time with’em to write a full hands on for each. Velocity hooked us up with a 103 to review, so we’ll have more to say about that one in just a few days.
Picture on the right
It’s been five months since Velocity Mobile hit the scene and now they’ve announced that their first Windows Mobile device is finally available. The touchscreen 103 will ship by the end of the month for £334.99.
Windows Mobile 6.1 Professional
Qualcomm Mobile Station Modem™ (MSM™) MSM7201™ chipset
GSM/EDGE 850, 900, 1800, 1900
UMTS/HSDPA/HSUPA 850, 1900, 2100
640×480 VGA touch screen
Odyssey Interface
Velocity Over The Air updates (VOTA)
256MB ROM, 128MB RAM
Bluetooth 2.0, 802.11b/g WiFi, GPS
2.0 megapixel camera, 0.3 megapixel videoconferencing camera
TV/VGA out
MicroSD expansion slot
I was just thinking about Velocity Mobile this last week and was wondering when they might actually launch one of their Windows Mobile devices. We first saw them at CTIA in April, but haven’t heard a peep out of them until now. The 103 is now in the FCC database, which leads us to believe an official launch date may be announced in the coming weeks. I’m still a bit skeptical as to how the company will make the Windows Mobile experience less painful than it is now, but I won’t rain on VM’s parade until a final version of their re-skinned WinMo OS is available to the masses. Read all about the 103 here or here.
Just returned from a meeting with Velocity Mobile. The 103 and 111 are impressive devices in their own right, but what VM wants to do with Windows Mobile is even more impressive. They don’t want to put a top layer over it with something flashy, which others have done and failed at a number of times. I’m excited to see the finalized version in a few weeks when we get the devices in for review.
What I can tell you right now is that they’ll eventually have a OS X-like dock that pops up from the bottom whenever you need your list of favorite apps. The current version of the OS is just a hint at what VM has in mind for Windows Mobile. All VM employees have worked with every iteration of WinMo since its inception in one capacity or another. Their goal is to make it less crappy and more user friendly. I hope they succeed because the hardware is pretty nice and I really like the all black finish.
Launching at CTIA is Velocity Mobile, a new smartphone player. The only downside is they run Windows Mobile. Heh. The company’s first two WinMo devices, the Velocity 103 and 111 will run on 3.5G, has built-in GPS, Wi-Fi and 2-megapixel cameras. We’ll get a hands-on shortly. The V103 will be available Q2 while the V111 comes out in Q3. Both will be unlocked.
Details on both devices after the jump.
