Anybody waiting to get their hands on a proper full-on Windows Mobile 6.5 phone will be able to get one sooner than they thought. Or, more to the point, they’ll be able to buy something a bit shoddy, that shouldn’t really have been released at all. According to Engadget Mobile, the first phone to have Windows Mobile 6.5, straight out of the box, has gone on sale.
Unfortunately, though, it’s a cheap Chinese knock-off of an old HTC Touch Viva.
Ah, not so appealing, then.
Styled after the HTC Touch Viva, the looks are a bit last year, it has to be said. And as for the specs, well, it sounds… how best to put this… cobblers. The screen’s only running at 240×320 pixels, the processor comes in at 460MHz (bit rubbish compared to the Toshiba TG01, with a 1GHz chip, eh?), and generally, this has got “don’t touch with the biggest barge pole in history” written all over it. In fact, its only saving grace is that it’s got Windows Mobile 6.5 on it.
And on that note, I can’t wait to see how Microsoft react. They’re traditionally one of the most vocal opponents of unofficial software (well they would be, let’s be honest), and this phone, called the Touch Viva Shanzhai Flagship, is all about unofficial.
I’m putting money on the phrase “paralysed with rage” being appropriate. If you listen carefully, you might just hear the sweet sound of Steve Ballmer shouting at someone on the breeze.
Sure to be a bit of an annoyance when Microsoft actually get round to officially launching Windows Mobile 6.5, anyway…
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