After all the rumours surrounding the Philips ‘iPhone Killer’ dismissed as fan-boy mock-ups, the phones has actually surfaced at the FCC.
To be honest, I was as surprised as anyone, as it didn’t seem like the kind of move the Dutch firm would make.
Well, actually it’s not. Chinese firm CEC holds the rights to use the Philips name on handsets after it bought the arm from the Dutch giant at the turn of the century.
But the phone itself seems pretty nifty, although details are scarce at this time. The device will have a 2.0 megapixel camera, with no flash in sight on the back.
Bluetooth is obviously there too, as well as the standard gaming and Java capabilities you would expect from a decent mobile.
Memory choice
The fact it includes microSD expansion hints at a lower amount of on-board storage - I’ve always been behind this as it can lower the cost of handsets by quite a lot, and not everyone wants their mobile to become their main music device, due to battery life concerns.
Other than that, not a lot is known. A stylus is often mentioned in the user manual, but like all touch phones these days, being finger friendly is a must.
The phone will likely be only available in China, although it appears CEC has the rights to market the phone globally under the Philips name. Passing it through the FCC may also pave the way for its use in the US.
No date on availability, but if we see it in 2009 it wouldn’t be a surprise.
