March/April 2005

Yet another new contender in the hybrid PDA/smartphone market has emerged in the form of Taiwanese E-TEN Corporation's M500, a Windows Mobile-based Pocket PC device.

It comes with a high specification that includes a built in quad-band GSM/GPRS module, Bluetooth wireless networking, a 1.3 megapixel digital camera with built-in flash, and 130 MB of user-accessible memory (expandable with SD memory cards). The underlying processor is a 400MHz Samsung 2440 unit.

The phone is being offered "SIM-free" via selected resellers, and in the UK it is being marketed by Smart Devices. This company is also offering a package including E-TEN PDA, Destinator 3 GPS navigation system with full UK & Ireland maps, Leadtek Bluetooth GPS receiver, 128MB memory card, car charger and car mount.

The total price for all that is £409 net, while the M500 on its own comes in at £309. Smart Devices also offers other E-TEN models.