Windows Phone Thoughts: O2 Germany Announces New Xda Guide Smartphone

"O2 Germany today announced the new O2 Xda Guide, its latest Xda smartphone running Windows Mobile 6.1 which will replace the Xda orbit 2. The Xda Guide comes in an O2 exclusive design and is running on Microsoft's Windows Mobile 6.1 Professional. The Xda Guide is powered by a Qualcomm MSM 7225 CPU at 528 MHz and features GSM/GPRS/EDGE as well as UMTS/HSDPA/HSUPA in addition to Bluetooth 2.0, WiFi b/g and GPS. The Xda Guide comes with a 2.8" QVGA touchscreen and sports a 3.2 megapixel camera, 256 MB RAM and 512 MB ROM which can be expanded by microSD cards. A 1 GB microSD card is part of the sales package and holds TomTom Navigator 7 (with maps for Germany, Austria and Switzerland). The O2 Xda Guide will be available exclusive from O2 Germany from February next year. A price wasn't given today."

The new Xda Guide looks like a nice device, especially with the included GPS mapping setup with TomTom. As Arne Hess notes above in his the::unwired coverage, it will replace the outgoing Xda Orbit 2. It receives an upgrade of double capacity for both RAM and ROM, as well as the 6.1 Windows Mobile OS and a faster CPU. While you can get the 6.1 upgrade for the Orbit 2 free from O2 Germany, the upgrade only includes Opera Mobile 8.65, while the new Xda Guide offers Opera Mobile 9.5. You can check out the original German press release at the O2 Germany site.