Taiwanese handheld maker E-Ten's Glofiish X500 PDA phone went on sale in the UK today even as the company gears up to announce its second Glofiish-branded device: the first model in the range to offer a slide-out QWERTY keyboard. E-Ten is clearly out to try and beat HTC at its own game.

E-Ten claimed the 1.6cm-thick X500 is the world's thinnest PDA phone (http://www.reghardware.co.uk/2006/10/30/e-ten_glofiish_phone/) with integrated GPS, 802.11b Wi-Fi, Bluetooth 2.0 and quad-band GSM/GPRS/EDGE cellular connectivity. The PDA-style gadget is based on a Samsung 400MHz CPU and contains the usual 64MB of RAM and 128MB of Flash. There's a MicroSD card slot for memory expansion.

The screen is the customary Windows Mobile 240 x 320, 65,536-colour job, and the Glofiish also carries a two megapixel camera with 4x digital zoom and flash.

Also spotted today: the Glofiish M700. According to a communication from E-Ten, it's a GSM/GPRS/EDGE device that also incorporates 802.11b/g Wi-Fi and a GPS satellite-navigation receiver. The handset is even said to contain an FM tuner.

The X500 is available now in the UK through distributor Portix and retails for around £440. It's not yet clear how much the M700 will cost, but it's expected to go on sale shortly. ®

Related reviews

Virgin Mobile Lobster 700TV (http://www.reghardware.co.uk/2006/10/30/review_virgin_mobile_lobster_700tv/)
Nokia N73 3G smart phone (http://www.reghardware.co.uk/2006/10/25/review_nokia_n73/)
Vodafone Palm Treo 750v smart phone (http://www.reghardware.co.uk/2006/10/09/review_palm_treo_750v/)
Sony Ericsson P990i smart phone (http://www.reghardware.co.uk/2006/09/04/sony_ericsson_p990i_review/)
Orange SPV M3100 3G handset (http://www.reghardware.co.uk/2006/08/30/review_orange_spv_m3100/)

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