This is the expected O2 rebrand of the HTC Touch Cruise? Nice; hope they've kept the branding light on the software side.

It's good to hear that HTC is looking at Symbian and Linux. Windows CE/phone/Mobile should have stuck to toys.

Having seen the problems friends have had with HTC & Mio running Windows Mobile (CE) I wouldn't touch it.

It's amazing how many people don't realise that Mobile/CE/Phone edition of Windows has nearly as little in common with Desktop Windows as Symbian or Linux.

...had Wi-Fi, Bluetooth and USB connectivity also.

This one looks a bit more sleek that the last one, is it any smaller?

I wonder if they fixed the loose rotating ring in the middle. I've had the Orbit for about a year now and it's a good phone, but when it vibrates that ring in the middle rattles like a pair of wind up teeth. If you grab it and move it back and forth it moves about 1-2mm. That's really the only gripe I have with it, so I hope they've fixed that in the new one.

Ben

Who say it's available from Monday...

I'm surprised at the 5mp camera given that the Touch Cruise (which it's a rebranded version of), is only 3mp.

Can anyone access the XDA section? I get the " XSLT Portlet is temporarily unavailable." error.

Balls.

Just wondering if this will have the display drivers that all HTC's other Qualcomm-based phones lack? If it's a rebadged Touch Cruise, the answer is almost certainly no - so don't expect it to perform as well as the last Orbit.

IF it does have a 5mp cam (which seems unlikely) expect that to REALLY lag, without any proper video acceleration.

@ Andy Turner - yes the camera is 3mp

@ Alan Davies - o2 recently changed the xda section... its now at http://www.my-xda.com/

@ Ben Schofield - The Orbit 2 doesn't have a loose rotating ring

@ randomtask - No its not any smaller

Whilst the lack of accelerated video drives cripples the potential speed of the Orbit2, it doesn't make it slower than the old orbit, which didn't even have the accelerated video hardware at all!

Now if only they'd released this to the public before the iPhone, I'd have saved myself a lot of money!

Yes, it does, I own one. You clearly do not.

Ben

Sorry, misread what you wrote, you put 'Orbit 2', I thought you just put Orbit. I should get my eyes checked or something.

Ben