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When Microsoft officially debuted Smartphone 2002 in October, Sendo was one of two mobile phone manufacturers who was on the stage to demonstrate its Z100, which would be using the new operating system. Then, in a move that sent a shockwave through the industry, Sendo announced in November that it was dropping all plans to ever use Smartphone 2002 or release the Z100, only weeks before its was scheduled to be available.

Today, Sendo told Reuters that it was bringing a lawsuit against Microsoft in U.S. federal court. The suit alleges that several features Sendo developed for the Z100 showed up in other phones running Smartphone 2002, including the Orange SPV.

Instead the company has licenced Nokia's Series 60 software for Symbian.

Smartphone 2002 is a version of the Windows CE operating system specially redesigned for mobile phones. Handsets running this OS have a 220 by 176 pixel screen and a joystick for user input, not a touch screen. They can access email and the Web, make phone calls, play games, and run other types of applications. The first phones running it should be available in the U.S. next year. The Orange SPV is available in Europe already.

The cancelled Z100 was a tri-band GPRS phone that included an SD/MMC slot. It would have offered 16 MB of RAM, 4 hours of talk time, and 100 hours of standby time and sold for ?200 including VAT with a service contract.

Related Links:

• Smartphone 2002 Debuts in Europe