Pocket PC Phone with 802.11g Demoed

At this week's 3GSM World Congress, Chi Mei Communication Systems is showing off a cellular-wireless Pocket PC with some advanced features.

What many will probably find most interesting about the UCP-100 is the fact that, according to PhoneScoop, it will include 802.11g.

IEEE 802.11g is a wireless networking standard that operates at up to 54 megabits per second (Mbps). It is significantly faster than 802.11b, which transfers data at a maximum of 11 Mbps. 802.11g is backwards compatible with the earlier standard and both are frequently referred to with the term "Wi-Fi".

802.11b has become a fairly common feature in handhelds, but 802.11g is still mostly used by laptops.

In addition to Wi-Fi and Bluetooth, the Chi Mei UCP-100 will be a quad-band GSM/GPRS device with support for EDGE. It will be able to seamlessly roam between Wi-Fi and cellular-wireless networks, automatically choosing whichever is best at any given moment.

This device will run some version of Windows Mobile for Pocket PC, but which one is not yet known.

The UCP-100 will use a clamshell design, with a QVGA screen on one side and a numberpad on the other. It will have an internal antenna and a small external display.

It will also include a 1.3 megapixel camera and a miniSD card slot.

Coming from Where?

Chi Mei is a Taiwanese Original Design Manufacturer (ODM), which means it designs and manufactures products for other companies. It created Motorola's MPx220, and there has been some speculation that the UCP-100 will be re-branded and released as a new member in this group.

On the other hand, Chi Mei could have been at the 3GSM World Congress trying to find a company interested in releasing this device.

Photo courtesy of Phone Scoop.

Related Links

• Motorola Making RAZR Thin Pocket PC
• Brighthand's Coverage of the 3GSM World Congress 2005