Velocity Mobile Makes Debut With Touchscreen Smartphone

The smartphone market is getting another player, as Velocity Mobile is entering the fray with a touch-screen Windows Mobile device.

The company is a collaboration between Inventec and wireless industry veterans, and it's hoping the Velocity 103 will strike a chord with mobile professionals and casual users alike.

"Consumers these days are demanding more from their phones," Velocity Mobile president David Hayes said in a statement. "Our research tells us that people want experiences, not applications and function."

One way the company is addressing consumer experience on the Velocity 103 is with the interface. The handset is powered by Windows Mobile 6.1, an operating system that's widely seen as having a clunky user interface. Velocity Mobile has layered its Odyssey interface on top of the OS to enable swipe navigation and more.

The Velocity 103 has built-in Wi-Fi and is capable of using high-speed 3G networks for mobile Internet surfing and e-mail. The smartphone also has the ability to get software updates over the air, removing the need to dock it for new firmware.

The 2.8-inch touch screen has 640-by-480 resolution, and this can be used to watch videos from the multimedia player. There's also a 2-megapixel camera, microSD slot, Bluetooth 2.0, and TV/VGA out capabilities.

The handset measures 4.4 by 2.2 by 0.6 inches and weighs about 4.5 ounces. It is available for preorder in the United Kingdom for about $598. The company said it will begin shipping the handset at the end of September, and near that time it will be on sale unlocked in the U.S. market.