MWg Zinc II and E-Ten Glofiish M810: Two peas in a pod
Looking for a Windows Mobile phones running 6.1 Professional and featuring a slide-out keypad? Have a butcher's at these two puppies
Boldly going where few other tech journalists bother to travel, we make sure to check out as many new phone manufacturers as possible -- because you just never know. Only yesterday we plunged into the depths of sweaty London to see MWg's latest handset, the MWg Zinc II.
You're probably thinking who the potatoes is MWg? It stands for Mobile Wireless group, and it used to be O2 Asia -- but O2 ditched it, so now it's gone solo and is coming up with some pretty interesting Windows Mobile handsets. The Zinc II is a compact handset that runs Windows Mobile 6.1 Professional -- it's quite a looker.
It's not out at the moment, but you can pre-order it from eXpansys for around £450. For the same money you can pick up the E-Ten Glofiish M810, which is a very similar device. Click next photo for a proper hands-on look at both phones. -Andrew Lim
Update: Read our full MWg Zinc II review and full E-TEN glofiish M810 review.
The Zinc II has a slide-out keypad with raised edges so you can find the keys better. Although we like the way it looks, we're not completely convinced that it's better than the HTC TyTN II's keypad, but it does at least keep things compact. We'll give it a thorough going-over when we review it, to make sure it's good enough to bash out your lengthy posts on the CNET.co.uk forums.
Similar to the HTC Touch's TouchFLO menu, which lets you access apps by swiping your finger over the screen, the Zinc II has a proprietary menu system you can access with just your finger. As you can see from this menu, there's the standard line-up, including access to the 2-megapixel camera on the back.
While the menu looks good and is useful in certain cases, we're sceptical because it dumps you back into the Windows Mobile interface, which involves some stylus-led, finger-unfriendly action.
You'll notice there's a CoPilot icon on the right side and the Zinc II does have built-in GPS, so you can use it without needing to get an external GPS receiver. Other connectivity options include Wi-Fi and HSDPA, which means you'll stay connected almost everywhere you go -- perfect if you regularly get lost because you've forgotten where you're going and have the information in an email.
Do not adjust your screen, you're not seeing double: this is the E-Ten Glofiish M810. It comes with almost all the same features as the Zinc II, but runs on Windows Mobile 6 instead of 6.1 (although an update will probably come out soon).
There are barely any differences between these two handsets, but you'll notice that the keys on the keypad aren't fully surrounded by a raised edge, which may or may not be better. The navigation keys on the front are also different. Expect full reviews of both handsets soon.