Pre-CeBIT teaser VPA IV from Vodafone brings together 3G, a VGA swivel display and a thumbboard; the VPA Compact offers a minute form factor.
Following in the footsteps of T-Mobile, Vodafone Germany today announced that the mobile network operator is adding two new Windows Mobile based devices to its VPA line of communicators. Dubbed the VPA IV and VPA compact, the two devices are parallel to offerings from T-Mobile, and respectively offer a high-end feature set and a compact size.
A tri-band GSM/GPRS 900/1800/1900 MHz device, the VPA compact runs Windows Mobile 2003 SE and measures in at 108 x 58 x 18 mm. A 2.8" TFT touch screen display with 65K colours and a resolution of 240 x 320 pixels provides a window to the user interface, and also doubles as a viewfinder for the integrated 1.3 Megapixel camera of the device.
 | | Vodafone VPA IV |
Equipped with 64 MB of RAM, the VPA compact also offers Infrared and Bluetooth support for short-range connectivity purposes, as well as an SDIO capable SD/MMC Card expansion slot for adding accessories and memory. Powered by a 1,200 mAh Lithium Polymer battery, Vodafone claims a talk time of up to 5 hours and standby time of up to 180 hours for the VPA compact.
The VPA IV, meanwhile, offers an altogether more advanced feature set including a 520 MHz processor and 128 MB of RAM. Measuring in at 132 x 79 x 22 mm when closed, the device boasts a swiveling VGA display with a resolution of 640 x 480 pixels, and can be used either in tablet style mode or palmtop style mode.
 | | Vodafone VPA compact |
Once available, the device will also be one of the very first Windows Mobile based communicators to offer 3G UMTS connectivity, in addition to tri-band GSM/GPRS 900/1800/1900 MHz. Similar to the VPA compact, the VPA IV also offers Infrared and Bluetooth support, but adds Wi-Fi 802.11b to complete support for a broad range of connectivity options.
An SDIO capable SD/MMC Card expansion slot will allow for accessories and memory to be added to the device, and PC connectivity is provided courtesy of mini-USB.
Vodafone did not provide further information as to the expected availability and pricing of the VPA IV and VPA compact.
Additional high resolution pictures of the Vodafone VPA compact and VPA IV are available on the following page.
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