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By John Chan
Apr 26, 2007

Gigabyte is a brand name famed for its motherboards and graphics cards. Less well-known is the fact that it manufactures a wide range of handheld devices for other brands as well as for its own GSmart line of PDA-phones. One of its upcoming handhelds is the q60, a Windows Mobile 6 device with a QWERTY keyboard.

Upside:
The q60 has a form factor similar to most BlackBerry devices--a landscape-oriented display with a QWERTY keyboard below that. With dimensions of 111 x 64 x 14mm, the q60 would naturally be compared with similar-sized smart phones like the Samsung i600 and Dopod C720W.

	Front and back views of the q60. (Click for more images)

What sets this Gigabyte handheld apart from those two Windows Mobile phones is its touch-sensitive display, which makes it more similar to the Palm Treo 750v and BenQ-Siemens P51 devices, both of which are considerably larger with 22mm and 20mm thicknesses, respectively. So what we have here is a handheld that will run Windows Mobile 6 Professional and yet has a slim side profile typical of QWERTY smart phones without touchscreens.

Many cellular wireless connectivity options are available on the q60. These include HSDPA, 3G and Wi-Fi. Aside from its 2.1-megapixel main camera, this handheld also features a front-facing VGA camera for making video calls.

Downside:
A QWERTY keyboard is ideal for messaging on portable devices. While this is present on the q60, the keys are positioned with no spacing between each other, which may cause mistakes in typing. That said, each key on the q60 has a raised bump for tactile feedback, which may help the thumbs tell one key from another.

Outlook:
The Gigabyte GSmart q60 will ship in either Q3 or Q4 2007. Its price has yet to be announced. While Gigabyte plans to make the q60 available throughout Asia Pacific, a spokesperson told CNET Asia that availability will also depend on whether it is able to get distributors and resellers in each country.

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