Vodafone Debuts Two LiMo Smartphones For Its 360 Mobile Service

Vodafone has unveiled a raft of new products today including the 360 Mobile service which can be described as a branded version of Microsoft's MyMobile, a suite of web-based services.

In addition, Vodafone will be launching two new smartphones which are build by Samsung and rebadged as Vodafone360 handsets; more importantly, they are based on LiMo, the rarely seen Linux-based operating system aimed at the mobile platform.

The two handsets, the H1 and the M1 are upmarket models. The first one comes with a 3.5-inch AMOLED touchscreen, a 3D User Interface, 16GB memory, a 5-megapixel camera with flash and autofocus with a full array of connectivity.

The M1 is positioned on a lower rung. It comes with a 3.2-inch TFT touch display, no WiFi, only 1GB storage (which can be expanded via a microSD card), a 3-megapixel camera plus A-GPS, push email and much much more. It will be available in three colours.

Vodafone 360 will replace the existing Live! online services and will be compatible with a number of existing mobile phones - Vodafone lists more than 100 from Nokia and Sony Ericsson in its compatibility list. 

In addition, the mobile phone operator, which is the world's largest by revenue, says that you won't need to be a Vodafone customer to use the service. In addition, four other Nokia Symbian-based mobile phones labelled 360 will be launched fairly soon.

Eight European countries will be in the initial roll out by Christmas but Vodafone has yet to provide with more details regarding the tariffs on which they will be available. However, judging by the phone's specs you should be able to buy it for £35 per month.