INQ, the Hutchinson Whampoa subsidiary which designs cool mobile phones, is set to release a Twitter Phone by the end of the year as a follow up to the INQ1, the so-called Facebook Phone.
According to Reuters who interviewed Frak Meehan, the chief executive of the company, the Phone is set to cost under £90 and will feature a native Internet-based Twitter client.
It is very likely that 3, which is also operated by HW, will offer Twitter as free together with Ebay access and Skype in a bid to encourage mobile users to switch to the smallest independent network on the UK market.
The INQ1, which won a 2009 Global Mobile Award for best mobile handset, came with Facebook, Skype, Yahoo, Google, eBay, and Windows Messenger built-in and a 3.2-megapixel camera. The Twitter phone is likely to be a variant rather than an improvement of it.
There are rumours that the Twitter phone won't be exclusive to 3, but this raises the question about whether other mobile phone operators will be willing to use a direct competitor's product.
INQ Mobile is also set to release another mobile phone before Christmas which is likely to be the S3. We have already explored the various features we would like the third iteration of 3's Skypephone to carry including a touchscreen, a keyboard, a better camera, WiFi and the ability to have two memory slots.
and join nearly 1500 other followers.
Our Comments
More than 700,000 phones have been sold worldwide by INQ since the introduction of the Skype phone in 2007. That's roughly 1,000 units per day. To put that in perspective, the Nokia 5800 Xpressmusic sold more than 1 million units per month in the first quarter of 2009.
Related Links
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