Normally, low-end Windows Mobile Smartphones destined for China aren't anything to get terribly excited about, but Amoi's new quartet of handsets share a distinction that'll hopefully set a trend for the industry. The E72, E75, E76, and E78 Smartphones rock all manner of form factors (QWERTY included) but share largely common guts, and here's where it gets interesting: there's a TI OMAPV1030 "Vox" in there running the show at 200MHz. The Vox core is typically associated with high-function dumbphones; Amoi's use of it to power a smartphone could (and hopefully will) push the market toward ever-cheaper convergence devices that can run effectively on ultra low-cost processors. Despite skimping on the internals, the spec sheet holds its own with EDGE data, 128MB of internal storage, Bluetooth, and a 2 megapixel cam (1.3 megapixel in the E72). The first of the bunch to hit store shelves will be the E72, which will be available for under $250 -- when you consider that's an unsubsidized price, that's quite impressive indeed. Look for all four to be available in China by early '07.

[Via the::unwired]