Check it -- Gigabyte has just revealed details about a swank new user interface for its GSmart mobiles, and it has been coined Smart Touch. Sadly, multi-touch gestures aren't supported, but it does handle dragging / dropping and gives users oodles of customization options. Comically enough, the note on the new UI actually admits that it "works like [the interface on the] iPhone," but it claims to be superior due to its tight-knit integration and more "useful and interesting features." Sure, alrighty. We'll let you be the judge on this one -- jump on past the break for an excruciatingly long demonstration vid.

[Via the::unwired]

As expected (sort of), Gigabyte's GSmart division came packing at MWC this year with a small army of WinMo handsets ready to battle -- and this time, they're taking the war to Europe. The headliner is the MS808, featuring HSDPA and GPS alongside support for a healthy majority of the world's digital TV standards: DVB-T, DVB-H, T-DMB, and ISDB-T. Unfortunately, it doesn't actually feature the cool skeleton view currently showing up on GSmart's website, but you get the idea. Also being shown are the MS800, MS820, and MS804 -- the last of which looks suspiciously like the O2 Xda Denim -- all with the same integrated HSDPA and GPS as the MS808, but lacking the television tunerfest. Separately, Gigabyte announced that its phalanx of new handsets will feature Garmin's Mobile XT software and are all cocked and loaded to be unleashed on an unsuspecting (or at this point, suspecting, we suppose) European market in the near future, leaving the glut of Windows Mobile Professional hardware packed with more choice, more confusion, and arguably less differentiation than ever. There are worse problems to have, we suppose.

Read - GSmart Unveils 3.5G Mobile TV and GPS PDA Phones at Mobile World Congress 2008
Read - GSmart introduces 3.5G GPS PDA phones with GARMIN Mobile XT to European market

Shown recently at Taiwan's Computex shindig, the g-Smart i350 appears to be the most incremental of upgrades to its i300 predecessor, especially in light of the fact that the i300's been signed up to get a Windows Mobile 6 upgrade. Both rock a 2 megapixel camera, Bluetooth, 802.11b/g, and integrated GPS, so it seems like the biggest boost for the i350 might be the move from a 2.4 inch QVGA to 2.6 inch VGA display (okay, we admit, that's a pretty big difference) and the addition of a fourth band of GSM support. We're not sure we're feeling the handset's sparkly white exterior, but we suspect it's one of those things you have to see in person before passing judgment.

[Via Pocket PC Thoughts]

Not to suggest many among our readership have one of these suckers, but for the few (and proud) who do, rejoice. The g-Smart i300 is now slated to get an upgrade from Windows Mobile 5 Pocket PC Phone Edition to Windows Mobile 6 Professional, though the translated press release doesn't seem to offer details on exactly how or when the upgrade will go down. Forgetting for a moment the sickly GPRS data speeds, the i300 offers up decent specs with a 520MHz PXA270 core, Bluetooth 2.0, WiFi, GPS, and a full 256MB of internal Flash with miniSD expansion. Look for the Windows Mobile 6-enabled version of the i300 to launch first in Taiwan with a follow-on launch in Turkey, of all places.

[Via the::unwired]

Last time we touched base with the g-Smart i120, the Windows Mobile 5 candybar was making waves over at Taiwan's Computex shindig; this time around, the news is of a slightly more official nature, with Gigabyte triumphantly announcing the TV-friendly Pocket PC in a press release. Though we'd have to put that tricky keypad through its paces ourselves before signing off on its goodness, the specs don't lie: you get a 2.1 megapixel cam, 256MB of ROM with miniSD expansion, Bluetooth, FM radio, 64MB of RAM, 802.11b / g (for when the GPRS data speeds don't quite cut it) -- and perhaps most notably, a TV tuner capable of pulling in NTSC, PAL, and SECAM with recording capability. As is too often the case, North America is left in the lurch without GSM 850 (come on, Gigabyte!) but we're counting on our global readers to let us know how that offset keypad pans out, y'hear?

Though Gigabyte's not much of a mobile presence here in the US, folks in Asian countries might want to listen up: the spec sheet on their g-Smart i200 Pocket PC phone makes it sound like the best thing since... well, the i120 and i300. The 512MB of internal storage is hot, the promise of Crossbow (if it's available by the device's launch in Q1 '07) is pure gold -- but what's really got us all fired up are the integrated dual tuners (DVB-H and DVB-T) and 2.69-inch VGA display. Yep, we said it: VGA. Everyone waiting for the promise of compromise-free mobile web browsing and remote desktop connections can come out of hiding, because this bad boy could very well be the phone you've been waiting for. The TV-out and DVR functionality don't hurt, either. Now if you'll excuse us, we need to book our flights to Taiwan.

[Via Pocket PC Thoughts]