Smartphone shoppers with an inclination for Windows Mobile are about to be faced with a really serious problem later this year -- our favorite kind of problem, in fact. In the QWERTY arena, the Sony Ericsson XPERIA X1 and various incarnations of the HTC Raphael are setting up to go head-to-head in a battle royale (ironic, since both are made by HTC) that will pit VGA against WVGA, WinMo 6.1 with TouchFLO against WinMo 6.1 with Sony Ericsson's custom "panel" interface, and 7.2Mbps HSDPA against 7.2Mbps HSDPA. If that ain't an even fight, we don't know what is, and we think that it'll probably come down to carrier availability for a good number of folks that are hoping to score one on a contract discount. Anyway, the::unwired has unearthed a full spec sheet for the T-Mobile-branded version of the Raphael, the MDA Vario IV, and the hearty 256MB of RAM and 512MB of ROM are just two of the many line items worth drooling over. A little competition never hurt anyone, eh, Sony Ericsson?

What will it be, the good or the bad news first? How 'bout the good. After an initial rebuff, we finally managed to grab some photos of that exclusive T-Mobile MDA compact IV. You remember: 7.2Mbps HSDPA, GPS, VGA resolution screen, WiFi and 4GB of on-board storage. It'll also launch "mit neuestem Microsoft Betriebssytem" which we can safely assume is Windows Mobile 6.1 at this point. Oh yes, and the bad news. It's only a plastic dummy and our photographs were restricted by a glass cube. Still, this is as close as most of you will get for a long, long time. Full gallery over at Engadget.

T-Mobile is unveiling its MDA compact IV at CeBIT this week, and despite its somewhat unassuming name, this one should command some serious attention. The HTC-sourced Windows Mobile 6 (possibly 6.1, if we're lucky) device sports full VGA resolution -- a feature that's still dismally uncommon on Western handsets -- along with a respectable 4GB of internal storage, 7.2Mbps HSDPA, quadband EDGE, Bluetooth, and WiFi; since it succeeds the Artemis-based MDA compact III, we'd reckon there's probably GPS in there, too. We'll try to catch this one in the wild as its being passed from hand to greedy hand around the T-Mobile booth in the next day or two, since it's the closest most of our American readers will ever get to it.

So, we imagine it went something like this: some dude at T-Mobile USA's headquarters was crawling through the attic. Maybe he was looking for some classic Jamie Lee Curtis promo shots to throw up on eBay, maybe he was seeking out a replacement battery for his trusty Ericsson T68; the purpose of his adventure is pretty irrelevant. Anyway, he stumbles upon this giant flippin' stash of dusty MDAs. You know, HTC Wizards -- the things T-Mobile sold back in the day before the Wing reigned supreme. What's a company to do? They can't rightfully dump 'em in the local landfill, it just wouldn't be right. May as well sell the whole lot off for a song ($79.99 apiece, to be exact) on the corporate website! If you simply must get in on this circa-2005 action, we might recommend you do it soonly 'cause there's really no telling how long these relics are going to be available the second time around.

[Thanks, Cesar G.]

We were slightly thrilled when T-Mobile introduced the MDA and SDA Windows Mobile units roughly a year ago to thunderous applause of T-Mobile customers who wanted a branded Windows Mobile unit in their hot hands. The MDA was T-Mobile's valiant attempt to satisfy the hunger for an EDGE-enabled and fully fledged WM Pocket PC Phone with built-in WiFi (like the sister phone, Cingular's 8125). Bu, alas, the time has come to kiss the MDA goodbye it seems. As such, the handset has completely disappeared from T-Mobile's website. Is this just a short-term omission or is the MDA gone for good? Is this a sign that a replacement is near? Until then, perhaps T-Mobile peeps are out of luck in the Pocket PC department.

[Thanks to everyone who sent this in]

The Artemis, HTC's first Pocket PC Phone Edition device with a GPS receiver on board, is one of those HTC code words we feel as though we've heard floating around for ages -- but only recently were we able to get an alleged snap of the oft-rumored device in the flesh. It appears we now have some solid confirmation that the blurry shot was in fact an Artemis, seeing how T-Mobile Germany's gone ahead and announced it as their "MDA compact III." Our German could use some brushing up, but the spec sheet seems to tell us that the rather stylish piece will be rocking a 2-megapixel camera, Bluetooth (naturally), and that in-built GPS module for the directionally challenged among us. Sifting through the device's control panel reveals that it packs a 200MHz OMAP850 with 64MB of RAM and 128MB of ROM, fairly standard fare for modern Pocket PCs. No word on a release date, but as usual, we'd caution our friends on T-Mobile in the US against getting their hopes up.

[Via the::unwired]

A spectrum of HTC's highly-anticipated Hermes variants are finally coming around in the retail pipeline, and what better way to celebrate than with a launch roundup? Regardless of your continent, odds are one or more of these flavors are available in your parts -- and if not, your friendly local import shop shouldn't have a difficult time hooking you up. As you come across other launches, do your fellow readers (and us) a favor and post 'em in the comments. Thank ye kindly!

[Thanks, Leigh]

Read - Orange SPV M3100
Read - T-Mobile Germany, UK MDA Vario II
Read - Vodafone VPA Compact III / v1605
Read - HTC TyTN
Read - HTC Z
Read - Dopod 838Pro
Read - Dopod CHT9000

So you want to start an MVNO, but you're not quite ready to buy up a few million minutes and pay for a few branded phones. We understand, and so does Saki mobile, which is offering a set of core MVNO-ish services such as IM, an RSS reader, social networking, and push email that can be purchased on its own, or branded to your company's every whim. They can even develop specific services for your company, such as the movie times and reviews that the Saki-powered Cinemark Wireless offers. Saki isn't really an MVNO at all, since they merely provide Windows Mobile software, and allow you to pick whichever carrier you want, though they do seem to have some dealings with T-Mobile. That means you'll be dealing with everyday carrier woes, stuff that MVNOs like Helio hope to alleviate, but it also means you won't be paying an MVNO markup on your minutes, just the $10 a month fee for the Saki service. If this all sounds good to you, they're currently offering a T-Mobile MDA for $99 with service, after a couple of hefty rebates.