Hard at work earning itself a reputation as one of the most productive smartphone Windows Mobile manufacturers on the block - although, in the name of all fairness, its competition could hardly be described as fierce - MiTAC offered infoSync World a sneak peek of its latest marvel at the CeBIT fair in Hannover: the Mio 8860.
Being MiTAC's most powerful smartphone to date, the Mio 8860 offers several improvements over its predecessor, the Mio 8390, including a quite bright and very crisp 18-bit colour screen capable of displaying up to 262,144 colours; a 16-bit external colour display with photo caller ID functionality and an SDIO capable SD/MMC Card expansion slot.
The 8860 has yet to see the introduction of Bluetooth connectivity, however it still offers Infrared and USB connectivity, as well as tri-band GSM 900/1800/1900 MHz and GPRS Class 10. Other features include a revamped keypad design, which offers excellent comfort and tactile feedback, and support for MP3 and 64-tone polyphonic ringtones.
Similar in size and shape to the Mio 8390, the 8860 is however still somewhat on the large side despite its unmatched performance, which we suspect is in part due to the inclusion of a 200 MHz Intel XScale processor which can be overclocked to 300 MHz.
According to MiTAC representatives, the Mio 8860 is expected to be made available in the Taiwanese market in the July-August timeframe, however further information concerning its expected pricing and availability in other markets could not be obtained.
