New photos and details of ViewSonic's VCP08 Windows XP phone emerge
Originally breaking cover with a series of rendered images in mid-November, some new actual photos of the ViewSonic VCP08 smartphone have now emerged. As a brief reminder, the VCP08 is a clamshell smartphone running Windows XP as well as a separate conventional phone system. The phone portion features a 2-inch screen with a numeric keypad occupying the front of the device. Opening the clamshell reveals a 4.3-inch internal screen and a full QWERTY keypad with a finger mouse for the UMPC component.
The latest photos of the actual product show it to be a faithful realization of the concept shown in the renders and give a better idea of its design, style, and size. The VCP08 is large for a smartphone, easily dwarfing devices like the iPhone and Nokia N97 mini (shown in one of the new images for comparison). As a result, the keyboard looks more spacious than what we generally expect from a smartphone, although the larger size definitely makes the handset less pocketable.
Regarding the hardware specifications, most of the original specs have been maintained including the 512MB of RAM, 8GB of storage, and support for MicroSD. Some new information includes confirmation of the previously unknown processor to be an 800MHz Intel Atom Z500. On a less positive note, the battery capacity has been quoted at 1200mAH, which I feel is much too low for a UMPC/phone hybrid running Windows XP! The previous assumption of being able to run the phone independently with the UMPC portion shutdown has also been confirmed, though, so the standby and talk times should be reasonable.
Our original story of the ViewSonic VCP08 was met with a mixture of curiosity and interest as well as some skepticism. What are your thoughts now seeing these latest images and details? We look forward to hearing them in the comments! Head over to shanzhaiben.com for more images.
