Orange SPV is one of the first smartphones that are based on Microsoft Windows Mobile edition. Orange SPV is basically HTC-i-Mate where SPV stands for Sound Pictures and Video. Smartphones based on microsoft smartphone platform such as Motorola mpx200, Samsung i600, Orange SPV etc are almost similar in funtionality with some minor additions/subtractions in functionality and design.

Design

Orange SPV bears TI OMAP 710 processor with clock speed 132 MHz. It has 16Mb RAM and 32Mb ROM. SPV also has an MMC/SD card slot. The dimensions are somewhat bulky i.e. 115 x 46 x 22mm and it's weight 127g. The 176x220 pixel screen fulfills somewhat minimum requirement for a smartphone. Internal camera is not present, but there is an option to attach an external camera.

Features

As previously said, features are same as a typical microsoft based smartphone. It includes email client, internet explorer, media player (to play mp3, wav, wma, mpg etc), activ sync, messenger etc. For details on features, you can also read Motorola mpx200 and Samsung i600 articles.

Shortcomings

Absence of bluetooth and internal camera are always considered to be as missing features in smartphones of its class. Furthermore, its straight and somewhat bulky design is not that much appreciated too. Some people are also not satisfied with its battery time. Some bugs are also found in Windows mobile 2002 version which might have been removed in 2003 version. The smartphone also fails to play high bit-rate media files perfectly.

Comparison with other Similar Smartphones

SPV can be compared with Motorola Mpx200 and Samsung i600 as all three of them are based on same microsoft smartphone platform. Other two have a clamshell shape which infact reduces the length of smartphone and makes it somewhat handy. Motorola mpx200 allows to charge via usb cable too which can be considered as a possitive point. Its also importnat to note that SPV is basically for Orange, Mpx200 is for AT&T and i600 is for Sprint.

Conclusion

In my opinion, SPV is a good starting point for microsoft smartphones, but its not somewhat closer to perfect. Microsoft smartphones basically try to add PDA features to a cell phone hence, you may not find a perfect PDA in it like large screen, touchscreen, fast processor etc. But improvemets are still being made in every field of it and this is just to be considered as a transition phase.