In all honesty, this is the kind of thing I am looking for. I want a device which is data only, yet which can also function as a WiFi hotspot; ideally, like a MiFi, but with its own screen and web browser/ twitter/ facebook client. 7" is a good size for browsing.

Windows Mobile can definitely do this, can any other smartphone OS?

The white windows flag in the upper left corner suggests it is 6.5; in 6.1 it is multicoloured.

However, that is an older version of TouchFlo 3D 2.1; the Touch Diamond 2 on Vodafone in Germany has just had a 6.5 update which comes with a more up to date version of TouchFlo 3D. http://wmpoweruser.com/?p=8578

Agreed. The trouble is that I really want the HD2 which means that after all of that I will probably be moving away from Orange after all.

The singificant difference is that twitter apps can run in the background in WinMo meaning you don't have to open up the app to check for new tweets. Instead you are receive new tweets like you do text messages, which makes twitter a much better communication tool. especially if you are on a carrier which does not support SMS tweet notifications.

Last MWC i-mate had the Centurion and the Legionnaire in the pipeline. I think the credit card sized Centurion would have done well as a smart, small messaging device, quite unlike the current trend for ever larger smartphones. Hopefully it will still make an appearance at some point.

This is probably enough to make me go through the hassle of switching carriers, even with the very good deal I have with Orange at the moment. I just hope that, as with previous HTC phones, it is released on multiple carriers, or I might have to get the TG01 which is pretty cool too, but not as hackable as the Leo will be.

I have a couple of Windows CE tablets doing double time for home automation and as remote desktops. About five years ago this was the vision: remember thin client computing and smart displays? The trouble is that the advent of the cheap netbook has made the case for portable thin clients less economically viable, and the model now appears to be self-contained devices which synchronize their contents to the internet, not to a local server.

@deccangroove:

I very much doubt this will be running Windows 7 on an x86 processor. Battery tech has not advanced far enough that you can have an always on connected device with such compact hardware that will last the full day with moderate use. I'm guessing this is running on a version of Windows Embedded (CE, XP or 7) on some ARM processor.

If I were to hazard a guess it could even be running Windows Mobile 7, which would explain the app store, and a new set of apps designed to run in WVGA screens. OneNote already runs well on the current generations of Windows Mobile, as does the integration of addresses with Google Maps. What is demonstrated is just a very pretty shell, so it wouldn't be too much a stretch of the imagination if this were so.

What a gorgeous device! TouchFlo 2.5 looks amazing, and I am pleased to see that both tethering and the program which converts the phone into a HSDPA-WiFi router are present as well. The latter is absolutely essential.

I just hope it is announced on the 6th of October and available in the U.K. shortly after.

I have an i-mate 9502 which, at the time, was one of the most well-specced phones you could get. It is still pretty amazing now.