Dash 3G smartphone coming from T-Mobile in July

Computerworld - T-Mobile USA Inc. said it will offer an upgrade in July of its popular Dash smartphone that will work with its new, faster 3G network, which is under construction.

The T-Mobile Dash 3G, made by HTC Corp., will run the Windows Mobile 6.1 operating system and will support GPS, T-Mobile said in a statement. No specifications or pricing were available.

Based on a photo of the Dash 3G and the existing Dash device, it appears that the navigation buttons have been changed, but otherwise the phone and the screen size appear about the same. Both use a physical QWERTY keyboard.

T-Mobile began upgrading its network to UMTS (Universal Mobile Telecommunications System) in 2007 and had reached 100 million people in 130 cities by the end of 2008. The carrier expects to double the number it can reach to 200 million by the end of 2009.

The Dash 3G will run on T-Mobile's faster 3G network, making it easier for customers to reach content-heavy sites such as YouTube.

The faster network will make it possible for users to reach content-heavy Web sites, including video-sharing sites such as YouTube, T-Mobile said on its Web site.

Separately, T-Mobile says the faster 3G network will support Web browsing speeds of 200Kbit/sec. to 1 Mbit/sec.

The older version of the Dash sells directly from T-Mobile for $50, discounted from $300. It measures 2.5 by 4.4 by 0.5 in. and weighs 4.2 oz. It runs over the older GPRS/EDGE network from T-Mobile.

T-Mobile announced two years ago that the Dash would run Windows Mobile 6.0.

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