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Orange SPV C500: a first look

Sandra Vogel ZDNet.co.uk

Published: 11 Jun 2004

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Dubbed ‘the world’s smallest smartphone’ by Orange, the C500 weighs 100g and has an overall size of 46mm wide by 108mm deep by 18mm high. This is certainly small, undercutting the company’s other smartphone the SPV E200, which comes in at 120g and measures 48.7mm by 116.7mm by 23.3mm. The differences are not huge, but the reduction in size may help its pocketability.


Orange's SPV C500 will run Microsoft's Windows Mobile 2003 Second Edition for Smartphones.

The operating system is Windows Mobile 2003 Second Edition for Smartphones, which was announced in March but has yet to make an appearance in a retail device. This updated operating system adds a number of capabilities to those found in the first edition, including support for varying screen sizes and orientations, and the ability to customise the home screen. Orange has taken advantage of these features to offer a new home screen design with icons arranged vertically.


Orange's new home screen design for the SPV C500 has icons arranged vertically.

The C500 phone will be tri-band and incorporate 64MB of internal memory plus a mini-SD card slot for expansion. Battery life is expected to be in the range of 8 hours talktime, and up to 4 days on standby. In addition, the C500 includes Bluetooth and has a built-in digital camera.

The SPV C500 joins Orange’s Signature range, which brings a number of customised services, including Orange Backup and Orange Update -- both 'over-the-air' services. The emphasis on ease of use in the Signature range helps Orange drive up its average revenue per user. The SPV E200 (running on Windows Mobile Smartphone software) and Treo 600 (running on the Palm operating system), both exclusive to Orange and in the Signature range, deliver more than double the company’s average monthly revenue per user for non-Signature phones of 50 euros.

The SPV C500 will be available, later this summer, in eight European countries -- UK, France, Switzerland, Denmark, Netherlands, Poland, Romania and Slovakia. Pricing is not available at the present time.

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Full Talkback thread

33 comments

  1. Looks like a great product but battery life remain... Matt P
  2. Recent pics show a mini usb slot on the bottom so... Paul R
  3. When DON'T we have to buy a new handsfree kit... Mike Williams
  4. Hmmm... Expansys do a Mini-SD to SD adapter for a... Mike Williams
  5. can this be used with a GPS system? steve
  6. Yes, there is a GPS streetmapping program - C... Anonymous
  7. I have TomTom mobile 5.0 on my C500. So yes,... Venderwel
  8. when are they going to realise people want to see... ian
  9. Does anyone know if the SPV 500 will work with the... Anonymous
  10. Can anyone telll me if you can send photos or... Anonymous
  11. Does anyone know how to unlock the spv... Malachy
  12. Go to the file manager, choose your file... Morris
  13. My SPV 500 won’t switch on. I turned if off... Diana Kwok
  14. i like the phone battery life is very bad not as g... john holland
  15. chill out! the battery life is the best i hav... lee j
  16. Fully featured but menu interface could... Anonymous
  17. This is my first smart phone, and I must say it is... Gilbert Tuplin
  18. What the biggest mini SD card that this phone can... Tom Wrigglesworth
  19. yes check this site i think it goes to 1gb h... Anonymous
  20. When the phone is in "talking mode" it is not poss... Anonymous
  21. My SPV C500 is just over a month old and the scree... Malcolm Davies
  22. Like so many others, My SPV C500 freezes and... Mike Swy
  23. So you chose the wrong phone. You should... Anonymous
  24. It's a good idea to do some researc... Anonymous
  25. does anyone know if the spv500... Anonymous
  26. I took ownership of my first C500 on 8th March and... Anonymous
  27. I had a replacement handset delivered to me i... Stewart Hayles
  28. Why can I not find out how to send using Bluetooth... Anonymous
  29. I have the same problem. I like the phone in... Paul
  30. i am finding it hard to transfer mp3 music from pc... sue from uk
  31. yep I went to an orange shop and they told me i co... andy
  32. Does anyone know if you can transfer text messages... Chris
  33. does any know where to get get a keypad for the sp... nick

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