INQ Mini and 3G Mobile With Full QWERTY Keyboard

Mobile phone maker INQ Mobile launches two new low-cost mobile-optimized applications of social networking to provide alternative services to mobile subscribers more expensive smartphones. INQ, which is owned by Hong Kong Hutchison Whampoa, has launched its first low-cost “smartphone-lite” device earlier this year. And now the company is expanding its portfolio with two new devices, one of which has a full QWERTY keyboard.

The phones do not do the full browser and operating system used on the device is based on Java and not nearly as sophisticated as the smartphone operating systems used on devices like Apple’s iPhone or Research in Motion’s BlackBerry. INQ but has incorporated many of the most popular Web services such as Facebook and Twitter, on their phones to give consumers a smartphone experience similar to a much lower price. And since the device is not considered a smartphone, subscribers can register for less expensive data plans for using the INQ phones.

In addition to tight integration with a single click to access Facebook, Twitter, Web and other services such as Skype, the new INQ devices can also synchronize with the music stored in unprotected iTunes and Windows Media Player.

Just how cheap are the INQ phones? Well, if AT & T can sell the iPhone from Apple for $ 99 with a two-year contract, INQ CEO Frank Meehan believes that operators in the United States could afford to offer mobile devices for INQ anywhere between $ 25 and $ 50 with a two-year wireless service contract. And, in many cases, operators may also offer free mobile phones in exchange for a two-year commitment.

The two new mobile phones announced this week are the INQ Chat 3G phone, which has a full QWERTY keyboard and looks like a colored BlackBerry, and the Mini INQ, which is shaped like a candy bar and comes with a standard phone keypad. The devices are expected to go on sale in six countries on operator Hutchison 3 by the end of this year. These countries include the United Kingdom, Ireland, Sweden, Italy, Australia and Hong Kong.

The Mini, which will cost less than $ 150 without a carrier subsidy, will go on sale in September. And the 3G Chat INQ, which will retail for less than $ 200 without a carrier subsidy, will go on sale in October. Meehan said the company is still working on an agreement with a U.S. operator. But cellular phones could end up on this side of the Atlantic next year. [news.cnet]