Toshiba's fingerprint protected smartphone

Toshiba's Portege G500 Windows Mobile smartphone features fingerprint sensor security

If you're security conscious and looking for a stylish 3G Smarthone then check out the new finger-print sensor protected Toshiba Portégé G500.

The Toshiba Portégé G500 is a compact 3G and high-speed HSDPA sliderphone powered by the Windows Mobile 5.0 operating system. The phone uses finger-print sensor security technology - similar to that used on some laptops - to protect the device from unauthorised tampering.

The sensor can also be used to navigate the G500's menu system and to lock the device. A full phone keypad slides out from under the display.

A 2-megapixel camera is provided on the back of the Portégé G500. A secondary camera up front takes care of 3G video calling duties. On top of 3G with HSDPA high-speed downloading, the G500 features Wi-Fi connectivity and is tri-band GSM/GPRS/EDGE compatible.

VoIP calling via Wi-Fi

The G500 supports VoIP internet phone calling over Wi-Fi, plus Microsoft Direct Push email and Instant Messaging. Multiple music formats are supported (MP3, AAC, AAC , eAAC , WMA, AMRNB) by the G500's Windows Media Player Mobile software.

A full Internet Explorer Mobile browser and Mobile Outlook functionality and PC syncing are included. Video recording and playback are featured. And the device offers 64MB internal storage plus MiniSD card expansion.

Announced at the 3GSM World Congress in February, the Toshiba Portégé G500 has slipped on to the UK market with little fanfare. It is available via several online sources. One of these is Expansys.com which is initially offering the Toshiba Portégé G500 for around £270 SIM-free.