From Modaco :

Orange has confirmed that the Touch Duals to be used on their UK network will have the 16-key "phone" pad, rather than the quasi-qwerty 20-key flavour also available.

 

This raises some interesting thoughts as to which devices are viewed as competition to the Dual. Its clear that there is no love lost between Microsoft and RIM, however by chosing to avoid a qwerty layout it seems that between Orange and HTC a decision has been made to target other manufacturers.

 

Perhaps Nokia's N95? The inclusion of wifi and GPS makes this seem a strong competitor, although this could be offset by the Dual's touchscreen interface. Sony Ericsson's smartphones are equipped with qwerty keypads, however Orange UK is currently only stocking the ageing M600i, with no sign of the better equipped P1i. Both these devices also pack a touchscreen, however the M600i is wifi free.

Source: Modaco

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