INQ Chat 3G - Affordable Social Networking on the Road

After its highly popular and multi-awarded INQ1, the Hutchison-Whampoa company INQ has just launched a couple of social mobile phones targeting both ends of the market income demographics.  You get a low cost entry level Mini 3G and a full-featured muscular Chat 3G that's the first QWERTY phone from INQ.  But don't get any notion the latter carries any high-end price tag.  Both are actually quite affordable for a social networking phone, the former more than the latter.  The INQ Chat 3G takes on the heritage of its successful predecessor INQ1 as the company's new flagship model but without a turn-off price.

Competitive Feature Set

The new INQ handset is as handsome as any Blackberry smartphone which obviously is its inspiration in form and looks.  And for its feature set that does away with the extraordinary camera and multimedia frills that are fine if you can afford them, the handset delivers competitive features where they really matter to the social networking crowd.

Its homescreen has the right widgets for Twitter, Facebook, Skype and Windows Live apps that are tightly integrated with its proprietary OS for seamless updates and one-touch access.  It supports push email for Gmail accounts as well as instant messaging.

All that benefits from its 3G/HSDPA/HSUPA high speed data connectivity for a truly engaging messaging, chatting and social networking on while on the road.

Not to lag behind in the frills department, the INQ Chat 3G packs enough features to satisfy the mobile social networker with basic imaging and multimedia entertainment experience on the road.  It starts with a modest but typical 2.4' QVGA TFT screen that supports 24-bit color depth.

Then there's the 3.2 megapixel autofocus camera that's par for the course without bothering with the non-essentials that only bring production cost up. But you get a built-in GPS receiver with support to Google maps thrown in, as well as a fairly capable iTunes syncing facility. There's an ample 128 MB of internal memory you can load with apps and files. If that's not enough, you can use its microSD memory expansion slot to bring it up to 8 GB.

A Great Value for the Money

Clearly aimed at the social networking markets with an eye for a BlackBerry phone without draining the wallet, the INQ Chat 3G has its niche ready and willing.  Expect it to arrive with its more modest brother the INQ Mini 3G during the last quarter of the year in time for Christmas at the ?110 price point.  With such a wallet-friendly price, it won't be surprising to see it end up on your shopping list for the holidays.