[Updated Oct. 5] — D-Link will market an unlocked, dual-mode WiFi and GSM/GPRS phone, it says. The “V-Click” phone appears to be a rebranded Linux- and Qtopia-based phone design created by Taiwanese ODM (original design manufacturer) Wistron NeWeb Corp. (WNC). It will ship in Q1, 2007, priced at about $600, D-Link says.

(Click for larger view of the D-Link V-Click)

GW-1 (Click to enlarge)

The V-Click appears to be identical to WNC's Linux/Qtopia-based dual-mode “GW1” phone (pictured at right). The WNC design was previously marketed as the “Twin” by French MVNO (mobile virtual network operator) Neuf; the Neuf Twin is pictured below.

The Neuf Twin
The V-Click is an “unlocked” tri-band (900/1800/1900) GSM radio — meaning it should work anywhere in the world, with any GSM-GPRS SIM card, including pre-paid cards and those from traditional GSM service providers, D-Link says. The phone will be able to import addressbook data from inserted SIM cards.

The V-Click will also reportedly have an 802.11 WiFi radio, with support for wireless encryption standards that include WEP, WPA, and WPA2. It will come with an unspecified SIP-based VoIP (voice-over IP) client, and while D-Link will not offer a service plan directly, the phone will work with several third-party offerings, D-Link says.

Additional touted features include:

• Five hours talk time on GSM, or two on WiFi
• Hardware button switches off WiFi radio for better battery life
• Up to 24MB of memory for user file storage, such as music and videos
• 2-inch, 176 x 220-pixel color display
• Opera browser
• Email client
• One-button WiFi activation/deactivation
• 4.2 x 1.7 x 0.75 inches (106 x 44 x 19mm)
• 3.4 ounces (95 grams)

D-Link CEO Steven Joe stated, “Similar to our popular flip-style Wi-Fi phone, the V-Click phones are open and unlocked.”

Availability

The V-Link will be available through D-Link's global reseller network, and direct from its online store. MSRP is expected to be $600.

In other news, D-Link lost a high-profile court case involving the GNU GPL last week.

Thanks to Eugenia Loli-Queru for calling this story to our attention.

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