Living in Canada, I didn’t get into the iPhone hype as much as my US buddies (iPhones aren’t sold here, yet, and there’s no set-in-stone date as to when they will be). As an avid OS X/Apple (and Linux) user, I actually had to put quite a bit of thought into my latest purchase. It came down to two choices – a BlackBerry or the HTC S621 (”Excalibur”). Well, I’m not sure what BlackBerry plans are like in the US, but I would have ended out with a huge, huge monthly bill if I had gone the BB route. So, I’m now the proud(ish) new owner of the HTC S621.

Which runs Windows Mobile 5.0.

So now you’re wondering – why is an OS X/Linux person buying a Microsoft Windows phone? One simple answer: 802.11b/g. This is the only Wi-Fi phone sold by the two major west-coast wireless providers (though I guess technically there’s really only one – since Rogers bought Fido). So in the coming days and weeks you can expect a fairly large number of Windows Mobile related tutorials, downloads etc. Including “how to sync your Windows Mobile phone with OS X applications” and “a step by step guide on using Skype with your 802.11b/g enabled phone”. Since those are two of the first things I’ll be doing with this thing.

ps. even though I’ve read that a headset is required in order to use Skype (with this phone), you will never, ever, see me walking down the street with a bluetooth headset stuck in my ear. If you do, you have my permission to punch me right then and there.