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Grey market appearing in "Tanager" smartphones?

Would you fly to the Czech republic just to buy a phone? It seems some will.

Microsoft doesn't sell the Smartphone itself; it promotes them to people like Orange and T-Mobile. So although Microsoft would dearly love to see the new version of Orange's SPV appear in European markets, it can't do anything about it; the "Tanager" version is not available in France, for example, or the UK. Or ...

The problem for Orange is apparently a problem of stocks. It wants to sell all its SPV "Canary" models before moving on to the next version.

But the market isn't necessary prepared to wait.

A UK review of the Tanager has appeared. It isn't based on the experiences of a journalist who has been given one to play with. It is the gloating of a guy who got on a plane, flew to Eastern Europe, bought a phone, and flew back - total premium paid, about $100.

The supplier was Eurotel, and the reviewer says he was delighted with the purchase, even though the Eurotel store in Prague was very very slow - "I thought I was going to miss my flight. It took an hour to serve the three people in front of me ... "

He said: "So was it worth it - flying from the UK to Prague just to buy a phone ... ... Sad I know but the answer is YES. The phone is far better than the SPV."

But he fails to give the Microsoft design an overall thumbs up. "It's not perfect and if I'm honest - unless MS upgrade the software, include Bluetooth and a built in camera (not that I want that), do something about Java and get a few more big operators/phone manufacturers to take up the Smartphone platform - I think the Smartphone may slowly disappear from the public's glaring eye."

Read the full review at CoolSmartphone.com.