Malaysian phone maker Fifth Media has announced what it claims is the world's smallest Windows Mobile 5 smart phone. The compact handset's profile measures 11.3 x 4.9, but it's 2.1cm thick. It squeezes in quad-band GSM, GPRS and EDGE connectivity, along with Bluetooth 1.2 and 802.11b Wi-Fi.

The Axia 308 handset will be based on a 416MHz Intel PXA272 processor, 128MB of Flash ROM and 64MB of RAM. There's a MiniSD slot to add more storage. It's got a 2.2in, 240 x 320, 262,144-colour display and a fixed-focus 1.3 megapixel camera.

The phone will contain a 1500mAh battery - sufficient to provide up to four hours' talk time and 120 hours in stand-by mode. Fifth Media says.

The company wants to sell the Axia 308 beyond its home territory - next month it will give the handset its first public outing, at the CeBIT show in Hanover. The company didn't say how much it expects the 308 to cost, but it claimed pricing will be "very attractive". ®