"......isn't a fully-fledged WIndows Mobile device....."

A quick check on my HTC Touch reveals: "CE OS 5.2.1238 (Build 17745.0.2.3)".

It's a Windows Mobile 6 device...............

Brilliant! A fantastic new invention from Motorola, the company that bought Symbol Technologies.

Only one little thing: Symbol actually introduced an integrated WiFi barcode reader/VoIP phone back in, uhm, 2000 or so. I remember testing it with a customer.

Admittedly, the new one looks quite a bit snappier than the old Symbol NetVision phone …

Windows CE is Microsoft's embedded OS for devices. OEMs then need to customise that OS to work on the specified hardware, writing device drivers, and customising things to their taste (kind of like making your own Windows CE distribution, ala Linux etc). Windows CE devices could, in theory, range from simple jukeboxes, ATMs to medical equipment.

In the case of Windows Mobile, this is a particular distribution of Windows CE, produced by Microsoft, with specific functionality, applications and hardware support tailored towards Phones and PDAs. In turn, the OEMs then customise this to suit their hardware and then release it on their devices.

So, Windows Mobile is a particular implementation of Windows CE and therefore a Windows CE device is not automatically a Windows Mobile Device.

Think about delivery drivers where they would need to scan the items they're picking up or dropping off, while maintaining contact with the depot (though this would more likely be GPRS rather than VoIP). Also, staff in warehouses where shouting isn't an option and WiFI is already in place... It's not such a daft idea.

The motorola / symbol devices are basically rugged PDAs, so it's not a massive leap of imagination to use Bluetooth / wired headsets to turn them into phones. They usually have tinny speakers and can play MP3s, so operators can also go for the "teenagers on train" look.

"Windows CE devices could, in theory, range from simple jukeboxes, ATMs to medical equipment"

Nurse, please perform manual CPR on this patient while I remove a virus from his pacemaker which has crashed...

We have the Handheld Dolphin that does this already. And for the above reason that we need the Wi-Fi unit for the data app and you can now save the warehouse person from the trek back to the office for phone calls.