Motorola has knocked its MPx Windows Mobile-based handset on the head, a company spokesman has confirmed.

Reports published last week that the company had cancelled orders with its Asian manufacturing partners suggested that the MPx wasn't long for this world, but there was the possibility that Motorola would produce the device itself.

However, a company spokesman last night told website PhoneScoop that the MPx was indeed effectively dead.

The handset had been made available in limited quantities in a number of Asian markets, but its broader availability will now not extend beyond enterprise-oriented market trials, the spokesman said.

The MPx was launched in February 2004. The dual-hinged clamshell design contained a 2.8in 320 x 240 touch-sensitive display, stylus, QWERTY micro-keyboard and a Wi-Fi adaptor. The screen could be opened in either portrait or landscape orientation.

In March, the MPx was upgraded to Windows Mobile 2003 Second Edition, at which point Motorola said the phone would ship in the second half of the year. The following October, the Wi-Fi Alliance said it had certified the MPx for 802.11 interoperability. ®

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