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Call them BlackBerry or Treo killers, whatever you like. But over the past twelve months or so a slew of smartphones called communicators - built in the mold of RIM's handhelds - have been unveiled. While messaging is the name of the game for these devices, many are no slouch when it comes to multimedia, 3G and other services and features. There's the Motorola Q and Samsung i320, both thin and light devices with QWERTY thumb-keyboards, in the Windows Mobile realm, for example.

The Internet rumor mill recently conjured up another new communicator in the same vein as the Samsung and Motorola. This one, built by original design manufacturer (ODM) High Tech Computer (HTC) is codenamed Excalibur (see picture from Smartphone Thoughts).

As with the Q and i320, this device supposedly runs on Windows 5.0 for Smartphone platform, which means it won't have a touch display or be as powerful as, say, Palm's Treo 700w, a Pocket PC Phone. Excalibur is also reportedly only a couple of millimeters thicker and shorter than the extremely narrow and compact i320.

The quad-band GSM Excalibur may also be Wi-Fi enabled unlike the Q, i320 and Treo , which would be a real advantage in the marketplace. Another interesting feature is the addition of an innovative jog strip instead of the thumbwheel of the BlackBerry or jog dial found in the Q.

Located on the side of the device near the display, users slide their fingers up and down the strip (like you would with a touchpad on a laptop). At the top and bottom of the strip are places that lead to the Start Menu and go back.

Nothing else about Excalibur is known. We'll report more details as the come to light.

We do know, however, that HTC may release the device under its own name as well as through its traditional operator and hardware partners. That's because HTC, the company behind more Windows Mobile smartphones than any other - 85 percent of them - as an ODM has started to brand its own devices, starting with TyTN Pocket PC Phone and the MTeoR Windows Smartphone in Europe just last month.

The mobile-device builder said it would continue with its bread-and-butter business of building and supporting products for carrier and OEM partners, however. And yet, these companies and Microsoft can't be happy with HTC placing itself in direct competition with them.

Nonetheless, CEO Peter Chou emphasized in July, "Our operator and OEM strategy remains key to this success, and we are committed to further strengthening our partner relationships by providing customized and differentiated offerings."

HTC said it would provide the new self-branded products to established Qtek channels (its now deleted direct-sales brand) to distributors, enterprises and operators who do not carry carrier-branded products. So it doesn't step on anyone's toes.