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High Tech Computer's (HTC) Excalibur, the original equipment manufacturer's entry into the communicator race has already been approved by the Federal Communications Commission (FCC) for release in the U.S. And yet no operator has stepped forward to announce they would carriy this Wi-Fi enabled compact smartphone with a QWERTY thumb-keyboard, and rumors about potential operator suitors have been scarce. Until now, that is.

An anonymous source has told MoDaCo that the Windows Mobile Smartphone may soon be available from T-Mobile USA under the name Dash (see image). This isn't much of a surprise.

As we've speculated before, T-Mobile has the largest investment in Wi-Fi hot spots of any operator in this U.S., and the least in 3G, a technology Excalibur reportedly lacks.

The new rumor also reveals Excalibur may also run on a 201 MHz TI OMAP P850 processor, 64 MB of RAM, 128 MB of ROM, and a QVGA (320 x240 pixel) resolution screen in landscape mode.

Previously, we've learned that Excalibur is built like the slim Samsung i320 and Motorola Q, except it is supposed to be even thinner and lighter. Like those handsets, it runs on the Windows Mobile 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. It certainly won't be, as with the Q or i320, as large either.

The quad-band GSM Excalibur integrates an innovative jog strip that replaces the thumbwheel of the BlackBerry - the mother of all communicators - 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.