Photos: Is the Velocity 103 the UK's first decent smart phone?

Few brave souls have attempted to set up a smart phone company in the UK -- who would want to compete with the likes of Taiwanese-based HTC, for example? But a group of British daredevils have taken on the challenge in the form of Velocity Mobile, a smart phone company that's making a noticeable splash in the mobile world.

Yesterday we met the Velocity team and got to grips with what exactly it plans on doing and took a look at the new Velocity 103 handset. The company works alongside Inventec, a Taiwanese company that also produces laptops. All the phone designs, software and marketing are worked on in Britain, while Inventec manufactures the phones.

What we like about Velocity is that it's a very small team full of experience in customising Windows Mobile phones. It has been set up to move quickly as it's largely free up from the standard corporate bureaucracy. The way the company is planning to enhance the standard Windows Mobile software is particularly impressive and distinguishes it from many other manufacturers.

One clever plan it has is to update the phone software over the air, which means no wires. It might sound like a small detail, but it's a big deal for a Windows Mobile phone -- the VOTA app Velocity has written checks for software updates and downloads the latest version.

We're also taken by Velocity's design ethos. As you'll see in our exclusive pictures on the next few pages, the 103 is very simple, but functional.

The unlocked Velocity 103 is available for pre-order online now through Expansys for £325 and will ship by the end of September.