It looks like Asian handset outfit MWg is getting ready to bust out the family tree and make an homage back to the lands of its ancestors for a triumphant (it’d hope, anyway) new beginning. However, now - where MWg doesn’t belongs to O2/Telefónica any longer but belongs to Expansys now - the Windows Mobile specialist is expanding its business to Europe as well.MWg is holding a press event next month which is about the official European launch of MWg. Mark Billington, former head of O2 Asia and now CEO of MWg will provide an introduction to the company’s objectives and strategies.

Today Alltel Wireless and U.S. Cellular announced availability of the Motorola Q 9c on their networks.This is the same basic Q 9c that has been available for some time on Sprint. On top of the basic black version that they will be offering, Alltel and U.S. Cellular will both be offering the new Q 9c Lime - a bright green version of the popular smartphone.

The Windows Mobile smartphone may have a full QWERTY keyboard and 2.4-inch display, but it’ll be the vivid colour that everyone is looking at.  If you’re not so bold, but still fancy a 1.3-megapixel fixed-focus camera with flash, 128MB of onboard memory and support for microSD cards up to 32GB in size, you’ll be relieved to hear that they’re making a far more sober Licorice (black to you and I) version, which you can see after the cut.

While US Cellular are yet to reveal pricing details, Alltel will eventually sell you either the Lime or Licorice Q9c for $99.99 after a wretched $100 mail-in rebate, assuming you sell them your cellular soul for a two-year contract.  The handsets are expected to launch this Summer.

After the success of the Google Search homescreen plugin for S60 handsets - which Vincent described as making “a big difference” to handset usability - the search company has announced a similar app for Windows Mobile handsets. Google has now brought its home screen search application to the WinMo platform, noting on its blog that it has discovered that S60 and BlackBerry users with the app installed are able to get to Google search results about 40 percent quicker than those without — and they search 20 percent more. Makes sense, considering the pain involved with loading the browser, navigating to a favorite (or even worse, typing in google.com by hand) and tapping your feet for a few seconds. The plug-in is available immediately.

UK network O2 introduced their own version of HTC’s S730 Windows Mobile handset.  Branded the Xda Atmos, the handset somewhat disappointingly ships with WM 6.0 rather than the newer 6.1, but GPRS, EDGE, 3G, WiFi, HSDPA and quadband GSM should go some way to making up for it

Available in exclusive matt black (which IMHO it really suits), the handset has 256 MB of ROM and 64 MB RAM as well as a 2-megapixel camera and push-email support.  A front-mounted camera caters for video calls, and they’re quoting up to 5hrs talktime or up to 290hrs standby.

Showing up under business handsets (which could mean it’s not yet officially available to normal customers, so you might need to sweet-talk your local store), it’s available from free with a new contract.

Bluebird was at CeBIT last week and to tell you the truth I have never heard of this name before until now, but as they say we learn something new everyday.

The Bluebird Pidion BM-350 Windows Mobile Smartphone has quadband GSM, WiFi and 2100MHz 3G HSDPA plus it I equipped with GPS with Assisted-GPS support.

Other features on this handset include 520Mhz PXA 270 processor, Bluetooth 2.0, 1.3-megapixels on the back and VGA on the front (ok that bit is boring) plus 2.8-inch 320 x 240 display isn’t full VGA, it also has USB 2.0 port supporting USB Host, microSDHC slot supporting cards up to 32GB, FM radio and infra-red port.

Here are the main features:

• Quad-band GSM (850/900/1800/1900 MHz), 3G (2100 MHz), GPRS, EDGE and HSDPA (3G+)
• integrated SiRF III GPS receiver with A-GPS support
• 2.8″ TFT LCD touch screen with 320×240 pixel resolution
• 520Mhz PXA 270 processor
• 1.3MP digital camera
• 0.3MP front camera for the videoconferencing
• FM Radio
• 64 or 128 MB of RAM
• 128 or 256 MB of ROM
• Infra-red 1.2
• Bluetooth 2.0
• Wi-Fi 802.11 b/g
• microSD HC port (up to 32 GB)
• MiniUSB 2.0 and USB Host
• Removable 1230mAh Li-Ion battery with 200 hours standby and 6 hours talk time
• Dimensions: 11.4×6.1×1.5 cm
• Weight: 120 grams
• Windows Mobile 6 Pro