A rumour has started on the Club i-mate site that Carrier Devices will be offering a new ROM version, v1.66WWE, for download within the week. The rumour goes on to state that this new ROM will include Windows Mobile 2003 Second Edition and a vastly improved radio stack.

Truthfully - I don't know what to make of this. You see, it comes from forum users who claim to have spoken Carrier Devices, and to have heard it directly from them. I'm initially inclined to doubt it - helped along by similar doubts over at XDA Developers. However, if true,  it would be a very exciting turn of events for owners of the device!

In response to a posting of this news, a user at XDA Developers has posted the ROM version of their own QTek 2020 device, which may be indicative of the Carrier Devices release versions:

ROM version: 1.66.00WWE
ROM date: 02/20/04
Radio version: 1.10.00
Protocol version: 1337.18
extROM version: 1.66.140

They go on to state that, so far as they're aware, it's not Second Edition. I'm inclined to think that they'd probably know if it were, given the coverage the new OS update has received over the past week.

Even if the rumour proves to be untrue, it's quite likely that Carrier Devices will be the first to update their HTC Himalaya based hardware with the new OS refresh. O2 tend to be more cautious in releasing updates for their XDA II - indeed, the first update surfaced only this week. My feeling is that Second Edition probably won't be in this update, but in around 3 - 4 months time ... we'll hopefully be cooking with gas (or SE)!

We'll cover any further developments that come to light.