CALL it the schizo gizmo - O2's latest 3G pocket powerhouse, the Xda Flame, seeks to serve two very different masters. Now that's usually a recipe for market ing disaster but in this instance there is method, and even inspiration, in the apparent madness.

That's because this latest incarnation of the mobile communications major's popular Xda PDA-phone delivers brilliantly to both its current constituency - the business power users who currently make up its fan base; and its new target audience, a presumably younger group who want their photos, music, video and 3D gaming following them wherever they go.

For a start, the $1,498 (recommended retail price) Xda Flame breaks new ground with two processors, a powerful Intel Xscale PXA 270 running at 520 MHz, and a dedicated Goforce 5500 nVidia 3D graphics processor. O2 has obviously the future in mind; games and programs taking full advantage of the graphics chip are still a while off.

For those already in the Xda camp - this writer included - the Flame is the upgrade they've been waiting for. Well, almost. At 125 x 73 x 17.5 mm and 190 g, it has about the same dimensions and weight as its predecessors; but it is more eye-catching in classy black, and the firm rubber texture makes for a better grip while giving the illusion of being lighter.

Turn on the display and the differences become more obvious. The screen is a tad larger at 3.6 inches, and with a resolution of 640 x 480 and 262,000-plus colours (65,536 effective), graphics and video quality are outstanding. The higher screen resolution brings a couple of additional advantages: text in Word and Excel files remain sharp at very small font sizes, allowing much more of a page on one screen; and for those who use the handwriting applications, the output actually looks like your handwriting, and the Transcriber handwriting recognition software is much more accurate as a result.

The full compendium of Microsoft Office for Windows Mobile is present of course. Internet Explorer Mobile works smoothly on a Wi-Fi connection, and intelligently adapts web pages to the smaller real estate.

Of course, the Xda Flame is a 3G device, so e-mail, the Web and video calls are all possible on the go. The tri-band device also incorporates Bluetooth and infrared transfer.

And finally, we have a handheld with sensibly large storage - the Flame has a capacious two gigabytes of Flash ROM in addition to 128 megabytes of RAM. For even more storage, there is a micro-SD memory card slot. And a smart new feature - support for USB on the go, with an adaptor that connects the Flame to a USB drive, and allows transfers of files and the playing of multimedia files from the external drive.

Plenty to please

So there is plenty to please the hardcore business user. But also plenty to satisfy the multimedia aficionado. The main camera - there is also a VGA-quality camera for video calls - boasts two megapixel capability with autofocus, 4X digital zoom, a preview mirror for self-portraits, strobe flash and video capture. It will never be your primary camera, not with a three-second lag after clicking, but for casual and portrait photos, even in dim lighting, the results are excellent.

But if this baby is going to capture its new target group then the Windows Media Player 10 Mobile, the heart of the multimedia part of the Flame's dual personality, has to deliver. And it does, with DVD-quality video playback and smooth music and video streaming. Multimedia users will also appreciate O2 Mediaplus, which brings together all the major multimedia apps on one screen.

But we did add that caveat earlier: 'Well, almost.' No device is perfect, and the Flame has its fair share of zits: the lack of a dedicated key to shift the screen from portrait to landscape (it takes five to seven menu moves, quite unacceptable) being a prominent one. But really, the one burning question this reviewer has for O2 is: Why only 3G when the competition has had 3.5G access in its products for over a year?