First appeared about four months ago, back in April, Philips M600 has recently been released on the European market - in Russia, more exactly. Produced by China Electronics Corp. (like all the Philips handsets manufactured after 2006), the M600 was initially released in China, and now it's time for it to try and conquer the European market.

The first impression that you get when looking at the new Philips is that it's a mix between a music player and a phone. The handset not only looks like a music player, but it also packs several features that make it a good choice for users in need of music-oriented handsets. These include: Music player with dedicated keys and support for MP3, MIDI, AMR and WMA, SRS WOW technology for a high-end sound quality, Bluetooth 2.0 with A2DP and a set of Philips headsets that should offer a good audio experience.

Furthermore, Philips M600 brings a 2 inch TFT display with a 172 x 220 pixel resolution and support for 256K colors, WAP browser, SMS and MMS capabilities, a 1.3 Megapixel camera with video recording, Java MIDP 2.0, USB 1.1 and microSD card support (up to 2GB). As you can see, the M600 is actually an entry-level device, a fact underlined by its dual-band GSM connectivity with GRPS only (no EDGE and no 3G).

The new candybar measures 105 x 44 x 15 millimeters and comes with a battery said to be capable of providing up to 40 hours of music playback - quite a lot when compared to what most music phones can offer.

In Russia, Philips M600 can be bought for a retail price of 4,599 Rubles (meaning about 128 Euros or 190 USD). For the moment, there are no details about the other European countries that might get the M600 but, wherever it will go, it should have a similar retail price.