German consumer telecommunication magazine “connect” got a working prototype of the HTC Excalibur in their hands and has published some further information about it in its latest issue. Although its previously been seen with T-Mobile themes, connect indicates that it will be carried by O2 Germany, with XDA branding.

According to connect, the O2 Xda cosmo the Windows Mobile 5.0 Smartphone will be available during September or October of this year. Of course what this means is that European carriers can expect to see it in the next couple of months, while American carriers will probably take another month or two. The Excalibur is HTC’s answer to the Motorola Q. With a QWERTY keyboard (the German version will has most likely a QWERTZ keyboard), jog strip/pad, GSM/GPRS/EDGE quadband and Wi-Fi, about the only thing this phone is missing is 3G connectivity.

I must say that I’m extremely excited about this device. I think Smartphone edition devices with QWERTY keyboards really combine the best of both worlds, and I’m glad to see a lot of choices starting to come out with this form factor. Now if someone would just develop an office suite for Smartphone edition it would be perfect.

So far, connect hasn’t mentioned a price.