It’s been rumoured for a while, and I’ve been hoping it wasn’t vapourware.  Meet the replacement for the (very good if I might add) Kenwood TH-D72 Handheld, and this doesn’t disappoint!:

Kenwood D-STAR Tribander 144 / 220 / 440 MHz

• Built-in high-performance GPS unit
• Transflective color TFT display
• Weatherproof toughness meeting IP54/55 standards
• Wide-band and multi-mode reception
• Equipped with IF filter for comfortable reception (SSB/CW)
• High-performance DSP-based voice processing
• Compliant with Bluetooth, microSD & Micro-USB

Of obvious note is the support for DStar – this being the first of the big three other than Icom to embrace the format.  Just to clear up a little confusion – DStar is NOT a proprietary mode – it was developed by JARL (the Japan Amateur Radio League) and is open source.  The only closed thing about it is the voice codec – it uses a proprietary AMBE Vocoder chip from Digital Voice Systems Inc.  This is the same codec as P25, DMR and C4FM – the modulation is what differs (gross oversimplification, I know).  The only completely open source amateur radio digital mode is FreeDV.

Also of interest is APRS (the best there is In my humble opinion), SSB reception (so HF RX coverage I presume?) and Bluetooth support.  I want one.  The unit is currently without a model number.