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I-Mate Unveils Windows Mobile 6/Vista Sideshow Phones
BARCELONA -- I-Mate announced the first Windows Mobile 6 devices with Windows Vista Sideshow capabilities, as well as the first phones on T-Mobile's 3G AWS frequency band in their "Ultimate" series at the 3GSM cell phone trade show Monday. The i-Mate Ultimate line comes in five form factors, all with the same high-end specs: Windows Mobile 6 Professional, 520 Mhz Marvell Bulverde processors, VGA touch screens, 128 MB of RAM, 802.11 b/g/e/i Wi-Fi (with built-in voice-over-internet calling), Bluetooth 2.0 + EDR, 2-megapixel cameras, XGA TV video out, and full-speed USB 2.0 connections.
"We've got everything in there. It is the ultimate device," said John Williamson, i-Mate's director of special projects
The four Ultimate devices include the 5150, a somewhat chunky slider phone; the 6150, a touchscreen-only, keyboard-less model; the 7150, which folds open into a mini-laptop with a full keypad and 3.8-inch screen; the 8150, a more standard-looking candy-bar phone that's 11 mm thick, with a 2.6-inch touch screen; and the 9150, a flip phone with a 2.6-inch main touch screen, a 1.2-inch external screen and huge number keys.
i-mate Lets Rip With Its Five-Strong Ultimate Range
In an advanced Hedge-Betting exercise, i-mate has announced its new range of Windows Mobile devices, with a set of designs mirroring just about every handset currently available on the market. Working on a "Oooh! Suits you sir", philosophy, it looks like consumers will be hard-pressed to not find a form factor they feel comfortable with, although the gold metallic and black styling may not be to everyone's taste (we have to say we're not feeling the love). Christened the "Ultimate" range, the WM6-powered devices “ all five of 'em “ are numbered 5150, 6150, 7150, 9150, and 8150 (clockwise from the upper left in the compilation photo) - if you're bored, you can play "spot the inspiration" and see if you match i-mate's new offerings to current designs by other manufacturers.
The Ultimate 5150 Sliding Smartphone from i-mate
I'm not all too sure about this whole ultimate business, but the i-mate Ultimate 5150 smartphone does come equipped with just about everything you want in a PDA phone. The only part that is noticeably missing, however, is a full QWERTY keyboard for ease of text entry. Instead, a standard numerical keypad slides out the bottom for all your dialing needs. The bulk of your input will be via the 2.8-inch VGA touchscreen display. Powered by an Intel Bulverde 520MHz processor, the i-mate 5150 runs on Windows Mobile 6. In terms of connectivity, you've got WiFi and Bluetooth, as well as a miniUSB port for when you're feeling a little wired. Rounding out the specs are a microSD memory card slot, direct video out with XGA resolution, and an integrated two megapixel camera. It will apparantely be offered in both 3G (UMTS/HSDPA) and non-3G variations, with the former being tri-band (850/1900/2100 or 850/1700/2100) and the latter being quad GSM/EDGE.
i-mate Ultimate 5150 in the wild
That gold sheen just oozes tri-band HSDPA in its natural environment, does it not? This here is one of i-mate's new Ultimate devices, the 5150, packing pretty much every specification we could hope for in a Windows Mobile 6 package: quad-band GSM / EDGE plus the aforementioned tri-band UMTS / HSDPA, 802.11b / g, 256MB of onboard ROM and 128MB RAM, microSD expansion, Bluetooth 2.0, FM radio, 2 megapixel camera, and VGA (yes, we said it, VGA) display atop a 533MHz XScale core. The unusual layout and style of the navigational controls could throw users a curveball, but, uh... did we mention it does tri-band HSDPA? Check out the gallery for some more champagne-hued hotness. .
I-Mate Ultimate 5150
General
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Network |
HSDPA / GSM 850 / 900 / 1800 / 1900 |
| Announced |
2007, February |
Status
|
Cancelled
|
Size
|
Dimensions |
117 x 60.5 x 19.5 mm |
Weight
|
|
Display
|
Type |
TFT touchscreen, 256K colors |
| Size |
640 x 480 pixels, 2.8 inches |
|
- Handwriting recognition
|
Ringtones
|
Type |
Polyphonic, MP3 |
| Customization |
Download |
Vibration
|
Yes
|
Memory
|
Phonebook |
In shared memory |
| Call records |
Yes |
| Card slot |
microSD (TransFlash) |
|
- 128 MB RAM, 256 MB ROM
- Intel Bulverde 520 MHz processor
|
Data
|
GPRS |
Class 10 (4+1/3+2 slots), 32 - 48 kbps |
| HSCSD |
No |
| EDGE |
Class 10, 236.8 kbps |
| 3G |
HSDPA |
| WLAN |
Wi-Fi 802.11 b/g/e/i |
| Bluetooth |
Yes, v2.0 |
| Infrared port |
Yes |
USB
|
Yes, miniUSB
|
Features
|
OS |
Microsoft Windows Mobile 6.0 Professional |
| Messaging |
SMS, MMS, Email, Instant Messaging |
| Browser |
WAP 2.0/xHTML, HTML (PocketIE) |
| Games |
Yes |
| Colors |
Silver |
| Camera |
2 MP, 1600x1200 pixels, video |
|
- Java MIDP 2.0
- Stereo FM radio
- Voice memo
- Windows media player 10
- Video/audio album
- File manager
- Built-in handsfree
|
| Battery |
|
Standard battery, Li-Ion 1400 mAh |
|
