SmartFlip Released by i-mate

[Mike Temporale]

<div class='os_post_top_link'><a href='http://www.itp.net/news/details.php?id=21038' target='_blank'>http://www.itp.net/news/details.php?id=21038</a><br /><br /></div><i>"i-mate has unveiled the newest addition to its smarpthone line in the form of the quad-band ‘i-mate Smartflip’, which the firm claims is a marvel of mobile engineering. Aimed at users looking for a useable, handheld device for both work and play, the Smartflip is GPRS and EDGE ready and features a slim clamshell design, a full-colour display, an etched, metallic, flat keypad (similar in style to that of Motorola’s RAZR phone) and a luminescent backlight."</i><br /><br />The long awaited i-mate SmartFlip is here - almost. It's still not listed on Expansys for pre-order. However the Qtek version is labeled as July 2nd availability. The SmartFlip is aiming for a $517 price, and that seems to be what the Qtek is going for. So I think that's a "for sure". The full specs of this phone can be found on i-mate's <a href="http://www.clubimate.com/t-DETAILS_SMARTFLIP.aspx">website</a> and you can read Jason's impression of the device in his review <a href="http://www.smartphonethoughts.com/articles.php?action=expand,11375">here.</a> So, who's going to be the first one to buy the SmartFlip?

[Darius Wey]

I love the phone. Nice design and all. But I don't think the microSD, unique connector, and lack of Wi-Fi do it for me. I know some can get by without the latter, but I'm not sure I could, since I depend on it a lot.

If I had to pick between this and the other i-mate Smartphones, I'd probably go for the SP5/SP5m.

[Jerry Raia]

Ged rid of the silly Media Player buttons and I might be won over. 8)

[Darius Wey]

Ged rid of the silly Media Player buttons...

And replace it with a hump?

[Jerry Raia]

Ged rid of the silly Media Player buttons...

And replace it with a hump?

Great minds think alike :lol:

[iJITSU]

I'd be the first to buy it, if you could ACTUALLY buy it right now and not just pre-order.

[Kirkaiya]

Ditto - if it was on sale here (Bangkok, or in Australia where i will be next week) I would buy it now. Even more so because my Axia Windows CE phone now has some glitch, where it won't come out of standby, so i have to leave it on (as in, screen on with backlite off) all the time, which drains the battery and any keypress launches something.... annoying...

So I would shell out the $$ right this minute if I could find the damn thing here, and not on some iffy eBay listing (which might be a pre-production, or whatever).

Ah well.. July will come soon enough (not really, but I'm consoling myself)

[tsahnocub]

I just recieved the Dopod branded S300 yesterday that I'd ordered off of eBay, and I do have to say, so far, I'm VERY impressed with it.

Mind you, I'm not as much of a power user in that I don't need WiFi and since the one I got came with a 512MB MicroSD card with an SD adapter, I'm not too bothered by that. Even the card under the SIM doesn't bug me since I never take the memory card out.

Coming off of an MPx200 upgraded to WM5, and all the bugs associated there with, I'm one very happy Smartphone user now.

I'll probably post up my own mini-review in the forums here in the next day or so if everyone is interested, since I do have a non-power user point of view on the device.

Otherwise, I really like it so far.