A Bright Future for the Dopod 818

[Darius Wey]

<div class='os_post_top_link'><a href='http://www.mobile01.com/newsdetail.php?id=1535' target='_blank'>http://www.mobile01.com/newsdetail.php?id=1535</a><br /><br /></div>An interesting article resides at <a href="http://www.mobile01.com/">Mobile01</a>, which discusses the release of the Dopod 818 – the Chinese version of the i-mate JAM, which <a href="http://www.pocketpcthoughts.com/forums/viewtopic.php?t=34162">we mentioned earlier in the week</a>.<br /><br /><img src="http://www.pocketpcthoughts.com/images/web/2003/wey-20041114-Dopod818.jpg" /><br /><br />Following the success of the earlier Dopod models (565, 575, and 700), the Dopod 818 may prove to be another major contender in the Asian PDA phone industry in coming months. The article raises an important question worth considering – when does a Pocket PC Phone cross the line in terms of size and price? With devices such as the O2 XDA II and the Sony Ericsson P900, it comes with little surprise that the impressive form factor and enhanced feature set of the Dopod 818 will manage to captivate many Pocket PC Phone users, and hopefully provide a definitive answer to that question.<br /><br />It's interesting to note that the Dopod 818 is built of a metal alloy, which is a wonderful change over the plastic casing commonly employed in many of today's PDAs. Also worth mentioning is the inclusion of a USB-Mini port. This not only allows for data transmission, but bus-powered charging as well! The article mentions many further points – however, the article is also written in Chinese. Even if you don't understand Chinese, it is still worth heading over there to catch a glimpse at the amazing pictures of this impressive device. Finally, you will notice that the blue i-mate logo has been replaced with a silver Dopod logo – which one do you prefer?

[The PocketTV Team]

Does anyone know if the Dopod 818 has the ATI Imageon 3200 video accelerator ?

If you have this device and are willing to help us make sure that PocketTV runs with optimal performance on this device, please contact us by PM or using our contact form (link available at the bottom of www.pockettv.com). Thanks in advance!

[karlth]

:drool:

[guinness]

I want one, except maybe without the camera. :ppclove:

[Foo Fighter]

*cough* iPod clone *cough*

[jngold_me]

*cough* iPod clone *cough*

huh?!? :roll:

[Pinnacle]

*cough* iPod clone *cough*
And your point is????????????

Even if it is....SO WHAT. It looks great for a PPC.

[Janak Parekh]

*cough* iPod clone *cough*
That's a bit of a stretch, unless you're going to call every device that has clean lines an iPod clone. It's not like there haven't been sleek phones before the iPod, and the button arrangement isn't that much of a change from even the original iPAQs.

--janak

[Foo Fighter]

*cough* iPod clone *cough*
And your point is????????????

That it looks like, and is named after, the iPod. :roll:

[karlth]

*cough* iPod clone *cough*
And your point is????????????

That it looks like, and is named after, the iPod. :roll:

No it isn't. Unless Dopod 565, 575, and 700 were also named after the IPod - and they certainly don't look like an IPod.

The Dopod is simply a branded HTC Magician. It will be called the I-Mate JAM, S100, MDA Compact, etc by different vendors.

Does it look like an IPod. Perhaps it does but frankly it just looks a lot more like a smaller version of HTC's previous Pocket PC phones.

[Chucky]

I-Mate plus EV-DO equals definite buy for myself, however with old school GPRS I might have to reconsider.

Still, I wish someone would do an in depth review of this little beast.

[Darius Wey]

*cough* iPod clone *cough*
And your point is????????????

Even if it is....SO WHAT. It looks great for a PPC.

Kent's the Thoughts "Apple" fanatic - if you head over to Digital Media Thoughts (http://www.digitalmediathoughts.com/), you'll see why.

:twak: Look what you've done now Kent - you've turned it into a discussion on the iPod, not the DoPod! :P :lol:

But back on topic, if anyone wants to know more information on what the article says, feel free to ask. ;)

[Felix Torres]

But back on topic, if anyone wants to know more information on what the article says, feel free to ask. ;)

Consider yourself asked... 8)

[Strategy]

A couple of observations:

1. Dopod appears to be targeting female customers with this device in the Taiwan market.
2. Apparently some sites do link Dopod 818 with iPOD (at least the exterior appearance).
3. The MSRP appears to be higher than $629 quoted in US (expansys?) - estimated prices are around $700 to $1000.
4. 818 literally means "becoming rich" in Cantonese.
5. Dopod China says it does not know the price nor has any in stock.

I am however still wondering if the camera on this little gem indeed is much better than the one in i-mate. I have an i-mate, and with CE-Star I can use the device to send and receive SMS messages in Chinese as well. The camera however isn't necessarily useful.

[Darius Wey]

1. Dopod appears to be targeting female customers with this device in the Taiwan market.

Indeed. There is an article at ePrice Taiwan if you're interested: http://www.eprice.com.tw/news/?news_id=2231

There is heavy discussion on female attitudes toward PDAs and that "form factor" is apparently a very important component when purchasing PDAs. It's an interesting read, but again, the article is in Chinese.

3. The MSRP appears to be higher than $629 quoted in US (expansys?) - estimated prices are around $700 to $1000.

It has been suggested that the Dopod 818 will retail at NT$22,900.

4. 818 literally means "becoming rich" in Cantonese.

Interesting point you raise there. "8" usually has connotations of "rich". If this pattern was followed, I would have expected them to use 888 or perhaps 828. It's also interesting to note that "4" isn't used in any of their models. ;)

5. Dopod China says it does not know the price nor has any in stock.

I believe that it will be available around late November.

[darren]

We are going to translate the article on Mobile01 into an English version, so just look forward to it!

[Darius Wey]

Consider yourself asked... 8)

I was going to do a decent translatory post, but it looks like Darren is pretty keen on doing it instead. ;)

[arnose]

Wa...I have seen my hands on Pocket PC Thoughts... :lol:

[felixdd]

4. 818 literally means "becoming rich" in Cantonese.

Interesting point you raise there. "8" usually has connotations of "rich". If this pattern was followed, I would have expected them to use 888 or perhaps 828. It's also interesting to note that "4" isn't used in any of their models. ;)
That's because "18" together sounds like, "rich for sure" in cantonese. So you can splice 818 into "8, 18" which will sound like, "Rich? Rich for sure!" :roll:

[Darius Wey]

That's because "18" together sounds like, "rich for sure" in cantonese. So you can splice 818 into "8, 18" which will sound like, "Rich? Rich for sure!" :roll:

I see it now! :D

Anyway, a few people have requested that I include some sort of WorldLingo translation, so here it is: http://www.worldlingo.com/products_services/worldlingo_translator.html

Copy the webpage: http://www.mobile01.com/newsdetail.php?id=1535 into the "Translate URL" field, and select the input language as Chinese (Traditional) and the output language as English, or whichever is your preferred language. I'd provide a direct URL but WorldLingo works by embedding itself in the webpage and using the same URL each time...

The translation is a little awkward and makes little sense to me, so if you want clarification on some points, you can ask it here in the forums. :)

[rmasinag]

Who cares! when is US version of this phone coming out! :drool:

[Darius Wey]

Who cares! when is US version of this phone coming out! :drool:

:confused totally:

You mean the i-mate JAM? http://www.pocketpcthoughts.com/forums/viewtopic.php?t=34162

[rmasinag]

I guess you can get the iMate Jam through Expansys for the price of a small thermonuclear (not nookooleer) device. 8O

I'm waiting more for U.S. carriers like T-mobile who has the 6300 if I can't get this except through Expansys within summer 2005 :(

[arnose]

Second part of Review is online.
http://www.mobile01.com/topicdetail.php?f=61&t=49097