i-mate 3 Launches In The Middle East

[Mike Temporale]

<div class='os_post_top_link'><a href='http://www.ameinfo.com/news/Detailed/44215.html' target='_blank'>http://www.ameinfo.com/news/Detailed/44215.html</a><br /><br /></div><i>"With a new slim look and with features that consumers have come to expect from i-mate™ devices, the new stylish i-mate™ SP3 is set to hit the market early September"</i><br /><br /><img src="http://www.smartphonethoughts.com/images/Temporale-20040823-iMate3.jpg" alt="User submitted image" title="User submitted image"/> <br /><br />Ok, so we have already seen the European release, and now we know that the Middle East release is coming soon. However we still don't know much about the North American release!

[The PocketTV Team]

This Smartphone looks awfully like the SPV C500.

Does it have the same GAPI bug ?

[ben865]

This Smartphone looks awfully like the SPV C500.

Does it have the same GAPI bug ?

It is the same phone. It would be reasonable to assume that it has the same bug.

I had a play with an Orange C500 this weekend, It's not a bad phone but I feel that the keypad is compromised. I couldn't use the joystick left - right without hitting the buttons either side.

[Mike Temporale]

This Smartphone looks awfully like the SPV C500.

The iMate SPV 3, Qtek 8010, Dopod 565, and Orange c500 are all the same phone, and as such I would expect them all to have the same GAPI issues. We won't know for sure until they appear on store shelves.

[The PocketTV Team]

This Smartphone looks awfully like the SPV C500.

Does it have the same GAPI bug ?

It is the same phone. It would be reasonable to assume that it has the same bug.
And do they all return "Typhoon" when you call SPI_GETOEMINFO ?

Because we need to be able to identify them to work around the bugs...

[gambit]

PocketTV: well the iMate smartphone2 returns voyager.

I hope this is correct: i see from there press releases that the middle east was the last to get the smartphone2 in april: http://imate.com/press.php

So it seems odd that they would release the 'smartphone 3' there first after the '2' is only in the market for 3 and a bit months.

riki

[Macguy59]

Ooooo daddy likey :lol: I normally don't care for the candybar style, but I could see myself using this.

[Kris Kumar]

I hope this is correct: i see from there press releases that the middle east was the last to get the smartphone2 in april: http://imate.com/press.php

So it seems odd that they would release the 'smartphone 3' there first after the '2' is only in the market for 3 and a bit months.

riki

Good observation. The carriers in US (like T-Mobile) are always worried about training the support staff and the support costs. I wonder how these carriers that release a new Smartphone model within a span of 4-6 months handle these issues.

[Kris Kumar]

It seems that in the Middle East the phones are sold independent of the carrier service. I mean you buy an unlocked phone and use it with any service. That would explain why they can get new phones, without the carrier roadblocks.

[The PocketTV Team]

We are looking for a few people to help us do some tests to ensure that our applications will work well on this new device.

If you have an iMate 3 and are willing to help, please contact us.

Thanks in advance!