AnexTEK Unleashes Two New moboDA Devices

[Darius Wey]

<div class='os_post_top_link'><a href='http://www.phonedaily.com/news/?news_id=4419' target='_blank'>http://www.phonedaily.com/news/?news_id=4419</a><br /><br /></div>Some of you may recall the moboDA 3360, which appeared at last year's Computex. AnexTEK has upped the ante this time with two new moboDA Pocket PC Phone Edition devices - the 3160 and the 3380 (which form-factor-wise, has BenQ P50 written all over it).<br /><br /><img src="http://www.pocketpcthoughts.com/images/web/2003/wey-20060607-moboDA.jpg" /><br /><br />And a rundown of the specs:<br />• moboDA 3160: Intel PXA272 416MHz processor, 64MB RAM, 128MB ROM, tri-band GSM/GPRS support, 802.11b/g Wi-Fi, Bluetooth 1.2, a 2.8" QVGA (240 x 320) 65K-colour TFT-LCD, a 1.3-megapixel camera, an SDIO/SD/MMC slot, <a href="http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Push_to_talk">push-to-talk over cellular (PoC)</a> support, and Windows Mobile 5.0 with the MSFP (AKU 2.x).<br />• moboDA 3380: More powerful; Intel PXA272 520MHz procesor, 64MB RAM, 256MB ROM, quad-band GSM/GPRS/EDGE support, 802.11b/g Wi-Fi, Bluetooth 1.2, GPS, a 2.8" QVGA (240 x 320) 65K-colour TFT-LCD, a 2.0-megapixel camera, an SDIO/SD/MMC slot, a QWERTY thumb-board, and Windows Mobile 5.0 with the MSFP (AKU 2.x).<br /><br />Did I just hear you say you want the moboDA 3380? ;)

[ADBrown]

To borrow a phrase, holy sweet flaming undead mother of cheese on a freaking unicycle. That thing looks huge. Cool feature list, but how do you make a device that giganto-normous and fail to include a VGA screen?

[DaleReeck]

Every new PPC announcement (all of them QVGA) just confirms my suspicions - VGA on the PocketPC is dead.

[thefoss]

WOW. Size Schmize. I kinda expect it to be that large with those specs. My only question to you all is: how do I get my hands on one?! :mrgreen:

[Foo Fighter]

Every new PPC announcement (all of them QVGA) just confirms my suspicions - VGA on the PocketPC is dead.

It was stillborn from the start. VGA has always been a luxury feature, with little hope of becoming mainstream. The entry cost is too high, even on standard PDAs, unless you're able to act quickly when Dell offers a brief coupon code to slash a couple hundred bucks off its top-of-the-line Axim. Add a VGA screen to a smartphone and you end up with a phone that costs as much as a notebook PC, ala JasJar.

One of the biggest blunders Microsoft ever made with Windows Mobile was its decision not to support HVGA, the native resolution of PalmOS-powered devices. It's a good tweener resolution that offers a "poor man's VGA" experience that looks just about as good as a full blown VGA screen. And the cost of manufacturing is just cheap enough to fit into a smartphone with minimal costs in parts or power consumption.

[ADBrown]

HVGA? Bah. It's a specialty resolution, more expensive than it's really worth. The only reason Palms adopted it was because it scaled well from their original 160 x 160 and 320 x 320 screens, because they didn't have the sense to follow HandEra and standardize on QVGA. Besides which, HVGA is not a standard aspect ratio, so you'd have serious compatibility issues.

VGA is hardly dead: Dell's best selling unit is the X51v. I'd say the lack of VGA devices has more to do with the glut of "me too" phone wannabes, each either retreading the same crappy specs or trying to do something new and ending up with a brick, just because the company bought into the hype about smartphones being such a big thing.

Bah.

[Foo Fighter]

No argument there. But at least HVGA exists, in 320x320 flavor of course. Anyone seen a 480x480 or VGA smartphone floating around in the wild? Nope.

Well JasJar is VGA, but that will set you back the price of a shiny new MacBook.

[surur]

Every new PPC announcement (all of them QVGA) just confirms my suspicions - VGA on the PocketPC is dead.

Tell that to my HTC Universal. The Universal II is coming in 2007.

Surur

[bkerrins]

Yeah, the 3380 sounds like what I'm looking for. I don't require a VGA screen. I do however require quad band, WM5.0, thumbboard and GPS. that's it. OK, techncally I also want to be able to install a little memory but could care less if it's SD, Micro SD or CF. Is this thing really going to become availabe within my life time or is it vaporware?

[ADBrown]

No argument there. But at least HVGA exists, in 320x320 flavor of course. Anyone seen a 480x480 or VGA smartphone floating around in the wild? Nope.

How does that matter? It seems to me that anybody who cares enough about resolution to go high-res wouldn't want a square screen, they'd want the real thing. Therefore, a 480 x 480 device would be a bit of a waste.

Well JasJar is VGA, but that will set you back the price of a shiny new MacBook.

Odd, I'm looking at eBay and seeing new Universals for under $300. Perhaps i-mate should reconsider their pricing. :lol:

[surur]

sharp-w-zero3 spawns new variant
http://www.engadgetmobile.com/media/2006/06/w-zero3.jpg

Our esteemed colleagues holding down Engadget Japanese have uncovered the WS004SH, a refreshed version of Sharp's would-be Universal killer, the W-ZERO3. Internal flash is up from 128 to 256MB (giving the user about 197MB of that to play with), and MSFP is now included out of the box. The real draw here for existing owners, though, are the new colors: pearl white and gunmetal gray. The back of the new model's body will feature the "Intel Inside" logo, reportedly the first time it's ever been used on a portable device. Now put a "Centrino Duo" logo on there right next to it, and you can consider our flight to Japan booked.

http://www.engadgetmobile.com/2006/06/06/sharp-w-zero3-spawns-new-variant/

There is VGA hope yet. For a high-end device I consider VGA essential. Its silly to have the same resolution on a smartphone as a PDA phone.

Surur

[Timothy Rapson]

I think QVGA was the best choice for a PDA by far, but I don't understand why VGA is so much more expensive.
I purchased a new Kodak Picture Viewer for my father-in-law for Father's Day. It has a beautiful 882 x 288 screen about 2.5-2.8 inches. It cost $40 and includes a directional pad, three buttons and an SD slot.
Don't tell me an Axim X51v needs to sell at $300+ for Dell to make money.

[ZodiacfreaK]

Odd, I'm looking at eBay and seeing new Universals for under $300. Perhaps i-mate should reconsider their pricing. :lol:
heh, don't buy any of those UNIVERSAL's they are all a big scam. The same dude from china has set up about 2,000 ebay names and got each of them up to 10 feedback 100% each. And now he is putting hundreds of smartphones and pocket PC's on eBay for low prices.... you can guess what happens after they all sell......

I came across all this when last night I was almost jumping up and down going crazy at how cheap they are. But all of the legitimate ones go for at least $600 :(

[whydidnt]

VGA is only dead becaue MS effectively killed it on birth with their ridiculous decision to pixel double. People look at a VGA device and say, sure it's looks a little nicer, but I really can't see more information. Why should I pay more for that? Why the heck couldn't they have just allowed a wider range of font sizes in the slider so everyone could have been happy?

I like the specs of the 3380, but it does look big. I still think Motorola got it right with the Q and the landscape QVGA screen. Why haven't we seen that on any PPC's? This device is just screaming for that layout.

[Darius Wey]

Is this thing really going to become availabe within my life time or is it vaporware?

AnexTEK has a better track record than BenQ, so I'm sure the moboDA devices will actually be released into the market. With a bit of importing, you'll probably be able to have one in your hands in a couple of months.

[MarcTGFG]

Is this thing really going to become availabe within my life time or is it vaporware?

AnexTEK has a better track record than BenQ, so I'm sure the moboDA devices will actually be released into the market. With a bit of importing, you'll probably be able to have one in your hands in a couple of months.

Darius, I beg to differ!

Benq at least relessed the P50 in several markets (incl. Italy) some months ago. Late? Sure.

But Anextek. Look at their poor website (at least the last time I checked. Their earlier model got exactly one serious preview and not a single production model review as far as I could find on the net. It was said then that it was about to be released in new Zealand/Australia immediately and Europe and the US later. I couldnt find one single reseller of the MoboDA3360 till today. E-mails to Anextek themselves werent answered.

For me this is vaporware until I hold one of these units in my hand and see it advertised and on sale somewhere!!! Sorry.

[ADBrown]

heh, don't buy any of those UNIVERSAL's they are all a big scam.

Scams aside, there are a few legitimate deals out there. eBay scams are pretty common with any high-priced electronics, but I still managed to pick up an IBM Thinkpad R50p there for $500 under the going rate with a little patience.

Also, it's worth pointing out that new Universals are running well under $500 retail over in Europe--it's not an entirely unheard of price, which is why the eBay scammers usually choose the $200-$300 level: low enough to draw people in, not SO low as to be obviously a fraud.

[ADBrown]

I still think Motorola got it right with the Q and the landscape QVGA screen. Why haven't we seen that on any PPC's? This device is just screaming for that layout.

Well, they're not exactly like the Q, but most of the new PPC phones like the Wizard are designed so that you get a landscape orientation when you slide the keyboard out.

[whydidnt]

Well, they're not exactly like the Q, but most of the new PPC phones like the Wizard are designed so that you get a landscape orientation when you slide the keyboard out.

But I don't think the Wizard style is very usable as a phone when in landscape mode. I really like how the keyboard is always available on the Q, yet we still get a QVGA screen withou a device that is too big to carry comfortably.

[Darius Wey]

For me this is vaporware until I hold one of these units in my hand and see it advertised and on sale somewhere!!! Sorry.

Hmm, maybe. I managed to read a couple of reviews (in English and Chinese) just a few months after its release, while the BenQ - well, let's not go there. But at the end of the day, I guess it depends on how much effort you put into digging up reviews, and how hard you look for a reseller. Both AnexTEK and BenQ will never match folks like i-mate, Qtek, and Dopod who can usually get their devices out when they announce it. After all, they do have a stronger grasp of the market.