Gigabyte g-Smart i128 Announced

[Darius Wey]

<div class='os_post_top_link'><a href='http://www.gigabytecm.com/eng/egbc_news.3.aspx?ItemID=5&MenuSeq=71&tabIndex=2' target='_blank'>http://www.gigabytecm.com/eng/egbc_...q=71&tabIndex=2</a><br /><br /></div><i>"GIGABYTE Communications unveils gSmart i128, the world's first Multi-lingual mobile phone, featuring Multi-lingual internet browsing and Windows Mobile document viewing while traveling to 98 countries worldwide. In addition, this flagship phone delivers entertainment values with a 2.1 Mega Pixel camera and an analog TV Roaming with retractable antennae. Now, GIGABYTE gSmart i128 may assist business travelers to efficiently manage their time working from anywhere. In fact, gSmart i128 offers efficient and speedy mobile internet access via Wi-Fi or GPRS. Powered by Windows Mobile 5.0 AKU2.3 Push Email technology, gSmart i128 activates real time email, schedule, and tasks. At the same time, business travelers may stay productive using Mobile Office programs, such as Word, PowerPoint, and Excel."</i><br /><br /><img src="http://www.pocketpcthoughts.com/images/web/2003/wey-20060720-gSmarti128.jpg" /><br /><br />It's interesting how Gigabyte's new <a href="http://www.gigabytecm.com/eng/egbc_product_detail.aspx?ProductID=31&GroupID=4&tabIndex=3&Num=">g-Smart i128</a> is marketed as a "use anywhere" type of device, when in fact, it lacks support for the 850MHz GSM band. That aside, the g-Smart i128 (which in many ways, is similar to its predecessor, the <a href="http://www.gigabytecm.com/eng/egbc_product_detail.aspx?ProductID=25&GroupID=4&tabIndex=3&Num=">g-Smart i</a>) boasts an impressive set of features (Intel PXA272 416MHz CPU, 64MB RAM, 128MB ROM, tri-band GSM/GPRS support, a 2.4" 262K-colour QVGA TFT-LCD, a 2.1-megapixel camera, Bluetooth 1.2, 802.11b/g Wi-Fi, a TV and FM radio tuner, and Windows Mobile 5.0 with the MSFP). Unfortunately, though, it lacks any sort of EDGE or 3G connectivity.

[Tierran]

You can use it anywhere...just not as a phone. :roll:

[mystickid]

Is it possible to use this on T-Mobile or Cingular here in USA?

[gwinter]

This could be BIG news, if the multi-language support is what I think it is. Up till now, it is extremely frustrating to work with Windows Mobile in a multi-language setting. This is because the vendor only support scripts where the device is sold, i.e. go to China - Chinese script supported, go to Japan - Japanese script, etc. The question is, why can't I get for example Cyrillic script support at the same time as, say, Thai script support? And what about Arabic or Hebrew scripts support? At times, one wishes to dump the device down the drain because the script is not supported. It may have the lastest processor, or graphic accelerator, or gazillions of memory, but the moment it can't display information it is useless.

Look at Windows on the desktop. The support is good and getting better all the time. Sure, it has been evolving longer, the market is bigger; However, ten years ago, one could forgive this lack of support, but we're now in the 21st century, for god's sake!

[Darius Wey]

Is it possible to use this on T-Mobile or Cingular here in USA?

For the most part, it should work fine since 1900MHz tends to be the dominant band, although if I recall correctly, T-Mobile's affiliate carriers use 850MHz for some areas of coverage, so you'd be left out in the dark there.