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View Full Version : i-mate Says Hello to the Asia-Pacific; Ultimate Range Available From September


Darius Wey
06-22-2007, 07:00 AM
<div class='os_post_top_link'><a href='http://www.clubimate.com/press_releases/PR0093_i-mate_arrives_in_Asia_190607.pdf' target='_blank'>http://www.clubimate.com/press_rele...Asia_190607.pdf</a><br /><br /></div><i>"i-mate (London AIM: IMTE), the global specialist in Microsoft® Windows Mobile® devices and software applications, announced today at CommunicAsia 2007, their plans to offer exceptional mobile devices and highly innovative solutions to customers throughout Asia. Working in partnership with some of the world’s largest networks and distributors, i-mate has secured market-leading positions in several regions including Eastern and Western Europe, Middle East, Africa and Australasia. Singapore will be the base through which i-mate will spearhead their launch into key territories across Asia over the coming months."</i><br /><br />i-mate has arrived in the Asia-Pacific... again. I say "again", simply because their devices have never exactly been out of reach in this particular region. Of course, the exception is they'll now have a base of operations here to accelerate the launch of their upcoming devices. The <a href="http://clubimate.com/ultimate/">Ultimate range</a> serves as an excellent example. All five Ultimate devices are expected from September, with the 6150 and 8150 expected to lead the launch. Anyone here hoping to pick one up?

freitasm
06-22-2007, 08:33 AM
Press releases can be really annoying. They announced the ultimate during the 3GMS, four months ago. They "announcing" the series again.

Then they are "coming to AsiaPac", when they have offices in Australia, New Zealand and other countries, for years.

Really, what else can we expect from PR?

Oh, the really good stuff, which is arranging devices for trial is missing...

alese
06-22-2007, 09:22 AM
I'm really tempted by the Ultimate range, especially 7150, 8150 and 9150 each have certain things I like in adition to standard stuff (VGA, Video Out, fast CPU, ROM/RAM...)

But I'll definatelly wait for some reviews to see if the promises are actually met. And then there is the "small" issue of price...

fone_fanatic
06-22-2007, 10:03 AM
my first windows mobile device was an imate jamv (magician), then I moved onto the k-jam (wizard) followed by the currently used jasjam (hermes) and currently talking to someone that wants me to sell kaisers for him in the us....

since imates loss of doing business with HTC, I don't think I will own an imate devie anytime soon. their customer service is horrible, even in dubai where their middle eastern hedquarters is.

basicly i've come to see that HTC is the lord of ppc devices and imates contract with tech faith wireless dosnt look too promising.

so htc is the obly thing i'll "touch" for windows mobile.

x51vuser
06-22-2007, 10:55 AM
In December these devices will be outdated with WM7 around the corner. Maybe cheap gift for far cousin ....

netboy
06-22-2007, 02:50 PM
In December these devices will be outdated with WM7 around the corner. Maybe cheap gift for far cousin ....

huh?? the Ultimate series is not about outdated with Wm7 around the corner!
The Ultimate series is about pdaPhone with VGA and TRI-BAND 3G!, that is what people want! too bad other companys are too stupid/stubborn to make TRI-BAND 3G with VGA phone!

mmidgley
06-22-2007, 04:34 PM
> too bad other companys are too stupid/stubborn to make TRI-BAND 3G with VGA phone!

Too bad i-mate is too stupid/stubborn to add GPS. That would put the "U" in ultimate.

m.

Paragon
06-22-2007, 05:19 PM
I'm really tempted by the Ultimate range, especially 7150, 8150 and 9150

Ooopps. According to the press release the 8150 is the only one of those three being launched in September. There is not even a mention of the other devices.

Anyway I agree with others. It just seems like more useless babble from iMate. This time trying to put a positive sound in a release that states that the devices are once again delayed, or maybe even vaporware since only two of five even get a mention.

Dave

netboy
06-22-2007, 07:21 PM
> too bad other companys are too stupid/stubborn to make TRI-BAND 3G with VGA phone!

Too bad i-mate is too stupid/stubborn to add GPS. That would put the "U" in ultimate.

m.

i dont get it, what so great about build-in GPS in phone?? u do know u can get a standalone BT gps for under 100$?

x51vuser
06-22-2007, 07:27 PM
In December these devices will be outdated with WM7 around the corner. Maybe cheap gift for far cousin ....

huh?? the Ultimate series is not about outdated with Wm7 around the corner!
The Ultimate series is about pdaPhone with VGA and TRI-BAND 3G!, that is what people want! too bad other companys are too stupid/stubborn to make TRI-BAND 3G with VGA phone!

whatever ... by the time operators deploy 3G, Japanese will build 4G and you will endup with the device that has maybe few months of life left.

virain
06-22-2007, 08:50 PM
i dont get it, what so great about build-in GPS in phone?? u do know u can get a standalone BT gps for under 100$?
Nothing... If you sit at home, but if you have to travel, this thing can be very handy, and you don't have to shell out extra $100, plus carry extra equipment, charger, etc..

netboy
06-23-2007, 02:45 PM
i dont get it, what so great about build-in GPS in phone?? u do know u can get a standalone BT gps for under 100$?
Nothing... If you sit at home, but if you have to travel, this thing can be very handy, and you don't have to shell out extra $100, plus carry extra equipment, charger, etc..

actually most standalone BT GPS use the same mini-usb charger as most cellphones/pdaPhones. and BT GPS is only about 2" big.
dont have to shell out extra 100$? u think they will give u build-in GPS in pdaPhone for free? they mostly charge you 100$ more in pdaPhone with GPS then one without..

Jason Lee
06-23-2007, 04:31 PM
I would much rather have built in GPS. That way it is always with me. It is not very practical for me to carry my bluetooth GPS around in my pants pocket all the time just incase I might maybe possibly need to use it every once in a while. Plus it would be hard on the GPS hardware. My pockets aren't the safest place in the world.

virain
06-23-2007, 06:07 PM
actually most standalone BT GPS use the same mini-usb charger as most cellphones/pdaPhones. and BT GPS is only about 2" big.
dont have to shell out extra 100$? u think they will give u build-in GPS in pdaPhone for free? they mostly charge you 100$ more in pdaPhone with GPS then one without..
You are missing tha point... I am not going to argue with you, but the word for that is CONVENIENCE, if you understand the meaning of it.

aheald
06-25-2007, 03:42 AM
Hang on, lets clarify a couple of issues - these phones aren't 3G, they're 3.5G which certainly has plenty of life left in it (they've barely taken off this year). 4G is pipe dream stuff for the next couple of years at least - if you want to wait for 4G devices, you'll then be waiting for 4.5G/5G et al by the time a decent device actually launches. The Ultimate range is exactly that - show me any device out there now or announced that comes close on spec to these devices.
GPS - I agree it's nice, but weigh up what you'd have to lose to fit another 'radio' in - would you sacrifice 850 HSDPA (that is, anyone in the US or Australia) or VGA? GPS belongs on a separate device - I generally find anyone who can afford it (that is, the maps) typically has it built into their flash european car. And it works a lot better that way too (less crashing, bigger screens, doesn't intefere with phone calls etc). It sounds great on paper, but I'm finding very little uptake of it with any of our customers - lot's of interest, but no buyers when you spell out the limitations of using it on a mobile/cell device. A separate Tom Tom or Navman win out almost every time. I'm not saying I wouldn't like it but I'm not prepared to sacrifice what the Ultimate range already has to have it. A few geeks like those of us reading this like the idea of integrated GPS but I don't see it mainstream for quite a while.
Let's just hope i-mate get the ROM image right at launch - I'm sick of the "first service pack" type attitude before the device works. But the variety of keyboard entry methods between models is a winning idea as well as the feature list. I disagree that HTC make the best devices - they just did what i-mate (Jim Morrison) told them - much the same as o2 did what Jim wanted when he was with them. Where's o2 now?

virain
06-25-2007, 04:29 AM
GPS - I agree it's nice, but weigh up what you'd have to lose to fit another 'radio' in - would you sacrifice 850 HSDPA (that is, anyone in the US or Australia) or VGA? GPS belongs on a separate device - I generally find anyone who can afford it (that is, the maps) typically has it built into their flash european car. And it works a lot better that way too (less crashing, bigger screens, doesn't intefere with phone calls etc). It sounds great on paper, but I'm finding very little uptake of it with any of our customers - lot's of interest, but no buyers when you spell out the limitations of using it on a mobile/cell device. A separate Tom Tom or Navman win out almost every time. I'm not saying I wouldn't like it but I'm not prepared to sacrifice what the Ultimate range already has to have it. A few geeks like those of us reading this like the idea of integrated GPS but I don't see it mainstream for quite a while.


It is very nice that i-mate has such loyal customers, who would stand up for them. But you completely missing the point with built-in GPS. Yes. I'm sure that in-car GPS works better, but honestly I didn't see much difference between Mio A701 and the one installed in a Caddy. Signal reception is the same, but more important maps quality. I didn't noticed any crashes in my Mio that would associate with GPS. It works pretty well. Plus when you travel a lot and have to use rental car you learn how nice to have one always with you. CONVENIENCE! And by the way, If you did your home work and checkout ETen X800 (read official news releases, not posted on other sites) You would find a phone with triband 3G 4band GSM/GPRS/EDGE/ WI-FI/ FM radio and VGA screen. Missing keyboard (for those who can't live without it), I prefer transcriber. Plus only 128 ROM, but name one Ideal phone. And if to follow your logic why not use a phone and a PDA separetly, I mean there so much imperfections with all these smart phones. Why not buy some regular phone for talk and PDA for.... what ever you use it for? It works better than most PDA phones, and has a bigger screen anyway?
The point is we, who wants everything inone package, want conveneince!

tdcao
06-28-2007, 06:59 PM
ETen came soo close but 64MB RAM!!!!!!? Try running a decent GPS navigation program with an MP3 player program in the background (that's what I ususally do when I'm on a road trip) on 64MB RAM and you'll see!!!! Especially, with newer GPS programs that come with Live Traffic update. You'll guaranteed to get a frozen map with music that goes in an out whenever it likes. I'll pick a 128MB RAM over a built in GPS any time.

Edited: I just saw on pdadb.net that this is a single band UMTS device (2100). Not a tri band UMTS device. It now officially belongs to the luxury paperweight category.

tdcao
06-28-2007, 07:24 PM
actually most standalone BT GPS use the same mini-usb charger as most cellphones/pdaPhones. and BT GPS is only about 2" big.
dont have to shell out extra 100$? u think they will give u build-in GPS in pdaPhone for free? they mostly charge you 100$ more in pdaPhone with GPS then one without..
You are missing tha point... I am not going to argue with you, but the word for that is CONVENIENCE, if you understand the meaning of it.

Does any body know how sensitive these built in GPSes might be.

Driving through the heavily forested roads of the Pacific NW, I found myself constantly having to place my detached GPS (Navman 4100) up on the dashboard and up close to windshield to get a good fix.

The same thing with trying to use it inside a plane to see where I'm flying over. I have to place my GPS on the armrest near the window of the plane to get a good fix.

That is not a huge problem tho as no matter where I place my GPS, I can position my PPC any where I want that is convenient for me to look at.

With built-in GPSes, though I don't mind placing my PPC on the arm rest and turn sideway to watch my map in a plane, it might be impossible for me to read my map in a car when my PPC is up on the dashboard and close to the windshield.

I'm not complaining because I can still hear the voice prompt even if the map is out of sight. But I wouldn't call it convenience.

Jason Lee
06-28-2007, 07:30 PM
I don't know how we'll the internal gps works but all pocket pcs with integrated gps have a port so you can plugin an external antena if needed.

tdcao
07-02-2007, 10:07 AM
Did anybody see the latest imate ultimate site? http://www.imate.com/ultimate/default.htm

The 5150 &amp; 9150 are no longer listed!!!! By September, probably there's nothing left!!!! They'll give up by then

Darius Wey
07-04-2007, 04:58 AM
The 5150 &amp; 9150 are no longer listed!!!! By September, probably there's nothing left!!!! They'll give up by then

Looks like the 5150 and 9150 are back.