i-Mate Ultimates Down To Two

[Nurhisham Hussein]

<div class='os_post_top_link'><a href='http://www.engadgetmobile.com/2007/08/16/three-of-i-mates-five-ultimate-devices-canceled/' target='_blank'>http://www.engadgetmobile.com/2007/...vices-canceled/</a><br /><br /></div><i>"It seems that i-mate has canceled arguably the three most interesting versions of its Ultimate line: the 5150 slider, 7150 QWERTY flip, and 9150 numeric flip. Remaining and now apparently scheduled for October production are the 8150 numeric candybar and keypadless 6150, devices that could be considered pretty uninteresting by the time they enter a market rife with 3G capable Windows Mobile 6 hardware."</i><br /><br /><img src="http://www.pocketpcthoughts.com/images/web/2003/hisham-20070816-engadget_i-mate-ultimate-renderings-three-down.jpg" /><br /><br />Bad news - while this is based on an unconfirmed report, I'm inclined to believe the source. i-Mate's new products since the break in the relationship with HTC have been less than stellar, and the Ultimates would have gone a long way towards improving their product lineup, not to mention their reputation among gadget fans. I must admit I'm more than a little curious as to the reason for this (alleged) cancellation - was it complexity of the devices? Production costs? Or did i-Mate run out of development funds? Whatever the reason, if true, i-Mate will disappoint a lot of people.<br /><br /><b>UPDATE</b>Seems like the report was premature - <a href="http://asia.cnet.com/crave/2007/08/16/entire-ultimate-series-still-on-track/">CNet Asia</a> have checked with i-Mate who state that the three "missing" models will be released later. When exactly that will be is at this stage still unknown, though the 6150 and 8150 are still slated for October this year.<br /><br /><b>UPDATE 2:</b> i-Mate have issued a clarification. According to <a href="http://www.pocketpcdubai.net/index.php?option=com_content&task=view&id=67&Itemid=1">this report from <i>Pocket PC Dubai</i></a>, the Ultimates will be released in a 6-12 month time frame from now.

[netboy]

do you believe EVERYTHING the car saleman said also??
here u go..
http://asia.cnet.com/crave/2007/08/16/entire-ultimate-series-still-on-track/

[SteveHoward999]

do you believe EVERYTHING the car saleman said also??
here u go..
http://asia.cnet.com/crave/2007/08/16/entire-ultimate-series-still-on-track/

I remain hopefull then!

These look likely to be the only machines I'll be considering now that the G900 is out, a bit shakey, and was only ever tri-band anyway!!

[Mikey]

Rumors / stories like these bring to mind the much anticipated Motorola MPx full keyboard that never made it out after over a year of publicity. I would run from iMATE &amp; stick with HTC devices due to the time it's taken them to get the devices out. I'd be a bit scared of their future support. I like the 7150 &amp; the 9150's specs but according to Brighthand, these devices are being delayed again. I emailed MobilePlanet a few weeks ago to see when all of these devices would be available &amp; they replied early September.

I think I will be going with the Kaiser if HTC doesn't dumb it down when it does come out. I really would like a replacement for my Axim x50v but the 8125 I tried out was awful slow &amp; the screen sucked compared to the x50v's VGA screen. The Ultimates look awesome but I am scared of the company &amp; am tired of waiting for their release.

[mv]

Oh, that is maybe cause nobody , or few, would buy these ultra-expenseçive phones. Maybe if they put symbian on them, they would appeal to more people. :twisted: :twisted: :D :D :devilboy:

[SteveHoward999]

Oh, that is maybe cause nobody , or few, would buy these ultra-expenseçive phones. Maybe if they put symbian on them, they would appeal to more people. :twisted: :twisted: :D :D :devilboy:

No don't be silly. I have an E62 too, and it's great, but I still want one of the Ultimate series ... XVGA out is one of several features I really want, plus there's oodles more software options.

[Nurhisham Hussein]

do you believe EVERYTHING the car saleman said also??
here u go..
http://asia.cnet.com/crave/2007/08/16/entire-ultimate-series-still-on-track/

Updated :) though I don't know if I'd call i-Mate car salesmen.

BTW, I've dealt with Clove before and they're a reputable firm with a good track record. Given how long its been taking i-Mate to actually produce these devices, I'm not holding my breath - I'll believe they exist when they're on the market, not before.

[jamijam]

It did cross my mind, when I first saw the specs for the ultimate line, that they were too good to be true. They were all very thin for what they packed. Like the poster before me, I wouldn't be surprised at all if most of these turned out to be vaporware.

[virain]

It did cross my mind, when I first saw the specs for the ultimate line, that they were too good to be true. They were all very thin for what they packed. Like the poster before me, I wouldn't be surprised at all if most of these turned out to be vaporware.

iPhone has even better specs, and how thin it is? My guess it's economics, price of dev, production, marketing would exceed a price that i-mate could comfortably charge without giving a heart attack to a customer.

[SteveHoward999]

[quote="virain"]
iPhone has even better specs ... quote]

In what respect?

[Mikey]

It did cross my mind, when I first saw the specs for the ultimate line, that they were too good to be true. They were all very thin for what they packed. Like the poster before me, I wouldn't be surprised at all if most of these turned out to be vaporware.

iPhone has even better specs, and how thin it is? My guess it's economics, price of dev, production, marketing would exceed a price that i-mate could comfortably charge without giving a heart attack to a customer.

HTC could produce if they desired to but they probably have research to show that the it would not be a profitable venture as only those who read this site regularly would purchase them. I just don't understand why the Pocket PCs were blowing &amp; going in development for several years, being innovative, then for the past 2-3 years, no fast / loaded phones have surfaced. Where's the Axim x51v phone? There are always trade-offs for the past 2 year's Pocket PC's. An Axim x50v/51v with a 2000 mah battery? Why did Intel develop the 624 processor &amp; just stop?

Check out the latest Pocket PC Magazine (or whatever they call it nowadays). It's marketed to newbie's. It's a full HOW TO guide, the 2nd in 7 issues. They actually have articles on how to hit the LITTLE GREEN button to answer a call &amp; the LITTLE RED one to end the call. Come on!!!

[jamijam]

It did cross my mind, when I first saw the specs for the ultimate line, that they were too good to be true. They were all very thin for what they packed. Like the poster before me, I wouldn't be surprised at all if most of these turned out to be vaporware.

iPhone has even better specs, and how thin it is? My guess it's economics, price of dev, production, marketing would exceed a price that i-mate could comfortably charge without giving a heart attack to a customer.

True and the iPhone is quite impressive in that respect (11mm thin I think?). Nonetheless, we haven't seen any fully loaded Windows Mobile anywhere near that thin. You know what, I just rechecked the iMate ultimate page and the one dubbed "The Ultimate Super Thin" is marked 15.5mm thick. I am 95% sure that when I checked 3-4 months ago it said 11mm thin, which was the original reason I was suspicious!

Can anyone else confirm that the number on the following page has changed?!

http://www.clubimate.com/ultimate/ult8150.htm

[jamijam]

Busted i-mate!!!!

Check out this archive of the page:

http://64.233.183.104/search?q=cache:zl-nlra6DagJ:www.clubimate.com/ultimate/ult8150.htm+http://www.clubimate.com/ultimate/ult8150.htm&amp;hl=en&amp;ct=clnk&amp;cd=1

94mm x 50mm x 11mm to 118.5mm x 60.5mm x 15.5mm

That's about a 100% increase in volume!

:D

[Menneisyys]

Why did Intel develop the 624 processor &amp; just stop?


Prolly they have found out the battery life would be (even more) awful with faster CPU's - taking into account that should you start a demanding app (for example, a game), it'll run the CPU at max speed (except for VERY few titles that do pay attention to driving the CPU to idle state when it's not needed - for example, the SmartGear emulator, the Travel Collection etc).

Second, it seems everybody is moving to the, at least spec-wise, definitely superior (GPS, hardware 3D, HSDPA, HSUPA support etc.) Qualcomm MSM7200 chipset. Just as with Samsung and TI in the past, this means few future PDA's will be manufactured with Intel CPU's - hardware manufacturers will prefer either a much more battery-friendly platform (TI) or, if the specs are REALLY true, a much more powerful one (MSM7200).

BTW, it's mostly because of the MSM7200 that I'll wait until the Omni is released. No XScale-based models for me. My XScale 520 MHz Universal has a battery life of 3-4 hours while browsing on UMTS or playing Orions, and about 5-7 hours with A2DP. This is absolutely unbearable, given that my TI-based Vox (or, for that matter, Wizard) is far-far better in this respect.

[netboy]

HTC could produce if they desired to but they probably have research to show that the it would not be a profitable venture as only those who read this site regularly would purchase them.

is that y they made that 5" brick and keep calling it "and it fits in my pocket!" on the ads?
if i want something that doesnt fit in my pocket, i'll get a UMPC! wait, i do have a 4.5" sony umpc! haha

[mv]

Oh, that is maybe cause nobody , or few, would buy these ultra-expenseçive phones. Maybe if they put symbian on them, they would appeal to more people. :twisted: :twisted: :D :D :devilboy:

No don't be silly. I have an E62 too, and it's great, but I still want one of the Ultimate series ... XVGA out is one of several features I really want, plus there's oodles more software options.


I know. But WM needs to improve some things before atracting me again. I`ll check the next os, which is supposed to be only one, no matter if you have a touchscreen or not. Use the stylus only if you want to. Not before that.

[Nurhisham Hussein]

Post updated with further news from i-Mate.

[Jason Lee]

*sigh*
In 6-12 months they will be too little too late.. Not good news for imate.

[alese]

*sigh*
In 6-12 months they will be too little too late.. Not good news for imate.

So true. Oh well it was nice dreaming about it...