Now Shipping: E-TEN's Glofiish X800

[Darius Wey]

<div class='os_post_top_link'><a href='http://glofiish.com/index.htm?no=800' target='_blank'>http://glofiish.com/index.htm?no=800</a><br /><br /></div><img src="http://www.pocketpcthoughts.com/images/web/2003/wey-20071105-x800a.jpg" /><br /><br />There's a lot to love about the X800: a Samsung S3C2442 500MHz CPU, 64MB RAM, 256MB ROM, quad-band GSM/GPRS/EDGE and tri-band UMTS/HSDPA connectivity, 802.11b/g Wi-Fi, Bluetooth 2.0, GPS (SiRFstar III) with TMC support, an FM radio, a crisp 2.8" VGA (480 x 640) touch screen, a primary 2.0-megapixel auto-focus camera, a secondary 0.3-megapixel fixed-focus camera for video telephony, and Windows Mobile 6 Professional. This beast has begun shipping worldwide and should be available for public consumption within the next couple of weeks (although, we've heard that some <a href="http://www.mobileplanet.com/p.aspx?i=148878&partner=pthoughts">MobilePlanet</a> [affiliate] customers already have it in their hands). Anyone aiming to pick one up?<br /><br />A copy of the press release can be found after the break. <!><br /><br />"E-TEN Information Systems is proud to announce that the award-winning Glofiish X800 Pocket PC Phone has begun shipping worldwide. Highlights of the X800 include 3.5G high-speed connectivity, a pixel-sharp high-resolution VGA display and a new powerful mobile shell that make this the most advanced Glofiish device to date.<br /><br />E-TEN's next-generation Glofiish X800 Pocket PC Phone has begun shipping to channel partners around the globe. The X800 is E-TEN's first handset to support 3.5G HSDPA connectivity for high-speed downloads delivering new and improved online services including faster more enjoyable surfing and email, streaming audio and video downloads, VoIP and instant messaging, and video calling.<br /><br />The X800 was first previewed earlier in the year at CeBIT where it drew considerable interest from show-goers and the media. The handset was next seen at Computex where it was again warmly received and earned a Best of Computex Award. Since that time E-TEN has continued to refine the X800 package and the device now includes E-TEN's new mobile shell, an easy-to-customize interface that lets users display all of their most important information on a single screen.<br /><br />The new mobile shell enables features including, photo speed dial, weather forecasts and world time to be displayed and accessed from the Windows Mobile Today Screen offering powerful new opportunities for users to streamline their mobile experience.<br /><br />Measuring just 113.5 x 60 x 15.8mm the Glofiish X800 includes a high-resolution 2.8-inch VGA (640x480) display and GPS connectivity.<br /><br />The Glofiish X800 is based on the Window Mobile 6 platform and is available in several languages. Pricing and availability is subject to regional variation but the X800 can be expected to available in key markets within a few weeks."<br /><br /><img src="http://www.pocketpcthoughts.com/images/web/2003/wey-20071105-x800b.jpg" />

[deanhatescoffee]

Is this shipping for a specific carrier? (AT&amp;T please!)

I was pretty much dead-set on getting a Tilt, but this has a bigger and sharper screen... Still, I have a feeling I'd miss the QWERTY keyboard. If the X800 had a hardware keyboard then it'd be my next phone. Guess I'll just have to go into a store and compare 'em side-by-side.

[Darius Wey]

Is this shipping for a specific carrier? (AT&amp;T please!)

The shipping announcement is for authorised online and brick-and-mortar distributors/resellers worldwide such as MobilePlanet/Expansys, Trends Mobile, etc. To my understanding, there are currently no plans for any American carrier to bundle the X800 or any other Glofiish with their respective data plans.

I was pretty much dead-set on getting a Tilt, but this has a bigger and sharper screen... Still, I have a feeling I'd miss the QWERTY keyboard. If the X800 had a hardware keyboard then it'd be my next phone. Guess I'll just have to go into a store and compare 'em side-by-side.

There's a version of the X800 with a QWERTY keyboard (dubbed the M800) that should be out either end of this year or beginning next.

[DaleReeck]

Almost perfect. 64MB of RAM and not 128? :cry:

[BogdanK]

Is this shipping for a specific carrier? (AT&amp;T please!)


It should ship not locked to any carrier. If you want, some companies will set it up for you. (around $20.00)

So you can have it set for AT&amp;T or T-Mobile.

[JonnoB]

Almost perfect. 64MB of RAM and not 128? :cry:

That is a deal killer for many. There is a huge usability jump with additional memory.

[norad]

I saw a few benchmark results at eten forums and video performance is very poor (due to lack of a dedicated CPU for video). I guess I'll wait for i-mate Ultimate 9502.

[Iterator]

Any chance this will do 3G data on any US networks? T-mobile and/or AT&amp;T?

[ADBrown]

Any chance this will do 3G data on any US networks? T-mobile and/or AT&amp;T?

AT&amp;T yes, T-Mobile no.

[Sheena]

Does anyone know if the screen size (2.8") is measured diagonally? I like most of the specs, but won't go for anything smaller than my 2210 (3.5" diagonally, 2.8" top-bottom).

[virain]

My guess is 128 RAM will come sometimes in Feb. 2008, with X800+ model :wink:

[srmz]

This is not for me. Having uses the Kaiser for a few weeks now I am now so convinced to the benefits of 128MB RAM as opposed to 64MB. To me more RAM is more important than a VGA screen.

[Darius Wey]

Does anyone know if the screen size (2.8") is measured diagonally? I like most of the specs, but won't go for anything smaller than my 2210 (3.5" diagonally, 2.8" top-bottom).

It's 2.8" diagonally. There are very few Pocket PC Phones out there with screen dimensions of 3.5" or greater.

[Sheena]

It's 2.8" diagonally.
Thanks, that's what I thought. Back to convincing myself I can really afford the big HTC then, my old eyes have trouble with 3.5" already. 8)

[mmidgley]

I've been watching this product for about 8 months. I finally got three of them on Oct 29. I was very pleased with the display (but I think I'll look for 18bit pixel depth next time). The "joystick" wasn't that great--kinda hard to use quickly and got in the way putting it in a case (the included case was nice). I actually broke a piece off the battery door when trying to remove it (eten said they'd warranty replace it). Surely it could be designed better. I'm not a fan of telescoping stylus. The sad part was that I couldn't make GSM calls, at all. Data and voice worked on UMTS, and data worked on EGDE, but GSM voice calls failed on AT&amp;T service in the Utah market. Calls were possible on T-Mobile, but were unreliable and the voicemail indicator didn't work. There's a bug that caused it to forget its network settings like access point name.

I upgraded from their 10/11/2007 rom to 10/26/2007 rom, but it didn't fix my issues. :roll:

E-Ten techs were good to start working the issue (had me send log files), but I'm returning them within my 15 days back to MobilePlanet.

It looks like I'm back to waiting... maybe for the i-mate 9502.

m.

[wmm]

Thanks for that hands-on review. That clinches it for me; combined with the 64-MB RAM and the poor video performance someone mentioned earlier, this is not the phone for me.

I'm continuing to keep an eye out for the i-Mate Ultimate 6150, which is in many ways similar to this one. I never use the physical keyboard on my AT&amp;T 8525, so I'm happy with omitting it and getting something thinner, and I really miss the VGA resolution from my Axim x50v that I gave up to go to the 8525. The i-Mate has 128 MB of RAM and, from what I've seen on the Web, excellent video performance; I think the video-out capability will also be something that I use. The only deficit with respect to this phone is the lack of GPS, but I've gotten by without GPS all this time and can probably continue to do so. I don't think the i-Mate is shipping yet, though, from all I can tell.

[omf]

I really liked the specs on the X800, but needed a new phone a couple of months ago, so I bought the X500+ and figured I'd upgrade when the new one arrived.

In terms of specs, the only difference between the X800 and the X500+ is the 3G support and a 500MHz CPU instead of 400MHz.

The X500+ is a very nice machine. The screen is beautiful and bright - I assume the same is true of the X800. Really, my only problem with the X500+ is the speed, which is definitely "pokey". You have to be patient during screen refreshes or hitting buttons, as there's a definite delay.

Seeing the small bump in CPU speed on the X800 and the lack of a dedicated video processor, I've decided to wait for something faster. The Ultimate series looks promising - we'll see what the reviews look like...

[whydidnt]

I have to agree that is seems odd that a company would release a device obviously targeted at the higher end of the market, and then skimp on RAM. Memory is so cheap these days it's difficult for me to understand why our WM devices seem stuck in 2002 as far as included memory. I suspect there is a battery life element that may come into play, but with a VGA screen I think an even higher % of system RAM will be used by the OS. It wouldn't surprise me if some users ran into out of memory errors with this one, but we'll see.