03-02-2008, 09:00 AM
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Developer & Designer, News Editor Emeritus
Join Date: Aug 2006
Posts: 12,959
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Chaos at i-mate's US Division; Most Laid Off
"We've caught wind from a number of employees -- or ex-employees, as the case may be -- that i-mate's US division in Redmond, Washington has all but disintegrated after a Friday bloodbath that saw the entire engineering, QA, and tech writing departments laid off, among others. Several honchos who weren't cut left anyway, perhaps unwilling to work in a ghost town or as a show of solidarity to their fallen brethren; notably, the Chief Software Officer and VP of Sales and Marketing are both gone, leaving a sales director to be promoted to the lofty title of GM of what seems to be all US operations. Apparently, the Dubai-based firm is in the hurt locker after its inability to get the Ultimate line (also known as "the basket with all of i-mate's eggs in it") fully deployed to retail channels in the time frame it had hoped, and meeting massive resistance from US carriers to carry the devices, it's been left with no option but to leave behind just enough employees to set up and maintain a web-based portal for purchasing unlocked devices in the States."
While the Ultimate line may be doing well in Australia, the same can't be said for the US. According to Engadget, poor retail performance saw i-mate's US division enter mass layoff mode on Friday, with a few others voluntarily resigning. Best of luck to those impacted by this recent event.
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03-02-2008, 09:42 AM
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5000+ Posts? I Should OWN This Site!
Join Date: Jun 2007
Posts: 5,067
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Bad news. However, as I have pretty mixed feelings on their lineup (there are / in the near future, will be much better VGA devices), I would only purchase these models at a severely reduced price (say, 300 bucks at most, without contract).
See http://www.pocketpcthoughts.com/inde..._on_i-mate.htm for more info & my review & comparison if interested.
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03-02-2008, 02:07 PM
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Contributing Editor Emeritus
Join Date: Aug 2006
Posts: 8,228
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it was hard to get excited about iMate after they offered virtually no upgrades for their devices. heck, most of the time if you finally got them to admit a bug that was serious, they wouldn't fix it.
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03-02-2008, 07:46 PM
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Intellectual
Join Date: Apr 2004
Posts: 143
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Quote:
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Originally Posted by Ed Hansberry
it was hard to get excited about iMate after they offered virtually no upgrades for their devices. heck, most of the time if you finally got them to admit a bug that was serious, they wouldn't fix it.
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u need to do some homework! There's a rom update for Imate 6150 and 8150 leaked 2 days ago on 2/29/08!
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03-02-2008, 08:42 PM
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Contributing Editor Emeritus
Join Date: Aug 2006
Posts: 8,228
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Quote:
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Originally Posted by netboy
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Originally Posted by Ed Hansberry
it was hard to get excited about iMate after they offered virtually no upgrades for their devices. heck, most of the time if you finally got them to admit a bug that was serious, they wouldn't fix it.
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u need to do some homework! There's a rom update for Imate 6150 and 8150 leaked 2 days ago on 2/29/08! |
OH REALLY??????????????? lolololo~ it seem sto t3h thE im,ate 615O anfd 8150 both run windows mobile 6!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!111 so u r saying tHat upgRadez wer eleaked that upgraed tejhm to windowZ mboile &!?!?!?!?!?!?!? az f romr upd8s to teh existing plastform, tjey seem to doa bout 0ne for each devIce, buiyt rarley if ever wi7l they jus trel3ase a qiuX0r ram patch for a serIous isssue, of whic hiv3 haD sevaral ove rthey e4rtS!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!111
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03-02-2008, 09:52 PM
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Magi
Join Date: Sep 2005
Posts: 2,341
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Quote:
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Originally Posted by Ed Hansberry
OH REALLY??????????????? lolololo~ it seem sto t3h thE im,...............................................e4rtS!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!111
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LMAO!!
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03-02-2008, 10:45 PM
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Neophyte
Join Date: Dec 2005
Posts: 8
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From a Contributing Editor, this sort of response is rude and childish. In the past, this site used to promote discussion instead of discouraging it from its editors.
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Originally Posted by Ed Hansberry
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Originally Posted by netboy
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Originally Posted by Ed Hansberry
it was hard to get excited about iMate after they offered virtually no upgrades for their devices. heck, most of the time if you finally got them to admit a bug that was serious, they wouldn't fix it.
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u need to do some homework! There's a rom update for Imate 6150 and 8150 leaked 2 days ago on 2/29/08! |
OH REALLY??????????????? lolololo~ it seem sto t3h thE im,ate 615O anfd 8150 both run windows mobile 6!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!111 so u r saying tHat upgRadez wer eleaked that upgraed tejhm to windowZ mboile &!?!?!?!?!?!?!? az f romr upd8s to teh existing plastform, tjey seem to doa bout 0ne for each devIce, buiyt rarley if ever wi7l they jus trel3ase a qiuX0r ram patch for a serIous isssue, of whic hiv3 haD sevaral ove rthey e4rtS!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!111 |
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03-03-2008, 01:25 AM
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Pontificator
Join Date: Apr 2004
Posts: 1,108
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Quote:
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Originally Posted by Ed Hansberry
OH REALLY??????????????? lolololo~ it seem sto t3h thE im,ate 615O anfd 8150 both run windows mobile 6!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!111 so u r saying tHat upgRadez wer eleaked that upgraed tejhm to windowZ mboile &!?!?!?!?!?!?!? az f romr upd8s to teh existing plastform, tjey seem to doa bout 0ne for each devIce, buiyt rarley if ever wi7l they jus trel3ase a qiuX0r ram patch for a serIous isssue, of whic hiv3 haD sevaral ove rthey e4rtS!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!111
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For speaking that way, even in jest, I now need to hunt you down and light you on fire.
Seriously, was that necessary in any way?
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03-03-2008, 02:16 AM
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Philosopher
Join Date: Feb 2002
Posts: 524
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Quote:
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Originally Posted by ADBrown
For speaking that way, even in jest, I now need to hunt you down and light you on fire.
Seriously, was that necessary in any way?
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I'm still trying to figure out what Ed was saying! Is there a universal translator setting I am missing?
__________________
Regards
Griph
iPhone 4 32GB Jailbroken and iPad 3G 64GB .
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03-03-2008, 02:33 AM
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Theorist
Join Date: Aug 2006
Posts: 267
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I'm hesitant to add to the "pile on Ed" crowd, but stuff like that would get most people warned or even banned from many sites. Ed, I've witnessed cynicism and sarcasm from your posts on many occasions, and most of the time I appreciate it, but that was uncalled for. There are better ways to suggest that netboy was in error or that imate devices still leave something to be desired.
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Linear Mode
