I-mate touts innovative PDA-phones
I-mate says it plans to innovate, not imitate, with its handsets such that each model is unique in its own right.
The I-mate 810-F may be the first ruggedized PDA-phone at the GSMA Mobile World Congress here in Barcelona, but the Dubai company is not done yet. Jim Morrison, CEO of I-mate, said too many vendors have been copying technology and interfaces from each other. Instead, he plans to innovate, not imitate, the company's handsets such that each model is unique in its own right.
The I-mate Centurion (shown above) is a credit-card-size, non-touch-screen PDA-phone with a full QWERTY keypad.
Though tiny and really light, we've tried out the keyboard and found it surprisingly usable. This model will retail at $550 when it launches in the middle of this year and will run Windows Mobile 6.5 when the mobile OS launches.
The I-mate Legionnaire is a tiny touch-screen PDA-phone running on Windows Mobile 6.5. Priced at $500, the key feature of this phone is that it can fit into a specially designed UMPC (named the Warrior) and act as the touchpad.
Like the Celio Redfly, the larger XVGA display will replicate what's shown on the PDA's screen and provide full functionality, even video streaming.
It has a separate battery that can charge the phone at the same time and there's even HDMI output. Best of all, this device will be available at the same time as the Legionnaire in the third quarter of this year for what seems to be an affordable $199.
(Via Crave Asia)