3GSM 2007 On-site Coverage

i-mate also announced a few new of the Windows Mobile phones at the 3GSM. Announced were the JAQ4 (successor of the JAQ3) and the more interesting – Ultimate Series. We got our hands on the JAQ4 and the very-beta version of Ultimate 5150, which was the only working unit of the Ultimate phones. All i-mate phones from now on will ship with Windows Mobile 6 Operating System and DR. Jon Moss, i-mate’s Technology Director confirmed that people with JAQ3, PDAL and SPL will be able to update them from 5 to 6 via ROM images which will be posted soon on ClubImate website.

The JAQ4 is very similar to the JAQ3 but with slightly different not rounded-curves design, similar to the one of Nokia E61/62. The main improvement of the JAQ4 is the added SirftStart III based GPS, which combined with the Windows Mobile 6 Professional OS will give you powerful PDA and navigation in your pocket.

Different are the camera modules also as the JAQ4 has powerful hardware macro system and deals very well with taking photos of a text for example. In addition it also features auto-focus.

JAQ4 Camera samples

The JAQ4 has landscape QVGA display and full hardware QWERTY keyboard a la BlackBerry. Unfortunately the keys are easy to feel but hard to press.

JAQ4 next to JAQ3	right-JAQ3, left-JAQ4	right-JAQ3, left-JAQ4	right-JAQ3, left-JAQ4

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The 5150 is the only working unit of the Ultimate Series that i-mate presented on the show. Neither its hardware nor software is finalized, but our first impressions are positive. Judging by the specifications we were expecting an , in actuality it is rather handy. Coming with wheel on the side, Windows and OK keys on the front, this Touch-screen capable phone is easily operated even with one hand only.

i-mate 5150

The Ultimate Series are almost identical in hardware specification, but coming in different form factors. They all have Windows Mobile 6 Professional installed, running on 520MHz Intel processor and have 256MB Rom. All of them sport VGA 640x480 pixels displays, 2-megapixel cameras and Wi-Fi. The only thing that seems to be missing in this quad-band GSM, tri-band HSDPA phones is the GPS navigation.

Ultimate 8150 – candybar with 2.6” display and numeric keypad
Ultimate 6150 – candybar with 2.4” display and only soft keys and joystick
Ultimate 9150 – clamshell with 2.6” internal and 1.8” external display
Ultimate 7150 – clamshell with 3.8” internal and 2.2” external displays and full QWERTY keyboard
Ultimate 5150 – slider with 2.8” display

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HTC Wizard and i-mate 6150
i-mate 6150

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i-mate 7150 compared to HTC Wizard
i-mate 7150

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8150 next to HTC Wizard
i-mate 8150

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We got a few shots of the i-Mate SPL running on Windows Mobile 6 Standard. This smartphone is already commercially available and now offered in a few colors, including Black, Red, and Blue.

SPL and JAQ4
i-mate SPL