Malaysia's Advance Tech
Communications is set to make a big splash in the Windows Mobile smartphone market with the MAGIC (Mobile Advanced
Global Integrated Communicator), a 10.5 ounce behemoth that has specs to make even the most devoted HTC fanboy jealous.
The quad-band GSM phone includes an 8GB hard drive, 512MB RAM, dual QVGA displays, dual 2 megapixel cameras, QWERTY
keyboard, GPS, Bluetooth, EDGE, WiFi, VGA output, and a microSD slot. Not surprisingly, Advance Tech is positioning
this as an ultra-premium device; the company doesn't even call it a smartphone, billing it instead as a "
laptop computer miniaturized to the size of a handheld
device." One thing that hasn't been miniaturized is the price: Advance Tech envisions selling the MAGIC for $1,000
when it rolls out next quarter. That price will likely drop through service provider subsidies, but we don't expect to
see this baby in the bargain bin anytime soon.
[Thanks to everyone who sent this in]
posted Mar 8th 2006 12:21PM
"we don't expect to see this baby in the bargain bin anytime soon."
Because providers will not even pick this up. There's a gazillion features, but everything else (aesthetics, size, weight) is horrid.
DAng! Move over 8125, I have a new item on my wish list!
Is that a freaking fingerprint/biometric scanner on the front?
I agree the phone looks pretty nasty, but daaamn thats a monster... and considering the price for $1,000 which is about like the htc universal. I would honestly pick this one up instead. the specs alone man, plus some sights say it has a graphic accelerator with dedicated video memory.
If anything I wish the inside screen was a VGa at 640x480 and a bit thinner.
If this company really wants to make an impression with this device, they should have QVGA on the outside, and VGA on the inside!
As for people complaining about the size - I personally don't care how large the device is, as long as it's functional and portable. And while I can't see holding this brick up to my ear for day-to-day usage, I think anyone who's looking for this high-end of a device is certain to pitch in another $50 for a BT headset!
Move aside Nokia Brick. We have a new mobile "weapon" :P
I agree about the screens - it should be QVGA on the outside, and VGA on the inside. Definitely.
Then they should bump up the Wifi to b/g instead of just b, make certain the GPS is SIRFstar III, ship it with WM5 AKU2 (with both MSFP and A2DP),and they'd have the crown winner of mobile devices!
Anyone would want it thinner if possible, but I don't mind the size or weight. But the aesthetics absolutely need to be improved. They should make it one consistent color - perhaps all black with blue backlighting on the keyboard - now that would look fantastic!
Chris Toohey said:
"As for people complaining about the size - I personally don't care how large the device is, as long as it's functional and portable."
Umm doesn't that mean you do care? Eventually a device will get too large and too heavy to be portable. For those that are complaining about the size it's because to them it's no longer functional and portable...
Sorry, but while I'm a huge smartphone fan, that fut bugly brick isn't on my short list...
Hey Radiationman,
"Everything's relative" definitely applies here. To me - this isn't that bad. But I normally have to lug a laptop around with me. Having a device like this may allow me to leave the laptop at home if I take a quick trip on business or need to have a mobile connection to the office while I'm taking a vacation day to spend with the family. Would I want to use this as my primary, everyday, mobile phone solution? No. But that's why I have 4 different phones and understand that I can switch my SIM to fit my venture.
I can tell you something that would decrease the size of this thing though, and possibly put it on your short list:
Change the outside screen to 240x240.
Add a qwerty keyboard and design it for single-handed use (ie, jog wheel, soft keys, and drop that stupid biometric scanner).
Change the inside to a VGA screen.
Reposition the speakers to you can decrease the size of the device to match the outer changes.
These changes should greatly decrease the size height and possibly the width of the device. As for depth (or thickness), I'm certain it can be streamlined enough to trim some of the bulk while keeping it's featureset... but (sadly), I don't design these things.
And the first line of the story from msmobiles.com says 'This phone still is denoted as "prototype"' - I'm hoping that they'll be making changes before they start pumping these out of a factory (although stranger things *have* happened...)!