We wish we could say we were surprised about this, we really do. It seems that i-mate has canceled arguably the three most interesting versions of its
Ultimate line: the 5150 slider, 7150 QWERTY flip, and 9150 numeric flip. Remaining and now apparently scheduled for October
production are the 8150 numeric candybar and keypadless 6150, devices that could be considered pretty uninteresting by the time they enter a market rife with 3G capable Windows Mobile 6 hardware. So far, this is all unconfirmed -- it's being reported by a UK retail firm, Clove Technology -- but it seems plausible considering that the 7150 and 9150 have taken on a certain air of vaporeware-ness that the FCC approved
6150 has not. We have to admit, we're a little surprised that the 5150 bit the dust since it's nothing more than a slider grafted to a 6150, but considering the strength of its competition, it's probably for the best.
[Via
All About Symbian]
Update: Crave Asia is reporting that i-mate says all five devices are still on track, but will be released on a "staggered" schedule starting with the 6150 and 8150. We'll keep you updated as we hear more.
posted Aug 16th 2007 12:05AM
Crossing fingers for the 8150...
Please iMate, keep the VGA & 256MB & 520MHz & 3G specs.
SO in other words, they phones suck again.
CNET says they contacted i-mate, who said that all five will be released, but the dates will be staggered. The 6150 and 8150 are just coming first, followed later by the other three.
http://asia.cnet.com/crave/2007/08/16/entire-ultimate-series-still-on-track/
who to believe who to believe? Well either way it seems HTC pwns this realm for now. Samsung has a good game and Motorola could too(but their design is horrible for PDA phones, Moto that is. IMHO). Is Toshiba Japanese?
Nice I always got a vaporware feel from these things Id be surprised if we see any.
Aren't these just rebranded HTC phones, and wasn't one of them supposed to be a rebranded HTC Omni? If the Omni makes it to market, I don't see this as being much of a big deal.
No, these are made by Arima (same as the new ETEN X800 & M800 devices). IMATE and HTC parted ways a long time ago...
Thanks for the update - I also though iMate were still rebranding HTC.
Either way the Omni or the 7150 look sweeeeet.
last news : 4 devices will land in mid september duing GITEX in Dubaï\r\n2 in early 2008...\r\nyes 6 devices!!