Oh! Gizmo

By Shane McGlaun

i-mate announced recently that its line of Ultimate smartphones is now available in the Americas, including the Ultimate 8150. The Ultimate 8150 runs on Microsoft Windows Mobile 6.0 Professional and features WiFi and Bluetooth connectivity.

The phone operates on WCDMA/HSDPA 850/1900/2100 MHz and quad-band GSM/GPRS/EDGE networks. Internal memory includes 256MB ROM and 128MB RAM. Memory expansion is available via a microSD card slot.

Other features include a 2-megapixel camera with flash, autofocus, 4x digital zoom and the camera is video call capable. The screen is a 2.6-inch touchscreen and the phone has a built-in FM tuner. A video output is also available for output to projectors and secondary displays for Office applications included on the phone. The i-mate Ultimate 8150 is available direct from i-mate for $725.

VIA [ i-mate ]

By Shane McGlaun

The original Samsung BlackJack was a big seller for AT&T and one of its most popular smartphones. Samsung and AT&T announced that a new updated BlackJack II would be available later this year. Microsoft CEO Steve Ballmer at CTIA Wireless I.T. & Entertainment 2007 in San Francisco showed the phone publically for the first time yesterday.

The BlackJack II looks a lot like the original BlackJack with a full QWERTY keyboard and a large 2.4-inch QVGA color display and it uses the Windows Mobile 6 OS. AT&T squeezed some interesting new features into the new BlackJack II including AT&T Video Share that allows users to share live video during a voice call from the BlackJack II’s built-in 2MP camera.

Other interesting features include built-in GPS with support for location-based services, RSS reader client, significant improvements in standard battery life, and increased standard memory. The BlackJack II will also offer over-the-air synchronization of contacts, calendar, and task lists with Microsoft Exchange Server or AT&T Express Mail. The phone is expected to cost $149 with a 2-year contract.

VIA [ AT&T ]