Apparently i-mate will be among the companies trying to make waves at next month’s Mobile World Congress and from the sound of things, we could be in for a surprise – or another big let down. Crediting a PR firm as its source, msmobiles revealed that i-mate is preparing to unveil and new handset at MWC and it looks to be putting all of its eggs in one basket.

At MWC 2009 i-mate will be unveiling its brand new product – one which sees them break new grounds with a revolutionary mobile device that’s like nothing else.

i-mate Hummer? While we hope it’s something a bit more interesting, we’re certainly not getting our hopes up. “Break new ground” and “revolutionary” are buzz terms that are tossed around with no discretion these days. Obvious speculation: Touchscreen, hi-rez display, Windows Mobile 6.5, tweaked UI based on i-mate Go and some bells and whistles to top it off. What do you guys think – does i-mate have a few tricks left up its sleeve or is this the last ditch effort of a battered company?

Thanks, Ivan!

Read

First things first… It’s no TouchFLO 3D. Ok, now that we have that out of the way we do have to say that we’re happy to see another company making an effort to tidy up the Windows Mobile UI a tad. Who knows how far away we really are from Windows Mobile 7 becoming a reality and in the meantime, even many Windows Mobile die hards seem to be losing patience with the very dated look of the OS. Samsung, HTC and Sony Ericsson aren’t the only companies attempting to bandage their mobile OS of choice however, as i-mate has just announced its “i-mate Go” UI. No, it’s not the catchiest name in the game, but those of you looking for high visibility and simple design for your i-mate UI should be pleased. i-mate Go is powered by VITO Winterface of course, a Windows Mobile UI enhancement that essentially started as an iPhone rip off and evolved into a slightly less obvious iPhone rip off. Apparently that subtle change was enough to get the i-mate folks to bite, so job well done. The i-mate Go UI is available for the JAMA 101 along with the Ultimate 6150, 8150, 8502 and 9502, and can be downloaded for free from the i-mate website.

[Via phonearena]

Read

The i-mate Hummer, huh? We’re not positive if that’s an internal name or not, but we’re assuming it is. If you’re still an i-mate fan at this point in time, bless your heart. In any case, we’ve got the drop on this new i-mate handset, and it does look like it’s bringing some respectable specs to the table this time around. For starters, it’s ruggedized device that’s water resistant, and it’s got a metal-alloy-screwed case. See the “screws”? It’s a Windows Mobile Standard device, and we’re pretty sure it will ship with Windows Mobile 6.1. In terms of other specs on the handset, there’s UMTS/HSDPA, Wi-Fi, a 2 megapixel camera, and a 2.5″ screen. No carrier information or release timetable at the moment, but the one positive thing we have to say about this handset is the one-handed form factor. HTC needs to step it up and get things moving in that department. The Palm Pro is nice and all, but there’s nothing like a little HTC Thinnovation, you feel us?

Thanks, Daddy G.!