imation

The I-mate 810-F may be the first ruggedized PDA-phone at the GSMA Mobile World Congress here in Barcelona, but the Dubai company is not done yet. Jim Morrison, CEO of I-mate, said too many vendors have been copying technology and interfaces from each other. Instead, he plans to innovate, not imitate, the company's handsets such that each model is unique in its own right.

The I-mate Centurion (shown above) is a credit-card-size, non-touch-screen PDA-phone with a full QWERTY keypad.

Though tiny and really light, we've tried out the keyboard and found it surprisingly usable. This model will retail … Read more

We're still not sure about the wisdom of having a USB key so small that it can get lost among pocket change but, if you want something truly tiny, this is it.

The appropriately named "Nano Flash Drive" from Imation comes in storage capacities ranging from 1GB to 8GB, but the size remains the same for all of them: 1.75 inches long and a half-inch wide, weighing a scant 1.3 ounces. Not surprisingly, Imation says it's the smallest flash drive of its kind that it offers.

In our view, its smartest feature has nothing … Read more

I-mate may be the leading wireless device manufacturer in the Middle East, but it doesn't enjoy quite the same popularity here in the United States. However, today's announcements are sure to turn some heads here. I-mate introduced its Ultimate line of four handhelds at the fall CTIA 2007 show, which including the Ultimate 6150, 8150, 8502, and 9502. All are quad-band smartphones running Windows Mobile 6 but have varying form factors to meet people's different needs. Here's the breakdown:

I-mate Ultimate 6150: Traditional PDA-like design with a 2.8-inch, 65,000-color touch screen, integrated Bluetooth and … Read more

i-Mate is not the most famous of brands when we talk about handhelds, but the Dubai-based company created quite a buzz a few months back when it introduced the Ultimate series of PDA-phones. A name like that needs to be backed up, which i-Mate did with some impressive specs for its announced 8150 and 6150 devices.

Fast-forward to today, however, and we have yet to see those smartphones on the market. And we all know that a few months in this industry is a lifetime--specs and features can get old fast. But i-Mate has introduced two more in the series … Read more

We're still patiently waiting to get our hands on the I-mate Jaq 3 (next week, they say), which was announced at CES 2007, but do we even care anymore? Today, I-mate introduced its successor, the I-mate Jaq4, which runs the latest Windows Mobile 6 Professional Edition and looks like sleeker device overall. There's nothing that really knocks our socks off, and the lack of 3G support is disappointing, but the quad-band (GSM 850/900/1800/1900; GPRS/EDGE) smart phone still offers a solid helping of features. It comes equipped with Wi-Fi (802.11b/g); Bluetooth 1.2; … Read more

In addition to the I-mate Jaq3 announcement today, I-mate also introduced the I-mate PDAL. Sans QWERTY keyboard and sporting a trimmer package (4.4x2.2x0.6 inches; 4.1 ounces) than the Jaq3, it's a quad-band smart phone running Windows Mobile 5, and it doesn't include anything revolutionary, but it has all the necessities for a mobile professional. It features a 2.4-inch, 65,000-color touch screen; integrated Wi-Fi (802.11b/g); Bluetooth; and a 2-megapixel camera. Like the Jaq3, it'll be available unlocked at the end of January, but no pricing information has been set.

Back in October, we reviewed the rather horrible I-mate Jaq, which was plagued by a bulky design and poor call quality. Needless to say, we were not impressed. However, the company is giving it another go with the I-mate Jaq3, a revamped version of the Jaq that features a slightly trimmed down design and integrated Wi-Fi. Despite a fresh coat of paint in a slimming black, the numbers don't lie and the Jaq3 is still a pocketful at 4.8x2.7x0.8 inches and 5.4 ounces. The Wi-Fi integration (802.11b/g) is a nice addition, but it'… Read more

Imation announced Wednesday it's begun selling a new 4GB version of its Micro Hard Drive.

The $189 product has a padlock-shaped design; its USB connector is a loop that can be clipped to objects such as key chains. It uses a 0.85-inch hard drive from Toshiba and works with Windows, Mac OS X and Linux.

Imation introduced its $159 2GB version of the product in the summer. The 4GB version will be on display at the Consumer Electronics Show's Innovations Plus exhibit at the Sands Expo and Convention Center next week in Las Vegas.

The drive comes … Read more