i-mate Ultimate 9502

Expected November 2007
26th October 2007
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The flagship handset in i-mate's range of Windows Mobile devices, the i-mate Ultimate 9502 is pitched directly against high-end smartphones such as the Nokia E90.

What's immediately obvious about the i-mate Ultimate 9502 is the sliding screen with the QWERTY keyboard underneath, reminiscent of the T-Mobile Sidekick range.. and it's roughtly the same size as the Sidekick too.

This is a highly sophisticated Windows Mobile 6 device. The most prominent features on the Ultimate 9502 is the large 2.8" 640 x 480 pixel (VGA resolution) touchscreen. There are not many devices on the market that can compete with that, especially when it comes to web browsing.. although the Nokia E90 is one of them.

Underneath, this is a quad-band GSM device with GPRS and EDGE, tri-band UMTS (3G) with HSDPA high-speed data plus WiFi. On the back is a 3 megapixel digital camera with autofocus and flash, and the i-mate Ultimate 9502 also has microSD expandable memory and Bluetooth.

One unusual feature with the Ultimate 9502 is the inclusion of GPS (global positioning system). There's no satellite navigation software included with the 9502 as far as we can tell, but there are several packages that will run on the Windows Mobile platform.

Another unusual touch is an XGA resolution video out port, which means that the Ultimate 9502 can drive a projector at up to 1024x768 pixels. Mobile versions of PowerPoint, Word and Excel are included, plus Windows Media Player.. so the i-mate Ultimate 9502 looks to be a good alternative to using a laptop for presentations.

It's quite a large device - the i-mate Ultimate 9502 weighs 200 grams and measures 116 x 60 x 18mm. That's slightly lighter than the E90 and a fair amount more compact. Talktime is quoted as a little over four hours with a maximum standby time of 7.5 days on UMTS.

It's certainly one of the most sophisticated phones ever made. Our main criticism is that it's a somewhat unappealing device to look at.

i-mate have quoted a US price of around $725 before tax and subsidy. It might seem expensive, but you could easily expect a smartphone of this type to cost $1000 or more. No European pricing is available at the time of going to press. The Ultimate 9502 should be available from November 2007 onwards.