DUBAI, United Arab Emirates-Phone junkies have been speculating for months about i-mate’s forthcoming slim Smartflip handset ever since photos of the device were posted on the Internet earlier this year.
Now the company has offered a more concrete glimpse of the handset in its most recent newsletter with a blurb that proclaims the handset is coming soon.
The phone, which has been compared with Motorola Inc.’s popular Razr handset, is a quad-band GSM/GPRS/EDGE phone that includes support for Windows Mobile 5.0, a camera, and Bluetooth capabilities. The phone reportedly is 0.6 inches thick, on par with the Razr, and weighs 3.4 ounces.
The company did not officially release pricing information, but the phone is being offered for pre-order at a handful of reseller Web sites for $700.
The i-mate group of companies develops high-end smart phones based on the Microsoft Corp. Windows Mobile operating system, which are manufactured by Taiwanese design and manufacturing company High Tech Computer Corp. and sold under the i-mate brand.
