Hands-on with the i-mate Ultimate 9502 multimedia smartphone

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	Home / Cell phones / Business smartphones / CTIA Fall 2007

	Hands-on with the i-mate Ultimate 9502 multimedia smartphone	By Philip Berne, 25 October 2007

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The new i-mate phone features a slide-up keyboard, a VGA screen and Windows Mobile 6. We get our hands on the new device to get the scoop.

i-mate today unveiled four new smartphones in the Americas, including the Ultimate 6150, 8150, 8502 and 9502. The latter comes with one of the most popular phone designs among teens ever, namely a "Sidekick design". Supporting Quad-band GSM networks as well as AT&T's HSPA network, the i-mate Ultimate 9502 gives messaging phones a new dimension.

Not only does the Ultimate 9502 offer HSDPA connectivity, but it also comes with HSUPA support; locate its VGA camera at the front, and you'll be ready to make real two-way video calls as soon as AT&T opens that service.

The Ultimate 9502 also sports a 3-megapixel camera with auto-focus, which is likely to produce better than average images due to the auto-focus functionality. Furthermore, we find 802.11 b/g and Bluetooth 2.0 connectivity, as well as a microSD slot and a combo port for USB, TV + Audio out and charging. A 2.5mm audio jack is provided for headset connection.

Powered by Windows Mobile 6, the Ultimate 9502 will offer a great standard when it comes to messaging, which is further backed up by a 39-key QWERTY keypad. Moreover, the Ultimate 9502 offers send and end buttons, messaging and internet buttons, camera button, volume up and down, three software programmable buttons, two soft-keys, start and ok buttons, 5-way navigation, 360 degree jog wheel and OK / Back.

The user's eye will rest on what is likely to be a magnificent 2.8" VGA (640 by 480 pixels) touch screen, showing up to 262K colors.

With regards to audio and video playback, the Ultimate 9502 supports AAC, AAC+, MP3, Midi, AMR, ASF and WMA audio formats as well as H.263, H.264, MPEG4 and WMV video formats.

On the list of included software, we find Windows Outlook Mobile, Windows Push Mail, Office Mobile, Internet Explorer Mobile, Windows Media Player 10 Mobile with control panel, ClearVue PDF viewer, i-mate GPRS Configurator for WAP and MMS, RTSP Video streaming, Profile Controller, ActiveSync, Windows Live Messenger, File Explorer, MMS Client with MMS 1.2 support as well as Java Virtual Machine (J2ME, CLDC 1.1, MIDP 2.0).

The i-mate Ultimate 9502 also sports a GPS radio, and i-mate claims a talk time of up to 4.5 hours (UMTS) from a powerful 1620mAH Lithium ion-Polymer battery. The smartphone also incorporates a Qualcomm 400MHz processor, 256MB ROM and 128MB RAM.

Measuring 116 by 60 by 17.8 mm and weighing 200 g with battery pack, the i-mate Ultimate 9502 is expected to ship later this fall with a full bundle of accessories, including AC adapter, USB sync cable, TV + Audio out cable, stereo headset with microphone, protective pouch and a stylus.