It's almost disturbing how many UI masks we have now for Windows Mobile 6.1, but even more frightening is the fact that Microsoft is sitting around rather than doing anything about it. All that aside, those frustrated with the aging OS can give i-mate Go a shot, which is a new UI for the company's WinMo 6.1 handsets that attempts to deliver "advanced capabilities and touch access to the user's favorite functions through a simple icon-based menu." It's available now as a free download for the Ultimate 9502, Ultimate 8502, Ultimate 8150, Ultimate 6150, and JAMA 101, and while you may be scared to give something like this a try, just ask yourself: what do you really have to lose?

[Via phoneArena]

Even as we marvel at the HTC Touch Diamond's gorgeous VGA display, let's not forget that 640 x 480 resolution (buried within the larger context of a monster spec sheet, no less) is old hat for some Windows Mobile devices. i-mate's Ultimate line has been reppin' the high res displays for a while now, starting with the 6150 and 8150 models that were announced well over a year ago; more recently, the 9502 was added, offering shoppers a grand total of three distinct form factors from which to choose plus a more traditional QVGA setup with the 8502. Hate on Windows Mobile all you want, but you have to admit, it's hard to find this kind of hardware diversity with any other platform out there.

We just had an opportunity to play with all four models side by side -- an especially rare opportunity, considering that neither the 8502 nor 9502 are officially being sold in the US (despite their support for HSDPA 850 / 1900). Follow the break for some quick impressions with each of the fearsome foursome.

i-mate's "Sidekick for grown-ups" (our phrase, not theirs) is finally starting to ship, and Pocketnow's among the first to score an opportunity to put the beastly WinMo device through its paces. The Ultimate 9502's spec sheet is certainly enough to impress -- triband HSUPA, TV out, 3 megapixel autofocus cam, VGA display the list goes on -- but is it as good in practice as it is on paper? In a word, yeah, it looks like it is, as long as you're willing to pay the astronomical prices the first batch of 9502s are commanding on the open market. It's super quick, has a gorgeous display, and is built like a tank, although that last point could also be the phone's downfall -- with a boxy black shell and one of the chubbiest profiles of any WinMo device out there today, the 9502 isn't about to win any beauty contests. The GPS was a little finicky to operate and the keyboard's quite a bit smaller than that of its arch nemesis, the TyTN II, but otherwise, this looks like a winner for anyone who values extreme mobile productivity over making a fashion statement.

On a side note, we've learned from i-mate that the 8502 and 9502 are both affected by Qualcomm's chip ban, so availability in the US is limited strictly to gray market imports (though they'll be officially offered in Canada). In other words, if you want to play, bring cash -- lots of it -- and don't expect the price to plummet any time soon.

On paper, the Ultimate 8502 and 9502 from i-mate rock specs that rest at or near the pinnacle of what's available from a Windows Mobile device today: HSUPA, TV out, integrated GPS, QWERTY, and in the case of the 9502, a true VGA touchscreen. While it's historically not been terribly easy to track down i-mate hardware in the States, one thing that might make it just a little bit easier to do so is an honest to goodness FCC approval, and that's what we have here laid out before our very eyes. In this case, it's the 8502 that's been approved under manufacturer Mobinnova's name; we haven't spotted the 9502 yet, so it's probably only the form factor purists and traditionalists that are getting excited about this one. We can almost feel the stupid-fast upload speeds from here!

Not only has Telstra secured exclusive rights to i-mate's freshly minted 8502 and 9502 Windows Mobile superphones in Australia -- it turns out they'll also be the very first carrier to launch 'em anywhere in the world when they hit shelves early next month. The carrier has historically been an excellent customer of i-mate's, bringing a grand total of ten devices to its airwaves so far in a five-year deal. Lucky Aussies will see the 8502 landing for $999 AUD (about $898) while the Sidekick 9502 drops for a whopping $1099 AUD (about $988).

Those two rather dashing new models in i-mate's off-again, on-again Ultimate line that we peeped all the way back at CTIA last fall are finally official. The 9502, undoubtedly the more interesting of the pair, is almost Sidekick-ish in its design, featuring a VGA touchscreen that slides to the side to reveal a full QWERTY keyboard. The 8502 meanwhile makes do with a more traditional form factor, sticking the QWERTY pad below the 2.6 inch QVGA display up front. Both models feature HSPA (yes, both HSDPA and HSUPA), TV out, and integrated GPS, hence earning their keep in the thin-but-growing Ultimate stable. Still no word on release or pricing, but since they've both been kicking around since CTIA, we imagine we'll see 'em in the pipe before too long.

The last we heard about i-mate's Ultimate line, the company was allegedly planning on "staggering" the release of the WM 6 Pro handsets, but it's been over two months without any news to report -- and now suddenly the tubes are alive with i-mate news: not only did the company announce the Ultimate 9502 and 8502 handsets today, UberGizmo is reporting that i-mate is working on a Foleo-esque "shell" for the line, with 1024 x 768 display, larger keyboard, and 80-hour battery. Unlike Palm's charming folly, however, the i-mate shell won't contain any processing power of its own, instead serving more as an extended dock for the Ultimate devices themselves. It's a pretty sketchy rumor, to be sure, but given the i-mate's topsy-turvy handling of the Ultimates, it's as likely as anything else.

[Thanks, webon]

We're not sure why it took so long for the i-mate Ultimate 8150 to follow its almost identical sib (the keypadless 6150) through FCC labs, but whatevs, it's here now. The Arima-sourced handset rocks the usual array of high-end specs touted by i-mate's entire Ultimate line: HSDPA, Windows Mobile 6 Professional, WiFi, VGA display resolution, 2 megapixel camera, and the list goes on. Seeing how these bad boys are already supposed to be finding their way into retail channels, the FCC certification comes just in the nick of time. Let's hope the units customers receive are black, because we're still not any closer to digging the sickly gold than we were six months ago.

Okay, we've gotta admit, it looks way better in black than it did in the sickly champagne hue we'd originally seen. ce4arab's had a chance to play with the production version of i-mate's 8150, one of the first members of its flagship Ultimate line to see the light of day. We'll save the review itself for the Arabic speakers among us, but the extensive visuals (right down to a test of its TV out capability) here are enough to justify taking a peep. In particular, we're feeling the blue backlighting on the keypad -- and as we said, the black theme is a huge improvement. The specs are less notable now than they were back when these things were announced at CeBIT, but hey, if you can score one at the right price, at least it's not gonna look like you're pulling a brick of fool's gold out of your pocket.

We wish we could say we were surprised about this, we really do. It seems that i-mate has canceled arguably the three most interesting versions of its Ultimate line: the 5150 slider, 7150 QWERTY flip, and 9150 numeric flip. Remaining and now apparently scheduled for October production are the 8150 numeric candybar and keypadless 6150, devices that could be considered pretty uninteresting by the time they enter a market rife with 3G capable Windows Mobile 6 hardware. So far, this is all unconfirmed -- it's being reported by a UK retail firm, Clove Technology -- but it seems plausible considering that the 7150 and 9150 have taken on a certain air of vaporeware-ness that the FCC approved 6150 has not. We have to admit, we're a little surprised that the 5150 bit the dust since it's nothing more than a slider grafted to a 6150, but considering the strength of its competition, it's probably for the best.

[Via All About Symbian]

Update: Crave Asia is reporting that i-mate says all five devices are still on track, but will be released on a "staggered" schedule starting with the 6150 and 8150. We'll keep you updated as we hear more.

Well well well, look what the FCC dragged in! We're still not sold on the sickly champagne color shared by members of the Ultimate line, but there's very little to not love about the i-mate 6150 Ultimate's internals: tri-band HSDPA, WiFi, Bluetooth, Windows Mobile 6, integrated FM radio, and a glorious VGA display -- internals that look to be assembled by ODM Arima, according to the FCC documentation. Of the five Ultimates promised, this particular one might be more of a... shall we say, "acquired taste" than the four others, owing mainly to its lack of a physical keypad. Otherwise, though, we're down. Can we still expect this in September, i-mate?

i-mate has wisely decided to keep its release tempo on the up-and-up following its disassociation from Windows Mobile megagiant HTC -- at least that's what we're believing following a strong showing at 3GSM this year and now this, a leaked roadmap document detailing what we can expect out of the Middle Eastern outfit for the next few months. Notable models include the "Odyssey," a Windows Mobile 5 Pocket PC Phone Edition device with UMTS 1900 / 2100 (what, no 850?), 2 megapixel cam, and WiFi; a four-pack of so-called "X Series" devices in a variety of form factors, blacked out and chock full of dual-band HSDPA, Windows Mobile 6, Bluetooth 2.0, and WiFi; and a Fastap-equipped handset in the Ultimate line -- codenamed "Acorn" -- with triband HSDPA and the video out that is a signature of the series. Healthy competition for HTC? Bring it on, folks. [Warning: PDF link]

[Via Boy Genius Report]

i-mate is taking a pretty interesting approach with its newest range of Windows Mobile devices -- the WM6-equipped "Ultimate" range -- by shoving a full five models out the door, all differing only in form factor. Clockwise from the upper left, we have all five in purely theoretical, rendered form: the 5150, 6150, 7150, 9150, and 8150. The strategy makes sense, really; everyone wants a solid spec sheet, but getting everyone to agree on a single shape is an exercise in futility. With 256MB of ROM, VGA displays across the board, tri-band 3G radios, Bluetooth 2.0, and FM radios, the Ultimates definitely hold their own in the spec department -- the only question, then, is whether they've nailed the industrial design. The first model being shown all public-like, the 5150 slider, is admittedly an acquired taste, but some of the others really caught our eyes (7150 and 9150, we're looking at you).

That gold sheen just oozes tri-band HSDPA in its natural environment, does it not? This here is one of i-mate's new Ultimate devices, the 5150, packing pretty much every specification we could hope for in a Windows Mobile 6 package: quad-band GSM / EDGE plus the aforementioned tri-band UMTS / HSDPA, 802.11b / g, 256MB of onboard ROM and 128MB RAM, microSD expansion, Bluetooth 2.0, FM radio, 2 megapixel camera, and VGA (yes, we said it, VGA) display atop a 533MHz XScale core. The unusual layout and style of the navigational controls could throw users a curveball, but, uh... did we mention it does tri-band HSDPA? Check out the gallery for some more champagne-hued hotness.