An interesting new smartphone has appeared at the MWC, which at first glance looks like it might be running Windows Phone 8, but it’s not. It’s running full-fat Windows 8 Pro upon its Intel Atom processor and 4.7-inch touchscreen display.
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The i-mate Intelegent smartphone, with 64GB of storage, is supposed to go on sale in the summer priced at $750. That sounds like a huge price tag but The Seattle Times reminds us that it’s still cheaper than a 64GB iPhone 5. For your cash you get a smartphone with an Intel ‘Clover Trail’ Atom processor, 2GB of Ram and 64GB of storage. For communications it has HSPA+ and LTE 4G wireless connectivity. The battery is said to provide 10 hours of talk time.
I-mate hub with 23-inch touchscreen, keyboard and mouse
Part of i-mate’s plan is also to provide a hub into which to dock your Intelegent smartphone. The smartphone plugs into this dock and then you get a large screened full desktop computer at your disposal, with all your personal files and programs there at your fingertips.
The dock and Intelegent smartphone will cost $1600 bundled together. The dock provides a 23-inch touch-screen display, keyboard and mouse. The Seattle Times says it also “drives an auxiliary wireless tablet with a 10.1-inch, 1080p display”. So you get a tablet dock in the price too, that’s sounding like better value...
Intel has been helping the i-mate developers, spokeswoman Kathy Gill confirmed this to the Seattle Times and said “It’s an exciting time for mobile technology in general as you see these smartphones becoming more powerful and people wanting to do more and more with their mobile devices”.
The i-mate management are at the MWC Barcelona now, looking for partners and networks to support their production of the Intelegent smartphone and dock systems. The company has “a facility in California is ready to assemble 10,000 units a week”. It hopes to be able to launch the Intelegent as soon as summer 2013.