UK-based Clove Technology, a Windows Mobile devices vendor, is reporting that i-mate will only sell two devices in its Ultimate family. We can now confirm, of the original 5 handhelds that were intended, only 2 will remain. The Ultimate 6150 (which received FCC approval) and 8150 have survived the cut and are expected to arrive in October while the 5150, 7150 and 9150 have apparently been dropped.
The i-mate Ultimate web site still shows all five devices although the 5150 and 9150 now show as Coming Early 2008 whereas the other three still show as Coming Soon.
The i-mate Ultimate product line is supposed to share a set of core specifications but come in different form factors. All devices are to run on a 520MHz processor and Windows Mobile 6 Professional. They will also come with quad-band GSM/EDGE and tri-band 3G support, VGA displays, XGA direct video out, 256MB ROM, Bluetooth 2.0+EDR, a microSD slot and FM tuner.
i-mate has had a difficult year, announcing its first ever pre-tax loss and losing its CFO. This move may be part of an attempt to turn things around by focusing on a smaller product catalog.
Source: the::unwired