I-mate
Encyclopedia
i-mate was a company selling Windows Mobile
-powered devices. The Group was launched by Jim Morrison, who began his telecoms career at sea with Cable & Wireless and was later involved in the team at O2 that designed the first O2 Xda
Pocket PC
phone. He subsequently obtained rights to HTC products outside of O2 territories and setup i-mate in Glasgow
, Scotland
to deliver into the market place. It was based in Dubai
, United Arab Emirates
, and operated in the UK, Italy
, Armenia
, Australia
, India
, the U.S.A and South Africa
.The company went out of business in September 2009.
phones, and smartphones manufactured by Taiwanese mobile device giant HTC
. In September 2006, HTC ended this relationship with i-mate (at the same time it cut ties with O2). This was announced soon after HTC started selling devices under its own brand name in Europe and purchased the PPC/smartphone
distributor Dopod
which serves Asia
and Australia
. Since the end of its relationship with HTC, i-mate carried devices from other manufacturers, including Inventec
and TechFaith
.
Windows Mobile
Windows Mobile is a mobile operating system developed by Microsoft that was used in smartphones and Pocket PCs, but by 2011 was rarely supplied on new phones. The last version is "Windows Mobile 6.5.5"; it is superseded by Windows Phone, which does not run Windows Mobile software.Windows Mobile is...
-powered devices. The Group was launched by Jim Morrison, who began his telecoms career at sea with Cable & Wireless and was later involved in the team at O2 that designed the first O2 Xda
O2 XDA
The O2 Xda brand is a range of O2-branded Windows Mobile PDA phones, produced by multiple manufacturers . The first model was released in June 2002....
Pocket PC
Pocket PC
A Pocket PC is also known by Microsoft as a 'Windows Mobile Classic device'. It is a hardware specification for a handheld-sized computer, personal digital assistant , that runs the Microsoft 'Windows Mobile Classic' operating system...
phone. He subsequently obtained rights to HTC products outside of O2 territories and setup i-mate in Glasgow
Glasgow
Glasgow is the largest city in Scotland and third most populous in the United Kingdom. The city is situated on the River Clyde in the country's west central lowlands...
, Scotland
Scotland
Scotland is a country that is part of the United Kingdom. Occupying the northern third of the island of Great Britain, it shares a border with England to the south and is bounded by the North Sea to the east, the Atlantic Ocean to the north and west, and the North Channel and Irish Sea to the...
to deliver into the market place. It was based in Dubai
Dubai
Dubai is a city and emirate in the United Arab Emirates . The emirate is located south of the Persian Gulf on the Arabian Peninsula and has the largest population with the second-largest land territory by area of all the emirates, after Abu Dhabi...
, United Arab Emirates
United Arab Emirates
The United Arab Emirates, abbreviated as the UAE, or shortened to "the Emirates", is a state situated in the southeast of the Arabian Peninsula in Western Asia on the Persian Gulf, bordering Oman, and Saudi Arabia, and sharing sea borders with Iraq, Kuwait, Bahrain, Qatar, and Iran.The UAE is a...
, and operated in the UK, Italy
Italy
Italy , officially the Italian Republic languages]] under the European Charter for Regional or Minority Languages. In each of these, Italy's official name is as follows:;;;;;;;;), is a unitary parliamentary republic in South-Central Europe. To the north it borders France, Switzerland, Austria and...
, Armenia
Armenia
Armenia , officially the Republic of Armenia , is a landlocked mountainous country in the Caucasus region of Eurasia...
, Australia
Australia
Australia , officially the Commonwealth of Australia, is a country in the Southern Hemisphere comprising the mainland of the Australian continent, the island of Tasmania, and numerous smaller islands in the Indian and Pacific Oceans. It is the world's sixth-largest country by total area...
, India
India
India , officially the Republic of India , is a country in South Asia. It is the seventh-largest country by geographical area, the second-most populous country with over 1.2 billion people, and the most populous democracy in the world...
, the U.S.A and South Africa
South Africa
The Republic of South Africa is a country in southern Africa. Located at the southern tip of Africa, it is divided into nine provinces, with of coastline on the Atlantic and Indian oceans...
.The company went out of business in September 2009.
Products
From the beginning of its existence until fall of 2006, i-mate sold branded versions of Pocket PCs, PPCPocket PC
A Pocket PC is also known by Microsoft as a 'Windows Mobile Classic device'. It is a hardware specification for a handheld-sized computer, personal digital assistant , that runs the Microsoft 'Windows Mobile Classic' operating system...
phones, and smartphones manufactured by Taiwanese mobile device giant HTC
High Tech Computer
HTC Corporation , formerly High Tech Computer Corporation, is a Taiwanese manufacturer of smartphones. The company initially made smartphones based mostly on Microsoft's Windows Mobile operating system software, but in 2009 it began to shift its core focus away from Windows Mobile devices to...
. In September 2006, HTC ended this relationship with i-mate (at the same time it cut ties with O2). This was announced soon after HTC started selling devices under its own brand name in Europe and purchased the PPC/smartphone
Smartphone
A smartphone is a high-end mobile phone built on a mobile computing platform, with more advanced computing ability and connectivity than a contemporary feature phone. The first smartphones were devices that mainly combined the functions of a personal digital assistant and a mobile phone or camera...
distributor Dopod
Dopod
Dopod is a Taiwan-based manufacturer of Windows Mobile smartphones, operating in the South East Asia and Australasia. Dopod International was founded in 2004 and it is now directly owned by the Taiwanese Windows Mobile device manufacturer HTC with over 50% of shares...
which serves Asia
Asia
Asia is the world's largest and most populous continent, located primarily in the eastern and northern hemispheres. It covers 8.7% of the Earth's total surface area and with approximately 3.879 billion people, it hosts 60% of the world's current human population...
and Australia
Australia
Australia , officially the Commonwealth of Australia, is a country in the Southern Hemisphere comprising the mainland of the Australian continent, the island of Tasmania, and numerous smaller islands in the Indian and Pacific Oceans. It is the world's sixth-largest country by total area...
. Since the end of its relationship with HTC, i-mate carried devices from other manufacturers, including Inventec
Inventec
Inventec Corporation is a Taiwan-based Original Design Manufacturer making notebook computers, servers and mobile devices. Originally established in 1975 to develop and manufacture electronic calculators, the company has since grown significantly to become one of the world's top computer...
and TechFaith
TechFaith
TechFaith Wireless , founded in July 2002, is one of the biggest handset solution providers in China. It employs around 1300 engineers. It has been listed in Nasdaq since 2005. Their revenues were 80.8 million US dollars in 2006 and 143.3 million US dollars in 2007.In their annual report for 2007 ...
.