Telstra brings i-mate mobiles to Oz

i-mateT has announced the launch of the i-mate Ultimate 8502 and i-mateT Ultimate 9502 at the Mobile World Congress in Barcelona. Telstra is the first operator to deploy these devices globally and both will be exclusive in Australia to Telstra customers.

Holly Kramer, group managing director, Telstra Product Management said: "We're excited to be the first mobile operator in the world to offer these new i-mateT Ultimate devices.”

The five-year partnership between i-mate and Telstra has seen the launch of 10 i-mateT devices on the Telstra network. According to Kramer, the speed of the devices is well-suited to Telstra’s Next G network.

"These advanced devices from i-mate are rated at downlink speeds of up to 7.2Mbps and uplink speeds of 1.9Mbps, making them the fastest PDAs available on the Next G network. The devices were chosen for their ability to showcase the power of Telstra's Next G network," she said.

Using Windows Mobile software, both the Ultimate 8502 and Ultimate 9502 house a very similar advanced feature set including Direct Video Out that connects the device to a digital projector or TV, Custom i-Q to quickly define your personal settings, and Secure i-Q to remotely lock and wipe the Ultimate device if it's lost or stolen.

Jim Morrison, chief executive officer and founder, i-mate said: "We don't believe that one size fits all. We offer a full range of Windows Mobile powered devices. We then customise these devices to suit the unique requirements of individual customers.”

Designed to run at optimal performance on the Telstra Next G network, the Ultimate devices from i-mateT are the first mobile handsets on the Next G network to offer high speed data uploading via HSUPA as well as high speed data downloading via HSDPA.

The i-mate Ultimate 8502, priced at $999, and the i-mate Ultimate 9502, priced at $1099, will be available in Australia from early March 2008.

telco/isptelstra