Its smaller size, greater range of connectivity options and longer battery life are necessary and welcomed improvements, and the processing performance is at least comparable to the older phones. The 8502 is exactly what an incremental update should be: it's better. Web browsing is zippy, call quality is excellent and the onboard 2-megapixel camera is a little above average, assisted by the LED photo light. The single day battery life has been extended to a very manageable three days with light to moderate usage during our tests.īattery life aside, using the 8502 is an almost identical experience to the previous i-mate Ultimates. We're just speculating, but it would seem that the power usage has been dropped by lowering the speed of the processor and the resolution, rectifying the dismal battery life we experienced in the previous generation our strongest criticism of the 61. In fact this "shrinking" of hardware seem to be part of a necessary tweaking rather than cost-cutting. Luckily, we've been unable to detect any significant reduction in performance, helped in part by the lower display resolution. The 520MHz processor of the 61 is now a 400MHz Qualcomm chip with 128MB RAM. With the release of the new Ultimate devices so close to the previous batch we were expecting to see similar processing performance - until we discovered the downsizing of processors. i-mate also includes data security by allow the phone's owner to remotely lock their device and clear all data on the phone using a password-protected online log in, as well as the option to sound an alarm - like a car alarm - to coerce thieves to return your phone, or at least dump it in a bin somewhere. Push email via MS Exchange, media playback with Windows Media Player, and document editing with mobile Office. Running Windows Mobile 6 guarantees certain functionality and compatibility for owners of the 8502. Mobile data charges can be avoided using the built-in Wi-Fi (802.11 b/g), and similar to the HTC TyTN II, the 8502 has a GPS receiver integrated into its Qualcomm processor chipset. In addition to HSPA the 8502 features a full compliment of connectivity options. The Ultimate series phones also feature video-out, which coupled with mobile TV gives you a low-res (VGA) alternative to paying for subscription TV at home or in a motel. As with all other Next G phones, the new i-mates will be able to stream mobile TV, like Foxtel. When released the Ultimate 85 will be available exclusively through Telstra. It's here that HSPA should offer a similar mobile broadband experience to your fixed line ADSL2 connection. Where the speeds will be really handy is when the handset shares its mobile broadband with your PC. HSPA data may seem like overkill on a mobile device for anyone who doesn't intend to send large files attached to emails. HSPA refers to support not only for HSDPA (High Speed Downlink Packet Access) downloads but also HSUPA (High Speed Uplink Packet Access) uploads as well. The 8502 and its sister phone the 9502 have the prestigious honour of being the first full HSPA smartphones available in Australia, to be followed by a couple of Samsung phones and the Sony Ericsson Xperia X1 mid-year.
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