5/15/2023 0 Comments Imate flip phoneOther nifty features included a dual screen, so the outside screen could display a watch-face, a contact image, caller ID information or even a “selfie” camera display. It distinguished itself by being small, light, while still offering Windows Mobile 5 as the operating system. In order to “break” the monotony, and possibly with inspiration from successful flip-phones such as the Motorola Razr, released two years earlier, HTC delivered a phone that was unlike most PDA-phones of the era. Interestingly, nowadays, users seem to balk less at that pricetag … The smart-device market consisted of mostly Windows Mobile based PDA-phones which were abundantly available, but not very compact with their resistive touch screens, and were mostly adopted by mostly business users due to expense, mostly being about the AU$1000 mark. The i-mate Smartflip was introduced in February, 2006, over a year before the first iPhone was to debut. They were truly the “daddy” of the smart-device era, so it’s rather unfortunate to see the company in dire straits.Īnyhow, lets not dwell on the unpleasant, and instead take a look at a milestone for HTC – the i-mate Smartflip, known as the HTC Startrek which was HTC’s first clam-shell smartphone. In a string of firsts, HTC was first to market with an Android smartphone, a Microsoft smartphone, and a 3G Microsoft phone. My first four smartphones were all designed and manufactured by HTC underneath. They were founded in 1997 as a manufacturer of phones and PDAs and single-handedly designed a good majority of the Windows Mobile phones and PDAs, such as many sold under the HP iPaQ, Palm, O2, Dopod, i-mate brands amongst others. Up to this point, some of the younger readers might not appreciate the significance of HTC, which holds a place dear in my heart. High-Tech Computer Corporation, better known as HTC, also belongs to this category having fallen on hard times recently, announcing extensive workforce cuts and being bumped off the FTSE TWSE Taiwan 50 Index. Former market leaders, such as Nokia and Motorola have mostly taken a back seat to these juggernauts, in a rather sad way. Today, when we think of smartphones, the brands that first come to mind are likely to be Samsung and Apple.
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