... from GIGA-BYTE Communications Taiwan!
To listen to the interview click HERE and then download MP3 file or listen from the embedded Flash player there!
Here are some highlights from the interview and from other talks with employees of GIGA-BYTE Communications:
t600 should be available commercially around May 2007
q60 should be available commercially around June 2007
both t600 and q60 will be powered by Windows Mobile 6 although models presented at CeBIT were powered still by Windows Mobile 5.0
general idea of GIGA-BYTE Communications is to offer phones that correspond to needs and capabilities of given market, so for example for West Europe these are phones that support digital TV (DVB-T, DVB-H, DMB, DAB-IP) and for East Europe phones with analog TV tuners (PAL, SECAM)
GIGA-BYTE Communications also is adaptable to needs of mobile operators so if some feature that is optional (like GPS in q60 or some specific mobile TV format in q60 or t600) it can be added on demand
GSmart t600 is the only mobile phone in the world that receive regular digital TV, not mobile one ; it means that users have ability to watch TV in mobile way for free (unlike mobile TV standards that require at least a monthly fee); the standard used is DVB-T and it is exactly the same standard that is used in contemporary digital TV tuners and TV sets ; it is amazing that GIGA-BYTE managed to squeeze DVB-T into mobile phone
GIGA-BYTE Communications is convinced that PDA phones can be also used for personal entertainment (mobile TV, radio) and not just for serious purposes (enterprise usage, navigation)
t600 has a brilliant display in VGA resolution what allows for very high quality TV viewing experience - even though on the small display
we have been testing t600 indoors and were amazed to find out that reception of DVB-T signal (German TV channels like "Vox", "RTL2", "N24", and others) was very good - both stability of the reception and quality of image were superb - nothing like that pixelated low resolution image that users of DAB-IP (Lobster 700 at Virgin Mobile UK) are getting ; also channel switching was fast and worked very well
t600 will be able to receive also digital radio (DAB) but the player for DAB is not ready yet - it was undergoing testing in Taiwan and was not presented at CeBIT this year
t600 will cost at first 699 Euro ( = 478 British pounds = 922 USD ) what may be high at the beginning but it may be sweetened by contracts (GSM subscriptions) to press the price down significantly
GSmart q60 has QVGA display but it offers HSDPA and optionally, depending on the needs of given operator/distributor also GPS and some mobile TV standards can be added ; q60 will not support DVB-T however but mobile TV standards (DVB-H, DMB-IP, DAB-IP) - however not all at once but depending on region and orders
Wi-Fi and HSDPA will be standard features of q60
the wheel in q60 is a genuine wheel - exactly like in RIM BlackBerry devices - i.e. you can scroll it without limits, you can press it to select items and you can press nearby button to escape (go back in the menu)
q60 and t600 will be on sale also in various versions (depending on region/country) in retail shops both online and on the street (brick and mortar shops)
GIGA-BYTE Communications is open for deals with mobile operators what includes not only branding but also customization of features
Below you can see photos of GSmart q60 and GSmart t600 with some explanations.
q60 feels like Treo smartphone - due to QWERTY keyboard for single-handed usage:
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