Well, it makes for interesting reading. According to a Carrier Devices press release, the i-mate brand - and especially the Windows Mobile 2003 based Smartphone2 - is in high demand over in Dubai. It's not a story you'd be likely to hear anytime soon in Australia, where the devices remain comparitively unknown. But it's nice to see the HTC Himalaya is doing well!

The original press release features an image of the General Manager with an i-mate branded Hummer packed to the roof with boxes of i-mate's. I guess that's one way to catch people's attention!

The full press release follows!

" i-mate takes delivery of extra shipment to supply overwhelming demand in Middle East
i-mate, industry innovators of end-to-end wireless device solutions, recently took delivery of an extra shipment at their global head quarters at Dubai Internet City, to cope with the outstanding demand for their products in the region.

--------------------------------------------------------------------------------

 
Dawn Robson, General Manager of i-mate in the i-mate branded Hummer.
 
Dawn Robson, General Manager of i-mate™ revealed that extra demand has been fuelled since the launch of the company's cult-status i-mate™ Smartphone2 and club i-mate™ - the brand's online community marketplace for its device users, in April.

'The i-mate™ Smartphone2 has really captured the interest of Middle East buyers who appreciate its IMAGiNET developed Arabic features including SMS, Hijri Calendar and notes, an Arabic-English/English-Arabic dictionary and a comprehensive Prayer Times application with on-screen reminders,' explained Robson, adding: 'The concept of club i-mate™ has also proved an enormous success as the feedback from users is that they are gaining real value from the service,' she added.

i-mate™'s growth in the first quarter of the year beat projected figures by 50%, with a current growth rate of around 10-12% in the high-tier device market globally – a figure the company is expecting to increase rapidly as newer and faster hardware is introduced later in the year. Within its category, i-mate™' Smartphone2 currently enjoys a 20% share of the market.

The new i-mate™ Smartphone2 is based on the Windows Mobile™ platform from Microsoft® and enables access to much of the same information on a desktop PC such as emails, calendar and contacts. This GSM/GPRS based mobile has one of the most extensive list of features available in a compact mobile today including triband access, Windows Media Player 9, Bluetooth™ V1.1 compatible, a built in digital camera with zoom and video recorder, MMS, a sharp 64K full colour screen, a generous 32MB user memory and a secure digital slot for an SD or Wifi card. It's one of most versatile phones in market giving the highly mobile professional the tools they need to get on with business whilst away from the office.

The new i-mate™ Smartphone2 is now available at Plug-Ins, Fono, Carrefour, Radioshack, Virgin, Jacky's Electronics, Compu me, Kite, Axiom and Global Link Communications."

Source: AME Info