14 DAY TRIAL // The Gigabyte Communications company, a wholly owned subsidiary of Gigabyte Technology Co. Ltd., even if it hasn't been present on the mobile market for a very long time, is showing everybody that they really are to be noticed. Their latest release at the 3GSM Congress Asia 2006 is the GSmart i200 phone, the first Windows Mobile 5.0 AKU 3.0 VGA handset that offers support for DVB-H (Digital Video Broadcasting - Handheld, which is a technical name for the technology that brings broadcast services on handhelds, a technology that is the direct competitor of DMB, the Digital Media Broadcasting technology).
The i200 offers broadcasting capabilities using Innoxius' mobile broadcast head-end and transmission solution which perfectly integrates the Penthera technology, which is an end-to-end mobile broadcast software suite named the Broadcast Services Platform, a DVB-IPDC-compliant technical solution that enables the use of services like media-casting, interactivity, targeted advertising, and usage tracking.
Christopher Chen, General Manager of Gigabyte Communications' Global Sales and Marketing Division, has said that "GIGABYTE Communications is proud to demonstrate the GSmart i200 phone, particularly live mobile broadcasting using Penthera viewer to provide a VGA viewing experience. By providing a complete, open-standard, feature-rich solution set, the GSmart i200 addresses the needs of operators worldwide who are seeking devices that support revenue growth opportunities associated with mobile broadcast services".
Also, Edmund Yong, CTO of Innoxius Technologies, has declared that "Innoxius is excited about the cooperation with Penthera and GIGABYTE Communications on offering this end to end mobile television solution."
Sam Leinhardt, the CEO of Penthera Technologies, the third company involved in the development of this device, has said that "Penthera is very pleased to work with GIGABYTE and Innoxius to showcase the GSmart i200 integrated with Penthera's mobile broadcast software. Broadcasters and operators will be impressed by this full-featured, multi-vendor solution which is ready for commercial roll-out."
The handset also has some usual features for the mobile market, like a 2.69 inch VGA touchscreen display, a USB 2.0 port for TV-OUT, 512 MB of integrated memory, and, the thing that I forgot to tell in the beginning of this article, it runs the new Windows Mobile codename Crossbow operating system (it seems this is not such a common specifications sheet after all).