14 DAY TRIAL // Relatively new on the PDA market, the Taiwanese company Gigabyte started its Pocket PC lineup with the gSmart series. gSmart i128 is an upgraded version of the first device of the series, gSmart i. While Gigabyte didn't have any experience in designing and manufacturing PDAs at that moment, it seems that their devices began to sell well in Europe and America, after conquering Asia. Even if the design of the series is not in any way innovative, at least their technical features are decent enough to convince people to buy it. Moreover, Gigabyte's gSmart i128 is the first PDA to feature an analog TV-receiver for watching TV channels on the go.
Announced at the end of 2005 and made available in the summer of 2006, Gigabyte's gSmart i128 can be acquired for about 600 USD, but the price may vary depending on the operator.
Design
Black color, bulky constitution, heavy weight, glossy surface, gSmart i128 manages to accomplish its mission - to boldly go where Gigabyte has never gone before. Once started, Gigabyte's adventure can continue with more advanced devices, which should sell better and better. First time I looked at Gigabyte's gSmart i128 I was trying to figure out what year the design should belong to. Good thinking for 2005, but if you launch the device at the middle of next year, most likely the design will be obsolete. The simple brick-like compact form doesn't make the device stand out from the crowd, but doesn't scare off potential buyers either. gSmart i128 measures 106.6 x 53.2 x 19.8 mm and weighs exactly 130 grams (battery included). At this size, the device can be more or less compared with a portable TV, especially since it features an analog TV-receiver.
There are few external buttons on the device, which makes it easier to use. We have two pull-out rubbers that are protecting the wired headphones port and the miniSD card slot placed on the right side of the phone, while on the left side, it's the volume jog-wheel and the camera button. The miniUSB port is located on the bottom and the power button is placed on the top right of the device. If you turn the phone, on the back you'll find the 2.1 Megapixel camera and the stylus slot. The 2.4 inch display is rather small for a Pocket PC, especially now that manufacturers are trying to enlarge the screens of the new devices. Right under the display, there are two contextual keys that are flanking the Gigabyte logo. Edging the big 5-way control button there are another four intuitive keys: the accept and end keys, Start key and the OK key. The keys are visible in darker areas thanks to the backlighting system, the Gigabyte logo and the 5-way control button featuring two white leds.
The device comes with a rich sales package that includes USB data cable, extra stylus, charger, charger for the wrist lace, extra stylus, corded headset, 3.5 mm headphones adapter, antenna adapter, external antenna, carrying case.
Display and Camera
gSmart i128 features a nicely TFT touchscreen that supports 262K colors and 240 x 320 pixels resolution. Unfortunately, the display is too small, measuring only 2.4 inch, not enough for a mobile TV or an Internet surfing tool. Users will be able to set whatever brightness they want for the screen, but pay attention to the battery consumption too. The screen can also be used in landscape mode and the text size can be adjusted, so you can read more content on a page.
The 2.1 Megapixel camera can take pictures in 6 different resolutions ranging from 160 x 120 to 1600 x 1200 pixels. It features digital zoom, flash and macro mode. There are 4 available modes for shooting, besides Auto: Day, Cloudy, Fluorescent and Night.
The camera can be adjusted by choosing various effects such as: Black/White, Sepia, Negative film, Solarization, Sketch, Emboss and Moonlight. You have the same options when using the camera in video mode. Video clips can be captured in 3 different formats: 3GPP, MPEG-4 and WMV. Good thinking from Gigabyte to be able to shoot clips in WMV formats, as these can be seen with almost any movie player. 3GPP and MPEG-4 movie clips can be captured with a 320 x 240 pixels resolution, while the WMV clips can be taken only in 160 x 120 pixels resolution. Even if we can't talk about real quality, the camera is much better than those found in newer devices like HTC TyTN for example.
Menu and Software
Gigabyte's gSmart i128 runs on Windows Mobile 5.0 platform (AKU3.0) with the Messaging and Security Feature Pack. The Messaging and Security Feature Pack for Windows Mobile 5.0 works well with Microsoft Exchange Server 2003 Service Pack 2 to deliver a direct, scalable and cost-effective mobile messaging solution. This solution enables business users to easily stay connected to their Microsoft Office Outlook Mobile information while on the go, while also helping businesses to better protect device data. Users will be able to keep their Calendar, Contacts, Tasks, and Inbox up-to-date using Direct Push Technology. It will also enable the option of browsing their corporate address book OTA (over-the-air) with Exchange 2003 SP2.
For those who don't know what AKU means, I'll simply quote Microsoft: "AKU = Adaptation Kit Updates are usually a result of some extra features or fixes required by a particular Windows Mobile device". While it is not really necessary to upgrade/update your AKU version, it is important to know what version of AKU your device has, to be able to take advantage of the functionality and power your device can offer. Be careful as AKU update packs are installed by the manufacturer along with the firmware. You cannot download it and patch your current version of the software. The updated version of the AKU can be obtained only with new firmware, released by the manufacturer. Fortunately, version 3.0 of AKU is very easy to identify as it displays a Direct Push Technology logo on a green background when you start up the device. There are many new features offered by this version of AKU to say the least, and some of them were innovative for the time of its launch. The multilingual package eliminates Windows Mobile's language constraint and offers the possibility to read documents or web pages in almost any language. The new feature offers the option to choose one from the 98 supported languages, but be careful as it deletes the rest after you have made your choice, so it's best to load all supported language on a storage card too.
AKU3.0 also receives the Internet Sharing option which enables users to establish an Internet connection through the USB or Bluetooth connectivity. You will only need to define an Access point, assuming that your personal computer is also Bluetooth compatible, and you'll be able to freely surf the Internet. In terms of security, one of the most important features offered by AKU3.0 is the WPA2 WiFi standard, which seems to be the most secure for the moment. The new Wi-Fi connection wizard helps users to configure their WLAN networks the way they want to. There's also a nice feature that offers the users the possibility of sending SMS through GPRS (SMS over GPRS), but that depends on whether your network operator supports it or not.
Suffice to say that the menu of the device is Windows-based and you'll be pleased to find most of the features that the PC version has to offer. Besides these features, there are some specific options available for gSmart i128 such as the Phone Manager, where you can find Internet Sharing, Block List, Dial Kit, Download Agent and the cellular operator's available services. Also, the Tool category contains a few useful applications such as: Calculator, Easy-Touch Menu, Magnifier, Pocket Ghost (for backup), Scheduler, Torch (uses the camera flash) and Zip archivator. All the shortcuts appearing on the display are customizable, users being able to add or eliminate some of them.
If you're not satisfied with the operating systems' services you can also install third party applications from our database; just be careful at the requirements of the software you want to install.
Communication
The good thing about Gigabyte's device is that it features Wi-Fi, the bad thing is that it lacks EDGE or 3G. Too bad that you'll only be able to use the GPRS class 10 (32 - 48 kbps) when you won't have any WLAN networks available.
Other connectivity options include miniUSB 1.1 for PC synchronization, Bluetooth 1.2 with A2DP support (which is a wonder) for Internet Sharing or for headsets. Unfortunately, the WLAN testing didn't go that well and as you can see from the screenshot, gSmart i128 only achieved 445 kbps when downloading and 207 kbps for uploading (as a comparison, Nokia N95 did 1.6 Mbps download and 110 kbps for upload).
Gigabyte gSmart i128 is tri-band (GSM 900 / 1800 / 1900) compatible and offers a good signal reception when in coverage area.
Processor and Memory
The device is powered by an Intel PXA272 ARM9 family processor running at 416 Mhz speed. After benchmarking the device, I can say that Gigabyte's device, while it's fully at best, it still has its ups and downs. From the screenshot you can see that the CPU did very well compared to other devices that feature 400 Mhz processors. Unfortunately, gSmart i128 almost failed the File system index test which means that you'll experience lags when navigating through the menus or using multiple applications.
The graphical tests revealed an unusual "speedness" and the device scored high above average as you can see from the screenshot. The conclusion is that Gigabyte couldn't be good at all chapters and scored high only at the CPU tests and graphics. That makes the device versatile and confirms that Gigabyte is a renowned brand.
The updated version of the gSmart has 128 MB ROM and 64 MB RAM memory, but also features miniSD card slot for memory expansion.
Multimedia
gSmart i128 features 192 polyphonic sounds and supports MP3, WMA, AMR, MID files. The Pocket PC can be used as an MP3 player whenever you feel like it, but don't expect too much from it. You will have to use good quality headphones for a better sound. The FM radio can record your favorite music on the main memory or on the SD card. Channels that you like most can be added to the My Faves sections where (later) you'll be able to access them easier. You can listen to the radion only when you insert the wired headphones which are also used as antenna. After that, you can choose to listen to the external speaker.
The real innovation comes from the integrated analog TV tuner that supports all 3 TV standards available at the moment worldwide: NTSC, PAL and SECAM. Because of the roaming feature, the device can be used to watch different channels all around the world regardless of the country where it is used. The TV tuner wasn't included just so it could attract more buyers? it really works - indoor and outdoor! Check the screenshots to see what quality we have attained.
Don't forget that you won't be able to find any channel if you don't use the wired headphones or the external antenna that comes in the sales package. Of course, you won't be able to see an entire football game unless you're charging the device at the same time, but this is still a nice feature which hasn't been included in any other PDA until now.
Battery
The 920 Li-Ion battery, which comes with the device, charges in about 2 hours through the miniUSB port. The stated life autonomy is of 125 hours in standby mode and 3.5 hours in talk time mode. We have tested the phone by keeping the display ON at full brightness and the battery discharged in approximately 6 hours and 30 minutes. Depending on what features you use, the battery could empty faster, but the 3.5 hours talk time doesn't sound surprising at all.
Impressions
At a first glance, Gigabyte's gSmart i128 won't take your breath away, but as I was describing it above, tests revealed flexibility, stability, speed and power. If you don't pay attention to the bulky design, you might just like this classical Pocket PC which is better than most of other well-known brands (HTC, HP, Dell, Asus). You can buy the device for about 680 USD through Omnisoft's website.
The Good
Gigabyte managed to enter the PDA market with a good product. The gSmart series seems to perform very well in benchmarks regarding CPU and graphics. The strong points of the device are mostly software related, gSmart i128 featuring Windows Mobile 5.0 with AKU3.0, but also multimedia features are worth mentioning. The integrated TV tuner makes a fine addition to the device and let's not forget the 128 MB ROM memory.
The Bad
First I should point out that lack of a QWERTY keyboard might be a big problem, especially because the display is smaller (2.4 inch) than usual. Also the brick-like design makes the device less desirable which might be bad for the business. No EDGE hurts even more than the lack of QWERTY keyboard. Because it's a business device, gSmart i128 doesn't need "top notch" camera or headphones, so other than that, I can't say anything bad about it.
Sales package
Pocket PC 920 mAh battery Stylus Extra stylus Charger Wrist lace Corded headphones 3.5 mm headphones adapter Antenna adapter External antenna Carrying case CD with software User guide
Photo: Tudor Raiciu for Softpedia.com