Qtek's first EDGE clamshell, the 8500 musicphone
It
looks like Qtek will also be releasing the Windows Mobile-powered HTC Star Trek, following i-mate's
announcement of their Smartflip, to be sold in
Europe as the 8500. Surprisingly, Qtek's own site (linked) makes no mention of the Star Trek's smartphone capabilities,
instead playing up the multimedia features like dual color TFT LCDs, 2-megapixel camera (which Qtek oddly claims to be
only 1.3-megapixels-can you underclock a CCD/CMOS?), and microSD-supported music playback functionality. This will be
Qtek's first foray into flip phones, unless you count the PDA-ish 9000 (a.k.a. the i-mate JASJAR, T-Mobile MDA IV), and
one of their first models that supports high-speed EDGE data networks. Expect to see the Star Trek/Smartflip make a
European appearance as the 8500 sometime in May.[Via Smartphone Thoughts, pic courtesy of Phonescoop]












Reader Comments (Page 1 of 1)
jake @ Feb 18th 2006 1:40PM
That is an awesome phone.
Art Dunning @ Feb 18th 2006 1:55PM
A new Treo would warm the heart of a guy freezing in upstate NY
CAMVANDAM @ Feb 18th 2006 2:31PM
Cool phone, I wonder if they're gonna make one thats thinner .. maybe even a gun metal finish. ..?? ~dreaming~
Tapani Saarinen @ Feb 18th 2006 3:33PM
The physical size is not any larger than in HTC handybar phones with Wi-Fi. With Wi-Fi and UMTS this thin phone would be a sensation. But maybe the target buyers of this phone are not ready to pay extra for those features. Just wondering when Nokia starts making any kind of thin Symbian phones...
Anthony @ Feb 18th 2006 3:57PM
I think I am a fan of this phone but alas, I will never see it here
Seth Aronson @ Feb 18th 2006 4:06PM
It's a cell phone, not an elevator. use buttons that won't give us motion sickness.
jake @ Feb 18th 2006 9:02PM
I love the new treo's
S.A. @ Feb 18th 2006 9:12PM
Can't wait for this phone to show up in the US. Hope it is soon.
Paul Gloersen @ Feb 19th 2006 4:32PM
What's up with these razr-esque keypads they look stupid.
paul34 @ Feb 19th 2006 4:50PM
Ugh, yet another flip phone with wasted space! Look at how much space on the bottom portion of the top half they have wasted - instead of allowing for a larger screen, they covered it with plain plastic and wrote what looks like "smartflip"
Why does everyone always waste so much space?