Pantech's IM-U110's 1GB musicphone

Sure, in the grand scheme of things 1GB of flash memory isn't anything too noteworthy, especially not when 8GB flash devices are readily available. But Pantech's new IM-U110 EV-DO musicphone isn't just any musicphone; where some US devices are just tipping the 256MB mark (integrated, of course), this thing has a full gigabyte of storage and a two megapixel camera to top it off (no word on external storage, but that looks a lot like a MicroSD slot to us). Not that it rivals Samsung's 4GB i300x, but it is flash memory, which means better battery life and higher reliability, of course; still, it doesn't mean a whole lot without some codec support, which the IM-U110's got decently filled out with AAC, MP3, and H.264 / MPEG4 playback. If that wasn't enough, though, it's also got that anti-bacterial silver nano-coating to make sure your oily hands to germ the damn thing up. All this form and function doesn't come cheap though: expect your Korean friends to pay something like $650 US for the thing (so at least you don't have to feel crummy about not being able to get one here in the States).

[Phones Review @ Jan 18th 2006 10:03AM]

This phone looks awesome big bucks but still 1gig now thats cool....

[josh @ Jan 18th 2006 10:11AM]

interesting short article up on techtimesdaily.com about devices like this. Good read.

[rich @ Jan 18th 2006 10:14AM]

i wish my mm-a900 had these specs.

[ConceptVBS @ Jan 18th 2006 10:31AM]

The actual phone costs $650. On March 2006, South Korea will lift the ban on cellphone subsidies. Therefore, you can get your phones for a LOT, a LOT cheaper after that.

[Antti @ Jan 18th 2006 10:35AM]

This device would be a global hit if it would be quad-band GSM w/ UMTS. I just hate that there is no unified mobile standard. I roam, there for I am.

[sdsdv10 @ Jan 18th 2006 3:50PM]

"especially not when 8GB flash devices are readily available"

Um.... excuse me, but what do you mean by "readily available"? I checked Newegg, and they only three (3) 8GB flash devices ranging in price from ~$450 to $700. That is certainly not "readily available" to me. :P

[Timpac @ Jan 18th 2006 7:33PM]

My Treo owns this phone.

[Chris Warren @ Jan 18th 2006 10:30PM]

If you bought one of these phones, do you think you would be able to mod it so it would have service here in the States?

[Jargon @ Jan 19th 2006 12:48AM]

it's the iPhone :D

[Ted Rheingold @ Jan 19th 2006 1:23AM]

SE's w800i pretty much has all this (integrated walkman, 2mp camera w/ auto focus, java apps) at a cheaper prices. Built in memory is 512Mb but memory stick expansion for the gigabytes. List price isn't much cheaper at $450 list but can be found for cheaper.

[Tony @ Jan 20th 2006 12:47AM]

Umm what the hell does "to make sure your oily hands to germ the damn thing up" freakin mean? Come on dudes...