JimMorrison
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i-mate talks up the Intelegent, a 4.7-inch slab of vaporware
Don't worry if Dubai-based smartphone maker i-mate had slipped your mind. The business unceremoniously collapsed back in 2009 after allegedly suffering a "major fraud" that led it to fire all of its employees. Fortunately, CEO Jim Morrison is back with a new mobile device that, he claims, runs full-fat Windows 8 in the same way that Ubuntu for Android will behave. The i-mate Intelegent is a 4.7-inch handset running the desktop OS on a Clover Trail CPU with 2GB RAM and 64GB storage. The secret, however, is that the $750 handset will slot into a Webtop-esque desktop dock to become your work machine when you get into the office. Morrison has said that there's a factory in California ready to produce 10,000 units a week, and told the Seattle Times that he'd be showing off the device here at MWC. We can't find it on the exhibitor list, but we're about to go hunting...
i-mate CEO says company isn't dead yet, just dealing with 'major fraud'
Well, it looks like the reports of i-mate's demise may have been slightly exaggerated. Of course, most of its employees are still laid off, its offices are still closed, and no one's answering the phones, but i-mate CEO Jim Morrison assures us that "everything about i-mate will continue." It turns out the company is just dealing with some "major fraud" that was discovered at the end of August as it was beginning to introduce a new line of devices, which led to some problems with little things like "paying employees." Those employees are also now said to be considering taking things up with the local authorities in Dubai, which Morrison admits would make things "difficult," although he insists that the company still has those new products ready to go, that it's "looking for more funding," and that "there is a lot of good stuff happening."[Thanks, Brendan]
