The iMate SP5m: A Long Way Since the SPV
I just ordered the new iMate SP5m (okay, I'm doing a little too much technology spending tonight, I'll concede the point), and holy cow, HTC has come a long way since the first one - the SPV launched by Orange back in October of 2002.
I remember how cool the SPV was when I got my first one back when I was at Action Engine. Then came the E100 in June 2003, with the slightly cooler design, followed by the E200 running the new, improved Windows Mobile 2003 in October of 2003. The SPV500 (same as my iMate SP3) was launched by Orange after I left Action Engine. And now here it is, 3 years later, and the 5th version, called the SPV 600 by Orange, is here. My iMate version should be here in 2 or 3 weeks, from Expansys in the UK.
The badass 2005 version runs Windows Mobile 5.0 and has 64MB of RAM, bluetooth, a MiniSD card slot, quad band GSM/GPRS/EDGE (oh yes, just when you thought the US had stopped being non-standard in using GSM frequencies, we added 850MHZ, too!), a 1.3 megapixel camera, and - wait for it - Wi-Fi!
For fun, I've collected all the versions here... happy 3rd birthday, SPV!
