New Xplorer M28 Smartphone from GSL

Posted By: Ryan Tuesday, September 14, 2004 6:52:11 PM

Group Sense Limited has revealed the full specifications and an image of a upcoming new smartphone. The Xplorer M28 is a GSM Palm OS 5.4 smartphone with a small form factor, an SD expansion slot and camera.

The GSL Xplorer M28 was announced to the Hong Kong Palm User Group during a recent meeting.

The phone features a 2.2 inch 260k color TFT display, with a 176x220 pixel resolution. It will runs Palm OS Garnet 5.4 on a undisclosed ARM processor. The phone will include 32MB of RAM, as well as an SDIO expansion slot. It also includes mp3 audio support, a 300k digital camera and polyphonic ringtones. It also features a push down slider, that reveals a hard numeric keypad.

The phone portion is a dual band GSM (900/1800). Since it does not include the 1900 band, this phone will not work on US networks in current forum. The battery has a rated talk time of 3-4 hours, with 150 standby hours.

Like previous GSL smartphones, this model comes in on the small side. It has dimensions of 106mm x 50.8mm x 23.5mm (4.2 x 2 x .92 inches) and weighs 132g (4.6 ounces). No firm pricing or availability information is yet known.

Thanks to Jonathan for the tip.

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Lowball Treo

RhinoSteve @ 9/15/2004 12:40:53 AM #
I have been waiting for a lower cost Palm OS smartphone for a while. They sell this at a Cell phone retail outlet at less then $300 they have a winner.
RE: Lowball Treo
I.M Anonymous @ 9/15/2004 1:32:00 AM #
They must have some other definition of "small form factor." That thing looks huge!

RE: Lowball Treo
rsc1000 @ 9/15/2004 2:06:35 AM #
>>They must have some other definition of "small form factor." That thing looks huge!

Why go by looks when you can read the measurments - its basically 5% thicker than the treo 600 but about 5% less in lenghth and 15% less in width (approx).

RE: Lowball Treo
Wolfgard @ 9/15/2004 9:58:55 AM #
Huge? That's what I thought when I saw their previous smart phone (G88? not too sure bout the name). It's should be way smaller than it looks in the pic. Xplorer should really beef up their marketting by trying to make it look smaller in the pics than printing dimensions that people don't really pay attention to:D

pen & paper -> m515 -> Zire72
RE: Lowball Treo
I.M Anonymous @ 9/15/2004 12:08:32 PM #
Ahh, I guess the screen is just really tiny.

Look, ma, no antenna!

Patrick @ 9/15/2004 3:12:45 AM #
Too bad the Treo couldn't manage that.

RE: Look, ma, no antenna!
LiveFaith @ 9/15/2004 10:05:14 AM #
Strangely it still has that "large" grafitti area. Seems like a waste of real estate when a bar ala T3 would be more efficient. Although, phone functions and apps may utilize the "220" space for numbers.

A good thing it's for that market and not this one IMO. Would go over as well as vacation packages to Gulf Shores or New Orleans for this weekend.

Pat Horne; www.churchoflivingfaith.com

Weird resolution, bad for 3rd party software

kp* @ 9/15/2004 8:28:21 AM #
What's up with that 176x220 resolution? Sounds like bad news to me. It may work great with whatever software it comes with, but it seems like that would give it a hard time using any 3rd-party apps. Doesn't seem like a very "smart" phone if all it can do is run its built-in software. Hopefully it can at least run 160x160 apps without compatibility problems. And with the new Treo finally going hi-res, there will be less and less that will run on it. The only reason I'd ever consider a smartphone is for the thousands of sophisticated Palm apps that are out there. This might be better than a stupid phone, but it doesn't sound like a real Palm either.

RE: Weird resolution, bad for 3rd party software
skeezix @ 9/15/2004 9:26:59 AM #
I am surprised its not 160x220 .. length doesn't matter so much simce likely it is for a virtual grafitit area or a status bar area or the like. The width is what is important. (And if you're interested in gaming, the screen 'pitch' .. since games will often assume multples of 160 pixels per screen line.)

We can assum ethat most apps will work fine.. ie: Since most apps rely on the OS to do their rendering and manage UI, it should be no problem; the OS likely (guess) reports 160x160 to the apps, so they should work fine anyway. Its mostly only games that could crack under the odd layout.

But good for them.. innpvation is good :)

jeff

The Shadow knows!

RE: Weird resolution, bad for 3rd party software
bcombee @ 9/15/2004 11:13:49 AM #
The 176x220 screen is a standard screen size, and it is actually less expensive to put in a phone than 160x160. Palm OS 5.4 supports this screen size by using a 8-pixel wide border on each side of the screen.

--
Ben Combee
http://palmos.combee.net - PDA programmer weblog
RE: Weird resolution, bad for 3rd party software
A9700rO @ 9/15/2004 11:46:06 AM #
176x220, heh, I wonder how AcidImage looks like on this smart phone.

RE: Weird resolution, bad for 3rd party software
Edward Green @ 9/15/2004 2:21:37 PM #
Ben you are a star.

176x220 is very common on Nokia Smartphones.

Edward Green
--
http://www.khite.co.uk

RE: Weird resolution, bad for 3rd party software
gfunkmagic @ 9/15/2004 2:57:22 PM #
FYI, 220 by 176 pixels is the standard resolution for all MS Smartphone devices and 170 x 208 is the standard resolution for all Symbian Series 60 devices...

I support http://Tapland.com/

--------------------
GNM

What do you think of this phone? Foo

Rome @ 9/15/2004 12:26:05 PM #
We had our discussion a couple of weeks regarding PalmOS not putting out less expensive smartphones that target the mainstream users. I would like to get your thoughts on this device, even thought it will most likely not be availabe in the U.S.

Cheers!!

get real.

Why Me @ 9/15/2004 7:50:36 PM #
"Storage:
- Total user accessible memory: 32MB (16MB flash RAM, 16MB SDRAM)
- External SD/MMC card slot"

this not a 32MB, SD card device!
this not a SD card device. the card has to be inserted in an external device.

But I am still wating for it. Go GSL.

Do the right thing, recycle bubbles.

RE: get real.
Bartman007 @ 9/16/2004 3:33:51 AM #
ummm, no.

It does have a SD slot on the device itself.

On this very page:
"The phone will include 32MB of RAM, as well as an SDIO expansion slot."

On the linked page, which you quoted:
"Storage:
- Total user accessible memory: 32MB (16MB flash RAM, 16MB SDRAM)
- External SD/MMC card slot"

Notice that in both places it mentions a SDIO/SD/MMC card slot not a "SDIO card adapter"

Yes, it does say extenal slot, but that just means that you can access it without taking the phone apart, unlike SIM slots or the NGage game slot.

Also, on the HKPUG page it later discusses the accessories:
"Accessories:
- Extended battery
- Traveler charger
- Handfree headset
- USB cable"

Notice that nowhere does it mention a SD card adapter. This further reinforces the arguement that the SD slot is on the handheld itself.

Please be careful before you start damaging rumors.


Peace,
-Bartman007

P.S. Sorry if this seems harsh, but I've been hanging on /. (Slashdot) for the past few months, I've gotten used to people attacking FUD

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