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Pharos rugged Windows Mobile 6.5 565 PDA unveiled

Shane McGlaun — Wed, 10 Feb 2010 13:39:54 +0000

Pharos makes a number of different PDAs and smartphones. The company has announced that its latest device is now shipping and it is called the Pharos 565 PDA. The device is the first ruggedized PDA with Windows 6.5 according to Pharos.

The PDA is ruggedized to IP54 standards and can survive drops of four to five feet. Pharos ships the unit with the Office Mobile Suite installed. Features of the PDA include GPS, a full QWERTY keyboard, 3.5-inch TFT color touchscreen, and WiFi. The PDA also has an integrated microphone and speaker.

The processor is a Marvell PXA310 operating at 624MHz and the device has 512MB of flash ROM and 256MB of SDRAM. Power comes from a lithium ion battery and the PDA includes an AC adapter and USB cable. Screen resolution is 240 x 320 and a microSD card slot is built-in for expansion. The device is available now for $529.95.

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Pharos Traveler 137: AT&T and T-Mobile 3G

Chris Davies — Fri, 05 Jun 2009 09:27:13 +0000

Whether the world (or, more accurately, the US) needs an unlocked Windows Mobile smartphone with the required band support for 7.2Mbps HSDPA and 2.1Mbps HSUPA on both AT&T and T-Mobile remains to be seen. Nevertheless, Pharos believe that’s just what network-hopping executives are looking for, hence the triband UMTS Traveler 137.

As well as all that cellular connectivity there’s WiFi and Bluetooth, plus a 3.1-megapixel camera (and front-facing 0.3-megapixel camera for video calls), FM radio and GPS. The display is a 3.5-inch WVGA 800 x 480 panel, and while the OS is Windows Mobile 6.1 at present, Pharos say the Traveler 137 is fully compatible with WM6.5 once that becomes available.

Under the hood there’s a 528MHz Qualcomm MSM7201A processor and a battery good for up to 4hrs talktime or 200hrs standby. It’s available now, from Pharos themselves as well as Amazon, Dell, Expansys and Newegg, with an MRSP of $599.95; buy it from Pharos with a two-year T-Mobile USA contract and they’ll knock $250 off the sticker price.

Press Release:

Pharos Delivers First Windows Phone to Provide 3G Speeds on Both Major GSM Networks

Available for the first time today, the Pharos Traveler 137 offers unrivaled 3G connectivity and best-in-class navigation on a sleek new phone

TORRANCE, Calif. –(Business Wire)– Jun 04, 2009 Pharos Science & Applications, Inc., a leading provider of location-based information and services, today announced the immediate availability of the Traveler 137, a striking Windows phone that is the first to give users access to 3G data speeds on both the T-Mobile and AT&T Wireless networks. The Traveler 137 features hybrid navigation software, giving it the unique ability to provide voice-prompted navigation even without a connection to a carrier’s network. The Traveler 137 is sold unlocked, enabling users to use local GSM SIM cards worldwide and avoid international roaming charges. The Traveler 137 is available today from Amazon.com, Dell.com, eXpansys.com, and Newegg.com for the suggested retail price of $599.95. Users can obtain a $250 discount on the phone if signing up for a new T-Mobile two-year contract through Pharos.

“When it comes to phones, we believe consumers deserve the full spectrum of choice,” said Stephanie Ferguson, general manager, Microsoft Corp., Microsoft Corporation. “The Traveler 137 is a great example of a Windows phone that gives consumers the choice of 3G networks, the choice of personalization and the choice to use a single, powerful phone for both work and life.”

“The Traveler 137’s ultra-sensitive aGPS gives users the ability to navigate quickly; its high speed 3G capability brings a world of information to users’ fingertips; its touch-and-sweep interface on a crisp WVGA screen makes using the powerful Windows phone fun and easy,” said James Oyang, PhD, President, Pharos.

Traveler 137 Specifications

Operating System: Microsoft Windows Mobile 6.1 Professional, updateable to Windows Mobile® 6.5
Processor: Qualcomm MSM 7201A 528MHz
Memory: 256MB DDR SDRAM, 512MB Flash ROM
Phone: unlocked GSM quad band 850/900/1800/1900 MHz, EDGE / GPRS, Tri-band 3G, 1700/1900/2100 MHz, UMTS 384Kb/s, HSDPA 7.2Mb/s, HSUPA 2Mb/s
Talk time: up to 7 hours on GSM, 5 hours on 3G and 200 hours standby
Display: 3.5″ TFT LCD with touch panel, 480 x 800 Wide-VGA with 65K colors
Wireless: GPS aGPS compatible, Wi-Fi 802.11 b/g, Bluetooth™ v2.1 + EDR , FM tuner
Camera: 3 megapixel for picture or video, 0.3 megapixel on the front for video conference
Expansion: USB 2.0, micro SD slot support SDHC, stereo audio jack
Battery: 1380 mAh Li-Ion, rechargeable/replaceable
Size: 4.60in (L) x 2.40in (W) x 0.51in (H)
Weight: 4.9 ounces
About Pharos

Pharos Science & Applications, Inc. is a leading provider of GPS navigation solutions and location-based services for mobile devices. The company is a Microsoft Gold Certified Partner and a member of ITS America and CTIA. Pharos products are sold through a network of leading national retail locations and online stores. For more information, visit www.pharosgps.com.

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Pharos Traveller 117 aka VM103 clears FCC: still not got pricing right

Chris Davies — Wed, 28 Jan 2009 12:55:31 +0000

With Velocity Mobile’s 103 (not to mention its other handsets) conspicuous by its absence in the market, the company’s ODM supplier, Invantec, is back with a new brand and a very slightly tweaked device. The Pharos Traveller 117, which has just cleared the FCC, looks like it’s coming to the US, bringing with it a 2.8-inch VGA resolution touchscreen, quadband GSM, triband UMTS, WiFi and GPS.

If you compare the FCC shot of the Traveller 117 with the VM 103, here, you’ll see just how little has changed. The front panel has two new buttons – with ’send’ and ‘end’ moving down and a Windows key and ‘OK’ key introduced - and there’re two new silver stripes running around what looks to be the same soft-touch black shell, but otherwise it’s identical.

Quad band GSM/GPRS/EDGE connectivity (850 / 900 / 1800 / 1900 MHz)
Tri band UMTS/HSDPA/HSUPA connectivity (850 / 1900 / 2100 MHz)
2.8 inch resistive TFT touchscreen display with 480 x 640 pixels
GPS and A-GPS
Wi-Fi
Bluetooth 2.0
USB 2.0
2.5mm headset jack
2MP camera
Secondary VGA camera for video calls
400MHz Qualcomm MSM7201 processor
128 MB RAM, 256 MB ROM
MicroSDHC cards support
2G talk time: up to 7.5 hours
3G talk time: up to 5 hours
Standby time: 200 hours
4.44 x 2.28 x 0.6 inches
4.8 ounces

The Pharos Traveller 117 is already available to order from the company’s own website; it’s unclear whether they’ve secured any deals with US carriers as yet, which given Velocity Mobile’s struggle would seem a good place to start. Otherwise that $529.95 SIM-free price – higher even than what VM were asking – is not going to win the any favors.

[via Unwired View]

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Pharos books the Traveler 137 for later this quarter

Shawn Farner — Wed, 07 Jan 2009 02:25:01 +0000

If you’re in the market for a Windows Mobile device that does GPS really, really well, the newly introduced Pharos Traveler 137 looks like it won’t lead you astray – literally. If it does, it’s just not doing its job.

The Traveler 137 features a 3.5-inch wide VGA display paired with 3.5G data. As far as memory and storage go, the device comes with 512 MB of flash, 256 MB of RAM, AGPS, 7.2 Mbps HSPA and is able to take advantage of nearby Wi-Fi networks. Did we mention the 3-megapixel camera? It has one of those, too.

There’s no solid release date for the Traveler 137 other than the already-stated “first quarter 2009″. The unit will be priced at $599.95.

[via Engadget]

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Pharos Trips and Pics GPS with geocaching software

James Allan Brady — Thu, 03 Jan 2008 19:36:33 +0000

So basically this is the iGPS-500 from Pharos but tack on a battery and some geotagging software. So it’s a geo-tagging option from a company known for its GPS hardware.

The bundle with the software will likely allow you to sync the date and time stamp in your photos from your camera with the recorded GPS signal from the Pharos hardware allowing you to add your GPS coordinates to your photos. Sure it seems like a lot of work, but if you travel a lot and take a lot of photos, that Google Map with all those pushpins is worth it because that stuff looks cool as hell.

The whole kit (the software, the GPS thingy, and likely a USB cable) will cost you $90 when it starts shipping sometime this month. So, if you take photos in more places than where you live, it might be a worthwhile investment.

Pharos announces Trips & Pics: GPS, battery, and geocaching software [via engadget]

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