Anabel Mobile premiers PS100 and PS185Y Smartphones

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Yesterday, Sunday 1st of February 2009 witnessed the premier of two of Anabel Mobile’s Windows Mobile powered smartphones. The event was held at PC Outlet, The Palms, Victoria Island, and the Mobility Nigeria team was there to see things for ourselves.

Anabel is marketing the PS100 as a “media and entertainment device”, and the PS185Y is being marketed as a “mobile internet device”. But there is very little to differentiate the two.

Anabel Mobile logo

Both devices bear similar specs – actually there is no difference between the two devices except for their processors and displays. The PS100 is powered by Samsung ARM9 300MHz Skyworks Pegasus Q, while the PS185Y is powered by Samsung 2442 300MHz Infineon ULC2 processor.

The PS100 has a 2.4inch 240×320 65,000-colour TFT-LCD display, while the PS185Y sports a 2.4inch QVGA TFT display.

Beyond processor and display differences (and both processors are evenly clocked too), virtually everything else on the two phones are the same: camera, memory, audio, battery, and connectivity.

The two devices are compact and very handy (the PS185Y is slightly thinner than the PS100). I had a Windows mobile Samsung i900 “Omnia” with me, and was able to compare it with the PS185Y. The Omnia is longer and wider but thinner. Still, the PS185Y felt good in the hand. One needs to hold it to comprehend.

We played a bit with the interface on the PS185Y, and its good old boring Windows Mobile. The screen wasn’t as responsive as we would have loved, but hey we know many WinMo devices (including my Omnia) whose touchscreen displays are not as responsive as we would love them to be.

With so little differentiation in terms of functionality and features, the idea of a “mobile internet device” versus a “media and entertainment device” is sort of a non-starter.

Finally, both devices are GSM/GPRS. There’s no 3G – and not even EDGE. Come on, guys, this is 2009. How are busy top executives (the target segment of these devices) supposed to check and send emails with attachments, synchronise online and share data via VPN on creepy-crawly GPRS?

The PS100 is being offered for ₦49,900, while her sister, the PS185Y is going for ₦64,000 only.

Pictures from the Anabel Mobile launch event:

Anabel PS185Y hands-on and close-up
The PS185Y close-up
Tosin and Dayo at the Anabel Mobile premier
Tosin and Dayo at the Anabel Mobile launch event
Anabel PS185Y side-by-side Samsung i900
Anabel PS185Y side-by-side Samsung i900
Sasha and Tosin at the launch. Tosin says Sasha is her favourite musician
Sasha and Tosin at the launch. Tosin says Sasha is her favourite musician
Mister mobility at Anabel mobile premier
And lastly, here I am beside a shot of the yet-to-be-released PS200 QWERTY device

Anabel Mobile plans to announce and release more smartphones (including the PS200 QWERTY smartphone and the PS212Y) in the nearest future. This initial crop of devices are over-priced, considering the specifications and features on offer. Hopefully, the company will adjust the pricing of these models, as well as future ones, to make them competitive. Otherwise, these devices have no future.

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