Pharos GPS Phone gets official

Pharos GPS Phone

(Credit: Pharos)

Today, Pharos announced the official availability of its Pharos GPS Phone , which we covered back in January. You'll have a choice of two flavors: the Pharos GPS Phone 600 ($699.95) and the Pharos GPS Phone 600E ($599.95). The difference between the two is that the 600 ships with maps of the North America and Pharos' Ostia Navigation, while the 600E does not. Umm, we'll wait till we've finished our official road tests to give the final verdict on the Pharos GPS phone, but as I said in my earlier blog, I just can't imagine paying that much for either device. Without the mapping software, what's the draw of the 600E? And what's going to compel me to buy the 600 when I can get similar features on the HP iPaq hw6925 for about $300 less? Plus, even if I was going to plunk down that kind of dough, I'd probably go after the hot little Nokia N95. But who knows? Maybe the Pharos GPS Phone will knock our socks off. Stay tuned for our full review.

[ghotifl]

My Experience So Far...

I've had a 600e for about 3 weeks. I works very well with Windows LiveSearch (which I guess is the 600e replacement for Ostia)

I've even written a small app that decodes the GPS signals into a simple location / speed / altitude / direction interface. GPS is responsive, it detects walking and highway speed as well. I've locked as many as 10 satellites at once.

Phone functions are good. Speaker phone is good. I love the battery.. I go 2 - 3 days per charge with moderate use.

BT stack may need to be updated, it's crackly with my Samsung WEP200. (But a lot of phones are it seems)

Camera CCD is slow, but if you're not trying to capture a moving target, it has good quality. Video is ok.. It is a phone after all..

This phone is a re-badged version of the Eten x500 Glofiish, and is manufactured by Quanta.