Users will be able to send text messages on pre-pay bundles, as well as send and receive email from a POP3/IMAP account via a GPRS connection, according to Gizmondo.
Vodafone says it will also be providing a URL to allow delivery of the "SmartAdds system" through to the customer at no cost. SmartAdds is a "highly targeted form of digital marketing" that, once the customer is registered, identifies its audience by gender, age, and location, and can then deliver an added value advertisement directly into the hands of the end user, according to Vodafone.
The Gizmondo game console --
first announced in November of 2003 -- combines "cutting-edge gaming", messaging, media playing, GPS, and GPRS communications within a single compact handheld device. It runs Windows CE on a 400 MHz ARM9 processor coupled with a 128-bit GoForce 3D 4500
Nvidia graphics accelerator. The combination of GPS and GPRS enables multiplayer games that incorporate the player's physical location, according to the company.
Last fall, the Gizmondo won the "
Design Solution of the Year Award" in London. It recently began
shipping in the UK and is expected to launch in the US later this spring.
For more Gizmondo details, and photos, refer to our earlier
news coverage.
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