January 27, 2013

Android Smartphones include 70cm Radio

January 27, 2013/ Colin Butler

A rugged Android smartphones that incorporate 400-470 MHz walkie-talkies has been announced at CES, Las Vegas

The device, planned for launch later this year, has a suggested retail price of $320 US or ¥1,999.

There are three phones in the range, starting with the Runbo (like Rambo?) X1 IP67-certified featurephone cum walkie-talkie, which packs a 2-inch 176 × 144 display, a 0.3-megapixel front-facing camera, a laser pointer, quad-band GSM plus 800MHz CDMA cellular radios, 400 to 470MHz range for the software-configurable walkie-talkie (parts of the spectrum may require a licence, depending on your country), a surprisingly loud speaker and a 2,200mAh battery. This will be available for ¥980 or about $160 on Taobao online store (the Chinese equivalent of eBay) in the next couple of days, and we've been told that there will also be a variant with GPS added.

Next in the range are two brick-sized vanilla Android 4.0.4 devices. The phone pictured in the middle is the Runbo X5, a device featuring a 1GHz dual-core Cortex-A9 MTK6577 chipset, 1GB RAM, 4GB storage, microSD expansion, a4.3-inch 800 x 480 IPS display, an app-triggered laser pointer, an eight-megapixel main camera, a 0.3-megapixel front camera, a super loud speaker (again) and amassive removable 3,800mAh battery. Included is a 400 to 470MHz walkie-talkie radio (up to 10km range; with detachable antenna), along with the additional 850/1900/2100 WCDMA radio, two SIM slots (WCDMA plus GSM), WiFi, Bluetooth 3.0 and GPS. These specs are the same for the Runbo X3 on the left, except for the smaller 3.5-inch 800 x 480 IPS panel to make space for the QWERTY keyboard below it.

Read the Engadget story - http://www.engadget.com/2013/01/15/runbo-x5-x3-x1/

Runbo on Taobao - http://item.taobao.com/item.htm?id=21335404340&spm=2014.12317209.0.0

Ebay - http://www.ebay.ie/itm/Rugged-Android-4-0-Phone-Runbo-X5-4-3-Inch-Screen-1GHz-Dual-Core-Dual-SIM-/360571436749?pt=Cell_Phones&hash=item53f3bb7ecd

January 12, 2013

Counterfeit Icom exploding battery alert

January 12, 2013/ Colin Butler

Icom America acknowledges that counterfeit Icom products are in circulation and is diligently taking measures to eliminate illegal counterfeiting activity.

Fake Icom products do not meet regulatory or technical compliance, offer faulty performance and may cause extreme safety hazards (e.g. explosive battery packs). Icom urges customers to purchase Icom radios from an Authorized Icom Dealer or an Authorized Icom Distributor. Locate an Authorized Dealer.

Counterfeiters are relying on Icom's excellent reputation for quality to manufacture, sell and distribute unauthorized products bearing the Icom ("ICOM") trademark. Counterfeit items are illegal and may physically resemble genuine Icom products. Counterfeit radios also include Icom-branded products with similar product names and model numbers, but do not exist in Icom's current product range.

Icom values its customers and ask that they verify sellers as Authorized Icom Dealers before purchasing. Customers can also refer to the following webpages for instructions on how to identify counterfeit radios:

Counterfeit Product Alert
Alert for Unauthorized Icom Trademark Use Products

Consumers are advised that Icom is not responsible and will not be liable for any damages, loss or injury resulting from the purchase or use of fake Icom radios, batteries and other counterfeit products. Icom is not obligated to offer any technical support of counterfeit products.

If customers suspect that a product is counterfeit, please contact a local Authorized Icom Dealer or email Icom America at support@icomamerica.com