It wasn't just the big 5 mobile phone makers who were showing off their wares at CES this year. Completely unheard of Much smaller companies were also showing off their technology. Companies such as dMedia, or as they're better known: "who?!"

OK, so you may not have heard of them, but what they had to show was pretty nifty: not just the world's fastest GPS phone, but the world's fastest GPS phone with dual screens!

What I mean by "world's fastest" is that the dMedia F200 comes with WiMax, a new, super-fast wireless broadband technology that makes Wi-Fi feel like dial-up, and HSDPA feel like two cans connected by string.

WiMax can offer data transfers at up to 70Mbps, and over a much greater distance than traditional Wi-Fi networks (up to 70kms, but with a reduced data rate). This makes it much easier to set-up an urban-based mobile network using much fewer basestations than would be required to setup a similar Wi-Fi based network.

Of course, this still doesn't give you the same level of coverage as a mobile network, which ultimately limits the dMedia F200's main claim to fame. Fortunately, though, it also supports GSM and EDGE, so you can still connect even when our of range of a WiMax hotspot.

Besides, with Sprint spending $5 billion on a new WiMax network across the US, and Intel, Nokia and many other mobile firms investing heavily in the technology, it won't be long before WiMax becomes as ubiquitous as the mobile network it's threatening to replace. Then technologies such as the dMedia F200 really will start to come into their own.

dMedia F200 Features

But back to the phone itself. It's based on WiMax, as I've said, comes with GPS, and features dual screens, similar to the Nintendo DS (exceptr in Candybar for factor, rather than clamshell). You can either use these screens to display the same image, split across the two screens, or to show two completely separate images.

So, for example, you could call up a web page on the bottom screen and search for the nearest Thai restaurant, then use the top screen to give you directions showing you exactly how to get there from your present location.

All the other phone features are there (camera, Bluetooth, etc.), making the dMedia F200 a surprising new competitor in the already overcrowded mobile phone market. Unfortunately, given the strength of the competition it's up against, I suspect this may be the last we hear of this plucky little company, just as today is also the first time we ever heard of them!

Ah well, 15 minutes and all that!

[Source: Switched]