After being first announced in January, Pharos has begun sales of the Pharos Traveler 137 GPS-oriented smart device.
The device is manufactured by Taiwanese ODM Inventec, and features quadband GSM and triband HSPA on the 1700, 1900, and 2100 bands which means that this device is the first non-T-Mobile developed device to support 3G on the 1700 Mhz band in the US, although it will only partially function on AT&T’s 3G network due to the rebanding process we previously reported on.
The rest of the featureset consists of a 3.5 inch WVGA touchscreen display, front mounted VGA camera for video calls, Pharos Smart Navigator software for turn by turn directions with A-GPS support, Bluetooth 2.1 with stereo audio support, 3.0 megapixel camera with video recorder, FM radio with RDS support, 3.5mm headphone jack, Wi-Fi radio, and microSDHC expansion slot.
The Windows Mobile smart device also marks the debut of the Smart Navigator Pay-As-You-Go GPS Navigation service which allows users to cache maps onto onboard memory for use in areas with sparse or no cellular coverage. The service is tiered by support for US maps and other maps which are available on a pay-as-you-go basis.
Maps are available for Canada, Western Europe and Eastern Europe on a daily ($1.99/day), weekly ($4.99/week), monthly ($6.99/month) or yearly tier ($49.99/year), with future maps for China, Russia, Mexico, Argentina, and Brazil among other countries. Pricing for the Pharos Traveler 137 is set at $599.95 without a service agreement, or it can be purchased via authorized third-party T-Mobile dealers for $350 after new 2 year agreement and data plan.
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