First off, we put the rumors to rest – i-mate is alive and kicking. According to Jim they had some fraud issues. The issues have all been dealt with and the people at the heart of the fraud are being held in Dubai.

Now, lets talk about the rugged 810 smartphone. The 810 is a messenger style device that is about the same thickness as Samsungs Propel Pro. It has a touch screen and is running Windows Mobile 6.1. But that’s not what makes this device special. The 810 is the smallest and most rugged smartphone in its category on the market today. It’s fully waterproof and has a fairly nice drop rating – which Jim was happy to show us as he tossed the phone in the air and let it come crashing down to the ground. Only to be picked up and tossed into a bowl of water. The device didn’t skip a beat.

This is a perfect device for the road warrior that is too rough on the general consumer products, but still needs all the portability that comes with a consumer device.

While I’m not really surprised to hear this news, it does make me a little sad that one of Microsoft’s original partners in the mobile space is no longer able to operate.  It’s clear that they made some poor decisions and the breakup with HTC didn’t work out as nicely as it should have. Ultimately, i-mate was the primary source of many of my devices in the early days.  They were known for getting devices out the door quickly while still offering quality products.  They didn’t have the extra time spent dealing with carriers requirements and customizations. So they could get the phones out and in your hands faster.

In recent years it’s been pretty hard to get your hands on an i-mate device in North America. If you did manage to get your hands on a device, you ended up paying a pretty hefty premium for it. Carrier branded devices became significantly cheaper to own – even if you bought the phone outright.

Goodbye i-mate.