A sneak peek at i-mate’s credit card sized i-mate Centurion

The model name for i-mate’s upcoming super-slim Windows Mobile smartphone conjures up images of an American Express credit card. And so it should. The not-yet-announced i-mate Centurion’s name is something of an ode to the credit card that inspired its size and form-factor. Barely thicker than half a deck of playing cards and almost exactly the same dimensions as your run-of-the-mill credit card, the i-mate Centurion is one small, yet powerful, smartphone. In fact, the Centurion is the new world’s smallest Windows Mobile smartphone!

i-mate was gracious enough to give us a sneak peek at this upcoming smartphone. Still recovering from the PR debacle that was the Ultimate smartphone lineup, i-mate is looking to regain credibility in a mobile market that had threatened to leave them behind with their Ultimate series smartphones.

Despite its almost impossibly small frame, the i-mate Centurion packs a respectable wallop. The full QWERTY keyboard underscores the Centurion’s draw a a fully-featured Windows Mobile smartphone. And, given the small size of the handset, the Centurion’s display was surprisingly usable and well-proportioned to the rest of the device. The camera on the backside was said to be of the 3-megapixel variety, although we didn’t have a chance to test it out.

The Centurion is still in development, as evidenced by the ill-fitting plastic pieces that belied its hand-made nature. i-mate says they’re aiming to go live with the i-mate Centurion by early Summer 2009, and will be pushing for a $550 price point.

If you’re looking for a teeny-tiny Windows Mobile 6.1 smartphone that might just fit in your wallet (granted it’s big enough) with all the functionality of bigger, brick-like smartphones, the i-mate Centurion is a sure thing.