Marketplace Pick
Market Pick
INTRODUCTION
Back in the 20th Century
I never owned a mobile phone because they didn't
really do all the things I wanted them to do. I
wanted maps, personal information synchronizing,
email, internet, music, movies... THE WORKS!
With the i-mate JAM Pocket PC Phone, I've got what I was looking for and it's just as small as a regular mobile phone. The just-released i-mate JAM is an i-mate branded version of HTC's Magician Pocket PC Phone. Normally, a number of different carriers license and rebrand HTC's phone designs for their own retail sales. The HTC Magician is also available as the Q-tek S100, T-Mobile MDA Compact, O2 XDA II Mini, and Dopod 818. All of these devices are the same hardware-wise, but may differ in the applications preloaded into the device ROM.
WHAT'S HOT
The i-mate JAM is the smallest
Pocket PC Phone to hit the market. It's also the
smallest Pocket PC for that matter. It's the first
with a 2.8" screen, but retains all the power
of a full-sized Pocket PC.
Take a look at the table below to see some comparisons on the size of the imate JAM. The JAM is smaller than any other Pocket PC, however it's still a bit bigger than the Audiovox SMT 5600 Windows Mobile Smartphone. That's not a bad thing though since the JAM is jam-packed with power. I think that's how it got it's name.
|
Device
(no cover) |
Size
(inches) |
Weight
(grams | ounces) |
| i-mate JAM | 4.1875" x 2.3125" x 0.6875" | 150 | 5.3 |
| i-mate PE2003 | 5.12" x 2.39" x 0.72" | 190 | 6.69 |
| Audiovox SMT5600 | 4.3" x 1.8" x 0.6" | 100 | 3.50 |
|
HP
iPAQ h6315 |
4.68" x
2.95" x 0.73" |
190
| 6.70 |
|
HP
iPAQ rz1715 |
4.48" x
2.75" x 0.53" |
120
| 4.23 |
|
HP
iPAQ 2215 |
4.57" x
2.95" x 0.63" |
142
| 5.01 |
|
HP
iPAQ 1910 |
4.46" x
2.75" x 0.50" |
120
| 4.23 |
|
HP
iPAQ 5450 |
5.43" x
3.30" x 0.63" |
206
| 7.26 |
|
Dell
Axim X3i/X30 |
4.60" x
3.21" x 0.58" |
138
| 4.80 |
|
Dell
Axim X5 |
5.00" x
3.20" x 0.71" |
196
| 6.90 |
|
Toshiba
e740 |
4.90" x
3.10" x 0.60" |
190
| 6.70 |
|
Toshiba
e310 |
4.90" x
3.10" x 0.40" |
138
| 4.90 |
WHAT'S IN
THE BOX
The top part of the box includes documentation, a vinyl belt clip case, and an ActiveSync/Outlook 2002 CD.
Underneath is a carton containing the i-mate JAM, European AC adapter, mini USB sync cable, stereo headset, battery and one extra stylus. Since Expansys knew they were shipping this one to the USA, they also included an adapter for the American power outlets, but frankly I don't even use that. It's easier to just plug the sync cable into your computer, or car USB adapter, or AC USB adapter.
PRODUCT
FEATURES
The i-mate JAM includes
a 416Mhz Intel PXA272 processor, 64Mb ROM, 64Mb
RAM, 1.3 Megapixel camera, 24 bit color, 900/1800/1900Mhz
GSM/GPRS, and Bluetooth 1.2. A version that includes
800/1800/1900Mhz GSM should be available in 2005.
It also includes a 1200 mAh removable battery,
mini-USB sync port, and Windows Mobile 2003 Second
Edition with Windows Media Player 10.
Less than three years ago the most powerful integrated Pocket PC mobile phone consisted of a Compaq iPaq and the GSM/GPRS Expansion pack seen on the left. Then in 2003 the first Pocket PC Phone with Bluetooth headset support was released (HTC Himalaya - center). Another year later, and now we have the HTC Magician; smallest Pocket PC Phone yet.
The i-mate JAM makes the HTC Himalaya Pocket PC Phone feel like a brick.
Everyone else on New York's Metro North train has an iPod in one hand and a cell phone in the other. One device smaller than either is definitely the way to go.
An Apple iPod is only slightly wider than the i-mate JAM.
Above is a straight photo in low-light that compares the screen size of the JAM to the 3.5" screen of the i-mate Pocket PC Phone 2003. The hand-made screen protector I put on the JAM seems to be doing weird things to the screen's appearance. Hopefully some one will release better screen protectors for this size soon. As you can see, the 2.8" screen of the JAM is still perfectly usable. I was afraid it would be too small, but in use, it's really quite nice.
On the back of the JAM you see a rubber covered hole for an external antenna, a self-portrait reflection mirror, and the lens for the 1.3 megapixel camera. Next to the mirror is also a slit for the external loud speaker. I'm not sure why they needed a speaker on the front for the phone as well as a speaker on the back for other audio. Personally, the inside of my hand doesn't hear very well and muffles the rear speaker. Usually the front of the PDA is what's facing towards me.
At the top of the JAM is a slot for an SDIO card, as well as a loop hole for a wrist strap.
The right side only includes a power button at the top (just next to the stylus slot, and the infrared port at the bottom. The infrared port is so integrated with the black casing it's very hard to see.
The other side holds a volume slider along with two customizable hardware buttons labeled with camera and notes icons.
On the bottom of the JAM, you see a microphone hole, mini-USB port, audio jack, and soft reset hole.
Here's the JAM in the included belt-clip case. I don't think I'll be using this. The JAM feels much safer in my pocket.
The i-mate JAM with the smallest Bluetooth headset. The JAM makes my Bluespoon AX look very big.
The JAM works beautifully with my Bluetooth GPS receiver and car stereo audio adapter from Pocket PC Techs. The audio adapter actually works better than it did with the XDA II, since there's no rubber flap getting in the way.
Windows
Media
Player 10
The
i-mate JAM is the first Pocket PC Phone to
come with Windows Media Player 10 for Windows
Mobile. This gives you some excellent new features
that tightly integrate with the desktop version
of Windows Media Player 10 as well as Windows
XP Media Center 2005. It makes your Pocket
PC function like a full blown Portable Media
Center (minus the multi-gigabyte hard drive).
I love the way the new Media Player interface shows the album art for each song.
In Media Center 2005, you can use your remote control to set up automatic synchronization of your music, videos, and recorded TV shows.
Media Center automatically synchronizes your content whenever you connect your Pocket PC to ActiveSync. If you specified Recorded TV content to be synced, Media Center will convert the TV recording to a more appropriate size for the smaller screen. An excellent feature in this system is that the conversion will occur behind the scenes after the program is recorded, that way the copying to the device is much much faster. On the lowest quality setting, Media Center can compress an hour long TV show to about 40Mb. One problem is that Media Center 2005 and Media Player 10 cannot sync through a bluetooth based ActiveSync connection, so you'll have to connect using the USB port.
The playlists you selected to synchronize automatically appear in the Pocket PC's Media Library. Finally!
Phone
HTC has added some new software to Microsoft's regular Phone application. The Phone program on the JAM has an added feature that automatically matches numeric entry with contact names in your Contacts listing. This makes it very easy to dial a contact one-handed using standard T9 style text entry. I only wish they had designed it to be a bit more attractive. The beveled gray borders, yellow highlights and aquamarine backgrounds all clash with the normal Pocket PC Phone application interface.
Caller ID
Since HTC bought out IA Software, they have been integrating and improving their software for Pocket PCs. The latest version of Caller ID is included in the JAM's ROM and adds some welcome features. For example you can now assign specific ring tones to each contact or a group of contacts.
Caller ID supports a variety of ringtone file types including WMA, WMV, WM, ASF, MP3, WAV, 3GP, MID, and MP4. However, the JAM may not be able to handle playing multimedia files as ringtones when they're on a storage card. You best bet is to make small ringtone files and keep them in main memory.
When a call comes in the photo appears in a bubble. The photo will not appear when you're making a call from the contacts app though.
Photo Dialer view lets you scroll through all your contacts who have photos assigned and quickly tap their picture to make a phone call.
Messaging
The i-mate JAM includes the general Pocket PC Inbox application which has been renamed to "Messaging". It supports IMAP/POP3 email, Exchange Server syncing, ActiveSync email sync, and... with the support of an add-on from Arcsoft... Multimedia messages (MMS). One would hope that Windows Mobile 2003 Second Edition would fix some of the bugs that have plagued this Inbox application for many versions, but no... Draft emails still do not sync with IMAP servers nor Exchange Server.
You have to configure the MMS Settings from the Tools menu, not the Accounts Options like you would expect.
You'll have to create a new server here in order to set it up for your GSM service provider... unless your version has already been customized by your service provider (which will likely be the case for the O2 and T-mobile versions).
If you're using T-Mobile USA, you can see the correct settings above. You may have to enable MMS or Picture Messaging support with your provider first.
An icon in the title bar appears when you're downloading the content of an MMS message.
MMS messages can be read in the MMS account folders. For some reason, I couldn't get my MMS picture attachments to download. It worked fine on my i-mate Pocket PC 2003 with the same settings and software. T-Mobile USA couldn't figure out why it wouldn't work as everything was correct on their end.
The JAM also sports a new software input panel from HTC. "Phone Pad" as it's called on the i-mate JAM is a big-buttoned T9 style input program. If you need to enter text one-handed, this is the thing to use. It's just like using a numeric keypad with your thumb. One problem is that it does take up more space vertically, so you might find some user interface elements become inaccessible when using this input method.
Phone Pad also reformats itself for use in landscape screen orientation mode. Not bad, but now all the numbers are in different places.
Continue On: Camera / Screen Orientation / Benchmarks / Conclusion. . .
An Apple iPod is only slightly wider than the i-mate JAM.
Above is a straight photo in low-light that compares the screen size of the JAM to the 3.5" screen of the i-mate Pocket PC Phone 2003. The hand-made screen protector I put on the JAM seems to be doing weird things to the screen's appearance. Hopefully some one will release better screen protectors for this size soon. As you can see, the 2.8" screen of the JAM is still perfectly usable. I was afraid it would be too small, but in use, it's really quite nice.
On the back of the JAM you see a rubber covered hole for an external antenna, a self-portrait reflection mirror, and the lens for the 1.3 megapixel camera. Next to the mirror is also a slit for the external loud speaker. I'm not sure why they needed a speaker on the front for the phone as well as a speaker on the back for other audio. Personally, the inside of my hand doesn't hear very well and muffles the rear speaker. Usually the front of the PDA is what's facing towards me.
At the top of the JAM is a slot for an SDIO card, as well as a loop hole for a wrist strap.
The right side only includes a power button at the top (just next to the stylus slot, and the infrared port at the bottom. The infrared port is so integrated with the black casing it's very hard to see.
The other side holds a volume slider along with two customizable hardware buttons labeled with camera and notes icons.
On the bottom of the JAM, you see a microphone hole, mini-USB port, audio jack, and soft reset hole.
Here's the JAM in the included belt-clip case. I don't think I'll be using this. The JAM feels much safer in my pocket.
The i-mate JAM with the smallest Bluetooth headset. The JAM makes my Bluespoon AX look very big.
The JAM works beautifully with my Bluetooth GPS receiver and car stereo audio adapter from Pocket PC Techs. The audio adapter actually works better than it did with the XDA II, since there's no rubber flap getting in the way.
Windows
Media
Player 10
The
i-mate JAM is the first Pocket PC Phone to
come with Windows Media Player 10 for Windows
Mobile. This gives you some excellent new features
that tightly integrate with the desktop version
of Windows Media Player 10 as well as Windows
XP Media Center 2005. It makes your Pocket
PC function like a full blown Portable Media
Center (minus the multi-gigabyte hard drive).
I love the way the new Media Player interface shows the album art for each song.
In Media Center 2005, you can use your remote control to set up automatic synchronization of your music, videos, and recorded TV shows.
Media Center automatically synchronizes your content whenever you connect your Pocket PC to ActiveSync. If you specified Recorded TV content to be synced, Media Center will convert the TV recording to a more appropriate size for the smaller screen. An excellent feature in this system is that the conversion will occur behind the scenes after the program is recorded, that way the copying to the device is much much faster. On the lowest quality setting, Media Center can compress an hour long TV show to about 40Mb. One problem is that Media Center 2005 and Media Player 10 cannot sync through a bluetooth based ActiveSync connection, so you'll have to connect using the USB port.
The playlists you selected to synchronize automatically appear in the Pocket PC's Media Library. Finally!
Phone
HTC has added some new software to Microsoft's regular Phone application. The Phone program on the JAM has an added feature that automatically matches numeric entry with contact names in your Contacts listing. This makes it very easy to dial a contact one-handed using standard T9 style text entry. I only wish they had designed it to be a bit more attractive. The beveled gray borders, yellow highlights and aquamarine backgrounds all clash with the normal Pocket PC Phone application interface.
Caller ID
Since HTC bought out IA Software, they have been integrating and improving their software for Pocket PCs. The latest version of Caller ID is included in the JAM's ROM and adds some welcome features. For example you can now assign specific ring tones to each contact or a group of contacts.
Caller ID supports a variety of ringtone file types including WMA, WMV, WM, ASF, MP3, WAV, 3GP, MID, and MP4. However, the JAM may not be able to handle playing multimedia files as ringtones when they're on a storage card. You best bet is to make small ringtone files and keep them in main memory.
When a call comes in the photo appears in a bubble. The photo will not appear when you're making a call from the contacts app though.
Photo Dialer view lets you scroll through all your contacts who have photos assigned and quickly tap their picture to make a phone call.
Messaging
The i-mate JAM includes the general Pocket PC Inbox application which has been renamed to "Messaging". It supports IMAP/POP3 email, Exchange Server syncing, ActiveSync email sync, and... with the support of an add-on from Arcsoft... Multimedia messages (MMS). One would hope that Windows Mobile 2003 Second Edition would fix some of the bugs that have plagued this Inbox application for many versions, but no... Draft emails still do not sync with IMAP servers nor Exchange Server.
You have to configure the MMS Settings from the Tools menu, not the Accounts Options like you would expect.
You'll have to create a new server here in order to set it up for your GSM service provider... unless your version has already been customized by your service provider (which will likely be the case for the O2 and T-mobile versions).
If you're using T-Mobile USA, you can see the correct settings above. You may have to enable MMS or Picture Messaging support with your provider first.
An icon in the title bar appears when you're downloading the content of an MMS message.
MMS messages can be read in the MMS account folders. For some reason, I couldn't get my MMS picture attachments to download. It worked fine on my i-mate Pocket PC 2003 with the same settings and software. T-Mobile USA couldn't figure out why it wouldn't work as everything was correct on their end.
The JAM also sports a new software input panel from HTC. "Phone Pad" as it's called on the i-mate JAM is a big-buttoned T9 style input program. If you need to enter text one-handed, this is the thing to use. It's just like using a numeric keypad with your thumb. One problem is that it does take up more space vertically, so you might find some user interface elements become inaccessible when using this input method.
Phone Pad also reformats itself for use in landscape screen orientation mode. Not bad, but now all the numbers are in different places.
Continue On: Camera / Screen Orientation / Benchmarks / Conclusion. . .
