Marketplace Pick
Market Pick
October 11, 2005
Review by: Adam Z Lein, Senior Editor
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INTRODUCTION
Hot on the heels of the
release of the i-mate JasJar, comes the latest
Windows Mobile 5.0 Pocket PC phone. The i-mate K-JAM
is basically a re-branded version of HTC's Wizard
Pocket PC Phone. You'll see the same type of device
under other names like T-Mobile MDA Vario, Qtek
9100, etc. This one is much more friendly towards
usage in North America since it supports quadband
GSM, GPRS, and EDGE where as the JasJar (HTC
Universal) only has triband GSM, GPRS, and UMTS
which is not currently available on any of the North
American carriers at this time. However, both
Cingular and T-Mobile currently support EDGE high
speed internet which means you'll get faster
wireless internet speeds with a KJAM than you would
with a JasJar. Read on for a look at every aspect of the device.
WHAT'S HOT
The i-mate K-JAM (HTC Wizard) is the first
Pocket PC phone with 802.11b/g support. It's also the first
with Bluetooth 2.0 support, although the initial
release versions only do Bluetooth 1.2; Bluetooth
2.0 will be available in a ROM update. The K-JAM also
sports quadband GSM/GPRS and a slide-out keyboard...
all in a form factor comparable to the previous
i-mate JAM (HTC Magician) Pocket PC.
Device (no cover) |
Size (inches) |
Weight (grams | ounces) |
i-mate K-JAM |
4.25" x 2.28" x 0.93" |
160 | 5.64 |
| i-mate PDA2k | 4.92" x 2.81" x 0.71" | 210 | 7.40 |
| i-mate JAM | 4.18" x 2.31" x 0.68" | 150 | 5.30 |
4.70" x 2.90" x 0.70" |
175 | 6.20 |
|
| Dell Axim X3i / X30 | 4.60" x 3.21" x 0.58" | 138 | 4.80 |
5.17" x
3.03" x 0.59" |
187
| 6.60 |
|
4.50" x
2.80" x 0.64" |
158
| 5.57 |
|
4.48" x
2.75" x 0.53" |
120
| 4.23 |
|
4.68" x
2.95" x 0.73" |
190
| 6.70 |
|
4.57" x
2.95" x 0.63" |
142
| 5.01 |
|
4.71" x
3.01 " x
0.65" |
164
| 5.80 |
|
5.43" x
3.30" x 0.63" |
206
| 7.26 |
Click on any of the above links to view our review of a handheld listed. The K-JAM still remains to be a relatively small handheld.
THE DEVICE
(all images link to higher resolution)
Let's take a closer look at the device
itself. The K-JAM also comes with a Mini-USB cable,
AC adapter, stereo headphones with talk button/mic/volume
control, vinyl case, extra stylus, software CD and
manual.
The keyboard looks great with its silver on black color scheme. In the dark you can see the blue backlight in the keys, but the lighting is uneven which makes the letters hard to read.
On the top is the Messaging and Internet Explorer buttons with the phone speaker in the middle. In the two corners of the speaker slot are LED light indicators for bluetooth, WiFi, Notifications, and charging status. Below the screen are two soft buttons for accessing the menus, a 5 way directional pad, an answer/send button, and an end button.
The i-mate K-JAM and it's older brother the i-mate JAM are similar in size. The K-JAM is definitely thicker, but remains comfortably pocketable.
On the left side you see the Communications Manager button, the volume slider button, and a speaker grill. If you hold down the Communications manager button for a few seconds it will toggle the audio mode between on and vibrate. This is a great way to quickly switch to vibrate mode when going to the movies or a meeting.
At the top, you see the power button and the Mini-SD slot. The power button is flush with the body and thus difficult to find by feeling with your finger. If you hold down the power button for about 4 seconds, the K-JAM will bring up a Yes/No dialog asking if you want to continue with a full power off. If you choose Yes, it will shut the device off completely, meaning it won't use the battery at all. That means the device won't wake up for appointments, phone calls, emails, text messages or anything until you turn it back on and boot up.
On the right side, you see the camera button, a soft-reset hole next to the infrared port, another speaker grill, and the Voice Speed Dial button. These buttons are also flush with the device, which makes them difficult to press accidentally (say in your pocket), but also difficult to find without looking.
On the bottom of the device is the stylus hole, a battery cover latch, Mini-USB port, 2.5mm 4 connection headset jack, and a lanyard hole. The stylus is pathetically small, albeit retractable. I'm going to be carrying a regular-sized stylus in my pocket and just leave this one in it's slot.
On the back is a "Flash" light, reflection mirror, and 1.3 Megapixel camera lens.
When you turn the flash on, it stays constantly lit until you take a picture.
In our stack-up, the i-mate K-JAM on top is significantly thicker than the JAM. Here you see from top to bottom; i-mate K-JAM, i-mate JAM, i-mate Pocket PC Phone, and the Dell Axim X51v. The K-JAM's dimensions are 109 x 58 x 23.7 mm and weighs 160 grams.
The included case is nothing special. It leaves the sides exposed and uses a magnetic closure. It also tends to press the hardware buttons (if you don't have keylock on).
The stereo headphones are a nice matching silver color and the wiring is a very interesting silver woven-rope style wire. The Talk button, volume control slider, and microphone are on an in-line plastic piece lower down the cord. There's also a little plastic clip that attaches the two headset wires together. I imagine this would be used to go around your neck somehow and keep any tugging pressure off the ear buds headphones.
