i-mate Phone Edition 2003

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By: Adam Z Lein | Date: 21-Nov-03 | Comments

WHAT'S HOT

It's the first Phone Edition 2003 device to hit the market, and it's also the first Pocket PC with a built in Phone and Bluetooth that can use a Bluetooth headset. I've been using it with a Nextlink Bluespoon Chameleon and it has been absolutely excellent. The built-in camera is an added bonus.

The Bluespoon Chameleon works beautifully with the i-mate Phone Edition.

FEATURES

The i-mate Phone Edition 2003 has a nice compromised form factor. It's almost too small to hold in my hand, but almost small enough to keep comfortably in my front pants pocket while sitting down. The actual dimensions are 19mm x 69.9mm x 130mm. The screen is smaller than a traditional iPAQ and the device is not as wide. The rounded edges make it more comfortable to hold in your hand. Be forewarned, however, the stylus is very thin. I would recommend keeping a fatter stylus in your pocket. There are two LEDs (Light Emitting Diodes) integrated into the top two corners of the PDA body. A blinking green light every 3 seconds on the right means you have reception. Blinking red means a system notification. Steady yellow means the battery is charging. Solid green means the battery is fully charged. There is no LED indicator when you don't have reception. The left LED blinks blue every two seconds when the Bluetooth radio is on. Since these LEDs are on the top sides of the PDA they're less noticeable while looking at the screen, but they're also less annoying. I would prefer that the Bluetooth light blink less often however. If you want the LEDs to indicate new SMS messages or missed calls you can set this in the "Sounds & Notifications" control panel.

The included cradle is a bit large, however it does charge the PDA through the USB. You don't need to plug the AC adapter into the cradle. It also includes a slot for charging a second battery, and future versions may include headset/speakerphone capabilities.

The volume, Record, and Camera buttons are placed nicely on the left side of the device such that they are easily accessible by your left thumb. Two other hardware buttons (Calendar & Contacts) are located at the top, surrounding the speaker. Their texture is smooth and inset with the PDA casing which makes it difficult to find the buttons simply by touch (for example, while driving.) It's also difficult to reach these buttons as they are not located within close proximity to any of my fingers while holding the PDA and they are very far away while it is sitting on the dashboard in my car. There is a control panel that allows you to lock the buttons from turning on the device accidentally, but this is practically unnecessary since the buttons are so recessed that it's difficult to activate them intentionally.

The i-mate Phone Edition works nicely in the car, connected to a cassette adapter. One must-have accessory in this situation is an audio adapter plug from Pocket PC Techs. I detest the rubber flap that covers the headset jack. Opening and closing that thing is very annoying.

The XDA 2 is slightly smaller than a traditional naked iPAQ. It feels much smaller due to it's decreased width and smaller screen.

The included stereo headset has answer/end buttons and volume control on the microphone piece.

The shiny silver parabolic mirror covering the speaker is great for making sure no one is sneaking up behind you.

There are answer and end buttons at the bottom surrounding the directional pad. The microphone is located in the small slit below with Answer button.

The Answer and End buttons at the bottom of the PDA include transparent icons which light up when the PDA's backlight is on. This is a cool effect, but it's just eye-candy. In fact, I really do not care for these buttons at all since their only imperative functions are starting speakerphone mode (hold down Answer for 3 seconds) and disconnecting from GPRS (hold down End for 3 seconds). Both of these functions are better suited for a software based command within the Phone program and Connectivity dialog bubble, however they are disappointingly missing from the software.

Honestly, I have never used the Answer/End buttons for their intended functions. I would much rather customize the button commands to launch other applications, yet this is currently impossible. Instead, I always use the Answer/End buttons on my Bluespoon Chameleon Bluetooth headset. This set-up works great and I never have to hold the device up to my head! Or if the headset is not nearby, I'll press the answer button on the screen.

Using a Bluetooth headset with the i-mate Phone Edition 2003 is, in my opinion, the best feature in this device. Once you've made a bond with a Bluetooth Headset, the Bluetooth manager asks if you'd like to use this device as your headset. Tap "Yes" and Phone Edition will automatically forward calls to the headset provided Headset Mode is enabled via the Today Screen Profile plug-in. Oddly, there is no other application that will allow you to enable/disable the headset mode nor are there any other configuration settings for selecting which Bluetooth headset you'd like to set as the default. After the initial bonding of a Bluetooth headset is done, you don't even have to touch your Pocket PC to answer incoming calls. Simply press the answer button on your Bluetooth headset and begin talking. The Phone Edition device keeps the Bluetooth radio on during suspend mode such that incoming call notifications (ringing in the headset) are instantly forwarded and phone calls can quickly connect to the Bluetooth headset. Something to make note of; if you answer an incoming call with the PDA's hardware or software buttons, the call will not automatically be forwarded to the Bluetooth headset. However, if you press the answer button on the headset, then the call will be transferred to it. When you're making a call via the Pocket PC Phone application, a pop-up bubble and icon in the title bar will tell you that the call is being transferred to the headset. You can tap a link in this bubble at any time during the call in case you want to receive the call on the PDA. I like to tell people that this little plastic thing slightly larger than my thumb, is my phone even though the actual phone is built into my PDA. When a friend asked me how to dial, I took out the PDA, said "Call Frank Dwyer on Mobile." and his cell phone started to ring.

If you're used to carrying a Bluetooth cell phone and Bluetooth PDA and Bluetooth headset, having a single Phone/PDA offers so much more. First of all, Voice Command only works for calling people on Phone Edition 2003 devices. Pressing a button and saying "Call Chris Arden on Mobile" is a lot easier than searching through 1000 contacts on those tiny cell phone menus. Second, Bluetooth phones don't wake your separate PDA when an incoming call or message is received. Instead you have to turn the PDA on, connect to the phone and download the messages you want to reply to. This can be very tedious. Furthermore, your internet connection isn't always on and you can't schedule over-the-air syncing or periodic email checking. Plus, I don't like having all of my pockets filled at all times. If you're worried about your PDA breaking and not having a phone, all you have to do is take the SIM card out and put it in that practically-free backup phone you keep at home.

Bluetooth also works great with ActiveSync. There aren't any hung connections like my iPAQ H3970 had. You can also bond with Bluetooth mobile phones, though there's really no need to and the XDA 2 probably has better reception than your Sony Ericsson T610. I created a bond with my Bluetooth Landline modem and was able to set up a landline dial-up connection easily. This will come in handy when visiting reception-lacking areas.