I-mate K-JAM Pocket PC Review
I-mate K-JAM GSM/GPRS pocket PC/ Mobile phone
I-mate which was founded in the year 2001 has been a leader and specialised in designing, manufacturing, and customizing a broad range of high performance Windows Mobile wireless devices such as GSM/GPRS mobile phone hardware/ software solutions and related peripherals that meet the mobility needs and services of the world’s most demanding users. Combination of the value-added solutions and world-class support, the I-mate offers huge device specifications and innovative designs which makes the mobile device of choice for consumers and businesses seeking both functionality and stylish appearance. I-mate’s robust device management system sets it apart and provides users with a reliable and secure solution for complete device personalisation. I-mate K-JAM was a successful outcome from the get-go; it combined a small form factor pocket PC with a phone feature set. To make it humorous, we can say I-mate has just added a letter ‘K’ for keyboard to the JAM to make the “K-JAM”.
K-JAM from I-mate was one of the most awaited and anticipated handset to date. It is one of the branded devices of I-mate which was created with the point of view to present numerous functions and facilities in Windows mobile powered mobile phone devices to consumers with easy way of handy and compact operating system. That is why it is known as Pocket PC. Let us discuss about the device in detail in the following review.
Looks similar to the previous model:
Those who have used other I-mate products, most notably the previous I-mate JAS JAR model will not be too surprised to find the K-JAM. It hides a QWERTY keyboard, there is no facility to spin or flip the screen; instead simply slides out on the vertical axis, like some kind of slider phone experiment. Like the JASJAR, the visual design of the K-JAM is on the plain side, which is presumably meant to entice IT departments into buying shed loads of the things. With its bulky shape and fairly hefty carrying weight of 160 grams, this is not a phone to bring out to impress your pub mates, although it is conceivable that you might get the odd envious glance from within the corporate boardroom while wielding one.
The keyboard itself is understandably very small in size, fitting into a dimension of 108 by 58 by 23.7 (H x W x D) millimetre frame does not afford a lot of key space to begin, but reasonably responsive and certainly good enough for typing out messages quickly, responding to emails or simple document editing and more. The rear of the K-JAM deal a 1.3-megapixel digital camera, the battery casing which is locked into position and the stylus which fits at the base of the K-JAM body, next to the USB port which serves double time the duty as a data and charging port.
A stylish appearance- its Design:
Silver in colour and outlined with a black trim, the solidly constructed I-mate K-JAM Pocket PC PDA can, no doubt, survive a bump or two. The slightly raised buttons, rounded corners and large LCD display ensure the style conscious user will not be embarrassed. The I-Mate K-JAM, on first glance, appears to look much like any other touch screen smart phone; a simple set of dialling buttons surrounding a five-way selector underneath a 2.8-inch, 240×320 pixel display, which would lead you to suspect that it utilises a naff touch screen for all of its typing activities.
Size, weight, accessories, display and keys:
A slide-out keyboard, 2.8″ QVGA screen, dual band Wi-Fi and Bluetooth 2.0 support are just some of the many features you will find on the quad band I-mate K-JAM Pocket PC/GPRS/PDA Phone. The accessories set include the same set of things such as the keyboards, expansion packs, cases etc. I-mate has also offered a wide range of expansion possibilities, but they prove to be very costly. For example, JARJAR pocket PC does not have support for CF slot and hence, the additional socket on offer will be the solution.
We were pleasantly surprised when we first held the K-JAM PDA Phone. It is not small, but it is not terribly large either. In fact, the K-JAM is almost perfectly shaped, but rather thick due to the keyboard. You can fit it in a pocket, but at 160 grams, you will feel a noticeable weight, though we soon enough got used to this. It feels solid and chunky and in a space of (H x W x D) 108 x 58 x 24mm that is a fair weight. The K-JAM strikes a neat balance between the excessively large JASJAR, which will be too large for most and the tiny sized JAMIN, which perhaps is not as suited to PDA functionality. Furthermore, because there is a keyboard included, you will not end up using the onscreen keyboard, which is a huge bonus because it frees up so much space on the screen. The K-JAM features a 320 x 240 pixel resolution display, thus the screen is bright and clear as required.
The biggest plus with this unit is the undoubtedly keyboard. To put it simply, With the K-JAM however, messaging was a breeze as we simply slid the keyboard out and got to work. This also makes typing up long documents, emails or URLs a much more practical affair. When not in use, the keyboard slides back under the screen and does not consume any space on the front of the unit. On the K-JAM however, the stylus is positioned at the bottom right of the unit and it is retractable, and when you pull it out, it automatically extends to its full length, which we found very odd.
The front of the K-JAM Pocket PC PDA is available with controls. At the bottom of the unit is a 2.5mm headphone jack, a mini USB socket and a small switch used to open the battery compartment. Availability of numerous shortcuts to web browser, calls, emails and more has been an added facilitation as normal in previous models.
Camera and Audio quality:
At one end, the K-JAM was in the topmost group of phones in terms of specifications, but on the other hand whereas this unit is availing at 2.0 megapixel cameras only, so can suggest, do not buy K-JAM for camera. But it is well suggested for taking short MMS videos or longer videos which are recorded in the H.263 format, but the quality is impressive only at the increased level of the megapixel.
The audio quality from the speaker is excellent and the quality is above average for a PDA hybrids. The MP3 playback is great and the sound recorded in the built-in mike sounds great too. The headphone outputs do not stand behind. The user can experience clear and undistorted audio even at the high levels of volume. Perhaps the reason we found the sound quality better on this particular model is because unlike many simpler units, the K-JAM actually has two speakers, placed on either side.
Wired/ Wireless Connectivity:
I-mate K-JAM Pocket PC cum PDA Phone is also having a wide range of communication features to keep you in touch. Synchronization of data with PC can be done with the help of the USB and serial communication. Bluetooth is also available which has a data transfer speed of 20KB/sec. Actually, the Bluetooth functionality works much faster but here, the speed is limited due to the way the technology has been implemented. The Bluetooth support also extends to OBEX transfer and support for human interface devices. The K-JAM supports 802.11b, Wi-Fi. The interface on the Wi-Fi side is fairly basic, but functional. Compared to Bluetooth Wi-Fi requires much more power, to that end the Wi-Fi controls in the communications manager allow more detailed settings for Wi-Fi power management.
Memory, Processor and Horsepower Performance:
Let us begin by saying this: “we are yet to see any mobile device running the new Windows Mobile 5.0 at a speed that we would classify as ‘fast’”. K-JAM has a standard non volatile memory on Windows Mobile Devices and also accepts only mini SD cards. I-mate committed a big blunder by not optimising the system and applications to be operated by the processor and hence, even though HP included the fastest processor, the overall speed of the PDA is average. And you have no option of controlling the speed of the processor as everything is automated. The CPU is a 195 MHz Texas Instruments OMAP 850. It is Intel X-Scale / ARM compatible and reasonable in operation despite the unusually low clock speed. It was most noticeable while using the camera functionality whereas the most camera phones are mainly built for opportunity-based snap shot; the four to five seconds have to wait for the camera to fire up will render most such opportunities with the K-JAM wasted. On the application side, the K-JAM performed at an acceptable level for a smart phone, but compatibility and the processor struggled with multiple applications open.
The K-JAM is currently available at street price lower than the JASJAR, the previous model- that is hardly unbelievable, given somewhat lower specification screen, lack of 3G support and much less processor, and for what it is been offered is good value in a very competitive smart phone deal.
Battery and Battery Life in K-JAM:
One last improvement that appears in the K-JAM is the battery compartment, the previous model was a little flimsy but the new model incorporates a recessed 1250 MAH Lithium Ion battery which is solid. Another bonus is that the K-JAM supports USB charging from your PC or laptop, so that can have it hooked up and charging away, without the necessity to carry the adapter along always. Some of the devices offer a backup battery that protects your data for weeks even if the pocket PC is kept completely switched off for weeks. The removable battery is the same size as the previous JAM; battery life is predicted to be between 3.5 and 5 hours of talk time with a standby time of between 150 and 200 hours.
Warranty:
I-mate K-JAM GSM/ GPRS pocket PC comes with one year warranty period
Verdict:
I-mate K-JAM GSM/ GPRS Pocket PC offers a good package of business features at an acceptable price, although if you want top-notch performance, look elsewhere. It is one of the perfect gadgets in the market. The display and audio are excellent. Thus, K-JAM, a high rated pocket PC by the customers is thus recommended for its potential and compatibility. This is a great phone and we recommend that all will have to have a try for it. It is a great choice for a PDA. Also it will be the ultimate choice for those who want something different in pocket PC.
I-mate K-JAM Pocket PC/PDA Phone - Technical Specifications, Features
| Manufacturer | I-mate |
| Model Name | K-JAM |
| Device type | Pocket PC |
| Dimensions (W x H x D) inches | 4.25 x 2.28 x 0.93 |
| Weight | 160 gm |
| Display size | 2.8″ |
| Display type | Transflective TFT colour LCD |
| Colours supported | 64,000 colours |
| Screen resolution | 240 x 320 pixels |
| Processor | Intel XScale |
| Processor speed | 200 MHz |
| Input method | Qwerty Keyboard,5-Way Navigation Pad, Touch Screen, Microphone |
| Talk Time | 3.5 Hours |
| Standby Time | 200 Hours |
| Memory | Installed 64MB |
| Battery Type | Proprietary Lithium |
| Built in speaker | Yes |
| Mic | Yes |
| Digital Camera Resolution | 1.3 Megapixels |
| Digital Camera | Built-in Optional Digital camera |
| Stereo headphone jack | 2.5 mm |
| Voice Recorder | Yes |
| Windows Pocket Media Player | Yes |
| OS | Pocket PC 2002 operating system |
| Microsoft Pocket Office suite | Pocket Word, Excel, Internet Explore and Outlook, MSN Instant Messenger for Pocket PC, MS Reader and Voice Recorder as well as handwriting recognition.3rd party software: IBM ViaVoice |
| Communication | Wireless |
| Wireless Capabilities | Built-in Modem, Built-in Wireless, WLAN 802.11b, WLAN 802.11a, WLAN 802.11g, Bluetooth, Infrared irDA, iPresention Mobile Converter LE, WordLogic Keyboard, Quick view plus, MARGI Presenter-to-go. |
| Software Included | Callex Pocket PC with ETPlayer Voicemail, Flash 5, Bust’em, RealOne Player, Jeode Java runtime, F-Secure FileCrypto for Pocket PC Personal Edition, Afaria, Pocket Watch World Clock, Acrobat Reader, Nevo A/V remote control, and several additional trial programs. |
| Expansion | 1 SD slot, 4 bit data bus, supporting SDIO I-mate K JAM, a cradle with a USB and serial connector, a pseudo-jacket, charger. |
| Package contents | reduction, a spare stylus which has become a standard, CD-ROM, user guide, a warranty card and a leaflet with a code |
| Warranty | One year |
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