TV with DVR & Internet: $89.90/mo
CNET editors' review
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CNET editors' rating:
stars
Very good
Detailed editors' rating
- Reviewed on: 08/23/2005
Below the screen is a five-way toggle that is flanked on its left with a Talk key, and in turn, a dedicated key to access your contact information sits below it. To the right of the toggle is the End key, and further down, you'll find a calendar button. Because the Jam is a full-fledged PDA, you'll do most of your navigating with the included stylus. For text input, the I-mate Jam has a soft keyboard that pops up when you activate a feature that requires data input.
To make a call, you simply hit the Talk button; Windows Mobile's phone interface pops up, and you use the stylus to tap the numbers. While some users find this annoying, others don't mind it at all. As for the other controls, on top of the device is the SD slot. On the right side is the power button, the sleeve for the stylus, and the IR port. On the left side is the camera button, a volume rocker, and a key to activate the voice recorder. On the back of the device, you'll find the lens for the 1.3-megapixel camera and a tiny mirror for taking self-portraits. On the bottom are the USB port and the minijack for the included stereo earbuds that ship with the device. As with other smart phones, the headphone jack doesn't accept standard headphones.
We like that the Jam's battery can be charged through your computer's USB port or with the included power adapter. The device also comes with a belt holster and stereo earbuds that let you listen to music, watch videos, or talk hands-free.
Running Windows Mobile 2003 Second Edition, the I-mate Jam boasts all of the PIM applications you'd expect from Windows Mobile-based PDA (address book, calendar, in-box, and so on) and Pocket versions of Word, Excel, and Internet Explorer. Since the Jam is a multimedia smart phone, we were pleased that it shipped with Mobile Media Player 10.0 Mobile, which provides for seamless integration with the desktop version of Media Player 10.0. Additionally, Media Player 10.0 Mobile is capable of playing WMV and WMA files (video and audio, respectively), as well as MP3s, and it supports album art. While the Jam's screen is nice in and of itself, you can switch it from Portrait to Landscape mode on the fly, which is often handy for viewing multimedia content or taking landscape pictures.The I-mate Jam's 1.3-megapixel camera can capture still photos in four resolutions: 1,280x960, 640x480, 320x240, and 160x120. The camera also sports several brightness settings, including auto, incandescent, fluorescent, and night. Users can also add special effects such as Sepia, Grayscale, Cool, or Negative. The camera is capable of shooting video in 320x240, 176x144, and 128x96 resolutions, and the same effects are available with still images and videos; the latter is saved in either MPEG-4 or Motion-JPEG AVI.
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