i-mate K-JAM

No taller or wider than the JAM and MDA Compact II Graphite, and only 5mm thicker, the i-mate K-JAM somehow manages to hide a keyboard and Wi-Fi within its case. It uniquely bridges the gap between small pocketable devices and large keyboard-based designs.

It isn't a cramped keyboard either, which is usually the case when it's mounted under the screen (as in the iPAQ hw6515, Treo 650 and BlackBerry 7290). Only the larger Jasjar and Nokia devices beat it. You slide the screen sideways to reveal the keys, and at the same time the image flips to landscape mode. It isn't awkward, and you can flip it open to type, say, a web address and snap it closed again.

The compact size makes for a comfortable phone as well, and we managed to have clear calls in a poor reception area. That extra 5mm thickness over the JAM isn't noticeable in the hand, although you do notice it in a pocket.

With quad-band GSM, GPRS and EDGE, the telephony/data side is well catered for. Wi-Fi is handy for fast browsing or downloading at hotspots. There's only a 240 x 320-pixel display, though, so browsing isn't as enjoyable as it is with the larger devices. Lastly, there's Bluetooth, but this is standard in all but the Sidekick II in this Labs.

The K-JAM has another trick up its sleeve, though. It's one of only three devices here to run Microsoft's latest Windows Mobile 5 OS (along with the Jasjar and MDA Compact II). So, with all your data safely in ROM, you can confidently use every last drop of the battery before recharging.

The only thing we'd wish for is faster performance. With the same 195MHz OMAP850 processor as the MDA Compact II Graphite - and ROM-based storage - this isn't the speediest performer in the group. And it would have been nice to have a hardware Contacts button, rather than the soft key on the Today screen.

As with other Windows Mobile 5 devices, the K-JAM gets PowerPoint Mobile to open (but not edit) presentations. But unlike the Jasjar, Word Mobile opened the entire set of test Word documents. Quickly flipping between landscape and portrait is handy for Excel Mobile, although the screen is too small for serious number-crunching. ClearVue's PDF reader finishes off the main applications.

Most of the PDA phones have strengths, but you have to be prepared to make sacrifices in other areas for them. But you don't have to compromise with the K-JAM; it's small but packed with technology and has an ingenious keyboard. It's a clever design and a deserving Labs Winner.