Multimedia / Applications

The 2.0MP fixed-focus camera of the i-mate JAQ3 is better than you would expect from a device that is obviously not designed for imaging. While the image quality is not up to par with more imaging-focused devices, the JAQ3 is more than sufficient to capture a quick snap here and there. Photos appear rather soft, due mainly to the non-auto focus lens, but colors are reproduced quite well in most conditions. The camera obviously performs at its best in well-lit outdoors conditions, but indoor shots still looked quite good. Night shots let the camera down, but overall I was quite impressed with the imaging performance of the JAQ3.

The i-mate JAQ3 includes Windows Media Player, which does an admirable of job managing and playing audio and video files. Playable music files include WMA, MP3, AAC, and WAV formats, while video needs to be encoded in WMV, H.263, or 3GPP formats. After an initial scan of the device, media is organized into artist, album, and genre, and it is easy to synchronize media to the device using Windows Media Player on a desktop or laptop computer. Music playback works quite well, with the speaker having adequate volume for this function, unlike when used as a speakerphone. The included 2.5mm headset is average at best, so look to invest in a 3.5mm adapter and a decent set of headphones if you want to do more than the occasional bout of listening. Unfortunately, video playback is hampered by the JAQ3′s meager 200MHz processor, which causes hopelessly stuttered video playback, despite the fact that other devices based on this processor seem far better.

As with all Windows Mobile 5.0 devices, PIM functionality is a dream, and synchronizing with Microsoft Outlook and Exchange servers works seamlessly. I used Outlook 2007 with Windows Vista, and had no problem using the new Windows Mobile Device Center with the JAQ3. Synchronizing with my Exchange server over-the-air also worked a treat. Though i-mate has not made any enhancement to the PIM applications, they are still easy to use and well featured.

A press on the right softkey from the Today screen brings you to the Contacts application. Names can be easily search by typing the first few letters of a contact’s first or last name, with WM5 having the added ability of searching both simultaneously. This means typing “Br Ke” in the search field will yield “Brad Kellett” but not “Ben Kelly,” which is handy. Any data point that can be stored in Outlook can be held in the JAQ3, with handy summary screens and editing features.

Calendar functionality is again taken care of with the excellent WM5 Calendar application, featuring day, week, month, and year views of your appointments. Appointments themselves can store a whole host of details, including reminders, categories, attendees, and notes.

Included with all Windows Mobile 5.0 devices is Pocket Internet Explorer, and while this does the job for the odd spate of web browsing, most users will probably be looking for alternatives after a short time. Accessed with the dedicate hardware button, Pocket IE includes options for reformatting websites to fit into a one column view, cutting media down for easier viewability on the small screen, or viewing the site as close to what is produced with a desktop browser as it can. Don’t expect to be surfing AJAX or media intensive pages, but for small screen optimized pages and the odd full site Pocket IE will do the trick.

For the JAQ3, i-mate has been thoughtful enough to include a 30-day free trial of its i-mate Suit. The i-mate Suite includes two applications: 1-View and Backup. 1-View is a very hand application wherein the user is able to browse an internet connected PC via the device and a data connection, downloading and uploading files as needed. This application solves the problem of leaving the office and forgetting that all-important file for your meeting, as the file is only a few clicks away. The Backup application allows the user to backup the contents of their device to a 100MB storage space on i-mate’s servers, though it can strangely only use the GPRS connection to do so. i-mate Configurator is also available to set up data and MMS services for you provider, which is detected off the inserted SIM card. The manufacturer has also included a handy profile selector application for easy switching between five customizable profiles. The JAQ3 can automatically switch to your ‘silent’ profile when your calendar shows you are in a meeting, though this is as far as timed profile support extends for the device.

Mobile versions of Word, Excel, and PowerPoint are installed, and as this is a Pocket PC Phone device, Word and Excel have file creation capabilities, something the JAQ3 has over similar devices such as the Samsung BlackJack and T-Mobile Dash.