While I understand Google had to do a lot behind the scenes to ensure that actions mapped into Gmail properly, it has been a long wait for long-time Gmail users like me to get IMAP support in Google’s mail product. I’ve been using Microsoft Exchange for email for a while, but with my reshuffling of jobs, I found I no longer need the advanced features that it provides. Instead, with the new addition of IMAP access (a necessity in my books), I decided to save myself the money on Exchange and switch to Google Apps, and as such, back into Gmail.

This decision left me with a conundrum – how to get my bank of email out of the clutches of the MS empire and into the supposedly less evil Gmail. While my mailbox is not the largest around, weighing in at around 2GB, this was still a daunting task. IMAP support certainly made this easier, but finding the right application to do the move proved difficult.

I tried Outlook 2007 itself, Mozilla Thunderbird, Entourage, and Eudora with varying success, from Outlook’s constant timeouts on the IMAP connection, to Thunderbird ending up with messages without subjects or senders due to Exchange mangling headers. The solution came from an unlikely source: Windows Mail.

Windows Mail is the replacement to Outlook Express in Windows Vista, and was able to import email directly from the Exchange server through Outlook, then upload it to Gmail through IMAP. While the process was slow (around 10 hours for all my email), it managed to get the job done perfectly, without any timeouts and with the complete messages intact. I did not expect much from Windows Mail, but it pulled through in the end, and if Thunderbird wasn’t so damn good, I would consider using it as my full-time email client.

I now have Thunderbird with the Lightning calendar plugin syncing to my Google Apps Gmail and Google Calender, complete with all my email and calendar entries from Exchange. I still fire up Outlook and use the wonderful RemoteCalendars to pull down my Google Calendar for syncing with my iPhone and other devices, but other than that I am totally satisfied with the free alternative to Exchange.

After reviewing the original i-mate JAQ back in November last year, I did not have particularly high hopes for the JAQ3. The original JAQ was i-mate’s first handset after parting ways with HTC, who designed and manufactured its handsets for some time, and was flawed in many ways. The JAQ did show promise though, and I am happy to report that virtually everything that was wrong about the JAQ has been remedied with the JAQ3. Manufactured by Chinese OEM TechFaith Wireless and sold in some markets as the UBiQUiO 501, the i-mate JAQ3 is a Windows Mobile 5.0 Pocket PC Phone Edition device, and comes packed with connectivity features and a thin, albeit wide, design.

Physical Aspects

Unlike most Pocket PC Phone Edition devices, the i-mate JAQ3 has a front facing QWERTY keyboard instead of a sideways slide-out design. This has plusses and minuses, as it increases one-handed usability though adds quite a bit of width to the device. This design does allow the device to come in at just 14.5mm (0.57”) thick, making it the thinnest touch-screen Windows Mobile phone around currently. Length and width measure up at 126mm x 67.5mm (4.96″ x 2.65″) respectively, and a weight of 160g (5.64oz) is a little on the hefty side, but not overly so.

The back and sides of the i-mate JAQ3 are covered in a soft-touch rubber compound, with the front and bottom a slightly glossy hard plastic. Thankfully, it is not glossy enough to attract mass amounts of fingerprints, which is somewhat of a pet hate of mine. Decked out in black, the device looks quite classy, and will look right at home coming out of a briefcase or suit pocket. The right side of the device holds the 2.5mm headset jack, miniUSB port, and power button, with the three-way jog wheel, OK button, and camera key taking residence on the left. The 2.0 megapixel camera is the sole item on the back of the JAQ3, positioned above the easy to release yet firmly attached battery cover, itself hiding a 1250mAh battery. A covered microSD memory card slot sits atop the JAQ3, with the hard to release extendable stylus held in a silo the bottom, though it did get easier to get out over time.

I will make somewhat of a big proclamation now: the i-mate JAQ3 has the best QWERTY keypad I have ever used on a phone. With the exception of the space key, every key has great tactile feedback, adequate spacing that is accentuated with a convex shape, and is just about the perfect size. The only thing I can fault is that while there is only one space ‘key,’ it has a pressure point at either side, which caused me to occasionally get two spaces when I hit the key plumb in the middle. Even the special characters, accessed with the Fn key, are intelligently placed. Big softkeys, call and end keys, the OK and Start button, and shortcut keys for Pocket IE and the Messaging application surround a very large 5-way directional pad. Unfortunately, the same level of quality found on the keyboard isn’t shared with the jog wheel, which has a terrible feel when pressed to select items. I also wish the keyboard backlight stayed on a little longer, or better yet, had a setting to control the time it stayed on.

The i-mate JAQ3 has a bright, relatively clear QVGA resolution touch screen, though its landscape 2.4” screen is smaller than most other Pocket PC phones. This is further perceptible due to the handset’s size. Other than the size, there is not a lot to complain about, with the screen accurately detecting taps with the stylus, and having adequate readability even in bright sunlight.

Let me say this right off the bad: the iPhone is not a device I would buy myself. It is an influential device that will do fantastically in the market, that is for sure, but its omissions are too deal breaking for me. They are also things that could have been easily remedied by Apple, and I am sure they will be fixed in a second-generation product, but for now I will do without a device that can’t record video, use 3G networks and A2DP headphones, and other things I appreciate. But more on my actual iPhone pros and cons in a future post.

What the iPhone has achieved though, is forcing the industry in general to rethink the whole user interface paradigm. Touch sensitive devices have long used a stylus, and are only now evolving to use the finger. This fact, combined with the swishing, swirling, and sliding seen in the iPhone’s UI make it a much more organic device, one that consumers may find easier to ‘relate’ to.

On top of this more organic approach to UI design, the iPhone’s interface just looks so damn good. Sure, Windows Mobile is functional, S60 is pretty, and so on, but the iPhone interface is sexy. User interface design cannot take a back seat to device design any longer, and Apple has shown us that an attractive physical design can be accompanied by a functional and attractive UI design.

While other manufacturers may not have to play catch up to Apple with technical specifications, they definitely need to with UI design. Verizon’s new Motorola Q9m features a fun circular UI enhancement, and devices like the LG Prada and HTC Touch are certainly steps in the right direction, but the iPhone just integrates everything so nicely; this is what Apple does best.

The iPhone is not the device it could have been, but for UI design, it is revolutionary. If manufacturers take nothing else away from the iPhone release, I hope it at least forces them to take a step back and reevaluate the user interface experience.

Sure, smartphone hardware and software are getting cheaper and easier for manufacturers to produce, but I think there will always be a place for non-smartphone devices in the market. Simplicity is key here – not everyone needs the full features of a smartphone, and while that remains true non-smartphones will always be produced, regardless of how cheap it becomes to make smartphones.

I have seen a trend over time of a general rise in the technology level even in cheap handsets, which is an obvious repercussion from the reduced cost of the components that make them. I wholeheartedly agree that even cheap handsets will eventually come with big, high-resolution screens and other treats, but I doubt that all handsets will become smartphones. The PIM features in non-smartphones have come a long way, and have reached a point where they will accommodate most users; transitioning to a smartphone user interface will do nothing but add a level of complexity that will ultimately drive the market away.

I am all for the advancement of technology, but only if it suits the needs of the consumer. There will have to be a radical change in the usability of smartphones before they truly become mainstream, perhaps the introduction of a ‘dumb’ mode that removes things like the ability to install new applications and the more complex PIM functionality would be beneficial. For the foreseeable future though, I think there will still be the constant flow of new non-smartphone devices.

Younger generations are far more open to advertising in general, probably because of the way it is always in their face, and has been since birth. Sure, advertising has been around for a long time, but older generations would have had far less and in far fewer places, making them far more resistant to its introduction these days.

The fact that youth are more open to advertising is aided by the way there is more commonly something in it for the viewer. Schemes like Virgin Mobile’s ‘Sugar Mama’ allow users to earn free minutes on their phone accounts for viewing mobile advertisements, which makes it feel like the viewer is getting rewarded, making them want to view more ads. The company showing the ads will then get more advertisers interested, making it a win-win situation, provided the company being advertised finds leads as a result.

I do not believe this trend will stop, and I think that advertising will become a more pervasive part of our lives. This may upset some people, but for the next generation, it will just be a fact of life.

Ori says:

I am a business owner in Northern NJ with 23 Verizon Wireless phones. Many of them are the Kyocera SE47 Slider, which I think is one of the best phones that Verizon has ever carried.

I have been waiting for a long time for Verizon to come out with a new compact, durable slider. I did not like the Chocolate and was happy to see the Samsung SCH-U620 with all of its features. After reading the following pros and cons you can decide if having a TV in your hand is worth the trouble.

I would like to thank Rudy, the Verizon Wireless manager of the GSP store in Paramus, NJ for his help.

Pros

• Well built slider with spring action
• Many tasks that do not require the keypad can be done without opening the slider. These tasks include: answering calls, dialing recent callers, viewing text messages (see negative comment about ‘direct view’), watching TV, viewing missed calls, taking pictures, and more. You must ‘unlock’ the face keys before performing these tasks to prevent accidental operation. This is an advantage over the limitations of the SE47
• Nice display with vibrant colors, though it is a battery drainer
• Live streaming TV – this is a great feature and the quality is excellent, but again drains the battery
• I know that the signal in the NYC area is not yet at full strength, but I get good reception in many places in Northern NJ, except inside the Verizon wireless store on Rt. 4 west in Paramus
• Loud speakerphone and sensitive microphone
• Nice large keypad compared to the Kyocera SE47 for easy text messaging
• Large fonts
• Easy to navigate the menu and get used to the features
• Side buttons are easy to operate and do not interrupt normal operation if accidentally pressed

Cons

• No “Backup Assistant” in Get-It-Now, so you can’t transfer the phone book that you saved online. I had 250 contacts and more that 800 saved numbers. Thanks go to Darryl at the Paramus store who took my advice to use the data cable from the Samsung SCH-A930 and my old SE47 and was able to transfer all my contacts and most of my numbers. This is a major screw-up by whoever put the software inside this phone
• While charging the phone the display is always on, this slows down the charging time and possibly prevents the phone from ever reaching a full charge. The display is so bright while charging that I had to turn the phone over so I could darken my bedroom at night
• Extra small font when browsing the net with Mobile Web compared to the large fonts on the same page if you are using the Samsung SCH-U740 (thanks again Rudy). I am 44 years old and see 20/20, but the fonts are too small to get used too
• Many ‘security errors’ on the browser while viewing my ‘Mobil Mail’ on Go Daddy’s secure site. I view the exact same page with the U740 and did not get one error. The error kept on coming over and over and only after refreshing three times per email for the first five emails was the problem gone, though it kept coming back with every new session
• No external buttons for the music player. Only the standard V CAST music player
• While playing music the V CAST red screen is on at all times and drains the battery. There is no way to turn it off, so expect less than two hours of playing time before you need to recharge.
• The menu lacks basic features like ‘Direct View’ for text messages; this is a slider with one front display so why not make a direct view like the one on the SE47?
• There are weird icons that are not in the icon glossary – this morning I setup the phone for a data call, and while setting it up a notification appeared explaining that the phone will switch to data mode for the next 10 minutes. When the call was done I had an icon on the display that looks like two ‘A’s for about three hours, and then it was gone
• Battery life is bad. Even though it says 1000MaH on the battery, it holds less charge than the 800MaH of the U740 and much less than the SE47. In today’s connected world, when a company comes out with products for people ‘on-the-go,’ they need to accommodate those users. Selling a phone with a battery life of less than two hours of use (calling, Mobile Web, text messaging, and music playing) and less than one hour of TV is irresponsible to customers. An extended battery is not officially sold by Verizon, though eBay has them
• My biggest disappointment came Tuesday night at 8pm when I was away from home and wanted to watch American Idol on this gadget, but all I found on FOX was LA Law re-runs for the next 2 hours. I checked the guide and there was not even a scheduled American Idol show. This is an issue with V CAST TV though, not the handset itself
• On the ‘Send Text Message’ screen when selecting ‘Add Recipient’ with the soft key one of the options is ‘Recent Calls,’ but not ‘Recent Messages.’ You can only see those who called you last or outgoing calls but not any of your recent text message transactions. If you want to send an SMS to the last person that sent you an SMS you have to find that person again in the contact list or go to the ‘Inbox,’ find the SMS, open it, and reply (so much trouble for a simple task). This is so simple on the SE47

My overall impression of this phone is that it was well built, well equipped, but poorly planned, poorly engineered, and overall performs poorly.

Anyway, it’s back to CES work for me – I’m really looking forward to sleeping after this week is over…

I also know all about Nokia and Sony Ericsson’s releases for CES, but I have to keep hush-hush about that. Watch the CES page on MobileBurn for live coverage from CES for all things mobile.

While the NZQA is stating that it is strongly discouraging students to use the shorthand, and that in exams where requirements specifically state that candidates should demonstrate good language use, such as English, abbreviations would be penalized, I think it is terrible that ‘TXT TLK’ will be accepted at all.

We should be trying to teach students an appreciation of language, and the ability to write, spell, and speak with a high standard, not encouraging laziness and a complete butchery of the written word. I hope that the public makes a stand on this, and the NZQA realizes the stupidity of its ways.

Let me say right off the bat that the Motorola MOTOKRZR is one of the nicest feeling devices I have used. Not since the LG KG800 Chocolate have I felt a handset that is so well put together. Nothing creaks or squeaks, and the fit and finish is great. On the other hand though, the MOTOKRZR runs a version of the Motorola UI that is only slightly updated from the RAZR V3 – which is a shame, considering Motorola is sitting on an all-new UI, as seen in the ROKR E2.

In any event, enjoy the quick video, and watch out for the full review to be posted on MobileBurn very soon. Oh, and please excuse the focus work in the video – I’m very new to the video scene!