i-mate just about worth the wait

By PETER GRIFFIN

I've literally been waiting to get my hands on the i-mate for 2 1/2 years, ever since Kiwi Craig Dewar, a big wig at Microsoft's Seattle-based mobility division, gave a sneak-preview of the Smartphone on a trip Downunder.

It's just about been worth the wait. The i-mate is the first of the Windows Mobile smartphones available in New Zealand and it's an impressive debut.

It's main attraction is familiarity. If you're an enthusiastic Windows user you'll be right at home because the i-mate has a mini-version of the Windows desktop.

The Start button is there, as are all the Windows favourites - Internet Explorer, MSN Messenger and Windows Media Player.

That's a powerful proposition for people who rarely stray beyond the calling and texting features of their phones for fear of the unknown.

The Start button leads to numerous features. The calendar and contact features will sync with Outlook on your PC so you don't have to fiddle around entering details on the phone's keypad.

A built-in camera takes digital still pictures and video clips with reasonable results, though the i-mate does not boast the megapixel-quality camera other phones have.

You can check share prices or log into Hotmail easily enough through the Internet Explorer browser, which also supports Wap sites.

The MSN Instant Messenger service is slick, effectively allowing text messaging in real-time. The beginning of the end of SMS maybe.

Using Media Player is a joy, its single best feature.

There's no miserable digital rights management obstacles in your way. Just load up your secure digital (SD) card with songs from your PC and away you go - mp3 and .wma audio files are supported. The sound quality is good using the supplied headphones.

There's a nice interface for sending text messages and emails and a version of Windows Explorer lets you easily search the phone's memory files.

It is powered by a 120 megahertz processor and has 64MB of memory. The SD storage slot allows you to add cards holding songs, pictures and documents. It has Bluetooth and infrared connectivity for sharing information with laptops or another phone.

Design-wise the i-mate has a little way to go to match the style of Nokia and Sony Ericsson. It's made by Taiwanese company HTC, which was responsible for the sleek silvery Ipaq handheld computer.

The i-mate's also not without its eccentric quirks. The phone froze a couple of times forcing me to reboot.

And the speaker for listening to calls is a tad underpowered. It would be nice if an SD card was thrown in with the i-mate, but unfortunately the maker isn't that generous.

For the business user, running a late version of Windows on the desktop, the i-mate packs a fair amount of value, without having the bulk of a handheld computer.

But at more than $1000 it's expensive - especially when you consider that useful features like Instant Messenger and email will rack up data usage charges quickly.

More smartphones will be on the market by October at cheaper prices, Vodafone says, which may make it smart to wait for deals to emerge.

Facts about smartphones

Windows Mobile is the operating system powering mobile phones such as the i-mate. It was designed to compete with operating systems like Symbian, which still has the largest share of mobile phone software.

Other Smartphones include the the P800 and the P900 from Sony Ericsson, and the Nokia Communicator. Microsoft's smartphone platform, code-named "Stinger" in the early days, has developed alongside its Pocket PC Phone edition software which powers handheld computers from manufacturers such as Toshiba, HTC and Audiovox.

French mobile operator Orange SPV was the first operator to sell smartphones using Windows Mobile operating system.

The phones are often branded with the name of the telecoms operator rather than the manufacturer as operators begin to assert their marketing power.

i-mate Smartphone 2

* Price: $1149

* Herald Rating: 7/10

Pros

Stacks of features, Windows-friendly, great media player.

Cons

Over-priced, slight clunky design, no SD card included.

On the web: i-mate Smartphone 2