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October 23, 2005
The $1700 phone
I was amused to learn last week that i-mate has released a new phone, the JASJAR, at a price of $1700. Yes that's right folks, a phone that costs $1700. As soon as I heard this, I thought: What was the i-mate marketing department thinking? - The idea that anyone would spend $1700 on a phone is laughable. Perhaps they thought that some people are so laden with insecurity that they think that a $1700 phone could somehow make up for their deficiencies, thus making them more attractive to the opposite sex.
By the end of the day, I had purchased one.
You see, a few minutes after reading about the JASJAR, my now-obsolete XDA Mini phone rang, the caller's name appearing on its dated, low-resolution display. I dealt with the call as quickly as I could, hoping that the caller wouldn't become insulted that I was dealing with their call using previous-generation technology... Later, at lunch, I had to reach for the XDA Mini again, in order to settle a vital matter causing great debate amongst my colleagues (being: "does Coca-cola contain cocaine?"). Waiting for the slow GPRS connection to finally tell the XDA's Pocket Internet Explorer the answer (which is: "no, but is does contain 'de-cocained' coca leaf), I could see my colleagues rolling their eyes, wondering what kind of try-hard internet entrepreneur would have to rely on such 2nd rate telecommunications tools.
So as you can see, I really had no choice. I'll be posting a review of my new gadget shortly, and I will do what I can at that time to justify to myself and others that paying $1700 for a phone is not, in fact, completely insane, but rather is a rational business decision.
Oh, and to answer the obvious question - at this point, no, there is no evidence that my new phone has made me more attractive to the opposite sex. Although my girlfriend, Evelyn, is very pleased to have received a hand-me-down XDA Mini.
Posted by at October 23, 2005 08:28 AM
Comments
You're an irretrievable gadget guy. The JASJAR appears to be the same gadget featured at Microsoft's PDC when Allchin was doing his keynote webcast on Windows Vista.
Where do you carry it when you wear a suit?
Posted by: Ananda Sim at October 23, 2005 09:56 AM
Ananda makes a good point, because the JasJar is HUGE. I just recently got the I-Mate K-Jam, the successor to the XDA Mini. It's great. It's about the same size as the original, but it has a sliding keyboard the length of the phone, which works really well. It's also got built in Wireless-G, which is great for around the house.
The only thing I don't like isn't even the fault of the phone: as Charles said, GPRS is slow. The K-Jam works with EDGE, the upgraded 384kbit/s version of GPRS. I'm not too sure, but I think Tel$tra is the only carrier capable of this at the moment. Optus, I think, is 'planning to'.
But in short, I love it. It's a good size (slightl smaller than the Treo 650), extremely feature-packed and does all I need of it. And it was only $1,000. You're not buying a phone, you're buying a PDA with phone capabilities. It's very cool!
And about half the weight of the JasJar.
Supastar.
Posted by: Supastar at October 23, 2005 11:18 AM
I think Microsoft has hijacked you, or me, or something or someone! I tried to link to http://http//www.snopes.com/cokelore/cocaine.asp
but ended up at http://www.microsoft.com/
I then tried http://http//www.theunwired.net/?itemid=750
and ended up at Microsoft again.
The more I use this yum Cha computer the more I hate Microsoft :-)
Posted by: Ramadas at October 23, 2005 11:52 AM
Posted by: cw at October 23, 2005 12:57 PM
It's not nearly as big as people make out. It fits fine in my suit jacket pocket or my jeans pocket. The K-Jam is also a nice unit, which I plan to mention in my forthcoming review of the Jasjar. It doesn't have such a nice keyboard, or a VGA screen, or 3G, however.
Supastar, I'm Jeremy, not Charles - you can see who's writing each article by looking just underneath the article text. You mention EDGE - do you know what Telstra's coverage is for EDGE? How about their pricing?
Ramadas, the problem with the links was entirely my fault. They are fixed now (you may need to refresh the page to see the corrected links).
Posted by: Jeremy Howard at October 24, 2005 09:00 AM
Yeah, sometimes my brain farts and I don't read who posts! :P Sorry Jeremy!
I don't know anything about Edge in Melbourne apart from what i said in my post, which was based on this table listing Telstra as deployed Edge in December 2004 and Optus having it planned. That's all I know and a few quick searches I did came up with nothing.
But then, I guess I shouldn't be too surprised to find broadband in Australia - even wireless broadband - to be lagging behind the rest of the world.
And Wi-fi means that I can get broadband speeds at any wireless hotspot or around the house, which is some consolation.
The only thing I'm not happy with on the k-Jam might not even be the phone's fault. But I can't for the life of me get it to sync over bluetooth with my Billionton USB Bluetooth adaptor. They refuse to agree on passkeys it seems. I might ditch the cheap and nasty adaptor and get a more reputable brand, might be easier.
Anyway, glad to hear the JasJar's not too big. I looked at the specs again and it doesn't actually seem as mammoth as I'd thought. Look forward to reading your review!
Supastar.
Posted by: Supastar at October 24, 2005 10:11 PM
OK I've found the info on Telstra's 3G (EDGE) offering. It's $5/MB, which is nearly 20x more expensive than 3! The coverage is similar to 3's.
Posted by: Jeremy Howard at October 24, 2005 10:44 PM