Looking Around (And Inside) The i-mate Ultimate 8502
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Well I have been having the 8502 for quite a while now and some of you may be eager about my experience with it. Well before I get to that, I thought of giving you a tour of the device. For those who have not seen the unboxing, here’s a post on it. From the outlooks to the software that come onboard as well. I usually do this separately but since the 8502 does not have that many bloatware, I decided to combine them into one. So let’s get on with our tour shall we?
Physical Outlook
Beauty is really hard to judge. One man’s meat is another man’s poison. What one finds beautiful could be plain or even ugly to another. That’s the dilemma one faces with the Ultimate 8502. To me, I like the black exterior with matt finish and middle copper-like block that does not attract fingerprints like some of the more sought-after devices right now. However, there are others who think otherwise. I’ll let you be the judge of that.
How about feel? Well the device does feel solid and good in my hand. Buttons are really well-placed, but that’s because I’m a right-hander. I tried using it with my left hand and while it felt awkward, no buttons were left inaccessible. I’ll have to take back my initial impressions that the device was made for right-handers only.
Let’s look at the other aspects of the device in greater detail.
Top
Located at the top left of the device is the power button. Nothing fancy or out of place here. It’s flushed with the rest of the device which works for me.
On the other end of it, at the top right, we have the stylus silo. Most of the devices I have come across usually have the stylus silo at the bottom of the device but the 8502 has it at the top. There were times when I forgot about it’s placement, and more by habit than anything else, I was searching for it at the bottom of the device.
Right
There are a lot of buttons on the right side of the device. Starting from the top and working our way down, we’ve got the volume button. This button (or should I say rocker) also doubles up for zooming in and out when you are using the camera application. Nice implementation there. I had wished that it could also have been used for zooming in and out in other applications as well. Now wouldn’t that be awesome?
Just below it, we have Button 1 or what you’ll be more familiar with as the voice recording button. It needs no introductions and like all the buttons (and rocker) on this side of the device, is not flushed with it. Which makes for easier finding don’t you think?
The last button there is that of the camera button. Pressing it once activates the camera application and while in it, will take a photo with the second press. Because there is no auto-focus mechanism in the 8502’s camera, the button is just a simple single press.
Bottom
The bottom of the device has only 3 holes: the USB port which you will be using for charging and synchronization purposes, the microphone and the 2.5mm headphone jack.
The 3 jacks are clustered closely together which is not necessarily a bad thing. For one, you could use a universal PDA holder for your vehicle and chances are, it would not hinder and of the ports and still support the device securely.
Left
It’s got 2 sets of controls, one for OK button and the other a full scroll wheel that also allows you to make selections by pressing on it.
The OK button does the same function as the other OK button on the front of the device (more on that in just a short while) so I am not too sure why i-mate would put another one here.
The scroll wheel is a nice addition and we’re starting to see them in some upcoming devices as well. It allows you to quickly scroll through long list with a wheel instead of the traditional DPAD and when you need to make a selection, just press into it. Great for going through your long list of emails or contacts.
Back
The back of the device is pretty plain save for the camera rated at 2.0MP accompanied by an LED flash and the speaker. The camera component is slightly recessed, but it’s so little that it might as well not be there. Which brings me to my next point.
One thing that was sorely missing from the back is that of rubber feet or its alternative. When the 8502 is rested against a flat surface, your camera lens will be resting against it. So if you are one of those who like placing your device on the table top (or any other flat surfaces) without any protection, expect the lens to get scratched in the long run. I guess i-mate are not expecting you to place your device without it being inside the leather case.
Front
Here’s where the majority of the buttons are and while most of them were done right, there were some implementations I did not understand. However, let’s start off with the screen.
2.6” Screen
It’s one of the smaller screens out there but for a front QWERTY keyboard Windows Mobile device, it’s actually one of the larger ones. It’s qVGA so you would not experience the slowdowns that you get with VGA devices. One drawback to this would be the lack of high resolution for viewing large amounts of data in your documents and web pages. I guess until the Tegra chips from NVIDIA start making their way to Windows Mobile devices, we’ll have to compromise.
The screen is 240×320 (qVGA resolution as mentioned earlier) and sits in portrait mode. It’s not flushed with the rest of the device like how I had hoped it’d be. What this means is that you need to get to the corners of the device, you’ll have to use the stylus if your fingernail is not long enough.
Soft Keys
One thing I could not understand is why place the hardware buttons for the soft keys so close to the edge of the device. Looking at the screen shot, you’ll notice that the buttons do not line up nicely to the ones on the screen.
There have been countless times when I tried to press the soft key but couldn’t due to this misalignment. It’s not like there’s anything else on the row to prevent i-mate from making the hardware soft keys sit nicely below the ones you see on the screen so I really wonder what i-mate was thinking when they designed it this way.
Calls, Start Menu, OK, DPAD Joystick
The row just below it is where all these buttons are located. No complaints there and it works well for me. Special mention goes out to the DPAD. Or maybe I should not call it that and instead a joystick as that’s what you’re getting.
For one, it makes navigating the device a lot easier. You don’t have to lift your fingers to go from one direction to another. Just move it. When you need to make a selection, just press down on it. So you get the features of a DPAD but in a much easier to use joystick. It’s a bit on the hard side, but nothing major because I think the device is new. Hopefully it softens after extended use.
37 Keys QWERTY Keyboard
What can I say but I love it! The keys feel good to press and gives you a nice feedback when activated. It’s also backlit, just like the rest of the buttons on the front which is awesome so you can type in places where light is a luxury.
When I first saw the keyboard, I had 2 concerns. The first being that the last row of keys was too close to the edge. The second being the keys were too small. So how did those fare?
Well for point one, it did not bother me. I could still type and use the last row without compromising stability so it should not bother you as well. Don’t let appearances fool you.
As for the keys being too small, It does take some getting used to. I don’t have the smallest fingers but using the side of my fingertips, I can type pretty accurately. Initially, I had hope for flat keys but I can now see the ingenuity in it’s current design. The keys are shaped like that of a pyramid with the top removed. This makes selecting the right key easier once you get used to it. Yeah it still is small but considering the small compact size of the device, i-mate found a great solution to maximize space.
Underneath The Battery Cover
Wait that’s not all. There’s more to the device under the battery cover than just the battery and SIM card holder. We’ve got the reset button and microSD slot as well. Yeah you heard me right and I am scratching my head just as you are.
Why would i-mate want to put the reset button under the batter cover. Which means if I want to soft reset the device, I’d have to remove the battery cover and then poke the stylus into the hole. This has got to be the most cumbersome method I have come across. Or is there something worse?
As for the microSD slot, I guess i-mate wanted to protect the slot from dust which makes sense but I wonder why they chose to not use a dust cover instead? That would have been a much better solution. Or allow the device to function as a mass storage device for quick transfers. So for all your multimedia lovers out there, you have been warned.
Software
Now that we’ve seen the outside, let’s see what i-mate has packed into the 8502.
There’s not much additional software, thanks to the fact that the 8502 (like all the other Ultimates) are sold unlocked. Not being tied to any carrier means you’ll not have the carriers extra applications that can really slow down a speedy device.
One component in the Ultimate line-up of devices that does not receive the component it deserves is that of the i-Q services. It’s nothing revolutionary and you wonder why no other manufacturer does it when you think of the convenience that comes with it. Intrigued? Read on…
Device Customization (Custom i-Q)
We’ve been trained when using Windows Mobile to set up the device from the device itself. Then came remote control where you could hook your device to the computer and use it’s keyboard and mouse to navigate and populate it with data. Now, there’s a new way to customize your device thanks to Custom i-Q.
Instead of doing it on your device, you log onto Club i-mate to make your changes. Set up your corporate Exchange credentials? Check. Install applications over the air? Check. Access other emails? Check. Create password policy? Check.
With Custom i-Q, all you need to do is to create your free user account on Club i-mate and from there, you can set up your device a whole lot easier than ever. This video explains it all.
Enterprise Activation (Secure i-Q)
This is something like Custom i-Q but only your corporate IT administrator would find useful. With this, they can remotely support your with regards to your device. They can also configure your device so you don’t have to bring it in or go without it for a period of time. And when you lose your device (touch wood), they can just as easily wipe the device so that no sensitive data gets compromised. For users curious about it, i-mate has a video to explain Secure i-Q.
Enhanced Support (Support i-Q)
While I did not have a chance to test this out, I can see the usefulness in it. Say you encounter a problem. Rather than check out the forums or asking your buddy, you can directly contact i-mate technical support straight from your device. No more waiting for replies from other forum users or having your buddy put you on hold as he figures out a solution.
As you can probably tell, the i-Q component can really save the end-user a lot of time and headache in many situations. It’s a great component to have and I think a lot of other manufacturers should follow suit. If not free in the way that i-mate does it, at least in a paid subscription.
However, those are not the only applications available on the 8502. Here are a few more:
ClearVue PDF
This is the only non-proprietary application (by that I mean not from i-mate) there which is promising. However, there is no option for you to remove it from the device which is not great. I prefer PocketXPDF and some may not even prefer to have a PDF viewer on their device an din such situations, we’re stuck with it. Why i-mate?
i-mate Configurator
Ever popped a SIM card into the device and needed to search high and low for the settings to send your text/picture messages or even connect to the internet? With the i-mate configurator, those days will be a thing of the past.
As soon as a new SIM card is placed, this application will automatically launch and ask if you want to populate your phone with the appropriate settings. When I placed my T-Mobile USA SIM card into it, it asked if I wanted to apply Prepaid, Internet or VPN settings. Mine being a post-paid, I opted for Internet and everyone was working as expected after that.
For the frequent international traveler, this application alone would be a real time saver but most users who seldom use their passport, I bet they will still find such a utility indispensable.
JBlend
This is i-mate’s answer for users who like to install JAVA applications on their 8502. The only one I can think of is Opera Mini and that worked great on it. I didn’t test it with other applications but I expect them to work just as fine.
Modem Link
Think of this as converting your device into a modem. That’s what it does and I was rather curious as to why at first. Wouldn’t a user in a similar situation use Internet Sharing to share the data connection with his computer? The 8502 has 3.5G capabilities which is a lot faster than the modem connection he dials into. Even if connection speeds drop to EDGE or GPRS, it is still slightly faster than what the modem can transfer.
So What’s Next?
On paper, the i-mate Ultimate 8502 looks like a really great device: Powerful specifications with some really useful applications for the user. However, many a times, paper and reality don’t mix. Did the 8502 fall into such a category or is it really deserving of the Ultimate name?
You’ll have to find out in the next and final installment.
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