Close Up with the i-mate JAQ4

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Last month, i-mate announced its intention to release the JAQ4, the latest entry in its line of Windows Mobile phones.

Inventec -- the company that is developing the JAQ models for i-mate -- has been steadily refining this series for some time, and the upcoming model will have some noticeable improvements over its predecessors, not the least of which is Windows Mobile 6 Professional.

The JAQ4 will also have a larger screen than the JAQ3, and be the first in this series with a built-in GPS receiver.

Despite these changes, though, the next model will have a great deal in common with the earlier ones. This means it will have a tablet shape with a built-in keyboard below a landscape-oriented touchscreen.

This upcoming model has one thing in common with its predecessors that some might consider unfortunate: it does not offer any form of 3G cellular-wireless networking.

i-mate has not yet specified an exact release date or an expected price for this device.

Photo Gallery

The JAQ4 is on display at the CTIA Wireless tradeshow this week, and Brighthand's Brian Beeler took the opportunity to snap pictures of this smartphone from a variety of angles.

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An Overview of the i-mate JAQ4

As a Windows Mobile phone, the JAQ4 will function as both a full-featured PDA and a mobile phone.

It will run Windows Mobile 6 Professional on 200 MHz processor from TI. It will include 64 MB of RAM and 128 MB of ROM, some of which will be available t the user as internal storage. Additional storage will be provided by a external microSD card slot.

It will include 2.8-inch touchscreen above its D-pad and QWERTY keyboard.

The JAQ4 will also include a built-in GPS receiver and a 2 megapixel camera with support for both still images and video.

It will function as a quad-band GSM/GPRS phone with EDGE.