K-Jamming

Toggle Between Vibrate and Ringer Mode

2006-07-31T07:52:00.000-05:00

I just learned today that no matter what you have the Comm Manager button (upper left on the side) assigned to, if you press and hold it, it will toggle between vibrate mode and ringer mode. I wonder what other tidbits about the K-Jam I haven't discovered?

Figured Out What Causes The Sound Problem

2006-03-16T21:17:00.000-06:00

Back in January I posted that the K-Jam had an issue where the sound totally dies with a trick to fix it, short of doing a soft reset. Well, last night I accidentally discovered the cause and an even easier fix - and yes, this still happens with the new AKU2/MSFP enabled ROM from I-Mate.

I got a phone call, but instead of ringing, the device was silent. I have mine set to vibrate as well which is how I knew it was an incoming call. I took my Jabra BT-250 headset out of my pocket and put in my ear. Before I could press the answer button on the headset, the phone rang one more time - right in my ear! Normally it rings at the device and the headset has a nice soothing electronic beep that sounds like it is in a glass of water - nothing that could damage your ear drum.

That got me thinking. The sound on the K-Jam isn't dying, it is being transferred to the headset for some reason. It happened again today and the fix was simple. Just press the button on the headset. Somehow it is getting turned on and pressing it turns it off, sending the sound back to the K-Jam speaker.

So, case solved. Not sure why this happens or if it is the Jabra BT-250's problem, a problem with the K-Jam or a problem with the BT stack that Microsoft provides for the K-Jam. If this is happening to any of you, let me know if you have a bluetooth headset and what the model is.

AKU2 ROM For K-Jam Released?

2006-03-02T06:50:00.000-06:00

Some diligent members at XDA Developers have noticed a new English and Arabic ROM for the K-Jam, and are reporting that it includes AKU2, which should have MSFP. That means if you have Exchange 2003 SP2, you can get the new direct push email notifications. I haven't downloaded it yet to see what is included though. Download speeds are reported to be very slow.

K-Jam Sister 8100 Available From Cingular

2006-02-11T17:19:00.000-06:00

By now, many of you are aware the Cingular 8125 is available, at least according to their web site. I've heard from those trying to order it that it is on back order. It comes with or without a camera. The K-Jam is called the model WIZA200 in the device info panel. I think the 8100 series is the Wizard 100 line. Other than the face plate and keyboard design, and the option of a cameraless version, it is virtually identical to the Wizard 200 models from i-mate (K-Jam), T-Mobile US (MDI) and numerous others worldwide.

It is a device well worth the success it seems to be enjoying.

Sound Problem With The K-Jam?

2006-01-28T14:33:00.000-06:00

I don't know if this is unique to my device or if anyone else has seen this Sometimes the sound on my K-Jam stops working. Turning the sound off and back on via the sound icon on the start bar doesn't fix it. So far, I have found two sure-fire fixes. A soft reset always fixes it, which may suggest hardware since everything is reinitialized when it boots. However, I tripped up on another fix. I call the K-Jam from another phone. It doesn't ring of course, but does show the pop-up and vibrates. I have my phone set to ring and vibrate all of the time. I hang up the calling phone before voice mail picks up. Now the "missed call" alert sounds. That's right, sounds. Whatever happens when that is triggered fixes the problem, which suggests this is a software issue, and why I thought some of you might be experiencing it too.

Enable ClearType When In Landscape Mode

2006-01-21T17:55:00.000-06:00

Darius has written a quick post at Pocket PC Thoughts that shows how to enable ClearType in non-native modes. For example, the K-Jam pretty much lives in portrait mode so that seems to be the way ClearType works best. When in landscape mode, CT is disabled by default. The iMate JasJar would be exactly opposite since it lives in landscape mode most of the time.

I have applied this to my K-Jam and it looks pretty good when you have the keyboard extended and the screen is sideways. Makes the email experience that much better.

BoxWave Cradle for the K-Jam

2005-12-30T08:16:00.000-06:00

BoxWave has a cradle for for the K-Jam and all of its sister devices that are essentially the rebranded HTC Wizard. It includes an AC adapter for faster charging times. USB charging is convenient but it just so slow.

You can order it here right now for $32.95.

Keep Alive or Shut Down GPRS

2005-12-10T13:43:00.000-06:00

T-Mobile in the US apparently disconnects your GPRS connection after one hour. My old PDA2K would disconnect fine but the K-Jam pretends to stay connected but really isn't. Sort of when your old modem was "connected" yet you weren't really on the internet. This means when you try to go online, or a scheduled sync starts, you are getting nothing. For now I am going to set one of my POP3 accounts to sync every 30 minutes and see if that works. Another alternative would be an app that monitors activity on the device and after so many minutes, force GPRS to disconnect.

2.5mm To 3.5mm Stereo Adapter

2005-12-02T11:14:00.000-06:00

I received my adapter from PPCTechs last night. I now have music coming out of both earbuds. :-)
-Ed

The Downside

2005-12-01T21:28:00.000-06:00

The more I use the K-Jam, the more I like it except for the dinky telescoping stylus. My dislike for it increases each day to the point I will sometimes avoid using the device unless it is worth finding one of my full sized pens with a stylus tip.

Fortunately WM5 and the keyboard make this a fairly rare occurrence. Some of it too may be the lack of FITALY. I like the keyboard but really miss FITALY.

EDGE SMEDGE

2005-11-30T13:03:00.000-06:00

According to T-Mobile's web site they have EDGE support, but they don't say where. I never saw faster data rates driving to Disney World, including driving through Atlanta. Either it is something just not noticeable when downloading emails and basic web browsing, mostly on Pocket PC Thought's mobile forum site, or I never hit an EDGE network the whole trip. It felt like GPRS the entire time. I don't even know if the K-Jam gives a different indicator when it is on an EDGE network versus the "G" when it is on GPRS.

Have any of you T-Mobile USA users experienced EDGE with the K-Jam?

Tap-n-Hold Menu Without Stylus

2005-11-28T18:57:00.000-06:00

After two weeks with the K-Jam, there was one shortcoming that was really wearing on me. On the JasJar, the right-click, or tap-n-hold, menu was on the space bar. Not so its little brother the K-Jam. Well, someone wiser than I on how this stuff works pointed out to me you can press and hold the D-Pad button to get to the menu! Very handy even with the keyboard closed, something the JasJar cannot do.

You Are Not Cool

2005-11-27T12:50:00.000-06:00

While standing in line at a Subway for a loooooooooong time (only one guy behind the counter and he couldn't get out of 1st gear) I was making some notes in my K-Jam. This guy saw me and whipped out his BrickBerry and I guess read his massive queue of emails he had on the Sunday after Thanksgiving. Man... huge doesn't begin to describe that appendage on his belt. :-) That is *so* 2003.

Ugh... Need Another 2.5mm to 3.5mm Adapter

2005-11-27T12:39:00.000-06:00

Apparently the adapter I own (both actually) for my PDA2K doesn't work on the K-Jam. I only get sound out of one ear bud. Why do they keep changing the pin outs for things like this?

Playlists In WMP10

2005-11-27T11:18:00.000-06:00

How do you save playlists in Windows Media Player 10? It is so frustrating setting up a list of songs to play and then not being able to save the list.
-Ed

Charging For Broadband?

2005-11-23T08:33:00.000-06:00

What is it with nice hotels charging for broadband in the US? Basic hotels give it for free. I have no problem downloading a 20MB podcast over GPRS. No way am I paying $9.95 for one day's access.

Mobile With The K-Jam

2005-11-22T18:43:00.000-06:00

The more I use Windows Mobile 5 the more I like it. It does assume you have a keyboard if you do any sort of serious data entry, be it a Smartphone or Pocket PC. Of course, if you use it mainly to review emails and the like, you can dispatch an incredible amount of data with just those two soft keys.

Couple those soft keys with a keyboard and you won't hardly miss your stylus for a well written application. Note that this lame MMS app that iMate uses is not one of those well written apps.

WM5 has been a good companion on this little journey. :-)
__________________________
Ed Hansberry
www.ehansberry.com

Using WM5 Menus With Your BT Stowaway Keyboard

2005-11-20T13:40:00.000-06:00

I just got an email from the great support folks at ThinkOutside. I was using the Bluetooth keyboard yesterday (and am right now in fact) and was constantly having to reach for the screen to activate the soft-key menus. Turns out the WM5 driver for the keyboard lets you do this from the keyboard. Just press and hold the blue Fn key, then press either the left half of the space bar for the left soft key or the right half for the right soft key. From there, letter accelerators work. So, put your stylus down.

K-Jamming At Starbucks

2005-11-20T09:18:00.000-06:00

Gotta get my java before heading to bible class...

Windows Mobile 5 Still Needs Stylus

2005-11-20T07:24:00.000-06:00

WM5 has made vast improvements in the UI avoiding the need for a stylus, but there are still some places it makes total sense to use the new soft-keys, yet it doesn't.

-Ed

So What Is K-Jamming?

2005-11-19T14:04:00.000-06:00

Ok, so just what is this blog about? What is a K-Jam? The K-Jam among the latest Pocket PCs using the new Windows Mobile 5 OS made by a company in Taiwan called HTC. Actually, HTC calls it the Wizard. iMate's version of it is called the K-Jam. It has a Quad-band GSM radio, uses GPRS for data and can utilize the newer high speed EDGE data technology, though I have no clue what that is like since I am on T-Mobile in middle Tennessee, so I am stuck with GPRS for now. When near a hotspot or someplace I can plug in my WiFlyer, a portable wireless router, I can turn on the WiFi radio and get real broadband speeds. It has a 1.3 megapixel camera that takes pretty good shots, as you can hopefully see in the attached image. That was on the large setting which is 640X480. It can take larger images too. I may get into that later. There are a number of settings on the camera like Sport and Burst mode.

The K-Jam is the first PDA Phone I've had that really works well as both a phone and a PDA. Previously, I used a PDA2K, also known as the Audiovox 6600 on some networks. It is a great PDA and works well as a phone if you have a headset. If not, it is rather large to be holding up against your ear. The PDA2K slide-out keyboard isn't nearly as useful as the one the K-Jam has. I also have a JasJar. It has a superb screen and keyboard, but as a phone it is just HUGE. Plus, for some reason it was designed to not dial out if the case was closed, which drove me nuts. You have to open the clamshell to dial, or swing the screen around and put it in PDA mode vs. the "laptop" mode it works best in.

The K-Jam though is an excellent size for phone and PDA use - no compromises. For data entry, like responding to emails, the slide-out keyboard works great. There is a magnet in the keyboard so that when the keyboard slides out, the screen automagically rotates to landscape mode, and does it surprisingly quickly. Sliding the keyboard back in rotates the screen back to portrait mode.

Up until now, I have been very excited about the Windows Mobile based Treo from Palm. I still think it will be a successful device, but if the K-Jam and clone devices can get out there and sold by various GSM (T-Mobile, Cingular and everyone in Europe) and CDMA (Verizon, Sprint) it will be wildly successful.

I'll admit for this post I am cheating a bit. While I do like the built in keyboard, I am more of a touch typist than a thumbboard typist, so I am using my Bluetooth Stowaway Keyboard by ThinkOutside which thus far seems to work flawlessly with the K-Jam. I can't figure out how to activate the WM5 softkeys thought without reaching for the stylus. :-/

So what is the point of this blog? Well, it is temporary. Not sure if it will be for a few weeks or months. I plan to post several times a week. No post will ever be this long again. Most will be a few sentences and might have a screen shot or picture on things I discover about Windows Mobile 5 or the K-Jam, things I like and dislike, or things that just interest me.

Comments are enabled, but you do have to register with Blogger. If you want a GMail address when you register and you can't get one without an invite, contact me at Pocket PC Thoughts (there is a link to in the right-hand section of this blog) and find the Contact page using the menu at the top. Send me a message by selecting "Ed" in the dropdown. Give me a valid email address and I'll shoot you a GMail invite. Sorry for the hoops, but if I posted an email address here, I'd just get more spam. :-(

So, I hope you enjoy it.

This Thing Needs More Buttons

2005-11-18T20:26:00.000-06:00

You'd think with all of the buttuns on the K-Jam, I'd be satisfied but when in PDA mode there simply aren't enough. Only 5 can be used for apps and one of those is for the camera, so that leaves 4.

I'll survive... :-)

New Socket Mobile Power Pack

2005-11-17T17:34:00.000-06:00

Puh-lenty of juice. :-) I am sick of ordering a 2nd battery to go with whatever Pocket PC I happen to have and then getting a new device a few months later. No more! Now I can take this with me and get several charges out of it.

My new K-Jam Blog

2005-11-17T14:52:00.000-06:00

Just pontificating whether or not to set up a blog on my experiences with the K-Jam. Obviously it would only be a temporary thing until the newness of the device wore off.