The A1200 comes in three colors — red, black and silver. Like the Samsung above, the A1200 is easy to forget in your pocket — until you need it. After trying some of the offerings available in the U.S. marketplace I wonder why some high-quality cell phones, like the A1200 never make it here. I hope American carriers are listening.

Finally, I’ve been testing i-mate’s new JAQ smartphone. It’s a full-blown Microsoft Mobile 5.0, quad-band (850, 900, 1800, 1900 MHz, GSM/GPRS/EDGE) handset with a 2.8-inch LCD screen, Bluetooth and miniSD memory car expansion slot.

The JAQ in the anti-Q. It is large and wide (4.8 by 2.8 by 0.9 inches) and looks heavier than it really is (5.64 ounces). I-mate calls the device “heavy duty.” There’s a huge rechargeable battery inside which provides you with up to 4 hours of talk time and 150 hours of standby.

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The newly-designed JAQ is a solid smartphone.
The large battery actually makes the bottom half of the handset a lot thicker than the top. When you begin using JAQ you realize that extra heft actually makes it easier to type on the QWERTY keyboard than typing on most other smartphones. So do the keys themselves — because they have enough room to be spaced properly. The JAQ provides the best typing experience I’ve encountered to date.

I was less impressed with the audio quality of phone calls made on the JAQ. While people I spoke with said they heard me perfectly, they sounded to me like they were talking through a paper towels roll. It spoiled an otherwise stellar device.

One of the most interesting thing about the JAQ is that its parent company, i-mate, is located in Dubai, United Arab Emirates. The handset is not currently available through any cellular carrier here in the U.S. but is available, unlocked on a number of Web sites. Unlocked means you have to worry about entering the correct settings for your cellular provider. Prices hover around $500.

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