It?s monsoon in India but the rain gods do not always keep their promise. However, it does seem to be raining cellphones. A visit to any e-shop will testify this. Leading brands such as Nokia, Sony-Ericsson, Motorola, Samsung, and LG have flooded the market with their new models. The range is varied and one can get cellphoned for as little as 1k. The upper limit is unimaginable.

Brandishing a ?VERTU? (Rs 100k+) may be your dream (as it is for me), but for the moment those among us who are looking for a device under 15k may break into a rain-dance once again this season.

The Dubai-based specialists in Smartphones and pocket PC Phones based on Microsoft Windows Mobile software ?i-mate? has just launched their pocket PC phone ?JAMA? for Rs.14,990 (best price, inclusive of taxes).

Holding the JAMA for the first time, it looked like any other phone ? candy bar shape and a regular looking metallic ash-gray finish with silver buttons. No keypad and just four keys surrounding a five-way toggle on the front failed to intrigue me enough. On the reverse side, the 2mega pixel camera lens flanked by stereo speakers in a silver finish gave an impression of a metallic ?band-aid? stuck for some strange reason. The embossed ?windows mobile? logo nevertheless added a much needed visual relief.

I inserted the sim card after sliding the back open and placed the battery, the phone came alive on its own. The big touch screen glowed bright blue and announced, ?i-mate for business, for pleasure, for life?. The windows mobile boot-up screen is quite fascinating for a first time user. After initial configuration and personalisation, which was completed in a jiffy, the familiar windows desktop appears and the phone is ready to use.

For those who swear by (or swear at) Microsoft Windows, exploring the phone will not require a rocket scientist?s skills, but I do strongly recommend that one should read the ?user-manual? first. I have read hundreds of user manuals of various products, but this one tops them all. It?s a well-written manual and is easy to understand.

The i-mate Jama?s 2.4? 65k colour 240X320 Transflective touch screen LCD with backlight is eye candy and there was no difficulty in using it in the brightest of sunlight. The sensitivity of the touch screen to the stylus is quite appreciable and it transcribes users handwriting easily (after a little practice).

The 2.0 Mega Pixel-effect digital camera with 6X digital zoom is as good as they come in cell phones. It can expose still images and capture videos.

For the music buff, the ?Windows media player? is right there at the bottom of the desktop and can be activated by a single touch of the stylus. The audio reproduction of the stereo speakers is high quality; as are the stereo hands-free with microphone and volume control that are provided.

The list of bundled custom application software like Windows Outlook Mobile: Calendar, Contacts, Messaging, Microsoft Windows Mobile Office Applications; Word Mobile, Excel Mobile and PowerPoint Mobile, Microsoft ?Direct Push? email, Internet Explorer Mobile, Windows Media Player 10 Mobile, Picture & Video viewer, ActiveSync Client, Pocket MSN (Hotmail Instant Messenger), Voice Notes, i-mate Suite (30 day trial), CA Antivirus, SIM Manager is impressive and makes you feel that you are carrying a PC in your pocket.

?i-mate JAMA? supports GSM dual band (900/1800MHz), and the connectivity is either through a bluetooth or mini USB only.

Though the i-mate has stuffed the whole world in this device called the JAMA, it has deprived it of Wi-Fi connectivity. I don?t know why. I tried to talk to the company executives, but failed to get a satisfactory answer. These days, connecting to the world-wide-web through GPRS is like crawling on your fours on a four-lane highway.

The JAMA scores over its rivals on every aspect, the size and the weight, the ease of use, functionality, bundled software, powerful processor, low price and even looks But it loses out on the Wi-Fi front.