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 We have witnessed a boom of pocket computers with an integrated QWERTY keyboard lately. E-TEN has hopped on the bandwagon with its new Glofiish M700. Besides a large, blue backlit keyboard, it boasts a wide range of attractive features, such as a quad-band cell phone, a sensitive GPS receiver with SiRF Star III chipset, the latest version of Windows Mobile 5 AKU 3.2, and an extensive software package. Read on to find out about real-life experience with this device.
Appearance and design
Dimension: 117.5 x 59 x 19.8 mm; weight: 165 g.
Perception of visual design is purely subjective. When I first saw the M700, I said wow, how large a device that is! Whether it is the layout of the front panel, a small display relative to the body, or the monotonous silver colour is hard to tell - perhaps a bit of each. Anyhow, I was surprised to learn that the difference in size between the M700 and other devices is not as big as it may seem. But yes, it belongs among the largest. The dimensions are 4.64 x 2.32 x 0.78 inches / 117.5 x 59 x 19.8 millimetres (with the keyboard closed). If you expand the keyboard, the width will grow to 93.5 mm. According to the official technical specifications, the device weighs 5.82 ounces / 165 grams but my scales showed 5.94 ounces / 170 grams (with a SIM and microSD cards inserted).  The shape is a perfect brick but with smooth rounded edges. It holds surprisingly well - the length is twice the width and should provide a comfortable grip even to users with smaller hands than mine. The casing is most likely made of a light plastic. The dominant colour is silver, with dark grey around the keypad. Keypad
A large extensible keyboard has become a key feature for many a PDA user. E-TEN decided to follow the trend and introduce a device with a keyboard of their own. When you look at the device in the “portrait” mode, the keyboard expands to the left. The sliding action is smooth, purely mechanical and manual without any spring mechanism. The keyboard comprises 41 keys and its design and philosophy closely resemble competing devices. The main part of the keyboard measures 86 by 29 millimetres and is divided into four rows by ten keys each, with the Space double-sized. Standard buttons measure 8.5 x 7.5 millimetres.  Two very small Windows Mobile softkeys flank the keyboard (we'd like them to be larger), and the keyboard has dedicated Windows Start Menu and OK keys. The number bad is embedded in the keyboard, and is a darker shade of gray to make them easier to find quickly. To enter a number, press the Function key first (that's the key with a red dot at the lower left hand corner). The Fn key is sticky so you need not hold it down at the same time you're pressing the desired number or symbol, and a double press of the Fn key turns on Fn lock (another double-press turns it off). Additional buttons
On the M700’s left side (in the middle), we find the volume up and down buttons, the record/Voice Command button and the wired headset connection. The connector's location is not ideal because when the headset is plugged in, the jack gets in the way when you hold the device in the left hand. On the right side (in the middle), you can see the camera button (to activate the camera app and snap pictures), the soft reset button 3/4 of the way up the right side, and the power button. Sizes, Ports and Slots
The bottom of each device. On the M700 (in the middle), you see the microSD slot and the mini USB port. The stylus silo is on the very bottom of the right side corner. It's unfortunate that the device uses a microSD card instead of a miniSD or SD card. I think the microSD format is too small, and that the flash cards will get easily lost between devices (for those of us that happen to switch devices a lot), be they mobile devices or other electronics that might use the card formatDisplay
320x320 TFT, 65K colors, touchscreen
The M700 is very close in size to the HTC Wizard and its variants, though the screen looks smaller relative to the casing on the M700. The device's touch-sensitive transflexive TFT display has a 2.8 inch diagonal (73 millimetres), 240x320 pixel resolution and supports 65k colours. In reality, the display looks much better than its ordinary specifications sound. The backlight offers 11 levels of brightness, unfortunately only jointly for the battery and mains operation. Funny is that after a soft reset, the backlight will reset to the default - medium - level. Like other E-TENs, the M700 lacks a light sensor to adjust the backlight to the actual conditions. Nevertheless, there are another two power-saving features. One of them will dim the backlight as the battery power decreases, the other will turn the backlight off after a certain period of inactivity. Obviously, how much energy it saves depends on the master timeout you set for the backlight but if it is longer than a minute, this feature will do the job. The touch-layer is quite OK. The only minor issue I noticed was that when you tap on the display in certain places, it will send slight waves to the corners (as if the display was soft and the tap deformed it). It was well visible at the beginning when I was calibrating the display but is not a major issue. Camera
0.2 Mp, 1600 x 1200, 4x ZOOM, video 320 x 240
The camera is a simple unit with average performance. We thought it is the same as that of the X500 because it is 2-megapixel unit located on the back of the device, featuring LED flash and a mirror for self-portrait shooting, but its performance is weaker. The camera becomes operational within 7 – 8 seconds and it takes nearly 13 seconds to record a photo at maximum resolution, which brings it nearer to the 11 sec. of M600+ and farther from the 6 sec. of X500. A work that slow is a real disappointment. The camera is started by the button on the right side. The interface is pretty straight-forward and there are only a few icons when it’s in shooting mode: a button for selecting between camera and camcoder mode, a Settings button, a Close button, as well as information icons indicating the status of the flash, the picture/video size, and how many you can take with the memory available. Taking pictures is done by pressing the button which launches the application. The Settings menu is designed using big-sized icons; there is a capability for setting the size, white balance, the flash mode, the shooting mode (whether it is Portrait or Landscape oriented) – these are all standard settings. There is an option for automatically stamping the Date on the picture. As expected, various effects are available: Normal, Negative, Gray, Retrospective, Mirror. We think that the Mirror effect is the most interesting one. Overall, the interface is quite awkward to use and there is almost no functionality when the camera is in shooting mode, which makes taking pictures even more sluggish. The flash status and resolution icons could have easily been made to act as buttons used for changing the corresponding settings!. Software
The M700 offers the same useful phone software found on prior E-TEN Pocket PC phones and the Glofiish X500. The Phone settings applet allows you to switch between 900/1800 MHz (Europe and Asia) and 850/1900 (US). It also offers the usual Windows Mobile settings for manual/automatic network selection, call waiting, call barring, caller ID and call forwarding. The Glofiish has two forms of speed dial, one of which is basically the traditional kind that can hold up to 99 numbers (unassigned slots are filled with most recently called numbers, ordered by how frequently you've called them) and another called Index Dial which shows you each letter of the alphabet. Tap on a letter to quickly see all the contacts whose first names start with that letter. This is much faster than scrolling through your Contacts list, though you have that option as well. The handset also boasts a FM radio, Wi-Fi 802.11b/g and quadband GSM/GPRS/EDGE support, as well as a GPS receiver, which has become a kind of trademark feature of Eten PocketPCs. | Physical design | | Form factor | Slider | | 
| | Dimensions | 117.5 x 59 x 19.6 mm | |
| | Weight w/battery | 165 g | |
| | Primary display resolution | 320 x 240 pixels | | Phone | | Phone type | Dualband | |
| | Networks | GSM850, GSM900, GSM1800, GSM1900 | |
| | Connectivity options | GPS, Bluetooth, Wi-Fi, GPRS/GSM, USB | |
| | Messaging features | SMS, MMS, Predictive text input, Email, Instant message | |
| | Calling Features | Speakerphone | | Multimedia | | Built-in digital camera? | Yes | |
| | Maximum camera resolution | 2 megapixels | |
| | Camera sensor type | CMOS | |
| | Maximum digital zoom | x | |
| | Maximum optical zoom | x | |
| | Video features | Video recording, Video playback | |
| | Additional multimedia features | Stereo headset jack | | PDA | | Operating system | Pocket PC | |
| | Main processor type | Samsung SC3 2442 processor | |
| | Main processor speed | 400 MHz | |
| | RAM | 64 MB | |
| | ROM | 128 MB | |
| | Expansion option(s) | TransFlash/microSD | |
| | PC connectivity | Windows | |
| | Battery type | Rechargeable, removable 1,530mAh Lithium-polymer battery | |
| | Removable battery? | Yes | |
| | Rated battery life | 7 hours | |
| | Installed applications | Windows Mobile 5.0; gloofiish M700 exclusive applications | |
| | Additional functions | Embedded SiRF Star III chipset | |
| | Included accessories | Stylus, USB sync cable, AC adapter, headset, leather case, Getting Started CD, quick start guide and standard battery. | | Display | | Monochrome or color | Color | |
| | No. of colors | 16 bit | |
| | Touch screen | Yes | |
| | Backlit display | Yes | | Data Input | | Method | Keyboard, Pen | | Interfaces | | Infrared | No | | Audio | | Built-in speakers? | Yes | |
| | Built-in mic? | Yes | | Desktop Connectivity | | Desktop software included | Yes | |
| | Synchronization with desktop | Yes | |
| | Cradle included? | No | | Power supply | | Batteries rechargeable? | Yes | |
| | AC adaptor included? | Yes | | Warranty | | Base warranty | 1 year |
Pluses
Slide-out keyboard
Sensitive SiRFStar III GPS chipset
802.11b/g
Bluetooth 2.0 Minuses
Low call volume levels
No 3G
Small screen for the case size
Camera doesn't handle motion well
Poor keyboard tactile feedback and backlighting color Conclusion
If you're a fan of the HTC Wizard design Windows Mobile Pocket PC phones but want an internal GPS, the Glofiish M700 is a tempting choice. It ups the ante with WiFi 802.11b/g and Bluetooth 2.0 and a 2MP camera, putting it on par with the newer Hermes line (HTC TyTN et al), and lacks only the TyTN's 3G capabilities. Though somewhat plain and plasticy in appearance, the M700 is solidly constructed and the slider is snug with a reassuring snap into open and closed positions. WiFi performs well, Bluetooth is good, though profile selection is slim compared to some recent Pocket PC phones. |
