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Previously E-TEN has produced Pocket PCs with integrated SIM card support, and the G500 is a quad band example. However, this is the first time the company has added a GPS antenna as well. Wi-Fi has been omitted from the G500 but Bluetooth is present.

The antenna is built into the top of the casing and the G500 is a shade larger all round than the Mio A701, and somewhat heavier too, its overall dimensions being 119 x 62 x 23 mm and 191g. This is still less than carrying a separate phone and PDA, but it is likely to be a stretch for many pockets.

The hardware styling is very distinctive. When the G500 is powered a long blue strip of light weaves its way around the outside of the screen and the various hardware buttons while another frames the navigation button. It looks very impressive when the surrounding light is low, but ironically when using the G500 for navigation at night the light proved to be a little distracting and I couldn’t find a way to disable it. Take the blue lighting out of the equation and the two tone grey and black casing is unremarkable.

The fact that the casing is slightly larger than the Mio’s means that the screen also can be a shade larger at 2.8 diagonal inches, though it is still only 240 x 320 pixels. E-TEN has also found room for an extra pair of buttons above the screen to complement the four beneath it.

The top left button takes you to speed dials for voice calls, while the top right button opens E-TEN’s M-Desk software, an icon based route into the device’s applications.

The four buttons beneath the screen include Call and End buttons and two which are dedicated to the Windows Mobile 5.0 soft menus. It is rare to see dedicated buttons for these on a PDA. I find them a little unnecessary as the softmenus are easily activated with a fingertip tap, but some people like them.

With the top of the casing occupied by the GPS antenna, again a SiRFStar III chipset, and the bottom dedicated to the mains power and sync connector, the left and right edges have to house all the remaining buttons and connections.

On the left edge is the activation and shooting button for the built in 1.3 Megapixel camera, whose lens is on the back of the casing. As with the Mio A701 there is a self portrait mirror here too, but no flash. The volume rocker is also on the left edge, alongside a small button, which on a short press activates the built in voice command software, and on a long press runs the Windows Mobile 5.0 voice recorder. Beneath this is the reset button and right at the bottom of this edge, protected by a rubber cover, is the 2.5mm headset jack.

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