Cingular today introduced a new smartphone, the first such gadget to be
powered by the Microsoft Windows Mobile 5.0 operating system.
Equipped with Bluetooth wireless support, quad-band international roaming
and support for the EDGE wireless data network, the Cingular 2125 Smartphone
is being marketed as a business-to-business communications device for mobile
employees on the go.
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The Cingular 2125 Source: Cingular |
But it will also suit consumers nicely by providing the usual features,
including e-mail, game playing, photos and Web browsing.
Customers can tap into corporate and personal e-mail applications on the
phone, such as Microsoft Office Outlook Mobile and Microsoft Exchange
Server, GoodLink from Good Technology, Cingular Xpress Mail and MSN Hotmail.
The 2125 also features wireless messaging applications, including MSN
Messenger and Cingular’s multimedia messaging service (MMS).
Because the device uses Windows Mobile 5.0, it will be support Microsoft’s
Messaging and Security upgrade pack with direct push e-mail technology when
Cingular launches it in the first half of 2006.
Cingular 2125 users will also benefit from Windows Mobile persistent memory
storage, which retains information even when the device’s battery is
depleted.
In other features, the 2125 also includes tools for music and video
playback, with Windows Media Player 10 Mobile, a stereo headset jack, and a
1.3 megapixel camera.
The device supports MP3, AMR, AAC, WAV and WMA, and MPEG-4 video streaming.
Users can add more memory for their applications because the 2125 has a
mini-SD expansion card slot.
The Cingular 2125 can be purchased for $199 with a two-year contract and voice plan.
Microsoft software on Cingular devices in hardly a new phenomenon.
Thanks to bullish forecasts that predict a multi-billion-dollar converged
device market from researchers like IDC and Gartner, the software giant is
seeking to put as much of its software stack on handheld communications
devices as possible.
Cingular is the leading wireless carrier, so it makes sense that it
would make the first Windows Mobile 5.0-based smartphone.
Cingular spokesman John Kampfe told internetnews.com that, to this
point in the U.S., Windows 5.0 has been embedded in personal digital
assistants, which are a little more data-centric. They are also more pricey
than their smartphone brethren.
For example, Sprint sells the Smart Device PPC-6700 for $449. The Cingular rival said on
its Web site that it was the first Pocket PC Phone Edition device on Windows Mobile 5.0 available in the U.S.
