Cingular Hits Hard with Blackjack

Cingular has launched the Samsung Blackjack smartphone, offering Windows Mobile 5, wireless business and entertainment applications, and 3G networking - but no Wi-Fi.

U.S. mobile operator Cingular Wireless has launched the Samsung SGH-i607 smartphone—a.k.a. the Blackjack—sporting Windows Mobile 5.0, Cingular’s wireless entertainment packages, email and applications sure to appeal to business users, Bluetooth 2.0, music and video player capabilities, and (of course) high-speed 3G mobile networking using Cingular’s GSM and EDGE network.

“The BlackJack is a winner,” said Stan Sigman, Cingular Wireless’s president and CEO. “The BlackJack represents the best that Cingular, Microsoft and Samsung have to offer in terms of innovation and collaboration. We have hit on the right formula in developing a handheld device that will appeal both to the most discerning business users and the most entertainment savvy consumers.”

The Blackjack also features a QVGA display (320 by 240 pixels), an integrated QWERTY keyboard (for email, messaging, and applications), a 1.3 megapixel video-capable camera, built-in speakerphone, and runs Windows Mobile 5.0, which means it provides access to email accounts, over-the-air calendar and contact synchronization, and integration with enterprise-wide IT infrastructures—as well as Windows Media Player 10 for playing music and videos and Internet Explorer. The only major feature omission is integrated Wi-Fi for accessing the Internet and Wi-Fi networks without tapping into Cingular’s nationwide data system.

Naturally, the Blackjack supports Cingular Music and Cingular Video, enabling users to browse and purchase ringtones, songs, music videos, streaming music, chatrooms, and more via Cingular’s data services, as well as on-demand video streaming of television, news and weather, entertainment, and premium video content (including HBO programming like The Sopranos and Entourage).

“BlackJack is a true converged product that serves voice and data needs with strengths in multimedia and organization satisfying today’s on-the-go consumer,” said Samsung’s Kitae Lee in a release “Samsung is excited to be working with Cingular and Microsoft to bring the BlackJack to the U.S. market.”

Like other QWERTY smartphones on the U.S. market, the Blackjack carries a $200 price tag with a two-year service agreement, following a $100 mail-in rebate.