Cingular Offers Windows Mobile Smartphone

January 18, 2006 By Geoff Duncan

Cingular's new 2125 Smartphone features Windows Mobile 5.0, a $199 price tag, and no chiclet QWERTY keyboard.

Cingular has announced the immediate availability of its 2125 Smartphone, priced at $199 and the first smartphone to feature Microsoft’s Windows Mobile 5.0 operating system.

The 2125 Smartphone, manufactured for Cingular by Taiwan’s High Technology Corporation, is aimed at business professionals and Cingular’s first self-branded B2B mobile device. The 2125 features Bluetooth wireless capabilities, EDGE support, quad-band (850/900/1800/1900 MHz) international roaming, and wireless broadband via Cingular’s EDGE network which is available in 13,000 municipalities and along nearly 40,000 miles of major highways in the U.S. For a smartphone sporting Windows Mobile and email capabililities, Cingular made an interesting choice in form factor: instead of sporting a myriad of chiclet-style keys representing a QWERTY keyboard, the 2125 features a typical cell phone dial pad.

The 2125 weighs in at 3.71 ounces (with battery) and is driven by a Texas Instruments OMAP 850 200 MHz processor. On board: 64MB of SDRAM, 64MB Flash ROM., a 2.2-inch QVGA color screen, stereo headset jack, a 1.3 megapixel camera (with camcorder capability), Bluetooth 1.2, plus infrared and mini-USB connectivity, plus a mini-SD expansion card slot. Battery life is estimated at up to four hours talk with six days standby time.

Windows Mobile lets users integrate multimedia using Windows Media Player 10 Mobile and support for MP3, AMR, AAC, WAV, WMA, and MPEG-4 video streaming.The 2125 Smartphone will be upgradeable later this year with Microsoft’s Messaging and Security Feature Pack featuring direct push e-mail technology. Windows Mobile also provides persistent memory storage to retains information even when the phone’s battery is depleted, along with Web browsing and integrated Outlook and Exchange clients, even if it’s not clear how users can be email monsters without a full keypad (although certainly plenty of people send plenty of text and IM messages without one).

“The Cingular 2125 Smartphone gives our customers a cost-effective, feature-packed solution that meets their needs, whether they’re a larger company engaged in global business communications or an individual wanting a superior, high-speed e-mail and Web browsing experience,” said Jeff Bradley, vice president, business data services, for Cingular Wireless.

The Cingular 2125 is available today and costs $199 with a two-year service contract and qualified voice services plan.

Showing 2 comments

Matt at 9:07am 23rd August 2006 I waited a while before writing anything about this phone but there are a few issues I think people should know abaout. Overall is this a good phone? Yes, I think it's good but just has a little room for improvement. As Nino mentioned before, the power button is super small, this doesnt really bother me as I don't turn it off that much, but he has a good point. But does this bother me? Nah, I could really care less about the power button that I hardly never use. What bothers me on this phone the most is it's inability to lock the keypad while attached to my hip in the protective case provided by Cingular. It's 2 key strokes to unlock the phone and start dialing "without my knowledge" my brother who is tired of talking to my Levi's. No matter what direction it's faced in the case, it can and still does come unlocked. If they made the unlock button half as complicated as the power button is to use, it would surely remain unlocked. To ensure no more mis-dials, I had to create a "AAAAAA" file with a ficticious number to make sure that A. I'm not paying for a call I didnt need to place and B. My brother gets fewer calls from my Levi's and is less annoyed by seeing my name on his caller ID. In the packaging Cingular syas there are known "SYNC" issus with this phone and to call them if there were any issues. I am happy to say that I dodged that bullet. I had no issues syncing and found it very easy to do. The menu on this phone is easy to follow, and easy to read. There seems to be some redundency in the camera feature as there are 2 different way to take a picture, maybe one is easier than the other, I don;t know...what I do know is that it adds another button to this phone that I never use. This doesnt however take anything aways from the phone itself. There is a center "joystick" control knob in the center of the phone. My has a tendency to not scroll to the right sometimes while playing the bubble game. Again, no big deal, but I'm concerned that this may be a sign of another frustration in the future. I'm only speculating but what can go wrong usually goes wrong with me and electronics. So I bought the insurance just in case. I'm hoping that Cingular comes out with a Generation 2 of this model that incorporates a better locking system while not in use, and a better positioned power button for those that use it alot. This is a good phone for the features and the money and I'm sure if you buy it new or used, you will be happy with your decision.
Nino at 2:23pm 23rd January 2006 I just picked up this phone over the weekend. So far so good, though the power button is a pain to turn on and off.