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.
