CDMA and GSM

Cingular and T-Mobile are fighting for Pocket PC phone lovers’ business with their respective versions of the HTC Wizard, both released in Feb. 2006. Cingular got a few weeks’ jump on T-Mobile, getting a few into consumers’ and business users’ hands by the second week of February while the T-Mobile MDA is officially available Feb. 21. What is a Wizard? It’s HTC’s codename for this device, and Taiwan-based HTC is the largest ODM of Windows Mobile phones. There’s usually very little hardware variation for a given HTC model, only the carrier’s software customizations set them apart. For example, the HTC Apache, the Wizard’s CDMA cousin for Sprint (PPC-6700) and Verizon (XV6700) in the US are identical other than color. But Cingular’s version of the Wizard, differs from T-Mobile’s, i-mate’s and QTEK’s in casing and keyboard (only the Dopod 838 sold in Asia uses the same design). Take a look at our review of the i-mate K-JAM (an import version of the Wizard released last Fall) and you’ll notice the difference. Change is often for the better, and the Cingular 8125 looks more polished and has a much more usable keyboard. Inside, they’re all the same, sporting Windows Mobile 5.0 phone edition, a 195 MHz processor, 128 megs of flash ROM, 64 megs of RAM, a 1.3 megapixel camera, WiFi and Bluetooth. Don’t be discouraged by that seemingly slow CPU: the device feels just as responsive as other Windows Mobile 5 Pocket PCs under most circumstances. Read the rest of this entry »

This is a small phone, in fact it’s smaller than the Nokia 6682 smartphone also offered by Cingular. The Cingular 2125 bears a striking resemblance to the Audiovox SMT5600 which it replaces. It has the same dark gray metallic finish with contrasting silver buttons, screen bezel and side trim. The device tapers toward the bottom so it feels comfy in the hand and improves on the Audiovox’s challenging directional controller. The 2125 adds a Quasimodo hump up top (the same thing happened to the T-Mobile SDA on its way to the US) which houses a larger antenna to improve reception. Though not too terrible looking from the front, it does give the device a coffin-like appearance from the back. The power button sits on the hump and is darned hard to press, which is a good thing for those who put their phones in tight quarters and worry about accidental button presses.The number pad’s backlit keys are too small but manageable, and they’re domed which helped us home in on the keys. The keypad and front controls are less cramped thanks to the omission of the multimedia buttons that bedeck the SDA. Large home, back, send and end buttons surround the tiny joystick located above the number pad and two soft keys live just below the large display. A two way rocker on the phone’s left side controls earpiece volume and the button just above it launches Comm Manager which allows you to quickly turn Bluetooth and the ringer on and off as well as initiate an ActiveSync. The right side is simpler, with only the camera button to be found. The mini USB sync / charge connector, as per the norm, is on the bottom as is the 2.5mm headset jack. The mini USB port is a wonderful thing: Read the rest of this entry »

The 3125 operates under Windows Mobile 5.0 and features a plethora of applications, messaging, and connectivity options. Microsoft programs such as Outlook and MSN Messenger are easily accessed, while the browsing of third-party email and other websites is facilitated through the phone’s high-speed GPRS / EDGE internet capabilities. The phone features both simple and multimedia text messaging.
In addition to the phone’s PDA system, the 3125 features extensive multimedia capabilities, including both MP3 and video download / playback. The phone’s 1.3-megapixel camera is nothing special, but should be satisfactory for creating custom wallpapers and sending fun photos and video to friends and family. J2ME games round out the entertainment package. Video playback and other visual media are enhanced by a large, full-color 240 x 320 px internal screen. To add to the visual capabilities of the phone, the 3125 also features a full-color 128 x 128 px external screen.The front face features a 128 x 128 px TFT external screen which usually displays a variety of clocks and the usual phone status features such as battery or reception. Read the rest of this entry »