msmobiles.com - Good news for USA: MS Smartphone with built-in Wi-Fi coming to T-Mobile USA

msmobiles.com - Good news for USA: MS Smartphone with built-in Wi-Fi coming to T-Mobile USAGood news for USA: MS Smartphone with built-in Wi-Fi coming to T-Mobile USA
October 09, 2005 [MS Smartphone]
While previously some websites were claiming that certain Windows Mobile phones are coming to T-Mobile USA already in October, lately they changed the song and claim that these devices will come early next year (2006) - due to problems with Windows Mobile 5.0. These claims however were/are based on undisclosed sources from T-Mobile USA and cannot be considered anything more than rumors or can be viewed as a "sensationalism directed at attracting more visitors to the website".

Now however some real proof is available: at the website of American type approval organization - FCC - this smartphone with "T-Zones" (typical for T-Mobile) button appeared:

... and yes, it has Wi-Fi as you can see at the following screen shot:



Some highlights about this phone:

* display of high resolution: 320x240 pixels
* powered by Windows Mobile 5.0 for smartphone
* cellular: quad-band GSM - both American and both European bands supported
* Bluetooth 1.2
* Wi-Fi 802.11b
* EDGE (apart from GPRS)
* mini-USB connector (industry standard!)
* mini-SD memory card slot

The FCC testing documentation and user manuals are available here. Since FCC servers are slow, we have place a copy of this user manual on our server here (size: 3.52 MB, format: PDF).

Conclusions: while T-Mobile was releasing in Europe Windows Mobile phones under its own brand, in USA T-Mobile was rather selling other brands (like HP). It looks however that it will change and excellent Windows Mobile phones, also such as the one mentioned in this story, will be coming soon to USA too! Built-in Wi-Fi means that this phone will not only be able to use Skype but also other cellular-Wi-Fi voice solutions.

Please note: assuming enough processing power in a given device, Skype voice calls are working fine both with EDGE and UMTS - we have tested it already. They work also with CDMA-EVDO but not with GPRS. However still Skype works the best with Wi-Fi ... so having a smartphone with built-in Wi-Fi really is essential - not just for free and fast Internet browsing and file exchange...