Cingular 8125 PDA Phone

The Cingular 8125 combines a quad-band phone with a Windows Mobile 5.0 PDA with all the bells and whistles: Bluetooth, Wi-Fi, a miniSD card slot, support for EDGE high speed data, and more. And don’t forget the unique slide-out QWERTY keyboard that makes messaging, note-taking, and other writing tasks a breeze.

The 8125 lets you do things you’d typically need a PC to do, like email, text messaging, instant messaging and web browsing– all from one integrated device. What’s more, the phone’s software is designed to sync seamlessly with email, contacts and calendar information on your PC. The 8125 also offers great mobile music and video options.

Under the hood, the 8125 features 128MB of RAM and a 200 MHz processor. Up front, the 240 x 320 LCD touch-screen supports 65,000 colors, while the rear of the device houses a 1.3 megapixel camera. The design of the 8125 is clean and uncluttered, with just a few buttons for mail, Internet Explorer, and contextual menus. Meanwhile, call answer and end buttons surround a a five-way toggle that allows you to navigate and control the Windows Mobile interface. As mentioned, a full QWERTY keyboard cleverly slides out from underneath the screen. This allows you to hold the device horizontally, and the screen is automatically placed in landscape mode when you’re using the keyboard. A mini-SD memory expansion card slot is provided, as is an infrared port and a 2.5mm headphone jack. A mini-USB port is also included for wired data transfers.

Staying productive on the road is made possible by the Microsoft Office Mobile suite, which includes Word Mobile, Excel Mobile, and PowerPoint Mobile. Meanwhile, the File Explorer application makes it easy to browse the files on your 8125.

Using Cingular’s EDGE-powered internet service, you can surf the Web with the bundled Internet Explorer application, or use MSN messenger to stay in contact via instant messaging. Plus, the inclusion of Wi-Fi (802.11 b/g) in the 8125 allows you to surf the Web or check your email at blazing speeds when you’re connected to a Wi-Fi network. Lastly, robust SMS and MMS functionality is built into the Windows Mobile interface, too.

One of the most important tools bundled with the 8125 is Microsoft ActiveSync, which allows you to quickly synchronize your device’s tasks, calendars, email, and contacts with your desktop. You also get Exchange ActiveSync, an application that lets you synchronize data with an Exchange server. Syncing can be done via USB, or wirelessly via Bluetooth or infrared.

As mentioned, the 8125 can take 1.3 megapixel (1280×1024) pictures, and while the camera is great for taking stills, it can also function as a camcorder, allowing you to capture video to the unit’s memory. An integrated media application organizes your captured photos and videos. For gamers, the phone supports Java-based and Windows Mobile games.

The Cingular 8125 weighs 5.3 ounces and measures 4.25 x 2.83 x 0.93 inches. Its lithium-ion battery is rated at up to 5 hours of digital talk time, and up to 7 days of digital standby time. It runs on the 850/900/1800/1900 MHz GSM/GPRS/EDGE frequencies. The phone comes with a one year limited warranty.