Enterprise Mac | InfoWorld | AT&T positions new 8525 Pocket PC, promo price $299, as key iPhone alternative | June 26, 2007 10:14 PM | By Tom Yager
In my opinion (after about 6 hours of testing an iPhone), there are much better alternatives to mobile phones.
Mobile buyers brought to AT&T's site by iPhone's pre-launch excitement will be greeted with a number of iPhone alternatives, but AT&T has pushed one to the front of the pack. AT&T chopped $300 off the $599 list price of its newest top-end 3G device.
Check out the stats, and you decide which phone gives you more connectivity options (including full 3G world capabilities), and more functionality, with full capabilities to add other applications, at a much better price:
| | AT&T 8525 | Apple iPhone |
| Mobile networks | GSM/GPRS/EDGE, 3G (UMTS/HSDPA) | GSM/GPRS/EDGE |
| Unlocks for non-AT&T networks | Yes, at AT&T's discretion
(ask at end of contract) | Unknown |
| TCP/IP downstream speed | 400-800 Kbps AT&T est. | No Apple est. (EDGE ~128 Kbps) |
| Wi-Fi | 802.11b/g | 802.11b/g |
| Bluetooth | 2.0 | 2.0 + extended data rate (EDR) |
| Camera | 2 megapixel w/LED flash | 2 megapixel |
| Platform | Windows Mobile 5 Pocket PC
(upgrade to WM6 in Q3) | OS X |
| Display | 2.8" 320x240 touch (finger/stylus) | 3.5" 320x480 capacitive multi-touch |
| Keyboard | Backlit QWERTY, slide out | On-screen QWERTY |
| Buttons | Power, trackwheel, push to talk, nav pad+select, others | Power |
| CPU | 32-bit Samsung ARM | Intel x86 |
| E-mail | Pocket Outlook (Exchange/IMAP/POP), Good, AT&T Xpress Mail | Proprietary (IMAP/POP) |
| Browser | Pocket Internet Explorer
Opera opt. | Safari |
| Chat/IM | Yahoo, AOL (iChat), Windows Live, SMS, MMS | SMS |
| Media player | Windows Media 10 | Proprietary/QuickTime |
| Java VM | Yes | No |
| Flash Player | No | No |
| Dev platform | .net Compact Framework | JavaScript/Dashboard |
| Dev tools | Visual Studio 2005, $799 | TBD (Leopard Dashcode?) |
| PC Internet gateway/modem | Yes,EDGE/3G | TBD |
| Attachment View/Edit | Word,Excel,PowerPoint | HTML (edit?) |
| Light sensor | Yes | Yes |
| Orientation sensor | Keyboard slide-out switches to landscape | Yes, accelerometer |
| Proximity sensor | No | Yes (answers call) |
| Voice dialing | Yes,in-phone | TBD |
| Voice commands | Yes | TBD |
| Sync | ActiveSync, MS Direct Push OTA
Contacts,calendar,e-mail,tasks | iTunes
Contacts,calendar,e-mail,bookmarks |
| User memory | 64 MB internal + add-in SD card (opt) | 4 or 8 GB, non-expandable |
| Talk time | 5 hours | 8 hours |
| Standby time | 240 hours | 250 hours |
| Size | 4.43 x 2.28 x 0.86" | 4.5 x 2.4 x 0.46" |
| Weight | 6.2 ounces | 4.8 ounces |
| Price | $599 list
$449 w/2 yr contract
$299 AT&T 2 yr contract promo 6/26/07
($100 of promo discount is mail-in rebate) | $499/$599 list
4 GB/8 GB RAM
2 yr contract req'd |
Enterprise Mac | InfoWorld | AT&T positions new 8525 Pocket PC, promo price $299, as key iPhone alternative | June 26, 2007 10:14 PM | By Tom Yager