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Rollout: Cingular's 8525 PDA Phone: Page 2 of 5

While we're talking tethering, we should note that we easily set up the phone as a modem, with the option to use Bluetooth or USB. However, the option is expensive. If you're going to tether, Cingular wants you to pay for the laptop data plan, which is a bit more costly than the PDA data plan. An individual PDA Connect Unlimited plan runs $44.99 per month, while the Data Connect Unlimited weighs in at $79.99 ($59.99 with a two-year commitment). The steep difference between the PDA Connect and Data Connect plans is not uncommon--many operators place a high premium on wireless data--but we'd like to see those prices drop.

UMTS: AS GOOD AS EV-DO?

Although speed isn't the only reason to buy this device, Cingular's UMTS/HSDPA network is a vast improvement over its previous-generation EDGE (Enhanced Data Rates for Global Evolution) network. With UMTS/HSDPA, Cingular is finally in the same league with the Verizon and Sprint EV-DO (Evolution-Data Only) offerings. We conducted speed tests in four locations around the Washington metro area, using the device solo and tethered to a laptop. The 8525 achieved average download speeds of 810 Kbps, with bursts of more than 1,100 Kbps. Average upload speeds were 228 Kbps and peak uploads hit more than 350 Kbps. The device also successfully rolled back to EDGE and GPRS networks when UMTS/HSDPA wasn't available. In our tests, though, the 8525 indicated that it was on GPRS while it was actually on EDGE. Cingular assured us this glitch will be fixed this year.

Cingular isn't relying only on the promise of high-speed WWAN access to lure customers. The phone serves up a wireless triple threat, with its 3G UMTS/ HSDPA, 802.11 b/g Wi-Fi and Bluetooth 2.0. Wi-Fi is appealing to enterprises of all shapes and sizes, but will likely prove especially popular in the health-care sector, where investments in Wi-Fi infrastructure and accompanying mobile applications have been substantial. Many Windows Mobile devices had built-in Wi-Fi technology, but competing devices such as the Palm Treo require expansion cards to get these capabilities.