Cingular

At press time, Cingular’s HSDPA BroadbandConnect service was available in 16 metropolitan areas including Austin, Baltimore, Boston, Chicago, Dallas, Houston, Las Vegas, Phoenix, Portland, Salt Lake City, San Diego, San Francisco, San Jose, Seattle, Tacoma, and Washington D.C., with more to be added through the year. Multimedia services and two compatible handsets from LG and Samsung are scheduled to be announced and available by the time you read this. One advantage that BroadbandConnect has over EV-DO is that it delivers voice and data simultaneously. This allows you to talk to and see your caller at the same time. From an entertainment point of view, your TV watching can be paused when you take a call.

WEB
Power Vision and V Cast are five times faster than EDGE, and the time spent waiting for Cingular to fill Web pages can seem interminable. All of Cingular’s varying multimedia pieces are grouped within its user customizable MEdiaNet pages, but our attempts at customization were almost as frustrating as being stuck in traffic with your exit in sight. There is a standard text-based Web browser for less formal Web surfing. 
Grade: B-

PHOTOS
With inter-carrier interoperability, it’s quite easy to transmit pictures and small videos to any MMS phone from any carrier except for Sprint, despite numerous attempts. 
Grade: B+

VIDEO/TV
On EDGE, MobiTV ($9.99 per month) is more like MobiSlideshow. There are 29 live channels from which to choose, but forget about 30- or even 15-fps throughput. Fortunately,  the carrier will soon be launching Cingular Video, an on-demand streaming video service for high-speed capable phones. Users will be able to personalize their service for easier access to their favorite content, including HBO clips. 
Grade: Incomplete

MUSIC
By the time you read this, Cingular will likely have inaugurated its own HSDPA-powered music service, which will supplement the disappointing Motorola ROKR iTunes phone and include a music I.D. capability. Hold the phone to the radio with the app running, and in a few minutes, the artist and track info will be transmitted to you. In addition, more than 40 Cingular MobiRadio ($9.99 per month) channels are available for the Nokia 6620 and 6682, and the Sony Ericsson S710, Z500, W600i, and Z520. Cingular has indicated that its HSDPA-enabled phones will be compatible as well. Cingular offers an enormous selection of real music ringtones, which, given the lack of speed on the current network, should be purchased from the Cingular Web site.
Grade: Incomplete

GAMES
With nearly 500 game titles, including 16 3D titles, and around a dozen multiplayer games, Cingular offers a lot of time-killing activities. Since games tend to be tightly-packed files, downloads are surprisingly fast. Shopping online with your PC is recommended because of the sheer girth of the selections. Plus, each online listing is accompanied by a synopsis, screen shots, and instructions. 
Grade: A-

OVERALL
Because Cingular is currently migrating its network from EDGE to higher speed HSDPA technology, the experience we had with our test phone will likely be vastly different than what customers will experience once the carrier broadens its coverage beyond the initial 16 metro areas and begins to offer HSDPA-enabled phones that can take advantage of new music and video services. Our advice: wait.
Grade: Incomplete

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