T-Mobile

Catherine Zeta-Jones is obviously not trying to sell cell phones to multimedia junkies. T-Mobile has lagged behind its competitors in rolling out high speed services and phones. At press time, only four T-Mobile models were EDGE capable: the Nokia 6101, the Nokia 3220, the Motorola V360, and the Samsung t809. All future phones will be EDGE-ready, but they won’t be up to par with Sprint, Verizon, Cingular, or Amp’d Mobile in terms of network capabilities.

WEB
T-Mobile combines its text-based, bare-bones browser with its T-Zones multimedia shopping area. The antithesis of Amp’d Mobile’s environment (see Attack of the MVNOs), T-Mobile’s barebones ways and wares are undoubtedly easier for non-techies to appreciate. Because T-Mobile’s Web is so light on graphics, pages actually load quicker than with Cingular.
Grade: B-

PHOTOS
As with Cingular, T-Mobile’s MMS plays well with phones from all carriers except Sprint.
Grade: B

VIDEO/TV
None available at press time, but a message on our test phone noted that they were coming soon.
Grade: D

MUSIC
No real song downloads, but there’s a healthy library of so-called HiFi ringtones ($1.99 each) categorized into several music genres. T-Mobile also has ringback tones, dubbed CallerTunes ($1.49 per month). These include song clips and celebrity sounds and voices. If you want MP3s on the go, get a phone with a built-in music player and memory card slot.
Grade: C

GAMES
T-Mobile hasn’t aggressively built a library of titles, but it does have a solid collection of old reliables such as Frogger, Tetris and, of more recent vintage, the popular King Kong game (fashioned after Donkey Kong) found on many of the other carrier menus.
Grade: B-

OVERALL
With no HSDPA deployment in sight, T-Mobile simply doesn’t have the speed to offer the same types of multimedia services as its competitors. Your best bet is to pick up an advanced phone like the Samsung t809 that can play MP3s without relying on the network, or wait for the SDA smart phone that can stream music and video over Wi-Fi.
Grade: C-

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