Which Cingular Mobile Phone (and Hardware) to Get

I'm am currently a Cingular customer and any day now I am going to buy one
of these "Pocket PC" phone or cell phone that supports Windows Mobile.

I want to begin developing Windows Pocket PC software on one of these
devices. I have our own in-house PPP dialup server and the main thing I
want to be able to do is dial up my server without restrictions. I am not
concern about using the phone myself for any "Cingular" DATA service. But if
the Cingular Data service is need, so be it.

Essentially, I want to do the same thing I've been doing for 25+ years of
writing Dialup software and Hosting software and now I want to do begin
doing the same thing by writing dial up comm software for the "smaller
device PC"

What I need to know is what I should be looking for when I go to the
Cingular store to buy the mobile cell phone. Which one? What extra
hardware and/or Cingular service do I need?

My research is produced mixed results. I get the idea that what I am looking
for is the future with future generation (3G?) Bluetooth devices. If so, I
also want to know what does it take to do this today.

My apologies if this sounds simplistic but I've never had one of these
mobile devices. The most I've done is explore WAP on my Nokia cell phone
but I found it too limiting at the time.

In short, I want to put my dialup hosting server right next to me for
development purpose, have it wait for RS232 calls and I want to dial into it
with my new Mobile Phone I am about to buy.

Thanks

To dial-up your server would require that the handset have a built-in
modem. It's a bit confusing because you can use the Windows Mobile 5
based SmartPhones as a "modem" over Cingular's MediaNET internet
services ($20/month) of you can pay by the kbyte, but if you want to
dial into an ISP using the device it won't work. Oddly enough the
documentation states that the phones can be used in this way (Cingular
is a poorly organized company that doesn't QA their own documentation,
what else can be said). Anyway, this isn't just Cingular it's all US
providers.

However all hope isn't lost, you can get a Bluetooth modem for any WM5
device (all WM5 devices support Bluetooth) of course this requires the
modem be connected to a lan line through a standard phone cable, which
probably defeats the point in most cases.

Regarding what's available now and what's coming:

Cingular currently has three phone/pda offerings that support Windows
Mobile 5. They are: the 8125 pda, the 2125 SmartPhone and the 3125
SmartPhone.

Of the two SmartPhones both as equal feature wise, both are running
Windows Mobile 5 and neither support 3G. The 8125 is technically a PDA
and not a SmartPhone it adds WiFi support to the feature list, but it
does not support 3G.

>From a software developers perspective there is one difference in the
2125 and 3135, the 2125 does not come with the final revision of .NET
Compact Framework 2.0 installed, you have to download it from Microsoft
and install it. The reason having to do with 2125 chipset being
manufactured prior to the final 2.0 Framework. The 3125 should have
this preloaded. It's not a big deal, just more of a hassel really.

If you want a 3G Windows Mobile 5 device from Cingular, you'll have to
wait untill 2007. The 8125's replacement has already been announced and
it will support 3G, the 2125's replacement (still unannounced) will
most likely support 3G. Actually these future models are available
today from HTC for purchase direct from HTC on-line or EBay, do a
search on HTC MTeoR and TyTn, both support 3G and will work on
Cingular's GSM network and 3G network. The TyTn is the 8125's
replacement, it will be rebranded as a Cingular phone next year.



Fidel wrote:
> I'm am currently a Cingular customer and any day now I am going to buy one
> of these "Pocket PC" phone or cell phone that supports Windows Mobile.
>
> I want to begin developing Windows Pocket PC software on one of these
> devices. I have our own in-house PPP dialup server and the main thing I
> want to be able to do is dial up my server without restrictions. I am not
> concern about using the phone myself for any "Cingular" DATA service. But if
> the Cingular Data service is need, so be it.
>
> Essentially, I want to do the same thing I've been doing for 25+ years of
> writing Dialup software and Hosting software and now I want to do begin
> doing the same thing by writing dial up comm software for the "smaller
> device PC"
>
> What I need to know is what I should be looking for when I go to the
> Cingular store to buy the mobile cell phone. Which one? What extra
> hardware and/or Cingular service do I need?
>
> My research is produced mixed results. I get the idea that what I am looking
> for is the future with future generation (3G?) Bluetooth devices. If so, I
> also want to know what does it take to do this today.
>
> My apologies if this sounds simplistic but I've never had one of these
> mobile devices. The most I've done is explore WAP on my Nokia cell phone
> but I found it too limiting at the time.
>
> In short, I want to put my dialup hosting server right next to me for
> development purpose, have it wait for RS232 calls and I want to dial into it
> with my new Mobile Phone I am about to buy.
>
> Thanks

As far as I know, all phones Cingular sells will connect to their version of
'dial up'.

Modern cell phones no longer connect to any particular ISP, or if they do,
they won't for long. The old system would connect at 9600 max, and you
still had to pay something like $5 a month.

The new system uses various technologies to connect to the internet. For an
good breakdown, see:

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/3g

With Cingular, you can pay $20 a month for unlimited WAP service. While
this is handy with just your phone, you can use your computer to connect
through the WAP service and surf the internet at your leasure. You aren't
supposed to be doing this, and if Cingular ever decides to enforce their
TOS, you might have to go a different route, but for now it works.

It is slow. Sometimes very slow. But it beats nothing.

As I said before, Cingular's phones should all be capable of this.
Connecting to a computer is the second hardest part, and configuring your
computer is the hardest.

I've connected with infrared, bluetooth, and a cable from phone to USB port.
They all work about the same.

See also:

http://en.wikibooks.org/wiki/Cingular_Wireless_FAQ

This is a very good article, and should answer most of your questions.

CS

"Fidel" <fidel.castro@cuba.com> wrote in message
news:xCVSg.16311$GY5.12382@bignews6.bellsouth.net. ..
> I'm am currently a Cingular customer and any day now I am going to buy one
> of these "Pocket PC" phone or cell phone that supports Windows Mobile.
>
> I want to begin developing Windows Pocket PC software on one of these
> devices. I have our own in-house PPP dialup server and the main thing I
> want to be able to do is dial up my server without restrictions. I am
> not
> concern about using the phone myself for any "Cingular" DATA service. But
> if
> the Cingular Data service is need, so be it.
>
> Essentially, I want to do the same thing I've been doing for 25+ years of
> writing Dialup software and Hosting software and now I want to do begin
> doing the same thing by writing dial up comm software for the "smaller
> device PC"
>
> What I need to know is what I should be looking for when I go to the
> Cingular store to buy the mobile cell phone. Which one? What extra
> hardware and/or Cingular service do I need?
>
> My research is produced mixed results. I get the idea that what I am
> looking
> for is the future with future generation (3G?) Bluetooth devices. If so,
> I
> also want to know what does it take to do this today.
>
> My apologies if this sounds simplistic but I've never had one of these
> mobile devices. The most I've done is explore WAP on my Nokia cell phone
> but I found it too limiting at the time.
>
> In short, I want to put my dialup hosting server right next to me for
> development purpose, have it wait for RS232 calls and I want to dial into
> it
> with my new Mobile Phone I am about to buy.
>
> Thanks
>

Wanted to make a clarification.... The two 3G devices I mention, the
HTC TyTn and the HTC MTeoR are both UMTS (aka WCDMA) devices. UMTS is
Cingular's 3G standard, they are not GSM phones.

Here's an article on Cingular's 3G (UMTS) that may be of interest.
http://www.pcmag.com/article2/0,1895,1771328,00.asp


Fidel wrote:
> I'm am currently a Cingular customer and any day now I am going to buy one
> of these "Pocket PC" phone or cell phone that supports Windows Mobile.
>
> I want to begin developing Windows Pocket PC software on one of these
> devices. I have our own in-house PPP dialup server and the main thing I
> want to be able to do is dial up my server without restrictions. I am not
> concern about using the phone myself for any "Cingular" DATA service. But if
> the Cingular Data service is need, so be it.
>
> Essentially, I want to do the same thing I've been doing for 25+ years of
> writing Dialup software and Hosting software and now I want to do begin
> doing the same thing by writing dial up comm software for the "smaller
> device PC"
>
> What I need to know is what I should be looking for when I go to the
> Cingular store to buy the mobile cell phone. Which one? What extra
> hardware and/or Cingular service do I need?
>
> My research is produced mixed results. I get the idea that what I am looking
> for is the future with future generation (3G?) Bluetooth devices. If so, I
> also want to know what does it take to do this today.
>
> My apologies if this sounds simplistic but I've never had one of these
> mobile devices. The most I've done is explore WAP on my Nokia cell phone
> but I found it too limiting at the time.
>
> In short, I want to put my dialup hosting server right next to me for
> development purpose, have it wait for RS232 calls and I want to dial into it
> with my new Mobile Phone I am about to buy.
>
> Thanks